The Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce |
February 11, 2014
By: Shay Holloway
Presenter: Patrice Oncale
The Mission of the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce is to promote economic prosperity by connecting business with the community. There vision is to bridge business to business, and business to community. The Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce was established June 22, 1966. At the end of the first year of the establishment of the chamber membership had grown to 211. Currently Membership averages 600. Thibodaux was first accredited in 2008. Out of 7,077 Chambers in the United States – 222 are Accredited.
17 are accredited – 8%
40 are accredited with 3 stars – 18%
80 are accredited with 4 stars – 37%
79 are accredited with 5 stars – 37%
The Chamber serves as a catalyst and a resource center for business, residents and visitors. It publishes and distributes various publications. The Chamber sponsors workshops, seminars and professional development programs.
The Chamber is a co-sponsor of Leadership Lafourche, with the Chamber of Lafourche. It has a business reference library that is available to members. The Chamber works very closely with local educational institutions, hosting Job Shadow Day and Career Days with local high schools. Involved in higher education, the Chamber is represented on the Advisory Council of the Louisiana Technical College, as well as N.S.U.’s Free Enterprise Week Advisory Board.
2014 Plans
Revitalize the Ambassador Program
Technology Upgrades
More Thibodeauxville Improvements
Senatorial Forum
Legislative Issues Forum – February 27
Legislative Issues Update
Continue to Monitor Affordable Health Care Act’s Impacts
Continue to be Involved with the I-49 South Coalition
Continue to be Involved with the Coalition for Sustainable Flood Insurance
Month Business after hours
Quarterly Business at lunch
Quarterly Business at breakfast
And Much More!!
Cardinal Place | Thibodaux Rotary Club
July 16, 2013 Meeting
By: Kevin Gros
This past Tuesday the club was visited by Ann Thibodaux and Natalie Barbera of St. Joseph Manor to talk about Cardinal Place, a new residential community being developed adjacent to “The Manor” in Thibodaux.
Ann is the administrator of St. Joseph Manor; Thibodaux’s only assisted living community, since 1995. She has 37 years of experience in the senior living industry. Her prior work included her serving as Director of Nursing and Administration of a local nursing facility for nineteen years. She has been a lifelong resident of the Thibodaux area.
Natalie has been the Marketing and Social Director for St. Joseph Manor since 2011 and she has over ten years of experience in the healthcare industry working in medical records at Ochsner, Thibodaux Regional and a local nursing home.
Cardinal Place will be unique to our area and afford residents 55 years and older maintenance-free living. The development will consist of several three-story apartment buildings containing one and two bedroom living units of varying configurations and sizes.
Thibodaux Rotary Club – Helen Terrebonne
September 25, 2012
By: Amy Connor-Flores
Helen Terrebonne, with Crossroads Crisis Pregnancy Center spoke to rotary on Tuesday to give an overview of the Center’s mission in the community. Helen grew up volunteering for many different organizations and has been helping to empower women through Crossroads since she was hired as an executive assistant in 2010.
Crossroads is located in downtown Thibodaux and is an education and counseling resource for women who are vulnerable to choosing abortion due to unplanned pregnancy. The organization is 10 years old and is the first of its type in the Bayou Region.
Founded in 2003 by a hotline volunteer, Crossroads has served over 1800 clients in our area and welcomed approximately 800 babies into its family. More than 3000 Crisis Pregnancy Centers of this type exist nationwide.
The Amazing Future Of E.D. White Education
David C. Boudreaux and Michelle Chiasson, E. D. White principal, with three 9th grade students: Cody LeBouef, Andre Broussard, and John Hue; discussed the iPad program for the 2012-2013 school year.
In the 21st century, understanding and using technology will be an integral part of virtually every aspect of daily life. It is our school’s responsibility to prepare students for this future. Our holistic approach to education is based on the belief that a young person learns from his or her whole experience.
The classroom is the primary place where this preparation will occur; therefore, every classroom must be equipped with diverse technologies to support teaching and learning. Every teacher must be knowledgeable and skilled in the use of these technologies in daily instruction. When integrated into instruction, technology will support new strategies for teaching and learning by addressing diverse learning styles, accommodating individual learning rates, helping students accept responsibility for their learning, providing the means to communicate globally, and improving academic achievement. .
Why iPad?
