No boat,noproblem
they’ve still had fun, especially when it’scool and not as hot.
For Rush, the atmosphere aroundthe lake at Burbank makes the spot ago-to for some quiettime in nature.
“At Burbank, specifically,it’sreally nice” he said.“Ifind that the fish bite alot more becausethere’s a little place in the middlewhere there are alot of trees andshrubs that the fish hide under,and they just bite alot around that middle spot. It’sa secluded area, and so it’s very nice and peacefulwhenyou are fishing.”
Another Baton Rouge-area pond that participates in theGet Out & Fish program is Sidney Hutchinson Park in Walker.Porter says that even though it’sasmaller pond, it has its benefits.
“SometimesI kind of like the smaller pond. It’salittle easier to locate the fish, and the ponds are stocked based on their size,” Porter said. “So amaximum stocking for catfish will be about900 to 1,000poundsofcatfish, andthat’s for our larger lakes. Our smaller ones around anywhere from 100 up to four or five, 600 pounds.”
Acadiana has three different
from $1,000 to $10,000.With the previous budget exceeding $10,000in2019, the team applied for the maximum amount. FIRST Robotics Competition registration alone is $6,000 The ZHS Robotics Team includes Christian Clayton, 11th grade; Cody Graves, 10th; Isabella Allen, 11th; Jayden Spence, 11th; Jeremy Hopper,11th; Jeriah Johnson, ninth; Jerrolyn Brees, 12th; Jhamaree Waddell, 12; Joshua Newman, ninth;Landrie Barr, 12; Lindsey Longmire, 11; Marcus Rogers, 11th; Noah Carter,12th; Parker Castleberry, 12th;TyreePerkins,ninth9; Vincent Huang, 11; Winston Moss, 11th and Zade Hofeling, 11th Kyle Melancon is acoach, and Jared Allen is coach/ mentor
BRADY
Emma Ezelle (15:49.30) finishing in the top 20. Hudson Broussardled theCopper Mill boys and finished 4th overall (12:58.44) with Anthony Sauro (13:34.46) finishingin the top 20. Also at Highland Road, on Nov.8,the ZHS boys andgirls track teams competedinthe LHSAA Div-1 Region 2qualifiermeet.The Broncos finished fifth overall for both boys and girls over the 3-mile course
options for fishing opportunities. Girard Park is in Lafayette proper with great urban access. Just outside of Lafayette in the Youngsville area is J. Otto Broussard Memorial Park, also called Southside Park, which is on the same area of land as alibrary,baseball and soccer fields and agolf course. If people are willing to drive just a little out of the way,Oil and Gas Park is located in Jennings.
“What Ilike about Oiland Gas Park is it’sright offthe freeway It’sreal easy access, even if you havetodrive in. Alot of people recognizethatone because it’s by thebig ‘Comeholda baby alligator’ billboard,” Porter said.
Joe Brown Park in New Orleans, which is one of the bigger facilities, also benefits from the LDWF stocking. The other ponds in south Louisiana are located in Houma —Porter’shometown favorite at BayouCountry Sportsplex,in Hammond at Zemurray Park and near Franklinton at Bogue Chitto State Park.
LDWF stocks these ponds, but they do notrun them.Get Out& Fishisapartnership program, therefore, every pond is alittle
different, Porter says. LDWF commits to stockthe pond,and theorganizationthat runs the park provides fishable bank access without needing aboat.
“The goal of the program is to get peopleout fishing for fish that they can actually catch andtake home and eat if they want,” Porter said.
When it comes to supply and fishing limits, the catfish last for awhile andcan survive in any weather.For the rainbow trout, on other hand, there is acourtesy five fish limit so everybody gets a chance to catch some. The rainbow trout only survive in cooler waters and do not live as long as the catfish in Louisiana ponds.
Porter advises interested fishers to visit the Get Out &Fish website and check the Get Out &Fish Facebook page forupdates on stocking schedules and fishing events.
He asks that when someone uses aGet Out &Fish pond, they complete asurvey using the QR code posted at every site.This small anonymoussurvey helpstoshow the agency that the program is being used.
“That lets us know people are
utilizing the resource and helps us have support if the agency asks if is this avaluable resource,” he said. “So, we encourage everyone to check in when they can, but it’snot mandatory.You can even check in after the fact.”
Thevalue of public bank fishing
In Baton Rouge, BREC has several lakes that they stock in addition to Burbank Park: Blackwater Conservation Area, Central Sports Lake, Forest Community Park Lake, Hooper Road Park Lake, Milford Wampold MemorialPark, North Sherwood Forest Community Park Lake, Palomino Drive Park Lake, Perkins Road Community Park and Zachary Community Park Lake.
