Slidell opensmore pickleball courts
BY DARREN COOPER
Contributing writer
Slidell pickleball players, the courts are ready
TheCity of Slidell recently opened 12 new outdoor pickleball courts at John SlidellPark, and the games are already underway
“It’samazing how fast the sport has grown and how people have takentoit, both young and old,” Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer said during aceremonial openingofthe project costingjust over $1 million and paid for by budget surpluses. Kyle &Associates handled the design, while CobaltConstruction handled the work.
And the project couldn’t come aminute too soon. The indoor courtsatFritchie Park have been bursting with Slidell players eager to play
“We’re thrilled, everyoneis thrilled,” said Dale Galloway, an avid pickleball player,who’s also director of facilities for the SlidellPickleball Association.
“It’sgoing to be great forthe community and greatfor new pickleball players and super for us to have them aplace to play.Now we have awhole new
BY ANDREW CANULETTE Staff writer
JohnOates was the featured performer at this year’sOzone Songwriters Festival held Oct. 25-27inCovington. Oates waspart of the festival-opening showcase at Fuhrmann Auditorium, where theveteran rocker played songs from his solo catalogue and of musicians who influenced his illustrious career
Oates is best known for his half-century music partnership withDaryl Hall, with the twochartinganastonishing 29 U.S. Top40 hitsintheir time performing together.Both aremembersofthe Songwriters Hall of Fame andthe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Thesedays,Oates is collaborating with numerous artists, both established stars and up-and-coming talents.Hepunctuated his performance in Covington with stories from throughout his career and VIP guests
BY KADEE KRIEGER
Contributing writer
Lacombe resident Raymond Batiste has spent the past several weeks preparingfor AllSaintsDay, tendingtothe family cemetery where his parents, sister and two brothersare buried. It’sa practice that has been in hisfamily for generationsand onehecontinues, even though he said he knows he could hire aservice to doitfor him.
“When you doityourself, you really feel thepurpose,” he said.
For Batiste andother Lacombe residents, the religious and cultural custom on All Saints Day of remembering loved ones who have died and
bestowing ablessing upon cemeteries is acherished practice worth passing on to future generations.
“It’sa way to honor the memory of our family and is an extension of the careand love showed to them during their lives,” said Batiste, 79, a Lacombenative. “Wecertainly hope that our children will pick it up and carry it on.”
The Roman Catholic FeastofAll SaintsDay on Nov.1dates to early Christianity and commemorates the multitude of saints —believed by the church to be all who live eternally in heaven, especially those who are without afeast day of their own. The
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE LOMAN
Members of the band Witnesswere presented acertificate on Oct. 19 declaring the group newinducteesto the
The ceremonytook place before the band’susual gig at theSlidellFood and
enjoyed ashort performance before the full concert.
The final twodays of the festival featured dozensofother songwriters from around the U.S., giving them achancetoshare their work on various stages at and around the Covington Trailhead.
The festival is organized annually by the nonprofit Ozone Music EducationFoundation. For moreinformation, go online to ozonemusic.org.
Lacomberesidents care by tendinggraves
LouisianaMusic Hall of Fame inducts
BY STEPHANIELOMAN Contributing writer
Opening night at this year’s Slidell Food and Fun Fest was not thefirst time Witness performed at theannual fair In fact, it was more like their 20th appearance. But this year’s showwas their most memorable,asitincluded a ceremony inducting the group into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Witness began its journey in 1991 as aside project for Slidell
residents Joey Spinosa and his wife,Missi. The drummerand his songbird wife joined forces with fellowSlidell musician, Raymond Ybos, aguitarist and former high school mateofMissi’s, after aserendipitousmeetup in Christy’s Music. Shortly after,they hired a couple of bass players, beganrehearsing, and Witness was born. The band played its first paid performanceatthe opening of Southside Café and have since
and Sir Donovan Barnes. MikeShepherd andJason Broussard, both withThe Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, areatright ä See WITNESS, page 6A
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
Fun Fest. Pictured are band members, from left, Raymond Ybos, Joey Spinosa,Missi Spinosa,
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
David Guzman and Raymond Batiste on Oct. 24 stand up across that had fallen off agrave.The twoand other community members clean graves in preparation for All Saints Day.
