04_09_2009

VOL. 1, NO. 1 / APRIL 9, 2009

Beth Zilbert: People’s Advocate • A Local Business with a Global Vision The Experience of Organic Gardening

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contents GENERAL 826 Ford St., Lake Charles, LA 70601 Phone: 337-436-7800 Fax: 337-436-3980 PUBLISHERS Phil de Albuquerque publisher@thejambalayanews.com

NEWS MANAGING EDITOR Lauren de Albuquerque lauren@thejambalayanews.com

EDITOR Lisa Yates lisa@thejambalayanews.com

CONTRIBUTORS Kay Andrews Leslie Berman Jen Breen Richard J. Cole Dan Ellender Bill Krull Cheryl Krull Pam Mattingly Terri Schlichenmeyer Chase Wilson Eric Zartler ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Patricia Prudhomme GRAPHICS ART/PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Darrell Buck

April 9, 2009 • Volume 1 • Issue 1

COVER STORY 25

Lafitte Launches Contraband Days 2009

REGULARS 7 14 18 21 22 24 32

The Boiling Pot Doyle’s Place Animal 411 Financial Forum A Greener World What’s Cookin’ RU Game?

FEATURES 5 6 11 12 16

10/12 Corridor Growth City Election Results Calcasieu Women’s Shelter Beth Zilbert: People’s Advocate Bayou Biz: 505 Imports

Red Hot Books Funbolaya Family Night at the Movies Crossword Puzzle Society Spice Jambalaya Jam Eclectic Company Music Review

The Jambalaya News is solely owned, published by The Jambalaya News, LLC, 826 Ford Street, Lake Charles Louisiana 70601. Phone (337) 436-7800. Whilst every effort was made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of going to press, the publishers cannot accept legal responsibility for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility of the standing of advertisers nor by the editorial contributions. The Jambalaya News cannot be held responsible for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations, even if they are sent to us accompanied by a selfaddressed envelope. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

Copyright 2009 The Jambalaya News all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior written permission is prohibited.

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ENTERTAINMENT 31 34 35 36 37 41 44

darrell@thejambalayanews.com

DISTRIBUTION: The Jambalaya News is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. The Jambalaya News may be distributed only by The Jambalaya News authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of The Jambalaya News take more than one copy of each issue from its racks.

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From the Publisher Why The Jambalaya News?

We came to Lake Charles from Massachusetts in the fall of 2003. We had never been here before; and, how we found this little corner of the United States was purely by chance. We were selling our home, a rambling, 150-year old Italianate Victorian, to a very eager neighbor—and we decided that we no longer wanted to remain in the Northeast. Lauren’s mother had died of pancreatic cancer the year before, and as her caregivers, we realized how short life was. So we decided to have an adventure. Our only criteria was to find an old home (for all of our antiques) in a warmer climate.

I went on the Internet, and that’s how we found the Eddy House Bed & Breakfast. Owning a B&B was never a dream of ours, but we decided to fly south for a look. It took just one weekend for us to realize that Lake Charles was the place

we had to be. Aside from the climate (we were sick of snow) the charm of the Garden District and the delicious local food, we were struck by the sincere friendliness of everyone we met. And we were told that if we wanted to get involved in the community, we had come to the right place.

Over five years later, we still cannot believe our good fortune to have landed here. So we decided to publish The Jambalaya News to celebrate life in Southwest Louisiana—a life that we have embraced to the fullest. As outsiders, we still marvel at all the wonderful things this area has to offer, which most folks born and raised here admit they take for granted. We’re here to remind you that there is so much going on, so much to do, and so much to be thankful for.

– Phil de Albuquerque

Phil de Albuquerque Phil de Albuquerque was born and raised in Mt. Clemens, Michigan.

He graduated from Michigan State with a degree in engineering, and then literally ran away and joined the circus. After completing Clown College in Sarasota, Florida, he traveled with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. After the circus, he relocated to New England and was involved in several business ventures, including Rhode Island’s first privately-owned retail beeper business. Phil was an international tour guide for Colette Tours, where he met his wife, Lauren, who was a passenger on one of his tours. He and Lauren moved to Lake Charles in 2003. He is the president of the Children’s Museum, on the board of directors for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the social director of the Calcasieu Boat Club, the captain of Krewe Déjà Vu du Monde, and volunteers for local animal rescue groups. Phil believes that life is an adventure, and says his days in Lake Charles have been the happiest of his life.

Lisa Yates joined The Jambalaya News March 16, 2009, as its first editor. Lisa is a writer and editor specializing in local community news. Most recently, she served as the editor of The Times of Southwest Louisiana.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Lisa lived throughout the United States with her military family, eventually settling in Shreveport, La. She graduated from Louisiana State University in Shreveport with both a B.A. and M. Ed. After working as a school teacher and freelance writer for more than 10 years, Lisa returned to LSUS to do post-graduate work in Mass Communication/Journalism and Public Relations. She worked as a reporter and feature writer for the Gannett chain of newspapers: The Times of Shreveport, and The Town Talk in Alexandria. Her editing experience includes working as a copy editor/food editor for The Times in Natchitoches, La. In addition, Lisa worked as the education editor/reporter at The Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs, Ark., where she met her husband, Nathan. We are honored to have her on our staff.

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Lauren de Albuquerque is the managing editor of The Jambalaya News. She was born and raised in Boston, graduating magna cum laude from Emmanuel College with a degree in communications. She was an editor/writer at Standard Publishing Corporation, Boston for almost 10 years. Lauren and her husband Phil moved to Lake Charles in 2003, where they owned and operated the Eddy House Bed & Breakfast. She is the former managing editor of The Times of Southwest Louisiana. She is actively involved in various organizations, including Krewe de la Famille, the Buccaneers, Animal Angels, the Calcasieu Boat Club, and is the secretary of Krewe Déjà Vu du Monde. She and Phil share their home with their Scottish Terrier, Rhiannon, and a large family of felines.

Darrell Buck is an invaluable member of The Jambalaya News. As art director, he is responsible for the outstanding layout and advertising graphics, and supervises our print production. Originally from Morehead City, North Carolina, Darrell joined the U.S. Army after high school. After graduating with EIC (Excellence in Cavalry) honors, he was stationed at Ft. Hood, TX, where he met his wife Brenda. After leaving the Army, he attended college back in North Carolina, and eventually ended up in Lake Charles, where he attended Sowela, graduating in June of 2003. Darrell was the art director of The Times of Southwest Louisiana for six years before joining Jambalaya. He is proud father of 7-year-old Logan and 2-year-old Autumn. In his spare time, he loves to fish, play video games and practice Taekwondo.

The Jambalaya News is thrilled to have Darrell on board with us! TJN Volume 1 • Issue 1

10/12 Corridor Growth

By Bill Krull

Bucking a statewide downward trend, Calcasieu Parish and 10 other Louisiana parishes on the Interstate 10-12 Corridor from Lake Charles to Slidell have grown in population over the past 20 years, according to demographer Elliott Stonecipher. This bodes well for economic development strategies currently in progress throughout Southwest Louisiana, said George Swift, president of the Southwest Louisiana Alliance for Economic Development.

“Since the Corridor is the fastest growing area of the state, Southwest Louisiana is situated in a perfect location. And not just to the east,” Swift said. “The think tank firm which was helping to brand and outline the strengths of the corridor, referred to Southwest Louisiana as ‘Houston East.’ We like that. There is much potential partnering with Southeast Texas to compete for projects and we have a representative for our region in Houston to work prospects there.”

The rest of Louisiana isn’t faring as well.

Stonecipher told 10/12 Corridor Magazine that much of the state is “downright Dickensian.”

“It’s the (relative) best of times for a handful of parishes, and truly the worst of times for others,” Stonecipher told 10/12 Magazine. “Note that the eight parishes with growth at or above the national rate over this period have 22.3 percent of the state’s population. These eight have a net population gain of 382,907, while the 64-parish state total has gained only 204,896. Put more dramatically, those eight parishes grew a cumulative 63.8 percent, and the remaining 56 parishes lost 4.2 percent.”

Recognizing this trend, the SWLA Alliance, along with government and business leaders, several years ago began laying plans for long-term, strategic and wellplanned growth and community development.

“From the start, we participated in the meetings of the corridor organized by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. It was

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important to be sure our area was included in the plans. The executive committees of the chambers of the Southwest Louisiana and Lafayette Chamber have met to work together and to explore mutual opportunities. We meet regularly with other regional economic development organizations in the state,” Swift said. “And, recently the Chambers across south Louisiana sponsored several events together in Washington. We are beginning to get to know each other and I expect much more collaboration will occur in the future. Our marketing material seeks to showcase the region and a large part of our features are along the corridor.”

Calcasieu Parish’s trend-bucking growth is critical to the long-term future of Louisiana growth and for the quality of life for the generations to come. Stonecipher told 10/12 Magazine that the underlying demographics of in-migrants versus outmigrants are worsening for the state as a whole. More than 20 percent of those moving into Louisiana had less than a highschool education, while more than 31 percent of those leaving had a college degree or higher.

“Effectively, this is a story of a lost generation of growth,” Stonecipher said. “That there is no public policy response - i.e. state government - to such problems and imbalance is staggering. In many of the dying parishes, only generations into the future hold any possible - not likely - hope for recovery.”

TJN

APRIL 9, 2009

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City Elections Randy Roach Re-Elected as Mayor

By Bill Krull

Mayor Randy Roach

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Lake Charles voters overwhelmingly reelected Randy Roach as mayor in the April 4 election. More than 10,700 people, 78 percent, voted for Mayor Roach versus 3,055 for his opponent, William “Billy” Pharr.

“Mr. Pharr ran a fair and excellent campaign and I appreciate his commitment to the City of Lake Charles and its people,” Mayor Roach said. “Elections are what define us as the people. I appreciate everybody who is involved and those who supported my opponent and those who supported me. The process helps us focus on the issues of our community, of our people and the issues of our children and Mr. Pharr helped substantially in that process.”

Pharr echoed Mayor Roach’s comments in an interview with KPLC-TV. “We’ve learned a lot in six weeks. We’ve come a long way. I want to congratulate Mayor Randy Roach on his third term,” Pharr said. “He’s run a great campaign and his support shows in the amount of votes that he got tonight. I think we got this city going in the right direction.”

The next four years, Mayor Roach said, are critical to economic development and building a superb quality of life for all people.

“The thing we need to remember is that it’s not about speed, it’s not about how fast you do something—it’s about how well you do something,” Mayor Roach said.

“We’re going to make sure this is done the right way. We’re laying a strong foundation for the growth and development of this community because what we want to do is not just build landscaping, not just build parks and marinas—we want to foster and promote commercial and residential development along the lakefront. We want to make it something that not only benefits the City but also the entire region of Southwest Louisiana. This truly is a regional program, a regional plan.”

Children, the cornerstone of the longterm strategy for regional development, will take on even more importance and attention.

“The next four years we’re going to focus on the priorities of the bond issue.

We made a commitment when we passed the bond issue. We’re going to honor that commitment and take what we’ve learned in our planning efforts and apply it throughout the rest of the City. We will also support our families and the “Children’s Trust” — a new agency to

coordinate local efforts to focus on children’s issues.” Mayor Roach said.

Lake Charles District G candidate Mark Eckard missed outright election to the City Council by a single vote. He will face John Fontenot in a May 2 runoff. The third contest, Khalid Taha finished third.

In District A, incumbent Marshall Simien won 51 percent of the votes, defeating Raymond M. Fondel, Jr., who received 29 percent, and Wilford Carter, II, who received 20 percent. Incumbent Luvertha August defeated Lionel Taylor in District B with 76 percent of the votes.

District C incumbent Rodney Geyen won 73 percent of the vote over challenger Paul “P. J.” Geary. Dana Jackson won with 57 percent of the District F votes to Anthony Lee Bartie’s 43 percent.

Neither John Ieyoub nor incumbent Stuart Weatherford faced competition for Districts D and E respectively.

Former Congressman Clyde Holloway faces Joe McPherson in a runoff. Both received 43 percent of the vote to 14 percent for Gil Pinac. Voters in Sulphur overwhelmingly voted to repeal the speeding ordinance—the unpopular “SpeedVan.”

TJN

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Hart Eye Center Utilizes Latest Advancement in Cataract Surgery William B. Hart, M.D., of Hart Eye Center, is among the first 150 ophthalmologists in the United States and the only eye surgeon in Southwest Louisiana approved to utilize the TECNIS® Multifocal Intraocular Lens (IOL), the latest advancement in cataract surgery. The TECNIS® Multifocal IOL is the newest, state-of-the-art artificial lens utilized in cataract surgery to save and improve a patient’s vision by replacing the clouded natural lens.

The TECNIS® Multifocal IOL can be used in cataract patients with presbyopia, and has been found to achieve clearer near vision and faster reading speeds than any other artificial lens. According to the lens developer, Abbott Medical Optics (formerly Advanced Medical Optics), nearly 9 out of 10 patients have reported that they have never needed to wear glasses again, after cataract surgery with TECNIS® Multifocal IOLs. Hart Eye Center is dedicated to helping each patient achieve optimum vision through the most current, state-of-the-art advancements and technology. For more information on Hart Eye Center and/or cataract surgery, visit www.harteyecenter.com or contact Jen Breen at 478-7396 or jbreen@ocarroll.com.

New CHRISTUS South Lake Charles Facility Holds Grand Opening (Above) CHRISTUS South Lake Charles, the latest addition to the CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital family, had its grand opening, and ribbon cutting recently.

CHRISTUS South Lake Charles is a combination of CHRISTUS Women’s Health Center, Prepare Center for pre-surgery services, and Southwest Louisiana Imaging, and is open for business at 1601 Country Club Road.

This new state-of-the-art facility provides the latest in technology, women’s services and comprehensive diagnostic imaging services. In many cases, patients will receive immediate consultations and same-day testing results.

The Women’s Health Center services include: digital mammography, bone density services, ultrasound, breast MRI, on-site consultation and more. Call 430-4444 for appointments or more information.

The Prepare Center on Country Club Road offers patients the same excelVolume 1 • Issue 1

lent pre-surgery care as they Prepare Center in St. Patrick Hospital, including preadmission visits, lab testing, diagnostic X-ray, EKG and preparation help for surgery. The Prepare Center also has a radiologist on-site. No appointments needed. For more information call 480-4811.

Southwest Louisiana Imaging offers advanced MRI and CT Imaging technology, including a new MAGNETOM® Verio Large Bore 3T MRI scanner from Siemens Medical Solutions. The MAGNETOM Verio 3T, the only one of its kind in the area, offers excellent image quality, superb diagnostic capabilities, and exceptional patient comfort with a large, patient-friendly 70cm opening. Call 439-7778 for more information.

Pinnacle Entertainment Honors MSU Professors for Classroom Excellence (Above) L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort, in conjunction with parent company Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc., recently honored six professors from McNeese State University with Pinnacle Excellence Awards.

L’Auberge Regional Vice President and General Manager Larry Lepinski and McNeese State University President Robert Hebert presented the educators with checks totaling $30,000 during an awards ceremony held recently at the William Gray Stream Memorial Alumni Center in Lake Charles.

The 2008 Pinnacle Excellence Award winners are Dustin Hebert and Brett Welch, College of Education (co-winners); Seung Hwan Kim, College of Business; Amy Bufford, College of Nursing; Jay Comeaux, College of Science; John Griffith, College of Engineering and Engineering Technology; and Derek Blakely, College of Liberal Arts. Each winner received a $5,000 check and a commemorative award statue.

The Pinnacle Excellence Awards were established in 2003, prior to L’Auberge’s opening, as part of a partnership between Pinnacle and McNeese to recognize outstanding faculty achievement.

Recipients are chosen by a committee comprised of fellow educators and administrators. Each of the winners submitted a proposal to the committee for consideration, outlining how the award money would be used to enhance educational programs. To be eligible for the awards, nominees also needed to APRIL 9, 2009

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receive positive performance evaluations from their students.

“We are proud to support McNeese in its commitment to academic excellence,” said Lepinski. “An educated workforce is crucial to bolstering the tourism and hospitality industry as we work together to establish Southwest Louisiana as the premier resort destination on the gulf coast.”

Through Team CITGO, employees, retirees and their families volunteer their time and energy to help whenever needed. Today, 22 years later, Team CITGO has garnered the company and its employees a great reputation in Southwest Louisiana. Team CITGO has donated thousands of man-hours to community groups and projects through the years.

Memorial Welcomes Sr. Vice President of Philanthropy Lake Charles Memorial Hospital is pleased to welcome Leif Pedersen as senior vice president of philanthropy. In his new role, Pedersen is tasked with reestablishing The Foundation at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital and fulfilling its mission to raise funds for capital needs, endowments, special programs and support of community efforts.

Immediately prior to joining Memorial, Pedersen Leif Pedersen served as vice president of Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital in Lacombe, Louisiana, where he was responsible for marketing, physician relations and managed care oversight for the last three years. He also served as chief development officer for Methodist Health System in New Orleans and was instrumental in obtaining over $23 million in gifts for the System Foundation during his 18 year tenure.

In his “past life” Pedersen traveled throughout the U.S. and abroad as the featured vocalist with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra for more than six years and had his own night club act for an additional eight years. In 1998, he was inducted into the Southeastern Louisiana University Music Hall of Fame and currently leads his own 14-piece orchestra, The 1944 Big Band. He and his wife Sheryl, a health educator for Tulane University School of Public Health, are active followers of their 13-year-old son Dane’s travel baseball activities throughout the year. For more information on The Foundation at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, please call (337) 494-3226.

The Counseling Center Offers Help to Women with Depression During and After Pregnancy Southwest Louisiana women experiencing depression during and after pregnancy can now benefit from a new program offered at The Counseling Center of Family of Youth. Depression doesn’t go away just because a woman is pregnant. The good news is that perinatal depression and depression following childbirth is a treatable condition.