For Lucas Ragusa, amember of Bass Anglers Sportsman Society who competes in fishing tournaments, the North Sherwood Forest Community Park lake was instrumental in developing his love for fishing.
“I kind of cut my teeth in fishing ponds all around Baton Rouge when Iwas akid. One of the ponds that Ifrequented was apond that was pretty close to my grandparents’house,off of Sherwood Forest Boulevard. It’saBREC pond that they stocked with rainbow trout,” Ragusa said. “The value that Igot from being able to do that as aboy was the freedom that it provided, the break from television and video games. Gettingto apoint where Iwas living in the moment, as opposed to just kind of being part of amoment.”
He says that chasing the feeling of atug on the line has kept him fishing for all these years, and his first memories of that adrenaline rush happened on abank at apublic fishing spot.
“Fishing has always been one of thoseplaceswhere I’mabletorecharge my batteries as aperson,” he said. “It has meant agreat deal to me, and it provides me aplace to get away from everything and enjoy what God has created for us.”
Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com.
The top finisher for thegirls was junior Nala Mitchell (22ndat21:08.96) followed closely by sophomore Blair Smith(23rd at 21:09.95). Sophomore Max Gennaro (sixth at 16:11.23) and senior Marcus Coates (24th at 16:55.42) led theboys.
The ZHS cross-country teams closed out theseasonatthe LHSAAState Championshipsonthe campus of Northwestern State onMonday Nov. 18. The ZHS girls finished 13th overall and theZHS boys finished 11th in Division1. Max Gennaro finished 20th overall (16:01.41) to lead theboys and Blair Smith (20:24.46) led theZHS girls finishing in 34th place overall as each bothcompeted
against over 160 other Division Irunners. Coach Tami McClure and the ZHS Lady Broncos opened the season in strong fashion defeating Richwood 81-30 on the road and will competeinthe St.Thomas Moore Tournament in Lafayette over the Thanksgiving Break. Coach Jon McClinton and the ZHSboys opened the 2024-2025 season on the road at Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport and will be competing in the Dunham Thanksgiving Tournament during the break.
At the timeofwriting theZHS boys soccer team, coached by Dru Nyman, is 2-1 with wins over Slidell (4-0) and Ponchatoula
(2-0). They will be home the Saturdayafter Thanksgiving to take on Archbishop Shaw at noon in the Bronco Corral. The ZHS girls soccer team finished the Lola Prep tournament in Shreveport with a 1-2 record and picked up avictory over St Michael the Archangel (3-2) on Nov.19. The girls are coached by Angie Mitchell who is entering her third season. The girls return to the Bronco Corral to take on Hanville Dec. 4.
Warren Brady covers sports for The Plainsman. He can be contacted at zachary@theadvocate.com.
PROVIDED PHOTO
ZacharyHigh School robotics team receives a$10,000 grant from an Entergyfoundation to recurrent the team.
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
Alonna Monagin fishes on an afternoon trip withher parents Charles and Ja’Kayla Monagin at BREC Burbank Park on Nov.2 in Baton Rouge.
ment —provedcontentious.
DeVirgilio championed the item barring allresidential uses from land zonedas commercial general. That zone previously permitted single-family attached and multifamilyhousing by right, and single-family detached homes couldbebuilt on the condition of council approval
“It is in the best interest of the city to protect properties zoned for commercial use,” DeVirgilio said. “We must safeguard these properties as sources of potential future taxrevenues within the city to ensure adequate future fundingofour city government and its role to provide for the health and welfare for the city of Zachary.”
She said 60% of Zachary’s general fund comes from sales tax collections; only 7% is generatedbyproperty taxes.
“Our sales tax in terms of our budget is incredibly important,”DeVirgilio said, “and it’simportant that we attractmore commercial retailers to make sure we have the budget to meet the needs of our citizens and our city.” Graves, explaining his vote against DeVirgilio’s amendment, said he wanted moreinformation on how the change would affect his district. He urged his colleaguestowait for astaff report by the city’splanning department and contracted planning firm Villavaso and Associates. Landry made the same point at aprevious meeting. Graves warned that the city could get sued if it implements zoning rules that run afoul of other laws —a problem he said could be avoided by being patientfor
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Ithink it needs to stay like it is.”
He said the standards havelong-termbenefits for the city
“When we go back into an areawith these road standards here, it doesn’tcost us abunch of money to fix it,” he said. “In the past, it’scost us aton of money,the city,to fix these roads that werenot up to standard.”
