Andrus Fontenot is 2015 Frog Festival Grand Marshal

Jimmy Prevost, president of the Rayne Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture, and Roy Credeur, festival chairman, are announcing Andrus Fontenot will be accorded the special recognition that comes with the honor of leading the 43rd Annual Rayne Frog Festival Grand Parade as Parade Grand Marshal.
The Grand Parade will be held Saturday, May 9, at 1:30 p.m. through the city’s downtown area ending at the Festival grounds.
Jeremy Lavergne, a Chamber Board member and chairman of the festival parade, is expecting this year’s Grand Parade to be the “biggest and best” with more marching bands, floats and “special guests.”
The nomination letters received from Jena Bordes and Dawn Gerbine, and Lisa Soileaux and Staff of The Rayne Acadian-Tribune, attest that Mr. Andrus has served as a role model for not only Rayne youth, but has also served his community in many other capacities.
Soileaux’s nomination letter reads:
Longtime community leader Andrus Fontenot is being nominated for the honor of 2015 Frog Festival Grand Marshal.
Mr. Fontenot has made numerous contributions to the City of Rayne and the Rayne Frog Festival in numerous ways with different programs and civic organizations -- a proven a leader when it comes to service to the Rayne community.
A life-long leader of the Rayne business community, Mr. Fontenot has led by example. He has made outstanding contributions in the Rayne community by first operating his own business which provides a need for Rayne citizens; and second, by serving the community in valuable civic organizations and programs.
For many years, Mr. Fontenot has spearheaded the local Legion Baseball program through the local American Legion. He is also a 68-year member of Arceneaux Post #77 of the American Legion, as a board member for 40 years, served as post commander in 1985, and also vice commander of the entire 7th District.
In earlier years, he served as a commissioner of the Rayne-Branch Hospital, where he served 14 years, seven of which were as board chairman.
Following his dedicated service in the U.S. Army during World War II, he was employed by the well-known establishment of Mervine Kahn where he eventually served as manager of the grocery section.
Mr. Fontenot helped form the marketing group called Insurance Group of Acadiana, and served as president of both the Rayne and Acadia Parish Insurance Exchanges.
He has a lengthy association with the St. Joseph Credit Union (now People’s Credit Union). Since 1973, he has served as a director of the credit committee, was chairman of the board from 1991 to 2003, and currently serves as the board’s vice president.
Mr. Fontenot has served for many years with the St. Joseph Society in his church parish of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church. He has also served as an officer for many of those years.
Following years of service to the local Scouting program, he was recently honored by the Evangeline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America with its Distinguished Citizen Award. Not a Boy Scout himself, he has always worked with the Scouting program, following the example set forth by many Rayne leaders before him.
In the early stages of the Rayne Frog Festival, Mr. Fontenot was always there to assist the American Legion with their booth, one of many local organizations who manned booths during the annual event.
Sincerely,
Lisa Soileaux and the Staff of The Rayne Acadian-Tribune.
In the letter received from Bordes and Gerbine, it reads:
We would like to nominate Mr. Andrus Fontenotfor the 2015 Parade Grand Marshal. We feel that he is well deserving of this honor. He has educated himself to the betterment of the Rayne community for many years.
He has been an upstanding business owner since March of 1976 and a Chamber member for almost as long. He was Commissioner at the Rayne Branch Hospital for 14 years. He served on the Board of Directors for the St. Joseph Credit Union (now People’s Credit Union) for 18 years, and served as Chairman of the Board for an additional 12 years, until 2003. As of now, he still serves as Vice-Chair of the Board.
He has also served St. Joseph Church and church community for many years, being an usher. He was also a leader of Boy Scout Troop #60 for many years. He is a great businessperson, leader, and overall great person.
Please consider our nomination. Thank you. Jena Bordes and Dawn Gerbine.Fontenot will be acknowledged with special honors prior to the start of the 2015 Frog Festival, in addition to taking his place during the Grand Parade on Saturday of the three-day event.