VILLE PLATTE MAN AND WOMAN OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

APRIL 21, 2017

    The Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce officially announced the nominees for the 2017 Man and Woman of the Year Honors.

    The nominees for Woman are the Year are:

Stacy Freeman Jorden who is employed with Ville Platte Probation and Parole. She is married to Detective Duane Jorden and the mother of three children. She is also a volunteer leader in the Girl Scouts in changing girl’s lives for the better. Stacy is also active in her church serving as financial and corresponding secretary at the St. Peter Baptist Church and at the St. John Baptist Church;

Nina Daire David is an educator and is married to Biff David and they parents of three and they have two grandchildren. Nina is a master teacher and is currently a librarian at Mamou Lower Elementary School. She was the President of Keep Evangeline Beautiful and worked hard with groups to keep the parish clean through various projects. She served as Ville Platte City Clerk. She loves hiking and the outdoors.

The nominees for Ville Platte Man of the Year include:

Donald Ray Thomas who is the owner of Thomas Construction. He is married to Jessica Doucet Thomas and the parents of four children. He is a member of the Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church and serves on the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission, His nomination letter says “Donald will go the extra mile for anyone.” He loves to volunteer and help people whenever he is asked.

Leonard Glynn Fontenot, a retired Cleco employee after 35 years who served as Vice President of Generation. He is married to Mary Alice Fontenot and they are the parents of four children. His service to the community include: a Eucharistic minister, President of the Queen of All Saints Parish board, Babe Ruth baseball organization president, participated in the Contredanse as a dance team, served on the Humana Hospital board and the Ville Platte Citizen Cabot committee, retreat captain for Ville Platte at the Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House and past member of the Sacred Heart school foundation board.

Patrick Derouselle is married to the former Jerianne Ruggles and is the father of three children. He is the executive director of the Evangeline Parish Solid Waste Commission.  He is active as president of the Evangeline Parish Communications District 9-1-1 Board, a member of the Ville Platte Emergency Preparedness Committee, a member of First Baptist Church of Ville Platte and President of the Louisiana Cotton Festival Association. He is also a 30 year volunteer firefighter. He was also involved in the Ville Platte Jaycees and past chairman of the Ville Platte Planning Commission Board.

Rev. Matthew Alfred Jr. is the moderator and president of the Eastern Seventh District Baptist Association. As the president he is inspirational in developing mentor programs to lead the youth along their journey in spiritual growth and maturity. Rev. Alfred is a father, husband and a humble leader. Alfred has a great passion for making his community distinctive and an enjoyable place to live.

The announcement of Ville Platte’s 2017 Man and Woman of the Year will be made at the Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce Civic Awards Banquet Thursday April 27 at the Ville Platte Northside Civic Center. Tickets are now available at the chamber of commerce office.