Podcasts about downtown lafayette

In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck is joined by Carlee Alm-LaBar and Kevin Blanchard, former city staff members in Lafayette, Louisiana. Carlee is now Strong Towns' chief of staff, while Kevin is CEO of the nonprofit Downtown Lafayette, which promotes infrastructure development and business revitalization. Carlee and Kevin discuss the challenges of balancing competing demands and priorities when working in local government, particularly when trying to make smarter financial decisions. They also share recommendations for how local governments and residents can work together constructively. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Download the Strong Towns Finance Decoder to get to the bottom of your city's finances. Kevin Blanchard (LinkedIn) Chuck Marohn (Substack)

Americans love their pizza. We eat around 3 billion pizzas a year—that’s about 350 slices per second. And we wash down a good portion of it with wine: the U.S. is the world’s largest wine-consuming country, drinking nearly 1 billion gallons annually. Put that all together and you’ve got a complete meal. Pizza, of course, is ubiquitous in Lafayette. And it’s not hard to find a decent glass of wine. But it’s fair to say we’re not known for those delicacies. We’re more of a boudin and light beer crowd. And that’s why it might be hard to find a sommelier — a certified wine expert like Nick Dooley. Nick is a Level 2 Sommelier and founder of Nick Dooley Sommelier, a boutique wine education and tasting business based in Lafayette. Nick got his start in hospitality bussing tables at Ruffino’s, discovered a passion for wine, and steadily climbed the ranks of sommelier certification. After an impromptu Facebook gig turned into a hit, Nick launched his own business in 2024. Now, he organizes in-home wine events, curates pairings, and teaches clients how to savor the subtleties of the grape. He's also the wine manager at My Somm Wine Merchant in River Ranch. Red and whites aren’t just varietals, they’re sauces. And you can find both varieties on the pies at Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza. Paisley Turrubiartez is the co-owner and area manager of the Jim Deggy’s location in Downtown Lafayette. She started as a staffer on the original Jim Deggy's food truck in Pineville, where the concept originated, and worked her way up over seven years. When the company expanded to Lafayette, she became part-owner and took the reins of the new location. Jim Deggy’s serves craft beer and wood-fired pizzas with a dough that cold ferments for 96 hours and finishes in a 700-degree French oven. Their menu is built on traditional flavors with a local twist—and their brewery uses a water-saving Smart Brew system to make it all work. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Alisha Zachery Lazard at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guests today are Mia and Rob Sandberg, husband and wife, and a dynamic duo of entrepreneurship! Mia is the proprietor of Root Floral on Jefferson Street in Downtown Lafayette, 810 Jefferson Street. The shop is open Tuesday – Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. unless an event taking place.. Her company specializes in providing floral arrangements for events, weddings, and everyday flowers.  They offer a subscription service where you can sign up to give periodical gifts of flowers to that special someone. Open for walk-in arrangements, Root Floral's stock varies from day to day, so Mia advises people to order online or call ahead if they can. Big events like weddings can affect the in-store supply so it's best to place an order well in advance. Rob is the proprietor of Lucia, a bakery that offers not only delicious pastries but baked goods that offer a feast for the eyes! One look at their website will have you running to Lucia, located at 607 Kaliste Saloom Road. Lucia started out as a small batch, from-scratch bakery that began doing popups in our downtown area in late 2020, selling brioche-stuffed donuts (bombolonis) and then slowly began adding laminated pastries to the rotational menu. Lucia now concentrates on viennoise-style baking, a form of pastry made famous in France with origins in Vienna. Mia proudly shares the expansion of her online event collections, which now includes 21 color palettes to choose from. This is a great option for a bride who just needs basic items or those who don't want to go through the whole process of meeting. These collections can be used for bridal showers, baby showers, Christmas parties, or any special occasion. It's also a great way for clients on a budget to order flower arrangements. For clients worried about costs, Mia says that Root Floral will work with clients on a budget to help them achieve a beautiful arrangement for their special day. She explains that for pricing, they “price everything out by the stem” and “use a system called curate”. This is helpful for adjusting the number and types of flowers based on a client's budget. Mia graduated from the UL-Lafayette with a degree in interior design in 2008. She is passionate about color, texture and proportions, which she says helps her now in making her floral arrangements. After graduating, she took various jobs in product design and interior design in Dallas, Texas. She also was a waitress as Toulouse, the same restaurant Rob worked as a pastry chef. When the couple moved back to Lafayette in 2012, Rob was the one who suggested she open a flower shop. So, she began creating and sharing her creations inside of a small portable storage building at her parent's house in Cecilia. For a year she says she was “sending arrangements to as many businesses as I could”, like Carpe Diem or Kiki, to promote her work. She attributes good photography, Facebook, and her unique arrangements for her success. In the beginning she says, “there was lots of spray paint”. Within a year, she outgrew that location and moved to downtown Lafayette. Now she continues to provide beautiful flowers for events across Lafayette. It is an understatement to say that her company began to flourish; Root Floral has even been written up in Martha Stewart Living! Lucía, a boulangerie and viennoiserie located at 607 Kaliste Saloom Road near St. Pius was opened by Rob Sandberg in 2021. He began in the bakery business by doing popups and later selling pastries at the Moncus Park farmer's market where his brother Ruben Sandberg came on board. Lucía sold out each Saturday for about 2 years before Lucia opened on Kaliste Saloom. Rob says in the early days, he and Mia converted their sunroom into a bakery where their were frying donuts and making custards. Pastries and floral bouquets showcased at Lucia Mother's Day weekend 2024. A wonderful partnership between Mia and Rob Sandberg. ...

Megan Arceneaux, of Hub City Cycles, and Carly Courville, Marketing Director at Festival International Festival International de Louisiane 2024 is around the corner and we are talking with Megan Arceneaux, owner of Hub City Cycles in Downtown Lafayette along with Carly Courville, Marketing Director of Festival International about all things festival, what to expect, and the best ways to get around during the festival. https://www.festivalinternational.org  / hubcitycycles   — Find this and past episodes at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/sh... — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by Chase Group Construction, The Music Academy of Acadiana, and Electronic Protection Systems. The Tea Podcast Studio is sponsored in-part by Mire.Group CPAs: https://facebook.com/miregroupcpa?mib...

Some things are better left to the professionals. If you're a VIP with a target on your back, security is one of those things. Protection Personal security is a highly specialized business. It takes discipline, preparation and the willingness to put your life on the line for your client. Risking life and limb isn't for everyone. And that's why few people get into personal security.  Those who do, like Myron Fonseca, often come from backgrounds in the military or law enforcement. Myron comes from both. Myron spent 31 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as Colonel. He served as a commander in Iraq and received a Gold Star.  In the 1970s, Myron began a career in policing. He worked in SWAT and as a bailiff for a judge. The experience sparked an idea to go into personal security. In 2022, he started Top Brass Protection. Top Brass offers security services for individuals, families, businesses, homes and valuables. He also helps clients develop response plans for emergencies and disasters, including active shooter preparation. But the bread and butter of Top Brass is executive protection — personal security for VIPs. Pole Dance If you need protection, you'll need a body man. If you want to work on your body and your body image, you might try pole dancing. And yes, you'll need some training. Just ask Magnolia Love.  Magnolia is the owner of Magnolia's Playground, a pole fitness and yoga studio. Magnolia struggled with body image issues and self-esteem in her 20s. And in 2012, she discovered pole dancing on Youtube. She liked the idea, bought a pole and tried to teach herself. It took years to learn but took off when she moved to Texas and started taking classes.  When she moved home to Scott, Magnolia decided to open a pole fitness studio herself. She bought four poles and installed them in a mother-in-law suite in her backyard. Something clicked. She gathered students, and in 2023 Magnolia opened a brick and mortar studio in Downtown Lafayette.  The studio attracts 60 students each week and has 25 studio members. Magnolia employs seven teachers and hosts 15 classes per week.  Magnolia is also a certified yoga instructor and a certified funeral director and embalmer. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Blanchard, CEO of Downtown Development Authority ("DDA") and Downtown Lafayette Unlimited ("DLU"), and Jessica Hauerwas, Executive Director of DLU, join Discover Lafayette to discuss their organizations' missions, focus and programming. The two organizations work together to preserve and enhance Downtown Lafayette's place as the heart of Acadiana, providing resources for businesses, developers, and community members to keep Downtown Lafayette thriving and successful. DLU was formed in the November 1983 as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization as the oil bust was causing people to relocate, as a mechanism to reinvigorate downtown; DDA was created in 1992 by Louisiana legislation not long after and is supported by a dedicated tax of 15 mills paid by downtown property owners. Kevin was hired to take over the helm of the two organizations earlier this year upon the departure of Anita Begnaud, who served as Downtown Lafayette's CEO for the past several years. He brings rich experience to the table, having served as Executive Director of the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority, COO for Southern Lifestyle and Development, and Chief Development Officer and Public Works Director at Lafayette Consolidated Government under the Joey Durel Administration. He practiced as an attorney with the Onebane Law Firm, was Editor-in-Chief of the Louisiana Law Review and covered government and politics as a reporter for The Acadiana Advocate newspaper. Jessica was hired in November 2023 to oversee DLU's day-to-day operations and promote downtown as an economic driver, cultural epicenter and key element of the region's quality of life. She leads its fundraising strategies, nurtures relationships with the organization's members, donors, and partners, and works on programming DLU's events (such as Bach Lunch, Downtown Alive, and Lunch and Learn) and helps downtown businesses promote their own events. Jessica previously worked in marketing and operations with Acadiana Center for the Arts and had served as president of the DLU board. Family friendly programming is a key focus of Downtown Lafayette, as it not only provides wonderful entertainment for our community, but it serves to drive people downtown who may not have experienced its growing attractions. DDA and DLU are working to have people see downtown as a safe neighborhood, "as a great place to feel free to play, get entertained, work and live," says Kevin. Downtown Alive is celebrating its 40th year Longtime goals of Downtown Lafayette have focused on the construction of residential spaces to attract permanent residents and achieve infrastructure improvements supporting the needs of a vibrant downtown. A residential market study commissioned by DDA shows a demand for 1,000 residential housing units in the downtown area over the next five years. New properties recently completed downtown include the Vermilion Lofts, The Lofts at the Municipal Apartments, and the Monroe Apartments. Building downtown brings its own unique challenges as the streets were built in the late 1800s and properties were placed on postage-size spaces. Kevin explained that there is a higher cost to the developer in repurposing these existing older sites, but the benefit to the community is great as existing infrastructure is utilized and the increased density creates a bigger tax base. "I am so optimistic about where we are in Downtown Lafayette. In 2016, we had a 5,400 person capacity in our downtown bars. Today, that number is 3,000. In 2017, the moratorium on bars was lifted and a conditional use process was put in place. It has promoted a health, active nighlife situation. Six or seven years ago, there were 19 restaurants downtown; now, there are 29." says Kevin Blanchard. Private individuals are seeing the benefits of donating dollars to downtown, and one shining example is the new 6,000 square foot, $1 million state-of-the-art Playground at Parc Sans Sou...