Depression during and after childbirth can be problematic for up to two years following the birth of a child. Sadness is not the only symptom; depression can also be felt as anxiety, emptiness, paranoia, mood swings or a variety of unfamiliar behaviors and feelings. In some cases, mothers feel unable to provide good care for their infants or their other children.

Women experiencing depression before, during, or after pregnancy, as well as families and friends of these women, can call The Counseling Center for help and information at (337) 436-9533. Counselors will arrange confidential, nocharge, no-obligation visits to help pregnant women and mothers overcome depression.

The Counseling Center of Family & Youth has entered into a community partnership with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) Southwest Louisiana, the Louisiana Office of Mental Health and the Louisiana Office of Addictive Disorders to provide Southwest Louisiana women suffering from depression during and after pregnancy the treatment and tools needed to improve well-being and their lives. This program is funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

For more information about depression during and after pregnancy and how the professionals at The Counseling Center can help, contact Bill Williams, LPC, LMFT, at (337) 436-9533 or Bill@fyca.org.

David Sears, Nandi DeSonnier and Pat Bergeaux were recently awarded CITGO Outstanding Employee Volunteer Awards for their significant community contributions in 2008. From left to right: Tammy Spell, Team CITGO president; Pat Bergeaux (38 hours in 2008); David Sears (58 hours in 2008); and Eduardo Assef, CITGO’s Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex vice president and general manager.

CITGO Recognizes Team CITGO Outstanding Volunteers CITGO Petroleum Corporation recently recognized its volunteer organization, Team CITGO, for their community contributions in 2008 at an awards ceremony held at Treasures of Marilyn’s recently In 2008, Team CITGO participated in 22 events through the efforts of 248 volunteers who worked 2,376 hours in the community.

At the awards ceremony, several outstanding Team CITGO volunteers were recognized for their significant contributions in 2008. C.J. Spell (40 hours), Lenore Carroll (40 hours) and Cindy Sears (37 hours) received the Family and Friends Outstanding Volunteer Awards. David Sears (58 hours), Nandi DeSonnier (45 hours), and Pat Bergeaux (38 hours) received the CITGO Outstanding Employee Volunteer Awards.

In 1987, John Thibodeaux, a CITGO employee with 24 years of service, took action to show his community the true spirit of CITGO and its employees. Through this revelation, a unique idea for a volunteer group was brought forth and Team CITGO was born.

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American Eagle launches Lake Charles-to-Dallas nonstop service American Eagle Airlines begins nonstop jet service between Lake Charles and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on June 11. The airline will offer flights twice daily, departing from Lake Charles at 7:20 a.m. and 2:55 p.m.

Return flights leave Dallas/Fort Worth at 1:15 p.m. and 6 p.m. American Eagle President and CEO Peter Bowler says the new service gives Southwest Louisiana businesspeople the option of taking a quick day trip to Dallas or connecting to a number of other major cities.

Hiram DuRousseau II, president of the Airport Authority in Calcasieu Parish, says Dallas is the top destination for Lake Charles Regional Airport.

“Southwest Louisiana serves as a critical transportation hub, and American Eagle’s new flights will bring more choices and opportunity for economic growth,” says U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany. “It is an important recognition of the good work going on in Lake Charles.”

Memorial Hospital Partners with Vermilion Parish Library System As the lead agency for the Community Hospital Telehealth Consortium, Lake Charles Memorial Hospital recently partnered with the Vermilion Parish Library System to expand the reach of health services in rural areas.

The new partnership will greatly expand Memorial’s Telehealth Consortium reach, providing health care to an additional 51,000 people throughout the gulf coast region, which, according to Charlotte Trosclair, director of the Vermilion Parish Library System, is good news for the area.

“This is an opportunity for Vermilion Parish to participate in new and innovative health services, as well as excellent educational opportunities,” she said.

This partnership is made possible by a $25,000 grant in telehealth equipment from the Community Hospital Telehealth Consortium to the Vermilion Parish Library System. The initial offerings include several healthy community programs such as health classes for senior citizens and virtual field trips for students, as well as continuing education for health care professionals and professional educators. For more information, call Telemedicine at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital at (337) 494-2861.

TJN

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Camp Fire USA SWLA Council Appoints Interim Executive Director Attorney Leslie Berman has returned to Lake Charles to head up Camp Fire USA Southwest Louisiana Council as interim executive director, while the organization’s board conducts a nationwide search for its new permanent senior staff member.

Berman is a past president of the council who remained as a board member until she resigned to take on the executive director’s job in midMarch.

“It will be hard to fill the shoes of recently departed Executive Director L. Wayne Bebee, who was fearless and tireless in leading the council out of the doldrums that followed Hurricane Rita and her aftermath,” Berman said, speaking from the council’s current office in the United Way building.

“During Bebee’s stewardship, the variety of programs we were able to deliver to the youth in our community, and the level of attendance at those programs, increased exponentially.

Bebee’s enthusiasm for Camp Fire’s mission – ‘to build confident caring youth and future leaders’ — along with his natural talent for drawing together people from many sectors of the com-

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munity and across numerous age and culture boundaries, as well as his innovative programming and marketing ideas, will be very hard to replace,” Berman said.

Camp Fire is a national organization with member councils throughout the United States. Camp Fire USA SWLA Council serves the parishes of Imperial Calcasieu with summer resident and day camps, and with such signature programs as Get Real About Violence, which reaches 4,000 area schoolchildren yearly, and builds young students’ skills for dealing with violence and resisting peer pressure.

Berman is a veteran of non-profit agencies and organizations, having worked in the non-profit field from her first after-school job, and continuing as an employee and/or volunteer for various non-profits to this day.

“I’ve worked just about every job an organization can have to fill,” Berman said, laughing, “from go-fer, babysitter and janitor, through fundraiser, programmer, and counselor, to producer, director, publicist and executive director.”

“Over the years my volunteer expe-

riences have been extremely rewarding, both personally and professionally,” Berman continued. “And while my non-profit organization work has largely been in the arts and culture fields, I’ve always been deeply concerned with social justice and quality of life issues – those were my primary reasons for studying and practicing law – and those inclinations led me directly to volunteer for Camp Fire board,” she explained.

Berman will need to draw on all her prior experience for the Camp Fire job, which includes supervising all programming, managing the agency’s budget and relationships with granting organizations and community partners, and overseeing day-to-day operations of Camp Wi-Ta-Wentin, Camp Fire’s 75-acre rustic campus in Moss Bluff, among dozens of weekly tasks.

“We’re a small agency, but we’ve been able to cover our service area effectively in the past, and the community has let us know we’re appreciated.

That makes what we do all the more worthwhile,” Berman concluded.

Camp Fire began nationally in 1910, as Camp Fire Girls, and focused

on building outdoor and self-reliance skills with traditional after school clubs and summer camp programs.

But in recent years, as fewer parents have been available to provide house room and adult leadership support for clubs, Camp Fire has trained its sights on other forms of recreation and education.

“We’re mission-driven, so as long as we’re delivering the message that kids and youth can achieve great things through self-reliance skills-building, we’re on the right track,” Berman said.

“Our ‘Learn and Serve’ program this year led high school-aged youth to develop and produce a Health Fair at Foreman-Reynaud, bringing together the need for emergency preparedness for all forms of personal and community disasters with a simple but informative event. The group conceived of, planned and implemented the Health Fair themselves. They embodied the spirit of leadership and self-reliance in every aspect of the program. That’s our highest goal for youth, and they performed superbly.”

Berman is best-known locally as an attorney. She moved to Lake Charles

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in 2000 to clerk for the Honorable James T. Trimble, Jr. intending to remain just for a year, but she became active in the Temple Sinai Sunday School and elected to put down roots in Calcasieu Parish. After a fellowship year of commuting from Lake Charles to New Orleans to the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women at Tulane University, Berman opened an entertainment law and criminal defense practice in Lake Charles.

Then in 2006, in preparation for “running away to join the Hillary Clinton campaign circus as an election protection attorney,” Berman closed her law practice to work once again in the Western District of Louisiana’s Lake Charles Division, as law clerk to United States Magistrate Judge Alonzo P. Wilson, now an attorney in private practice with Veron, Bice, Palermo & Wilson, and United States Magistrate Judge Kathleen Kay, who succeeded Judge Wilson. Throughout her stay in Lake Charles, Berman was a board member of several area non-profit organizations, including the Lake Charles Public Radio Association, the Arts & Humanities Council, the Lake Charles Symphony, the Music Museum of Southwest Louisiana, and Camp Fire USA SWLA Council.

TJN

AARP Driver Safety Class Set for April 24 The Driver Safety Program of AARP is offering a four-hour safety class on Fri., April 24 at 8:30 a.m..

Each person completing the course may receive up to three years in auto insurance savings and should check with their insurance carrier for verification of the discount. No tests are given and AARP membership is not required. Cost is $12 for AARP members (card required) and $14 for nonmembers. The course has been offered for 25 years by trained instructors and must be taken every three years in order to be current for the insurance discount. It is designed to help drivers improve driving skills and learn defensive driving techniques, and offers practical information to reduce traffic violations and crashes. Pre-registration is recommended. The class will be held at CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital’s Garber Auditorium at 523 Dr. Michael DeBakey St. Call 491-7750 to register. TJN

478-6550 • www.campfireswla.org Resident & Day Camp • Ages 5-15 Resident I-June 7-12 Resident 2-June 14-19 Resident 3-June 21-26 Day 1-June 29-July 3 Day 2-July 6-10

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Resident camp - $295/week (includes all meals) Day camp - $125/week (optional sleep-over on Thursday night $10)

United Way Hosts Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon The United Way of Southwest Louisiana reflected on a generous but tough year recently, and looked optimistically toward the coming year at its annual awards luncheon. The organization, which serves 55 health and human service agencies and more than 100,000 people in the five-parish area, surpassed $4.435 million or 98 percent of goal to date.

“This year served as a reminder that the fabric of Southwest Louisiana’s generosity is woven with more than dollars and cents. It’s a tapestry of emotions and devotion,” stated Jim McGough, chairman of the board of directors. “Our regional commitment to each other fosters the value of lending a helping hand - physically and emotionally - when it is needed.”

Tom Hoefer, director of the CPPJ Government Access Channel, emceed the luncheon. A brief business meeting to elect board members was conducted

by Jim McGough, along with a special presentation to retiring board members Linda Breaux, Richard Louviere, J. Allen McCall and David Reinauer.

Each year, the Corporate Pride award is presented to an outstanding corporation which has made a significant impact on the community through their United Way involvement. This year’s recipient was Cameron State Bank. Accepting the award was Leslie Harless, director of marketing. “These are the companies that have gone beyond the normal, everyday type of activity for our organization. These are the ones that have made the extra effort,” said McGough.

The Harper Clark “Spirit of Southwest Louisiana” Award was presented to Dale Mann, GATOR 99, by Chin Liang - last year’s recipient.

Presented for the first time in 2001 in loving memory of Harper Clark, this award is presented to someone who, like Harper, has a positive attitude towards life, is enthusiastic, cooperative, happy, an active volunteer, concerned about Southwest Louisiana residents and resourceful in helping others.

Phil Earhart, 2004 Volunteer of the Year, presented the 2008 Volunteer of the Year to Barbara Hudson-Gonzales, retired employee of McElroy, Quirk and Burch, APC. The person selected makes a contribution of time, effort and talent, resulting in a benefit to the United Way and to the community.

The selection process calls for three consecutive years of active productive service, depth of involvement and

effectiveness of service, selflessness and sincerity of motivation and dedication to the United Way philosophy and goals.

The 2008 United Way Agency Staff Person of the Year award was presented by Dinah Landry, 2008 United Way Chair for Agency Executives, to Bill Williams, employee of Family & Youth Counseling Agency. The recipient displays a strong devotion and dedication to the United Way family agency and human services and whose activities go beyond the job description.

Sheriff Tony Mancuso, 2009 campaign chair, expressed his personal thanks to contributors, volunteers and staff for their overwhelming support.

Special recognition was given to employee groups who won platinum, gold and silver awards. The Platinum award is based on 3/4 of an employee group giving one hour’s pay per month over a 12-month period; gold award recipients, based on half of an employee group contributing one hour’s pay per month over a 12 month period; and silver is based on 60 percent of the gold plaque standard.

Recognition for outstanding support was given to the employees of Citgo and Citgo Corporation for surpassing $848,000 and again setting a record for the single highest campaign in the United Way of SWLA history.

This is the fifth year they have exceeded a half million dollars and the third year to break the three-quarters of a million mark.

The Jim Leigh Campaign Award, presented each year to the division chair, who achieves the highest percentage of goal over what was raised last year, was given to Ben Bourgeois, Curtis Williams and Todd Areno, ICMC Division co-chairs with 120 percent of goal and a 12.11 percent increase in dollars raised last year.

Others receiving special recognition were Sheriff Tony Mancuso, 2009 campaign chair, and Dinah Landry, 2008 chair of United Way Agency executives.

Sheriff Mancuso acknowledged those individuals from the cabinet who helped reach last year’s goal, and presented the new campaign cabinet led

by Larry DeRoussel, 2010 campaign chair. The 2010 theme will be “Live United – Give, Advocate, Volunteer.” TJN

Volume 1 • Issue 1

The Next Chapter: The Calcasieu Women’s Shelter Thanks a Dynamic Leader as it Turns the Page

By Jen Breen

Left to right: Ann Polak and Jennifer Couvillion When Ann Polak came to the Calcasieu Women’s Shelter in 1986, the issue of domestic abuse was still edging out of the shadows of being a “dirty family secret.” The overwhelmed grassroots shelter was quickly outgrowing its location on a busy, industrial section of Legion Street, and the needs of battered women were evolving.

As executive director, Polak and her team quickly realized that in order to meet the needs of this underserved population, it was essential to educate both the community and local law enforcement. She became a dedicated advocate of the shelter, and over the course of 23 years she inspired compassion, awareness and sensitivity from a continually helpful community, and worked to change laws and create law enforcement training to help and protect victims of abuse. The shelter and law enforcement now work together in a task force to assist the survivors of violence.

Polak not only worked on outreach and awareness, but also on expanding the shelter to fulfill the growing needs of battered women and their children.

During the course of her leadership, The Calcasieu Women’s Shelter moved from a grassroots movement to a leading state program that serves thousands of people every year.

Since 1986, a new shelter has been built, a school has been added and Volume 1 • Issue 1

the organization is currently in the process of building an administrative addition to meet the changing needs of the women and children they serve.

The shelter has also expanded its services. It provides residential and non-residential services, a rural outreach program, and residential and non-residential children’s services. In 1994, the organization added Rape Crisis Outreach, an informational and emotional support system for survivors of sexual assault/abuse and their families.

The Calcasieu Women’s Shelter provides services for Calcasieu, Allen and Cameron Parishes. Rape Crisis Outreach serves Calcasieu, Allen, Cameron, Beauregard and Jefferson Davis Parishes.

When asked about her work, Polak said, “Working in a position where one can address justice for battered women has been a great reward for me. I have not worked alone. Many groups and individuals have made this happen through the shelter.

When I meet a woman or family that says we made a difference in her life, it humbles me and tells me that my work has not been in vain.”

After her many years of service, Polak will pass the torch to Jennifer Couvillion on April 15. “As a former community educator at the shelter, Jennifer is committed to the shelter’s

mission of creating a sense of safety and empowerment for the survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. I am confident that she will provide strong leadership as the executive director,” Polak said.

“I am excited about taking on the leadership role at the Calcasieu Women’s Shelter,” Couvillion said of her new position. “Many people have said that I have big shoes to fill when Ann leaves. But, I would never attempt to fill the shoes of a woman who has worked passionately for 23 years to stop domestic violence. I will take everything she has taught me and move forward on the path that many women’s activists have paved.”

Although she is retiring, Polak will not be completely leaving the Calcasieu Women’s Shelter. Her assistance will always be available, she says, “Working with abused women has been a passion of mine for 23 years. Even though I will retire, I will always be committed to making a difference in the lives of others.”

Polak and her colleagues have made tremendous strides in battling domestic abuse and rape, but unfortunately, the war continues.

The statistics are still daunting: • Every nine seconds a woman is battered in America.

• Nearly one-third (31 percent) of women in America report being

physically or sexually abused by a husband or partner at some point in their lives.

• The number of reported rapes is higher in Louisiana than the national average.

• One out of three females and one out of six males will be sexually abused in some form.

Couvillion explained her plans to continue the fight against domestic abuse and rape as executive director of the Calcasieu Women’s Shelter: “When I came to work at the shelter as a community educator, my personal career goal was to find a way to empower women. Remembering the history of the Calcasieu Women’s Shelter and the grassroots movement that helped start it, we will continue to empower women and assist with their needs, “ she said.

“We will continue to help women, men and children on issues of sexual assault through our Rape Crisis Outreach program. We will continue to be active in the government for recognition of domestic violence and sexual assault matters. We will be here until the day when violence is no more. Until that day comes, we need the continued support of our community. Southwest Louisiana has always been here for us, and for that we are grateful.”

TJN

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 11

In his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri reserves a special place in his Inferno for people who lack the moral compass to take action against evil and social injustice. Beth Zilbert won’t go there.

An advocate for justice for all people, and with a passion for human and animal rights, Zilbert derives her zeal from family and the compelling belief that she can’t fully appreciate the richness of life when so many are suffering.

Recognizing the tremendous need in Southwest Louisiana, the Lake Charles attorney and her partner, legal specialist Shannon Cox, recently founded the People’s Advocate. The non-profit agency advocates primarily for victims of domestic violence, juveniles who fall afoul of the law, illegal immigrants who are crime victims and for environmental justice.

The agency’s broad mission is to level the playing field of justice so that any person in need, regardless of socioeconomic status, has access to fair and equitable treatment. As a matter of course, however, the high rates of domestic violence against children, women and pets in Southwest Louisiana, demands action.

