Slidell-area womenare dancingfor theloveofit
BY MADDIE SCOTT Contributing writer
Bad knees haven’tstopped 86-year-old Ellyn Campbell from dancingher heart out with the Happy Heart Dancers, amature women’s group that performsinSt. TammanyParish retirement homes.
BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
Anna Merle Merrilland the Ladies of Love preformed for residents of SummerHouse Park Provence in Slidell on June 26.
“Dancingiseverything to me,” Campbell said. “I’ve got two bad knees and legs, and sometimes they don’t wantto move, but Imake them. Imakethem move,” she said with alaugh
Her close friend andfellow dance member,Lou Landry, 82, laughed with her They’re theonly original members of thegroup,formerly known as thePearl River Dancers. They formed in 2006 when Campbell, Landry andafew other friendswanted to exercise anddance to stay in shapeafter retiring.Since their official 2006 debut, they’veperformed at avariety of venues across the parish. Campbell said she loves the camaraderieofthe group. Together,the women text every day,they enjoy restaurant outings and are always moving.
The women performed on June 20 at the Oak Park Village,anassisted living facility inSlidell.The ten women saunteredintothe building one-by-one astheir performance neared. They all wore whitecapri pants and USA-themed shirts. Avariety of accessories sat on their heads: Think light-upheadbands, sparkly cowgirlhatsand American-flagbandannas. Some woresneakers;otherswore sparkly sneakers.
At 10 a.m. that day,one of the members, CathySpringer,began playingsuch classic songs as, “Mississippi Slide, Cupid Shuffle, “Elvira,” “Billie Jean”(twice) and“This Land is Your Land.” Each song pulsedthrough the room, and so did the dancers as they per-
ä See DANCING, page 4A
BORN TOUGH
Marian Brandt Eades wasa winner from thestart
BY JOSEPHHALM Staff writer
Former Salmen standout Marian Brandt Eades was always destined to be tough.
The youngest of nine siblings, she was the baby girl, but that doesn’t mean her brothers and sisters went easy on her
“I just loved (being part of abig family),” Eades said. “All we did when Igrew up was sports. We stayed outside. That’swhat we did back then. We hung outside and everyone cametothe house to play football. There wasn’tany touch. If they touched you, they pushed you intosomething. Iended up being a little tough cookie.”
That’s an understatement. Eades played basketball, softball, volleyball and track at Salmen. Spartans’ coach Pam Slayton retired Marian’sjersey her senior year,making her the first female athlete in the parish to receive the honor
She went on to play basketball at Pearl River Junior College and moved to Southeastern before a pair of knee injuries ended her playing days.
After college, Eades began her coaching career at Northshore in the early 1990s. She then led the Pope John Paul II volleyball and softball programs for four years before returning to Northshore permanently in 1997.
Marrying afellow coach in Ned Eades, the duo became key figures on the diamond among the St. Tammany Parish coaching scene. Ned won back-to-back state baseball championships in 1996 and 1997 at Pope John Paul II and then moved to Northshore to coach on the field next to Marian’sin1999.
Tragedy struck the family soon after,asNed succumbed to his long battle with cancer in 2004. Marian
for aphoto during her playing days at
battled thyroid cancer in 2009 and retired from coaching before the 2021 season due to another health scare when her right kidney was removed after a2-inch mass was discovered.
“It was tough to step away,” she said. “I love that school, the kids. We had avery good program because of thetype of kidswehad and theassistant coaches. Butmyshoulder was killing me, andI had that secondcancer; Iwouldn’thave been able to give them what Ineeded to. Ialways felt when Iwasn’table to coach the way Iwanted to coach and do what Iwanted to do that I would step away.”
So what has the lifelong Slidell resident with 549 softball wins and 12 district championships been up to? Traveling, taking care of
Editor’snote: “Where are they now?”
The St. Tammany Farmer asked that question about some of the best athletes in local sports history and then we went out and found them.
Each edition this summer,we’ll reacquaint readers with one of these familiar faces. We’lltake adeep dive into the success stories that began in parish youthleagues, continued at local high schools and then colleges near and far.Many of these homegrown talentsplayed professional sports, too, reaching the pinnacle of athletic achievement.