America has had a complicated relationship with Downtowns. When we invented the suburbs in the mid-20th century, Downtowns were left behind, only to make a roaring comeback in the 21st century.  That story should sound familiar for folks in Lafayette. Lafayette's Downtown was left for dead in the 1980s and 1990s. It was practically a no-man's land in the late 20th century but started coming back to life at the turn of millennium.  That turnaround didn't come from nowhere. In 1983, some local business leaders created Downtown Lafayette Unlimited, a nonprofit group that promotes activity and commerce in Downtown Lafayette, sort of like a chamber of commerce. Most folks know DLU by its major public programs like Downtown Alive! and most recently the building of an inclusive playground at Parc Sans Souci. Today, DLU is headed by Jessica Hauerwas, who took over as DLU's executive director in 2023.  Jessica comes from a marketing background. She moved to Lafayette from Houma to go to UL and got jobs in marketing and business development at Acadiana Center for the Arts, Brand Russo and LogoJet.  Jessica got involved in DLU as a board member, becoming board president. Her job today is to promote Downtown as a destination and community asset and to raise money for DLU's programs and activities.  American Downtowns can be pretty old. That's why folks left for the suburbs in the first place: lots of cheap, new stuff. But Downtowns have great bones and great buildings. Putting them back into proper form is a great way to freshen up the built environment and create a sense of place. For that kind of work, you'll need an architect. Nic Bourque, is an architect's architect. Fun fact: Nic was the first person to receive a master's degree in architecture from UL. From there, he worked as a staff designer in Baton Rouge before returning to Lafayette to open his own firm in 2013.  Nic joined veteran firm Holly & Smith Architects in 2022, where he now serves as its studio director.  Holly & Smith have earned a reputation for restoring forgotten buildings, particularly in Downtowns and main streets. They work mostly on commercial projects, with some residential contracts mixed in. They've carved out a niche for themselves in sustainable design and specialize in using passive climate control systems, landscaping and shading to achieve comfortable interiors with a smaller carbon footprint. The firm has locations in Lafayette, New Orleans and Hammond. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in  downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show  by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As an attorney and former journalist, Kevin Blanchard recently joined the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and Downtown Lafayette Unlimited (DLU) having started on February 1st. Previously, he served as the first-ever executive director of the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority (LPTFA), and held various positions within the administration of former Mayor-President Joey Durel. Kevin has been actively involved in civic initiatives and was recognized for his contributions to the community, including leading the development of Lafayette's first comprehensive plan and amending the Lafayette City-Parish Charter in 2018. — Find this and past episodes at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-tea-podcast/support — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by Chase Group Construction, The Music Academy of Acadiana, and Electronic Protection Systems. The Tea Podcast Studio is sponsored in-part by Mire.Group CPAs: https://facebook.com/miregroupcpa?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Adam Daigle, Business Editor of the Acadiana Advocate, joins Discover Lafayette to discuss the biggest business news of 2023. The #1 story of the year is the incredible strides made in 2023 insofar as job creation is concerned. Iberia Parish is on fire with the recent announcement of First Solar's $1.1 Billion investment to take place on thirty acres at the Acadiana Regional Airport. First Solar will produce high-performance photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. The project is expected to be complete in the first half of 2026 and up to 700 high-paying jobs are anticipated to be created. This enterprise is unique in Louisiana in that it is tied to a new solar training program at UL-Lafayette where students will be educated on designing solar panels. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is among the top 10 solar panel manufacturers in the world. Along with this major announcement, other large regional employers include Amazon at 1300 employees and Stuller at 1500 employees, who have both exceeded projections for local employees. The #2 business story of the year is the large number of local restaurants which closed in early 2023, including the iconic Cafe Vermilionville, Lotus Garden, Grub Burger, The Point Seafood and Steakhouse, BJ's Pizza, and Luna Bar & Grill. By July 2023, the number of closings had settled down. The #3 story of the year is the shake-up at the news desk at KATC, seeing the departure of longtime and popular news anchors Marcelle Fontenot and Jim Hummel who will be joining KADN in January 2024. The move is one being conducted nationally by KATC's owner, E. W. Scripps Co., as a cost-cutting measure. While there will no longer be live news read by anchors at the 5 pm, 6 pm or 10 pm news slots, the company will invest in more reporters to cover breaking news stories throughout the day. Marcelle Fontenot and Jim Hummel recently announced they had resigned from KATC News and will be joining the news desk at KADN in Lafayette. The #4 story is the recently announced departure of Anita Begnaud, CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority, whose last day will be on December 20, 2023. Anita will be moving on to work with her former boss at One Acadiana, Jason El Koubi, as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Under Anita's leadership, the DDA was instrumental in seeing the completion of a myriad of commercial projects in Downtown Lafayette which had languished for years. She brought energy and excitement to her role as CEO and will be sorely missed. Anita Begnaud, CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority since 2018, recently announce that she will be leaving to work with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership as VP of Marketing and Communications. The #5 business story is the explosive growth occuring in the corridor at Kaliste Saloom Road and Ambassador Caffery Parkway, including the opening this year of Topgolf on December 15 and Dave & Busters which opened November 27. Adam says attracting these type of entertainment venues "brings Lafayette up a class, akin to going from a Double-A to a Triple-A baseball club" as it causes investors to take a closer look at our market and reexamine what is possible in the commercial realm. Other important commercial additions include the recently opened Chimes Restaurant and the development of the Camellia Blvd corridor near Verot School Road which is filling in with medical offices and a new Rouse's, expected to open in early winter. This whole corridor is now serving as the commercial core of Lafayette Parish, is easily accessible by other towns in the parish, and is the economic powerhouse of the Lafayette community generating tax dollars that would have seemed impossible just a few short years ago. As Adam says, "Costco is a sales tax machine!" Discover Lafayette is proud to name attorney Chris Granger as the recipient of our third annual Business Catalyst of the...

A recipe can be more than a guide to making food. On this week's show, we meet culinary detectives who are using recipes to unlock the past. We begin with the inspiring story of humanity preserved through recipes from the time of the Holocaust. Chef Alon Shaya joins us to share the story of a family cookbook he encountered while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and how it led to a collaboration and friendship with Steven Fenves, a man who survived the horrors of that time. Through their Rescued Recipes project, Alon and Steven have raised over $500,000 to benefit the same museum that brought them together. Then, we speak with culinary historian Gerald Patout, whose lifelong obsession with cookbooks led him to uncover a nearly forgotten tome: "The Lafayette Cookbook." As Gerald explains to us, there's really nothing typically Cajun in the century-old recipe collection. Due to his efforts, the book has been reprinted, and is now available to order via UL Press or First United Methodist Church of Downtown Lafayette. Finally, historian Miki Pfeffer joins us with tales of New Orleans' own Grace King, whose life spanned the period from before the Civil War to the Great Depression. She describes how this celebrated literary figure relished the art of dining and had a lifelong fascination with food. Miki's latest book is "A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain's Court: Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns." For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

A recipe can be more than a guide to making food. On this week's show, we meet culinary detectives who are using recipes to unlock the past. We begin with the inspiring story of humanity preserved through recipes from the time of the Holocaust. Chef Alon Shaya joins us to share the story of a family cookbook he encountered while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and how it led to a collaboration and friendship with Steven Fenves, a man who survived the horrors of that time. Through their Rescued Recipes project, Alon and Steven have raised over $500,000 to benefit the same museum that brought them together. Then, we speak with culinary historian Gerald Patout, whose lifelong obsession with cookbooks led him to uncover a nearly forgotten tome: "The Lafayette Cookbook." As Gerald explains to us, there's really nothing typically Cajun in the century-old recipe collection. Due to his efforts, the book has been reprinted, and is now available to order via UL Press or First United Methodist Church of Downtown Lafayette. Finally, historian Miki Pfeffer joins us with tales of New Orleans' own Grace King, whose life spanned the period from before the Civil War to the Great Depression. She describes how this celebrated literary figure relished the art of dining and had a lifelong fascination with food. Miki's latest book is "A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain's Court: Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns." For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

A good product doesn't just solve problems, it makes a customer feel good. And that can start with the buying experience itself.  Smart retailers know how to balance a hard sell with a soft touch, making customers believe that they are in control, and most importantly they are special.  For a lot of retailers, that means cultivating an experience. For Rusty Phillips, co-owner of The Bougie Bar in Downtown Lafayette, the experience is everything.  Bougie Bar is essentially a candle-making activity center. Groups book time at the shop and bring snacks and drinks to enjoy while they make custom jelly candles. The shop also retails goodies like shirts, mugs and chocolates.  The Bougie concept was a natural extension of Bourbon Royalty, the candle manufacturer Rusty founded with his business partner Jamie. Jamie made candles as a side hustle and the business grew into a pretty big producer, with around 800 wholesale accounts in 14 states. The Bougie Bar was born out of customer demand. Folks wanted to pop in the warehouse to make candles. In 2019, Bougie Bar was born.  When you're selling clothes, you're selling something personal. All the more so when you're selling something intimate, like bras and lingerie.  Meaghan McCarron Savoy is the owner of La Femme, a bra fitting studio and retailer in Lafayette. La Femme's specialty is quality and customization. Meaghan's staff is expertly trained in fitting the hand-selected brands they carry. And they help customers think through all of the possible applications and needs for their purchases. They have a lactation consultant and an expert in mastectomy fitting on staff.  It's a complicated business. Women often hate bras. They can be uncomfortable to wear and awkward to purchase. La Femme's answer is attention to detail and a community vibe. They're selling confidence, Meaghan says. She would know. Meaghan was a loyal customer before she bought the shop in 2021. Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Lilliana Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We try to see the things hiding right in front of us on this week's episode of Implicit Bias. Cavan is joined by the Rustic Renegade Caleb Morris, Alex Saizon of Sirop Trading Co. and Father Joe Campion. This week, we're sampling cocktails. Implicit Birthday Thursday, Aug 3 at the Grouse Room in Downtown Lafayette. 

Today on the tea, we are talking with local entrepreneurs, Setareh & Mike Delcambre, owners of the newly opened Sunday's Soda Fountain in Downtown Lafayette. https://sundayssodafountain.com/ — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by The Music Academy of Acadiana, and Chase Group Construction. The Music Academy of Acadiana is Acadiana's top choice for music lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drums, violin, saxophone, flute, audio production & more. They teach students of all ages and styles, they have sent students to college, to compete in major music competitions, and have also premiered on major TV Music contests like American Idol & The Voice. Founded by University of Louisiana at Lafayette music school graduate Tim Benson, the Academy has been voted as a top finalist in the best music school by readers of the Times since 2016 and they have won the national music school of the year award in 2014. Their goal is to make music lessons fun, educational and to help foster the next generation of musicians and creative thinkers! You can find them at the following links: Website: https://www.musicacademyacadiana.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicAcademy... — Chase Group Construction is a general contractor & land developer that specializes in planning, design, and construction as a design-build company. They combine the cost-awareness of a contractor who knows current market pricing of materials & labor with the design process of the architect in ONE company! Chase Group utilizes the latest advanced technology in GPS surveying equipment, automated scheduling programs, and cloud-based project management software to ensure quality control and progress documentation. Chase Group goes beyond construction by leading traffic studies, soil reports, zoning requirements, environmental reports, and other feasibility studies to ensure a viable project from the beginning. Chase Group takes the lead and becomes your ONE point of contact for the entire design-build process. They have a diverse portfolio of projects that range from medical to restaurant to multi-unit shopping center developments. Dream. Design. Develop - Chase Group Construction Check out their website at www.chasegroupconstruction.com (http://www.chasegroupconstruction.com) — The Tea Podcast is part of the https://acadianacasts.com podcasts network. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-tea-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-tea-podcast/support

A recipe can be more than a guide to making food. On this week's show, we meet culinary detectives who are using recipes to unlock the past. We begin with the inspiring story of humanity preserved through recipes from the time of the Holocaust. Chef Alon Shaya joins us to share the story of a family cookbook he encountered while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and how it led to a collaboration and friendship with Steven Fenves, a man who survived the horrors of that time. Through their Rescued Recipes project, Alon and Steven have raised over $250,000 to benefit the same museum that brought them together. Then, we speak with culinary historian Gerald Patout, whose lifelong obsession with cookbooks led him to uncover a nearly forgotten tome: "The Lafayette Cookbook." As Gerald explains to us, there's really nothing typically Cajun in the century-old recipe collection. Due to his efforts, the book has been reprinted, and is now available to order via UL Press or First United Methodist Church of Downtown Lafayette. Finally, historian Miki Pfeffer joins us with tales of New Orleans' own Grace King, whose life spanned the period from before the Civil War to the Great Depression. She describes how this celebrated literary figure relished the art of dining and had a lifelong fascination with food. Miki's latest book is "A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain's Court: Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns."

