THE SOUTHEAST
ADVOCATE
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THURSDAY JANUARY 8, 2015 H
COURSEY • HARRELLS FERRY • MILLERVILLE • OLD JEFFERSON • PARKVIEW • SHENANDOAH • TIGER BEND • WHITE OAK THEADVOCATE.COM
Darlene Denstorff AROUND THE SOUTHEAST
DDENSTORFF@ THEADVOCATE.COM
Rendering provided by Coleman Partners
Last chance to name zoo’s tiger cubs
Friday is the last day to vote in BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo contest to name two female Malayan tiger cubs. Voting ends at 5 p.m. on the Zoo’s website, www.brzoo.org/namingcontest. “We had hundreds of official entries submitted to the Zoo’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages,� said Phil Frost, zoo director. “It’s fantastic to see this level of excitement about our cubs from the community, and we hope our cubs will each get great names to start off the new year.� After the public entered their nominations for names in late November, the zoo allowed the animal staff to select their top four for final consideration. The remaining possible names for the sisters include: n Berani: meaning “brave� in Malay. n Darma: meaning “duty� in Malay. n Hadiah: meaning “gift� in Malay. n Kayu Merah: meaning “red stick� in Malay. The two names with the most votes at the end of the voting period will be given to the cubs. The people who submitted the two winning names will be awarded a complimentary gold level adoption of the tiger cubs through the Zoo’s Adopt an Animal program and a household membership to the Zoo. The cubs were born to the Zoo’s female Malayan tiger, which came to the Zoo in 2009 from the Fort Worth, Texas Zoo, and the Zoo’s male Malayan tiger, which arrived from the Little Rock Zoo in 2012. The two cubs represent the fifth and sixth Malayan tiger cubs born in the U.S. this year.
Fun with Dewey
Students from Parkview Oaks Elementary School are presented a play, “Do It with Dewey� at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Jones Creek Regional branch library. After the play, children will hear the story, “Never Let a Ghost Borrow Your Library Book,� by Karen Casale. Children will also participate in a fun Dewey Decimal game where they will identify where certain books might be in the library.
This rendering depicts the exterior of a new gymnasium on the grounds of St. Jean Vianney Catholic School in Southeast.
Photo provided by YONG KWON
Tammy Harris, founder of Soul Grooves, will host a workshop Jan. 10 at the Woman’s Center for Wellness. The Houston native was named one of Houston’s most fascinating people by the Houston Chronicle, and the Woman’s Center will be the first fitness center outside of Texas to offer Soul Grooves.
Woman’s brings fitness trend fromTexas Advocate staff report
Advocate photos by C.J. FUTCH
St. Jean Vianney priest the Rev. Tom Ranzino leads the student body in a prayer before the school groundbreaking on the new gymnasium.
Work on school gymnasium begins at St.JeanVianney
BY C.J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com St. Jean Vianney Catholic Church parishioners celebrated the culmination of a two-year capital campaign Jan. 5 with a ground-breaking ceremony for the Catholic school’s new gymnasium. The 10,000-square-foot gym will serve the church parish, but is particularly important to the student body, whose basketball and volleyball teams will be able to practice on campus and host home games, both of which now happen off campus. Physical education classes are conducted either outside or wherever space will allow. “We make it work,� said the Rev. Tom Ranzino. “We’ve had a wonderful partnership with Temple Baptist Church, where we’ve rented gym space for games and practices. We’ve done well with the space we have up to now, but this step will allow us to grow.� The $3.4 million project will also include two meeting rooms, a covered portal at the front of the school and a partial renovation of the preschool building, which will be facing the new gym. “Traffic will have to be rerouted because of where we are located,� said
Amie Williams, who directs the preschool. “What is now the front door will be facing the gym, so what is now the back door will become the front door� as part of the renovation, she said. While they’ve been raising money for the past two years, St. Jean Vianney parish has been working toward this day for the last eight years. It was then that the church administration called town hall meetings and asked for parishioners’ input on St. Jean’s future, Ranzino said. A survey was compiled based on those talks, he said, and that went out for a parishwide vote. The priorities determined during that process became the wish list for the capital campaign. “We have had tremendous support,� Ranzino said, raising $1.6 million in contributions toward the project and another $2.5 million in pledges. Financing will be secured through the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge, he said. All St. Jean Vianney Catholic School classes gathered in the east parking lot despite the chill Monday to watch as Ranzino led the school in a prayer to bless the future site of construction, while representatives from each grade
were chosen to participate in the groundbreaking. “I know it’s cold. We’ll make it quick. Just look at the sand and pretend you’re at the beach,� Ranzino told students and teachers as the zipped up their jackets, pointing to the pile of sand with ceremonial ground-breaking shovels standing at the ready. Elementary Principal Wendy Ross said everyone is looking forward to the changes. “There is a lot of excitement in the air. The students and the faculty are ready to get the building under way,� Ross said in an e-mail to The Advocate. “During the school day we will be able to hold PE classes indoors so our students can still exercise even if it is rainy or cold. As far as our basketball and volleyball programs, we will now have the opportunity to host games on our campus making us the home team and hopefully make practices a little more convenient for our players and their parents. Having this new facility will only add to the well rounded experience our students already receive.� The church held another groundbreaking ceremony Sunday for parishioners after Mass.
A fairly new fitness trend is coming to Baton Rouge, said Dana Michell, of Woman’s Hospital. Soul Grooves classes, which combine the energy of hip-hop and the fun of dance to get women fit, have been popular in Texas, where Houston-based founder Tammy Harris developed the classes, said Yong Kwon, of YK Creative, Harris’ public relations firm. Soul Grooves has grown popular in Texas, Kwon said, äSee FITNESS, page 2G
Starsky N. Hutch brightens swamp BY C. J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com One long-term employee of the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center enjoys socializing, thought he isn’t much of a conversationalist. “He will repeat what he hears us say, if we keep talking to him,� said Claire Coco, director of the center. “You can see him watching your mouth as you talk, studying how it moves,� she said as, she held out a dried
äSee SOUTHEAST, page 2G
äSee SWAMP, page 2G
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