Lafourche business leaders, names new chairman

INSTANT IMPACT
November 18, 2015
The Times misidentifies Whitney in ballot
November 18, 2015
INSTANT IMPACT
November 18, 2015
The Times misidentifies Whitney in ballot
November 18, 2015

The Lafourche Chamber of Commerce honored organization members who have made outstanding contributions to the business community at it annual awards banquet Thursday at the Larose Civic Center.


This year’s keynote speaker was actually a twosome for the elegant banquet. Award-winning writer and football analyst Mike Detillier and Carley McCord, who is a Baton Rouge native, beauty queen/power lifter/sports commentator and now co-host on Fee’s Kompany, Cleveland radio station Q104’s weekday morning show.

Outgoing chamber chairman Jeremy Punch, of South Lafourche Bank, welcomed Joni Tuck, grants administrator at the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, to the position.

This year, the chamber honored Lady of the Sea General Hospital with the Business & Industry of the Year. The hospital was commended for opening an Afterhours Clinic offering services to people without life-threatening injuries and illnesses.


The hospital was also commended for receiving a five-star rating for outstanding patient satisfaction from the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“We work as a team to provide exceptional, personalized care to our community, every patient, every time,” said Karen Collins, CEO of Our Lady of the Sea General Hospital. “What we ask our staff to do is to provide the care and compassion you would want your family to receive: How you would want your mother, father, brother, sister or grandparents to be cared for.”

The owner of Renovations, Inc., Wade Cantrelle, was honored by the chamber as this year’s Business Person of the Year.


Cantrelle said that sometimes, during the course of a renovation, there are unexpected hiccups. Sometimes people cannot pay, Cantrelle said, and “it’s nice for us to donate and help them out … it’s nice to give back to the community in that fashion.”

“It’s nice to get an award from your peers because you know what it takes, day by day, to operate a business year after year,” Cantrelle said. “This award means a lot to me.”

This year’s award to the Educator of the Year went to Mae Rose Chaisson, a second-grade teacher at Holy Rosary Catholic School in Larose with over 60 years of experience in the classroom.


During her acceptance speech, Chaisson asked all those in the crowd whom she has taught to stand.

“That would be the greatest award …,” she said as about 30 people stood. “The ones that stood up, you have impacted my life.”

This year’s award for the Community Hero of the Year went to Sidney Triche, who is the president of the Lafourche Parish Water District, auctioneer for various non-profit organizations and New York Life Insurance sales extraordinaire.


Triche was recently honored by the chamber during a toast and roast that he described as “all toast and no roast.”

“After the roast … which was so successful, made us so happy and crowd was so nice,” Triche told the crowd. “I said to wife, ‘This is it. We’re not going to get anymore awards.’”

Each year, the chamber honors an Ambassador of the Year. Chamber ambassadors serve as liaisons for the chamber’s board of directors. This year’s award went to real estate agent Stacy Constransitch.


The banquet also serves as the chamber’s year-end fundraiser, including a silent auction featuring items from local businesses and organizations. This year, the silent auction raised more than $2,500, said Lin Kiger, president and CEO of the Lafourche Chamber of Commerce.

Lafourche chamberJEAN-PAUL ARGUELLO | THE TIMES