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APRIL 9, 2009

A cycle of domestic violence, poverty in SWLA “Here in this area, we have the highest rate of domestic violence in Louisiana, which has among the highest rates in our country. Our rates of child abuse are significantly higher than other urban areas in the state that are twice our size,” Zilbert said. “And then, we have generations of families whose quality of life has been destroyed by years of pollution and people in south Beauregard Parish who don’t have water fit to drink.”

Just beneath the surface of wellbeing in Southwest Louisiana lies a deep and broad core of poverty. In Calcasieu Parish alone, nearly 24 percent of all children live below the poverty level, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That poverty begets more poverty, crime and violence and perpetuates the cycle through the generations.

Zilbert believes the People’s Advocate’s mission dovetails perfectly with the City of Lake Charles’ economic development strategy because their ultimate goal—quality of life for all—is the same. The strategies of the city as well as the parish and the Southwest

Louisiana Economic Development Alliance can’t be fully realized without social justice and advocacy for the women, children and pets who are the victims of abuse and violence.

The People’s Advocate works within the local legal system, along with a wide range of local non-profits and social services agencies to fight for their clients’ rights, Zilbert said. Cox and she have found that building consensus and coalitions within the community is proving highly effective in combining resources to help women, children and pets in need.

A new leash on life A good example is the “New Leash on Life” initiative, part of the Southwest Louisiana Humane Society’s Pet Therapy program. This, Zilbert says, brings children in need together with dogs in need—and literally saves the lives of both.

“It’s a win-win situation. The program matches children from the Juvenile Detention Center with dogs from Animal Control who would otherwise be destined for euthanasia,” Zilbert said. “The kids train the dogs, which makes them adoptable, which

saves their lives. The dogs train the kids, teaching them responsibility and give them self-esteem and confidence.

These are kids who are statistically bound for prison, poverty and substance abuse. These dogs are an effective deterrent from a life of crime and poverty and help end that vicious cycle.

The kids in this program have a much lower recidivism rate than ones who aren’t in it. So, the dogs and the kids are saving each other’s lives.”

There’s good economic validation for such programs. Louisiana has the highest rate of incarceration in the nation, which in turn has the highest rate in the world. Treatment and counseling as alternatives to jail costs less than half of the expense of incarceration.

A passion for human rights The mid-fortyish, somewhat graying Zilbert lights up when talking about her passions—people and pets.

She sprang from a communityinvolved family, first working as a community activist and organizer—much like the new president of the United States. She enrolled in law school, planning to advocate for environmental Volume 1 • Issue 1

justice. As the saying goes, however, people plan and God laughs.

After graduating from law school, certified in environmental and natural resources law, she returned to Lake Charles, planning to wage war on behalf of the environment. In her first year at the Southwest Louisiana Legal Center, she witnessed the desperate need of battered women, abused children and juveniles in the court system.

She spent two years clerking for her mentor, Judge Gene Thibodeaux of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and then a year in private practice with local attorney Beth Hardy.

“I needed to add tools to my legal toolbox and Judge Thibodeaux helped me do that. I’ve learned so much from him—he is such a tremendous mentor,” Zilbert said. “He told me to try private practice, which I did and I learned much from Beth. But, I had to go with my passion—people and pets.”

She joined forces with Cox, whose passion for human rights, especially for illegal immigrants equals Zilbert’s, to form the People’s Advocate. Their clients include many illegal immigrants who are the victims of crimes such as human trafficking and/or domestic violence. These people fear seeking help because of their legal status and

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live lives of quiet desperation.

In a large sense, Zilbert has no choice but to do what she does. She’s very much the product of 6,000 years of tradition and community responsibility. She had it drilled into her at birth, through countless Sunday school classes and at various summer camps.

“I was raised Jewish—I am Jewish. I learned social responsibility from my parents and inherited from them a tradition of responsibility to the community. You are not free if others are enslaved and you cannot enjoy justice if there is injustice being committed against others,” Zilbert said. “It’s a part of who I am. I believe that where there’s bondage, I can’t be free. I can’t take credit for it—it’s the cornerstone of Judaism. Credit my parents, my ancestors. Ingrained in me is the knowledge that we live today thanks to those who for thousands of years have come before us, and we live for the people who come after. We’re caretakers of today for those of tomorrow.”

607 Ryan Street Lake Charles, LA 70601 (337) 436-3474 immigrationlawservices@yahoo.com

TJN

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 13

Doyle

By Jim

The Sweetness of Memory

Tickets Are On Sale Now! Sabine Pools

The Children’s Museum

3213 Common St., Lake Charles (337) 433-1193 Mon-Fri 9-6 • Sat 9-3

327 Broad St., Lake Charles (337) 433-9420 Mon-Sat 10-5

Tickets $10 each or $25 per family ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM www.TheParadeOfPools.com PAGE 14

APRIL 9, 2009

Snow Day. Just reading those two words together brings back memories: Waking up in a cold bed and rushing to the window, listening to the radio to see if our schools were among those closed for the safety of the kids in the country who rode buses across ice-slick roads.

An unexpected break from routine and, as a high school senior, an excuse to make mayhem in the streets.

The snow days I remember best were in my senior year of 1968, when a blizzard (okay, it was only eight inches, but it felt like more) hit my nook and cranny of the world. As it happened, our schools were closed for two weeks.

This storm hit us the day after the first day of spring, late in the year, and we had already printed graduation invitations. Because we were out so much, the state said we hadn’t been in school for the minimum number of days required by law. So the day after graduation night, with several of us nursing nascent hangovers after a first real bout with alcoholic celebration, we assembled again at our school for a Civil Defense Course and watched four days of movies about nuclear bombs.

In a small town you have lots of close friends, but one stands out in my memory, particularly as I recall the Blizzard of ’68. Gary Cole was the middle child in a family of three children who lived less than 100 yards from me.

I was at the Coles’ house more than my own, leading to many great stories the Coles still tell whenever we get together. One happened during the snow.

See, as a kid, I was awkward physically. I know you find that hard to believe, given my graceful movements today. But my plight was aggravated by the necessity of wearing wing-tip shoes with arch supports to soothe my naturally flat feet. During the bad weather, I

was running up to Gary’s house for some foolishness or other, wearing my wing-tips, and as I started up the concrete stairs leading to his kitchen door, which was a glass storm door, I slipped and plowed right through it. I landed on the floor by the kitchen table where the Cole family was eating dinner. No injuries, but it was a hell of an entrance.

Carolyn, the oldest, went with me the first night I had the family car out for a drive because I only had a permit and needed a licensed driver along. We had two flat tires within 10 minutes. I can still see my dad standing on the front porch, watching (and hearing) me drive by, flump, flump, flump, flump.

Danny, the younger brother, used my basketball goal every day through high school and wound up with a college scholarship at Lambuth University in Jackson.

But Gary, he was always the jokester growing up. We had a massive snowball fight during this time, got together with several other juveniles and slid down hills on Coca Cola signs we “borrowed” from their moorings, made snow angels with lots of girls and, in utter disregard for anybody’s safety, allowed a local preacher to hook up our sleds to his Volkswagen and drove around on the ice-filled streets.

Gary went to Ole Miss, I went to the University of Southern Mississippi.

During our college years we went home together many weekends. I’d pick him up on the way North. Lafayette County, where Oxford is located, was “dry” for beer, although, if you were old enough, you could buy all the hard liquor you wanted. This was because of a quirk in state law. If you were 18 in Mississippi, you could buy beer. You had to be 21 in most counties to buy liquor. Most of the college kids were under 21 and drank beer, so they had to buy it out of town.

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There was a beer joint at the County Line, as there always is, and Gary and I made a sport of drinking as many as we could from that store to our little town.

As we aged, Gary, who became a pharmacist and opened a drug store in Bolivar, served as the unofficial chronicler of events for those of us who moved away (and almost all of us did).

I’d call him every month or so, always asking the same thing when I got him on the phone: “Hey, do y’all sell shotgun shells?” That was a remnant of his early days in small business in the rural South, where people saw nothing unusual about buying ammo in a drug store.

He was the touchstone for me and many others of our generation in other ways, too. My former wife Susan and I decided to get married in the house where I grew up on what would have been my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. Gary and his wife Beth did all the arrangements, with Gary videotaping the ceremony and its collateral events in between snide remarks to me about using Rogaine for hair loss. Smartass.

He was my eyes and ears for my mother, who lived alone until she was 86. Gary frequently checked on her and called me if there was anything to worry about. When she died, Gary was one of her pallbearers.

As we aged, Gary came to represent my hometown, my childhood, the repository of memories of me from third grade forward. He loved to tell stories, and I was often the punch line.

His favorites were the door-in-thekitchen adventure and our golf games.

I had dug holes in my yard which we used as a small course when I was about 12. In Gary’s retelling of the story, my friends were in shorts, Tshirts, and tennis shoes while I wore a golf shirt, plaid pants, wingtips and had a cigarette dangling from my mouth. Shameless exaggeration.

He always took pride in my life in a brotherly kind of way. Whenever I’d go into his store, he’d make a big production out of telling someone what a “success” I had become, about my “big” practice in Louisiana, shamelessly inflating the truth, of course, but no harm done. And I was far from the only one; I’ve heard him do the same with many other visitors. Gary became our hometown for them, too. He became one of those very few essential persons in life.

So when I received a phone call from another classmate, this one a preacher, one July morning in 2006, it hit me with the force of a brick (or a teenager) crashing through a plate glass window. Gary was dead. Suicide.

Volume 1 • Issue 1

He was 54.

This is difficult, even three years later. Gary was “the last person you’d ever suspect” would end his own life, but I’ll bet you can say that about almost anyone who does. In Gary’s case, though, it was particularly hard to take because he was so essential. His funeral was huge; 1,500 people waited in line, some four or five hours, to pay their respects. I’m certain every one of them, including me, thought the same thing: If only I could have talked to him one more time.

For weeks after Gary’s death he was alive in my dreams, still in the same place I last saw him, standing at the counter in his store, joking with his customers. I’ve lost my parents and a brother, but I have to say Gary’s sudden death was a bigger blow. It was like my childhood died.

I would have never figured Gary would go out like this. I’m sure he was depressed beyond measure, and I know he must have believed he had no other choice. I like to think he might have reconsidered if he had spent any time

thinking how irreplaceable he was to so many people.

This is, in the end, just one more example of the sweetness of memory and the shortness of life. Each of us is irreplaceable to somebody. Remember that every day, and cherish the thought.

It’s what makes us whole, what makes us alive.

Now, take a deep breath.

Congratulations to Lauren and all The Jambalaya News staff! Thanks for inviting me on board.

See you on the flip. TJN

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 15

By Lisa Yates

505 Imports: A Local Business with a Global Vision In a competitive, global economy, tunnel vision can be life-threatening to a company – a global perspective is needed. That’s the thinking of Rebekah Dressler, 29, and her mother, Sharlene Boyle.

Their global perspective and a passion for beautiful furnishings led to the creation of 505 Imports - a highly successful local business specializing in mahogany, teak and sheesham furniture from India and Indonesia.

“I’ve wanted to open a business for years, but I wasn’t sure what kind of business to open,” Dressler said.

She said her desire was to create a business that was truly local, but could be franchised and rival the best companies in the world.

“The idea of an import business came from Mom,” she said.

Almost a coffee shop Until then, Dressler was leaning towards opening a coffee shop.

She asked her mother to be her business partner. Boyle, a high school teacher from Baton Rouge, agreed and moved to Lake Charles.

Boyle and Dressler said they have always been close and worked well together.

“I was her drama teacher in high school for four years,” Boyle said of her daughter. “She also was on the dance team I sponsored. We’ve always worked on projects together.”

Dressler said she was driving in her car, when she got a call from her

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APRIL 9, 2009

Rebekah Dressler and Sharlene Boyle, co-owners of 505 Imports.

mother suggesting they open an import furniture store.

“I don’t know how the idea popped in my head,” Boyle said.

Her daughter embraced the idea immediately, even though they had no retail experience.

Dressler, who worked in pharmaceutical sales, moved from Baton Rouge to Lake Charles with her husband, Billy, a financial advisor with The Firm of Southwest Louisiana.

After purchasing a house, Dressler found this city offered little in the import furniture market.

“I could not find what I was looking for in the area,” she said. “I knew there was a need for this kind of business here. Three months later, we did it.”

When the second store opened, the first 505 became an outlet store on the weekends. Eventually, the owners closed it and used it as a warehouse for the company.

Dressler said the outlet store did great business; however, the company evolved and energy needed to be focused elsewhere.

“We were both still working full time at our jobs,” she added.

During the first year of business, Dressler kept her pharmaceutical sales position. Her mother also kept teaching for another two years before retiring.

“We work really hard,” Dressler said. “We’ve got that work ethic thing down.”

The first stores Dressler and Boyle launched their first store in May, 2005, at 505 E. Prien Lake Road in Lake Charles.

“That’s where we got the name,” Dressler said.

They opened the first 505 store with an initial investment of $50,000, but needed $100,000, according to Dressler.

“Four banks turned us down,” she said. “We decided to open, regardless.

Finally, three weeks after we opened, we got the money. First Federal Bank gave us a loan for the remaining money.”

Rapid growth during the first year of business resulted in a second store, located at 1776 W. Prien Lake Road, Suite G, in Lake Charles.

Additional stores in the works As part of the company’s plan to expand business, the owners franchised the 505 brand.

Dressler said it took her five months of working day and night to complete the operations manuals. Six months later, the company sold its first franchise in Sugarland, Texas.

Additional stores are also in the works, according to Dressler.

“We’re putting our focus on the southern region – from Houston and Austin to different parts of Florida,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of interest from investors in Beaumont, Baton Rouge, and Naples, Florida.”

Under the franchise arrangement, 505 will help franchisees develop human resources, prepare advertising materials, set business strategies and

maintain control over the day-to-day operations.

“The franchisees will not sell any other products than 505, and all of the branding activities must follow 505 guidelines,” Dressler said.

Since the store in Sugarland failed to maintain 505 standards, Dressler said it could not remain a franchise.

“As of January, the store is no longer a 505,” she said, acknowledging disappointment. “It was a lesson.”

However, Dressler’s vision for the company is to open 15 franchise stores in the next five years.

Their manufacturing company Her five-year plan also includes getting their manufacturing facility in India to secure contracts with bigname stores, such as Anthropologie.

“We started our own manufacturing company about two years ago called Beyond Borders Imports,” Dressler said. “From start to finish, we have our hands on all aspects of the business. We wanted to have the ability to design our own things and really get creative with it.”

She said importing directly from their factory in India, and another in Indonesia, allows 505 Imports to offer beautiful, one-of-a-kind furniture at amazing prices.

Dressler said 505 Imports can also offer custom-made pieces like television cabinets and bookshelves at bargain prices.

“We’re known for our custom furniture,” she said. “It’s a big percentage of the business.”

She said bring in a picture from a

Volume 1 • Issue 1

Pottery Barn catalogue, for example, and the piece of furniture you like can be reproduced. She said prices vary depending on the type of wood used.

“There’s a huge price range,” Dressler said. “Mahogany is on the lower end of the spectrum; there’s reclaimed teak and shee-sham on the more expensive end.”

Shee-sham, she explained, is Indian Rosewood.

Dressler said it usually takes between five to seven months for a piece of custom furniture.

“It’s a process,” she said.

Different duties and responsibilities While Dressler travels to India throughout the year, her mother hasn’t been yet.

“Mom does the creative end of the business, for example, she designs a lot of the original furniture,” Dressler said. “I enjoy the business side.”

Boyle said both partners respect each other’s area of expertise.

“My daughter has an analytical mind,” she said. “She handles all of the financials – I don’t see that at all.”

Although they have different responsibilities, they collaborate on a lot of projects. One of the things they enjoy doing together is going to market in New York, Las Vegas, High Point and Dallas.

“Mom is great at spotting the new trends,” Dressler said.

The biggest trend right now is the “go green” movement, she said.

Dressler said 505 Imports has been on the cutting edge of this movement from the beginning.

“Most of the materials we use come from sustainable natural resources like banana leaves and bamboo,” she said.

They also use a lot of recycled products, like reclaimed teak.

“We purchased a lot of reclaimed teak in Indonesia from the Tsunami,” Dressler said. “Also we do a lot of repurposing of antiques from India pieces such as old windows and cabinets - using these to create unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.”

Examples of these are all throughout the store – just ask an employee, she said.

Superior product knowledge Dressler said that’s one thing that sets 505 apart from other import stores; their employees have a thorough knowledge of each piece of furniture.

“Product knowledge is important to us,” she said. “Our employees know what everything is and can tell you about each piece in the store.”

Volume 1 • Issue 1

Her staff includes: Suzanne Johnson, head of merchandising; Jamie Mele, manager; Wesley Drawl, sales associate and head of the online store; and, Andre Rouche, carpenter and delivery person.

“From day one, they helped out working on the business, then in it,” Dressler said.

Without any retail experience, the owners leaned on them for help – especially displaying furniture and accessories into different styles: Bohemian, Coastal Cottage, French Villa, Nature-Inspired and Rustic Redefined.

The staff can help customers with decorating choices, or they can recommend a professional interior decorator.

“We love to help,” Dressler said.

“We’re helping with some commercial projects right now. The owners of Luna are opening a new coffee shop and we are doing all of the furniture.”

She said 505 also put together the furniture in the waiting room and exam room at Lake Area Skin Care.

“We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on that project,” Dressler said.

A million $ business Dressler also received help for the business by winning a national contest – the “Make Mine a Million $

Business” contest. The contest is dedicated to helping post-start-up women-owned businesses reach $1 million in revenues.

About 1,300 applicants from around the country were whittled down to 15 finalists who assembled in Florida to present their cases before a panel of judges.

