DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / December 20, 2000

LUTCHER – Monday night officials from St. John and St. James parishes,state agencies and local industry returned to Lutcher to again combine forces. This time rather than fight a swamp fire, they conquered a ribeyesteak dinner.

To show their appreciation for one another the agencies returned for a relaxed evening dinner as parish officials offered their thanks for a job well done.

This is not the first time these agencies have worked together, nor is it the first appreciation dinner that has been served in the parish. “We have a lotof opportunities to work together because of the River Parishes Caucus and other instances,” said St. James Parish President Dale Hymel.In fact, the parishes hold a certain level of pride in their ability to come together in times of need. “We’ve always had the ability to unite and cometogether. It’s very natural for us,” said Hymel.Hymel thanked the group and expressed his pride in seeing so many throw away any egos and unite to solve a common problem.

Bertram Madere, St. John Parish director of Emergency Preparedness, sawthe swamp fire as one of the best incidents in the state which has brought two parish governments together. “We stopped a small incident frombecoming disastrous,” said Madere.

Madere introduced St. James Sheriff Willy Martin by noting the tirelesseffort he made from being up when the fog hit, until late into the night. “Thisis a man I have much respect for,” said Madere.

“There is probably no one more happy for your help then us,” said Martin.

The fire was first tackled by the St. James Sheriff’s Department, somethingthey knew how to handle about as much as flying a jet, said Martin. With theirefforts directed at keeping traffic away from the fog and accidents at a minimum, the sheriff’s department was most appreciative of the assistance.

St. James Director of Emergency Preparedness Gerald Falgoust noted howmany people came together for the cause. More than 20 local and stateagencies and industries combined forces, not to mention all the private individuals, said Falgoust.

“Countless hours were spent. It was unbelievably tough to conquer, and wewere able to do that because of you,” added Falgoust.

St. John Parish President Nickie Monica agreed that the amount of peoplethere to help was tremendous. “You might see four guys at the commandpost, but there was 50 in the swamp,” said Monica.

Madere asked the group to look around the rooms. “These are the finestpeople inside and outside the parish,” he said.

Over 200 ribeyes were cooked by volunteers from Motiva in Convent, including Larry Roussel, Gary Miller, Lynn Detillier, Jim Monohan, David Cook and Tommy Schexnaydre.

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