After successful events in Baton Rouge in April and Metairie in August, we’re continuing to take the Hayride’s dinner series on the road, this time to the Petroleum Club in Lafayette for our Fall Dinner. The event will be held November 1, which is a Wednesday night. The bar will open for a cocktail hour at 6 p.m., and dinner and the program will take place from 7:00 to 9:00.

Our keynote speaker will be Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture & Forestry Mike Strain, whose name has been bandied about as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2019 – Strain briefly flirted with a 2015 gubernatorial run, but instead sought re-election and won it with 58 percent in a four-person primary. Strain will discuss, among other things, the process of unwinding an overgrown governmental structure into something more manageable and fundable – this, of course, he has done in his department after inheriting what can best be termed a Soviet-style empire from previous commissioner Bob Odom.

Also speaking will be LABI President Stephen Waguespack, who in his own right has been bandied about as a potential 2019 gubernatorial candidate, and State Representative Julie Emerson, who is a candidate for Louisiana Republican Party chair.

It’ll be a fun night, as these events always are, and a great networking opportunity. Tickets are $80, and they’re available for online purchase here. Also available are table sponsorships, which include 10 tickets and signage at the event, at $1200.

Previous Hayride events have featured such speakers as Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, state senator Bodi White, U.S. Congressmen Garret Graves and Clay Higgins, state senator Neil Riser, Louisiana House Speaker Taylor Barras, noted conservative writer Quin Hillyer and Pelican Institute President Daniel Erspamer.

And beginning next January we will expand the Hayride’s dinner series into a full-blown tour, with stops in Shreveport, Alexandria, Mandeville, Baton Rouge, Metairie and Lafayette during the 2018 calendar year.

But for now we’re excited about the Lafayette event, and you should be, too. Click here and get your tickets today!