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Miss Kaitlin Alise Kern and Mr. Boyd Jansen Denais, both of Maurice, were joined in holy matrimony on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Maurice.
Deacon Byron Soley officiated the 6:30 p.m. ceremony.
The bride is the daughter of Kevin and Monique Kern of Maurice. Her grandparents are Delray LeMaire of Lafayette and the late Antoinette LeMaire and William and Dianna Meaux of Abbeville.
Parents of the groom are Timothy and Melanie Denais of Maurice. His grandparents are Earline Denais of Maurice and the late John Oran Denais and Rod Broussard of Maurice and the late Betty Boudreaux.
Music for the ceremony was performed by Tammy Maturin, vocalist.
Escorted by her father, the bride wore an all over lace sheath ivory gown with subtle beading throughout by Maggie Sottero.
The gown featured a strapless bodice over inner sweetheart design accented with a scalloping sheer lace overlay with a subtle train. She wore an ivory cathedral veil outlined in lace.
The bride carried a loosely designed bouquet with white O’hara garden roses, soft white fillers, mauve florals, silver foliages and seeded eucalyptus.
Escorted by her sons, Daine and Jabian Kern, the mother of the bride wore a navy dress with an embroidered bateau neckline on a soft chiffon skirt.
Escorted by her son, the mother of the groom wore a navy satin crepe dress with a beaded capped sleeve top.
The groom wore a light grey suit and vest with a white shirt, silver tie and brown boots.
Samantha Cunningham, cousin of the bride served as maid of honor. Kaitlin Dugas, childhood friend of the bride, served as matron of honor. Bridesmaids included, Bailyn Kern, sister in law of the bride; Lacey Denais, sister-in-law of the groom; friends of the bride, Madison Duhon and Kaysie Hardy, Chelsea Hayes, cousin of the groom, Shea Delcambre and Haley Trahan.
The attendants wore floor length mauve, sleek satin fit and flare dresses. They carried a smaller version of the bride’s bouquet.
Flower girls included Gerri Kern, godchild of the bride, daughter of Daine Kern and Carra Rawls and Amelia Broussard, godchild of the groom, daughter of Ryan and Katie Broussard. They wore ivory tulle layered dresses with floral necklines.
Best man was Bryant Denais, brother of the groom. Groomsmen included Jabian and Daine Kern, brothers of the bride; Chase Picard, cousin of the groom; friends of the groom, Courtney Trahan, Landon Dupuy, Jacob Broussard, Blake Hayes and Nick LeBlanc.
The male attendants wore charcoal grey tuxes with light grey shirts, mauve ties and brown boots.
Ring bearer was Kailex Kern, nephew of the bride, son of Jabian and Bailyn Kern. His attired matched the groom wearing a light grey suit with awhite shirt and mauve bow tie.
The ushers included Brandt Meaux, cousin of the bride; Hunter Landry, nephew of the groom; Aaron Spell and Jacob Broussard.
A reception was held at the River Oaks catering and event center in Lafayette immediately following the ceremony.
Upon their return from a wedding trip to Punta Cana, the couple will reside in Maurice.

