My Favorite Person to Remember
By Gracie Reaux Calkins
As we approach Father’s Day weekend, I’d love to tell you a little more about the namesake of Lake Reaux at Moncus Park…my favorite person to remember…my dad, Jerry.
He taught us most of what mattered outside. On rainy weekends he’d be out there with us making mud pies and jumping in puddles, never once waiting for the sun. If you wait for the good weather, you miss everything good about the rain.
When my brother and sister were 11, they nearly watched someone die on their first white water rafting trip. The next morning, Dad’s plan for the day was the same as it always was: back to the rapids! He taught us to go through the fear, not around it.
Those lessons didn’t stay on the water. The joy he found in nature lives in every kid who catches their first fish at Lake Reaux. The patience he modeled in a duck blind is in the staff who tend that pond by hand, quietly, without complaint. And the presence he brought to every moment is in the water itself, giving this city somewhere to slow down and breathe.
For us, the greatest gift isn’t that the lake carries his name. It’s that other families get to make their own memories here…the kind that stick around long after the people who taught them are gone.
This June, Moncus Park is raising $50,000 to fund a full year of care for Lake Reaux, and every dollar given is being matched by our family. With Father’s Day this weekend, there’s no better time to give in honor of someone who took you outside. Any gift gets a name added to the sign at the water’s edge at Lake Reaux for the entire month of July.
Click here to give in honor of your dad →
Most Gratefully,
Gracie Reaux Calkins
Gifts may be made by check payable to Moncus Park, online at moncuspark.org/LakeReaux, or through the Community Foundation of Acadiana. All gifts are tax-deductible. Moncus Park is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Thank you to our Lake Reaux Campaign donors:
Alan & Karen Haney
Anne Roger
Ashley Alexander, in honor of Jerry Reaux
Ashley Guidroz & Nick Guidroz
Bailey Dore
Bonnie Kidder, in honor of Brooke Kidder
Brenda Melancon
Bridget Coffelt
Caprice Cosper
Carolyn R. Bruder
Chris & Suzie Arsement
Chris Broussard
Conrad Comeaux
Cynthia Landry
Danny & Lauri Gilder
Donna Hollier
Dr. Denbo & Barbara Montgomery Endowment
Emilia Pardo
Flossie Turner, in honor of Jack Turner
Gracie Reaux Calkins & Brian Calkins
Homegrown Snoballs, in honor of Jacque Leathem-Constantin
In honor of Barbara W. Montgomery
Jamie Buetow
Jennifer Eisler
Jill Thibodeaux
Jimmy and Jeanne Roberts, in honor of James Roberts
Joan Parish
Josette Zuklic, in honor of the Stutes Family
Karen Caballero
Katherine Lee, in honor of Paul Sellers
Lisa Hartwell, in honor of Jerry Reaux
Madelyn Murphy, in honor of Parker Rivera & Mr. Jerry Reaux
Marie-Dianne Reed
Marietta Puckett
Martha & Scott LeJeune
Mary Adams, in honor of Allen G. Adams, MD
Mary Anne Lynch Hernandez
Mary Sanders
Michelle Abshire
Pamela Schneider, in honor of Winter
Patti Reed
Paula Duhon
Peter Piccione, in honor of Kenneth “Joey” Livaudais
Reggie Dupré, in honor of Jerry Reaux
Renee Reaux Fenstermaker & Family
Rick & Tricia Jacob
Robert Baker, in honor of Lauren and Paul Baker
Steve & Patsy Harris
Susan Myers
The Dores
Thomas & Stephanie Judice
Todd & Mignon Trahan