Discover Lafayette

Roy Devillier, founder of Roy’s Fresh Lemonade, and his daughter, Cynthia Devillier Thompson, join Discover Lafayette to discuss the family-run business Roy started almost 30 years ago. They truly represent the American way of working hard and having a good time in the process as they make a living.

Roy is a retired pharmacist who began his adventure with lemonade in 1994. He had attended a flea market as a funnel cake vendor and wasn’t able to find lemonade that tasted good. Roy decided that he could make a refreshing lemonade that would wow festival-goers.

He began experimenting with water, sugar, and lemons. Some concoctions were too sweet, some too sour, and some were just plain bad. But after about a week of testing his recipe, Roy hit it right and Roy’s Fresh Lemonade was born. Initially, Roy would make 30 gallons at a time in a large vat, with Cynthia helping by stirring the lemonade mix with a wooden paddle. Eventually, Roy realized that the manufacturing had to be made more efficient and came up with a stirrer that was 4 feet long and automated the process.

Roys’ first client was a Lafayette Walmart and his lemonade is now distributed and served at large events across the U. S. Once you buy a cup, refills are half-price….always. You can bring a cup from 10 years ago and the offer is honored. Roy’s Fresh Lemonade is also offered at local restaurants such as Deano’s, Old Tyme Grocery, Prejean’s Restaurant, Y-Not Stop convenience stores, and L.T. Seafood Restaurant.

The National High School Rodeo held annually in Wyoming counts on Roy’s Fresh Lemonade to wow participants and supporters. Roy says the Rodeo is the “Super Bowl for High School rodeo participants and all 50 states are represented.” (Photo by Ed Glazar of the Gillette WY News Record)

The lemonade began to be distributed on a large scale after Roy served it at a Native American tribal event in Oklahoma. The event promoter wanted to offer Roy’s lemonade in their ten casinos, and “That’s how we got into the distribution business.” Once the lemonade got a foothold in popularity, the distributer asked for the right to market to others and things really took off.

Roy’s Fresh Lemonade is now manufactured by a beverage co-packer in Dallas, which allows the Devillier family to sell to a broader market across the U. S. “What do Coke and Pepsi do? They sell concentrated syrup to vendors. So, fifteen years ago, I turned Roy’s Fresh Lemonade into a concentrated syrup to keep up with the demand. It has a shelf life of approximately one year and I can go anywhere I want, and can sell one box or 50 boxes.” Roy Devillier

Cynthia and her husband, Allen, work full-time in support of Roy’s Fresh Lemonade,  They manage inventory, distribution, and marketing of Roy’s. Cynthia is the only child of Roy and Mary Devillier.  Cynthia graduated from UL with her master’s in communication and worked in government, nonprofit, and healthcare sectors.

Cynthia Devillier, her husband, Allen, and their two daughters make Roy’s Fresh Lemonade a true family business success working alongside Cynthia’s dad, Roy.

Roys Fresh Lemonade can be contacted at (337) 849-4460 for orders or for more information visit their Facebook page.

This replay of our interview with Wade Berzas is the most popular interview we have aired over the past six years. Wade was the sole survivor of the horrific plane crash that occurred 48 seconds after departing the Lafayette airport on December 28, 2019, en route to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. He joined Discover Lafayette to discuss how the incident changed his life forever. He now lives his life “48 seconds at a time.” Wade Berzas is a man of faith and lives life to the fullest.

Our guest is Sandi Chalmers, co-owner of the Acadiana Cane Cutters Baseball team.

Sandi and her husband, Richard, acquired a franchise from the Texas Collegiate League in September 2010 to start the Acadiana Cane Cutters. Play officially began in the 2011 season.

The Acadiana Cane Cutters are the primary tenant of Fabacher Field where Lafayette, Broussard, and Youngsville meet. Before the first pitch was thrown, the Chalmers made many capital improvements to the entire facility, including adding over one thousand stadium seats and nearly two hundred premium seating locations, giving Fabacher Field its current 1,400-seat capacity. 

The TCL is a collegiate, summer baseball league designed to give the top professional prospects a chance to play in a minor-league baseball atmosphere while maintaining their amateur status. College players who aspire to make it to the big leagues can showcase their skills in front of fans and baseball scouts.

The 2022 season was historic for the Acadiana Cane Cutters as they won their first Texas Collegiate League Championship.

The Texas Collegiate League opens play on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, as the Cane Cutters travel down I-10 to face off against the rival Baton Rouge Rougarou. The home opener for Acadiana Cane Cutters is Thursday, June 1st against the Victoria Generals, at Fabacher Field in Youngsville, with Cutter fans hoping for the same outcome that won the championship for the Cutters in 2022.