This week, we feature Marian Brandt Eades, former Salmen basketball standout.
Educationand economic development workinghandinglove in
BY SARA PAGONES
Contributing writer
Education and economic development leaders are working together in St. Tammany to try to reverse the trend of students leaving the parish and state according to panelists at arecent State of Education breakfast sponsored bythe St. Tammany Parish Chamber of Commerce. St. Tammany Parish SchoolsSuperintendent Frank Jabbia was joined July 24 by Southeastern Louisiana StateUniversity PresidentWilliam Wainwright, Northshore Technical Community Col-
lege Chancellor Jim Carlson and state Rep. Kim Carver in alargely upbeat presentation that stressed the partnerships between the 37,000-student public school system and the college and university. Jabbia said thattop students areleaving after their post-high school education, and Carver said Louisiana is the only southern state that is losingjobs andpopulation. But Jabbia said St. Tammany is in alignmentwhen it comes to preparing students for college and the workplace with monthly meetings between Jabbia,
ä See EDUCATION, page 3A
SoutheasternLouisiana University President William Wainwright speaks at the State of Education, abreakfast-time discussion on education in the state of Louisiana and specifically,the northshore.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Marian Eades poses
Salmen.
PHOTO
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
State Rep. Kim Carverand Superintendent of St TammanyPublicSchools Frank Jabbia listen as
ä See WINNER, page 2A
Trafficstudy identifies hotspots on Mandeville streets
BY KIM CHATELAIN
Contributing writer
Crossing U.S. 190 afterexiting the Mandeville Starbucks has been known to make even the most skilled driver abit jittery
That vehicular hotspotwas one of several discussed duringa presentation to the City Council by an engineeringfirm hired to devise “traffic calming improvements” throughout Mandeville.
Barry Brupbacher of the NeelSchaffer civil engineering firm outlined the results of astudy geared toward investigating several roadways and intersections and suggesting low cost safety improvements that the citycould implement. Traffic consultants conducted vehicle counts, speed studies and other research to compilethe report that Brupbacherpresented during the Mandeville City Council’sregular meeting on July 25. The council took no official action on the report, but noted thatitwill help them establish priorities for future road projects.
The report cited several city intersections that present significant safety issues. They include Monroe Street and East Causeway Approach Road; U.S. 190 and Carondelet Street; EastCauseway Approach Road and Cambronne Street; and West CausewayApproach at Florida Street.
“Everybody knows that if you’re trying to makethat crossing (exiting the Pontchartrain Square Shopping Center onto U.S. 190), you close your eyes and hope.”
BARRY BRUPBACHER, of the Neel-Schaffer civil engineering firm
To remedy some of the problems, th e studyrecommended improved signage, re-striping roads that have faded lane markings, redesigning intersections, addinga bike lane to Marigny Street and installing speed tables, which are sloped areas of paving that can slow the flow of traffic. Brupbacher said abike lane onMarignycouldprovide asafer alternative for bicyclists who now use anarrow,heavily traveled portion of Girod street toget from the Tammany Trace to the Mandeville lakefront.
“The real issue is more with bicycles on Girod,” he said. “If we putabikelaneonMarigny,it mayattract some of the (bicycle) traffic between the Trace and the lakefront and get it off Girod.”
He estimatedthe lane could be installed for about $25,000.
The study also highlighted the need to reconfigure the exitfrom the Starbucks at the front of the Pontchartrain Square Shopping Center.Motorists who want to make aturn onto U.S. 190 face peril, Brupbacher said.
“Everybody knows thatifyou’re trying to makethat crossing, you close your eyes and hope,” he said.