While negotiations for the City of Abbeville to potentially take over operations of Vermilion Oaks will continue, some question whether the city running the golf course would be a good move in the long run.
During Tuesday’s regular meeting, the city council voted to allow Mayor Mark Piazza to continue to negotiate a lease with Magdalen Square IV, the LLC that owns the course. Magdalen Square IV consists of members of the Broussard family. The council also approved for City Attorney Ike Funderburk to meet with the owner’s attorney to review the lease.
No lease has been signed, and the council did not finalize any agreement during Tuesday’s meeting. All meetings, be it the committee or regular council meetings, regarding the issue of the golf course are open to the public.
Details of the potential lease presented in a letter of intent to the city that Piazza presented on Tuesday include the $1,000 a month for three years, with the possibility of two additional three-year terms. Magdalen Square IV would also put up $20,000 of the projected $90,000 start-up cost to get the course ready. Piazza said the city would negotiate an opt-out clause and that Magdalen Square IV would reimburse the city $50,000 if the course were to be sold at any point during the lease. As per the lease, the city would cover insurance and taxes on the property.
Councilman Brady Broussard Jr., Councilwoman Terry Broussard, and Councilman Francis Touchet Jr. voted to move forward with the negotiations.
Councilwoman Roslyn White, because of her connection to the Broussard family, recused herself from the vote, something she has done each time this issue has come up.
Councilman Francis Plaisance voted against the move, saying he feels numbers presented by the Golf-Country Club Advisory Committee don’t add up to the course not losing money.
“I have sat at all three committee meetings,” Plaisance said. “I still don’t know why the City of Abbeville wants to get involved with an operation that has lost money since 2012.”
Based on numbers presented by the committee, the course lost more than $500,000 between ‘12 and when the course closed in October ‘17. Touchet has said multiple times that those numbers reflect a more extensive operation, including $300,000 in salaries and a full kitchen, that the city has no intention of delving into.
“We are going to focus just on golf,” Touchet said. “I don’t think it’s going to make money. I do think it is going to break even.
“I am going to reiterate; the city is not going to operate it the way it has been operated for the past six years.”
Norma Buford, an Abbeville citizen who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said she is not in favor of the city taking over the course.
“I have concerns about this,” she said. “I don’t play golf, but my husband does. I agree with having something for the children. I have a grandson who plays golf. However, I don’t think it is feasible for the city to invest taxpayer money into something that has been failing for years.”
Touchet said the city would operate the course cost-effectively at every turn.
“We are going to do it better,” Touchet said.
To answer one of Buford’s questions, Piazza said start-up costs would be covered mainly from sales tax, funds that cannot be used for salaries and other expenditures.
“One of the items you can do with sales tax is park improvements,” Piazza said. “Just like the baseball fields at (A.A.) Comeaux Park.
“That’s not money we can use to pay insurance, salaries and things like that.”
Buford voiced another concern that she feels this issue is a “done deal” and that council member’s minds are already made up.
“My mind is not made up,” Councilwoman Broussard told Buford.
Piazza said he doesn’t get the sense of that being the case, either.
“I don’t feel like it is a done deal at all,” Piazza said. “I feel like we have to do our due diligence before we can bring enough information to the table to make an educated decision on whether or not this a good deal.”
Councilman Brady Broussard agreed, saying to let the negotiations play out.
“We can see what the final deal is to determine if it is in the best interest of the city,” Broussard said.

