Drivers on Old Perkins Road could see delays as work continues through Monday. ä Page 2G
ADVOCATE THE SOUTHSIDE
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THURSDAY JANUARY 15, 2015 H B O C AG E • C O U N T RY C LU B • H I G H L A N D • J E F F E R S O N T E R R AC E • K E N I LW O R T H • P E R K I N S • U N I V E R S I T Y C LU B THEADVOCATE.COM
Weight loss with encouragement
Darlene Denstorff
BY C. J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com
ON THE SOUTHSIDE
DDENSTORFF@ THEADVOCATE.COM
Terracon golf benefit registration underway Registration is underway for the fourth annual Terracon Golf Benefit for the Capital Area Court Appointed Special Advocates Association. The four-person scramble will be March 30 at the University Club of Baton Rouge, 15333 Memorial Tower Drive. Proceeds from the golf tournament support Capital Area Court Appointed Special Advocates Association, a nonprofit organization that recruits, trains and supervises community volunteers who advocate on behalf of abused and neglected youth living in foster care to help them reach safe, permanent homes, a news release from CASA said. The fundraiser enables the organization to continue providing a CASA volunteer for every child in East Baton Rouge Parish who needs one, the release said. The event is sponsored by Terracon, an engineering consulting firm specializing in environmental, geotechnical and construction materials testing services. The 2014 golf tournament raised about $6,000 to support CASA’s advocacy efforts, the release said. To register for the tournament, call Lisa Smith, of Terracon, at (225) 239-2644 or email ldsmith@terracon. com. For information about CASA, visit casabr.org.
Civil War medicine
John O’Neil, interpretive ranger at the Centenary State Historic Site in Jackson, will present a program on Civil War medicine from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Bluebonnet Regional branch library, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd. O’Neil will display period uniforms and replicas of musket rifles. The program is for ages 5 to 8, and those interested are asked to register. Call (225) 763-2260 for information.
Bingo at the library
The Bluebonnet Regional Library, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd., will host bingo from 10:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday. The event will feature a few rounds of the classic bingo game and snacks will be served, organizers said. Winners will receive prizes. äSee AROUND, page 4G
If there was a low point in Shannon Arboneaux-Fish’s otherwise happy life, it was the bridesmaid’s dress fitting for her mom’s wedding. She’d been measured, and came in for a fitting with her mom alone, without the other bridesmaids, and there was a reason for it. “I was so excited for her,� she said, but at the same time, cringed at the thought of shopping for a bridesmaid’s dress that would fit her at 320 pounds.
“I realized as I was putting the dress on that apparently they didn’t make it in my size, because when I put the dress on, I couldn’t get it zipped,� she said. The store had ordered the biggest size available, and planned to use extra material generally ordered for making matching shawls to expand the dress to fit. The fitting process involved more examination of her body in the dress that didn’t fit, the dressing room door wide open, and her back exposed to what felt like the world. When she was back in the car with her mom, she broke down.
As she sat there, weeping as her mother, the bride-to-be, watched, hurting with her, she said, kindly, gently, “If you’re not happy, change it.� She and her mother, Sheila Chelette, had already been through tougher things up to that point. Chelette was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and fought her way through it, keeping a positive attitude. Arboneaux-Fish threw a Pink Party for her mom on the last day of her chemotherapy treatments, and it was a happy day, almost as happy as when her mother got engaged.
“I was so excited for her,â€? Arboneaux-Fish said, but weight always lurked at the back of it. It lurked behind almost everything she did. Her friends and co-owners of her hair salon, Mona LouElle, decided to sign up for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in March of 2013. “I remember saying, ‘Ahhh, I’m not running,’ â€? she laughed. “I mean, I decided to walk it, Advocate staff photo by C. J. FUTCH and I was anxious about walking Shannon Arboreaux-Fish is three miles. But on the day of the race, we were all walking to- at the Southside Y with the morning crew most days, äSee WEIGHT LOSS, page 4G starting at 6:30 a.m.
Planting roots for the future
Botanic Gardens hosts family events for Arbor Day
Advocate staff report The LSU Agricultural Center Botanic Gardens at Burden will be replenishing the trees on the property that have been lost or damaged over the past year on Saturday, and it hopes to get the whole community involved. The gardens will celebrate Arbor Day on the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens grounds, 4560 Essen Lane, with family tree plantings and other activities for adults and children, said Michelle Fuller, public relations coordinator and event director for the gardens. Arbor Day at Burden runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fuller said, and admission is $5 per person. Admission is free for children 3 years old and younger. Fuller said other activities will include a scavenger hunt in the Burden Woods, a primarily bottomland hardwood forest covering about 150 acres; Storytime Photos provided by LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens
Families pick trees to plant at 2014’s Arbor Day celebration at the Botanic Gardens at Burden.
äSee ROOTS, page 4G
Soul Grooves class at fitness center energizes members BY C.J. FUTCH
shops at the Woman’s Center for Wellness, where Soul Grooves developer Tammy Arianne Bellizaire recalls Harris came Jan. 10 to do attending her first Soul three workshops for fitness Grooves class in Houston. center members. Bellizaire was right beShe loved the idea of a workout that involved an inter- side Harris at the front of changeable rotation of min- the class. She loved Soul iature dance routines set to- Grooves so much that when she moved back to Baton gether to fast-paced music. “I stood in the very back Rouge, she got certified to row of the class,� Bellizaire teach, and will be leading said. “And I slowly worked two classes per week at the my way up. I lost a ton of center. “We had two sessions weight, and I just loved it,� she said in between work- planned,� said Marilyn
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Hunt, marketing manager for the center. “Demand was so great for this class that we had to add a third workshop, and moved all three workshops to our largest room. In fact, we wanted to set up a big tent outside so we could accommodate all the demand, but the weather didn’t cooperate.â€? More than 100 people signed up, Hunt said. “We had a hip-hop exercise class that was very popular äSee SOUL GROOVES, page 3G
Photo provided by DANA MICHELL
Tammy Harris, wearing a pink armband, leads a class at Woman’s Center for Wellness fitness center with Arianne Bellizaire, far right, in the first Soul Grooves class.