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PROTECTING A
LOUISIANAGEM
Quietsolitude during snow days
When Ithink back to the snow of 2025, my mind is filled with so many awe-filled moments —walking in blizzard conditions with my daughtertothe LSU lakes, building asnowman and the sheer wonderofitall. One moment, however,will likely stick with me the most as the weeks turn to months and the months turn to years and I remember this event. It happened the day after the big snow,which led to an accumulation of more snow than Iever dreamed possible in south Louisiana.
On that morning, Ihad recovered from my astonishment of the previous day and was going through the normal motions of getting ready for work. As Ido on most mornings, Ipaused to look out my bathroom window It has an unremarkable view of our small backyard, but Ilove it anyway —especially in the winter with its long morning shadows whenour neighbors’ trees are bare, and through the branches, I can see beyond the fence to watch the sun creeping in over the LSU lakes.
Long ago. Iread somewhere that looking into the morning sun without one’sglasses (or through glass of any sort) was agood thing. So, most mornings, regardless of temperature, Itake afew moments and open the windowand look toward the lakes.
Usually,Idon’teven notice the ubiquitous bustle of people getting ready for their day.Cars zoom toward LSU. Hundreds of people walk along the edge of the lakes. Buses bounce toward campus. Students rev up their motorcycles. There’salot going on.
BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer
The Friends of Cat Island volunteer to dedicate their timeand energy to protecting Cat Island National WildlifeRefuge, 13,000 acres of federally protected land in West FelicianaParish— and most wellknownasthe hometothe national champion bald cypress tree. TheFriendsofCat Island work to preserve this hiddengem, educateothers and make it accessible so anyone can experience it’sdistinct flora and fauna.
The Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge is abottomland hardwoodforest— different from the surrounding St. Francisville upland hardwood forest.
“The ecosystems are worldsapart,” said William Daniel, St. Francisville native and president of theFriendsofCat Island.“It’s just such arich environment down there with wildlife and vegetation.” Old growth cypress trees populate the island along with hundred-year-old oaktrees. Because Cat Island is ariver-bottom hardwood forest, the refuge is subject to flooding —which hassome surprising upshots. Theannualflooding haspreservednative habitats with veryfew invasive plantspecies, and it has also prevented humandevelopment.
Don Puckett, Friends of Cat Island vicepresident and former general counsel at theLouisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, says joiningFriends afterretirement in 2015 was natural for him.
“Itwas slow going at first,”said Daniel, who joined the Friends at the same timeas Puckett. “But in the last few years, we’ve really accelerated —and there’sjust aton ofcommunity support. We do good for such asmall community.”
Localstudentshelpwithreforestation
The Friends work West Feliciana elementary,middle and high schools on areforestation project. In partnership with Ali McMillan, education coordinator at Louisiana Sea Grant, and her Wetlands Day,the Friends help the students plant treestorestorethe treecanopy afternatural attrition due to flooding or bad weather
McMillan, amember of the Friends, says therefuge is one of the area’sbest kept secrets and an amazing place for studentsto make connections to what they’re learning in the classroom
Ali McMillan, education coordinator at Louisiana Sea Grant, coordinates the Wetlands Daywith WFHS and WFMS.
The FriendsofCat Island organization began in 2001 but lost momentum until members re-established the group in 2015. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit has been active since then with aboardofdirectors, officers and more than ahundred members. Theboard meetsmonthly and hasparticipated in multiple projects over the last10 years.
TheFriends get thesaplings fromLouisiana Department of Agriculture andthe LouisianaSea Grant forthe tree planting program,and then they grow them outto aplantablesizeatWest Feliciana Middle School in Saint Francisville. Whenthe saplingsget to asize wherethey’re survivable the Friends and studentsplant them at selected sites on the refuge.
“The Friends of Cat Island are so giving of their time to support the schools,” said McMillan. “The biggest success of theproject is thepower of partnership.Connecting middle schoolkids with younger kids to plant trees together,and thevolunteers
from the Friends of Cat Islandhelp thekids plant the trees. They also come in andthey help lead the tree lab at themiddleschool, which helps the students identify tree species before they go to Cat Island.”
Shesaysmany of thestudentshavesaid how much it meant to them thatthe people from thecommunity would comeand talk to them and spend time with them.
“Our biggest focus with theFriends is to be youth-oriented,”saidPuckett. “Soit’s not just abunch of old people going out FriendsofCat Island preserve more than
ä See GEM, page 2G
On Jan. 22, the day after the big snow,Istood at that window, marveling at the visual spectacle of our snow-covered yard, roof, trees and fence. With the extreme cold, Iconsidered whether or not Ishould push the windowopen. Eventually,Idecided, “Why not?” Iwasn’tprepared for what happenednext. When Iopened the window,what Iheard —orrather, whatIdidn’thear —astonished me It was silent.
