YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER LAROSE, LA thelafourchegazette.com
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
It’s wild and it’s back … get your tickets now!
SERVING: MATHEWS • GHEENS • LOCKPORT • VALENTINE • LAROSE CUT OFF • GALLIANO • GOLDEN MEADOW • LEEVILLE • GRAND ISLE
Galliano man admits to sexual conduct with three juveniles
Carnival season rollin’ along …
Wild Game Supper set for Thurs., Feb. 26
Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre and Golden Meadow Chief of Police Reggie Pitre announced the arrest of a Galliano man for engaging in sexual conduct Joseph Duplantis with three juveniles. Joseph Duplantis IV, 27, was arrested on Friday and admitted to his involvement in the crimes. Last week, officers with the Golden Meadow Police Department responded to a complaint where a 27year-old male allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with a juvenile. The officers contacted juvenile detectives with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office to investigate the claims. Through the investigation detectives learned Joseph Duplantis had engaged in sexual conduct with three juveniles over a four-year period. Following their investigation, detectives obtained warrants for Duplantis’ arrest. See Arrest Page 9-A
Join the hundreds of experienced hunters, amateurs, and the want-to-be hunters and fishermen as they exchange stories of the jungles, the forests, the oceans, and the open fields. They will be telling wonderful stories on Thursday, February 26, and the Larose Regional Park Pavilion will be packed with people who have joined together to enjoy the tastes of the familiar wild game dishes as well as the exotic. The setting is wonderful! Much like a museum, the outer edges of the pavilion will have an exhibit of varied mounted animals hunted in the United States and throughout the world. Many of these mounts are set in wildlife settings. For those who have enjoyed hunting trips and fishing trips, there is always a good story to tell
ABOVE: The Larose-based Krewe of Versailles’ King Jerome Joseph Shields and Queen Charlene Pierce Plaisance salute the crowd as they rolled Sunday celebrating Versailles’ 41st year. Rolling Saturday through Larose was the children’s parade, Le Krewe Des T-Cajuns. Area parades this weekend include the Krewe of Athena in Golden Meadow on Friday night, at 7 p.m. The Krewe of Apollo will roll through Lockport at noon, while Atlantis will roll through Golden Meadow, also at noon. Topping off the day Saturday will be the Le Krewe du Bon Temps in Larose beginning at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, the Krewe of Grand Isle will roll at 1 p.m., with the Krewe of Nereids finishing off the parade-filled weekend at 6 p.m. in Golden Meadow. LEFT: These children eagerly await another float from the Le Krewe Des T-Cajuns parade Saturday.
See Supper Page 6-A
Sharon Ougel serves up a dish of buffalo chili at last year’s Wild Game Supper. Tickets are available for purchase now for this year’s event on Thursday, Feb. 26 at the Larose Regional Park File Photo pavilion.
MEETINGS SATURDAY, FEB. 14
LES ARTISTE DU BAYOU ART GUILD 9:00 a.m. Larose Civic Center
INSIDE
Arrests...........................12-A Calendar of Events.........2-A Classifieds............10-A/11-A
Lottery.............................2-A Memorials......................11-A
News In Brief.................12-A
Obituaries......................11-A
Public Notices................12-A Surfin’ the Net..............12-A
VOLUME 49 NUMBER 22
Versailles photo courtesy of Joie de Vie Photography Des T-Cajuns staff photo by Babs
What makes love last?
Operation Game Thief rewards citizens, catches bad guys Buster Avera Contributing Writer
“You’ve got to know when to say ‘when’”, said Don Dubuc on his Saturday morning WWL radio show — Don Dubuc the Outdoors Guy. He was commenting on a Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries news release about a Galliano man who was cited for catching and keeping more than 20 black drum and 1 redfish, all undersized, in the Pointe-Aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area on Jan. 31st. Every Saturday, Don does a segment on his radio show called “Bad Boys of the Outdoors” in which he features one or more outdoorsmen who have been caught breaking game or fish laws. Saturday, Dubuc featured Rufino Gonzalez-Ibarra, 34, who was cited for See Game Thief Page 9-A
Words of wisdom from couples who have passed the 50th anniversary mark Jan Conrad Contributing Writer
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and many of us use this time of year to think about our loved ones – spouses, family, friends … anyone of whom we want to send a little love. The true origins of Valentine’s Day are not set in stone, as facts have become muddled throughout the centuries. History tells us that during the end of the third century, a Roman priest named Valentine went against the wishes of Emperor Claudius II and married lovers in secret. The Roman Empire was in desperate need of soldiers and Claudius believed that single men were better candidates for the position thus creating the ban on marriage.
Eventually, Valentine was imprisoned, beheaded and later named a martyr by the Catholic Church because he gave up his life for the sacrament of marriage. The Ides of February, or middle of the month, is when his execution took place; thus becoming the time when to celebrate that love had triumphed over all. Greetings for this day of love can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Written Valentines began to appear around the 1400s. Americans, it seems, began to exchange hand-made tokens of love in the mid-1700s. The “Mother of the Valentine”, Esther A. Howland, was the first person to sell mass-produced valentines decorated with lace, ribbons, and pictures, known as “scrap” in the 1840s, according to The History Channel. See Love Page 6-A
Ronald and Elaine Callais of Galliano have been married 53 years and offer advice on how to sustain a successful relationship.