Bullying in SWLA by Lagniappe Magazine

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November 7, 2013

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front Brody Meaux

Cajun Jam Session

Brody Meaux is the 14-year-old son of Lake Charles residents Jimmy and JoAnn Meaux. Brody has the rare genetic disease MeCP2 duplication syndrome. MeCP2 is a neurological condition that occurs almost entirely in males. Effects include moderate to severe intellectual disability, weak muscle tone, difficulties in eating, poor speech or lack of speech, seizures and other conditions. Most children with the syndrome regress over time. By the time they reach their early 20s, respiratory infections are a cause of death for many. Brody has already lost three uncles and a cousin to this harsh syndrome. It’s not surprising that Brody is totally dependent on others for the demands of his everyday life. While there’s no cure for the condition at present, relatives of those with MeCP2 can’t help but hope that one is on the way. Of course, the more funding that doctors who research the condition get, the sooner the cure will get here. Brody will be part of a big upcoming fundraiser. The Brody’s Bunch Runs For Research 5K run and 1K walk will take place Saturday, Nov. 16 at 8 am in Iowa City Park. All the money raised will go to research. The goal of the event — which coincides with Brody’s 15th birthday — is to raise $15,000. If you’d like more info, visit 401project.com or RSRT.org or call 439-3684.

You could probably get into a long and heated debate about which of the small towns north of Lafayette comes closest to being a center for Cajun music. One of the towns that will always figure in the debate is Eunice. If you want to hear some of the Eunice brand of Cajun music, you might want to travel to the Cajun Jam Session being held every Wednesday night, 6-9 pm, at Ruby’s Restaurant and Courtyard at 123 South 2nd St. Fred Charlie produces this affair. You can’t bring your own amps, but you can plug into Ruby’s system. If you play Cajun music, bring your instrument and find a place. If you just want to listen, the Cajun food will be there for you. Those who’d like to make a day of it may want to know that Ruby’s starts serving breakfast at 6 am. The restaurant offers the traditional daily Cajun plate lunch. Need more info? Call 550-7665.

Global Alliance The ECD Global Alliance, a patient advocacy group, supports patients effected by Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD) and members of their families. The ECD Global Alliance is headquartered in DeRidder. The president of the board of directors and the co-founder of the nonprofit group, Kathy Brewer, was raised and lives in DeRidder. However, volunteers for and members of the alliance live around the world. In less than five years, the group has grown to include 176 members in 26 countries. One of the alliance’s objectives is to bring an awareness of ECD to this region. ECD is a disease that’s life-threatening, debilitating and extremely rare — fewer than 500 cases have been documented. (It’s thought the disease is under-diagnosed.) ECD isn’t currently classified; it’s not known whether it’s a cancer, immune disorder or what have you. With ECD, tissue in the body can become dense and fibrous. If the disease progresses far enough, it can result in organ failure. Currently there’s no standard method of care for ECD. All treatment options are “off-label.” The ECD Global Alliance works with patients and medical professionals around the world to raise awareness of the disease; make diagnosis of the illness more practical; improve patient and family support; support efforts to improve and standardize treatment; and, ultimately, discover a cure. An NIH study of the disease is currently taking place at the Women and Children’s Hospital in Houston. Visit erdheim-chester.org to learn more. There’s loads of info on this site.

N.O. During Occupation Before the Civil War, New Orleans was the biggest and most influential city in the U.S. South. It was occupied by Federal troops in April 1862. The occupation actually spared New Orleans from the devastation that wracked much of the south. Still, between rationing and arguments about the war, there was adversity in the Port City. A new exhibit on life during occupation will run at The Historic New Orleans Collection at 533 Royal St., Tuesday-Saturday, 9:30 am-4:30 pm and Sunday 10:30 am4:30 pm. “Occupy New Orleans! Voices from the Civil War” is free to the public. It will run through March 9. Those who visit will be able to “experience daily life during the war,” says curator Jessica Dorman. On display will be correspondence, journals, diaries and recordings of letters of those who lived through the time. Visitors can see the war drawings of William Waud; a panoramic painting from the era of Farragut’s fleet taking New Orleans and remnants of a flag stolen from the U.S. mint — a theft for which the perpetrator was hanged. If you’d like to know more, visit hnoc.org or call 504.523.4662.

