RSS Feed

Miss Hailey Claire Gunter and Mr. Richard Austin Belaire were united in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church on Friday, August 4th, 2023. Father Louis Richard officiated the Nuptial Mass.
Hailey is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brett Scott Gunter of Abbeville, Louisiana. Grandparents of the bride are Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Morton and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gunter. Austin is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Scott Belaire of Abbeville, Louisiana. Grandparents of the groom are the late Mr. and Mrs. Richard Belaire and the late Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hebert.
The bride was escorted by her father wearing a gown from A-Net’s Bridal Boutique. This beautiful ivory gown was made up of comfortable stretch georgette with an additional slit on the side of the skirt that added the perfect amount of intrigue. The gown featured delicate beaded straps with a sweetheart neckline where floral lace appliques began blooming all over the fit-and-flare silhouette throughout the garnished lace train. The bride paired a simple ivory fingertip veil with her garnished gown. The bride carried an elegant nosegay bouquet that consisted of pale blue and white hydrangeas, blooming white garden roses, white orchids, and white larkspur handmade by the groom’s mother. The bouquet was wrapped in ivory silk to match the bride’s gown.
Austin wore a tailor-made slate blue suit from Pearce Bespoke. This personalized suit showcased meticulous hand-sewn stitching on the collar, functional sleeve buttonholes, a skillfully crafted buttonhole on the collar, and a custom interior liner adorned with his brand logo.
The bride chose her sister, Taylor Gunter, to be her Maid of Honor. Taylor wore an ice blue gown with a sweetheart neckline and spaghetti straps covered in stunning soutache lace. The Maid of Honor carried a smaller version of the bride’s bouquet; an elegant nosegay consisting of the same floral choices as the bride. Taylor was escorted by Ashton Belaire. Ashton Belaire, Austin’s younger brother, was chosen as the groom’s Best Man. The couple chose Hailey’s cousin, Brittlyn Theriot, to be their flower girl. The ring bearers were Hunter Hernandez, cousin of the bride, and Mason Meaux, cousin of the groom.
The mother of the bride, Laurie, was escorted by her husband Brett Gunter. Her dramatic navy sheath gown featured a straight-across neckline and beautifully draped detail across the bodice adorned with a floral pattern of pearls and rhinestones. The column dress was finished with a horsehair hemline further complementing this unique dress.
The mother of the groom was escorted by her husband, Scott Belaire and the groom. She wore an elegant, embroidered, off-the-shoulder, half-sleeve lace gown in the color navy. The gown included a broach worn by the groom’s maternal grandmother which she wore at the last family wedding prior to her passing.
Scriptures for the ceremony were read by Timothy Morton, grandfather of the bride, and Kimberly Potier, aunt of the groom. Music for the ceremony was provided by Tommy Guidry.
Following the ceremony, a reception took place at The Cajun Mansion in Youngsville, Louisiana where guests celebrated and danced the night away with the newlyweds.
The bride’s cake was a four-tier white almond cake with alternating fillings of white buttercream, chocolate buttercream, raspberry, and pecan praline. The cake was decorated with elegant swirl designs and sat atop a golden cake plateau.
The groom’s delicious red velvet cake from Gambino’s Bakery was decorated for a Louisiana hunter featuring two greenhead ducks, an antique duck call, and a display shelf of duck calls, all keepsakes in memory of his late grandfathers. The cake also featured a Golden Retriever dog to symbolize the couple’s dog, Whiskey. The antique family cake plateau was covered in burlap with the table featuring cypress wood, shotgun shells, and fresh Pecan Island Roseau cane.
The couple spent the night before the wedding at a rehearsal dinner hosted by the groom’s parents at Black’s Oyster Bar featuring a candlelit setting with fresh garden roses, white snapdragon, powder blue and white hydrangea, and seeded eucalyptus arrangements. For their honeymoon, the couple will celebrate their new marriage in St. George’s, Grenada.

Vermilion Parish – Shortly after 4:00 A.M. on July 29, 2023, Louisiana State Police Troop I was notified of a single-vehicle crash on Louisiana Highway 713 near Coach Road in Vermilion Parish. The crash ultimately took the life of 14-year-old Jaci Guidry of Gueydan.
The initial investigation by State Police revealed the crash occurred as 22-year-old Justin Lee Faulk of Kaplan was driving north on LA 713 in a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado. The Silverado crossed the center line and traveled off the roadway to the left. After entering the ditch, the Silverado overturned several times.
Guidry, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was unrestrained and ejected. She was transported to a local hospital in serious condition. Two additional passengers were also unrestrained and transported to a local hospital with serious injuries.
Faulk was unrestrained and found to be impaired by the investigating trooper. He submitted a breath sample which determined he was over the legal limit of intoxication at the time of the crash. He was subsequently booked into the Vermilion Parish Jail with the following charges: DWI 2nd offense, 1st degree negligent injuring (three counts), careless operation, no seatbelt, and expired motor vehicle inspection.
On August 4, 2023, troopers were notified by hospital staff that Guidry had succumbed to her injuries sustained in the crash. This crash remains under investigation and additional charges for Faulk are pending.
Troop I has investigated 28 fatal crashes resulting in 31 deaths since the beginning of 2023.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Lawrence David Pilcher at 11:00 AM on Sunday, August 6, 2023, at Martin & Castille's La Fleur de Lis Chapel, 600 E. Farrel Rd., Lafayette, LA. Larry, as he was affectionately known, was 71 when he entered eternal rest on July 30, 2023, at 12:58 PM in Alexandria, Louisiana.
The family requests that visitation be observed on August 6, 2023, starting at 9:00 AM and will continue until time of services.
Pastor Randy Bowman will officiate the service.
Left behind to cherish his memory is his daughter, Stacey Zamago and her husband, Mario of Las Vegas; his son, Jaime Pilcher and his wife, Soyoung of South Korea; his stepson, Kevin Daigle and his wife, Darla of Jackson; ten grandchildren, Brittany Hebert and her husband, Justin, Tristan Vincent and his wife, Alyssa, Kyler Daigle and his wife Yoona, Kaitlyn Zamago, Sophia Zamago, Larissa Zamago, Ashlyn Daigle, AJ Daigle, Ella Daigle, and John Michael Daigle; two great grandchildren, Emery Hebert and Jack Hebert; his sister, Toni Chavez of Whittier, California; and his brother, Paul Pilcher of Baton Rouge, LA.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ronald and Sylvia Pilcher of Lafayette and stepson, Brad Daigle of Erath, LA.
Larry grew up in Lafayette, LA. and graduated from Comeaux High School in 1969. After high school, he proudly answered the call and enlisted into the Army. During his 2 tours in Vietnam, he was awarded with the following decorations: Vietnam Medal, Army Accommodations Medal, Airborne Wings, and Ranger Tab.
Mr. Pilcher spent his career in both the seafood and construction industries. He was passionate about the outdoors, fishing, archery, architecture, and storytelling. Larry was a man that always enjoyed a challenge and because of this, some of his greatest stories came from his elk, dear, and bear hunting advantures. He was an absolute expert marksman with both a rifle and a bow.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made in memory of Lawrence David Pilcher to Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund by clicking this link, https://www.vvmf.org/give-to-vvmf
View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com
Martin & Castille - SOUTHSIDE, 600 E. Farrel Road Lafayette, Louisiana 70508, 337-984-2811.

