The reopening of American Legion Post 16’sexpanded Military Museum in Covington drewactiveduty and retired militarymen and women, including three WWII vets, and reenactment group members wearing historic attire from different generations, including Malcolm Maginnis,left, and RobertReynolds.
PHOTO BY BOBBY GILBOY
Staff report
American Legion Post 16’s expanded Military Museum reopening last month in Covington drew an enthusiastic crowd of active dutyand retired militarymen and women, including Jim Robinson, a102-year-old vet of the Army Air Corps in WWIIand the Air Force in theKorean War. He was
ä See photos from event. PAGE 3A
joined by WWII Navy veterans Ed Pribyl and Sam Ford —who will both soon celebrate 100 —asthe day’smosthonored guests.Other highlightsincluded703rd MaintenanceReenactment Groupmembers wearingWWII clothing including thewool uniform worn during the D-Day landing. Even Rosie the Riveter visited, and the Louisiana Women Veterans provideda displayoftheir uniforms It wasa dayfor making memories, swapping storiesand sharing preciousmementos thatincludedthe journaland scrapbooksofJanice Charlesworth’s then-17-year-old father who served in the Navy during WWII.
HaisleyEngland, 8, picks out apink backpack duringBurgers, Blues and BBQ,a back-to-school
Antique Umbrella AlleyinOlde TowneSlidell on July 27.
Children are given backpacksand school supplies during Burgers, Blues and BBQ, a back-to-school celebration at Antique Umbrella Alley in Olde Towne Slidell on July 2. Theevent featured abackpack and school supplies giveaway,freehaircutsfor children, amarketplace,games, food and music.
BY SHEILA GRISSETT Staff writer
Pay attention, students.School is abouttobegin, and it all starts with your names. All pre-K-12 students in St. Tammany Parish public schools will reportfor one of two Smart Start Days based on the first letteroftheir last name. On Thursday,Aug. 8, onlystudentswith last names starting with the letters A-L willattend school, and on Friday,Aug. 9, only students will last names beginning with the letters M-Z will attend. But everyone should circleMonday,Aug. 12, on the calendar.That is the start of the normal scholastic
AvaJackson, 4, winds up for abig swing at a ball during the back-to-school celebration.
year,and everyone goes to school. Registration can be done in person or viacomputer.Toregister achild online, use theregistration portal at www.stpsb.org/register, or to do so in person,gotothe school the child will attend.Parents and caregivers can find the school their child will attend by going to theFind Your School App at www.stpsb.org/findyourschool and typing in their address withoutthe city and state. And remember,current STPPSstudents movingupingrade leveldonot have to register again Applicantsfor STPPS Pre-K,including thosewho areseeking tuition-paid preK spots,must complete an online application at www.stpsb.org/prek to
beginthe applicationprocess. Get more informationabout pre-K at www.stpsb.org/prek. Free school lunches and breakfasts are available for all students during the upcoming school year through aprogramcalledthe Community Eligibility Provision.All enrolled studentsinSt. Tammany’s55public schools are eligible to participatein this meal program withouthaving to paya fee or submitanapplication Thereisnofree andreduced meal application this year School supplylists,bygrade level, are located on school websites for grades K-8. The pre-K/early childhood
BY KIMCHATELAIN
Contributing writer
Caroline Todd’sfather,who played baseball at the University of Texas, says his young teen daughter is achip off the old block when it comes to her athletic prowess. But the girl’sdad, Clark Todd of Mandeville, is quick to acknowledge that he is not the old block. It seems Caroline,the only girl from Louisiana on the Olympic Development Program national soccer team,has her mother’sgenes when it comes to sports.
Caroline’smom,Laura Blessey Todd, was one of Louisiana’smost decorated female high school athletes. She won 11 individual and team state championships in golf, cross-country and track while she wasastudent at Mandeville High School in the 1990s. After graduation, shewentontoplay on theUniversity of Texas golf team Like mother,like daughter is how most viewthe Todd family lineage.
Clark Todd, a Lufkin, Texas, native who moved to Louisianain2001, said longtime members of the St. Tammany sports community constantly point outthe mother-daughter commonality when watching Caroline play
“A lot of people around here tell me,‘This is what your wife looked like (playing sports) when she was 13 years old,” Clark Todd said. “She dominated, no matter if it wasgolf, track, tennis, soccer ” As so it is for Caroline, anatural athlete who honed her soccer skills while partaking in the Mandeville Soccer Clubprograms. AndCaroline just celebrated her 14 birthday on Aug. 3.
Her dad said she excelled in all sports fromavery young age but settled on soccer about four years ago. Caroline’scombination of foot speed, strength and aggressiveness set her apart, he said.
Shane Jeanfreau, Mandeville SoccerClub’sexecutive director,said Caroline’s“elite competitiveness” in additiontoher physical abilities have ledtoher success on the soccer field.
“She is fierce andstrong. Shehates to lose,” Jeanfreau said. “The way Caroline practices andhow she approaches soccer matches has her at ahigher level of focus than anyone else.”
While playing with the Mandeville Soccer Club,
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Caroline was first recruited to join an Arkansas-based team that was part of the Elite Clubs National League, ahighly-competitive national youth soccer developmental league
She then made her way onto the regional Olympic Development Program squad, which is made up of the top players from around the south. This spring, she made the program’snational team. In May,that national team spent weeks playing matches in Germany and Austria It played for the International Cordial Cup in one of Europe’smost competitive tournaments for girls and boys. The tournament attracted teams from more than 20 countries.
“Weended up winning that,” Clark Todd said. “It was the first time aU.S. team had ever won the Cordial Cup, so it was areally big deal. The girls had a great time.”