‘Creepy On Almost Every Level’ Edwin Edwards’ new “reality TV” show is on the air and the reviews are in. They aren’t good. Even Variety, which never has an unkind word about anything, sliced and diced this program, which “TV Columnist” Brian Lowry called a “freak show.” He delivered what will probably be the most devastating critique of the show when he wrote that it’s “creepy on almost every level.” The funnies come fast and furious in Lowry’s review. I can’t do better than to quote them. Lowry begins by stating the show is “just your typical romance between an 86year-old politician/ex-con and his 35-year-old bride.” Fair enough. That raises the question as to how such a show came into being; what was the motivation for it? Lowry says the explanation is that A&E “couldn’t reanimate Anna Nicole Smith, so it goes for the next best thing.” (Apparently, throughout the show Edwards calls Trina a “gold digger.” Ha ha.)

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Trina, the 35-year-old stand-in for Smith, is, says Lowry, “blond and buxom,” and “would be the ostensible star of the show if Edwin wasn’t so much more interesting.” What’s goes on in the show? Lowry suggests that it’s more interesting to consider what’s not in it. “The producers,” he writes, “conveniently skip all the obvious questions, starting with how the hell this whole relationship happened.” Questions that go unexplored include those of why 35-year-old Trina would be attracted to 86-year-old Edwards and why Edwards spent time in jail. Lowry says that at one point in the program, when Edwards says, “you’re only as young as the woman you feel,” the line “sounds as rehearsed as a stump speech.” He’s right. Lagniappe quoted Edwards as saying this very thing in public right after he got out of jail. Instead of exploring the big and obvious questions, the show develops its first two major plot points: (1) Trina hopes to pop out of a cake for her hubby’s birthday, and (2) the happy couple plans a child. That sounds about as interesting as a rerun of the Brady Bunch. And while Lowry doesn’t mention that show, he does say that “The Governor’s Wife heads straight for sitcom A and B plots.” Trouble is, I guess, he doesn’t find it real amusing. “Even all that Cajun cooking doesn’t make Edwin’s dish or her rusty old spoon any more appetizing,” writes Lowry. After pointing out that no viewers will identify with the program’s stars, he says The Governor’s Wife is, effectively, “Extreme Trophy Wife.” To extrapolate from that, it’s reasonable to conjecture that people will watch the show because it and the act of watching it are just perverse enough to be titillating (for some, anyway). Speaking of that, the same issue of Variety reported that an episode of the show about the duck people — I forget what it’s called — just drew an audience of 10 million.

The Grand Old News A fair number of people think there’s been a significant degree of slippage in U.S. media in recent years; perhaps even recent decades. If this hypothesis were correct, we’d expect to see shallow, silly, slippery stories in the grand old bastions of established and respected media. Bastions such as, say, the New Yorker. On one day in October, The New Yorker ran these two headlines: “Why Abraham Lincoln Liked Infographics” “Looking Back At Space Invaders” Just a little gloss on the first one: Abraham Lincoln neither liked nor disliked infographics. He knew as much about infographics as he did about Space Invaders. The Oxford Dictionary states that the term “infographics” was used for the first time in the 1960s. I’ve just learned that the term infographics is so new it still doesn’t appear in the Word spell check.

If we can’t rely on the grand old mainstays of media, we may have to turn to promotional emails to get our news. And wouldn’t you know it? In my latest batch of emails, I discovered an announcement of what is, in my appraisal, unquestionably the story of the millennium: “Slash Re-brands His Image” It sure is good to get my lunch hooks into some real news. Of course, by the time I’ve quit hearing about that story, I’ll probably be sick of it.

That Good? Really? One recent office email promoted a holiday album with such a grand claim that it was all but impossible to credit it. The tagline read: “A Holiday Album So Good, The Kardashians Are Using It On Their Show.” “Oh, come on, now,” I can hear you saying. “Just how much do they think I’ll believe? Even Nat King Cole and Willie Nelson never put out a Christmas record THAT good.” Hey, I’m with you. But just to be a sport, let’s see what this mythically great album is. It’s Everyday Holidays by Elizabeth Chan. Who’s Elizabeth Chan? Well, the press release says the young Chan was the star of some TV show called the Failure Club. Chan has already written 300 holiday songs. No wonder folks are excited. And people thought Franz Schubert was a big deal. I’d like to put in a request for a Christmas song about two cats, a stability ball, a set of hand towels and Augustus Gloop.

