Hidalgo, Matte win citizen honors; Arthur, LAPCO also among Chamber honorees

Two leaders on the forefront of St. Mary Parish’s flood-fighting efforts shared the St. Mary Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year award.
St. Mary Parish Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte and Levee District President William “Bill” Hidalgo Sr. were recognized during the Chamber’s banquet, which was held Wednesday at the Petroleum Club of Morgan City.
They were among the winners in six categories that were honored.
“Both gentlemen were instrumental in the flood fight of 2019, and as you know, it was a record-breaking year where we experienced flooding for eight long months,” Chamber Chairman Raymond Price said. “Both have worked very hard to keep our community safe.”
Hidalgo thanked the Chamber for the award.
“It’s really special,” he said, while also thanking his family.
He also credited the Levee District workers, saying with a staff like them, “it’s pretty easy to do great things.”
Matte also thanked the chamber for the recognition.
“I accept it humbly but certainly want to recognize … the organization, Mike [Brocato}and Shelly [Scully] back at the office, who take care of us,” he said. “That’s it. We’re three employees, so we’re not a top-end heavy organization, but what we’ve gotten accomplished has been as a result of a lot of hard work by our board of directors, and Mr. Bill Hidalgo has been there since its inception.”
Matte credited Hidalgo’s work for leading the district to a point in its history now where it is seeing projects being constructed and new projects nearing.
State Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, lauded the duo’s work, crediting them with the Bayou Chene project coming to fruition. It’s a project that will stop flooding in a multiparish area.
Allain said the levee district commissioners and others have worked hard on the project, “but without these two guys’ leadership, this project and the projects that they’ve put forward would have never gone forward. So we all owe them a great gratitude for their service, their giving of their time, because nothing would have happened without it.”
Also during Wedn-esday’s meeting, the board recognized LAPCO Manufacturing Inc. in Morgan City as its Business of the Year.
Owner Freddie Triche started the business with his wife Trudy Triche in 1989 behind their house, and it has grown to employ 74 workers and send out around 23,000 garments weekly.
“We got a good business going,” he said. “We expect our business to grow. If it wouldn’t have been for last year, we would have expanded last year, but as y’all all know, it wasn’t too good of a year.”
However, Triche said they are growing and anticipate continuing to do as such.
The Chamber’s Nonprofit Business of the Year went to Purple Heart Outdoors.
“This organization supports and conducts outdoor activities for our service men, service women and disabled veterans,” Price said.
Dustin Bagwell, an Army veteran and the nonprofit’s founder, accepted the award.
“I just want to thank the chamber for this opportunity,” Bagwell said, adding that the nonprofit takes disabled veterans hunting and fishing. “The pandemic has affected us, but we remain strong and pushing through it.”
The Virginia Tyler Guillotte Award, which honors an individual who seeks to improve the parish’s quality of life, was given to Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur.
Price said Arthur is a longtime volunteer in community events and has assisted those in need of help.
“Thank you, Chamber for the award,” Arthur said. “Anything with Virginia’s name on it means a lot to me, because I knew Virginia.”
He said Guillotte was “an all-around good volunteer and someone that was extra special to Berwick.”
Arthur said that he has people around him who have made him a success, noting family and the town of Berwick employees.
The Chamber’s Administrative Assistant of the Year is Sheila Hue of South Louisiana Community College.
Price said Hue has been involved in numerous organizations and also is on the Leadership St. Mary Steering Committee.
“I enjoy what I do, and I love St. Mary Parish,” Hue said. “Thank you so much for this honor.”
Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau Executive Director Carrie Stansbury presented the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau Hospitality of the Year award to Brian Smith. He is the housekeeping manager at Clarion Inn in Morgan City, where he has worked for 28 years.
“He has worked throughout the pandemic without a day off, sometimes as the only housekeeper of Clarion, cleaning rooms and taking care of guest needs,” Stansbury said. “According to his bosses, he is the best and deserves to be recognized for his hard work and ethic.”
Also during Wednesday’s event, Pam Hayes, deputy commissioner of communications for Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser’s Office, presented the award recipients with plaques on Nungesser’s behalf.