Rotary Club hears from Chamber Director Camille Fontenot

August 15, 2017

     The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from guest speaker Ville Platte Chamber Executive Director Camille Fontenot discuss activities going on at the chamber and Tourism Commission.

    Fontenot said both the chamber and tourism  are important to the financial well being of our community. She said she is working closely with Valerie Cahill, the owner of Hotel Cazan, who has experience and connections to international trade.

   She said the chamber is looking at doing a symposium with Evangeline Parish crawfish producers. She is looking at bringing in Ronnie Gonzales, from New Orleans who is involved in international trade to help our crawfish producers.

   Fontenot is looking at possibly creating a foreign trade zone for the Evangeline Parish Industrial Park to attract international businesses.

   A company from Florida is looking at leasing a large building in the Ville Platte area to store safety equipment for the oil industry. Fontenot said she has been in conversation with a number of possible sites for the company to look at.

    She said she has been working to keep Chicot Park open and to have private business and industry to partner with Chicot Park to attract additional visitors to the park.

   Fontenot reminded club members that the Mamou Cajun Music Festival is scheduled for Sept. 8 and 9. Also, lots of activities are planned in connection with the Tee Cotton Bowl including a banquet the night before, fireworks display, and a parade that Friday at 4;00pm. TV 10’s Passe Partout program plans to broadcast live at Ville Platte High the morning of the ball game Sept. 1.

  Camille Fontenot was the guest of Rotarian Peggy Tate.

   In other business, Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine informed club members that the new Tee Cotton Bowl uniforms are on display at City Hall along with the beautiful World Series trophy won by the Ville Platte 10 year old girls last month.