Crowley - The 86th International Rice Festival has selected Christian and Julie Richard as the 2023 Farmers of the Year.
The Richards will join the Presidential Party for the 2023 festivities. The annual event is the oldest and largest agricultural festival in Louisiana.
This year’s festival will be held Oct. 19 to 22 in downtown Crowley.
Julie and Christian Richard are a farming couple from Kaplan who own and operate Richard Farms. They have three children — Katherine who is 12, Saul who is 10, and Landry who is 8.
They are each the sixth generation of their families to farm and manage 5,600 acres of rice, crawfish, and soybeans.
Julie and Christian are both leaders, innovators, hard workers, and extremely progressive rice farmers. Both make decisions that will be most effective for the business as well as utilize technology, conservation programs, and practices to bring their crops to harvest in the most efficient and effective way possible.
Richard Farms has excelled in sustainability. Christian was selected as a Field-to-Market Farmer Spotlight Honoree. This recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to agriculture sustainability efforts.
He has been on the USA Rice Federation Sustainability Committee for several years and has always had close ties to conservation.
In early 2016, Christian chaired one of the four committees to help develop a sustainability strategy for the U.S. rice industry. He quickly realized that through their involvement in the Louisiana Master Farmer Program and development of an RMS (resource management system) plan that although they were already addressing all of the resource concerns on their farm, they did not really have a way to quantify them to allow the end user and consumer to have a tangible number to gauge the degree of sustainability on their particular farm.
Realizing that rice is a very special crop in the number of resources that it utilizes throughout the growing season and beyond, Julie and Christian have enrolled their farm in numerous NRCS programs to help protect the natural resources in their farming operation.
They have precision leveled 95% of the production land and have installed underground irrigation and grade stabilization structures and have seen a significant reduction in water use while the field yields have shown continuous improvement.
In addition, they also flood fields during the winter to provide valuable wildlife habitat.
Since water is a valuable resource in their day-to-day operation, Julie and Christian have created a tailwater recovery system to facilitate the reuse of precious water resources. This system allows them to recycle water that comes off their fields as well as neighboring fields, pump it into the reservoir, and hold it until it is needed for irrigation.
Richard Farms understands the importance of agriculture policy and Julie has assisted in policy implementation and provided guidance for disaster recovery programs throughout the state through the Farm Service Agency. Julie currently serves as the Chair of the Louisiana Farm Service Advisory Committee.
Their operation has an excellent on-farm grain drying and storage facility that will handle 75% of the initial harvest and maximize grain quality, while being the most efficient in doing so.
They were the Louisiana pilot site for a remote grain drying monitoring system that is utilized at their facility.
Richard Farms believes in research and innovation and has hosted LSU research plots and the annual Horizon Rice Field Day for many years. Their farm has also served as the John Deere Project Engineering Center Louisiana Test site for over 20 years.
Both Julie and Christian have served on numerous agriculture related committees at the local, state and national levels and have received numerous awards and recognitions indicative of their accomplishments.
They were jointly named the 2009 National Outstanding Young Farmer Award Winners, both are LSU AgCenter Certified Master Farmers, Christian is an alumnus of the USA Rice Leadership Development Program, and Julie is a member of the current class.
Julie has been selected to receive the American Council on Germany McCloy Fellowship for Agriculture, LSU Agriculture Outstanding Alumnus, was a 2022 Louisiana Girl Scout Woman of Distinction recipient, was selected to receive a membership in Gamma Sigma Delta Agriculture Honor Society, past president of Beta Sigma Phi Service Sorority, a member of Chez Elle Women’s Club, and the current president of the LSU College of Agriculture Alumni Association.
Christian is past president both the Vermilion and Louisiana Rice Growers Associations, served as vice-chair of the LA Rice Promotion Board, Vermilion Rotary Club Farmer of the Year, Cotton Rice Con-Till Conference Rice Farmer of the Year, USA Rice Outlook Conference Farmer of the Year, and the U.S. Field-to-Market Farmer Spotlight Honoree.
Julie and Christian are both very excited to be recognized as the 2023 International Rice Festival Farmers of the Year.