Butsomecouncil members worry the city’sconstruction regulationsare deterring investors who could bring much-needed commercial developments. They want the city to conduct astudy comparing Zachary’srequirementsto those in other municipalities —something McDavidsaid he’d direct his staff to do.
Zachary has been trying to convince more retailers to come to town for the past several years, evencontracting with afirm called Retail Strategies to entice businesses to the growing city.Onnumerous occasions, council members have voiced frustration with the slow progress on business recruitment, andthey often report receiving calls from constituents who are fed up with Zachary’slimited retail offerings.
It’spossible the lofty construction standards are part of the problem, said council member Brandy Westmoreland.
“Let’sjust say there’s this
the experts’ input. He said the wait wouldn’tbemuch longer, noting thatVillavaso and Associates representatives were due to be at the council’snextmeeting, Nov 26.
“I’m thinking that’sthe best for our city, thatwe let the professionals handle this,” Graves said. “I’m not a planning and zoning professional.”
DeVirgilio, however, said she first raised the idea of forbidding homes inthe commercial general zone 63 days earlier
“I feel like Ishould have receiveda staffreportby now,” she said, adding that she feels the matter is urgent.She also questioned Graves’ argument that the city would be at risk of being sued by making the change.
“I feel like that’ssomething constantly thrownat the council —thatwe’regoing to get sued —tostop us from creating good policy forthe city,”DeVirgilio said. “I feel like this is being delayed for some reason thatI’m not aware of,soI’m moving it forward.“
Westmoreland has been waiting 63 days for astaff report, too, on the possible impact of her proposed measure enlarging theminimum lot sizes for residential estate and residentialrural lots to 3and 10 acres, respectively
Westmoreland said her proposal, which she believes will help slow development to amore manageable pace, stems from concerns about the strain being placed on infrastructure andcity resourcesasthe area’s population grows. She also wants to make sure Zachary provides a range of housing options to current and potential residents. Not everyone wants asmall lot in asubdivision, she said, and some people
really great franchise that Iwant to come here, but theycan go buildinCentral and we lose it because they make 75% moremoney,” Westmoreland said, giving ahypothetical example. “They’re going there all day long. They’re not coming here.”
It’strue that Zachary loses somedevelopments to neighboring municipalities that have higher median incomes or that are located closer to an interstate highway,she said.
City leaders can’t do much about those things. But the design specs that developers are held to? “That’s something that we can fix,” Westmoreland said Council member Ambre DeVirgilio echoed Westmoreland’sconcerns.
“Zachary hasn’t seen commercial growth in decades —likelargeacommercial project in decades,” DeVirgilio said. “Wehave theresidential numbers at this point to support it. On paper …we look amazing. And we’re not getting it.“
Council memberJohn LeBlanc agreed that the matter should be explored.
Council member James Graves also welcomed the opportunity to get more information by doinga comparison study —but he expressed supportfor the existingrules, too.
“Having abetter product does save us money in the long run,” Graves said. “I think maybe there’s acouple of developers that are just being tight, who don’twant to follow better standards.”
even move out of the city in search of bigger pieces of land once their children age out of the top-rated local schools.
“They go north, theygo to Clinton, they go to Ethel and they want property,” Westmoreland said. “How canweand what arewedoing to make it to where the citizens will stay here when their kids are no longer in our number one school district?”
She moved to table her amendment, however,because she received information on some old ordinances related to the rural zoning classifications just before the council meeting went into session. She said this informationneeded to be taken into account before taking avote.
Despite the council agreeing to table the item, discussion of the matter was far from over
“I would like the public to know,asa citizen of this community my entire life, I am not opposed to amoratorium on residential development completely until we figure out what are we doing,” Westmoreland said.
Shesaidshe has struggled to get straight answers on a variety of planning and zoning matters and is frustrated with thelackofa clear plan for the city’scontinued growth and development. She threatened to propose a moratorium on building.
“I’ve had multiple people that work here stand at that podium and then two more people walk up there,and everybody has adifferent
answer,” she said. “So if it is your hat, or you have something to do with it, please clearly explain out whatwe are doing before the next meeting —orI will propose amoratorium, and we stop all residential development until we can figure out what are we doing.”
Westmoreland then returned to the issue of the staff report. She said she values that kind of input but didn’tsee the need to wait in this instance.
“This is not directed to you, Mr.Graves —but kind of,” she said. “While Ido appreciate planning staff and Villavaso and the work that they are doing, Ithink we need to take to heart the citizens. There’sawhole lot of dataI can give you. Are they here driving the roads
every day and dealingwith thetraffic? Are theylooking at our tax dollars from commercial? And if they aren’t, they should be. Because I guarantee you could poll everybody here, and they’re goingtotellyou,‘Stop the houses and give me some commercial.’”