Sandi and Richard have a love of baseball that runs deep, and they would center their family vacations with their twin sons around watching Major League Baseball across the U. S. Their love for the game still runs true, and Sandi shared that their deepest desire is to be a part of the fabric of our community and to offer safe and affordable family fun. For Richard, it is about player development and helping the players’ game; Sandi reminisced about one of their players being drafted by the Astros. The Chalmers also offer internships with the Acadiana Cane Cutters which have afforded their young assistants opportunities and skills to move on to rewarding careers in baseball management and other industries.

For more information, visit https://www.canecuttersbaseball.com/ If you are interested in sponsoring a game or supporting the Acadiana Cane Cutters, call Richard Nunnally at (337)295-5677.

Greg Gautreaux joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his career as a public servant in Lafayette’s Parks and Recreation Department and acclaimed NFL referee.

Greg dedicated his career in service to Lafayette’s Parks and Recreation department managing its athletic programs, therapeutic recreation, pools, and parks. He got his start as a referee as a student at Teurlings High School, class of 1972, which was the genesis of his lifelong love of officiating; he recently retired with 50 years of service in officiating and still serves as assignments secretary for the Lafayette Area Football Officials Association.

For sixteen years, he officiated high school football; Nelson Stokley and Gerald Broussard helped him break into college officiating. Greg served for 32 years as a college official and was an active NFL football official serving as a field judge. In 1998, he met an NFL scout who attended a Tulane-Rutgers game that Greg was officiating. Not long after, he got a letter inviting him to work NFL Europe games which he enjoyed for four years before being called up to serve for the NFL.

Greg’s career highlight was officiating at Super Bowl XLIII in the matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. This is the pinnacle of achievement as referees earn the honor of working the Super Bowl by being the highest-rated official (in Greg’s situation, as a field judge) throughout the season. As Greg says, “You are expected to start out perfect and improve from there!” To qualify as an official at the conclusion of that season, Greg handled 2400 plays and only had two misses! Think about that!!

You have to stay in good health to have the privilege to work with the NFL. There can be many challenges when serving as an official. “I’d run four or five miles per day to stay in good shape. You usually run and walk up to six miles per game. The NFL makes sure the referees pass fitness tests before they are cleared for their year contract of service. 119 NFL referees work per season, rotating the crew as needed.

Greg’s home study holds a plethora of football memorabilia he has collected over his lifetime, as well as the memories he cherishes.

Greg is still an active proponent of a strong parks and recreation department in Lafayette. Our Parks and Recreation Department, which encompasses 28 city parks, is woefully underfunded, still being covered by a 1.92-mill recreation tax that was enacted in 1961 when Lafayette only had four parks. The millage brings in about $2 million per year. Compare this to Youngsville’s per capita collections for parks which is nearly 10 times Lafayette’s; Broussard collects more than 7 times on a per capita basis.

One of Greg’s favorite memories is being a key part of the genesis of disc golf in Lafayette. Five parks offer the program, which allows people to spend time having fun with very little investment in equipment. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, “Disc golf is played much like golf except, instead of a ball and clubs, players use a flying disc. The sport was formalized in the 1970s and shares with golf the object of completing each hole in the fewest strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, fewest throws).”

We thank Greg Gautreaux for his lifelong dedication to making our park’s system the best it could be. And in closing, Greg noted there is a shortage of high school referees. Anyone interested in learning more should check out https://www.becomeareferee.com/louisiana/

Robert Jarred and David Begneaud, board members of Scenic Lafayette, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss their mission to keep Lafayette beautiful and free of clutter and trash. They are both active and engaged volunteers.

Scenic Lafayette is a citizen-based advocacy group committed to preserving and enhancing the natural and built environment of our community. through: Policy, Partnerships, Public education, and Projects.

Founded in 2014, Scenic Lafayette promotes beauty as a valuable asset for those who live, visit, and conduct business in Lafayette. Its vision is to embrace calm, cleanliness, and the natural landscape of public and private spaces.

Scenic Lafayette is one of 49 state and local affiliates of Scenic America, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the visual character of our country’s roadways, countryside, and communities, and inspired by the Lady Bird Johnson and the Highway Beautification Act.

One big recurring problem we discussed was the proliferation of illegal signs that are posted in public spaces. Our guests jokingly recounted that “I buy golf carts” is the newest offender in our community as you see the signs posted throughout the area. The signs are typically posted in the middle of the night so David and Robert spoke of regularly getting up at 3 a.m. to start taking down the illegal signs. You can help by calling 311 to report litter and illegal signage.

Let’s clean up our neighborhoods! If you see a broken utility/phone post be sure to report it by calling 311 or 337.291.8800. AT&T will soon be digging up, fixing or replacing broken telephone cable boxes throughout Lafayette Parish. Lafayette City Councilwoman Liz Webb Hebert took it upon herself to address this issue….it has blown up across the state as other communities say they have the same problem. David Begneaud says, “The issue is being fixed and is coming around! This is important, as our visitors enter Lafayette they see this blight. Visitors who are considering moving here pay attention to these things.”