“As part of the competition, we had to give a three minute elevator speech talking about our business,” Dressler said.

She won her case before the judges; convincing them she had a winning plan to reach that million dollar mark.

As a winner, she received a prize package that included a year of intensive business coaching and mentorship; and, marketing and technical support to help her reach her million dollar goal.

Constantly evolving the business “The business is constantly evolving and becoming more complicated,” Dressler said.

Despite the national economic downturn, the company is growing – adding an online furniture store in June.

“We started preparing for the economic downturn in October, 2007,” Dressler said.

Tracking trends, she said the company developed strategies to remain competitive. Realizing that some consumers would delay making big-ticket purchases like new homes and furnishings, Dressler added smaller items, including candles, jewelry, regional art, skin care, rugs, wall hangings, silk flower arrangements and lighting.

“There’s also a newsletter on our Web site (www.505imports.com) with something for everyone at all price points,” she said.

Dressler said the business is doing well and moving forward in this global market.

“In January and February, we finished higher than last year,” she said.

“Hopefully, that will continue.”

For more information about 505 Imports, call (337) 480-6505, or visit online at www.505imports.com; or at 1776 Prien Lake Road, Suite G, in Lake Charles. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday – Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday. TJN

April Events at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital Community Blood Drive Approximately half of the nation’s blood supply is collected at blood drives. Memorial partners with United Blood Services to provide for its patients.

Lake Charles Memorial Hospital Oak Park Boulevard Mondays, April 13 and April 27 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Coping with Cancer For those newly diagnosed, undergoing treatment or who have completed treatment. For more information, call the Rev. David DeWitt at (337) 802-1933.

Pastoral Care Tuesday, April 21, 12 p.m.

Sisters Surviving Breast Cancer For those newly diagnosed, undergoing treatment or who have completed treatment. For more information, call (337) 433-5817.

Medical Office Building II Conference Room Tuesday, April 21, 6 p.m. TJN

329 Broad Street Phone: 337.433.8028 Fax: 337.421.1766 sylvias329@bellsouth.net

Brick Oven Pizza: Mon-Sat 11am-11pm Bistro: 11am-Until Live Entertainment Nightly APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 17

411

ANiMAL

FOCUS: We all make a difference.

By Cheryl Krull “You don’t happen to know anyone who might want a couple of dogs?

Somebody dumped two puppies and we can’t keep them.”

That question is asked all too frequently throughout Southwest Louisiana. More than 10,000 unwanted pets are destroyed each year in Calcasieu Parish’s animal control facilities. These statistics do not include abandoned animals dying from injury, illness or abuse.

Anyone involved with animals – veterinarians to humble poop-scoopers – have “pet issues” they are passionate about. Even though these interests may seem rather diverse, all are essential for making this a better

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APRIL 9, 2009

world for our companion animals.

In Southwest Louisiana, there are many individuals, groups and organizations dedicated to providing temporary foster homes, operating rescue and adoption programs, developing low- cost spay/neuter and vaccination opportunities as well providing guidance and education to prospective pet owners.

Programs such as Therapy Dogs, A New Leash on Life and the Therapeutic Riding Center create unique opportunities for animals to have a positive impact in our society, in addition to the animal’s welfare.

Although Southwest Louisiana has a severe problem of homeless animals,

there is no lack of caring people. Such people represent a tremendous resource that, if united in a common purpose, can help alleviate needless suffering and reduce over-population.

With this column, I hope to provide individuals, groups and organizations that are involved with the care and humane treatment of animals a common platform for promoting awareness, education and action. By continuing to do what each of us does best – from being responsible pet owners to organizing spay/neuter campaigns – we offer our own unique resources that help unite people in the effort to serve our animal population.

As one who has served from poop-

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scooper to adoptive parent (at last count Bill and I have 11 dogs and six cats!) my hat is off to all of those involved in animal welfare, especially those on the front-line rescue operations. A special salute to you.

Please send your comments, photos or questions to: ckrull@animal411.us.

Also check out my blog at: www.animal411.us.

Cheryl Krull is Spinnaker Communications' president and chief executive officer, managing business operations and marketing. A Lake Charles native, she has worked at PPG

for more than 20 years as a licensed tankerman and has extensive industry experience. She is very active in the community, volunteering at several non-profit and non-government organizations, her favorite being Dr. Joe Stark’s Lake Area Animal Hospital. In addition to her love of animals, she is an avid long distance bicyclist and a Stephen Minister (in training through University United Methodist Church.) Cheryl is also a would be “geek” and is studying XHTML, CSS and Web design. Please visit www.spinncomm.com and also her new work in progress www.animal411.us. TJN

Annual Rabies Clinic Set for Sat., April 25 A series of rabies clinics will be held throughout the parish on April 25 from 1- 4 pm. Rabies vaccinations will be given at the reduced price of $10, and includes the Calcasieu Parish License certificate and tag. The clinics are sponsored and supported

by The Calcasieu-Lake Charles Health Unit Millage Tax, Calcasieu Parish Veterinary Medical Association, and the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Department of Animal Services and Adoption Center. The clinics will be held at the following locations:

• R.D. Molo Middle - Corner of Medora and Simmons St.

Lake Charles

• Bell City High School, Carlyss Fire Station, Iowa High School, Moss Bluff Elementary, Starks High School, Gillis Elementary, Venissat Park – Vinton, Westwood Elementary – Westlake, DeQuincy Law Enforcement Center

• J.D. Clifton Elementary – N. Prater St. off Opelousas St. • College Oak Elementary – Corner of Ernest and W. School St. • Oak Park Middle – Corner of Oak Park Blvd. and 5th Ave. • Fairview Elementary – Hwy. 14 next to Lake Charles Toyota

• St. John Elementary – Elliott Rd. off Country Club Rd. Sulphur • Old Sulphur City Hall – N. Huntington St. • Frasch Elementary – S. Huntington St. Parishwide

Remember, all dogs and cats three months of age and older must be vaccinated, and dogs must wear their tags at all times, as required by city and parish ordinances. TJN

LAPAW RESCUE Presents Paws in the Park LAPAW Rescue is celebrating its 5th anniversary! Bring your fourlegged best friend(s) to Paws in the Park at Sam Houston Jones State Park on Sat., April 26 for a Dog Walk and Fun Day! There will be a blessing of the pets, grooming tips, low-cost microchipping, and lots of fun activities for pets and their persons! The event runs from 2- 6 p.m. Pre-registration is $10; on-site, $15.

Volume 1 • Issue 1

To pre-register, send $10 by April 22 to: LAPAW RESCUE, PO Box 4964 Lake Charles, LA 70606 Please include your name and the name of your pets. Your registration fee is fully tax deductible. TJN

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 19

Before Thermage

2 Months Post Treatment

Before Treatment

After 4 Treatments

Safe non-invasive treatments that help smooth, tighten and contour face, eyes and body for an overall naturally younger looking appearance with NO surgery, injections and little or no downtime.. All procedures are FDA approved and are for both women and men.

Thermage is a deep-heating technology that uses radio frequency to heat the skin. The heat tightens collagen fibers that have become loose & stretched out with age. The heat also stimulates new collagen growth to make your skin feel thicker and smoother over time. Thermage is a single treatment with long lasting results.

Thermage/Fraxel Informative Seminar Friday, May 15, 2009 at 2 pm LASER TECHNICIANS Vicki Vezina • Mona Duhon • Irma Robin

PAGE 20

APRIL 9, 2009

Volume 1 • Issue 1

and on what you are spending it on, you will realize how much money can be saved by cutting back on unnecessary items.

Budgeting may sound like a “four letter word” to some, but it is necessary for thoes that continue to spend more than they make. By creating a budget and sticking to it you will find that after a few months it’s not so bad after all and you will soon enjoy having extra cash at the end of each month. If you are having trouble controlling your credit card purchases, quit using them and take out your spending budget in cash each month.

This way you know exactly how much you have to spend, and once it is gone you can’t buy anything else until next month.

Financial

Forum With Chase Wilson

Four Financial Tips to Help Young Adults in Today’s Tough Economy In today’s tough economy it is important that young adults start out on the right foot when it comes to their finances. Unfortunately, personal finance has never been a required subject in high school or college, which helps to explain why so many individuals live in homes they can’t afford with credit card debt they can’t pay off. The good news is that understanding personal finance is not that complex. All it takes to get started down the right path is a willingness to learn and the understanding of a few simple tips.

1. Cash is Key. It is hard to watch the news these days without hearing about company layoffs and cutbacks. So, it is important that individuals have enough cash saved up to get by if they were to lose their income. At a minimum you should have enough savings to cover your expenses for at least six months.

That way you have a cushion to fall on while you start your job search.

Having cash also gives you a tremendous amount of buying power.

As others are unloading their treasures

to pay bills, those who have made good financial decisions and have cash are finding great deals. Cars, boats, timeshares, and even houses have all sold for as little as a few hundred dollars recently (yes, even houses).

You also need to be smart about were you are keeping your cash.

Don’t just stick it under your mattress; look for high interest savings accounts or money market accounts.

Trust me; there are a lot of great options out there, you just have to look. Jeff Davis Bank is currently offering “Reward Checking” that can earn an incredibly high 4.33 percent as long as you meet a few qualifications. It sure beats the 0 percent return your mattress is offering.

2. Keep your spending under control and know where your money is going.

The bottom line is that if you can not afford it, you should not buy it. If you are not paying attention to how much you spend, then you probably don’t even know if you can afford to make another purchase. By taking a hard look at how much you are spending

3. Know what opportunities are out there to save and make you money.

Whether it’s from the local news or a little online research, information is always being presented that can lead to extra money in your pocket.

Pay attention and take advantage of those situations that apply to you.

Just recently the “First-Time Homebuyer Credit” was announced.

Here’s who qualifies: • Those that did not own a home at anytime in the three years prior to closing on their home and purchase(d) a home between April 9, 2008 and November 30, 2009.

• The credit is for 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a total credit of $8,000. Meaning if you bought a home for $80,000 or more and fall within the income limits you would receive the full $8,000.

• You will only get partial credit if you are an individual with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of $75,000 to $95,000 and couples with MAGI of $150,000 to $170,000.

Those individuals making less than a MAGI of $75,000 and couples making less than a MAGI of $150,000 will get full credit.

If you meet these criteria you will be able to apply the credit to your 2008 or 2009 tax bill and if the credit is more than what you owe you will receive the money in the form of a tax refund.

4. Start saving for you future, TODAY. I know what your thinking, “why would I want to put anymore money into retirement when my 401K just dropped 50 percent”. If you are in your 20s or 30s you have plenty of time for your money to grow and

you can invest at prices that are unheard of. The sooner you start investing in your retirement the longer time compound interest has to work for you. If you wait to invest it will require you to invest more money than it would have if you would have invested sooner, to meet your retirement goals.

There are a number of other advantages to investing in your future today. There are company-sponsored retirement plans out there that allow you to put in pre-tax dollars. Many companies also offer a matching program where they will add money to your retirement account based on how much you put in. If your company offers a matching program, you should be putting in the maximum amount that they will match. This is free money that you do not want to miss out on.

Remember what is really important in life– Although it may not be a personal finance tip, I feel that it is important for people to think about what is really important in times like this. Buying what you want makes you feel good and having nice new things to show your friends can give you a rush. But in uncertain times, trying to hold on to what is no longer or has never been sustainable will only create friction and stress in your life.

The friction and stress toppled with the uncertainty of the economy can suddenly leave you living in fear, depression, and full of anxiety.

Now is the time to set new priorities and focus on what really matters to you. Is it more important to purchase your child the latest toy or spend quality time playing with them? Is it better to spend time with your significant other and share with them how much they mean to you, or to fight about the things you can not change?

It’s time to be grateful for the simple daily pleasures we have in life. If someone gives you a compliment or holds the door open for you, thank them. If you have the opportunity to help someone out in some small way, lend a hand.

It is random acts of kindness like these that put smiles on people’s faces and makes them feel better in tough times. It will also make you feel better knowing that you have helped someone out or brightened their day.

Chase W. Wilson is a financial analyst at ConocoPhillips.

TJN

Chase Wilson Volume 1 • Issue 1

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 21

A Greener

W

RLD

Embracing Fresh Foods: The Experience of Organic Gardening

By Pam Mattingly 2 Creek Farm and Garden Our adventure began when my husband and I were rocking on the back porch one sunny afternoon just gazing at our big piece of land and thinking… what are we going to do with all this acreage? We both share a love of plants, and the idea of organic gardening became our new passion and goal.

At that point, our gardening experiences were very limited, but the thought of being able to have fresh grown food for us and the community certainly struck a chord. Why organic?

We were already experiencing the “bonding with nature” aspect since we had just recently moved to the country and enjoyed watching our vegetables and flowers flourish without any chemicals. And we decided that organic was natural and the only way we wanted to approach the gardening adventure.

“Organically grown” has been a buzzword for the past few years, but I have come to realize that it means different things to different people.

Organic gardening is simply growing plants (vegetable, fruits, and flowers) chemical-free and being environmentally friendly.

We want people to reap the benefits of what we have experienced in the past year as we began our exciting and rewarding adventure of organic gar-

dening. Note, I stated that we began last year…so are we experts? Not by a long shot, but that is what makes it so fascinating. The “organic” concept is by no means NEW, but how you interject this into your lives and community can and will change your lifestyle.

Another word that has become popular is “sustainability.” Organic gardening is the ultimate key in sustainability. You either rely on yourself or a local farmer to provide the tomatoes and cucumbers that you enjoy eating in your salad, or the cantaloupe that you sink your teeth into on a hot summer day in Southwest Louisiana. Did you know that the average distance food travels from the farm to your plate is 1,500 miles? Wouldn’t you rather cut into a fresh zucchini and know that it was grown locally and pesticide-free before it touched your lips?

The locally grown food movement is becoming more popular because the quality of life that families are looking

for embraces fresh foods —not vegetables and fruits available to us at the grocery store that have been picked prior to its ripening and heavily sprayed with chemicals.

Our mission is to provide fresh food and educate our community about the health and financial benefits of organic living. We were excited about our first educational opportunity to the public at the recently held Garden Festival at Burton Coliseum.

Our booth at the festival included informational brochures, organic gardening books, magazines and a compost bin. The public response was phenomenal, positive, and overwhelming.

Thousands participated in the festival and we spoke to so many people.

They had stories about their gardens, questions about composting and where to buy organically grown foods, ideas on how to control bugs, and so on. The exchange of information was overwhelming.

Approximately 99 percent of those

241 W. Sallier St. Lake Charles, LA (337) 433-6363 PAGE 22

APRIL 9, 2009

Volume 1 • Issue 1

who completed our survey were interested in organic gardening. I believe that organic gardening is going to become more popular once people have been exposed to it, due to the challenging economical times that we face.

My husband Kevin recently attended the 18th Annual Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms Conference held in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is sponsored by the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SAWG).

At this conference, which included participants from 13 southern states, he learned that there is a movement to bring back small farms and have a local food supply.

The sources for getting organic foods are through local farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Most people have heard of local farmers’ markets, and we have one here in Lake Charles. However, CSA was a new term to me. It is where a farmer makes a contract with members who pay the farmer in advance in exchange

for a box of fresh produce delivered to them every week. The produce includes a variety of vegetables and fruits which allows the consumer the opportunity to try different produce.

This is a way for city dwellers to be connected to a farm.

Our adventure is being played out on acres of land, but you can do organic gardening in your own backyard. Visit OrganicGardening.com to get started. Be on the lookout for more organic gardening information coming to you from 2 Creek Farm and Garden. TJN

Accounting & Auditing • Business Consulting • Estate Planning Tax Planning & Preparation • Business Valuations

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(337) 494-1240 FAX (337) 494-1040

Congratulations Phil & Lauren and the entire Jambalaya News Staff!

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We provide a full range of landscape services. We also design pools for clients which usually include landscaping and Belgard concrete paver decking.

Expanding on the concrete pavers, we also specialize in paver walks, patios, driveways and raised retainer walls.

So, turn over a new leaf and let us make your yard a work of art.

Call us at 337.794.1531 for an appointment.

Volume 1 • Issue 1

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 23

What’s Cookin’ The Story of Fatboyz Inc (FBI)

By Richard J. Cole, Jr. I started cooking for the masses during my time working at the Boy Scout Camp during the summer of 1984, at Camp Edgewood. I was the business director and we had to let the cooks go after four days of summer camp. It was the morning of family night and approximately 750 people would eat that night. Dean Day and I started cooking brisket, baked bean and potato salad. My grandmother joined us at camp on Sunday to begin cooking for 200 scouts for the next three weeks, and the rest was history.

In the late 90s, Ricky Atchison, Leo Reddoch, Keith Jagneaux, Jody Cole, and I teamed up to form Fatboyz Inc (FBI) to help cook for auctions. Over the years, we have had several other people help and cook with the FBI. Our goal was to help the non-profits of our community make more money for their organizations. Fatboyz Inc has cooked for the Rotary Clubs, Boy Scouts, Ducks Unlimited, NRA, National Wildlife Turkey Federation, and Boys & Girls Village, just to name a few. We have also cooked for several congressmen, senators, governors, and even two presidents. We have participated in several competitions and have won numerous championships.

We enjoy cooking jambalaya, gumbo, etouffée, pork loins, steak, rice dressing and of course lobster. We have cooked in most states and a few foreign nations. I guess the highlight of our career was when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in 2005; we cooked for all of the victims at the Lake Charles Civic Center. The Fatboyz Inc served over one million meals with the help of the Southwest Louisiana Community. We even had the opportunity to cook at the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Quantico, Virginia, for the last two years.

Hope you enjoy our jambalaya. It’s quite a crowd-pleaser! TJN

Jambalaya For 25 3 lbs.

2 lbs.

3 lbs.

2 lbs.

1 lbs.

1 lbs.