A recipe can be more than a guide to making food. On this week's show, we meet culinary detectives who are using recipes to unlock the past. We begin with the inspiring story of humanity preserved through recipes from the time of the Holocaust. Chef Alon Shaya joins us to share the story of a family cookbook he encountered while visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and how it led to a collaboration and friendship with Steven Fenves, a man who survived the horrors of that time. Through their Rescued Recipes project, Alon and Steven have raised over $250,000 to benefit the same museum that brought them together. Then, we speak with culinary historian Gerald Patout, whose lifelong obsession with cookbooks led him to uncover a nearly forgotten tome: "The Lafayette Cookbook." As Gerald explains to us, there's really nothing typically Cajun in the century-old recipe collection. Due to his efforts, the book has been reprinted, and is now available to order via UL Press or First United Methodist Church of Downtown Lafayette. Finally, historian Miki Pfeffer joins us with tales of New Orleans' own Grace King, whose life spanned the period from before the Civil War to the Great Depression. She describes how this celebrated literary figure relished the art of dining and had a lifelong fascination with food. Miki's latest book is "A New Orleans Author in Mark Twain's Court: Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns."

Are you ready to eat some boiled crawfish in a very unique setting?It's Downtown Lafayette Unlimited's largest fundraising event of the year, the Rooftop Crawfish Boil! With amazing views of the downtown landscape, bottomless drinks flowing, expertly prepared crawfish, energetic live music, VIP lounge area, selfie station, auction, yard games and raffle, this event is sure to provide attendees with a great atmosphere and a fabulous time!For more info:https://downtownlafayette.org/

Elizabeth Abdalla and Melissa Maeker, board members of Wild Cat Foundation, SpayNation, and Krewe des Chien, are here to discuss their mission to reduce dog and cat overpopulation in Acadiana through the operations of these 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Both women are passionate spokespersons about their involvement in treating our companion pet population, as well as the feral cat population, humanely and offering high-quality care to these vulnerable, innocent animals. Wild Cat Foundation was created to support no-kill solutions to the stray cat overpopulation in Lafayette and the surrounding area. It is celebrating its 20th year of operation in 2023. Since 2010, Wild Cat has supported the operations of SpayNation which offers high-quality, lost-cost spay/neuter surgeries to the public and rescue organizations, and incredibly, over 70,000 animals have been neutered since the organization's inception. While Wild Cat Foundation is not a rescue organization, they do have adoptable pets at all times. Visit https://wildcatfoundationla.org/ for more information. In 2018, Wild Cat took over operations of Acadiana's favorite dog and family parade, Krewe des Chien. All proceeds are dedicated to supporting local animal shelters' funding for food and care of the rescues. Krewe des Chien Parade is an annual Mardi Gras Parade celebration open to dogs and their loyal human family members. Please consider signing up for the 2023 parade to be held on February 11, 2023, in Downtown Lafayette! It only costs $25 to register and there are also spots available for dog royalty! And please, dogs only....no cats, pigs, goats, cows, or bunnies! For more information, email krewedeschien@gmail.com or visit https://www.facebook.com/KreweDesChien Acadiana's favorite family & dog-friendly parade is back again this year with proceeds benefitting local rescue groups! Established in 1998, Krewe des Chien is a non-profit organization and has been fundraising and distributing funds to the many animal assistance organizations in the Acadiana area in need of financial support. Since the first parade for dogs, Krewe des Chien has raised more than $400,000 in support of its MISSION… to reduce the number of unwanted animals through public education about the benefits of spaying and neutering and to involve the community in an effort to achieve this mission. Date: Saturday, February 11, 2023, 12 p.m. Sponsorships & Royal Court Positions are available. Visit the website for PAST opportunities and general information - www.krewedeschiens.org.   The website will be updated soon with 2023 information! Registration 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on February 11. $25.00 fee to participate and join the Krewe - Includes two adult humans (children can walk with their parents for free) and one dog to walk in the 2023 parade. payable by cash or check on the day of the parade. Once the website is updated you may also register for the Krewe and pay via credit card online. Membership is open to all pet lovers! Parade rules: No throwing edible treats No retractable leashes DOGS ONLY – No cats, cows, bunnies, goats, etc… please participants must sign the Liability Waiver “Participant Agreement Release” Individuals/groups must have a dog(s) to walk in the parade In case of cancellation due to unforeseen circumstances or weather, your participation fee will be considered a donation by the Krewe des Chien to be distributed to local rescue organizations that are registered to participate in the parade. Many people abandon their cats when they move or are unable to care for their pets. Then, these cat's offspring are born feral. TNR (Trap, Neuter, and Return) has been proven to be the only humane method to reduce the population of unwanted felines who have never experienced contact with humans. While we may think of them as 'homeless,' in fact they exist in colonies and are self-sufficient.

Adam Daigle, Business Editor of the Acadiana Advocate, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss the biggest news stories of 2022. The top five stories give our community great hope for the future, even with inflation dampening the economy. The #1 story of the year is the phenomenal growth in South Lafayette led by the developments in the second phase of the Ambassador Town Center near Costco in South Lafayette at the corner of Creek Farm Road and Ambassador Caffery Parkway. Expectations are that Dave & Busters and the popular Topgolf are on the way. Also in the works are Jet Coffee, luxury apartments, and a discount tire retailer. The #2 story of the year is the opening of the Lofts at the Municipal in Downtown Lafayette. Offering 68 units, the site is at the former federal courthouse, police station, and library. Adam says, "The successful completion of this project showed everyone that Lafayette can do hard things." The project required a new sewer lift station installed with the help of the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority and historic tax credits which made the numbers work for the developers. The Lofts at the Municipal opened in April 2022. Located at 124 E. Main Street in downtown Lafayette, the Lofts offer 68 high-end rental units with a pool, workout facility and much more. It offers walkability to all things downtown, a much-needed amenity for the continued growth of downtown. The #3 story is the sale of LHG Group to UnitedHealth's Optum health service business for $5.4 Billion. LHG was started by Ginger and Keith Myers who are originally from Palmetto. Ginger saw the dearth of options for home health care and the couple built LHC into a powerhouse in 37 states, with 700 employed here in Lafayette. Adam shared that UnitedHealth has plans to invest considerable resources into LHC to further prop up the company's success in the home health arena. The #4 story of 2022 is the local real estate market. For some time, interest rates were so low people could get a loan for next to nothing while sellers got top dollar for their listing. With interest rates being raised frequently by the Federal Reserve as a means to tamp inflation, there has been a dramatic cool down in home sales. We're now seeing fewer buyers and fewer pending sales as we close out 2022. Adam reports that there are more and more single-family rentals coming onto the market, some in nice gated communities with their lawns being maintained. The #5 story is the opening of the new Lafayette Regional Airport Terminal. This project is a shining example of how a community can come together to fund and build a much-needed facility as our new, modern and spacious terminal. Lafayette parish taxpayers passed an 8-month, 1 cent sales tax with helped the community match state and federal dollars. With no debt, the new airport terminal will serve our community's need for years to come. Stories to watch out for include the explosive growth of SafeSource Direct in Broussard. The pandemic brought to light the dependence of the U. S. on Chinese imports such as masks and other PPE items. SafeSource responded to the need to provide American-made products and in partnership with Ochsner Health and Trax Development has grown beyond expectations. With its newly FDA-approved gloves, up to 2200 employees are projected to be on board when the current expansion is underway, a huge jump from the originally estimated 1200 employees. The company's success is tied to other industries such as chicken plants and others who have a need for masks, aprons, gloves, etc. Another emerging story is the site selection for a new Performing Arts Center in Lafayette. Everyone knows the old Heymann Performing Arts Center needs to be replaced, but the question is where does it go? One study recently concluded that it be located across from the Cajundome next to the Hilton Garden Inn. A group of downtown civic leaders,

Anita Begnaud joins Bernie and Brandon to talk about all that Downtown Lafayette has to offer during the Christmas season.

What a great episode with Anita Beganud, CEO Downtown Development AuthorityDowntown Lafayette Unlimited.Mimi and Anita are both from the same hometown of Church Point, but now call Lafayette home. Both are doing big things in Acadiana and a lot is happening Downtown Lafayette this Holiday season.  The episode has all of the details!A bit about Anita:As the leader of DDA and DLU, Anita works with Downtown stakeholders, developers, government representatives, and community leaders to create a stronger and more dynamic Downtown for Lafayette. Before joining Downtown Lafayette, Anita worked as the Senior Vice President of Communications and Governmental Affairs with One Acadiana, and she has been actively involved in Lafayette leadership organizations like Leadership Institute of Acadiana and the 705. She currently serves as a board member of South Louisiana Community College Foundation and CASA of SoLA. Anita understands the regional importance of a vibrant urban core and she works to provide a strategic vision for leaders in Lafayette to utilize and grow Downtown as a flagship district for culture and commerce in Acadiana.Learn more about Anita and Downtown Lafayette:https://downtownlafayette.org/about/team/Learn more about Mimi and GMFS:https://gmfsmortgage.com/branch/lafayette/

"Be yourself." It's what we're all taught from an early age. When you get a little older you find out the world around you doesn't make that so easy.  Taboos are stubborn. And even as we get more comfortable talking about sensitive or personal subjects — it can feel daunting to open up.  That's where the idea of “safe space” comes in. It's maybe a more common practice in psychotherapy and counseling. But it's emerging in public spaces too. And just in time. The world isn't getting less complicated. And it can be confusing, particularly around questions of sex, sexuality and sexual health.  All the more so for kids.  In Lafayette, there's a safe space to get answers about all that. It's called Safe Havynn. Courtney Celestine is Safe Havynn's marketing director.  The idea behind Safe Havynn is to give teens a place where they can talk about sex. The bedrock principle here is whether we like it or not, kids are learning about sex and acting on it. The data doesn't lie. Louisiana ranks among the highest in the nation for rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. It's not easy to talk about sex, especially with adults. So Safe Havynn creates a space where kids can ask questions without the weight of moralizing.  Safe Havynn is a nonprofit and is funded by grants. Outside of its space in Downtown Lafayette, Safe Havynn works with schools and local courts.  It's still hard to talk about sex. And it's still very hard to talk about mental health. We're getting better at it, but we've got a long way to go. Far too many people struggling with debilitating mental health problems often wind up isolated. Here's the problem: Isolation is about the worst thing that can happen to them.  Enter Focus Clubhouse. The program at Focus Clubhouse creates a working environment for folks with mental health problems to develop real-world skills and stay connected. Clubhouse members operate the clubhouse itself, helping with everything from cooking and cleaning, to outreach, intake and fundraising.  The program is totally voluntary. It gives people a place to go, where they can be understood — and valued.  Lafayette's Focus Clubhouse chapter was started by Clarice Gallegos and her son Brian. Brian stabilized from a life in and out of homelessness by attending a Clubhouse in Florida. The Lafayette chapter has grown since 2020 to include 55 members.  Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded live over lunch at Tula Tacos and Amigos in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wingin' It Wednesday panelists Mark Pope and Jacob White discuss Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan and the Chinese government's reaction to it. Also, Anita Begnaud CEO of Downtown Development Authority joins Bernie and Brandon to discuss the economic development happening in Downtown Lafayette, as well as a big announcement about the Downtown Alive and Bach Lunch Fall Series.

