Rotary Club Meeting – 4-4-23 The speaker at the Rotary Club Tuesday, presented by Steve Phillips, was Sheriff Charles Guillory. The Sheriff gave an update on the latest news in the Parish. The Evangeline Sheriff's Department has received $150,000 in grants in the last couple of years. The most recent was a $50,000 grant for litter abatement. The program will be implemented in the next couple of weeks. In the last 2½ years , the Sheriff's Department has responded to 6,000 calls and made 1,113 arrests. 532 of those arrests were drug related. The Sheriff said that if he could get rid of anything in the world, it would be drugs. The Department has seized numerous vehicles that have yielded about $50,000 which will contribute to the drug enforcement fund. About 700 guns have been seized. They broke ground on the new jail. It will be a 48,000 square foot State of the Art facility with central control. It will include 10 maximum security cells, and there will be capacity to hold 10 juveniles awaiting adjudication. It costs about $300.00 daily to handle juveniles. Sheriff Guillory prefers to refer to the new facility as a Rehabilitation Center, and it is scheduled to take about 18 months for completion. Other Rotary announcements · The Rotary District Conference will be held Friday and Saturday, April 21st and 22nd. in Lafayette at the Hilton River Ranch. The Food Fest is Saturday and should be a lot of fun! · The Spring Social will be held April 18 at the Chicot Park Group Cabins. The meal (Boston Butt BBQ with all the fixings) will be catered. · New Member presentations for the 3rd time – Mayor Williams and Donald Bergeron. New Member presentation for the 2nd time – Christ Aguillard. · Next week's program will be presented by Dan Poret.