2 cans 1 lg 1 can 4 lbs.

1 head 1 bundle 1 bundle

pork / Boston butt boneless chicken thighs sausage diced onions diced bell pepper diced celery rotel kitchen bouquet cream of mushroom soup rice chopped garlic green onions parsley

In a black cast iron pot, cook down sausage and add pork/Boston butt and cook until all meat is brown. Then add chicken and cook down. Add onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, and rotel. Add water as needed so as not to stick to the pot. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Add kitchen bouquet and cream of mushroom soup and simmer. Add a gallon of water, bring to a boil and dump uncooked rice into boiling water. Boil rice for eight minutes, stirring occasionally so rice will not stick to pot, then turn off fire and cover. DO NOT LOOK IN THE POT FOR 20 MINUTES. Add parsley and simmer for five minutes. Right before serving, add green onions. Season to taste.

Richard J. Cole, Jr.

PAGE 24

APRIL 9, 2009

Volume 1 • Issue 1

By Lisa Yates

Very soon, local residents will batten down the hatches in preparation for the invasion of the infamous, yet ever popular, Jean Lafitte and his band of Buccaneers.

These scurvy dogs make landfall April 28, the first day of the 52nd Annual Contraband Days.

Leading the raid on the city as this year’s Jean Lafitte is Lloyd Lauw, owner of Lloyd Lauw Collision Repair Center in Sulphur.

“It’s an honor,” he said, noting his wife JoNell will serve as Madame Lafitte.

Lauw, a 55-year-old businessman originally from Natchitoches, moved to Lake Charles in 1977, and then joined Buccaneers, Inc. in 1982, to network with other business owners and serve the community.

“The people of this area have supported me, so I feel it’s important to give something back,” he said. “As a Buccaneer, I’m proud of the festival. Contraband Days has lasted for 52 years – not many things out there last that long. And, it’s something the people of Southwest Louisiana look forward to every year.”

In 1994, Lauw also joined Contraband, Inc., where he served on the board of directors as its past president.

Other members of this year’s board of directors include: Jeannette Willis, president; Perry Vincent, president-elect; Loyd Rion, treasurer; Charles Weeks; Richard Cole; Russ Grantham; Shelley Johnson; Huey Dugar; Jonathan Johnson; Dean Day and W. R. Dion. Annette Richey is the executive director, with Anita Ardoin as executive assistant. The advisors are Justin Toney, Angel Mefford, Irene Howse, Josh Rogers, Harvey Kuttner, Darrell Ardoin, Andy Ardoin, Matt Vezinot, Eddie Langley, Tom Mefford and Joey Alcede.

Keeping a Lake Charles Tradition Lauw said most people don’t realize that Contraband, Inc. and Buccaneers, Inc. are two separate organizations.

“Members of Contraband, Inc. were the originators of the festival,” he said.

“They started Buccaneers, Inc.” He said Contraband Days started in 1957, when a group of downtown Lake Charles business owners from the Chamber of Commerce decided to hold a festival to attract tourists. The group chose a pirate theme, based on the legend of Jean Lafitte, and formed Contraband, Inc. – the organization that organizes and manages the festival.

“We have one of the original members of Contraband, Inc. on our board of directors - Charlie Weeks,” Lauw said.

He said the first Contraband Days festival was held in June 1958, as a one-day event.

“It was mainly a ski show and a boat parade back then,” Lauw said. “Charlie was flying on a kite at the show.”

Lauw said Buccaneers, Inc. was formed a few years after that first festival. He said the two organizations are completely independent of each other; however, the president of the Buccaneers also serves as an advisor on the board of Contraband, Inc. “The Buccaneers were developed to add some color to the festival and promote the festival year-round,” he said.

Each year, the Buccaneers put on a show for festival goers. They dress in pirate regalia with their “Jean Lafitte” leading a raid to capture the City of Lake Charles.

As part of this re-enactment, Lafitte and his men sail into town and force the city’s mayor to walk the plank. Once the mayor is out of the way, Lafitte and his rowdy bunch of pirates take charge of the city. This signals the start of Contraband Days – two weeks of mayhem!

As part of the show, some of the Buccaneers dress in militia attire and fire real cannons at the pirate ships. The festival ends when the militia runs Lafitte and his men back to their ships, where they sail out of town - until next year.

2009 Jean Lafitte, Lloyd Lauw Volume 1 • Issue 1

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 25

Selecting a Lafitte Selecting a Jean Lafitte has become another important tradition.

After all, Lafitte is the face of Contraband Days.

“It’s the (Buccaneers, Inc.) president’s responsibility to chose who will be Jean Lafitte,” Lauw said.

This year’s president is Thomas Mefford, with Calcasieu Parish Sheriff ’s Department. He alone selected this year’s Jean Lafitte.

Mefford, serves as the president of the board of directors of Buccaneers, Inc., along with Eddie Langley, president-elect; Bruce Maerhofer, secretary; Dean Day, treasurer; Mike McHugh, membership chairman; Donnie Istre, social chairman; Fluffy Olmsted, landing chairman; Troy Kiser, publicity chairman; Don Brade, raid chairman; Keith Jagneaux, past president; and, Russ Grantham, past president.

There are no rules to follow in selecting a Lafitte, according to Mefford. He said he could choose anyone he wanted.

“Every president has his own criteria,” Mefford said. “Of course, you want to select someone who’s going to represent the Buccaneers well. I know Lloyd will do that. He’s worked

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APRIL 9, 2009

harder than anyone else I know to make the festival a success.”

Mefford touted Lauw’s service to the community, saying that was a factor in his choice.

“Lloyd’s involved in making the community a better place through his work in a number of organizations – I can’t even name all of them,” he said.

Mefford said his choice was made after seeing Lauw in action during Contraband Days.

“Not once, but a few times, I’ve seen him take off his Buccaneer hat and solve problems being the president of Contraband,” he said.

It was Lauw’s ability to “put out fires” that impressed Mefford. One example stood out in his mind.

“We were waiting for a parade to begin, when a member of Contraband and one of the pirates in the first float locked horns,” he said.

“The parade wasn’t rolling, so Lloyd pulled his pirate hat off and got between the two of them to solve the problem. That got the parade rolling on time.”

Lauw describes himself as a “hands-on manager.”

“I got a potato education one year,” he said, mentioning a dispute he had to settle.

In addition to his duties as president of Contraband, Inc., Lauw works at the festival doing whatever is needed, including hauling water and soft drinks to vendors.

“We’re a working board,” Lauw said. “We all get out there and work at the festival.”

Mefford is confident Lauw will make an excellent Lafitte. He thinks the new Lafitte deserves to have a little fun, too.

“As president (of Contraband Days, Inc.), Lloyd has had to put aside his pirate’s hat quite a bit. This year, he’ll get to put his pirate hat back on, have some fun and enjoy the festival a lot more,” he said.

Keeping Lafitte’s identity a secret It’s a Buccaneers, Inc. tradition to keep the identity of Lafitte a secret.

Even Buccaneer board members are not told right away.

“It becomes a guessing game,” Mefford said. “I’ve been giving hints in e-mails that I send to the Buccaneers. They try to guess the identity of Lafitte based on the clues I give.”

2008 Jean Lafitte, Russ Grantham

Volume 1 • Issue 1

He admits some of his clues are deliberately misleading in order to keep everyone guessing.

“It’s just part of the fun and it helps to build excitement,” Mefford said.

He said the unmasking of Jean Lafitte takes place during a board meeting in late March, just prior to promoting the upcoming festival.

Of course, the public doesn’t learn Lafitte’s identity until much later - usually the end of April.

Buccaneers, Inc. gave The Jambalaya News the honor and privilege of making the big announcement this year – just in time to kick off its premier issue, which showcases the people and culture of Southwest Louisiana.

Lauw becomes the 45th John Lafitte in Buccaneer history.

In the history of the Buccaneers, Lauw said only one man has been Lafitte twice - Bill Buchert.

“We also have one of the original Buccaneers – Willie Newlin,” he said.

“He’s a local businessman, who owns Albert K. Newlin Electrical. He was one of the first Buccaneers and he’s still a Buccaneer. Each year, a scholarship in his name is given to the winner of the Miss Contraband pageant.”

according to Mefford.

“Miss Contraband and the Buccaneers have always been linked,” he said. “She accompanies Jean Lafitte everywhere he goes and becomes like an adopted daughter.”

He said many of the pageant winners become close to the Buccaneers’ families – even asking them to be in their weddings, years later.

Managing the pageant

Acting as goodwill ambassadors

This year, Buccaneers, Inc. took over the management of the Miss Contraband Days Pageant. In previous years, it was under the domain of Contraband, Inc., according to Lauw.

“There was a girl on our board who was in charge of the pageant,” he said. “Last year, she resigned and we just didn’t have the manpower to do it. We thought we were going to have to do away with it, so offered it to the Buccaneers. They agreed to take it over for us.”

Mefford said Buccaneers, Inc. stepped up to keep the Miss Contraband Days tradition alive.

Besides being a tradition, he said the pageant enables girls to compete for approximately $1,500 in scholarship money. In addition to the Newlin scholarship, Contraband, Inc. and Buccaneers, Inc. both contribute $500 to the scholarship fund.

Mefford said the Buccaneers were fortunate to secure an experienced pageant director.

“We retained Jackie Bergeron, who did the Miss Mardi Gras Pageant,” he said. “She volunteered her services to help.”

It’s only fitting that the Buccaneers manage the pageant,

Miss Contraband Days, Jean Lafitte and the Buccaneers all have the same role – to promote Contraband Days. They act as goodwill ambassadors throughout the year.

“The main thing we do is go on raids,” Mefford said. “For example, the tourist bureau will call us to appear at events to welcome visitors and give out beads and trinkets.

Recently, we were at the teachers’ association conference held at L’Auberge du Lac.” Raids are scheduled through the Buccaneers’ raid chairman. Over the years, they have appeared at conventions, schools, nursing homes and even ribbon cuttings.

“We try to go to everything we can, within reason,” Mefford said.

For example, he said a group of Buccaneers attended every home game of the Lake Charles Ice Pirates, where they shot pistols and entertained the fans.

“We own five or six homemade cannons,” Mefford said. “The blue and gold one is at McNeese. At every home football game, we fire it when MSU scores a touchdown. One year, MSU scored so many touchdowns

Volume 1 • Issue 1

we were asked to stop firing the cannon because there was too much smoke on the field. The football players couldn’t see to play.”

The Buccaneers have several kidfriendly floats – one even looks like a pirate ship, according to Mefford.

“The Barbe High School football team has used one of our floats.

We’ve led raids there, too, but we don’t get a lot of requests from Sulphur High School - I guess they don’t want a bunch of Buccaneers there,” he joked.

He added the Buccaneers have raided elementary schools in Sulphur, as well as schools throughout Southwest Louisiana.

“The kids love it when we show up, but I’m not sure the teachers like having a rowdy group of pirates raid their classes,” Mefford said.

Sometimes, the Buccaneers will bring the pirate ship float to a school and allow the kids to come aboard.

Lauw said he enjoys getting the kids involved. He said several of the current Buccaneers got involved when they were young.

“We’re going on our second generation of Buccaneers,” he said.

Putting rumors to rest Putting rumors to rest, Lauw said the Contraband Days festival is not ending. He said the controversy centers around recent changes to the lakefront and other downtown development projects in the works.

“Randy (Roach) and the city council have done a good job planning,” Lauw said.

He insisted the changes along the lakefront will enhance future Contraband Days. He said plans calling for a new docking facility will

add room for more boats. Scheduled renovations to the amphitheatre will also add to the enjoyment of those attending concerts during Contraband Days.

“The plans may force us to consolidate a few things, but the festival will continue – the people of Southwest Louisiana expect it,” Lauw said. “Right now, there’s a one-mile stretch with the carnival at one end and the landing at the other.”

This set up will likely change, he explained, possibly moving the carnival from its present location to another. However, the usual configuration will be in place for the 2009 Contraband Days festival.

“Groundbreaking along the lakefront is scheduled for June, so we have clear sailing this year,” Lauw said.

The festival has endured a number of changes throughout the years.

Lauw said changes in recent years have helped to improve Contraband Days.

“In ’94, a fence was added to the festival grounds,” he said. “That did a lot to improve the festival and make it a lot safer place to bring the family.”

In the late 1980s and 1990s, Lauw said the festival was a bit of a “freefor-all.”

“It used to be called the white trash festival,” he said.

That reputation developed because some folks were coming in with ice chests full of alcohol, drinking all day and leaving their children unsupervised. As a result, a lot of fights broke out leaving many people feeling it was an unsafe event for families.

Wanting to create a better environment for families, organizers added the fence, banded ice chests and charged fees for admission and parking.

The fees pay for security. Officers from both the marshal’s office and the sheriff ’s office provide security 24 hours-a-day during Contraband Days.

Lauw said alcohol is available at the festival, but responsible behavior is encouraged. He said these added measures have helped Contraband Days grow into the family-friendly event it is today.

Becoming the second largest festival in Louisiana Lauw said festival organizers anticipate more than 100,000 people will attend Contraband Days, this year.

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 27

“It’s the second biggest festival in the state, next to the New Orleans Mardi Gras,” he said.

In addition, the festival has received national recognition.

“Contraband Days has been awarded the Top 20 Tourist Events in the Southeast United States,” Lauw said. “It’s received this award numerous times.”

He said tourism officials track the number of visitors to the area by monitoring hotel occupancy, during Contraband Days and year-round.

Lauw said he and the other Buccaneers enjoy working with local tourism officials to promote the region. He said tourism dollars help to strengthen the local economy.

He said it is not uncommon for the Buccaneers to travel out-of-state to promote Contraband Days.

“A group of Buccaneers, recently traveled to Kemah, Texas, to promote the festival,” Lauw said. “We dressed in full costume and rode in their boat parade.”

No tax dollars were spent on their trip. In fact, Buccaneers do not receive a salary, or a stipend. They pay for their own costumes, floats and throws out of their own pockets.

In addition, they pay $300 in annual

membership dues. That money pays for some of the parties and balls they host during the year.

“We do it, because we enjoy it,” Lauw said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

He said there are more than 100 members of the Buccaneers. Like in days past, most of these are local business owners wanting promote the area and economic development.

Putting the fun in Contraband Days As this year’s Jean Lafitte, Lauw said he wants to “put the fun in Contraband Days.”

He said he is excited about the festival, which kicks off April 28, on the grounds of the Lake Charles Civic Center.

“Percy Sledge is coming and Wayne Toups is back this year as another headliner,” Lauw said.

Festivities also include local and regional bands, food, arts and crafts, pirates, a parade, children’s activities, fireworks and more.

A favorite of Lauw’s is the big pyrotechnic display.

The company which produced last year’s 33-minute show – Bay

City Fireworks – is back and has agreed to let Lauw assist the operator. He’ll get to shoot off some of the fireworks at the beginning of the show.

That seems fitting-after all, Jean Lafitte was a master of blowing things up!

For the younger scallywags, there will be something new - live duck races.

“These aren’t those yellow plastic ducks, live ducks will race,” Lauw said.

Several duck races will take place during the festival, he said.

In keeping with the nautical theme, Bassmasters Classic will be holding its youth finals during Contraband Days events, he added. Lauw said sports fans will appreciate this ESPN event.

“There’s also Parrot Head Days the first Saturday (May 2),” he said.

He said the party crowd and “Margaritaville” fans will want to come out that night to hear bands playing Jimmy Buffet-style music.

“There’s something for everyone – lots of good family entertainment,” Lauw said.

He said more events can be found online at www.contrabanddays.com. A complete schedule will also be included in the next edition of The Jambalaya News.

Lauw said the festival is a Lake Charles tradition and a staple of Southwest Louisiana culture – it’s really something special.

“Contraband Days is a unique deal – there’s nothing else like it,” he said. TJN

as a child, who brought a little magic into your life?

Little Moments.

Big Magic.

4135 Common St. Lake Charles LA 70607 337-478-KIDS www.bbbs-swla.net PAGE 28

APRIL 9, 2009

Volume 1 • Issue 1

Contraband Days Queens’ Pageant Sponsored by the Buccaneers of Lake Charles

Sunday, April 19, 2009 Lake Charles Civic Center Contraband Room Admission: $5, Children 12 Years and Younger: $3 One parent admitted w/ contestant.

All other guests must purchase admission bracelet.

Ahoy, Mateys! Get Ready for Contraband Days

By Lauren de Albuquerque Spring is here, which means that soon, the skull and crossbones flag will be flying on the lakefront and the mayor will be walking the plank.

That’s right—it’s time for Contraband Days, and the 2009 festival promises to be jam-packed with excitement for pirates of all ages.

On Friday night, May 1, Jean Lafitte and his Buccaneers will land at the seawall behind the civic center— after skirmishing with the townsfolk!

From then on, the Jolly Roger rules, and the fun really begins. From live entertainment to arm wrestling to good food, there’s something for everyone.

If it’s music you’re after, get ready to party with Wayne Toups, who’ll bring his unique Cajun/Zydeco style to the stage on May 2, or Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. If you prefer, listen to the soulful stylings of R&B artist Percy Sledge, or put on your Hawaiian shirt and enjoy the Trop/Rock sounds of Jerry Diaz & Hanna’s Reef, John Reno & The Half-Fast Creekers and Jim Morris & Big Bamboo Band.

Have some scurvy little pirates who want to show off? Enter them in the Children’s Pirate Costume Contest.

Then take them on the midway to eat their fill of corn dogs, shrimp on a stick and barbeque, and make sure they’re ready to catch beads and doubloons thrown from the Buccaneer floats during their daily parades. Of course, the carnival’s in town, and there are lots of rides that will keep them happy! They’re going to love the pony rides and Great American Duck Race, where live ducks compete against one another.