Holy guacamole! We're not at Tula Tacos for this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana. We're a few blocks down Jefferson Street, at Amis Grocery store.  If you've followed Downtown Lafayette development over the last few years, that's kind of a big deal.  There's always been this chicken and egg kind of thing happening with residential development and grocery stores Downtown. Developers wouldn't build apartments because there wasn't a grocery store. And grocery stores wouldn't come because there weren't people living here.  Into that quagmire stepped Christiaan's lunch guests, Bradley Cruice and Rachel Brown, who opened their first grocery store: The Handy Stop in 2020. It had a good run but ultimately closed in 2022.  Bradley and Rachel did not stay out of the game long. They're back with Amis Grocery. It's a pared down shop. Looking around, it's got upscale bodega vibes. You can grab a deli sandwich or some home goods.  And the timing this time, ahem, seems better? Downtown has enjoyed a good bit of residential development since Bradley and Rachel's first stab at a Downtown grocery store.  Now a bit about our guests. Bradley grew up in the grocery business. His family operated a store in the New Orleans area. Bradley is a registered nurse and has been heavily involved in community health initiatives.  Rachel Brown is actually Dr. Brown: the principal of Lafayette High School. She was a not-so-silent investor in the Handy Stop, where she fell in love with the grocery game. Dr. Brown is also a sign language instructor and interpreter.  Out to Lunch was recorded live over a deli lunch at Amis Grocery. You can see photos from this show at itsacadiana.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bradley Beck is a local entrepreneur who first opened his State Farm Agency in 2012 and is in the top percentile nationally. He is also owner of Parlor Salon Studios, a local luxury brand that provides fully furnished, private studios to cosmetology professionals. Parlor Salon Studios currently has 2 locations in Lafayette Parish with a 3rd coming soon to Downtown Lafayette. Lastly, Beck has entered the NFT/Metaverse space with his newest venture, Metavisory, a collaborative agency in the space. We will talk all of that and more today at 11 AM. www.BradleyBeck.com www.ParlorSalonStudios.com www.MetavisoryCompany.com — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by The Music Academy of Acadiana & The Orchard, Authorized Service Providers of Apple. The Music Academy of Acadiana is Acadiana's top choice for music lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drums, violin, saxophone, flute, audio production & more. They teach students of all ages and styles, they have sent students to college, to compete in major music competitions, and have also premiered on major TV Music contests like American Idol & The Voice. Founded by University of Louisiana at Lafayette music school graduate Tim Benson, the Academy has been voted as a top finalist in the best music school by readers of the Times since 2016 and they have won the national music school of the year award in 2014. Their goal is to make music lessons fun, educational and to help foster the next generation of musicians and creative thinkers! You can find them at the following links: Website: https://www.musicacademyacadiana.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicAcademyOfAcadiana/ — The Orchard is our tech sponsor and are providing the tech we need to assure a successful live podcast. Check them out at https://theorchardstores.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/support

Francis X. and Cathi Pavy joined Discover Lafayette to talk about Pavy Art + Design, their contemporary line of Acadian-inspired textiles derived from the iconic artwork of Francis X. Pavy. Pavy Art + Design's offerings are inspired by Francis X Pavy's visual vocabulary and iconic imagery­—aka Pavicons. Textiles and wallpaper are derived from his original artwork and he designs and hand paints every pattern and colorway in their collection. "It is important to me that the artwork has a narrative behind it, to have depth, meaning, and experience behind it," says Francis Pavy. While Pavy Art + Design is primarily focused on business-to-business sales, individuals can also buy direct. Cathy says, "Our goal is to get into showrooms to the trade across the country" so that everyone can get to know what is special about Acadiana. The business was conceptualized in 2019; the Pavys had "always talked about extracting elements of Francis' paintings and creating textiles." The process of converting art into a textile design is a business that has allowed the couple to honor their mutual South Louisiana heritage, which they both cherish. Francis spoke of the prevalence of native grasses such as Tunica, Cane, Marsh, and Briar and how his patterns each embody a story about South Louisiana. Pavy Art + Design offers delightfully colorful designs for any home decor based upon the work of Francis X. Pavy. Francis has been creating art for forty years in his studio in Downtown Lafayette. He was originally inspired as a child by a Saturday morning syndicated show called "Drawing with Jon Gnagg," and his parents signed him and his sister, Camille, up for art classes with the acclaimed Elemore Morgan who was teaching at that time at Girard Park. Francis kids that he hounded his parents for a drawing kit and he still has a piece of it. He also learned photography while still a young boy when his dad documented their lives through his photos. Francis had a darkroom in the attic and learned to develop the film. He still "takes photographs in his head" when he is inspired to paint. "Sometimes I'll see something in my head and the image haunts me. Or, someone will explain something to me and I'll visualize it in my head and the image keeps coming back again and again. I think of it as taking photographs in my head." Francis is an internationally acclaimed painter and mixed-media artist known for his vivid works capturing the folklore of South Louisiana. Both Francis and Cathi stressed the importance of their formative years, being raised in families that played music and loved to dance to Cajun music. The discovery and reinvention of Cajun Culture is a new experience for every generation according to Francis. "The younger kids playing music interpret it in their own way, which is no different than the 80s when Beausoleil came out. I think our culture is reinvented every so many years. Even before us, it was Dewey Balfa and Iry LeJeune who changed Cajun culture after the war and the Newport Folk Festival. We have a dynamic culture that is always changing." In 1990, Rolling Stone Magazine dubbed Francis the “Picasso of Zydeco.” Collectors of his art include The New Orleans Museum of Art and the Morris Museum of Art, Ron Howard, Paul Simon, and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia, among others. His work is featured on the TomTom Club album cover of the Talking Heads. Lorne Michaels of SNL fame discovered Francis' work while traveling to Louisiana a couple of times and he has the artist's work front and center in his office in NYC and his home in Montauk on Long Island. While Francis is an internationally known painter, Cathi brings years of experience to the business; she has been a brand strategist with more than 20 years as an agency partner and creative director. Well known in our community for her work in the industry, Cathi's heart is also in the service work she does,

Ian and Bernie break down all of the big stories from the weekend, from the Downtown Lafayette shooting and the general election to sheep jumping on a roof.

We are talking with Rusty & Jamie Phillips about their well-established local company, Bourbon Royal Candle Company and their latest business, The Bougie Bar, located in Downtown Lafayette. https://www.facebook.com/BourbonRoyalty/ https://www.bourbonroyalty.com/ https://www.facebook.com/bougiebarlaf/ https://www.facebook.com/thebougiebarbr/ https://mybougiebar.com/ — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by The Music Academy of Acadiana & The Orchard, Authorized Service Providers of Apple. The Music Academy of Acadiana is Acadiana's top choice for music lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drums, violin, saxophone, flute, audio production & more. They teach students of all ages and styles, they have sent students to college, to compete in major music competitions, and have also premiered on major TV Music contests like American Idol & The Voice. Founded by University of Louisiana at Lafayette music school graduate Tim Benson, the Academy has been voted as a top finalist in the best music school by readers of the Times since 2016 and they have won the national music school of the year award in 2014. Their goal is to make music lessons fun, educational and to help foster the next generation of musicians and creative thinkers! You can find them at the following links: Website: www.musicacademyacadiana.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicAcademyOfAcadiana/ — The Orchard is our tech sponsor and are providing the tech we need to assure a successful live podcast. Check them out at theorchardstores.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/support

All musicians want to be actors and all actors want to be musicians. That's how you get David Bowie in the Labyrinth and the Bacon Brothers. To be fair, everyone wants to be in the movie business. Over the last couple of decades, changes in technology and tax incentive programs by state and local governments have made that somewhat easier for folks to do, without necessarily moving to Los Angeles full time.  Wherever you do it, it's not going to be easy though. And it can be lonesome too, if you're embarking on a passion project. Brennan Robideaux has spent years pouring his time and life savings into one project: a documentary about pole vaulting Armand Duplantis, said to be perhaps the best to ever to do it and who grew up here in Lafayette.  The movie is called Born to Fly and Brennan tracked Duplantis before he won gold and set records in the 2020 Olympic games, following him around the world to document his rise in a candid feature built on 700 hours of footage.  Brennan grew up in Lafayette and opened a production company — Robideaux Creative — in 2018 to take on commercial work and other projects.  Brennan's name might sound familiar to you because of his dad: former legislator and Lafayette mayor Joel Robideaux. Film maker Griff Furst credits the former mayor's cultural economy program with helping his company Curmudgeon Filmsmake a home here in Lafayette. Griff grew up in Van Nuys, California and in the entertainment industry, tagging along with his dad, actor Stephen Furst (a successful film producer though best known for his early work as an actor as "Flounder" in National Lampoon's Animal House), onto sets from a young age.  Today, Griff makes movies both behind and in front of the camera. Griff has acting credits in films like the Magnificent 7 and Terminator Genysis and has directed several sci-fi thrillers under the Curmudgeon umbrella — movies as diverse as Ghost Shark and Cold Moon.  Louisiana's production tax credit first brought Griff to Lafayette in 2008. He met his wife, a Lafayette native. They now split time between Lafayette, New Orleans and L.A. And he continues to run productions both in Louisiana and around the country. Conditions compelled us to record this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana on Zoom. Next week we hope to be back at our regular lunch spot, Tula Tacos on Jefferson Street in Downtown Lafayette. Photos by Astor Morgan at our website, itsacadiana.com. And here's another interesting lunch table conversation about the Acadiana entertainment industry, specifically how the live music biz had to adapt to living with a pandemic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam Zayor, CEO of FlyGuys, an aerial drone services company based in Lafayette, LA, is our guest. Attention to all angel investors....only 8% of commercial industries are currently using drone technology. The potential for dramatic increases in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, known as drones, is mind-boggling. Fly Guys operates in all 50 states, in 72 countries worldwide, with over 4500 qualified and vetted contract drone pilots doing the work. It has 17 full-time employees overseeing operations and has experienced exponential annual growth of 200% per year for the past three years. FlyGuys operates in a model similar to Uber; the company is responsible for contracting all jobs, and the pilots have their own drone equipment. "Our business is theoretically infinitely scalable in that we don't incur costs until we have revenue coming in from a confirmed job. Contract pilots range from full-time professionals handling large scale jobs to part-time hobbyists who will capture footage for a commercial real estate site." The majority of FlyGuys' clients are large-scale companies that need consistent data collected across the country, such as telecom companies installing cell towers. In this example, the towers need to be inspected periodically, especially when adding equipment upgrades. FlyGuys scans 500 to 1000 towers every month or two, taking imagery at different elevations. The engineers at the telecom company can pull together dimensions from the data collected and build-out designs for new devices utilizing AutoCAD (commercial computer-aided design and drafting software), thereby accurately engineering new devices. Adam Zayor started his company in 2017 with two employees while he kept his day job with Cajun Constructors where he worked in heavy industrial project management. It was on that job in Lake Charles, while working on the SASOL project, that he was introduced to drone services. Cajun Constructors would utilize drone aerial footage to obtain imagery for marketing purposes; Adam realized quickly that the technology could be used for much, much more in handling dangerous and tedious tasks typically handled by human labor. "From a young age, I always knew I wanted to be in business. I loved building and creating things. I have to say, I wasn't as scared (about starting FlyGuys) as I should have been! I was a little blind about all the effort and the emotional toll that goes into starting a business. Especially one I was trying to drive in a new industry." Adam Zayor when asked about his thoughts on jumping in full-time to run FlyGuys. With his background in construction management overseeing up to 2000 employees at one time, Adam explained that drones can now replace project managers who walk sites three to four times per week to monitor progress. With a drone, you can capture orthomosaic images, which are high-resolution aerial images similar to Google-earth views, where you can zero in to analyze work in progress, all from the comfort of your office and computer. Drones were first used for industrial flare stack inspections to get footage a worker couldn't access by a crane. Today, as emerging software is being developed, it seems that the sky's the limit (pun intended!) for the usage of drone technology. Pictures of Downtown Lafayette taken by a drone on the day of our interview by JP Juneau of FlyGuys The agriculture industry is projected to be the biggest user of drones, but it is still early in the game. Drones can assist in precision agriculture by detecting the height of plants, the health of the plants, and projected crop yield, all allowing accurate financial metrics to be computed. By detecting pests and diseases using multispectral cameras, the farmer can quickly gain insight into how to care for the plants and ensure accurate watering. The drone will fly as close as 5 feet to the plants and up to 400 feet overhead, depending upon the data needed.