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
Gavin Beckham plays pickle ball at the newcourtsthat officially opened Oct. 23 in Slidell
ä See COURTS, page 2A
ä See GRAVES, page 2A
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
John Oates, and his audience, sported smiles Oct. 25 when the music superstar performed an acoustic
Stories’ aat Covington’sFuhrmann Auditorium.
COURTS
opportunity to grow.”
Cromer said the pickleball courts were the second stepin revitalizingcityathletic facilities. The city added two courtsto theCalamariTennisCenterand resurfacedthe existing courts in aproject completed last October The next big project, according to Cromer,isworking withthe SBBA on improving theyouth baseball fields in town.
“It’saquality-of-life issue,” Cromer said. “Wewant our people to be healthy and active. You know,wehave always been an outdoor people,this is another avenue for people to do things with people outside and get exercise, and we want people interacting with others in the community.”
Cromer laughs that his wife and grandson each play pickleball and have amakeshift court drawn on his back patio.
Galloway came into the sport aboutfour years ago. An avid golfer,heknew nothing about pickleball but was hooked on first
swing.
“If you get anew person who shows up, someonealways teaches them howtoplay,” Galloway said. “You can take that same conceptand go to anystate and find the same attitude, and that’s pickleball, andthat’s what makes it so popular.And agametakes only 15 minutes whereas tennis can takealot longer.”
The Slidell PickleballAssociation has over 100 members.There are some private courts available, but the biggest spot open to the public are the eightindoor courts at Fritchie Park. Galloway said on many days,eachcourt is being used.
Galloway thanked themayor and the city council for overseeing the project andresponding to the needs of the community
“We’re setting anew standard for St. TammanyParish for sure, and beyond, because right now we have the best indoor pickleball facility in St. Tammany Parish, and whenthese courtsopen, wewill have the best indoor and outdoor facilities,” Galloway said.
“You’ll see those courts in six months, all 12 will be filled at one point and time.”
Molly Jean Polston and TerriLamperez, presidentofthe Slidell Pickleball League, burst thourgh the ribbon as Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer,members of the Slidell CityCouncil, elected officials, city administration and the communityheld aribboncutting for newa dozen newcourts at John Slidell Park on Oct.23.
GRAVES
feast is an important part of culture in Lacombe, said Deacon Steve Ferran, of the town’sSacred Heart Catholic Church.
“Our community has a strong Catholicfaith and belief in the community of saints and God’swillfor us all to reside in heavenwhen we die,” said Ferran. “On All Saints Day,Catholics and non-Catholicsalike gatherand pay reverence and respect to those who have passed away,praying thatwewill be reunitedin heaven one day.” Sacred Heart will join churches acrossSt. Tammany and the New Orleans metro area in the All Saints Day blessing of cemeteries on Nov.1,atradition that French and Spanish settlers brought with them to the area centuries ago, said the Rev.Damian Zablocki, of the Mount Carmel Latin Mass Community in Covington.
“Their devotion to All Saints Day and All Souls Day was profound,” said Zablocki. “The blessing of cemeteries is important to keep the memory of loved ones alive,but also to recall that God always remembers us. The graveside blessings evoke that sense that (God’s) memoryis eternal.”
