The Fontenot Family would like to thank everyone who came out and participated in our 4th annual Lafayette Super Cooper Heart Run race. The weather was very cold with temperatures in the upper 40's before the start of the race. Yet, once the race began, the temperature began to rise and the day turned into a beautiful one with plenty of sun and no wind. We had nearly 160 total participants in the 1-mile fun run and the 5K race.

For the post-race ceremony we were very fortunate to have the beautiful weather along with some good DJ tunes played by our volunteer sound man Mike, owner of Digital Music Services. The kids jumped in an air-filled Fun Jump (appropriately named The Barrel of Monkeys), while everyone enjoyed replenishing refreshments contributed by Piggly Wiggly of Mamou and Schilling Distributors of Lafayette. Jody Ferguson, owner of Casa Ole, not only provided the venue but also had staff on hand to prepare Red Beans & Rice and breakfast Quesadilla's for the participants and volunteers.

Awards were presented, door prizes were drawn and a raffle was held to give away a Jake Delhomme Autographed Panthers Football. The event was a tremendous success. Even with a slightly down-turned economy and the local community recently hit hard with a one-two punch from Hurricanes Gustav & Ike, the Cooper Life Fund was able to raise nearly $4,000 in proceeds to be contributed to Acadiana's local heart camp, Camp Bon Coeur (www.heartcamp.com). We could not have done it without our very gracious sponsors. The proceeds will help children with heart conditions to afford the opportunity to participate in Camp Bon Coeur's 10-day summer camp developed exclusively for children born with heart defects. The camp is a great way for these children to spend time with their peers and never stand out from the rest of the crowd. A huge thanks goes out to all of our sponsors (listed below):

• Odyssea Marine, Inc.
• Casa Ole of Acadiana
• Marine CFO
• Fontana Center
• Piggly Wiggly of Mamou
• Seacor Marine, LLC
• Royal Eagle Services
• Academy Sports
• Bell's Sporting Goods
• Fleming's Steakhouse
• Physiques for Women
• Quik Quarter

You can view photos taken at the race by visiting the Country Lane Studios website at http://www.countrylanestudio.com/sessions.php and typing in supercooperlf08 in the window.

Thanks again goes out to all participants, volunteers, sponsors, our local law enforcement (who kept our runners/walkers safe) and to the Cajun Road Runners Club (www.cajunroadrunnersclub.org) who timed the race and prepared the results. We look forward to see as many of you as we can for next year's race, scheduled for Nov 7, 2009. And for those of you interested in a road trip, our 3rd annual Super Cooper Houma race is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 2009.

P.S. Please feel free to write back with comments about the race or with general comments. We would love to hear from you.

From the bottom of our hearts we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

John & Ashley Fontenot