Onesolution to thattraffichot spot would be to close the existing median crossover and forcetraffic exiting the Starbucks to turn onto U.S. 190 instead of crossing the busy roadway In other action, the council approved aresolution authorizing the formal acceptance of astate capital outlay grantof$6million to be used toward construction of anew policestation. Thecity is expectedtoput up about $2 million in matching money The existingstation, which is located adjacent to City Hall, was put into operation in 1983 andis in poor condition. The new station will be built on the City Hall campus, although the exaction location has not yet been identified. City officialssaidtheyhopeto have design work for the new station completed by nextMay
WINNER
Continuedfrom page1A
the grandkids and helping her sons with their businesses. In short, the61-year-old is ahappy, healthy retiree.
“I love it. Iabsolutely love it,” Marian said. “Even though I loved what Iwas doing before, I love what I’m doing now,too. Being with the boys and helping the boys with their businesses. Going topick the grandkids up from school or babysitting in the middle of the day. Having sleepovers during the week or taking them to lunch. Youthought you loved your kids until you have grandkids. These kids get away from everything, and yeah, Iknow they do.”
It’sasofter side to Marian than the one herchildren or former playershaveseen, and she’sembracing it —even if she admits that it’shard to let the grandkids beat her at anygame.
“I did not see myself changing this much,” Marian said. “I’ve always been tough. I’ve always been strong. Iknow I’ve changed, but Inever thought I wasgoingtochange.”
Besides enjoying her grandchildren, Marian is also active in her son’sbusinesses, including cutting grass and making juices.
She’salso been an assistant softball coach at Pope John Paul IIfor thepast twoseasons, and she admitted that being an assistant was alittle weird at first.
“My junior year of high school, I knew Iwanted to be acoach andnothingelse,” she said. “That’swhat Ipursued, and it justworked out.” Marian was never an assistant softball coach, so she “just kind of jumped into the fire and figured it out.” Her advice to young coaches is simple.
“Just befair,because kids will read you,” Mariansaid. “Even though you’ll have aplayer who will really excel, you don’ttreat herany different from the one whocan barely make the team. Onceyou start showing favorites oranything, the kids know.I think throughout my whole career,Ican say that Iwas just as hard on the good ones as the last player on the roster.Ithink Iwas
pretty fair.”
She got confirmation of that fact when Northshore named the softball field she helped build in her honor in 2022.
“It was very,very humbling,” Marian said. “When Iretired, people in thecommunity told me alot of good stuff, and that showed me what Imeant to people. Youreally don’tknow what you mean to people until then because you just do your job. To have that honor was pretty cool. Pretty cool.”
Marian shared that moment with her sons —Chris and Ryan —afact not lost on the duo.
“It’savery cool honor for her,” Ryan said. “I know she’svery grateful. It’sjust kind of full circle. Chris and Igrew up on the softball and the baseball fields. It’spretty cool to see her name on this field and my dad’sname on the baseball field across campus. They dedicated their lives to others, so this is pretty cool.”
Chris agreed: “It’sa special day.When we were growing up, Iremember coming out here every weekend. Just to see how many people came out to support my mom andtosee whoplayed for her is amazing.”
Those comments were music toMarian’sears. The fiery coach said she never worried about her recordand just enjoyed watching her players grow throughout each season.
“It’smylife. It’s mademewho Iam. Ijust tried to be agood role model for the community,for the school, for the boys. Teaching
has made me whoI am. Having a field named after you is special, so when you look back, Iguess I was pretty successful,” Marian said. “I’m in agood place, avery, very good place.”
Contact Joseph Halm at jhalm@sttammanyfarmer.net.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Marian Eades, left, coached volleyball at Pope John Paul II in the 90s.
FILE PHOTO
Ned Eades coached at Northshore with his wife, Marian, until his death in 2004. Here, he poses withMarian and his sons Chris, then 10, and Ryan, then 12, on June 18, 2004.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Marian Eades with sons Ryan and Chris
PHOTO BY MATT DOBBINS
Retired Northshore softball coach Marian Eades hugs catcher Alaina Appe after throwing out the first pitch before aDistrict 6-5A softball game against Slidell at Northshore on April 7.
FILE PHTOO BY JIM DERRY
Northshore softball coach Marian Eades gives instructions to an outfielder against Belle Chasse during anondistrictsoftballgame at Northshore on Thursday, Feb.27, 2020.