The Tour Lafitte, which will benefit Special Olympics Louisiana, is schedVolume 1 • Issue 1

uled to ride this year on May 2. The five routes will have fully stocked breakpoints along the way. There will be a free gumbo lunch for all participants and their families, and some fun contests, including best biker tan, best legs and ugliest bike. Grand prize is a specialized road bike! Don’t miss the 33rd annual Lake Area Runner’s 5Mile Race, which begins at the Capital One Tower, or the Sailboat Regatta, which sets sail from the Lake Charles Yacht Club. The Lake Charles Power Squadron is sponsoring the annual “Show Me Your Dinghy” contest, so if you have a seaworthy vessel 15 feet or under, use your imagination and decorate it in the theme of your choice.

Prizes will be awarded, and free Tshirts will go to the first 25 captains that register and participate.

Think you can barbeque? Then register for the sixth annual Cajun Pirate Barbeque cook-off! There are lots of great prizes, so here’s your opportunity to shine. If you don’t want to cook, then just stop by and sample the contestants’ mouth-watering offerings.

The Contraband Days Arm Wrestling Championship has become the largest and most competitive arm sport event in the Gulf South. It’s hosted by, and all proceeds go to The Compassionate Friends of Southwest Louisiana, a self-help organization for families grieving the death of a child.

There are competitions in 17 weight classes, including one for women.

Don’t miss this fun event for a good cause.

In our next issue, The Jambalaya News will list all the events, along with the entire Contraband Days schedule.

So—get ready! TJN

Tiny Through Teen Division Registration: 8 a.m. Onstage Competition: 9 a.m.

5-6 Years Boys Master Jean Lafitte 5-6 Years Girls Tiny Miss Contraband Days 7-8 Years Girls Petite Miss Contraband Days 9-10 Years Girls Little Miss Contraband Days 11-12 Years Girls Deb Miss Contraband Days 13-14 Years Girls Teen Miss Contraband Days Junior and Miss Division Registration: 1 p.m. Interview: 1:30 p.m.

7 p.m.

15-17 Years Girls Junior Miss Contraband Days

18-24 Years Girls Formal Miss Contraband Days These divisions will compete in evening gown.

Entry Fees Master Jean Lafitte/ Tiny thru Teen Divisions: $50 Junior and Miss Divisions: $75 Deadline for Pageant Entries: Thursday, April 16, 2009 Entry form, fees, photogenic pictures (no larger than 5x7, black & white or color), checks and money orders made payable to: Buccaneers of Lake Charles. Photogenic pictures must be turned in before deadline!!

Mail to: Jackie Bergeron PO Box 19132 Lake Charles, LA 70616 Or drop off at Rhinestone Runway, Imperial Pageant Gallery, Broadway Royalty Boutique, Tux Plus, Joy’s Rag Doll, or Monograms Express.

For more info contact: Jackie Bergeron: (337) 660-7491 or jpbergeron78@yahoo.com TJN

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PAGE 29

Depression in Pregnancy and Motherhood

You Can Feel Better Just as every baby is unique, so is the experience of every child’s birth and his or her mother’s pregnancy.

While new and expectant mothers frequently receive numerous tips and often have high expectations, for many women, pregnancy and childbirth may not fit into the confines of popular assumptions.

Many people may be surprised to learn that it’s normal to feel both happy and sad about having a baby. It can feel exciting to look forward to your baby’s first smile, but you may also be worried about the challenges that come with having the responsibility of caring for a baby.

However, some women experience more intense, long-lasting, troublesome feelings and unfamiliar behaviors that will not fade or go away.

These feelings can become overwhelming and develop into depression.

“Depression can affect any pregnant woman or mother, including adoptive mothers, regardless of age, race, status or previous experiences,” says Bill Williams, MA, LPC, LMFT, the director of The Counseling Center. “Often a woman feels helpless or even guilty in the face of this depression.”

Here are two women’s stories: Jodie’s Baby Shower It’s the day of Jodie’s baby shower.

Her friends, aunts and cousins are all bustling around her mother’s house.

While she normally enjoys seeing everyone; right now, she doesn’t want to talk to anyone and dreads opening her gifts. Jodie just wants to leave.

Jodie’s mother and her friends said that she would have some strange experiences during pregnancy, but it’s been weeks and she just feels…so isolated, so alone. She is starting to worry if she is really cut out for motherhood. Lately, Jodie has been feeling like her emotions are spiraling inside her like a tornado—she’s sad, then angry and sometimes just numb.

It’s getting harder and harder for her to get up in the morning.

Michael’s First Birthday Party Meghan is struggling with getting the icing to spread evenly on her son’s birthday cake. She can’t remember the last time she was able to sleep through the night. She’s frustrated, because she feels she should be excited—today is Michael’s first birthday, after all, and she has always dreamed of these events. Even so, the prospect of getting him ready makes her whole body feel tense.

Meghan has been feeling so disconnected lately and she is nervous that maybe she isn’t a good mom. She never feels like she has enough “space,” but at the same time, she is extremely lonely. She feels guilty because she avoids conversations and spending time with her husband, Greg—and she doesn’t know why.

Sometimes just the sound of his voice makes her irritable.

Meghan has been trying so hard to be a good mom. She has spent so much time planning this party, proving to herself, proving to Michael… but she just can’t seem to shake this constant anxiety.

PAGE 30

APRIL 9, 2009

Depression Has Many Faces Depression can be debilitating; it can impair your daily activities and routine. It can also be confusing.

Many people equate depression as being synonymous with sadness; however, the condition can emerge as a variety of feelings and behaviors.

Williams explains that depression can include: • Sadness • Anxiety • Emptiness • Paranoia • Difficulty concentrating • Loss of interest in favorite activities • Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, or worthlessness • Irritability • Trouble sleeping • Low energy • Mood Swings It may seem strange to see feelings like anxiety linked with depression.

“Although, they may appear to be opposites, depression and anxiety often occur simultaneously,” says Williams. “The sadness, loneliness and hopeless of depression can make one afraid and anxious. Anxiety can be very consuming, which causes exhaustion that intensifies feelings that are normally associated with depression.”

If left untreated, not only can depression interfere with your day-today life, it can also make it difficult for some mothers to care for their child or children.

Help Is Available “The good news about depression is that it can be treated effectively and now it’s easy to get help,” says Williams.

Treatment and support are available here in Southwest Louisiana. If you or someone you know is experiencing depression, call The Counseling Center of Family & Youth today at (337) 436-9533 for help and information. The Counseling Center has a team of highly skilled professionals who can arrange confidential, no-charge, no-obligation visits to help pregnant women and mothers feel better and fully experience the joys of motherhood.

TJN

Volume 1 • Issue 1

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Doing Business the Google Way How does a cheap, quick vacation sound this summer?

Pretty good, huh? A little fun, plenty of relaxation - but where to go?

Pop on your computer for inspiration, and you’d probably pull up Google. Type in a few words for some destination ideas. Google “flights” and “hotels,” search museums, maybe get some tickets, Google your maps, make reservations, and there you are.

Vacation: Planned.

Notice that? “Google” is not just a noun anymore. We “Google” something when we’re looking for information. So how in the www did that happen? Better yet, how does it affect the way you do business? Find out by reading What Would Google Do by Jeff Jarvis.

The first thing you need to know – and you don’t even have to search for it online – is that if you give customers power, they will use it. That’s something you want to happen. If you give your customers the power to offer feedback, tell you what to improve and tell you what they don’t like about your product, you have valuable information you just got without paying a penny for a think tank or survey team. In this way, through honest communication, your worst customer becomes your best friend.

But rule number one won’t work without rule number two: Pay attention. Read your customer’s blogs, Web sites, and online comments about you.

Don’t ignore them, because they won’t just go away. In fact, start a dialogue with your customers.

Offer to fix every problem personally, then watch the negative comments turn golden.

Understand that “small is the new big,” that the masses are now niches, and that you’re Volume 1 • Issue 1

throwing your money away if you don’t go where your customers are.

Embrace “free” as the new way to do business (think airlines, and the money they’re making with a la carte pricing). Decide what business you’re really in, and become the best at it.

Give up control to gain your customer’s trust.

“Make mistakes well,” Jarvis says, and remember that life – and business - are just ongoing experiments.

Fail spectacularly and learn from it.

Encourage… no, demand innovation from your employees—then get out of the way.

Need to drag your business kicking and screaming into the 21st century? Reading What Would Google Do? is as good a place as any to start.

While this book is heavily steeped in geekspeak (which may be hard for some CEOs to catch at first), it’s filled with sound advice and real-life examples for working with and retaining

today’s computer- and internet-savvy customers (or Generation Google, as author Jeff Jarvis calls them).

In the last segment of his book, Jarvis gets brutally specific with industry-by-industry advice, which is not for the faint-hearted. If he’s right – and his track record is impressive – you might not like what you read.

Not as techie as you want to be?

Then read this book, read it again, and turn it over to your IT staff. Give your customers control, and they’ll all know exactly what to do.

What Would Google Do?

By Jeff Jarvis Copyright 2009, Collins $26.99 257 pages Terri Shlichenmeyer has been reading since she was 3 years old, and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books. TJN

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 31

R•U

By Eric Zartler

GAME?

Local Athletic Events Equals Big Bucks for SWLA Every year in April, and continuing through August, Calcasieu Parish plays host to a variety of athletic events. From baseball to soccer, softball to tennis, and basketball to bowling, there is good reason why Southwest Louisiana is known as “The Youth Sports Capital” of the state. You may find yourself at the Prien Lake Mall or perhaps your favorite local eatery on a spring or summer weekend and wonder: What in the world is going on? Where have

all of these people come from? What are they all doing here? The answer is simple: They are participating in various athletic tournaments in the area, and these are the same activities that were responsible for a $28 million economic impact to our area in 2008. You read correctly, $28 million through athletic tourism. No matter how you write it, it is an impressive number and one that seems to be holding strong thus far in 2009.

Despite the nation’s current eco-

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nomic situation, we have been fortuWard 3 Recreation in Lake Charles nate here in Calcasieu Parish to have plays host to three action-packed such wonderful venues to host these weekends of Governors Games. The athletic events, so much so that folks Governors Games sees nearly 10,000 from around the country want to guests in Southwest Louisiana per come and play here, in our backyard. weekend, all of which stay in our In 2008, the Lake Charles/Southwest local hotels, eat in our restaurants, Louisiana Convention & Visitors and shop in our local stores. The Bureau played a pivotal role in bringGovernors Games are followed by the ing 79 sporting events to our area, USSSA World Series. Twenty-one events that used over 30,000 hotel days of baseball and 21 days of outrooms, and brought in nearly 500,000 of-town teams and visitors equal big visitors to our corner of the state. tourism bucks for Southwest One of the largest events that is Louisiana. The USSSA World Series hosted here in Southwest Louisiana is keeps the local hotels, campgrounds the (LHSAA) Louisiana High School and restaurants busy throughout the Athletic Association’s State High month of July.

School Softball Championships, betAthletic tourism has definitely ter known around the state as Fast made its mark on our economy here Pitch 56. In May of 2008, Sulphur in Southwest Louisiana, and in the Parks and Recreation was awarded current nationwide recession, it is one the 2009 and 2010 tournaments, and staple that seems to be holding strong this will mark the 9th and 10th years for our area. Early numbers in 2009 that Sulphur will play host to this show that this year, things are looking prestigious event. great, and we could exceed the stagFrasch Park will once again be gering $28 million in athletic tourism packed with softball fanatics from all dollars that was brought to Calcasieu over the state and college scouts from Parish in 2008 from these events. So, all over the country in an event that this spring and summer, when you brings in over 20,000 visitors in a pull into the mall and have to walk a two-day period, filling every hotel few extra steps because “all of the room in Calcasieu Parish, as well as good spots are taken,” or when you our local restaurants and shopping have to wait a little bit longer in the venues. The LHSAA seems more than checkout line or for a table at your pleased with the job our local comfavorite local restaurant, keep in mind munity and hard-working folks over what these visitors bring to our area. at Sulphur Parks and Recreation have done to make this event such a sucEric Zartler is the Athletic Sales cess over the past eight Manager at the Lake years. Southwest Louisiana Charles/ Southwest has, and should continue Louisiana Convention and to welcome this event with Visitors Bureau. He can be open arms. contacted at ezartler@visitA series of other events lakecharles.org. TJN that have played a pivotal role in the local area are the many USSSA Baseball Tournaments played in Sulphur and Lake Charles throughout the summer.

Eric Zartler Volume 1 • Issue 1

Coach Micheal Warren works with the defensive lineman

New Faces-Same Vision As they tied their laces before heading out of the locker room, the look said it all. “I’m ready. Let’s get this thing going,” said returning wide receiver Henry Hunter as the Swashbuckler hit the field at Washington Marion High School for the start of training camp 2009.

Hunter was just one of a mixture of returners and new faces who begin the vision as champions of the Southern Indoor Football League in its inaugural season.

The Bucs will get a look at 30 players before head coach Darnell Lee trims the roster to 23 prior to the April 25 opener with the Florida Kings. “I’m excited for this training

camp. There will be some very interesting battles for positions in the next few days. Especially for the running back spots,” said Lee, dressed in familiar coaching attire and a whistle around his neck. Over five players, including Iowa standouts Germanie Thomas and Lepeacous Celestine, and former McNeese State fullback Jordy Johnson will vie for the position. Florida native Devin Wispress is also expected to report to camp soon.

Louisiana signed running back Tim Blackwell on Wednesday.

Blackwell is a 6’, 205-pound speedster out of Southern Miss. He is very familiar with the Swashbucklers, after spending most the season last year

with the Corpus Christi Hammerheads. The Bucs beat the Hammerheads twice last year, including the championship game of the Intense Football League. Also familiar with the Swashbucklers success is former Frisco Thunder linebacker Courtney Brooks. Brooks at 6’3”, 240 pounds is attempting to earn the roster spot vacated by Travis Moses.

The Swashbucklers also signed offensive lineman Jeff Ridgle on Wednesday. Ridgle is 6’7”, 300 pounds out of Arkansas Pine Bluff.

Former McNeese State University defensive backs Ivan Stevenson and Brian Harvey have been invited to camp, and will battle for that job with

Photos by Memories by Mace Photography

another former Cowboy Jonathan Walker who previously signed with the team.

“I missed these guys,” said Hunter, who joins 14 other Bucs returners trying to earn a spot on this year’s squad.

The team will practice 7-9 p.m., Tues.-Thurs. at the WashingtonMarion complex until the field is set at the Lake Charles Civic Center in the middle of April.

For information on Swashbucklers indoor football, call the team office Mon. – Fri. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 310PASS (7277) or visit our Web site at www.labucs.com. Scaramouche!

TJN

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Volume 1 • Issue 1

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 33

U A B A F N OLY

CONTRABAND DAYS 2009 WORD SEARCH C E U T A E O D R T E G S

I C

O Y R G O C W N T C T L H O C N T H T O R A A N J O L L G A E T R A E T R B D E C T A E L R E E O N E T A A A U C J Y T R E G T Y K D R P N T O O H B O H O H O Y R T E L L H T A O P

I R A T E A N G A A O F L T

G H Y A O

I E O L F S A R O R

R K L R N E B C E G B L H C

I S U O S E

I K H G T G O R G N

Ahoy

Doubloon

Pirate

E B O T E A C G A T H C N E W

Blackbeard

Grog

Rum

K O J R D N A O E E S R R R L

Buccaneer

Jean Lafitte

Treasure

Captain Hook

Jolly Roger

Wench

Contraband

Parrot

Yo Ho Ho

Cutlass

Peg Leg

K E D O U B L O O N O R R G E

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Players take turns connecting two dots.

When a player completes a box, they write their initial in the box. When all dots are connected, the player with the most boxes wins.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Dot Game

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

N D H O R M B U C C A N E E R

PAGE 34

APRIL 9, 2009

Volume 1 • Issue 1

Africa. Alex ends up in New York City, where he and his three friends from the zoo find their way to Madagascar. This is where Madagascar 1 happens.

Then this movie really begins with the flight of the penguins and their passengers. Where are they taking our four friends? Back home to New York.

Who says penguins can’t fly? Hint: they all crash land in Africa.

Lately, animated movies have found a home with families who like fast paced slapstick and sumptuous artwork, along with larger themes of family, friendship and even romance.

Madagascar 2 continues this trend. It’s light on crudity and long on humor and beautir m de eu s n u e ful animation. l l an E ildren's M D The adventures of Alex and friends in y B e Ch Africa include a romantic triangle (hippo-giraffeh t f o ctor hippo), an African Rite of Passage ceremony and e r i D rediscovering family roots. Along the way, the penguins hijack visiting New Yorkers in safari jeeps to get repair parts for their crash-landed plane.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa – There is a sacrifice in a volcano, an evil villain, Dreamworks.2008. DVD Release (Animated) and just enough song and dance to remind you that it’s a movie. I’m also told there are some Quick! Did you see Madagascar 1? Neither did I. choice parts that viewers of the first Doesn’t matter.

Madagascar movie will appreciate, as well I saw the trailer to Madagascar 2 in the movies. as backhanded references to the Lion Four animal pals, Alex (a lion), Melman (a giraffe), King. Did I mention that Ben Stiller plays Marty (a zebra) and Gloria (a hippopotamus), are on the voice of the lion and Sacha Baron a dilapidated plane being piloted by four penguins Cohen (Borat) plays a lemur? You’ll that reminded me of the Marx Brothers. The trailer also hear the voices of Chris Rock, was so good, that when Quantum of Solace was sold Alec Baldwin, David Schwimmer, and out at the Red Box, we got Madagascar 2 instead.

Jada Pinkett Smith, among others.

The actual movie starts with a flashback: the Alex Parents will be pleased to know that the lion is separated as a cub from his family in this an excellent family movie, which means they

can enjoy it with their kids. I happened to see it with my wife, grown son and new daughter-in-law. They all loved it. However, parents of toddlers beware: There are some extended fight scenes between the lion and an old lady from New York. Take heart, the lion doesn’t get hurt too badly.