Graves said he understood Westmoreland’spoint of view “I completely get it, and Iwasn’tagainst anyone of these ordinances,” Graves said. “I’d just liketohear from the people we’re paying to do this work. They’ll have an answer.”
“They will have data,” Westmoreland responded. “That doesn’tmean they’ll have an answer.Wewere electedtomakethose decisions.”
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Mike Gennaro, assistant vicepresidentfor commerciallending at the Bank of Zachary, is honored at theNov.12ZacharyCity
meeting for saving achokingwoman at alocal restaurant recently.Gathering,from left,are councilmembers Ambre DeVirgilio, John LeBlancand BrandyWestmoreland; Mark Marionneaux,Bank
lending officer;Emile, Jenand MikeGennaro; Josh Prejean, chief
David McDavid; and Councilman James Graves.
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tries to dislodge the food that had choked the woman and clear her airway, Prejeansaid. She eventually signaled that she was OK “It was surreal,” Prejean said. “It’slike time had stopped, and the whole res-
AROUND
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taurantwas looking. Everybody was in awe,forksinthe air,like, ‘Oh my goodness, what just happened?’”
He was proudofhis colleague
“It was just areminder that day that not allheroes wear capes or uniforms,” he said. “Mikesaw acitizen in distress. He didn’twaste any time. He jumped up and helpedthe lady.Heshowed
The family-friendly eventraises funds for Zachary Charity League. Race proceeds go toward scholarships, teacher grants and the Snack Packs 4Kidsprogram, which provides healthysnacks over theweekend forchildren living in foodinsecure homes. The race route passes by five of Zachary’sseven schools, whichare the heart of the league.
Lane services available
FLU SHOTS: LaneRx, located infrontofthe hospital at 6400 Main St., Zachary,isoffering free walk-in flu shots MondaytoFriday from9a.m. to 7p.m., andSaturday from 9a.m. to 3p.m.The vaccinations are free with most insurance plans. The standard
tremendous courage that day.”
Mayor David McDavid and members of thecouncil presentedGennaroacertificate.
“Your quick thinking and decisive action performing theHeimlich maneuver to save an elderly woman exemplifiesthe true spiritof compassion and bravery,” McDavid said, reading from the certificate.
Fluzone, forages 6months to 64 years, is $32 for cash pay,and theFluzone High Dose for ages 65 and older is $92 for cash. Forinformation, call (225) 658-4022.
Save thedate
Nov.23: 9a.m. to 1p.m., ZacharyFarmers Market Holiday Kickoff. The day will include drawings for Market Money and will celebrate Thanksgiving, football games and Christmas shopping.
Dec. 13: 6p.m. to 9p.m., Christmas in the Village and Mistletoe Holiday Shopping Market.
Dec. 14: 9a.m. to noon, FarmersMarket Mistletoe Holiday Shopping Market
Dec. 21: 9a.m. to 1p.m., Stocking Stuffer Saturdayatthe FarmersMarket.
Send news and eventsfor the Zachary area to zachary@theadvocate.com by noon Friday or call(225) 388-0731.
PROVIDED PHOTO
officer,both of the Bank of Zachary; Mayor
HowWe Work
TheGreater BatonRouge Food Bank is anon-profit organization focusedonfeeding those whoare food insecureinour community. We collect, sort, packand distributefoodtofriends and neighbors in needthrough 125+memberagencyfood pantries
Last year alone,the Greater BatonRouge Food Bank distributed 11.1 million meals to those in need, serving over 350,000 clientsacross our 11-parish servicearea. While thatmay sound like alot of meals,the 2023 Meal Gapresearch from Feeding America shows thatLouisiana is unfortunately still #1 in the countryinboth child and senior hunger.
HowYou CanHelp
As partofGiving Tuesday, or eding Tuesdayaswelike to call ,Home Bank willbegenerously oviding amatch for financial donations made on Tuesday, cember3rd –allowing youto double your donation thatday
Visit us online at brfoodbank.org/RedStickRally or scan the QR code to donate today.
Celebrating 27 Years of HelpingHouse Formerly Incarcerated Citizens!
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Gratitude
It turns what we have intoenough.
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This Thanksgiving we are especially grateful for our volunteers.
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To learn more, please visit volunteerascension.org or >>
Located in the 70805zip code, one of the nation’smost impoverished areas,HOPE has served the Greater Baton Rougecommunity for over twodecades.We’re dedicated to building athriving, resilient community through essential resources and workforce development. At the heartofour efforts,HOPE creates sustainable,
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Give HOPE today forabrighter tomorrow— your supportchanges lives! Thank you.
