Sugar Chapter raises $150K

Published 12:45 am Sunday, August 26, 2018

CADE — On a night when a special photo fetched nearly $1,000 and a special painting that was painted on site went for $2,000, Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana Sugar Chapter officials were amazed, once again, by the size of the crowd inside the Cade Community Center.

The New Iberia-based chapter’s annual fundraising banquet Thursday night attracted approximately 750 outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen from the Teche Area and across Acadiana. Corry Landry of New Iberia, southwest regional director for CCA-Louisiana and long-time Sugar Chapter member; Dusty Hulin, Sugar Chapter president, and Kelly Frederick, banquet chairman for the Sugar Chapter, were impressed.

“Last night was really, really good. There were a lot of new faces in the crowd,” Landry said Friday morning before leaving for Grand Isle to help run CCA-Louisiana’s “Ride the Bull Fishing Tournament,” the largest kayak tournament in the world.

“It’s very exciting to see the local outdoorsmen come out and support CCA year after year,” he said. “We are 100 percent satisfied with the turnout and the amount of money raised. All of these dollars will go to coastal restoration in the state of Louisiana.”

The banquet raised $150,000 (gross), Landry reported.

“It was a great night last night. It went well,” Hulin said Friday night. “After we counted numbers at the end of the night, we were right at where we want to be when everything is said and done.

“The crowd was just phenomenal. We put about 750 people in the place. It was just packed.”

“Oh, it’s great, a very good turnout,” Frederick, first-year banquet chairman, said  Thursday night soon after she showed Chuck Guidry of Lydia a special gun cabinet made of cedar wood shaped like an American flag. It was a live auction item.

The live auction, which featured 35 items, took in $36,000, Landry said.

Young Kagon Broussard’s photo of Dry Reef at sunset was one of the popular auction items as Dry Reef was the last place fished by the late Al Broussard (see related story on this page). Iberia Parish President Larry Richard outbid the others and took it home for $900.

A gicleé of an original oil painting by Scott Ewen of Covington was another highly sought after live auction item that went for $2,000 to state Rep. Blake Miguez, R-Erath, a Loreauville native and local businessman. Ewen, co-owner of Kuda Offshore, apparel and art company, embellished the colorful, lifelike print during the hours leading up to the live auction.

CCA-Louisiana honored Migues during the fundraising event as CCA’s Conservation Champion.

Also honored Thursday night was Brian Delcambre of New Iberia, a dedicated Sugar Chapter member who received the distinguished Al Broussard Volunteer of the Year Award.

“Brian is one of our committee guys who has been with us since Day One. He’s a volunteer who never says no to anything CCA asks him to do. It’s a very well-deserved award,” Landry said.

The banquet-goers dined on fried fish, jambalaya, green beans, brownies and cheesecake prepared and served by Bon Creole in New Iberia. 

Julie Montegut, who along with her husband owns the eatery, said they have been catering the event since 2008.

Twenty employees were on hand to help, she said as she dished out jambalaya.

“We started cooking probably about 9 o’clock this morning. The first thing we did was the jambalaya … started cooking the roux and vegetables, then seasoned the fish and started getting the green beans ready,” Julie Montegut said.

They enjoyed working the event, she said.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a local event. It’s a fun event. Everybody’s happy,” she said.