Newsletter
Preserve St. Landry
Newsletter of the Preservationists of St. Landry, Inc.
February, 2026
1975 – 2025: Celebrating 50 years of community-driven preservation
2025 Annual Meeting
The Annual
Meeting of the Board and the Members of the Preservationists of St. Landry was
held on December 7, 2025. President James Douget recalled the events leading to
the incorporation of the Preservationists on April 7, 1975. Fifty Years ago,
the original board members were: Lucius J. Doucet, II, DDS; Richard B.
Millspaugh; Warren J. Bordelon; George Buller; Winona C. Guedry; Lawrence T.
Dupre, Jr.; and C. Kenneth Deshotel.
The original
incorporators were Ellis S. Byers; Paul R. Sandau; Donald J. D’Avy; Miriam N.
Lyman; Mercedes N. DeJean; George Buller; June Savoy; Pat Pitre; Winona Guedry;
Lucius J. Doucet, II, DDS; Harriet H. Doucet; Richard Gaiennie; Richard B.
Millspaugh; C. Kenneth Deshotel; Joseph L. Boatman; Vernon A. Schiff; A. E.
Williams, MD; Emile K. Ventre, MD; Warren J. Bordelon; Harold Hill Comeau; Ruby
Prudhomme; William Foraz; Lawrence T. Dupre, Jr.; and Martin A. Roy, Jr.
The
Preservationists acquired the historic Michel Prudhomme Home from Hospital
Service District No. 2 on May 5, 1976. The size of the lot was about one-half
acre, where the property was identified as “Ringrose” in honor of the family
who owned the plantation after the Prudhomme family.
According to
the conveyance, “the improvements include the residence, pigeonier, and corn
crib built by Michel Prudhomme in about the year 1778.” Act No. 597731, records
of the Clerk of Court of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.
Preservationists of
the Year
The 2025 Preservationists of the Year were Senic Batiste and his wife, Judge Vanessa Harris (shown here with Preservationists President James Douget). The couple was honored for their work in restoring the John Fakouri building (now The Parlor) on Main Street in Opelousas.
Wine Pairing
Rotary Mural
Local artist
Jerome Ford, @colors_of_culture on Instagram, completed a mural on the outside
of the Gaudin Law Office on Court Street. The mural features various scenes
important to members of the Opelousas Rotary Club. The Michel Prudhomme home is
given a prominent place in the mural, along with scenes from the Orphan Train
Museum, the bronze statue of St. Landry, the Rotary Centennial Clock, and the
project undertaken by Rotary International to end polio in the whole world.