The movie is rated PG for a very occasional crude remark. Butt don’t let that stop you and your school aged kids from enjoying a darn funny movie.

I can’t wait to see Madagascar 1 !

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BOOGALOO 2009 SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2009 • 8PM 5pm m to a 0 1 -Sat: Mon

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PAGE 36

APRIL 9, 2009

Volume 1 • Issue 1

George, Rick and Mary Condit and Gayle Smith await the Banners program introducing Asra Nomani.

Isabel Perinka and sister Sheila MacKay, shown here at “Paradox of Women in Islam” lecture, always enjoy attending Banners events.

Pat and David Boudreaux enjoying some hot and spicy India/Pakistani food at the Asra Nomani lecture.

A trio of smiles for Society Spice at “The Paradox of Women in Islam” lecture: Marilyn Dunn, Amy Hollenbeck and May Gray.

McNeese students Kim Nguyen, Danielle Morrison and Chris Latimer. attended the Banners Series lecture by Asra Nomani.

Alexis Gentry and Jill Tate braved the elements to come out to the Celtic Nations Heritage Festival.

Seeking some Society Spice, the Spice Girl visited the Banners Series lecture presentation of “The Paradox of Women in Islam.” Brenda Bachrack brought to the stage the means for a time travel back to the days of Romper Room and the Magic Mirror when she produced a likeness of the Magic Mirror and began the Romper Room chant. Romper, bomper, stomper, boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me do…. Introducing Asra Nomani, author of Standing Alone: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam, to the maximum capacity crowd, Bachrack referred to a growing-up time that Nomani and many in the audience could relate to.

Terry and Patrick Reynolds check out the Celtic statuary at the Celtic Nations Heritage Festival.

Volume 1 • Issue 1

Martin Shamlian, Dawn Harrington and Lisa Keller of Harrington Gallery display art, jewelry, stones, and more at the Celtic Festival.

Nomani’s journey began in Romper Room while growing up in New Jersey. Other icons such as Casey Kasem and the Dairy Queen contributed to the Americanization of the family, but Nomani couldn’t escape that inner part that is Muslim. With Nancy Drew, she learned and grew her passion for writing. Thusly, her stories began. Her writing history is notable with many journalistic contributions to a number of high profile publications to her credit as well.

Assuming an extremely non-traditional role in life her quest for equality and answers has not been an easy journey but she continues to seek the equality and the answers. Thanks to

Standing at the Celtic Nations Heritage Festival crossroads are Grant Bush and Kevin Comboy.

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 37

Celtic styles vary as shown by Charles Benoit with Brian Shajari and Jim McLaughlin of the Lone Star Pipe Band at the Celtic Festival.

Geoff and Debbie Russell, plant aficionados, attend the pre-party of the SWLA Garden Festival.

Bright smiles on a sunny day at the Celtic Nations Festival from Beryl LeJeune, Teena Cole and Betsy Baker.

Prien Pines Nursery employees Steven Abrahams, Mary Louviere and Vivian Norris at the SWLA Garden Festival pre-party.

many hands preparing some wonderful India/Pakistani food which was a bit strange to the American palette and in some cases a bit spicy, but nonetheless a treat!

The festival-goers at the Celtic Nations Heritage Festival found the need to seek out shelter from the chilling winds coming off the water at the Lake Charles Civic Center. But the chill did not deter those who wanted to hear, see, taste and buy all things associated with the culture of the Irish. The bagpipes were piping when the Spice Girl and Assistant Spice Jessie Kelly arrived at the Festival grounds. The tents were stationed along the winding sidewalks and

grassy knolls creating a festive look that drew you in to the festival excitement. Dancers, bagpipers, whistlers, rowers and more provided a weekend of fun and activity for the entire family. There were a variety of stages set up for entertainers such as Irish Balladeers Danny O’Flaherty, Jim Flanagan and Jimmy Crowley and other entertainers such as Drowsy Maggie, Constant Billy and the Lone Star Pipe Band. Celtic food and beverages were on hand, such as shepherd’s pie, Irish stew and haggis, some pretty good stout beer and whiskey tasting.

The Spice Girl sampled haggis and apparently sampled the beer too, not too bad, I say. The Irish rowers put on

Master Gardener wanna-be’s Julie and Molly Ortego with Mother/Grandmother Master Gardener Peggy Boudreaux enjoy gumbo at the Garden Festival pre-party.

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APRIL 9, 2009

quite a show as the currach races got underway. There were several competitions including a team from Ireland and the local John Jacob Ryan Rowing Club. Lots of hard work is required for events such as this and one can quickly pick out the workers. And I am sure that Tod Ardoin was working when I spotted him riding around in a golf cart, ya think?

Someone in the midst of the wild azaleas stirred up a mean pot of gumbo at the 10th Anniversary Southwest Louisiana Garden Festival 2009 pre-party; thanks go to Jan Craven and Carol Cox for extending a special invitation to the Spice Girl to this exclusive event. Now, being the

Spice Girl that I am, it was a real effort to put work before pleasure and postpone my trip through the food line to get my fair share of the gumbo.

But I held to task and managed to talk to and photograph quite a few MG’s (that would be Master Gardeners to the unseasoned garden festival-goer).

The huge array of plants, flowers, trees, bushes, garden accessories, statuary and all things associated with master gardening were a treat to the senses as the Spice Girl strolled through the booths with plants in shades of green, every color of the rainbow, woody and leafy (are these MG terms?), short and tall and fragrances from many different direc-

SWLA Master Gardeners Calcasieu Parish: Gloria Byars, Lisa Reed, Dolores Ward, Myna Boggan, J.J Window, Sonja Harris, Carolyn Thibodeaux and Peggy Boudreaux show their stuff at the SWLA Garden Festival.

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Timmy Bass, MG and sister Dolly Stratton chose plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds at the SWLA Garden Festival.

Master Gardeners Betsy Doucet and Carolyn McCauley welcome all to the SWLA Garden Festival pre-party.

April, Luca and Dr. Giovanni Santostasi at the NASA Space Exploration exhibit.

Chad, Dylan and Heather Lambert get ready to go on a scavenger hunt at the NASA ART exhibit.

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tions. I never considered myself to be any kind of a great gardener, but man, the quality exhibited at the Garden Festival makes everything I have look like wild things.

Greg LeBlanc of Black Bayou Bonsai had some gorgeous bonsai— unlike any I had seen before, including loblolly pine, juniper, vibernium, confederate jasmine and more. I noticed folks from the DeQuincy Garden Club, and ran into Rhonda Babin, Stanley Crist, Master Gardener from Minneapolis with his daughter Mary Richardson, Sue Burke and lots of folks that I did not know.

The SWLA Master Gardeners really know how to get down and dirty—great festival!

It’s free, it’s fun and it’s fabulous—and soon it will be finished. That’s the NASA ART 50 Years of Exploration now on exhibit through April 11. You will want to hurry, and I mean hurry, on down and see what all the talk is about. The depiction of NASA history by a variety of artists in a variety of mediums creates an exhibit that will astound, enlighten and amaze you. At the opening reception, the staff at 1911 Historic City Hall outdid themselves with the refreshments, providing Meateors in Lava Sauce, Stuffed Mushroom Cap’sules, Crab Nebula Dip, Crispy Craters, Blue Moon Cheese with Eclipse Crackers, Moon Pies, Milky Ways and more!

On another exhibit day, Sandra Leder told us so much about the history of space exploration that it just boggled my mind. Time has a way of dimming the memories of events that happened so long ago, and listening to Leder

APRIL 9, 2009

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Family fun for Angelle, Lacey and Barbara Somers at the NASA Space exhibit.

Shown with a very colorful piece of art at the NASA ART exhibit are Jim and Jeanne Whittington.

brought back the vividness of some of the most astounding and historic space exploration history. Leder explained that her interest in flying began at an early age with her first plane ride at the age of five, and continues to this day. She started the aerospace education day camps in 1989, which are now taught in conjunction with a graduate science methods class at McNeese.

On another exhibit day, Giovanni Santostasi, Assistant Professor of Physics at McNeese, discussed the NASA-funded University Project known as “Crawl, Walk, Run, and Fly.” This program provides the strategy from high school to grad school to

begin learning the basics for space exploration. The goal of the class was to build, launch and operate space hardware with increasing degrees of flexibility and expertise. One such experiment, named McNeese Radiation Experiment (MRE) during Rita (and aptly named!) was built to measure the temperature inside and outside of the box (payload). Actual payloads were available for the audience to examine. A space nut or no, the awesomeness of the space program washes over you once again when seeing the history replayed, so hurry on down—you won’t want to miss this. TJN

Molly Morgan and Margaret Higgins check out the art at the NASA Space Exploration exhibit.

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JAM

free to McNeese students. They can be purchased in advance online at www.banners.org (click on Zuill Bailey) or at the Lake Charles Civic Center Box Office and will be sold at the door the evening of the concert.

ARTISANS’ GALLERY, APRIL 3- MAY 2 Historic City Hall will be hosting works by the Artisans’ Gallery on the first floor. The gallery is open Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (337) 491-9147.

SPRING WATERCOLOR SHOW AT MCNEESE, APRIL 3-MAY 21 Nancy Melton and friends will present a show at the Abercrombie Gallery at McNeese. Featured artists include Edith Pavy Beam, Betty Tilleux Breaux, Terri Crochet, Maggie Ellis Cromwell, and more. The gallery is free and open Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Call (337) 475-5060 for more information.

VARIATIONS ON A THEME, BLACK HERITAGE GALLERY, NOW- MAY 29 The Black Heritage Gallery presents of “Variations on a Theme,” showcasing the works of Malaika Favorite and other African-American artists with Louisiana connections. The gallery is free and open to the public. See www.bhflc.org for more information.

LOUISIANA RAILROAD DAYS TO FEATURE OLD TIMERS GET-TOGETHER On Sat., April 11, an Old Timers Get-Together will be hosted from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the DeQuincy United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. The event is being held in conjunction with the Louisiana Railroad Days Festival slated for April 9-11.The annual get-together began in 1987, when Fred Fluitt decided to hold a one-day event where all could meet, reminisce and “run a few trains.”

Admission is free and all crafts of railroad workers and their relatives are invited to attend. There will be live entertainment, door prizes, storytelling and free red beans and rice for lunch. For more information, contact Lauretta and Fred Fluitt, board of directors for the DeQuincy Railroad Museum, at (337) 786-7113 or Joy Fontenot, DeQuincy City Hall, at (337) 786-8241. For general tourism information, contact the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau at (337) 436-9588 or www.visitlakecharles.org.

BANNERS PRESENTS ZUILL BAILEY WITH NAVAH PERLMAN APRIL 17 Zuill Bailey, one of the pre-eminent cellists of his generation, will be joined by both pianist Navah Perlman and the St. Petersburg String Quartet for his concert in Lake Charles at 7:30 p.m. Fri., April 17, in the historic F.G. Bulber Auditorium at McNeese State University. The concert is part of the 2009 McNeese Banners Cultural Series. A pre-concert talk will take place from 6:30-7 p.m. in the 2nd floor mezzanine of Bulber. Bailey will go over the music he will play in concert and answer questions. Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for students and

GRAMMY WINNERS CHICAGO AT COUSHATTA APRIL 11 On April 11, Coushatta Casino Resort proudly presents Grammy winners Chicago in concert at The Pavilion. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets, and casino Box Office. Of their albums, 18 are gold, 13 are platinum, 12 have reached the top 10, and five have hit number one. Chicago continues to be a top live attraction, successfully touring throughout the U.S. and internationally every year. Coushatta Casino Resort is located in Kinder on Highway 165 (I-10 exit 44), featuring over 2,800 slots and more than 70 table games. Phone (800) 5847263 for more information or visit the Web site at Coushattacasinoresort.com BANNERS PRESENTS ST. PETERSBURG STRING QUARTET APRIL 18 One of the world’s leading string quartets, the St. Petersburg String Quartet from Russia, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sat., April 18, in the Central School Theatre at 809 Kirby St. in Lake Charles as part of the McNeese Banners Cultural Series. There will be a pre-concert talk with the artists on the second floor reception area from 6:30-7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $5 for students and free to McNeese students with ID. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Lake Charles Civic Center Box Office or online at www.banners.org (click on St. Petersburg String Quartet). Tickets will also be available at Central School the night of the performance.

ALADDIN AT WESTLAKE HIGH SCHOOL APRIL 23 The Westlake High School Theatre Department; Kerry A. Onxley, director of theatre, Mr. Lee Crick; Principal, Mr. Carl McGee, and Mr. Jon Powers, assistant principals present Disney’s Aladdin. All of the favorite characters are here in this stage adaptation of the Disney hit, including Aladdin, Jasmine, and of course, the Genie. Filled with magic, mayhem, and flying carpet rides, audiences’ spirits will soar with excitement. Most of all, the tuneful, Academy award-winning score with songs including “A Whole New World” and “Friend Like Me” will certainly make this musical a favorite for many years to come! This storybook performance will be at the Westlake High School’s state-of-the-art theatre located at 1000 Garden Drive, on Thurs., April 23 at 7 p.m. for the public. School performances are at 10 a.m. Tickets are $8 per person.

For ticket information, call Kerry Onxley at (337) 436-6866 ext. 10 or kerry.onxley@cpsb.org.

Zuill Bailey Navah Perlman

Volume 1 • Issue 1

Disney's ALADDIN - Presented by Westlake High Theatre APRIL 9, 2009

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WORLD WAR II WALL OF HONOR APRIL 24-JUNE 13 The City of Lake Charles is proud to present Memories of World War II: Photographs from the Archives of The Associated Press, scheduled to open Fri. April 24 and run through Sat., June 13. An opening reception will be held from 6-9 p.m. at the 1911 Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center at 1001 Ryan Street. A “Wall of Honor” is being compiled and will be displayed during the exhibition. The public is invited to provide photographs of WWII veterans to be included on the Wall.

Photos can be brought directly to the 1911 Historic City Hall Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or sent to 1001 Ryan Street, Lake Charles, LA 70601, or e-mailed to ArtsAndCulture@cityoflc.us. Please write the veteran’s given name, hometown, branch of service, rank, location stationed, dates of service and honors or awards on the back of the photo. Printed photos should not exceed size 8 x 10; the deadline will be Mon., April 20. If the photo needs to be returned, be sure to include an address where the picture can be sent after the exhibit has ended. For more information, please call 491-9147 or visit www.cityoflakecharles.com.

KIWANIS CLUB PLANS ANNUAL BIKER BINGO RUN APRIL 25 The Kiwanis Club of Southwest Contraband, Inc. will be holding its 3rd Annual Biker Bingo Run, Sat., April 25. The run will begin at 9 a.m. at the Coffee Beanery and end at OB’s Bar & Grill. All bikers are encouraged to register early! Free T-shirts will be given to those who register before April 10. All funds raised will be used in Calcasieu Parish towards special projects that include: Automated External Difibulator placement in schools, Read Around the World, baby items for local shelters and homes, Golden Rule Awards, Bring Up Grades, and many more. For more information on the run, contact Angela Pierson at (337) 794-2626.

WHITE LIGHTS NIGHT-SPRING FLING LATE NIGHT SHOPPING APRIL 30 The Mid-Town Merchants are at it again with another exciting shopping night scheduled from 6-8 p.m. on April 30. White Lights Night-Spring Fling will feature the following shops open for late night shopping: The Cottage Shops: T-fig, Jon Margeaux, Louisiana Market, Honey Luv Lingerie, Focal Point, The Perfect Gift, Precious Gifts and Baskets, Once in a Blue Moon and My Favorite Things, The Paper Place, Bella Cose, La Grenouille, Benchworks, TeCi’s, Regalia, Artesia, Stacy’s Armoire, Accessory Zone, Cruella’s, The Imperial Calcasieu Museum. Come by, enjoy refreshments and shop ‘til ya drop for one of a kind gifts for graduation, Mothers Day, birthday, anniversaries, etc.

ACTS THEATRE’S HANSEL AND GRETEL MAY 1-2 ACTS Theatre’s studio production of the musical, Hansel And Gretel in the Enchanted Forest, will take to the stage for performances on Fri., May 1 and Sat. May 2 at the group’s One Reid Street Theatre. On May 1, there will be a performance at 9 a.m. along with an evening performance at 7 p.m. On May 2, day performances will be at 11a.m. and 1p.m.. Tickets for all performances are $8.50 per person. Tickets may be purchased at the Lake Charles Civic Center, Moss Bluff Florist, and Lakeshore Pharmacy on Enterprise Blvd. They may also be purchased prior to every performance in the theatre lobby.

CTC PRESENTS THE VELVETEEN RABBIT MAY 1-3 The Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) with Kerry A. Onxley, artistic director, presents its final show of the 2008-2009 season in the form of a children’s classic appropriate for all ages. This unique production of The Velveteen Rabbit brings to life this charming tale of love and devotion, creating an unforgettable theatrical experience for the whole family. It features a plush rabbit, given as a gift to a young boy, who yearns for the day the boy will choose him as his special playmate so that he can become real. Themes of acceptance, growing up and finding one’s place in the world are explored in this children’s story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. CTC’s Backstage Pass! offers the opportunity for you to go backstage and meet the actors before show time. For $10, you’re given the chance to see the dressing rooms, makeup preparation and where costumes and sets are stored. The entire backstage magic is exposed while punch and cookies are served. Photos and autographs are also available. Performances are set for May 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m. and May 3 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students. Applause Season Members should contact the theatre to reserve tickets. Group rates are also available. Performances are held at Central School Theatre located in the Central School of the Arts & Humanities Center (809 Kirby Street) in downtown Lake Charles. To purchase tickets, contact the theatre at (337) 433-7323 or purchase online at www.childrenstheatre.cc. TJN

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Concert Listings

JAM

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Isle of Capri

CARIBBEAN COVE LOUNGE Karaoke Wednesd ays 8 p.m. – Midn ight Live Band Caribbe an Cove Lounge, Thursday, Friday & Saturdays

April Thursdays, 8 p.m . – Midnight April 9 Zydacane April 16 Twangster’s Unio n April 23 Phillip Glynn & Ch eap Whiskey April 30 Kadillacs Fridays, 9 p.m. – 1 a.m.

