Druco Hardware and Bunkie Boxing Club

By Donna Culotta

As someone once said, “history is stuff in the past;” actually, I think that was me.

That being said, there are two history items I recently found and dug deeper into them.

Druco Hardware and Lumber in Mansura, and this was a surprise, a Boxing Club in Bunkie.

Druco Hardware

Since Druco is the older of the two we’ll begin our history lesson there.

In ten short years, Druco will be 100 years old and that makes it a long lasting and thriving business in the parish.

Most people who need hardware probably know where Druco is located. It’s on the way out of Mansura headed toward Long Bridge

If it seems like an out-of-the-way-spot, it might be today but years ago it wasn’t.

According To the late Avoyelles Parish historian, Carlos Mayeux, who wrote a book on Mansura, “The store was built in 1936 and owned by Lysso Coco, his brother Merlin Coco and their partner, Claver Drouin.” It’s name was a combination of the two names and hyphenated: Dru-Co.

The current owners are Lukey and Jenny Welch, who bought the store from Brian Brochard.

According to Lukey, “when the “new” highway came through the owners tore down the building and rebuilt it in it’s present spot with the same lumber from the old store.”

The “new” Hwy 1 was not the Hwy 1 we know today.

“The old highway followed the bayou, “ Lukey said. That’s one reason it’s crooked and loopy. Another reason was the highway connected all the small towns in this part of the parish.

Back then, as today, it was important to be on a main thoroughfare so Dru-Co was moved.

Later on, Lysso Coco sold his part to brother Merlin, who stayed with the business for many years.

Somewhere along the line, the hyphen was dropped from the name and it became simply Druco.

Lukey Welch has been in the store since 2005. “I was fresh out of college with a teaching degree but didn’t want to teach,” he remarked.

“The owner at the time, Richard Brochard, suggested I come to Druco until I decided what I wanted to do. I liked it, learned the trade and stuck with it.”

And now he owns it. Lukey added, “I see the hardware store as a way to help people.”

Bunkie Boxing Club

I have no idea why I think it’s very unusual that once upon a time in the 1970s, there was a Community Boxing Club in Bunkie. Why does that surprise me?

Surprise or not it happened and two of the men who were young boxers at the time enjoyed being a part of it.

Chuck Descant and Todd Steele, both of Bunkie, were members when they were young, like 13 and 14 years old.

Chuck was 13 and said, “I played all sports as a kid, boxing was an exciting event.”

According to Chuck, there were 15-20 people in the club and they were all ages up to 20.

They practiced in what is Haas Auditorium today. Back then it was the Bunkie High School gym with a boxing ring.

“We went all over the place to compete,” he said.

He liked boxing and was in the club for 2-3 years.

It was a safe sport and regulated. The boxers wore head gear and there were referees, who would stop the competition if it was necessary.

Todd Steele was 14 when he began boxing. “I loved it,” he said enthusiastically. “There was nothing more fun to do; it was a blast!”

After I asked him a stupid question about getting hit, he said, “Everyone gets hit; the trick is not to get hit.”

He boxed for three years until he was 17 and even went on to Silver Gloves Boxing, for ages 8-16.

Silver Gloves has run a national championship since 1967 and called it “your path from the gym to a national title.”

Todd did very well and was second in Jr. Olympics of Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

He sent me a picture of an old Bunkie Record newspaper dated Sept. 30, 1976 with bold headlines that proclaimed: ‘Todd Steele, Chuck Descant win by TKO decisions Saturday.’

“That was our first bout,” he said with pride..

Epilogue

I hope you paid attention to our history lesson.

There will be a quiz.