Another convention has come and gone and is but a stash of memories and a pile of pictures on some tabletop. If anyone came to Lafayette in expectations of seeing fireworks they came away disappointed. This year’s “fireworks” instead manifested themselves in a feeling of cooperation and accomplishment.

The typical Thursday night board meeting was held at the Holidome with all of the board attending along with Colonel Vidrine. Plans for the weekend were fine-tuned and Sgts. Ed and Remy Broussard had the hotel staff looking for any problems even before any shortcomings began to show themselves.

As usual, there were a few slip ups with reservations being either double booked or omitted. Nothing a few words to the right people couldn’t fix!

The hospitality room proved a popular hangout for the early comers on Thursday evening. This fact may have accounted for some less than par shooting on Friday, both on the range and on the golf course.
Friday dawned on a day of scattered thunderstorms. Fortunately for us, the rain doesn’t dampen the spirits of most game wardens. The golf match was held at Spanish Trail course in New Iberia and the pistol match was at the Iberia Sheriff’s Office Range. Both went off without a hitch, much to the delight of the organizers.
This is the part where the author must humble himself and explain why. It seems that when a person is the “on site coordinator” it takes time away from other duties. One of these other duties is obtaining a list of the winners of the matches.

The majority of the awards were given out at the barbeque on Friday night. If any of you saw yours truly on Friday night it was probably a fleeting glimpse. Myself, David Liles, and several other region reps and executive board members and Major Dares were in the midst of cleaning up after dinner when the awards were given out. Unfortunately the list of the awards was not made available to me. However, our illustrious association president did remember that the team from Region Six took the 4-man team honors…again! More to follow in future articles on this subject.

The barbeque was a hit to say the least…. a smash to say the most! The cuisine was fit for a king. Our compliments to the caterer’s chef!  The music, which accompanied our meal, was no less enjoyable. The Aaron Istre Cajun Band had everyone in the place either up on the dance floor or tapping his or her toes with the music. A guest performance from Sgt. Chris Cormier’s accordion playing dad put the topping on the cake. If anyone went home that night without dancing to their hearts content it was his or her own fault.

On Saturday morning the ladies were treated to a brunch and a few line dancing lessons. This proved to come in handy later in the evening.  While the ladies were educated, so were the agents. The business meeting was very informative. The speakers included all of the headquarters staff that discussed their own specialties.

One of the most popular topics of discussion was the newly passed retirement bill. We were treated to a brief question and answer session and personnel employees who were on hand at a convenient location outside the meeting room answered more intense questions. The retirement bill and the new mandatory boater education program have been long awaited feathers in our caps. Many thanks go out to everyone who had anything to do with this becoming a reality.

Gary Allen from Key Enterprises also discussed the new format for the magazine and presented us with copies of the first edition. The cover was presented to Col. Vidrine in the form of a poster. The cover photo, unbeknownst to the colonel, was the colonel’s grandson with a stringer of fish. The magazine’s new look should benefit the association in many ways.

The colonel was also surprised in another way. Darryl Moore presented him with a Stihl chainsaw in appreciation of all of the hard work done on our behalf over the last year. It sounds like the hard work has only just begun!

After several terms of service on the board, Lt. Robert Martin stepped down as the financial officer. The membership elected Wayne Parker to serve in this capacity in the interim. Good luck Wayne, we know that you’re up to it.

After presentations by several of the future convention site hopefuls, the membership voted to carry themselves to Houma for next year’s convention. It will be held at the Holidome in Houma. I’m sure that they remember us from 3 years ago.

Robert Martin also took the opportunity to present last year’s lifetime license, which was raffled, to John Lopez’s two young sons. This license was won by Ed Broussard and was graciously donated back to the association to be given to these two young men. This is the true spirit of what our association is all about.
Lt. Col. Clark presented meritorious service awards to Pete Oliver, Jimmy Carter, and Tommy Walker. Jimmy Carter was also presented with the State Boating Officer of the Year Award.

It was agreed upon that the past year has been an extremely successful year for the association as a whole. More than once the entire membership was praised for the professional way in which their jobs have been carried out throughout the past year.

The Saturday night banquet was a chance for the “Agents of the Year” to shine in the spotlight. Even though we all strive for this notoriety, there can be only one from each region. Those agents are as follows:
Region 1 - Kenny Balkom
Region 2 - Rick Owens
Region 3 - Curtis Belton
Region 4 - James Parish
Region 5 - David Sanford
Region 6 - Jerry Stassi - also the state Agent of the Year
Region 7 - Dennis Bueche
Region 8 - Eddie Skena
Region 9 - Richard Purvis
Region 10 - Ivan Vaughn, Jr.

The dance, which followed the banquet, was another one for the books. The “Andy Smith Band” provided the entertainment and was enjoyed by everyone from the youngest to the oldest in the house.