CHARENTON — There was no doubt that a celebration was in order.

The main dining area of Mr. Lester’s Steakhouse was filled with dozens of balloons, bottles of champagne were chilling on ice and a buffet line was filled with delicious eats like crab cakes, fried shrimp and quesadillas. Dozens of people, including a few notable civic and business leaders (including the mayors of both Baldwin and Broussard and the St. Mary Parish President), were packed inside the five-star restaurant for a party, but it wasn’t for a presentation of a civic award or even a wedding reception.

No, everyone was there Tuesday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel, which is owned by the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana.

“We are very excited on the future here,” said Mike Howard, General Manager and CEO of Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel. “We are just going into the new year’s cycle for us and we are focused on slot product and our service right now. Moving forward we will be working on small things to improve the experience for our customers.”

For Howard, who previously managed Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino in Opelousas, the mindset for Cypress Bayou is to cater to the locals that live in a 50-mile radius of Charenton, and then try to target surrounding regions. 

“Right now we are focused on becoming efficient, operating profitably, and creating entertainment that is attractive to the local market,” Howard said. “Basically we are our locals’ casino. You have to recognize what your market is, which we have done, and we market to those people.

“We are target marketing a lot of the regions around our market as well,” Howard added “We are looking to go south of us which has never been done as it should be.”

Cypress Bayou started off with a far smaller dream and physical footprint in rural St. Mary Parish when it originally opened as Chitimacha Bayouland Bingo in 1988 as a 30,000-square-foot facility, but over the course of two-and-a-half decades of expansion and renovations, it has gone from a small bingo hall to a massive entertainment complex.

According to Richard Picard, Director of Public Relations and Advertising at Cypress Bayou, it is estimated that the casino/hotel has had an economic impact of nearly $1 billion dollars on the region, which includes $670 million in salaries and benefits, $202 million paid to Louisiana vendors, and millions of dollars donated to local charities. 

“It is through the continued patronage of our guests, the dedication of our team members, the long-lasting partnerships with our vendors, and support from the surrounding communities that we have been able to provide world class entertainment at such an unprecedented level,” said Picard.

After a while the midday celebration wrapped up and people went back to work. Howard, a third-generation casino man, took a moment to reflect on what has impressed him the most since he arrived at Cypress Bayou eight months ago.

“I have been in the business 53 years so it is really hard to surprise me,” Howard said. “We have a tremendously dedicated and caring group of employees and that really makes this place worthwhile. That’s not always the case but here it is. It is a family business.”