After 40 years of serving the community as the director of the Shadows-on-the-Teche, Patricia Kahle has retired.

Several members of the community including Becky Collins, Cathy Indest and Marcia Patout held a party celebrating Kahle’s contributions to New Iberia.

Kahle officially retired on the first of July, but still volunteers at the Shadows a couple of mornings a week, going through the archives from her time. Kahle said she found it very difficult to simply leave the job.

”It’s a gradual shift. It’s hard to walk away from this kind of job feeling responsibility. Even on the way over here, I saw a Sir Speedy truck out front and I’m thinking, ‘does anyone know they need to go over and help them?’ So it doesn’t just turn off,” Kahle said.

Even though she loved her work, Kahle didn’t know she would end up in a 48-year-long museum career, let alone in Louisiana. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Kahle received a degree in Anthropology from the Pennsylvania State University. After graduating she happened across a museum job, and the ride began.

“After college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. At some point, I just fell into a museum job, and I’ve been working in museums now since 1975,” Kahle said.

Kahle still plans to do the work she enjoys, like the Farm Fest, the Sugarcane Festival and the Arts and Crafts Fair. She plans to take a few months to figure out her next move, but will take time to enjoy some of the perks of her retirement.

“You can step back a bit and concentrate on the things you always enjoyed. I’m not the point person anymore. If the alarm goes off in the middle of the night, I’m not it,” Kahle said with a chuckle.

Collins, Indest and Patout reached out to several former board members and established a plan for the party. To get invitations out, they sent out digital invites over social media and reached out to the various community organizations around New Iberia to invite their members and their friends and family. In total, over 90 people showed up to the party at Maison Le Rosier.

“In case you are just finding out there was a party for Pat and you missed it, the committee is extremely sorry you were not here,” Collins said.

In the theme of celebrating Kahle’s long history, they chose not to have the event catered, but rather members of the community cooked dishes from the Shadows-on-the-Teche cookbook. They served food on traditional silver trays, which caught the eye of longtime community member and one of the original Sugar Lumps, Robbie Dale.

“I couldn’t tell you the last time I had been to an event where everything was laid out in silver. This is how I grew up, entertaining my mother and grandmother. It’s just elegant,” Dale said gleefully.

Mayor Freddie DeCort presented Kahle with a special proclamation thanking her for the dedication and service she’s shown New Iberia along with a key to the city. The chief administrative officer of Iberia Parish, Milton Belanger, presented Kahle a certificate of appreciation on behalf of Iberia Parish and Parish President Larry Richard.

Even before becoming Mayor, DeCourt worked alongside Kahle in his historic restoration projects. DeCourt returned from college in 1983, the same year Kahle joined the Shadows-on-the-Teche as director, and they started working on projects together in 1984. Professionally, DeCourt said he respects the passion and work ethic she demonstrates in the projects they’ve shared.

“I don’t think I’ve worked with anybody on any project who is as passionate as she is about getting it right and respecting the history,” DeCourt said.

Former Louisiana House speaker Taylor Barras described how Shadows-on-the-Teche led by Kahle acted as a constant reminder to New Iberia’s traditions and history.

“As much as our area has changed over the years, the Shadows has been the one stable thing through all of that and it takes a dedicated director and employees to achieve it,” Barras said.

Collins explained the importance of the celebration,but said she wasn’t really the one to talk to since she’s a “newcomer” who’s only been in New Iberia 23 years. Collins said she’s grateful to all of the different friends of Pat who appeared at the party.

“She has been such an important part of the cultural scene in New Iberia for 40 years. She has staged so many wonderful events at the Shadows and she’s helped us grow. It’s just been fantastic working with everyone to celebrate her because we all love Pat so much,” Collins said.

Kahle closed the ceremony with a speech thanking her coworkers and all of the members of the community who worked alongside her over the years.

“People have been thanking me all this time for the 40 years of what I did. But the truth of the matter is I loved all of it because I worked with people like you. That’s what made working at the Shadows really special. So, truthfully, I appreciated all of these thank yous, but the food and everything should be shared by all of you just as we’re doing because you’re all the ones that made those 40 years really special,” Kahle concluded emotionally.