The issue of blighted green utility provider boxes found in public spaces throughout the community was also discussed and our guests reported the communication provider was responsive to requests for help in addressing the problem.

A few of the initiatives of Scenic Lafayette: The Azalea Trail Revitalization Project; Signage Policy Improvement and Enforcement; Landscape and Tree Policy Improvement and Enforcement; Art and Architecture Guide; Streetscape Improvement; Utility Infrastructure Visual Enhancement; Billboard Control; and Litter Abatement.

Lafayette experiences a high level of trash being strewn on its streets and our interstate interchanges. Trash flies out of the back of citizens’ pickup trucks as well as municipally-contracted trash pickup trucks. David Begneaud said he has heard Matt Stuller quote statistics several times, saying,”South Louisiana has the highest per capita of open-bed pickup trucks in the nation.” David said further, “When you go down the interstate, whenever you are the contracted person to cut the grass, you have to pick up the litter first, and you see litter bags full of trash every 25 to 50 yards filled with trash for miles as they prepare to cut the grass on interstate medians.”

Municipalities can actively control the amount of blight that is tolerated. As David Begneaud said in a shout-out to Youngsville LA after discussing his awareness of how U. S communities control blight: “Go to Youngsville, LA. Youngsville has zero tolerance for non-compliant signs. Zero. Drive through the City of Youngsville and you’re not going to see vinyl banners strapped between the utility pole and a temporary pole hammered into the ditch. Word gets around.”

This interview with Robert and David is an excellent opportunity to hear the passion of local volunteers who dedicate their free time to help all of us better enjoy our community. We thank both for their tireless efforts on behalf of Scenic Lafayette!

Dr. E. Joseph Savoie, president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, joins Discover Lafayette to share his life story and dedication to improving our state’s educational climate.

Dr. Savoie has served as president of UL-Lafayette since 2008. Before serving at UL, Dr. Savoie served as Louisiana’s commissioner of higher education for 12 years.

He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from UL Lafayette, and thereafter earned a doctor of education degree in educational leadership and administration from Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York City.

He has served in leadership positions for Louisiana governors Mike Foster, Kathleen Blanco, Bobby Jindal and John Bel Edwards.

Under Dr. Savoie’s leadership, the university has made incredible strides, significantly of note in 2021 when it achieved its designation as a Carnegie R1 university. This is the highest designation bestowed by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, The Carnegie Classification’s 2021 update includes nearly 3,900 institutions. Only 137 of them, or 3%, attained R1 status. Colleges and universities are reviewed after three years to maintain this prestigious ranking.

This is a heartwarming interview of Dr. Savoie as he shares growing up in Sulphur, LA, meeting his late wife, Gail, while still in high school, and his memories of his own college days at USL.

We thank Dr. Savoie for taking the time to visit and for his service to our community. UL-Lafayette is a bedrock of our community, having been founded in 1898, and is our best asset for culturing upcoming leaders who can stay in Lafayette and build their own success stories.

Butch Roussel, the founder of the 24-Hour Citizen Project, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his passion for empowering others to make our community spaces great. He opened the show by speaking of his most important passion ever, his family: his lovely wife, his two children, and a third on the way!

The 24-Hour Citizen Project connects citizens with expertise and financial backers to make community-focused ideas a reality. The organization is responsible for nearly $130,000 in private funds toward almost 30 public projects including Downtown’s Lafayette sign, Krewe de Canailles, the Musical Instrument Library, the Eyes of the Sun poetry mural installation, and more. 

The project was a dream of Butch Roussel’s and the inspiration occurred when he was traveling too much for work, on the road in Cincinnati, Ohio, and realized he wanted to make a difference in his own community of Lafayette, Louisiana. He was asked to make a pitch at TedX and came up with an original concept he called the “48 Hour Citizen Project” which was inspired by the 48 Hour Film Project where friends and colleagues work creatively to make a movie in a weekend. Of course, the project evolved and was renamed The 24 Hour Citizen Project which has been empowering our locals to make a difference in our quality of life for the past seven years.

This year, applications for citizen-driven projects will be accepted beginning in June 2023. All ideas of worthy of consideration.

Butch Roussel, founder of the 24 Hour Citizen Project, and Kate Durio, co-founder of ReCover Acadiana, merged their two organizations in Civicside.com as a more effective way to engage citizens to enact change. The two are good friends and longtime civic activists.

Butch is a graduate of UL-Lafayette and Johns Hopkins University where he finished in Biotechnology Business. Since 2011, Butch has managed clinical trials for government, pharmaceutical and small biotechnology companies through his company, Vivo Research, LLC.  He has worked through the Best Pharmaceutical Children’s Act to help expand drug labels for pediatric populations and worked on numerous epilepsy, opioid abuse potential, cardiovascular stroke, and gene therapy trials.