The 1990s were a fertile but culturally awkward decade — the playground of Gen Xers and grunge and flannel.  It was also the birth of the internet as we know it. Companies like Yahoo and Google came of age during the dotcom boom, and so  did a generation of IT professionals. They were the first wave of workers in the digital economy. Today, that generation is in charge. Information Technology is the backbone of practically every company, or perhaps an Achilles heel. Christiaan's guests today were part of that movement in the 90s and built some of Acadiana's first technology enterprises. And they're also brothers.  Wayne Lobb and his brother Doug founded Cloudgin, an IT solutions firm that helps local companies set up and maintain their computing networks. The firm is boutique, it does no marketing and offers round-the-clock concierge services for around a dozen clients.  Wayne went west in the 1990s and spent time in California during the dotcom boom, coming back to Lafayette to set up shop. Wayne is an avid kayak fisherman and has kept his operation small to keep an even keel in his work-life balance.  Wayne's brother Doug Menefee struck a different path. After founding Cloudgin, Doug became an itinerant IT consultant, helping a string of local firms set up their IT operations and working fulltime as a CIO for hire under the moniker DyslexiCio — a nod to that fact that Doug is Dyslexic. Doug had a hand in the very first live streams of Festival International and was an early advocate for cloud computing.  In 2022, Doug took a job with Boulder GX, a Texas-based company working on ways to make medical lab testing faster and easier.   Conditions compelled us to record this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana on Zoom. Next week we hope to be back at our regular lunch spot, Tula Tacos on Jefferson Street in Downtown Lafayette.  You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at our website, itsacadiana.com. And you'll find more lunch table conversation about Acadiana IT businesses here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robert Guercio, local entrepreneur & owner of Downtown Lafayette Biergarten. Robert and I will talk about his businesses, his — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by The Music Academy of Acadiana & The Orchard, Authorized Service Providers of Apple. The Music Academy of Acadiana is Acadiana's top choice for music lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drums, violin, saxophone, flute, audio production & more. They teach students of all ages and styles, they have sent students to college, to compete in major music competitions, and have also premiered on major TV Music contests like American Idol & The Voice. Founded by University of Louisiana at Lafayette music school graduate Tim Benson, the Academy has been voted as a top finalist in the best music school by readers of the Times since 2016 and they have won the national music school of the year award in 2014. Their goal is to make music lessons fun, educational and to help foster the next generation of musicians and creative thinkers! You can find them at the following links: Website: www.musicacademyacadiana.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicAcademyOfAcadiana/ — The Orchard is our tech sponsor and are providing the tech we need to assure a successful live podcast. Check them out at theorchardstores.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/support

What's the difference between an artist and an artisan? You might say one makes things for expression and the other for use. But in reality, the line is blurry. It's a distinction without a difference for the people who are actually making things.  Art and craftsmanship have always been in conversation. Creating for expression was made possible by creating for necessity. Ancient Mesopotamians discover glassmaking. Syrians blow it into household goods. Eventually, you get Dale Chihuly.   But plenty of artists and artisans flow back and forth across whatever imaginary line human beings need to draw between categories.  If you visit artist Francis Pavy at his studio in Lafayette's Freetown neighborhood, and you could be forgiven for thinking it was a workshop. Best known as a painter, Francis has shown his work internationally but he's also a wonder with a C&C router, carving blocks to make his iconic paintings with motifs of Louisiana mythology, pop culture and 20th century design.  Francis grew up in Lafayette and began his career in glass making, moving into painting in the 1980s. Recently, he and his wife Cathi, a designer, launched an imprint for creating fabrics. Each textile features hand-designed patterns with orders filled on demand. Their line now includes eight different designs, meticulously crafted in a digital processing method Francis created to accommodate his style in fabric.  Since long before there was an Acadiana, this region has been blessed with a vibrant maker culture. The Atakapa-Ishak Tribe that populated Southwestern Louisiana and East Texas were known for their trading posts where travelers and craftsman could trade their goods.  That's the tradition Erica Fox and her partner Kimberly Abadie-Moore tapped into when they launched Attakapas Collective, a cooperative that serves as a retailer and platform for local artisans, especially indigenous people and women of color.  Erica and Kimberly saw opportunity in the time people have spent creating during the pandemic and put the collective together as an outlet. The shop opened in Downtown Lafayette in 2021, just around the corner from Pavy Studio actually, and now represents 34 artisans who produce local goods like tapestries, jewelry, metalworking and more.  Erica is a songwriter and a Lafayette native. She spent 14 years in L.A. as a commercial artist signed to No Limit Records before moving back to Lafayette. Pandemic conditions compelled us to record this episode of Out to Lunch Acadiana by Zoom. Next week we hope to be back at our regular lunch spot, Tula Tacos on Jefferson Street in Downtown Lafayette. You can find photos by Astor Morgan from this show at our website. And there's more recent lunch table conversation about Acadiana art (and karate!) here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jaci needs no introduction but, if you have to know, she runs a branding agency that her and her husband founded, called Russo. She is also a lover of all things Downtown Lafayette. Come sit in on the conversation today. https://brandrusso.com/ — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by The Music Academy of Acadiana & The Orchard, Authorized Service Providers of Apple. The Music Academy of Acadiana is Acadiana's top choice for music lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drums, violin, saxophone, flute, audio production & more. They teach students of all ages and styles, they have sent students to college, to compete in major music competitions, and have also premiered on major TV Music contests like American Idol & The Voice. Founded by University of Louisiana at Lafayette music school graduate Tim Benson, the Academy has been voted as a top finalist in the best music school by readers of the Times since 2016 and they have won the national music school of the year award in 2014. Their goal is to make music lessons fun, educational and to help foster the next generation of musicians and creative thinkers! You can find them at the following links: Website: www.musicacademyacadiana.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicAcademyOfAcadiana/ — The Orchard is our tech sponsor and are providing the tech we need to assure a successful live podcast. Check them out at theorchardstores.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/support

When I work in a coffee shop, I don't get much done. Honestly, I didn't go to the coffee shop to work. That's just a little white lie I tell myself to get out of the house.  Coffee shops might be the easiest place to track down if you travel for work. You know there's wifi, but the environment can be unpredictable. Is the cappuccino machine too loud? Too bad. Well, what if you could plug into a space meant for work. Not easy to do unless you know somebody in town. You've heard of co-working spaces like WeWork, but that's still a commitment. When you travel a lot you need something for 20 minutes, an hour, half a day and you're gone.  Clerc Bertrand has a solution for that. Workaroo: a network of office space for those of us hopping from place to place. Workaroo uses an app to connect itinerant workers with office space. Clerc lives in the Lake Charles area, but has grown Workaroo on the go herself, dodging lockdowns and hurricanes. Today, Workaroo has spaces in Lake Charles, Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Clerc plans to grow the company to stretch the I-10 corridor. When she's not building workaroo, Clerc runs the McNeese State University Athletic Foundation. If your workspace is the great outdoors, maybe this isn't so much a problem for you. Anywhere is the place to be. Artist and muralist Hannah Gumbo is building a career for herself with the world outside as her canvas. An avid traveler herself, Hannah is passionate about Louisiana and creating vibrant spaces that tease out our traditions with abstract flourishes and surprising detail.  You can find Hannah's work on Downtown brick walls or barns scattered around Acadiana, and her work bubbles against the backdrop of our region's rustic colors. She got her start with an ArtSpark grant from the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and recently won a second one to expand her work to business portraits. Hannah will also shake up the stuffy headshot with a portable wooden booth packed with fun backdrops to make portraits of Louisiana business owners. Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded live over lunch at Tula Tacos + Amigos in Downtown Lafayette. You can see photos from this show by Astor Morgan at our website. Here's more lunchtime conversation about other work options in which one of Lafayette's most successful college dropouts talks with the dean of the UL grad school. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are talking about Elizabeth to learn more about her, her businesses, and how she became part of what makes Downtown Lafayette what it is. — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by The Music Academy of Acadiana & The Orchard, Authorized Service Providers of Apple. The Music Academy of Acadiana is Acadiana's top choice for music lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drums, violin, saxophone, flute, audio production & more. They teach students of all ages and styles, they have sent students to college, to compete in major music competitions, and have also premiered on major TV Music contests like American Idol & The Voice. Founded by University of Louisiana at Lafayette music school graduate Tim Benson, the Academy has been voted as a top finalist in the best music school by readers of the Times since 2016 and they have won the national music school of the year award in 2014. Their goal is to make music lessons fun, educational and to help foster the next generation of musicians and creative thinkers! You can find them at the following links: Website: www.musicacademyacadiana.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicAcademyOfAcadiana/ — The Orchard is our tech sponsor and are providing the tech we need to assure a successful live podcast. Check them out at theorchardstores.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/message

If you don't know or care much about wine, then the language around it can sound like Greek. Or French, perhaps, is more accurate. "Terroir," "appellation," "cuvee." It can all be overwhelming. Go to a restaurant, order a bottle. Which wine do you like? Red or white? For a lot of us, that's as far as goes.  Acadiana feels like Michelob Ultra country. People here drink light beers so they can drink a lot of beers. So maybe wine and wine culture would seem foreign to us...despite the French undertones of our lifestyle.  Maybe try thinking of wine this way: As an expression of place. That's what "terroir" means: the earth, the air, the water that made the wine. We talk about food this way in Louisiana all the time. You could argue that gumbos and boudins have terroir. But you'd probably be thrown out of the party. Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana, Acadiana's First Couple of Cool, Denny and Katie Culbert, are trying to tap into that obsession with place with their boutique, natural wine shop: Wild Child Wines.  Wild Child opened in 2020 in Downtown Lafayette and has since grown a cult following with its select imports of small batch wines from around the globe. The shop has a small wine bar for tasting and teaching. Those have been consistent themes for the Culberts, who have spent the better part of the last decade building culture around local foodways with initiatives like Runaway Dish, a series of popup dinners that introduced adventure to Lafayette's culinary scene.  Outside of Wine Child, Denny is a photographer with credits in Saveur, Garden & Gun and Vice magazines.  Katie owns and operates the boutique clothing shop Kiki and its two locations in Lafayette and Baton Rouge.  This edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded in the studios of KRVS in Lafayette. You can see photos from this show at our website. And here's more lunchtime conversation about local Acadiana booze, namely vodka made from rice.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we are talking with Lacey Maynor, Community Development Manager, Advancial Federal Credit Union & Jamie Hebert, Director of Programming & Engagement, Downtown Lafayette Unlimited about Downtown Lafayette's Parc Sans Souci Play – Downtown's soon to be new accessible playground. We will also touch on Advancial's success in the community of Lafayette. Site references: Advancial.org/play DowntownLafayette.org/play — The Tea Podcast is proudly sponsored by The Music Academy of Acadiana. The Music Academy of Acadiana is Acadiana's top choice for music lessons in piano, guitar, voice, drums, violin, saxophone, flute, audio production & more. They teach students of all ages and styles, they have sent students to college, to compete in major music competitions, and have also premiered on major TV Music contests like American Idol & The Voice. Founded by University of Louisiana at Lafayette music school graduate Tim Benson, the Academy has been voted as a top finalist in the best music school by readers of the Times since 2016 and they have won the national music school of the year award in 2014. Their goal is to make music lessons fun, educational and to help foster the next generation of musicians and creative thinkers! You can find them at the following links: Website: www.musicacademyacadiana.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicAcademyOfAcadiana/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-tea-podcast/message