In addition to the amazing educational apps that may be downloaded on the iPad, it has the ability to perform the following functions:
▪ Create, read, edit, and produce a full set of Microsoft Office compatible documents
▪ Create dramatic video presentations
▪ Perform wide-ranging internet-based research
▪ Utilize subject-specific apps to engage the students in the learning process
▪ Take class notes including PDF annotation
▪ Save and retrieve files through Cloud-based storage such as DropBox
▪ Create simple and complex graphic organizer
▪ Read e-books and textbooks
After years of research, four parent informational meetings, a parent survey, and discussion by the E. D. White Advisory Council, our school will implement an iPad program for the 2012-2013 school year. The iPad has the potential to greatly enhance the way teachers teach and the way students learn.
Students can take part in the school’s lease purchase plan through Apple or bring an iPad 2 from home. They are to be Wi-Fi only without 3G capability. All iPads will connect to the school’s network and internet filtering software.
Leadership Lafourche
Simone Merloz Introduced the Director of Leadership Lafourche, Lin Kiger. Lin is also the Director of the Chamber of Lafourche and the Bayou Region. The program started in the 1990s, but had a brief absence in the past decade. Leadership Lafourche is a leadership immersion program designed to train cross-sections of Lafourche residents and workers for productive roles in the community. The program is focused on the future and well-being of Lafourche Parish, the communities within the parish and institutions within those communities.
Applications are currently being accepted for the Class of 2011. Parish residents and individuals who work in Lafourche are encouraged to consider participating in the eight month program.
Sponsored by the Chamber of Lafourche and the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Lafourche began in 1993 and has trained hundreds of people from up and down the bayou.
Leadership Lafourche is a tuition-based program, subsidized by private and corporate donations. Individual tuition is $700, a very worthwhile investment. Class size is approximately 25 participants per year. Corporate sponsorship is also currently being accepted.
Topics of instruction include: Leadership, Culture and History, Education, Community Service and Healthcare, Government, Law Enforcement and Judicial, Environment and Economic Development, and Visioning. Sessions will be held on the second Wednesday of each month beginning in November, with an opening reception to be held on October 13.
The program has a strict attendance policy therefore applicants should have the full support of their families and employers before submitting the application.
The application deadline is quickly approaching. Interested individuals should contact the Chamber of Lafourche at 985-693-6700 or the Thibodaux Chamber at 985-446-1187 for more information or for applications. You can also download applications by Going to The Thibodaux Chamber website.
This Is The History of Thibodaux
This Is The History of Thibodaux
By: Laynie Barrilleaux
Mr. Gibbens Robichaux escorted Rotarians down memory lane as he reminisced about the history of Thibodaux, Louisiana. Mr. Robichaux is a descendent of Henry Skylar who founded Thibodaux in 1796. The city was established primarily because of the water along Bayou Lafourche which was connected to Bayou Terrebonne. The first “establishment” in Thibodaux? A bar, of course!
Mr. Gibbens is credited for writing the E.D. White Alma Mater and founding the Bayou Community Band. He was the full time organist for St. Joseph Co Cathedral for many years and has played for over 1500 funerals and 500 weddings (which, by the way he’ll do for any one of as for free if we get married at the age of 90 or more). Mr. Gibbens shares his love and knowledge of history and daily happenings through a column called TIDBITS.
Here are some other “tidbits” he shared with us about Thibodaux. Governor E.D. White established the town of Thibodauxville in 1830. In 1912 Louisiana entered into the Union. Courthouse records for our city go as far back as 1808. For many years there were no bridges or ferries along the Bayou, but in 1898 the Bayou solid. Mr. Robichaux brought along a copy of a 1938 Comet and read some of the headlines. One of them noted that the Rotary was having Tuesday meetings and that the Rotary was recommending the city install a dial phone system. Telephone numbers were three digit numbers at the time.
City Bakery was established in 1919 and during its three day closing celebration in 1985 it sold over 500 dozen donuts. Thibodaux City Hall had a jail with two cells – and one cell seemed to be inhabited every Saturday night by the same citizen. St. Joseph church burned in 1917 and rumor had it that the Monsignor was responsible because he wanted the church built on another site.
Joe Robichaux was granted the contract to build the cathedral in 1920 for $300,000. Three years, 40 bricklayers and 400,000 bricks later the church was completed and Mr. Robichaux died three weeks later. The gold on the ceiling was painted with a brush by one man – it took 13 months to complete.
The current day Red Goose housed the first post office and there was also a very popular Pavilion where residents went to dance. Only problem – rest room was down by the barges. Mr. Robichaux can still recall the aroma.
Thank you, Mr. Robichaux, for a delightful stroll down memory lane. ~Laynie
