Gaspard optimistic before event, his third as the chapter chairman

Published 8:30 am Sunday, October 28, 2018

The Jeanerette Duck Unlimited Chapter’s annual general membership banquet is in good hands, starting at the top with a 28-year-old outdoorsman who started going to the fundraisers 18 years ago as a member of the Jeanerette Junior Hunter Education Club.

Larry Gaspard Jr., chapter chairman, fondly remembers those days as he and a strong committee prepare for Thursday’s fundraising event at the West St. Mary Civic Center, 1472 Highway 318, Jeanerette. Like fishing and hunting, the annual fundraiser benefitting duck habitat grew on him, which is why he emphasizes a family theme going into the next one.

“I want to make it like a family thing, you know? We try to get kids to come, get guys to bring their wife,” Gaspard said Friday morning, less than a week before the general membership banquet.

That’s why he started a special raffle for Green Wings. All they need is the purchased Green Wing ticket to get in the drawing because there is no extra charge to get in the raffle, Gaspard said.

Thursday’s event gets underway at 6 p.m. A catered meal of brisket, baked beans, rice dressing, rolls, salad and dessert will be served at approximately 7 p.m., then the popular bidding for live auction items and raffle drawing commences.

This is the New Iberian’s third year as chairman after taking over for Garland LeMaire, who headed up the Jeanerette DU Chapter’s fundraising events 13 years. The 64-year-old LeMaire, who lives along Lake Peigneur said he enjoyed the years heading up the events.

The B&L Engine Service owner for 38 years said the most enjoyable part was seeing all the local outdoorsmen he’s known for years and meeting new friends at each succeeding banquet.

“It’s been good,” LeMaire said Friday morning.

“Yeah, it was fun. I enjoyed it. But I figured it was time for some young people to take over,” he said.

While LeMaire targets ducks “every now and then,” he is an avid deer hunter who loves to hunt with his church group in Texas. He killed 10 deer there in 2017, he said.

He passed the Jeanerette DU Chapter torch to Gaspard, who, he said, “Looks like he’s doing a good job.”

“I like it. It’s got its ups and downs,” Gaspard said.

Gaspard’s first Jeanerette DU Chapter general membership banquet was in 2000. JJHEC members held a skeet shoot to raise money for DU and, to show appreciation, chapter officials donated Green Wing tickets to the JJHEC’ers.

He went to his first event at the Ward 8 Recreation Center and has gone almost every year since, he said. When he was in his 20s, Gaspard began asking if he’d like to help and he always replied in the affirmative.

Three years ago he called a call from a DU official and he accepted the role of chairman for the Jeanerette DU Chapter.

Gaspard, who hunts ducks and deer as much as possible, rolls up his sleeves and helps other chapters in the region, he said, including New Iberia, Pecan Island, Lafayette and Abbeville.

As for the upcoming event, he said, “I guess you could say we’re as ready as we can be. It’s coming down the pipe quick. I hope I can do a good job with it and it’s a successful banquet.

“We do have a good selection of auction items and we’ll have a decent size raffle.”

He’s fortunate to have more than a half-dozen dedicated committee members, including his wife, Tanya Bramande Gaspard. They have a 4-month-old daughter, Charlotte Ann Gaspard.

Other committee members are his parents, Larry Sr. and Sarah Gaspard; Kalvin and Christine Gaspard; Mark Robin, Troy Dubois, Kim Richard and Chris Ditch. He welcomes others who might be interested to serve as committee members, he said.

Gaspard said he anticipates a good crowd.

“It’s hard to put a number on it. I’m hoping to have a decent turnout,” he said. “It’s getting better every year. It (economy) is starting to come back a little bit.”