April 10 Static April 17 Soul Vacation April 24 LA Express Saturdays, 9 p.m . – 1 a.m.

April 11 Boom-A-Rang April 18 Brad Brinkley & Co mfort Zone April 25 LA Express

Delta D owns

of GATO by the Ladies R LOU ch ecials served ea sp E POOL n k NGE A TH gi in dr be BY d to TY K an d R le er a PA du be he T DEL es N sc ur t at ection ol fe TA DO tertainmen en e liv A Party by the Po ith w p .

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4 ely revamped sandwich, oy ab cr F l el i 8 d . sh A t til :30 p.m chefs complet e of pril 25 lity M 11 a.m. – un l seafood (s na om fr io a ys eg x l/r da 7 A x ca pril 16 8:30 p . is open more lo .m. s, etc.). Nevie Line-Up: co er ta m d m 8 oo A Su af t p p se .m. ril 17 boy, tertainmen En ol Po ) e rd th 8:30 p April 1 Party by mychoice Ca .m 8 ge (free with 8:30 p . $5 cover char .m m co . e. lin

on liasons ww.everclear .com/magno ce pa ys ear – Rock w cl .m w er w Ev ns w May 7 Magnolia So llyband.com Opening act: w.mustangsa w w ty hesofbabylon rie Va ng Sally – aby.com/cd/as ta db us .c w M w w ae May 14 ylon– Regg et Ashes of Bab .dashriprock.n May 21 k – Rock www oc R m co Rip 3. h m as .7 D w ww May 28 Three – Rock band.com Seven Mary —Piano Bar ww.spongethe w – e g June 4 on ave Pellerin D Sp : ts ck . ac om m .c ng p. w ni 6-10 Ope d—Classic Ro softhene April 9 Southboun ew www.day N e .

B th m R& p. of k/ s n 12 om ay 9D —Fu anus.c alds.com April 10 Sugar House riety www.usc .themollyringw 9-12 p.m.

U.S. – 80s Va Tribute www s ie 1 P 1 80 l of – ic ri s ro st p d u rp A June 11 al Aco gw /trigge 8-10 p.m.

The Molly Rin .myspace.com et April 13 June 18 Variety www Alvin Touch – of ro . p m er p. g 9 ig 7Tr e th 4 ; 1 t 25 $5 l Apri June pay just City Hea r . Gentlemen 8-10 p.m. n—Piano Ba Please note pril 15 y by the Pool r.

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Class 9-12 e. is waived and/or ca April 17 uthbound— n of L’Auberg cover charge So io ect to change bj et . cr su is m is d p. n e tio 9-12 at th ylish t loca April 18 ctly enforced night at the st that the even Acoustic Pie 10 p.m. de will be stri s late into the ot 8co sp ue t in ss et ho 0 nt re 2 D at co l . d n ri er p fu an A weath Alvin Touch ol, the casino 7-9 p.m. rty by the Po and ot Vegas-style ls fo 1 ia 2 re t ec l ua ri ea sp p k H sq A Following Pa in y 00 Cit ng dr 30,0 r 8-10 p.m. s while enjoyi the L’Auberge n—Piano Ba April 22 globar inside out with friend Dave Pelleri g ce Salsa! an . an H D m l. . p. ril m G 10 a.

6Bar & 9 p.m.-1 l 23 s, ri p on A e. ss Jack Daniel’s® ag Le st 8-9 p.m. cal favorites on April 24 a variety of lo

o r t s i B s ’ a i v l Sy

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APRIL 9, 2009

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Everything Old Is New Again Hamilton Loomis, Live at Toucans, E. Prien Lake Road, Lake Charles

By Leslie Berman, Photos by Sarah Ehlers I have seen the future of music and his name is Hamilton Loomis. With his soft curls, new-fashioned sideburns and subtle goatee framing an elongated face and mobile mouth, this slight young Texas guitar and harmonica man wrings new changes out of the old familiar hit factory to spice up the majority of his show, in which he pilots his original love and life songs along a modern river of blues, funk, rock and soul with the insouciance and grace of a veteran thrice his age. When he brought his hot quartet featuring local tenor sax hero Stratton Doyle to Toucans a couple of weeks ago, the Thursday night crowd that braved the flooding rain were treated to hot licks, smart earthy lyrics, and some slow cover tune surprises that pulled couples out onto the dance floor in romantic harmony. Purest bliss.

When I was a kid half Loomis’ age, I was a quietly intense fan of old blues masters from small Southern towns and sprawling Northern inner cities, who came to play their tradition-styled tunes mostly solo at summer folk festivals in the Northeast that were attended by earnest college kids and respectful older folks with left-wing politics who had been rent party attendees during the Great Depression.

I saw most of the great living blues musicians then — Son House, Bukka White, Mississippi Fred MacDowell, Reverend Gary Davis, Howlin’ Wolf, Roosevelt Sykes, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee — up close and personal on small stages under the hot August sun at the Newport and Philadelphia Folk festivals. The audiences at these affairs

Animal Angels and our BEGLIS PARKWAY

furry friends wish to thank

50 acres for development located next to Inwood Forest Subdivision. Great site for patio home or home development.

Owner has corps of engineers 404 wetlands permit.

Zoned R-1. Carlyss water & Sulphur water. Call for details.

Downtown Animal Hospital

LAKE CHARLES SUB D DEVELOPMENT 20 acres off Texas & Arkansas street in city limits. Approved for a 100 lot subdivision development “Le Maisons du lac,” city utilities, has wetlands delineation, survey & proposed plat.

Call for details. $399,000.

and Southwest Louisiana Vet Clinic for their unending support in our neuter/spay efforts!

Add some spice to your life!

The Jambalaya News is looking for a Media Sales Representative.

Full-time position, prior sales experience required.

E-mail resume to publisher@thejambalayanews.com or call (337) 263-4736 for more information.

826 Ford Street, Lake Charles, 70601 PAGE 44

APRIL 9, 2009

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sat on the grass or on their own lawn chairs, dressed down in old beatnik and new hippie styles, while the musicians sat or stood on small stages, dressed to respect themselves in suits and Sunday clothes. Their performances were mesmerizing, their hot and sour songs were raw pain made pleasurable, and I could never get enough of them.

Then I grew up and saw some of these same performers in smoky New York City nightclubs and crammed concert halls, often opened for or accompanied by younger (mostly) white respectful junior journeymen, until one by one, the elderly graceful (mostly) black men died off, and were replaced with young white boys who diligently copied the songs and mannerisms of the performers they admired.

For me, apart from a few younger admirers of the old blues men, like TajMahal, Bonnie Raitt, Larry Johnson and John Hammond, live performances of the blues devolved into overamped rock shows in which narcissistic guitar and harmonica players shouted out their own names in self-congratulatory lyrics and spun out too many self-admiring instrumental choruses hanging themselves awkwardly on the simple 8- and 12-bar musical frames of the old blues.

I think I finally threw in the towel on modern blues shows at the starstudded opening of the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi in the mid-‘80s, when ZZ Top presented the museum with a check for a million bucks and a guitar made from a plank of the wooden shack that Muddy Waters had lived in when he drove tractor on the Dockery family plantation. It was a day of blatant contrasts.

That afternoon and evening, I heard some of the best blues I would ever hear, by local musicians playing joyfully for the enthusiastic locals at the catfish fry, while the rest of the members of the national press followed the short bearded internationally famous men who didn’t deign to strap on their instruments or to play a single musical lick. Talk about the blues. That was one ironic blues day.

And then I heard Hamilton Loomis, who captured all my attention when he sang his fresh new lyrics on old themes and powered his electric guitar with an inner intensity and an outward cool, producing an orchestra of sounds and stories that flooded my senses. Damn, man, it’s the blues. Old made new again. Taking down pleasing lyric lines that caught my ear, I couldn’t actually keep up as Loomis sang them: “I got a voodoo doll baby

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/yes I do /sure is strange how much it looks like you/give me comfort from the madness that you put me through…” (Voodoo Doll); “I’ve told you lies / but I’ve known /that the only one I’m fooling is me…I wanna be a better man /and I do the best I can /to give my love to you…” (Better Man); “She ain’t got much for looks /she burns everything she cooks /she ain’t real statuesque /she got no taste for a dress…she can’t carry a tune /I can’t stand her perfume…but that don’t mean a thing /she got me hanging by a string /cause she got that thang…”

(That Thang).

At the end of the set, featuring a challenge duet of guitar/harmonica versus saxophone, and which ranged over the stage, dance floor, length of the bar, and ended with Loomis and Doyle balanced on the rims of some scenic urns, I had to buy “Aint Just Temporary,” Loomis’s most recent Blind Pig Records release. It’s been revolving in my car ever since.

You can read about Loomis’s pedigreed roots and history on his own Web site (hamiltonloomis.com) or on the record company’s site (blindpigrecords.com) and you can buy his releases through either. As one of his famous musical mentors, Bo Diddley, has famously said: “You got to put some seasonin’ in what you’re doin’, and this boy’s got the whole salt shaker!” You can hear Bo Diddley’s “unmistakable voice and funky tremolo guitar” playing on “You Got To Wait,” the song he co-wrote for the “Ain’t Just Temporary” album, but you’ll have to wait until May or later to see and hear Hamilton Loomis live. He’s in England, tearing up and down the country, where he’s already a big star.

He’s going to be a big wheel here someday too. Just remember you heard it from me first. TJN

Thank You

The Jambalaya News would like to thank the following businesses and people for their encouragement and support in making this first issue a success!

Dr. Lee J. Monlezun, Jr. • KMI - Chuck Ehlers Expressions • Peter O’Carroll Group BusinessFirst • Skipper M. Drost, Attorney at Law Richard Cole • Hal McMillan The Frame House Gallery - Patsy Manuel A New Leaf - Chuck Styron and Jeff Tejada Sabine Pools • Lake Area Skin Care Cycles & More - Wes and Lynn McFadden Garden Paths - Brian Prudhomme Aflac-Connie Windsor • Ping Patrol - Joey Racca Reeves Uptown Catering • Childrens Museum Moffett Realty - Greg Wise • McNeese Banners Imperial Calcasieu Museum - Susan Reed Dr. Bruce Maerhofer • Synergy - Blane Bourgeois Big Bros. Big Sisters • Campfire USA • Jackson Hewitt Digital Print & Mail • Pujo Street Cafe • Joseph’s Electrical Webtronics - Garrett Lawrence • Benchworks Lynn Jones - Clerk of Court • Slender Solutions Raymond Fondel Insurance Lakeside Properties - Aimee Stawecki • Animal Angels Platinum Limousine Service Stulb & Associtates - Jim Stulb & Kristi Carter Trouth Air Conditioning • Sylvia’s Bistro Century 21 Bessette - Derenda Grubb Century 21 Bono - Mike Dugas • Downtown Animal Hospital Southwest Louisiana Animal Clinic • Misha’s Pets Brian Alexander • Sarah & Bobby Jones Coburn Supply • Russ & Eileen Grantham Rodney & Dru Sonnier • Chase & Ashley Wilson Arts & Humanities Council • Hunt’s Pizza Chuck & Karen Henderson - Henderson Implement & Marine Lake Area Foot Care Center - Robert A. Arango Homsi’s Liquors • Scot & Bea Hebert • Katsie Fanelli Mayor Randy Roach • Lori Marinovich Billy Pharr • The Buccaneers of Lake Charles The Calcasieu Boat Club • Black Tie Cleaners Specialty Sign • KPLC - Jim Serra Cumulus Radio - Jim Ray • The American Press - Tom Shearman Prudential Real Estate - Darren Sarver The staff at Jeff Davis Bank - Kirby Street City Sign and Tag • Attorney Steven Beverung Pre-Paid Legal • PetCo - Ed Chavanne • Bryan’s Garage

APRIL 9, 2009

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Monday, April 20 to Saturday, April 25: National Karaoke Week Stop by the “Karaoke Cavern” and test out your vocal chords. We have a great variety of music ranging from Elvis to Hannah Montana!

Monday, April 20 to Saturday, April 25: Celebrate Earth Day! Learn about recycling in our community. You can help by recycling your aluminum cans. We have special containers for Recycling! Stop by the ArtSpace and plant a flower or herb.

April Events Friday, April 10, Good Friday: Member’s Easter Egg Hunt The museum will be closed to the general public and open to members only for the Member’s Easter Egg Hunt! Don’t forget your Easter basket!

The fun begins at 10 a.m.

Saturday, April 11: Sasol’s Second Saturday Science Show Sasol employees will present “Exploring the Human Senses.” At 11 a.m. watch hands-on demonstrations exploring the five senses: taste, touch, hearing, sight and smell. See how developed your senses are!

Monday, April 13 – Friday, April 17: Spring Break Spectacular: Each day there is a different activity planned to celebrate Spring Break!

Monday, April 13: Relaxing with Bubbles Learn how to relax in a fun way!

Michelle Trenton, LPC, with Samaritan Counseling and Volunteers of America will be here helping kids learn how to relax by using bubbles at 2:30 p.m. All the kids will get bubbles. Afterwards you can visit the Bubble Room.

Tuesday, April 14: Kids in the Kitchen with Chef Joe Heacook Come in and cook up something delicious with Chef Joe at 11 a.m. Kids will discover the wonders of the culinary arts and the joy of cooking. Be a chef for the day and get your own chef ’s hat! Space is limited.

Wednesday, April 15: ArtSpace Workshop – Mexican Flowers Celebrate spring by learning how to make Mexican flowers with tissue paper, pipe cleaners and straws!! Free for all visitors! Please register in the front office. Classes begin at 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. and are limited to 15 children. They must be accompanied by an adult.

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Thursday, April 16: National Stories Day Join us for a reading of Dixie the Ole Dawg, a book written by local children’s author, Tommie Townsley.

This book is based on a true story about a dog that was abandoned during a hurricane. It’s available in the museum’s gift shop and all area bookstores. Story time will begin at 11 a.m. on the third floor. Bookmarks and coloring pages will be given out.

Friday, April 17: Stranger Danger and Personal Safety Program The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff ’s Office will be here at 2:30 p.m. teaching kids how to stay safe and secure.

Saturday, April 18: Happy Birthday Children’s Museum We are celebrating our 21st Birthday with special events: Junior League Special Art Project – All-day event Come join us anytime for this special project that the Junior League of Lake Charles has kindly prepared and implemented for the opening of our ArtSpace!

Puppet Show at 10:30 a.m.

The Junior League of Lake Charles will present their famous Kid’s Choice Puppet Show “Perry Medix and the Sirens.” Join us on the third floor!

New ArtSpace Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 1:30 p.m.

Cake and refreshments will be served in the party room on the third floor.

“Chico” The Clown: Time TBA Come see “Chico” juggle, perform magic tricks and create balloon animals. He is also bringing along his friend, Curious George!

Tuesday, April 21: Grand Lake Elementary School Art Exhibit For this project, we collaborated with the second grade teachers at Grand Lake Elementary School. We made a mosaic with multi-colored paper tiles using metallic paints in combination with traditional tempera and acrylics. Come see the result!

Their artwork will be on display until May 15.

Thursday, April 23: National Immunization Week At 10 a.m., Jennifer Frank from the Office of Public Health will read books about immunization, present a chickenpox enactment and pass out information and brochures to the children and their parents.

The Children’s Museum is located at 327 Broad Street downtown Lake Charles. Museum hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is $6.50 for children and adults. Memberships and parties are available. Contact the Children’s Museum at (337) 433-9420 or visit www.swlakids.org for more details and special events. TJN

Registration for Louisiana Sci-Fi Expo Underway Calling all Sci-Fi fans! Con. Du Lac—The Louisiana Sci-Fi Expo will be held at Enos Derbone Recreational Complex in Lake Charles, June 13-14, 2009.

The expo will combine science fiction, science fact (NASA and the National Weather Service), paranormal research, medieval arts crafts and combat demonstrations. There will also be mini-renaissance fair, acting workshops and more. Richard Hatch from Battlestar Galactica, who has been a part of both the original show in 1978 and the recent series on the SciFi channel written by Ronald Moore, will be a featured guest at this year’s expo. He will also be hosting an acting workshop titled “Acting from the Heart Unleash Your Creative Vision: A Transformational Acting, Writing & Self-Expression Class.”

In addition to Hatch’s appearance, panels on Star Trek and Star wars will be featured. Attendees of all ages are asked to dress up in their favorite SciFi costumes for an intergalactic costume contest to be held on Saturday evening.

Another event at the expo will be a presentation of various medieval fighting tactics from the Society for Creative Anachronism and the Amtgard groups from Lake Charles. The Star Wars fan group, the 501st (star garrison Louisiana Bayou Bandits) will also be

on hand to round out the Sci-Fi portion of the event.

Con. Du Lac is presented by the Southwest Louisiana Science Education Foundation, a non-profit corporation. Tickets are on sale now through June 5 and are $25. Admission at the door will be $30 and children 10 and younger will get in for free. On Saturday, June 13, Lifeshare Blood Center will be hand for a limited time and all donors will receive $5 off their admission. All tickets are valid for both days of the event. For more information on Con. Du Lac, contact Justin Toney at (337) 513-8927 or visit www.condulac.net and www.myspace.com/condulac. For general tourism information, contact the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau at (337) 436-9588 or www.visitlakecharles.org.

TJN

Volume 1 • Issue 1

Volume 1 • Issue 1

APRIL 9, 2009

PAGE 47

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