Giant Omelette Celebration welcomes three new chevaliers

Organizers of the Giant Omelette Celebration are celebrating the event’s 30th year.
Three involved with the group are celebrating their own milestones this year. Mickey Atchetee, Darrel Comb and Brenda Comeaux Trahan have risen to the rank of chevalier, the chefs who help prepare the 5,000 egg omelette.
The three will be among more than two dozen chevaliers cooking this year’s 5,030 egg omelette.
That will begin Sunday at 1 p.m. with the procession of chefs and eggs, and cooking to begin at 1:30 p.m.
Atchette said he is honored to be named a chevalier.
“It feels good to be recognized for the hard work that I have done,” Atchette said. “Months of work go into this each year, but I don’t mind because it is fun.”
Atchetee, 31, is certainly no stranger to the Giant Omelette Celebration. His father, Whitney Atchetee, is heavily involved with event and served as the first Grand Maitre (Grand Master).
“I have taken part in this event since I was 12,” Mickey Atchette said. “It is special and an honor to be knighted.
“It is something that I have looked forward to for a long time.”
Comb, a Breaux Bridge native, has been a part of the omelette for five years. His wife, Betty Comb, is the niece of the late Bichon Toups, one of the event’s founders.
“My wife was a chevalier last year,” Comb said.
Being named to the rank this year came as a more than pleasant surprise.
“I am so excited,” Comb said. “I still can’t believe it. I hoped that it would happen one day, but not this soon.
“When I got the letter to inform me that I had made it, I was floored.”
Comb said his gratification for being a part of the Giant Omelette Celebration cuts to the event’s core.
“I am so honored and humbled to be part of a group that is focused on keeping French heritage alive,” Comb said. “That is what this event is really all about.
“That is something that is close to my family’s heart.”
Trahan, who has been involved with omelette for 10 years, shares a similar sentiment.
“This is a wonderful organization,” Trahan said. “This is really an international celebration that is all about the French language.
“I am so excited to be a part of this and to be named a chevalier.”
Trahan said being a part of the celebration offers her and her husband, Ray, a special gift.
“We are originally from the Indian Bayou area,” Trahan said. “We now live in Lafayette, near Milton. When they invited us to join, it felt like coming home to Vermilion Parish. We got a chance to see so many familiar faces and meet so many new friends.
“It was really a joy to be able to get back the feeling of being back home.”
As for cooking eggs at home, Trahan joked that her ability to do so has gone up a few notches.
“I was cooking eggs for my grandson the other morning,” Trahan said. “I told him his grandmother is now certified to cook eggs. He laughed.
“I think my eggs will be much, much better from now on.”