Ravi Daggula, the owner of several historic properties near downtown Lafayette including the Mouton Plantation, The Nickerson House, and Esprit de Coeur, joined Discover Lafayette to discuss his journey. He is also a Developer of the newly built Vermilion Lofts situated at Johnston and Vermilion Streets. Ravi is a native of India. He moved to Lafayette to attend UL-Lafayette while he studied computer engineering. He has made Lafayette his home. Ravi's interest in restoring historic properties and his dedication to offering beautiful event venues for downtown and North Lafayette is inspirational. While he was originally encouraged by others to invest in Lafayette's southside, Ravi felt his calling was to pour his energy into the northside. "I took it one step at a time. I wasn't looking for other projects but other projects came to me!" Ravi believes that once you hit 35 years of age, you will know your calling. After he graduated, he worked at several jobs and eventually realized that real estate was his calling. He harkened back to his early days in the workforce, during 2003 and 2004, when he didn't have a car and relied on cabs. His cab driver would shuttle him by the Mouton House to pick up more customers while Ravi was sleeping in the car. Once he was able to buy a vehicle he would still pass by the property because he liked it so much. Fast forward to 2016, and his banker encouraged him to invest in a bed and breakfast because it would be a successful entity in this area. Given his love for the Mouton Plantation and finding out that the price was right, he realized this would be a good fit for investment. At that time, however, he was more into buying and flipping real estate. Once he owned the Mouton Plantation though he also felt and saw the bigger picture, the bigger purpose in his life. "The Mouton Plantation has made me be the man I am today. Lafayette has helped me be where I am. This is my way of giving something back. I didn't know that at the beginning." The Mouton Plantation was built in 1820, one of the first five homes built in its genre that are still in existence in Lafayette. (Cafe Vermilionville's structure is older.) The historic Charles Mouton Plantation House circa 1820 is one of only five properties of its era still in existence. It is a popular venue as a bed and breakfast and special events. It was hard to run a bed and breakfast at the beginning, but "the house provided." There is good energy in the house and most of Ravi's meetings in the house were so successful that they led to other successful projects. Ravi believes with historic properties, you are just a temporary caretaker of the house.....you hold the baton and at some point, you will pass on the baton to others. He invites everyone to his properties with respect and dignity, especially descendants of plantation slaves who originally made the properties successful. You must listen to his words to understand the impact of his love and his heart for the best interest of others. Very few people in our area know the history of the historic Sterling Grove neighborhood and Ravi encourages all to visit and learn more. His second historic purchase was the Nickerson House and the owners knew of his intent to revitalize the area. The renovation is almost over, and Nickerson will be fully renovated by the end of September 2021. It is already booked through October, November, and December of this year. It offers seven acres of land for catered events and weddings. Ravi Daggula works hands-on at his historic properties, including the historic Nickerson House at 310 N. Sterling Street, Lafayette LA 70501. Photo on the right of Ravi is by Brad Bowie of The Acadiana Advocate. When we spoke of how these historic properties have survived enumerable hurricanes and floods, Ravi explained that they were built in the "path of the wind" (to be able to withstand high force winds and not fight the wind...

Joining us on Razor Branding LIVE are Stephen Ortego with SO Studio and Peter DeHart with Make Made to discuss Downtown Lafayette's new wayfinding system.

Joining us on Razor Branding LIVE are Stephen Ortego with SO Studio and Peter DeHart with Make Made to discuss Downtown Lafayette's new wayfinding system.

Acadiana is kind of a hidden treasure. Most folks think of New Orleans when Louisiana comes up, but the nooks and crannies of the state are what make it special.  Hop on a rural byway and you can wind through all kinds of magical places. It's a state you can stay-cation in and find lots of oddities and specialties. Pockets of cultures and traditions that are unseen even by folks just a few miles away.  Take Highway 90 north from Lafayette and the roads will rise and fall on hills. You'll pass through the Cajun prairies and catch a view of the land of Zydeco. Before long, you've left Francophone Louisiana behind altogether.  Did you know there's a Transylvania, Louisiana? Have you ever been to the Watermark Tavern by the river in Columbia, just north of Alexandria?  Dixie Poche has, and she's lived to write about it. Dixie is a travel writer with an expertise in Louisiana's hidden gems. For thirty years, she sharpened her pencil in technical writing and corporate communications in the oil and gas industry. Her childhood in a general store in Cecilia inspired her to seek out the histories of Louisiana's small towns. She's published three books on Louisiana culture and is currently working on her fourth — about small town Mardi Gras Courirs.    Herman Fuselier is a familiar voice on KRVS. He's the host of Zydeco Stomp and has a storied history of his own — chronicling Louisiana's cultural traditions. Herman grew up literally next door to the world stage of Zydeco in Opelousas and spent years as a columnist and music writer in the Acadiana area. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Oxford American and NPR, and he's the go-to guy for liner notes on big Zydeco records. In 2016, Herman published Ghosts of Good Times, which packs an authoritative history of Louisiana's dance halls dating back decades. Oh, and by the way, during daylight hours, Herman is the executive director of the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. This episode of Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tula Tacos and Amigos in Downtown Lafayette. You can find photos at our website. And check out more lunch table conversation about words and music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In case you were born after 2000, DJ stands for disc jockey. And true to the name, that's what DJ's did. They rode a record till it broke and  became a hit.  Today, being a DJ isn't so much about introducing people to new music. At least that's not the case with DJs on mainstream radio. Hits are everywhere. You can stream them any way you want. People tune in with expectations of what they will hear.  That's why DJ Digital, a.k.a. Brandon Journet, says he's in the “gathering business.” Digital is old enough to remember hauling sacks of vinyl from gig to gig. But young enough to have been underage at the time. Locally you know him as an on-air personality on Hot 107.9.  He also hosts a nationally syndicated hip hop show via Townsquare Media called XXL Higher Level Radio.  Of course, restaurants were always in the gathering business. Ambience and culture in a dining room is often as important as what's on the plate. In a place like Acadiana, where everyone can cook, you have to have some other kind of edge.  Restaurateurs often miss this crucial step in developing their businesses. Making their restaurants stand out and leave a lasting impression is essential to success. And with razor thin margins, getting it wrong can be devastating.  John Petersen helps restaurants avoid those traps. John is a consultant with Social Advising, a company that contracts with new restaurants to shore up and design their businesses from the back of the house to the front door.  John is a serial entrepreneur and a partner in some successful restaurants himself, including Central Pizza & Bar in Downtown Lafayette. You can see photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website. And here's some more lunch table conversation about food and music in Lafayette (an almost inexhaustible subject).   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before the folks behind Beausoleil Books built a coffee shop or a bar to go inside their new boutique, they checked with their neighbors — the cafes and bars in Downtown Lafayette. They settled on a wine bar: something new to the fabric of Jefferson Street and something that wouldn't compete.  That's the shop local response to behemoth retail. Collaboration. Neighborliness.  Bryan Dupree and his three business partners created Beausoleil to bring new literature and ideas to Lafayette and to celebrate the French language. They stock new fiction and classic and cookbooks, in English and French. Their wine bar, The Whisper Room, is coming later.  A big part of what you get at a local shop like Beausoleil is personalized experience. There's nothing more personal than style, especially when what you wear is fashioned by hand, like a work of fine art.  Hat-maker Colby Hebert's shop The Cajun Hatter is another newcomer to Downtown Lafayette, but his hats have been in demand since he first started making them in 2016.  His brand took off in New Orleans, where he also spent time in the film industry, both as an actor and in costume production. He found his way back to Acadiana in 2020. Hat-making has seen something of an explosion recently. Four years ago, Colby was one of a few dozen hat makers in the U.S. Today, there are hundreds. Being a Cajun Hatter, makes Colby one of a kind. You can see photos by Jill Lafleur from this show at our website. There's more lunchtime conversation about the Acadiana book business here and meet local author and illustrator Denise Gallagher over lunch here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The great American shopping mall has been on the endangered species list for several years now. But the retail apocalypse has yet to be realized. If malls are doomed, they don't seem to notice.  It is true, however, that the way we shop is in the middle of a long disruption. When Amazon came along, it heralded the end of the in-person shopping experience and the trimmings that go along with it. In the mall's case - food courts, arcades, playgrounds.  But the human touch has persevered. Brick and mortar stores have been making a coming back as people turn to bespoke shops to get personal guidance. Brands and retailers have to make it work both online and offline, embracing the advantages of each vehicle.  Vintage Fashion retailer Mitzi Guidry is swimming upstream of retail trends. After moving back to Lafayette from Los Angeles she converted her online vintage boutique into a brick and mortar shop in Downtown Lafayette, called Lilou. Lilou collects and curates vintage and unique pieces for re-sale. It also doubles as a micro-cafe, allowing Mitzi to throw food popups and create a culture and community around her business. Mitzi has worked in the fashion industry for close to two decades, and still maintains a full-time gig with Los Angeles Leathercraft, a clothing manufacturer based in L.A.  Churro For malls and retailers competing with online giants, the shopping experience is everything. And that often includes food service. Food courts have always been around shopping malls but they've become more and more important and more and more exotic in what they serve. Daniel Estaban owns and operates The Churro's Boutique, a kiosk in the Acadiana Mall that whips up wildly creative and personalized portions of the Mexican street dessert. If you haven't had a churro before, it's like a fried doughnut piped out of a pastry bag. You often find them with cinnamon and chocolate dipping sauce. But at Churro's Boutique you can get them stuffed with cream cheese and strawberries and even mounted into a cake. You can find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website. And here's more lunchtime conversation about local commerce and global e-commerce. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam Daigle, Business Editor of the Acadiana Advocate joined Jan Swift to discuss the biggest business news of 2020 and the Advocate’s upcoming Economic Summit to be held virtually on January 13, 2021. While our interview last year with Adam focused on the out-migration of Louisiana residents, this year's interview provides an interesting take on how Acadiana has survived amidst the incredible economic turmoil brought on by the pandemic. The newspaper industry took a hit in income along with all other industries and for a while, the Advocate staff experienced furlow days and a reduction in staff as the tourism drop led to the cancellation of events and the ensuing drop in advertising dollars. Yet, the Advocate held true to its 178-year-old history and has remained a reliable source of up-to-date news. Adam and his fellow journalists work both virtually from home and in the office as they continue to provide top-notch journalism from offices in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. The top business story of 2020, of course, is COVID and its impact on the economy. While unemployment never hit the 25% level predicted by LEDA's Gregg Gothreaux, the region still lost double the amount of jobs experienced after Hurricane Katrina. Tourism jobs in the hotel and restaurant industries were devastated. Yet, the community rallied to support restaurants, even if just for pickup meals, to help keep the industry afloat. The hotel industry was greatly assisted by the natural disaster wreaked by Hurricane Laura. At the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, hotel receipts were a mere $1 million; in September and October 2020, hotel receipts registered as one of the best ever at $9 million. The oil and gas industry took its lumps this year, with the price of oil reaching negative numbers at one point. While our regional economy has diversified and has not experienced as hard a hit as in the past, the loss of the oil and gas folks has greatly impacted our quality of life. Their absence impacts not only the economy but trickles down to support generated for the non-profit sector. There were big job gains to celebrate. SchoolMint, an educational technology firm, moved here from San Francisco. With the high price of doing business in the Silicon Valley area, Louisiana is an attractive alternative. Another big win for the region was the news of Westfield Hydraulics and the company’s affiliate, Westfield Fluid Controls, making a $5.1 million capital investment to establish a manufacturing facility in Lafayette. This is anticipated to create 67 new jobs with salaries of approximately $50,000 per year, as well as 106 new indirect jobs. In late December it was confirmed that Amazon is building a 1 million square foot distribution facility in Carencro behind the former Evangeline Downs Racetrack. According to a press release by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, "more than 14,500 small and medium-sized businesses in the state participate in Amazon’s fulfillment network. From June 2019 through May 2020, those Louisiana entrepreneurs recorded a 49 percent growth in year-over-year sales." Carencro has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years with new subdivisions and retail establishments flourishing. Adam shared that the town will record #300 million in sales in 2020, a first for Carencro. Downtown Lafayette has made a lot of progress considering the impact of COVID and the resulting economic downturn. Adam thought it would be "the year of downtown," as there has been great anticipation of the redevelopment work to be done on the old Federal Courthouse site which has been long vacant; the project has been delayed, first due to the need for environmental cleanup and then the ensuing COVID shutdown and demise of the energy sector which altered market demands for more business space in the downtown region. Yet downtown is still diversifying its offerings, particularly with Jefferson Street attracting SugarWolf Outdoor...

Our guest on the RazorBranding™ Podcast is Katie Culbert - who along with her husband Denny own Runaway Dish and Wild Child Wines in Downtown Lafayette.

