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- Acadiana livestock show celebrates 40 years
(02/06/17) LAFAYETTE, La. – Officials recognized the 40th anniversary of the LSU AgCenter Acadiana District Livestock Show at Blackham Coliseum recently (Feb. 3) and signed an agreement to keep the event going.
Bill Richardson, LSU vice president for agriculture, said the 4-H and FFA livestock show program benefits youth in many ways. “This builds so much for them to develop responsibility,” he said.
He thanked University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Joseph Savoie for hosting the event at Blackham Coliseum. “We work together very, very closely,” Richardson said.
The partnership with LSU is for the benefit of youth. “The university partners with LSU to offer these opportunities for the young people,” Savoie said.
Savoie, Richardson and Mark Tassin, LSU AgCenter associate vice president, signed a memorandum of understanding to continue the arrangement for the livestock show for the next 10 years.
Stan Dutile, LSU AgCenter county agent in Lafayette Parish and manager for the show, said organizing the show first started in 1977 when a number of community leaders and organizations started efforts to bring a district livestock show to Lafayette.
Key to those original efforts were the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, the South Louisiana Mid Winter Fair Association and the Lafayette Cattlemen’s Association along with ULL, Dutile said.
Additionally, Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government is a key sponsor for the event as well as supporting the LSU AgCenter. “They help us with all kinds of support,” Dutile said.
The Lafayette Parish School Board sponsors the event’s Premier Exhibitor program. Dutile also credited the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office for providing inmate labor to set up the facilities for the event.
The South Louisiana Mid Winter Fair Association helps maintain the livestock barns at Blackham Coliseum, he said.
New sponsors this year include Louisiana Land Bank, First South Farm Credit and Angco Disposal.
The event annually attracts over 500 youth exhibitors and over 1,000 animals from a nine-parish area.
A ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the Acadiana District Livestock Show resulted in an agreement by the LSU AgCenter and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to continue the event at Blackham Coliseum for an additional 10 years. Holding the memorandum of understanding are, from left to right, Joseph Savoie, University of Louisiana at Lafayette president; Stan Dutile, Lafayette Parish county agent and show manager; and Bill Richardson, LSU vice president for agriculture. Photo by Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter
Photo by Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter
Photo by Bruce Schultz/LSU AgCenter