Gallery’s eclectic art includes a jellyfish sculpture. See Cultural Collage, 3G
THE ST.TAMMANY
ADVOCATE
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THURSDAY JANUARY 15, 2015 H
COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE • MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • SLIDELL THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
Man finds solace in wife’s words
Cancer Journal Project helps Make a Wish for Mandeville child BY ANDREW CANULETTE
“I didn’t want to be defined by this. I didn’t like the pity of it. I didn’t want to be known as the When Ashley Irving died of guy who lost his wife at such a stomach cancer at the age of 29, young age.” But the words his wife wrote it was a shock to all who knew in a journal from the time she her. She found out she was ill only learned she had cancer until days before her ninth wedding the time she passed away, made anniversary and on the actual him realize he couldn’t keep it anniversary day, May 9, 2013, to himself. “Instead of trying to be closed she learned just how far the disease had spread. A short 6½ off, I wanted to reveal it. I wantmonths later, she passed away. ed to tell people about it.” He Irving, who lived in Ruston, said it was cathartic. What Kenan Irving wanted left behind her husband, Kenan, who said he was devastated by to share were the thoughts his wife kept in a journal. In his wife’s death. “When it happened, I tried the last days of her life, it was to avoid it; all of it,” he said. comforting to Ashley Irving to
Special to The Advocate
chronicle the things she was experiencing. It was her way to cope, her husband said, and now, by sharing her words, it’s his way of coping, as well. Thus began the Cancer Journal Project, which since its inception has raised more than $12,000 to send ill children to Walt Disney World. Irving partnered with the Make-AWish Foundation, which provided him a list of children in Louisiana who battle cancer. The first child chosen by the Cancer Journal Project was a young girl from West Monroe. The second was from Shreveport. Now, 3-year-old Grayson Her-
nandez, of Mandeville, will be granted a wish with a trip to Disney World. Irving plans to travel to Mandeville on Thursday to meet the Hernandez family. Grayson has Stage 3 neuroblastoma, which is a cancer most often found in young children. Irving said he’s excited to meet the Hernandezes and for the chance to spread the word of the Cancer Journal Project in south Louisiana. After all, it was words that helped get the project off the ground. “The journal became such a part of (Ashley) in such a short time,” Irving said. “It’s incredibly honest and intimate. It’s
very raw. She wrote about her treatments, her chemo, us, her day. It was upbeat. It could have been the worst of days, but it always seemed to end on a high note for her.” Irving, who is an amateur photographer, took a series of scene-setting pictures that meld well with the excerpts from his wife’s journal. They are posted on the Cancer Journal Project’s social media sites, and on the website, thecancerjournalproject.org. Donations come from those outlets and are funneled into the project’s mission of good will. äSee JOURNAL, page 2G
Photo provided by Make a Wish
Grayson Hernandez, 3, of Mandeville, will be granted a trip to Disney World by the Cancer Journal Project and Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Sharon Edwards TAMMANY TIMES SEDWARDS@THEADVOCATE.COM
Short season, plenty of parades Mardi Gras is actually one of the busiest times for members of the St. Tammany Parish Tourist & Convention Commission, who have an ambitious print and online campaign aimed at filling our hotels during the season. They then help navigate those visitors to the more than 20 parades in the parish and to other family-friendly, outdoor and culinary attractions. According to Christina Cooper, manager of marketing and public relations at the commission, there were more than 1.2 million overnight hotel visitors in 2013 and $202 million in tourism spending in St. Tammany Parish. In 2014, those numbers grew, and website visits to the commission’s events site are up 44 percent, she said, to 324,402 visits. “We found that a lot of tourists are looking for affordable accommodations and choose to stay on the north shore. We have a quality product to offer.” The commission recently created and emailed an invite to a new “landing page” for Mardi Gras in St. Tammany at louisiananorthshore .com/mardi-gras. While
The Krewe of Lyra’s signature hand-decorated fedora hats will be on display at their final ball to celebrate five years of parading.
Lyra
Krewe taking final bow
Advocate staff report
Lyra is a small constellation, but one of the brightest in the sky. Now the krewe bearing its name will marks its fifth year with what may be its last party and no parade. Krewe of Lyra Captain Mary Grace Knapp will be stepping down, but not before presiding over Lyra’s biggest party to date. It’s been five years of fun, friendship and festivities, she said. “We want to leave our celestial footprint on the north shore.” The “Through the Looking Glass” ball begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Covington Country Club. The Tableau Ball features live music with Advocate staff photo by REBECCA RATLIFF the legendary roadhouse piano player Marcia Elizabeth Impastato, Queen Lyra V, opens her present from the captain, Mary Grace Knapp, on Saturday at Knapp’s home. The scepter will be used to spread good wishes at Ball, this year’s grand marshal. the krewe’s final Tableau Ball.
äSee LYRA, page 5G
äSee PARADES, page 5G
St. Tammany Parish to celebrate MLK legacy Advocate staff report Activities to commemorate the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will include youth activities, a pastor’s banquet and a march in Slidell and Covington. The MLK Birthday Celebration in Covington will begin at 10 a.m. Monday with the customary parade starting at Reverend Peter S. Atkins Park, marching throughout the West 30s neighborhood and ending
at the Fuhrmann Auditorium in the Greater Covington Center, 317 N. Jefferson Ave. The commemorative service will begin at 11 a.m. and feature the Greater Covington Community Gospel Mass Choir. The celebration will continue at Reverend Peter S. Atkins Park with an afternoon of food, games and fellowship. For information, contact the äSee MLK, page 2G
Pelican named Level 3 swim team “There’s Crawfish Aquatics, Tiger Aquatics, the city of Lafayette team and Crescent City Swim Club. So we’re in some pretty good company.” VIC MOORE, PAC coach
Swimming is an activity that many in St. Tammany Parish enjoys in the sweltering summer. But for some, the pool is the place to be yearround. That’s especially true for the several hunREC & dred dedicated LEISURE youth swimmers ANDREW who practice just CANULETTE about every day across the north shore. The youth team at Pelican
Athletic Club in Mandeville is one such squad, and the group recently earned a tremendous honor. PAC was named by USA Swimming as one of five Level 3 teams based on club recognition in Louisiana. There are no Level 4 teams in the state, according to PAC coach Vic Moore, and the four teams that already had earned Level 3 status are among the best in the south annually. “There’s Crawfish Aquatics, Tiger Aquatics, the city of Lafayette team and Crescent City Swim Club,” Moore said. “So we’re in some pretty good
company.” The USAS honor is based on many criteria — organizational structure, multiyear budgeting and planning, meet selection, education for both coaches and swimmers, volunteer involvement and performance. PAC learned of the honor in mid-December, and its members have been elated since. “It’s pretty remarkable for us to have this honor,” Moore said. “It means we’re moving forward. It means we’re committed to improvement and that äSee PELICAN, page 2G