STUDENTS LEARN WHO HELPS IN THEIR COMMUNITY ä PAGE 4G
ADVOCATE THE HE LIVINGSTON-TANGIPAHOA
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DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND • PONCHATOULA
THURSDAY JANUARY 15, 2015 H
THEADVOCATE.COM
Christine Morgan AROUND LIVINGSTON CMARCENEAUX@ THEADVOCATE.COM
Shelter hosts pet fest The Livingston Parish Animal Shelter, 13525 Florida Blvd., Livingston, will host the 2015 Livingston Parish Pet Fest Adoption Event/ Pet Education Expo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Animals will be available for adoption, and several groups will be available to answer questions and help pet owners. John Schneider will sign autographs for the owners of all adopted dogs, organizers said. The Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit will show pet owners how dogs can learn basic obedience commands, and 10 percent of the proceeds from all book sales by New Orleans author and illustrator Michelle Hirstius’ “Juju the Good Voodoo� will go to the shelter, organizers said. Dog People of Livingston will offer microchips for $20, and a representative of Dodge City Veterinary Hospital will answer healthrelated questions. Other participants will include Denham Springs Animal Shelter; Tail Waggin Kisses; Swampy Paws Canine Rescue; Walker Animal Shelter; Don’t Be Cruel Animal Sanctuary; Labs 4 Rescue; Lulu’s Groom and Board; The Pit Stop Rescue; Jades Flowers; Rescue Me; Tater Tott Large Dog Rescue; and a representative from Nature’s Select Premium Pet Food of Southeast Louisiana.
Senior dance
The Livingston Council on Aging will host a Valentine’s Dance for people 25 and older from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Denham Springs Meal Site, 949 Government Drive, Denham Springs. The cost is $6 per person or $10 a couple. Refreshments will be served, and door prizes will be given out. Alcoholic beverages are not allowed, organizers said. äSee AROUND, page 2G
Library associate Sarah Banz, right, helps patron Catherine Hollard learn how to access ebooks from the Livingston Parish Library from her iPad Friday during One-on-One Tech Help at the Denham Springs Library.
Library offers fast, easy tech help BY CHRISTINE MORGAN
cmarceneaux@theadvocate.com DENHAM SPRINGS — Staff members at the Livingston Parish Library were putting new tech devices — many of them Christmas gifts — to good use Friday during one of the library’s newest programs, OneOn-One Tech Help. Advocate staff photo by CHRISTINE MORGAN Susanne Orr attended the
session with her new Sony Walkman in hand and, within 30 minutes, left knowing how to download audiobooks to her device. “I sure hope I can do this,� Orr said, armed with a pamphlet with explicit instructions on how to master the process. “I couldn’t figure out how to do it on my own.� “Now, if I can actually do it,
I’ll be sending her flowers once a month,� Orr said of library associate and One-On-One Tech Help instructor Sarah Banz. Library patrons received the free high-tech help at the Livingston Parish Library’s Denham Springs Branch, one of two branches in the library system to host the Friday event. äSee LIBRARY, page 2G
Advocate photo by CLAIRE SALINAS
Girl Scouts, from left, Alyssa Bishop, Morgan Rainey and Lainey Vige play a bean bag toss game Saturday to learn about the many Girl Scout cookie flavors. In the background working at the table is Kasandra Aime.
Ready,set,SELL BY CLAIRE SALINAS
Special to The Advocate WALKER — The Walker High School gym was filled with Girl Scouts on Saturday, all of whom conducted smell tests, dressed like their favorite cookie and practiced their doorto-door sales skills — all in preparation for annual Girl Scout Cookies sales. The annual Girl Scout Cookie Rally is an event that event coordinator
Jamie Griffith said is meant to “get girls excited about the cookies themselves so they know the products and to teach them some of the sales techniques.� The morning began with the girls reciting the Girl Scout Promise, which, according to Griffith, “basically represents everything the Girl Scouts stand for. It’s basically guidelines to live by and do good in the world.� Booths were set up throughout the
gym for the girls to learn the skills they need to be successful in their cookie sales. The Scouts dressed up like their favorite cookies, set goals for the number of boxes they wanted to sell, smelled the various cookies, painted their fingernails the color of their favorite cookie, practiced their selling techniques, tossed bean bags to test their cookie knowledge and learned how to remain safe while doing door-to-door sales. “My station is about booths, which
is a kind of a dangerous thing to do,â€? Trina Delaney, of Watson, said. “You know you’re in front of stores, so you have to be really careful to keep the girls safe and also show them selling techniques.â€? Delaney said that even Girl Scouts can have bad days, but they have to learn to push through it. “If you’re having a bad day, as my girls say, you suck it up, you smile äSee READY, page 2G
Family Resource Clinic seeks volunteers for support, counseling BY CHRISTINE MORGAN
those facing serious life challenges such as hunger, abuse, disasters and crisis pregnanLIVINGSTON — The Family Re- cies by providing counseling, source Clinic is seeking volun- ultrasounds, food, emergency teers to help with its mission of relief and clothing, Director helping people in the commu- Julie Rasberry said. “It’s always been a struggle to nity to face life’s challenges. The Family Resource Clinic get volunteers. We often have is a nonprofit organization that people tell us how excited they brings help, hope and healing to are to become a part (of the orcmarceneaux@theadvocate.com
ganization), but often don’t follow through,� Rasberry said. “We have areas to volunteer from cleaning, clerical, sorting, maintenance, helping people with support items and counseling. In other words, you don’t have to have previous training in order to serve. Most days, we are booked with clients from those needing help in many
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different areas. We could help serve double the clients that we have now if we had more volunteers.� Volunteers who wish to become counselors are required to attend training sessions through the American Association of Christian Counselors. The training, which takes about 12 hours to complete,
equips volunteers with the tools they need to assist clients, Rasberry said. Counselors also go through an additional eight hours of hands-on training at the clinic, Rasberry said. All of the other jobs require hands-on training, which is provided at the clinic, Rasberry said. The clinic has about 20 volun-
teers to serve about 100 clients a month. The Family Resource Clinic has been serving Livingston Parish since 1991. It was formerly the Livingston Area Pregnancy Crisis Center and then the Women’s Hope Center. The name changed to the FamäSee RESOURCE, page 2G