Hannah Gumbo incorporates fun and whimsy into each of her artistic creations. Whether it is a 43 foot "Legacy Barn Mural" designed to tell the story of a beloved family member, a commissioned piece which captures the essence of Rodgers and Hammerstein's My Favorite Things, or illustrations for children's book, The Book That Wanted To Be Red written by Jerica Guillory, Hannah Gumbo's signature leaves a colorful imprint on beautifully designed art that is one of a kind. Darrell Smith, left, and Hannah Gumbo in front of the barn being painted by Gumbo at 1444 Highway 758 in Eunice LA. The 43-foot mural celebrates the life of the late Calvin Smith. (Photo on left by Harlan Kirgan). More about this story may be read in the Eunice News here. A Lafayette native, Hannah was homeschooled until she entered high school when she encountered visual art teacher, Kathy Reed, who she credits for inspiring her and many other Acadiana artists. Reed would take her students on field trips and invite area artists to come to school to share their passion for design. Hannah realized through Reed's example and nurturing that art and expression were paths worth pursuing. While she never thought she would "work" as an artist, she looked at art classes as a gift and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UL - Lafayette with a concentration in painting & printmaking. And, 'art' is definitely her day job and passion! Hannah's work has evolved since she graduated and while she was trained to paint and draw, she joking said that her worst grade was in digital art. Ironically, today she incorporates digital art into most of her designs. Hannah uses a Wacom, which is akin to large iPad, and hops back and forth from sketches on paper and on the digital pen drawing tablet. The device allows Hannah to scale her drawings and try different colors as she works with her clients and tries out different colors and effects before finalizing the ultimate design. Hannah's desire is to make art fun and easy, more accessible, and less intimidating to people. She loves public art because it is available to all to enjoy. She tells people, "Don't worry about dissecting art intellectually....ask yourself, 'How do you feel about it?" Hannah Gumbo in front of the mural she painted on the Sides & Associates building in Downtown Lafayette. The work was commissioned by Downtown Development Authority and Sides. COVID has affected Hannah just as it has so many other artists experiencing the cancellation of so many festivals and outdoor markets. Yet this time has also afforded an opportunity to indulge herself with a "Passion Project." Inspired by 100 Day Projects of other artists, she created the "Sunday Hairies" and committed to create 100 watercolor and gel pen portraits of original and iconic hairstyles sported by celebrities. Sold on Etsy, she released seven new portraits each Sunday. Hannah Gumbo created the Sunday Hairies to create 100 original works illustrating iconic hairstyles of celebrities such as Colonel Sanders, Farrah Fawcett, and Red Lerille, which were sold on Etsy. Making a living as a freelance artist entails wearing a lot of hats, and Hannah has learned that one of the most important is communicating clearly when defining expectations of the end result. She's learned to clarify what the client is envisioning prior to completing the final product to ensure that everyone is happy at the end of the day when the project is complete. "The silver lining is that I really get to know people and bring their visions to life." Hannah Gumbo's work may be viewed at hannahgumbo.com. Hannah and her husband plan to travel more as they both work remotely from home. Her family instilled a love of travel and they have been in competition to see who could be the first to travel to all fifty states. While Hannah has been to 49 states, her parents beat her out about a month ago as they checked off travel to all 50 states! Rather than "work,

Big Brothers Big Sisters' Executive Director, Kalli Christ, and RADER's Director of Growth, Whitney Savoie, joined Jan Swift to discuss how the annual Acadiana Po-Boy Festival pandemic has pivoted in its mission to help the non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana raise much-needed funding. Whitney Savoie, Director of Growth of RADER, Jan Swift of Discover Lafayette, and Kalli Christ, Executive Director of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Acadiana, at taping of Discover Lafayette podcast. Over the past five years, the Acadiana Po-Boy Festival has raised more than $30,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters, all due to the generous organizational efforts of Social Entertainment. With the COVID shutdown limiting the number of people who can attend events, Kalli Christ says that it has been necessary to "pivot" as 2020's challenges have unfolded. RADER stepped up to partner with Big Brothers Big Sisters and assist in holding a safe Acadiana Po-Boy Festival that will take place from September 1st through September 30th, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/acadianapoboyplatelunchfestival/videos/1045232832600194 Whitney Savoie of RADER discusses the importance of supporting local causes such as Big Brothers Big Sisters. The "Pandemic Edition" of the Po-boy Festival is divided into two events: first, a Po-Boy Tasting, and second, an online Fundraising Art Raffle, which is designed to support local restaurants while it also supports Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana. With the shutdown still in full force, RADER felt this was an excellent opportunity to promote our local restaurants while also aiding in efforts to fund BBBS. Ten Lafayette restaurants are participating and will sell their signature "special" po-boy this month. $1 per po-boy sold will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana. Participating restaurants include: Poupart's BakeryC'est Bon MangerAcadian SuperetteCentral Pizza & BarPop's PoboysDean-O's PizzaBroaddus BurgersTchoup's Midcity SmokehouseBlack CaféJohnson's Boucaniere The second part of the festival this year is an online Facebook Fundraising Art Raffle to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana. Your donation of any amount gives you a chance to win the Official 2020 Acadiana Po-Boy painting, created by local artist Trent Oubre. You can contribute here. 2020 Acadiana Po-Boy Festival Painting Designed by artist Trent Oubre will be auctioned off. You can donate here. Social Entertainment will officially merge the Acadiana Po-Boy & Plate Lunch Festival into one event moving forward. The inaugural Acadiana Po-Boy & Plate Lunch Festival is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 3, 2021, in Downtown Lafayette. It cost approximately $1200 per child per year to offer services to mentor, tutor, and work with a child that is under the umbrella of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana. Volunteers do not need to underwrite the cost involved in being part of the program, but many components such as background checks and training must be covered through the fundraising efforts of BBBS. "For more than 115 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to thrive. As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country. They develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people." There is no better gift that you can give to a young person than a hand up to a better life through your time and experience. For more information on the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Acadiana, please visit https://www.acadianabigs.com/ or their Facebook page. There are about 150 volunteers working with "littles." The organization has a waiting list for children looking to partner with "bigs.

As Out to Lunch prepares to go back to hosting live lunches, for inspiration we're taking a look at some of our pre-Covid shows. Here's an Out to Lunch Best of: The Music Business. If you're in the music business and you can get a dollar for every time somebody says "The music business is changing," you'll probably make more money than however you're making it now in the music business.  Yes, Acadiana is rich with music, but music makes hardly anybody rich. And getting rich is besides the point. For the most part, the people who play the music that makes South Louisiana famous do so part-time. That includes all those Grammy winners you hear about.  Sure enough people get by. There's never a shortage of gigs. And playing Zydeco or Cajun music can be good supplemental income. Plus it's a great time.  But long term, it's tricky if not impossible to build a safety net or nest egg that most American workers accumulate over their careers.  Musicians can't really retire — not that they would want to — and that means major needs can go unfunded and unmet in the twilight of most careers.  Christiaan Mader's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana are both dealing with this problem, albeit from different angles.  Major Handy is by all accounts a  living legend in blues and Zydeco. A world traveler. A raconteur, and an auto mechanic. At 72 years old, he's deeply familiar with the challenges of being a working musician past the traditional retiring age. But he's a consummate pro and fighter. He suffered a stroke at the beginning of 2020 but is already back on the beat, set to play some gigs in France later this year. Major is also involved with the Music Makers Relief Foundation, a nonprofit that supports and documents traditional musicians in the Deep South. John Williams is president of Love of People, a nonprofit started by his family in the 1990s, but is best known for Blue Monday, a program he launched in 2016. Blue Monday raises money to help aging musicians pay for medical care and living expenses through an monthly concert and dinner series staged at Rock and Bowl here in Downtown Lafayette. Love of People runs several different initiatives including Musicians Etude, We Care and the Lending Closet, which compensates local musicians who donate their talents to benefits with credits to buy goods and professional services. John is also Executive Director of the Upper Lafayette Economic Development Foundation. Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded over lunch at The French Press in downtown Lafayette.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining us is Bradley Cruice, the owner of the recently opened – Handy Stop Market & Cafe in Downtown Lafayette. We are excited to learn more about Bradley, Handy Stop, and what this means for the Downtown community.

Joining us is Bradley Cruice, the owner of the recently opened – Handy Stop Market & Cafe in Downtown Lafayette. We are excited to learn more about Bradley, Handy Stop, and what this means for the Downtown community.