Not apeep from the birds.
Nota car driving down the road. Not the mumble of walkers’ voices.
No motorcycles.
Nothing.
That moment was the quietest quiet Ican ever remember.Istood there, struck by its beauty,grateful for the experience and actively trying to take it in.
Icouldn’thelp but smile and rememberachildhood story written by Benjamin Elkin about anoisy young prince named Hulla-Baloo, who lived in Hub-Bub, the noisiest city in the world.
Prince Hulla-Baloo loved a ruckus —whatever noise he and his friends could make with pots, pans, whistles, drums, bugles, trash cans, whatever.Nonoise was loud enough for the prince. For his birthday,heasked his father,the king, for the loudest noise in the world. He wantedevery person to yell —all at once. The king sent out aproclamation and organized just the thing his son requested. But whenthe moment comes, the prince, the king and everyone else decided that they would enjoy the show.Instead of acacophony,a scene unfolds muchlike the snowy Wednesday morning Ienjoyed in January.Rather than participate in the noise, the prince and everyone else decided to be quiet so they could hear the melee. Instead of tumult and commotion, they ended up experiencing complete quiet. And, the prince loved it. The mo-
PROVIDED PHOTOS
West Feliciana Middle School student Connor Parish exploresthe 1,500-year-old Grand Championbald cypress tree at the Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge.
Summer camp turned into Lafayettetheater program
CYTisone of the largestafter-school theaterartstraining programs in theU.S
BY LAUREN CHERAMIE Staff writer
In 2009, Gerald Broussard and his wife, Patti, brought Christian Youth Theater to Lafayette.The national program, founded in 1981,isone of the largest after-school theater arts training programs in the U.S. with branches across thecountry training thousands of students ayear. Each branch offers classes in drama, music, dance, technicaltheater and more. The local organizations are made up of adedicatedboard of directors and leadership team, who work in partnership with the team at CYT National to promote the CYT values and objectives intheir programs. How did you hearabout CYT,and what made you want to bring the organization to Lafayette?
We started in 2009, andwe’re in our 16th year.Itstarted with afamily trip to Houston to see my brother His kids were in CYT Houston, and we were inspired. We came back and were excited about the possibility of bringing this to Lafayette. Ihave three daughters,and they were all in ballet. We didn’tknow anything about theater.The only theater experience Ihad wasas amunchkin in “The Wizard of Oz” when Iwas in grade school at Fatima. Iwas the youngest of three boys, growing up hunting, fishing and playing sports. Theater was the furthest activity from my mind, but we watched re-
PROVIDEDPHOTOS
Gerald and PattiBroussard brought Christian YouthTheater to Lafayette in 2009. The nationwide program is the largest after-school theater artstraining program in the U.S with affiliates across the country.
hearsals —and we saw the environment andthe goodnessthatcame from it. We saw kids who were creative-minded, who maybe didn’t fit in with thesportsworldorother things, so that was the spark.
We started reaching out to people in thecommunity to get feedback, and everybody we talked to said, “Yeah, we need something that’s Christian-based, that’swholesome that’sgood for the creative kids.”
We decided to do aone-daysummer camp at alocal church, and we were hoping for 10-15 peopletoshow up.
We had closeto100 kids involved
That’swhen we knew we had something.Hereweare 16 years later.It’scrazy
How manykidshavecomethrough the program over the years?
On average, we have about1,000 kids register everyyear.It’sprobably way over 10,000 kids whohave come through the program since the
beginning.
How do you think that CYT has helped to buildacommunity foryoung peopleinLafayette?
We’re not affiliated with achurch or school. We have adiverse amount of kids who are coming in from all parts of Acadiana and different schools—bothpublic, privateand home schools.
When these kids come into the program, when they get the bug, it becomestheir world. Notonlythat, it changes kids’ lives who are looking for ahome, who are looking for somethingthat’sspecial and makes them feel like they’re part of something special.
The program brings their family in as well. Aunique part of what we do is that parents comeinand build set pieces, costumes and help paint. Yousee the wholefamily,and Ilove that. This is nota drop-off organization,
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there and looking at trees. It’sall geared toward that.”
Viewingthe national champion
One of the major projects theFriendsof CatIslandhas completedisrestoring the viewing platformofthe national champion bald cypress, one of the largesttreeofany species east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and estimated to be about 1,500years old. The Friends of Cat Island collaborate with Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts in the area to build trails. However,the trailscan get washed away during flooding, so these projects are ongoing
Part of the work the organization has made possible isn’tglamorous. Puckett says the Friends raised $65,000 through donations and fundraisingtorefurbish Creek Road, the parishroadthat leads tothe refuge after it was severely damagedinthe 2016 flood. The Friendsworked in cooperation with the West Feliciana Parish government to restore the road so visitors could get back to the refuge.