Whileshe enjoys the world-class, international competition, Todd said his daughter has worked hardto keepher grades up in school and to remain rooted in the St. Tammany soccer community “The Mandeville Soccer Club is her home,” he said. “That’swhere all of her good friends are.” Clark and Laura Todd, who met when they were both students at the University of Texas, have made apractice of letting Caroline and her two siblings choose their own courses when it comes to extracurricular activities. Like their parents, all three enjoy sports.
Cooper,17, willbeajunior at Mandeville High School and participates in baseball and football. Cate is 12 and loves all sports.
“My wife and Iare both former college athletes,so we are verycompetitive by nature,” Todsaid. “But
PROVIDED PHOTO
Caroline Todd, of Mandeville, holds the trophyawardedtoher team for winning the International Cordial Cup, one of Europe’smost competitive soccer tournamentsfor girls and boys.
we’ve never forced our kids on sports.
“They’ve all kind of naturally gravitated towardit. I think it’sintheir DNA, and certainly for Caroline it is absolutely in her DNA.”
Caroline attended grade school at MaryQueen of Peace Catholic School in Mandevilleand will be an eighth grader at SaintScholastic Academy for the coming school year.She will compete on theschool’s soccerteam.
Despite her soccer schedule, Caroline said sheisalso driven to perform well in the classroom
“I have always made schoolwork apriority,” she said. “My parents talk about that alot.”
She said having parents whounderstandthe nuances of high-level competition has helped her on the soccer field and in all aspects of life.
“My parents are always talkingtomeabout work ethic and being aleader on and off the field,” Caroline said. “They talk tomeabout what it takes to be the best. My mom talks to me about being comfortable in the uncomfortable.”
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supply list is availableat www.stpsb.org/prek. High School teachers will send students home with their supply listsonthe first day of school.
Families who need bus transportation can find their bus driver’s contact information through the STPPS Bus Stop Locator at www.stpsb.org/transportation. The bus driver will provide information about the bus stop location and times. If families have additional questions about bus transportation or need assistance, theycan call the transportation hotline at (985) 898-3373. The hotline is available from 7a.m.-6 p.m. on Aug. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9and Aug. 12 &13. Families can check out all of the many ways to get information about their school and thedistrict by visiting the STPPS Connect Page at stpsb.org/ connect. Download the STPPS mobile appand find the informationona cell phone. Visitstpsb.org/ mobileapp to learn more. Parents and caregivers can also subscribe to the district’sE-newsletter and have it emailed. Visit stpsb.org/enewsletter to subscribe andviewthe latest E-newsletter edition. The district is also active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And finally,tosee the full 2024-25 school calendar,gotowww.stpsb.org/ calendar
The Children’sMuseum of St. Tammany threw itsBack-to-School Bash on July 27 for preschool and elementary school students in Pelican Park. There were backpack giveaways, abig yellow bus to check out and back to school treats all over.The museum has recently relocated away from the Koop Drive area andinto anew home at 813 Florida St., SuiteA.The museum will soon announce areopening date.
on July 27.
BYALEXLUBBEN Staff writer
TheSt. TammanyParish Council will create acommittee to look at trimming the size of theparish government and the 14-member Parish Council.
The council resolution, adopted Aug. 1with onlyone no vote from council member Maureen O’Brien, establishes acommittee made up of representatives from the parish government as well as private citizens, to reform the parish’sgovernment structure.
The committee will be made up of four Parish Council members, Parish President Mike Cooper or arepresentative from his administration, northshore District Attorney Collin Simsor arepresentative of Sims’ choosing, and five St. Tammany residents.
“Every meeting will be televised,” said council member Joe Impastato. “They’re wide open. So community participation is not only welcomed but it’sencouraged.”
One thing that will certainly be considered:A reductioninthe size of the Parish Council, which has long been a point of contention for some in St. Tammany Parish.
The 14-member council is acarryover from the parish’sold police jury government. Under that system, the
14 police jurors functioned as both the legislative and executivebranches of government; there was no parish president In 2000, the parish adopted its current home rule charter,which established the role of the parish president andretained the 14 police jurors as parish council members.
Is smallerbetter?
“The police jury had 14 [members],” said Carl Ernst, arepresentative of citizen watchdog group Concerned Citizens of St. TammanyParish.“We still have 14 of everything.”
“In the 14 different districts of the parish, there’salot of waste,” he added. “Can we do something about that?”
Since the charter wasadopted, the parish’spopulation has exploded to more than 270,000 people. It’stransitioned from amore rural community to something decidedlymore metropolitan, more akin to suburban Jefferson Parish than Washington Parish, St. Tammany’smore rural neighborto the north. That’sled sometocontemplate whether thegrowth warrants an update to the parish’sstructure of government. TheNorthshoreBusinessCouncil, an influential group of CEOs and
business executivesfrom across the northshore, commissioned areport last year that examined the pros and cons of trimming the council. It noted that if the council isn’tdownsized,“organizational inefficiencies and council member frustrations may continue.”
More
St. Tammany Parish has more parish council members than any parishwide legislative body in the New Orleans area. Jefferson and Orleans Parish each have seven council members, five with districts and two at-large representatives. The St. Tammany Parish Council consists of part-time representatives, whoeach earn about$30,000 ayear By contrast, in Orleansand Jefferson, council members are full-time, with staffedoffices,and earn upward of $90,000 ayear
O’Brien, the lone St. Tammany council member to vote against the resolution to create the committee, said she wanted more private citizens on the panel —anobjection that she said she heard directly from many of her constituents.
“The complaint Iheard was: Not enough participation from citizens,” she said. “I think there should be more citizen involvement.”