As Louisiana and parts of the rest of the country begin to re-open, there's a question about the economy that everyone is asking: What's going to happen to education, real estate, and retail? On this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana we're asking local experts in each of these areas to tell us. Retail With apologies for the medical metaphor, retail was already on life support before Covid-19 shut down practically every store in the country. If you weren't an online shopper before all of this, you probably are now. So, now that we've all discovered how easy it is to order online and have everything show up at our door two days later, what happens to our mom and pop stores, our art galleries, and everything else that has typically relied on foot traffic? In Lafayette, we're in the process of finding out the answer to this question, as stores are beginning to re-open. Anita Begnaud is CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority. Anita, with Lafayette being one of the earliest parts of the state and the country to open back up, you're a witness to history. What are you seeing in Downtown Lafayette? Real Estate One of the changes that has come with this health crisis, is the discovery many of us have made about working from home. At first it was something of a novelty. It felt like a long weekend. But now that we've mastered video meetings and found strategies for balancing work and family, we've discovered that not commuting has distinct advantages. As businesses open up, many people who have unshackled themselves from the office are looking to continue the work-from-home habit. And from the employer side, if productivity stays the same and you don't need office space, well, that's a significant saving. This might all sound great, but if even just 20% of us stayed home, and office space and everything that goes with it shrinks by 20% – like attendance at the food court and the nearby gym – what does that knock-on effect do to the economy? Let's start with what it might do to the commercial real estate market... Matthew Laborde, commercial real estate broker at Elifin Realty in Baton Rouge, looks into the future of working from home and has some insightful, evidence-based predictions. Education If you're in college or you have kids in school, over the past couple of months you've learned a new word. And a new skill. The word is, “Zoom.” And the skill is, “Distance Learning.” Up until sometime in March 2020, if you wanted to get an education you had to get out of your house and go to a classroom. Now you just have to go to your computer - or even your phone – and click on “Join Zoom Meeting.” And there you are, with the same teacher, the same lesson, even the same kids in your class. And it's all going on in the comfort of your own home. Why would you ever go back to a classroom again? Peter Ricchiuti puts this question to Tania Tetlow, President of Loyola University in New Orleans. Is the Zoom classroom revolution going to have a permanent effect on education? Or is it just a Covid convenience? Find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website. More analysis of the future of the Louisiana economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Louisiana and parts of the rest of the country begin to re-open, there's a question about the economy that everyone is asking: What's going to happen to education, real estate, and retail? On this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana we're asking local experts in each of these areas to tell us. Retail With apologies for the medical metaphor, retail was already on life support before Covid-19 shut down practically every store in the country. If you weren't an online shopper before all of this, you probably are now. So, now that we've all discovered how easy it is to order online and have everything show up at our door two days later, what happens to our mom and pop stores, our art galleries, and everything else that has typically relied on foot traffic? In Lafayette, we're in the process of finding out the answer to this question, as stores are beginning to re-open. Anita Begnaud is CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority. Anita, with Lafayette being one of the earliest parts of the state and the country to open back up, you're a witness to history. What are you seeing in Downtown Lafayette? Real Estate One of the changes that has come with this health crisis, is the discovery many of us have made about working from home. At first it was something of a novelty. It felt like a long weekend. But now that we've mastered video meetings and found strategies for balancing work and family, we've discovered that not commuting has distinct advantages. As businesses open up, many people who have unshackled themselves from the office are looking to continue the work-from-home habit. And from the employer side, if productivity stays the same and you don't need office space, well, that's a significant saving. This might all sound great, but if even just 20% of us stayed home, and office space and everything that goes with it shrinks by 20% – like attendance at the food court and the nearby gym – what does that knock-on effect do to the economy? Let's start with what it might do to the commercial real estate market... Matthew Laborde, commercial real estate broker at Elifin Realty in Baton Rouge, looks into the future of working from home and has some insightful, evidence-based predictions. Education If you're in college or you have kids in school, over the past couple of months you've learned a new word. And a new skill. The word is, “Zoom.” And the skill is, “Distance Learning.” Up until sometime in March 2020, if you wanted to get an education you had to get out of your house and go to a classroom. Now you just have to go to your computer - or even your phone – and click on “Join Zoom Meeting.” And there you are, with the same teacher, the same lesson, even the same kids in your class. And it's all going on in the comfort of your own home. Why would you ever go back to a classroom again? Peter Ricchiuti puts this question to Tania Tetlow, President of Loyola University in New Orleans. Is the Zoom classroom revolution going to have a permanent effect on education? Or is it just a Covid convenience? Find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website  More analysis of the future of the Louisiana economy is here.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Louisiana and parts of the rest of the country begin to re-open, there's a question about the economy that everyone is asking: What's going to happen to education, real estate, and retail? On this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana we're asking local experts in each of these areas to tell us. Retail With apologies for the medical metaphor, retail was already on life support before Covid-19 shut down practically every store in the country. If you weren't an online shopper before all of this, you probably are now. So, now that we've all discovered how easy it is to order online and have everything show up at our door two days later, what happens to our mom and pop stores, our art galleries, and everything else that has typically relied on foot traffic? In Lafayette, we're in the process of finding out the answer to this question, as stores are beginning to re-open. Anita Begnaud is CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority. Anita, with Lafayette being one of the earliest parts of the state and the country to open back up, you're a witness to history. What are you seeing in Downtown Lafayette? Real Estate One of the changes that has come with this health crisis, is the discovery many of us have made about working from home. At first it was something of a novelty. It felt like a long weekend. But now that we've mastered video meetings and found strategies for balancing work and family, we've discovered that not commuting has distinct advantages. As businesses open up, many people who have unshackled themselves from the office are looking to continue the work-from-home habit. And from the employer side, if productivity stays the same and you don't need office space, well, that's a significant saving. This might all sound great, but if even just 20% of us stayed home, and office space and everything that goes with it shrinks by 20% – like attendance at the food court and the nearby gym – what does that knock-on effect do to the economy? Let's start with what it might do to the commercial real estate market... Matthew Laborde, commercial real estate broker at Elifin Realty in Baton Rouge, looks into the future of working from home and has some insightful, evidence-based predictions. Education If you're in college or you have kids in school, over the past couple of months you've learned a new word. And a new skill. The word is, “Zoom.” And the skill is, “Distance Learning.” Up until sometime in March 2020, if you wanted to get an education you had to get out of your house and go to a classroom. Now you just have to go to your computer - or even your phone – and click on “Join Zoom Meeting.” And there you are, with the same teacher, the same lesson, even the same kids in your class. And it's all going on in the comfort of your own home. Why would you ever go back to a classroom again? Peter Ricchiuti puts this question to Tania Tetlow, President of Loyola University in New Orleans. Is the Zoom classroom revolution going to have a permanent effect on education? Or is it just a Covid convenience? Find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website  More analysis of the future of the Louisiana economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're in the music business and you can get a dollar for every time somebody says "The music business is changing," you'll probably make more money than however you're making it now in the music business.  Yes, Acadiana is rich with music, but music makes hardly anybody rich. And getting rich is besides the point. For the most part, the people who play the music that makes South Louisiana famous do so part-time. That includes all those Grammy winners you hear about.  Sure enough people get by. There's never a shortage of gigs. And playing Zydeco or Cajun music can be good supplemental income. Plus it's a great time.  But long term, it's tricky if not impossible to build a safety net or nest egg that most American workers accumulate over their careers.  Musicians can't really retire — not that they would want to — and that means major needs can go unfunded and unmet in the twilight of most careers.  Christiaan Mader's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana are both dealing with this problem, albeit from different angles.  Major Handy is by all accounts a  living legend in blues and Zydeco. A world traveler. A raconteur, and an auto mechanic. At 72 years old, he's deeply familiar with the challenges of being a working musician past the traditional retiring age. But he's a consummate pro and fighter. He suffered a stroke at the beginning of 2020 but is already back on the beat, set to play some gigs in France later this year. Major is also involved with the Music Makers Relief Foundation, a nonprofit that supports and documents traditional musicians in the Deep South. John Williams is president of Love of People, a nonprofit started by his family in the 1990s, but is best known for Blue Monday, a program he launched in 2016. Blue Monday raises money to help aging musicians pay for medical care and living expenses through an monthly concert and dinner series staged at Rock and Bowl here in Downtown Lafayette. Love of People runs several different initiatives including Musicians Etude, We Care and the Lending Closet, which compensates local musicians who donate their talents to benefits with credits to buy goods and professional services. John is also Executive Director of the Upper Lafayette Economic Development Foundation. Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded over lunch at The French Press in downtown Lafayette.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David D'Aquin | Downtown Lafayette Christmas

Anita Begnaud | Downtown Lafayette Christmas

Downtown Lafayette Christmas | Maureen Dugas

How often is it that we aim for one career and land in another? You go to college to be a painter and you end up a graphic designer, or you study philosophy and end up a lawyer. For most of us, we're lucky if we can do work we love on nights and weekends. Finding meaning in your work and the opportunity to express yourself - and get paid - is the career path less traveled.  Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana both thrive in careers that are perhaps only slightly different than the ones they imagined for themselves. The basic elements of their ambitions and skills are in place — artfulness, creativity, compassion and taste.  Virginia Goetting wanted to be an art therapist. She got her degree in fine arts but left school a nomad. She hitched a ride to a brief career in Louisiana's film industry but ultimately landed in cosmetology and has worked in aesthetics for the last 10 years.  For every client in her chair at Salon NV in Downtown Lafayette, she gets to sculpt new looks and lend a sympathetic ear. Sounds like art therapy, wouldn't you agree?   Mia Sandberg got her start in interior design, but she didn't find her calling till her husband bought her flowers. The arrangement was a funky little thing, unusual and earthy. It spoke to her. When they landed back in Lafayette, Mia needed a new gig. "Why not flowers?" she thought. Mia launched Root Floral Design in a shack behind her parents' house in Carencro. The firm has grown into an in-demand florist for weddings and big events. Mia has a knack for unconventional arrangements with rich textures and unusual blossoms. This is interior design with living, breathing materials. And business is growing.  This edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded at Spoonbill Watering Hole and Restaurant in downtown Lafayette. You can see photos from this show by Lucius Fontenot at It's Acadiana.com Find a very different perspective on happiness and the wedding flower business, here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Acadiana's Morning News Podcast is sponsored Louisiana Association of Business and Industry

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Interview: Kings Gambit joins us in the studio this week. We feature their song New Order Check them out: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/thekingsgambit Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akingsgambit/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-lc7Kuk74B6Fpz3bHETEjA   Local Spotlight: Monday, June 12th: Steel City Jug Slammers will be performing at 6th Street Dive. Show starts at 8pm. Tuesday, June 13th: Goya, Destroyer of Light, and Void King will be performing at the Lafayette Theater & Events Center. Doors open at 7pm. Show starts at 8pm. $5 cover. Friday, June 16th: The Doom Room and Lafayette Theater present: Rat King, Knives Are Quiet and Sons of Ra will be performing at the Lafayette Theater & Events Center. Doors open at 8pm. Show starts at 9pm. $5 cover. Friday, June 16th: John Till will be performing at 6th Street Dive. Show starts at 10pm. Saturday, June 17th: Haystak will be performing at The Hideaway along with Mike Brad Lee, Silenze, T.C. and Lord Reign. Tickets are on sale at The Hideaway. $15 general admission. $30 VIP. Doors open at 6pm. Show starts at 8pm. Saturday, June 17th: Lloyd Avenue will be performing at the Lafayette Theater & Events Center. Show starts at 8pm. Go to the Lafayette Theater & Events Center Facebook page to find tickets. Saturday, June 17th: 36th Annual Taste of Tippecanoe in Downtown Lafayette runs 4pm to midnight. Featuring artists and bands: TJ Rosa, Waltz for Venus, Bruce Barker, Michael Kelsey, Green Room Rockers and many more. Go to tasteoftippecanoe.org to see the full list and for more information about it all.   Albums of the Week: Matt - City and Colour - If I Should Go Before You (2015) Grant - Between the Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic (2015)   Quick Headlines: Nine Inch Nails will have a new EP out this summer, with another to follow according to Trent Reznor Keep A Breast Foundation has teamed up with Neck Deep for a VIP Warped Tour Experience, where one lucky fan and a friend will be flown out to Las Vegas to enjoy a day with the band and more. To enter, fans are to text 'NeckDeep' to 41444 to donate $10 in support of Keep A Breast and be entered to win the ultimate VIP fan experience. Every donation you make counts as an entry. Rings of Saturn have announced the release date for their new album. The album is called Ultu Ulla and will release July 28th. The Weeknd donated $100,000 to medical center in Uganda British Red Cross raises over $3M during Manchester Benefit Concert, bringing total raised to $12M Childish Gambino says his next album will be his last Upcoming Tours: PVRIS have announced a fall headlining tour and they've also announced that a portion of every ticket sold will be donated to The Ally Coalition in support of LGBTQ equality. (7/5 – Indianapolis, IN @ Old National Centre) Galactic Empire, the Star Wars themed metal band, have announced a summer tour with Dangerkids.(7/18 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge) U2 have extended their Joshua Tree 30th anniversary tour(9/10 Indianapolis, IN @ Lucas Oil Stadium) Crown The Empire have announced headlining summer tour. Gym Class Heroes are back! After releasing their last album, The Papercut Chronicles II, in 2011, the band have been announced for Sail Across The Sun music and wine festival at sea. It will take place March 7-11, 2018. They will sail from New Orleans to Cozumel, Mexico. Intro Music by CodeBlue https://soundcloud.com/cody-blevins  

After over a decade studying dance in New York City, Clare Cook moved back to Acadiana to open up Basin Arts, a collaborative space in Downtown Lafayette. She was also awarded the "Rising Star" at this year's annual ICON Awards.

As we have seen once again, as a result of the catastrophic rain and floods in recent weeks, one of the hallmarks of life in Acadiana, including business life, is an awareness of the importance of giving back. Both during times of urgent need, and in times of less urgency, one effective way of returning wealth to the community is by way of the Community Foundation of Acadiana. Since its founding in 2000 the Foundation has received 170m from over six thousand local donors. It has distributed 80m. It currently has a further 80m to invest in the local and regional community. The President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Acadiana is Raymond Hebert. Downtown Lafayette is the economic heart of Acadiana. And it s making a considerable effort to make itself not just the physical, but also the cultural and social center, of both the city of Lafayette and the region. Downtown Lafayette is not just a place. It s also the name of an organization that creates and promotes activities Downtown including Downtown Alive , Artwalk, and a slew of other events. Downtown Lafayette is an outgrowth of the Downtown Development Authority. Its Director of Marketing and Events is Kate Durio. As Acadiana begins to be made whole again after the dive in the oil industry and the devastating floods, we can all begin to benefit from a resurgent economy. Photos at Social by Gwen Aucoin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taste of Tippecanoe is a music, art, and food fest in Lafayette IN, and has been going for 35 years. It is a major fund raising event for the Tippecanoe Arts Federation(TAF), which advocates for the arts in 14 Indiana counties. Downtown Lafayette fills with food vendors offering tastes of their wares, artists showing off their work, and some of the finest musicians in the Midwest and beyond. We spoke to TAF executive director Tetia Lee, about TAF's mission, thee importance of the funds raised by the Taste, and the job of maintaining and improving the area's arts scene. Ouur other guest, Richard Fudge, spoke about his work with Friends of Bob music co-op, the state of our music scene, and his band, the Prannies, playing their first Taste. We shared a tune from the Prannies' recent release "Do You Mean Panties?" called "Gladiola". Part two will sample more music you'll find at the Taste.

Here are The Alcorubs.  Dru Alkire (tenor guitar), David Harmon (washboard/snare), Ryan Smith (accordian) , and Matt Scherger (guitar/harmonica).  Hope you enjoy this. We will be featuring The Alcorub Orchestra July 29 at the Sweet Corn Festival in Downtown Lafayette.  Hope … Continue reading →