Road maintenance doesn’tstop there.The Friendshave the materials and funding to maintain the Creek Road if it’s damaged.
“Wehave avery cooperative relationship with Parish,” said Puckett. “They’rehappy
to comeback there with theirequipment and help. It’sa private and government partnership successstory.”
Daniel adds that the Friends are also reachingout to adultvolunteerstohelp with tree planting, and he interacts with people of all ages, educatingpeople about therefuge,telling them what’s available and answering questions that they have. He emphasizes that because Cat Island is afederal refuge, all users enjoythe same prioritywhether they are hikers, hunters, photographers or birders.
The Friends host aBirding Walk annually which includes bird experts leading tours around the refuge
TheFriends arealsoalwayslooking for projects to do to raise money independent of theU.S. Fish andWildlifeService,who does not have abudget forthe refuge.The Friends have aformalcooperative partnership withthe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Daniel urges thepublic to ventureout to Cat Island but to be prepared for the rustic realities of aprimitive refuge.
“There’snofacilities. There’snobathrooms. There’snoelectricity.There’s no permanent personnelthere,” he said.
“But it’sreally gorgeous, and you’re going to think you stepped back in time when youget off theroad andwalk some ofthe trails and visit the big tree.”
Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com
it’sa “Let’sdothisasafamily” organization. Youcan see it impact the kids and the parents. What are some of the shows that the program has put on? Do you have afavorite?
We’ve probably done over 75 shows —everything from “The Beauty and theBeast”to“Peter Pan” to “Willy Wonka” and “High School Musical.” The list goes on. There are so many good shows.
One of my favorite shows was “Les Misérables,” which is kind of very intense but very good. The high school kids did an amazing job with that. Last year,weperformed “Phantom of the Opera,” which was phenomenal.
There have also been light-hearted shows like “Hairspray” and “Anastasia.” We’re doing “Diary of a WimpyKid”for ouryounger kids, which is hysterical. In March, we’re re-staging “Phantom of the Opera” at the Heymann Center,with close
to 6,000 people coming.
How do you think that CYTiscreating solutions in Lafayette?
What we were seeing is thatfunding for thearts was struggling. The LafayetteParish SchoolBoardand privateschools were doing the best that they coulddo, but we felt like there was something needed that would reach those kids who didn’t haveopportunities offered at their schools.
Ithink the kids are realizing that this is agreat place for them to come and perform at alevel that’spretty amazing. On average, we probably have 3,000 people attending ashow
The performance level, sets and costumes areamazing. It’ssomething very special for these kids. This sounds likeagreat programtofoster a love for theater.Haveyou had anykidstakeit to the next level?
It’sfunny because once it’sintheir blood, they want to keep performing. Some of them go on to do community theater.We’ve had abunch of kids go to Northwestern and McNeese, which has agreat theater program. We have kids in New York right now,and acouple of them have performed on Broadway already
We have kids who areonthe industry and business side of it, developing websites. It’sinteresting to watch the kids who have aged out of the program at 18 and go to college. Alot of them are pursuingtheater, and they’re going as far as theycan withit.
For more information on Lafayette’s Christian Youth Theater, visit www.cytlafayette.org
Email Lauren Cheramie at lauren.cheramie@theadvocate. com.
RISHER
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ment changed everything for him.
From there, the kingdom became known for its quiet —even its police whistles were soft.
Iunderstood how the prince felt.
In aworld that often feels like everyone Iknow or see wants all the noise —myself included on occasion —that quiet was one of the mostremarkable moments I’ve experienced in along, long time. It literally felt good to my ears —not to mention my heart and brain.
Istood there, with the cold rushing in, taking in the miraculous moment. Like the snow,Iknew it couldn’tlast, but Iwilled it to go on for as long as possible.
Eventually,asingle car drove down astreet somewhere. Icould hear the snow crunch. Then, a bird sang ashort song before it was silent again for several more
minutes. Then, somewhere in the distance, Iheard asingle person laughing. Where the laughter happened remains amystery,but it was hearty and wonderful —and warmed my heart on acold day When the world is silent, sound travels in funny ways.
The snow has long since melted.
The usual hum and hustle of the world has resumed. Even so, Icontinue to hold onto and be grateful for that rare morning silence. It was areminder that sometimes, in the middle of the busy deadlines and meetings and hurry,stillness finds its way in —ifonly briefly Maybe, just maybe, those fleeting moments of quiet are enough to remind us how to listen more closely —not just to the world around us, but to the quiet spaces within.
Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.
Participants with Christian Youth Theater put on ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ in August 2024.
The quiet of asnowy Louisiana morning was magical.
STAFF
PHOTO BY JAN RISHER PROVIDEDPHOTO
West Feliciana High School seniorsplant four trees near the Grand Champion bald cypress to commemorate the project theyinitiated as seventh graders. Pictured above from left to right, Sarah Parkerson, West Feliciana MiddleSchool Science teacher;MadisonDelaney, West Feliciana High School senior;Sue Brown, Director of Teaching Responsible Earth Education; DonPuckett, FriendsofCat Island board member;and Ativeanna Brown, West Feliciana High School senior.
N.O. radiostation is theonlyfull-time readingservice
BY LAUREN CHERAMIE Staff writer
At any given time of the day,listenersofWRBH 88.3 FM canhear about current events andreadings from newspapers, magazines, books and local publications.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is dedicated toproviding accessible, thoughtful and entertaining programming for the blind and print-impaired community.Based in New Orleans at 3606 Magazine St., the station is the nation’sonly full-time readingradioservice on theFM dial and one of just threein the world.
“We’ve been around, providing aservice to asometimes overlookedpopulation,” said Natalia Gonzalez, WRBH’sexecutive director.“Ithink we havea twofold reason for existing. One, to provide the written wordasspoken word for the visuallyimpaired, but it’salso awonderful place for people to volunteer.We formed this lovely little community of people. It’s a warm and inviting space.”
Nearly 200 volunteers donate 5,000 hours annually to keep WRBH on the air and keep people informed Recently,the station launched aredesigned website in collaboration with HEROfarm to remain in its commitment to accessibility and innovation. The updated site is user-friendly with screen-reading programs, easy navigation and usability for visually impaired users. All pictures are properly identified and labeled, and the drop-down menu is easier for someone with visual disabilities to access, Gonzalez said.
The website alsooffers livestreaming,programming schedules and expanded resourcesfor listeners, volunteers andsupporters.
“Webasically stream-
providingaccessible,
lined the website so there wasn’talot of extraneous informationthat would get inthe way,” Gonzalez added. “All around, it’sa muchcleaner andeasierto-access website.” WRBH broadcasts awide range ofcuratedcontent, including cookingshows and grocery ads, and serves diverse communities by offering shows in Spanish Haitian and Vietnamese. The station’s goal hasre-
mained the same sinceits inception: to ensure that those who have visualdisabilities have the sameease of accesstoinformationas their sighted peers. In themid-1970s,Robert McClean,ablindmathematician, leased airtime from WWNO and the station beganreadinglocal newspapers over the radio. In 1982, McClean purchased the 88.3 FM signaltoestablishWRBH as the first full-
time reading radio station in the U.S.,whichwas agiant stepinmaking information accessible to thosewho werepreviously isolated fromthe printedword.
Thestation launched livestreaming andpodcasting in 2000, making its programming accessible to a global audience Today,WRBH’sFMsignal reaches a90-mile radius across parts of Louisiana andMississippi. Unlike au-
tomated services, the station uses human readers, which is valuable for those whoare new to vision loss, as people find human-read content easier to follow Their audience is made up of blind and print-impaired individuals,aswell as those who have lostthe abilitytoread due to illness, injuryoraging.
“I’ve been told by listenersthat being read to, even just havinganother voice
in theroom, alleviates the loneliness thatblind people often experience. We take alot of time making sure that theselections that we read are good, valid and important forthe entire community.” Visit www.wrbh.org for more information on volunteer opportunities
Email Lauren Cheramie at lauren.cheramie@ theadvocate.com.
Powering Progress
Louisiana is at the forefront of Shell’s energyevolution.
“For nearly acentury, theU.S. Gulf Coasthas been centraltoShell’s business and theU.S. energy supply. By investinginour Louisiana assets,we arelowering emissions and supplying thenextgeneration of energy.”
EMMALEWIS Shell Senior Vice President U.S. Chemicals&Products
ShellinLouisiana is shapingthe future of energy. With thousands of Shellmen andwomen across thestate,weare workingevery daytoreduce emissions,while increasing efficiency in our operations.
Our tomorrowdepends on whatwedotoday. Together,weare powering progress fora brighterfuture. Louisianaiswhere we live and we’reproud to call it home.
|#PoweringProgress
Mel Byrd and BruceMohat, with WRBH 88.3 FM,are dedicated readers of the Sunday comics. The radio station is dedicated to
thoughtfuland entertaining programming for the blindand print-impaired community
We usethe incredible powerofour audience to executeadvertisingand marketingcampaigns withaclear mindset –results If we don’t achieve results, we don’t keep our clients.