For more information, email [email protected] or visit https://24hourcitizenproject.com/ or https://civicside.com/projects

Rusty Cloutier joins Discover Lafayette to talk about the current state of the banking Industry. Many know Rusty as the founding President and CEO of MidSouth Bank which was organized in 1984 and has since been acquired by Hancock Whitney.  He has consistently been one of the leading and vocal advocates of community banking in the U. S.

Rusty is a past chair of the National Advisory Committee of Fannie Mae, as well as past chair of the Independent Community Bankers of America. He served as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies and is a former Director of the New Orleans Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. 

Rusty is also the author of Big Bad Banks, How Greed and Ego among the big shots in banking and government created the crisis that wrecked our economy.

In 2015, Don Bacque released “A Walk in the Park: A Vietnam Comedy”, a comedic book about his experiences in the Vietnam War, in which he served in the Army’s 5th Special Forces, popularly known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear. H

He stated that at least two God-inspired occurrences facilitated the completion of this book: First, he found that his memories of the war were fading but when he was packing to move to his new house he came across wartime letters he had written to his wife, Cookie, that served as the basis of his manuscript; and, second: Don was encouraged by his close friend, Carl Bauer, to join Carl’s writing class where he had to submit a chapter of his life story for each class, which eventually kept him on track to finish the project. Carl Bauer didn’t live to read the outcome of Don’s story about his feelings on the war, but Carl’s life lives on through his magnetic energy which ignited Don and so many others of us to follow our path and make a difference in life.

Don details the adventure that led him to Vietnam and it is one to which we can all relate as it was “never supposed to happen.” He had mistakenly believed that his poor eyesight would spare him from combat: Why would the Army send a man who was legally blind into combat if he might lose his glasses and mistakenly shoot the wrong side?? How could a man who was afraid of heights be made to jump from planes and into war zone conflicts??

As Don recounts the many close friends he made, the lessons learned, and the gradual disillusionment he experienced as the futility of the Vietnam War became apparent, “A Walk in the Park” is an important read for all generations. To purchase the book, please visit Amazon here.

The resulting work is one you will enjoy as you also learn about the foibles of military service and the true grit required of our men and women who serve and protect the United States of America and our allies! The adventure that began for Don Bacque on February 11, 1968 changed his life and led him to be the well-grounded man he is today. Inspirationally, Don is well aware that God’s grace is real and that heroes, while not necessarily recognized, walk among us every day.

We thank Don Bacque also for his service to our community, as he served as a Louisiana State Representative from 1988 to 1992, and was the founding chair of Leadership Lafayette. He also organized a Vietnam Veterans group in Lafayette and served as the state co-chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee that built a monument in New Orleans to honor the 881 veterans from Louisiana who did not return from the war. 

Master Baker Patrick Poupart, proprietor of Poupart’s Bakery, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss the rich history of his bakery. Located at 1902 W. Pinhook in Lafayette, Poupart’s is the only authentic French bakery in Acadiana, opened by his parents Francois and Louise Poupart in 1967. The bakery currently employs 23 people to keep up with the demand for its services.

The elder Poupart studied at Compagnon Du Devoir, an apprentice guild in France where he and his twin brother trained professionally in the culinary arts. After serving in the military and working in Paris, Francois received an offer to work as a pastry chef in Louisiana in 1962 and brought his wife, Louise, with him.

Francois soon discovered that his strong French accent was not a barrier here, and was in fact appreciated and complimented by locals The baked goods offered by the Poupart family have enticed their loyal following ever since Francois opened Poupart’s in 1967.

Patrick followed in the footsteps of his father, and literally grew up at the bakery, as the family lived upstairs. Baking was always a part of his life from his youngest memories and all bakery chores had to be completed before he could engage in other activities. Patrick went to bakery school in France for one year after graduating from St. Thomas More High School and found the education to be a confirmation of the basic baking principals his father had taught him through the years.

A visit to Poupart’s is like taking a walk through heaven. Fresh breads, sweet treats, French pastries, cookies, dobash cakes, fruit tarts, there is something for everyone. Patrick explained that French baking techniques are more delicate and the pastries are more delicate and prettier confections than heavier American desserts such as pies and cookies.

Poupart’s has bread routes in Lafayette and Baton Rouge and sells its pistolettes, ciabatta, french, sourdough, focaccia, and various breads to stores throughout the region.

Poupart’s offers breakfast and lunch options onsite, and caters events. All foods are made fresh in house. As for their confections, you can special order a dessert that is not typically on their menu; provide direction and they will deliver delicious results!

We thank Patrick Poupart for joining us and sharing his story. Congratulations to the Poupart family for enjoying a successful 56 years in business!