It was a grand evening at the Delta Grand theatre on Wednesday as the Opelousas Kiwanis Club held its first Kiwanis Banquet: “Spicing Up” Our Investment in the Community.
Opelousas-native, Darla Montgomery of KLFY was the mistress of ceremonies for the evening. Darla’s mother Patricia and her Aunt Barbara were also in attendance for the event. In her opening address Darla stated that her first passion was an interest in dancing and that it was the encouragement from her mother to pursue a career in broadcasting. A special moment for her during the evening was seeing one of her first dance students she instructed prior to working on TV.
Andrew Dozier was the keynote speaker for the evening’s event. He spoke on the importance and value of Kiwanis Clubs and the impact it has on children today.
Madelyn Rosette, 2022-2023 Kiwanis Club President and Kiwanis Club Lt. Governor for Division 7 inducted new members to Kiwanis and installed new officers. Honorees of Kiwanis were also recognized for their contributions to Kiwanis Club projects, the Kiwanis Kids Club and Softball Tournament among many others. Among those who were recognized for the evening, Kiwanian of the Year was awarded to two recipients, Carrie Richard and Katrina Brown.
Madelyn Rosette delivered a call to action for the need of new members to Kiwanis.
“When we serve, we look outside of ourselves, beyond our own situations, and seek to bring value to others. Service is at the heart of our club. We want to continue and expand our efforts of service, which will create an atmosphere of more services and support for our community.“
One of the activities the Opelousas Kiwanis Club participates in is the Kiwanis Kids Program for students in St. Landry Parish. Loren Carrier with Hope for Opelousas gave his testimonial on this program and what it means for the kids of Hope for Opelousas. Through the Kiwanis Kids Program, each semester Kiwanis honors students throughout St. Landry Parish who exemplify winning effort and attitude. Loren stated the impact it has made on their students to motivate them to improve on themselves and the pride in receiving an award for their efforts.
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world one child and one community at a time. Opelousas Kiwanis Club has made strides in the community with serving children and families, acknowledging academic improvements of students, awarding academic scholarships, and engaging in service projects as a club.