Plot Spoiler! A few days ago, I saw a movie called Emma. Would you believe it lasted four hours? You couldn’t imagine what went on in that 4 hours. Here’s a brief rundown. OK, Emma and Frank and Jane all live in the same place but Frank and Jane go away when they’re kids. Emma starts matchmaking and tells Harriet to say no to the farmer and yes to the preacher. Emma thinks the preacher likes Harriet but he likes her and she says no and Mr. Knightley is really, really mad. So Frank and Jane come back at the same time and Frank acts like he likes Emma but doesn’t and she can’t decide and he leaves and Jane too and then they find out Frank and Jane were really engaged and Emma decides Knightley should marry her and he proposes. Hose me Agnes! Can you believe that? Wow, back then people did nothing but talk about who wound up with who and who was going to wind up with who and who wouldn’t wind up with who. Boy, have things changed!

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Scott also said that LNG export facilities are the driving force in investment. “No other MSA in the state is expected to come close to this growth rate,” Scott said in his report. “Some time in 2014, Lake Charles should surpass its previous peak reached back in 2008 and begin to set new employment records. In fact, we project that in 2015 this MSA will break through a barrier which has been seemingly illusive since the mid-’90s — over 100,000 employed.”

CPSB Grants Tax Credit To AAR

LOCAL NEWS STORIES OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS Stevedores Awarded $5.56 Million The Lake Charles Stevedores were granted $5.56 million in damages from the Port of Lake Charles in a hearing in the 14th Judicial District Court. State district Judge Wilfred Carter presided. A lawsuit for damages was filed in March after a stevedores contract for unloading at the City Docks was terminated. The Port suggested that the stevedores did not, in Carter’s words, “do everything [they] should have.” But Tom Flanagan, who bought the contract from its previous owners, said the Port made no such claims in its letter terminating the contract. Louis Colletta, attorney for the Port, called the decision “chilling” and “antibusiness” and said that the Port would appeal it. Tom Filo, the stevedores’ attorney, said some aspects of the suit remain to be resolved.

Deputies Shoot Man Two Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s deputies shot a man in his 60s when he

allegedly pointed a shotgun at them. Sheriff Tony Mancuso stated that the deputies were called to a residence at 7638 Copperleaf Drive, which is south of Lake Charles. Neighbors reported that an individual at the address had been threatening them with a gun. Mancuso said that when two deputies ordered the man out of the house, he came out and pointed a shotgun at them. They shot him in the abdomen and a leg in response. Mancuso has requested an investigation of the shooting by the Louisiana State Police. Neither the names of the deputies or of the man who was shot were immediately released.

Board Eyes School Consolidation The Calcasieu Parish School Board will discuss the possibility of consolidating schools as a way of dealing with a projected $13.5 million deficit for the coming school year. Talks are in their preliminary stages. Talks will take into consideration what areas have lost population or seen

shifts in population said Karl Bruchhaus, the school system’s CFO. The deficits were said to result from increases in retirement and benefit costs.

Port Contracts For Dredging The Port of Lake Charles will contract for as much as $5 million in dredging at its Bulk Terminal No. 1 and the City Docks. The Army Corps of Engineers will release a dredging machine for the project. The dredging should bring several docks to their proper depth.

LC To Add 7,800 Jobs State economist Loren Scott recently told a group of area business leaders that he expects the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area to add 3,300 jobs in 2014 and 4,500 more jobs in 2015 — an increase of 8.1 percent in two years. Scott, who spoke at the Southwest Louisiana Entrepreneurial and Economic Development Center, said the increase is due to the slated $46.6 billion in expansion for local industry.

The AAR Corp. will get a sales tax credit from the Calcasieu Parish School Board. A request for a similar tax break was denied to Aeroframe in May, three months before the company ceased operations. The vote was 9-4 in favor of the 10year tax exemption for AAR. An amendment to shorten the exemption to five years instead of 10 failed before the main vote. AAR is also pursuing credits from the Lake Charles City Council and the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Ending RxBlue Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is dropping its RxBlue prescription drug plans in 2014, with the result that 13,000 seniors enrolled in the Blue plans will have to find new Medicare Part D coverage. Blue Cross notified RxBlue members by letter they will need to join another Medicare drug plan in 2014. Members can join a new plan anytime between Oct. 15 and Feb. 28. If they don’t join a new Medicare drug plan by December 31, they won’t have drug coverage as of January 1, 2014. Blue Cross’ website, bcbsla.com, provides a link to a list of the other Medicare drug plans available in Louisiana as of Oct. 1.