By Bill Decker, LSN writer

LAFAYETTE – The knives are out in Washington: indictments, investigations, name-calling tweets, intense partisanship and allegations of treason.
But Wednesday’s OneAcadiana forum for candidates who want to represent south Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District was a kinder, gentler affair.
The format for the forum at Lafayette’s Picard Center was based on the game show “Jeopardy!” and was about as lacking in animosity and confrontation.
Final Jeopardy will be the Nov. 6 primary, and the question will be whether Republican incumbent Clay Higgins goes back to Washington for a second two-year term.
There were jokes among the candidates about going out for a beer together.
“I’ve been struck by the honesty of the madam and gentlemen who stand here with me,” Higgins said in his closing statement. “This is a room full of winners, man.”
“Really, there is no personal animosity here,” said Lafayette Democrat Mildred “Mimi” Methvin after the forum. “At least I’m here because I believe it’s about the policy, what the country stands for.”
A rare exception to the friendly tone came from Josh Guillory, the Youngsville attorney and Iraq War veteran who is trying to unseat a member of his own party. Incumbent Higgins qualified using a Lafayette post office box, but his home is widely reported to be outside the district in St. Landry Parish.
Guillory seized on that point. He took a question about whether the nation’s greatest adversary is Russia or China, and he pivoted to question Higgins’ residency.
“I know who I’m going to vote for for Congress,” Guillory said, turning to Higgins. “Congressman, who are you going to vote for?”
“I’m not either China or Russia,” Higgins replied.
The incumbent noted that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t require House members to live in the districts they serve. The founding fathers were considered with residency in states, he said.
At Wednesday’s forum:
-- Democrat “Rob” Anderson, a businessman and free-lance writer from DeQuincy, is making his first run for political office. The big infrastructure work in the district involves liquefied natural gas facilities and the development of a marine highway to facilitate shipping, he said.
Other candidates referred to projects such as a new Interstate 10 bridge in Lake Charles and the Interstate 49 Connector in Lafayette.
“The most pressing need is probably all of the above,” Anderson said.
Asked about possible sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khasshoggi, Anderson said, “The United States should strive to be what it once was, a leader in human rights.”
Anderson was among those who spoke of the friendly relationship among the candidates.
“We all get along famously,” Anderson said. “I find it hard to believe we can’t go to Washington and work together.”
Like other candidates, Anderson said the educational system should create opportunities to get two-year post-secondary vocational certificates that put people into jobs that need to be filled.
-- Aaron J. Andrus of Westlake is running as a Libertarian, and his answers revolved around the Libertarian philosophy of smaller government.
Asked about his priorities, Andrus talked about the I-10 corridor and cutting the federal deficit, which some forecasts say will hit $1 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year. He said it’s important to cut federal spending.
And he responded to a question about the wisdom of a law requiring the purchase of locally produced manufactured goods this way: “I tend to think we should keep the federal government out of it as much as possible.”
-- Guillory spoke of the same infrastructure priorities — the Lake Charles bridge and the I-49 Connector — that his opponents favor, and added another: dredging ship channels to accommodate maritime commerce.
He gave Higgins credit for obtaining funds for south Louisiana dredging projects but said the region needs a multi-year solution.
“We shouldn’t have to go begging every year,” Guillory said.
He came out strongly for a balanced budget and cast doubt on the idea of a raise in the national minimum wage that doesn’t account for different costs of living in different parts of the country.
And Guillory said he supported the cut in personal and corporate income tax rates pushed by President Donald J. Trump.
He said he favors a private sector health care solution to government involvement.
-- Higgins said he’s been willing to work with Democrats in Congress but said the minority party has been an obstruction to good legislation. Higgins has generally supported Trump on the tax cut and the need for a border wall.
“Nothing comes across our southern border, criminally, without being touched by the cartel,” Higgins said.
The incumbent gave Trump credit for an economic revival that he said could achieve a 4 percent growth in gross domestic product for three consecutive quarters.
And he said it’s important to rebuild the military, which he said slipped to such a state during the Obama administration that 70 percent of aircraft were unable to fly.
Higgins may have flipped the statistics there. An analysis by the Military Times, a respected defense news source, indicates the readiness rate for the entire military air fleet was at about 74 percent in 2014, the middle of President Barack Obama’s second term, and fell to 71 percent in 2017, the first year of the Trump administration.
-- Methvin, a former federal magistrate, was asked about the merit of lawsuits filed by local governments against the energy industry over its contribution to coastal wetlands loss.
Methvin said the industry has already accepted 30 percent of the responsibility because of work performed without permits and for waterways that cut through coastal areas. The industry would get good public relations by stepping up, she said.
“What we learned in kindergarten is you should take responsibility for the harm you do,” Methvin said.
She spoke in favor of a move toward a single-payer health care system, which is generally understood to put the federal government in the role of the single payer. Americans currently pay twice as much for health care as other advanced nations and yet have worse health outcomes in areas including infant mortality and the incidence of diabetes.
“We are not getting our money’s worth,” Methvin said.
-- Verone Thomas, a Navy veteran and Democratic businessman from Lake Charles, said it’s important to look ahead to infrastructure developments such as driverless cars.
He’s not a big fan of the state’s $50 billion coastal restoration plan, which he said doesn’t hold the energy industry accountable for its role in subsidence, which some consider to play a role in wetlands loss.
Thomas spoke in favor of tuition assistance and of a move toward Medicare for all.
He has doubts about plans to build a border wall based on his experience as a sailor in San Diego.
“I saw tunnels being dug while the wall was being built,” Thomas said.
Larry Rader, an Iberia Parish Democrat who is running, didn’t attend Wednesday’s forum.
Early voting opens Tuesday and runs through Oct. 30, excluding Sunday.

March 01, 1937 - October 14, 2018

ABBEVILLE – Funeral services for Mrs. Ethel Harris is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Saturday, October 20, 2018 at Faith Hope Baptist Church – 407 Duroq Street  with burial in Pleasant Green Baptist Cemetery. Bishop B. K. Stevens will officiate the service.
Ethel Harris (81), a long time resident of Abbeville passed away Sunday, October 14, 2018 at her residence.
She leaves to mourn her passing, her husband, Roy J. Harris of Abbeville, LA; her daughter, Stephanie Rogers of Abbeville, LA; a son, Cecil D. Fruge’ of Abbeville, LA; her grandchildren, Trent Guidry, Christopher Cole, Sr., Brent Fruge’ Sr., Tracy Harris, Jr.; Trisica Decuir, Devin Stewart, Rosanda Boudin, LaToya Baudin, and a host of great and great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her sons, Sherwin Fruge’, Tracy Harris, Sr.; daughters, Elaine Turner, Vera Stewart, Sherlyn Fruge’, grandchild, SaShawn Fruge’ ; parents, Jenkin D. Amskie, May Rankin, brothers, Leroy (Buster) Rankin, Elton Elgin Rankin; sisters, Gracie Lessin, Willie Mae Senegal, Lorain Dyson and Ella Mae Lee.
Visitation is scheduled at Faith Hope Baptist Church Saturday, October 20, 2018 from 10:00 A.M. until time of service.
Kinchen Funeral Home – 218 N. St. Valerie Street – (337) 898-9595 is in charge of final arrangements.