Zablocki visits several grave sites throughout the New Orleans area, from Metairie to the West Bank,
Festival
FILE PHOTOBYGRANT THERKILDSEN
It’sthat time again! The 41stfamily-friendly Festival of the Laketakes place in Old Mandeville. Checkitout at Our Ladyofthe Lake, 312 Lafitte St., on Fridayfrom 5p.m. to 10 p.m; Saturdayfrom 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6p.m.Goonline to festivalofthelake.com for fulldetails, includingarundownof music performers each of the three days. Picturedare Melissa Serpas,ofthe Mande Milkshakers,dancing with Annmari Dickerson, AudreyBowman and Elizabth Dickerson at the festivalin2023.
Raymond Batistestands
includingthe blessing of Italian tombs at Metairie cemeteries andfor theContessa Entellina Society He said in recentyears, he has noticed adecrease in attendance. “Fewer and fewer peopleare keeping up these local customs,” he said.
ButFerran said theAll Saints Day tradition remains vibrant in Lacombe and that Sacred Heart this year will bless 11 cemeteries there, an increase from seven cemeteries when he first arrived at the parish in 2014.
The cemetery blessings in Lacombe begin in early afternoon and last until
well after dark, with the last few visits taking place strictly by candlelight. “We do our last blessings in the dark, and the illumination of the candles is truly beautiful,” Ferran said.
Zablocki agreed: “Tosee the candlelight blessing is truly very touching and quite abeautiful way to remember loved ones.”
Ferran said the respect shown on All Saints Dayis aglimpse of the close-knit families of the community and the love they had for each other throughout their lives. He said during the blessing of the cemetery, families share stories of brothers, sisters, parents
and grandparents, bringing out the personality of each one.
“Parents and children, grandmothers and grandfathers, sometimes four generations, all attend and move to every single grave where afamily member is buried. To see people who still have reverence for their loved ones and carry on their faith traditions is truly really moving,” he said. “In this community, it’spart of the family tradition.”
That tradition begins with the process of restoring graves and maintaining the private family cemetery grounds by trimming bush-
es, weed-eating and grasscutting during the summer months, followed by repairing and pressure-washing headstones in September, then painting in October, Ferran said.
“Wereally get into gear in October,but it should be amonthly process,” said Lacombe resident Blanch Schneider Hammond.
She said it’snot unusual for family members to arrive at the cemeteries with wagonloads full of buckets with soapy water and fresh paint for the gravestones.
“Wetake care of each other,too. We don’tjust clean up the graves of our own family members, but we do them all,” she said. She said after hurricane season, there’smuch work to be done to remove debris and fallen limbsor even entire trees that can damage headstones. Even getting to the cemeteries themselves can be tricky since they are often set back from the road behind thick brush, she said Hammond and Batiste both grew up watching their parents and grandparents care for the cemeteries, including Williams No. 1, Williams No. 2and Hilltop near the Sacred Heart Church andothers scattered in the vicinity They joked about the stories they used to tell each other as kids getting trudged along with their parents to the cemetery on cleaning and maintenance days, from one family member’sgrave to adifferent spot, with
every visit to the spooky atmosphere at night. “We’d say that if you left the cemetery with acandle in your hand, someone would follow you home,” Hammond said.
But now,like so many other families in thecommunity,they both revere the responsibility of serving as caretakers of their loved ones’ finalresting places, and they worry about the tradition in the hands of the next generation.
“I hear that they just want to pay someonetodo it, that they don’twantto take the time like we do,” Hammond said.
Batiste said the faithful participation in the All Saints Day ceremony is important because it doesn’tjust honor the memory of those who have died, it maintains aconnection to past generations.
“You really get to know your family,not in areal sense as though they were alive when you were, but in caring for them after their death, you are connected to them spiritually.” The Lacombe All Saints Day Blessing of Cemeteries begins at 2p.m. in Casborn Cemetery,followed by Osay,Toomer,Ducre, Last Penney,Melon-Cousin and Bayou Lacombe. The candlelight blessings will begin at 5p.m. with the Williams’ cemeteries, Peter Cousin and LafontaineHilltop. Mass will follow the cemetery blessings at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN
PHOTO BY GRANT THERKILDSEN