Elder advocate named ‘Most Useful Citizen’

Terrebonne Council on Aging Executive Director Diana Edmonson was named Most Useful Citizen last Tuesday during the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce Banquet at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.

“Never in my wildest dream did I expect this n and I do have wild dreams,” Edmonson said when she received her award before more than 500 business and community leaders.

Edmonson, 73, was born and raised in Montegut, and has always been involved in community-based activities in Terrebonne Parish, even while working in the oil field construction business. “My parents raised me to be involved in civic work,” she said. “I grew up thinking that’s just what people do.”

Edmonson has held her position with Council on Aging for 20 years and in 2011, signed a new three-year contract.

Following the chamber’s social gala and awards event, Edmonson confirmed that someone must have been paying attention to her work and that the recognition offers motivation to do more for senior citizens and all parish residents.

“We are going to use this as an avenue to let people know what we do so more people can use the services,” Edmonson said.

In addition to nearly 900 meals being delivered to shut-in elders daily, the Terrebonne Council on Aging provides personal care, homemaker service, transit programs and advocates for needs of the elderly.

Edmonson’s activities that gained her this attention include registering elderly residents for evacuation assistance during hurricanes and providing fans and air conditioning to those in need. The Council on Aging also warehouses food and equipment that would be required during disasters.

“We are going to use this recognition as a stepping stone,” Edmonson said. “We are going to get more business people involved in our activities so they can see for themselves what it is like.”

Additional awards were offered to Flow Line Valve and Controls as the Small Business of the Year and Coastal Commerce Bank as the Large Business of the Year.

Flow Line Valve and Controls manufactures valve and actuator products from its facility in Schriever. The company has 25 employees and posted a 45 percent increase in sales from 2008 to 2009, another 31 percent increase in sales from 2009 to 2010 and 37 percent increase in sales from 2010 through 2011.

Houma-based Coastal Commerce Bank has posted growth in excess of revenue by 50 percent during the past three years. The 13-year-old company attributed its success to an ability to adapt while focusing on its customers. Coastal Commerce Bank donates more than $60,000 to charities annually.

Journalist and novelist Ken Wells was the keynote speaker for the chamber event. During an almost 45-minute talk, Wells, a native of Bayou Black, spun stories of his growing up in Terrebonne Parish and embarking on a career that led him around the world and to working with the Wall Street Journal and later Bloomberg News. Through all his experiences, he said the ones he holds dear are those rooted in Terrebonne Parish.

“This is a great night to celebrate all the success the chamber has had over the past year and the volunteers that have added to that success,” Chamber President Drake Pothier said. “It is also a time to recognize the business community and all it does for Terrebonne Parish.”

Terrebonne Parish Council on Aging Executive Director Diana Edmonson, escorted by Houma Courier Publisher Miles Forrest, expresses surprise at being named the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce Most Useful Citizen of the Year. MIKE NIXON