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November 7, 2013

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contents

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LAGNIAPPE MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 7, 2013 • VOLUME 31 NUMBER 21

53 14 MUST-MISS TV Political guru John Maginnis weighs in on the new Edwin Edwards reality TV show. 24 SPECIALTIES OF THE HOUSE The Lake Area’s finest eateries show off their specialties, giving readers a delectable preview of the taste-pleasing dishes only they can offer. 42 WESTLAKE Take a look at the city’s early days and enjoy a profile of Will Ousley — an early artist of Bagdad and a selfdescribed “freak.” 53 BULLYING IN SWLA Local experts talk about options available to victims and bullies. Also, Lagniappe looks at martial arts teacher Josh Quayhagen’s “peaceful warrior” approach to bullying and Len Pauley's efforts to save lives after losing his 15-year-old daughter Hannah to suicide.

68 BEAUTY BUZZ Has “manscaping” gone mainstream? Is it really manly? Also,using a laser to help win the battle of the bulge, hydration and more. 74 HUNTING SPECIAL Calvin Tyler looks at favorite camp recipes. Also, outdoor writer Jake Bussolini describes his recent trip to the “Sportsman’s Paradise” and more.

Lagniappe Magazine Serving SWLA Since 1983 Publishers Bob Hartnett Greg Pavlovich Editor Brad Goins Associate Editor Karla Wall Assistant Laura Landry Layout & Design Mike Manis Advertising Sales Tanya Alsobrook Patty Hebert Chester Rogers Classified Manager Rose Sauls Distribution Manager Edward Frazer Contributing Writers Jeremy Alford Dr. Dale Archer Duane Bergeron Angie Kay Dilmore Todd Elliott Pierre Fontenot Rocke Fournet Arthur Hebert John Maginnis Rick Sarro Chuck Shepherd Calvin Tyler Vic Wukovits

Office Phone (337) 433-8502 Office Fax (337) 433-8964 Mailing Address PO Box 3292 Lake Charles, LA 70602 Shipping Address 2906 Deaton Street Lake Charles, LA 70601 Editorial e-mail edit@thelanyap.com Advertising e-mail ads@thelanyap.com Classified e-mail class@thelanyap.com Lagniappe Magazine is published the first and third Thursday of each month. Manuscripts, photographs, comments and queries are invited. Return postage must accompany all materials submitted if return is requested. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Opinions presented by the columnists in this publication do not necessarily express the views of Lagniappe Magazine.

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Up Front News Roundup Pierre Sez Economics, Etc. LA Politics

16 18 20 22 84

Taking Charge Weird News Tech Bytes File 13 Bands

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What's Happening Reel Talk High School Cross Country Sarro On Sports Uncle P's

Judges’ Races About To Be In News Bigtime Wit’ Judge Wilfred steppin’ down az a district Judge, an election haz to be helt to fill dat vacancy. Da State Supreme Court has appointed Richard Wilson to serve in Carter’s seat on de bench, an’ de state’s high court haz called a special election for April to fill de remainder uf Carter’s term. By law Wilson cannot run for dat office. But already, we’re seeing signs for Sharon Wilson for Carter’s seat. Dat judicial district iz basically de North Lake Charles area. We are shore dar will be udders jumpin’ into dat race soon. Now wit’ dat said, whoever wins dat election will have to run again in de fall uf next year when all de district judges will face reelection. Already we know dat District Judge Kent Savoie will step down to run for de Third Circuit Court uf Appeal. Savoie will be lookin’ to replace appeals court judge David Painter, who will be steppin’ down. Dat opens up de race for Savoie’s seat. Dat district iz made up uf West Calcasieu and South Lake Charles. Already we’ve heard uf Harry Fontenot an Oliver Schrumpf runnin’ for dat seat. Dat election will be held in October uf next year. So, az you can see, dar will be a lot uf politicin’ for judges’ jobs in de next 12 monts.

Gramblin’ May Be Sign Uf Tings To Come Az you probably saw in de news, Gramblin’ football players refused to play a game a few weeks ago in protest uf poor facilities at dar school. School officials wuz quick to blame bigtime budget cuts over de las’ few years for de poor conditions at de once powerful football school. Gramblin’ finally won a game a few weeks ago … dar first in two years. Traditionally, football programs have carried de financial load to fund mos’ udder sports at a school. But de entire athletic program at de nort’ Louisiana school iz way down in attendance and performance. I’m mindful uf de coach Eddie Robinson days, where de school had a large number uf players in de NFL, Charlie Joiner, former San Diego Chargers wide receiver, being among dem. Fact is, schools like Gramblin’, UL-Monroe, Nichols, an’ udders have tried to live wit’ de cuts by de state by raisin’ tuition and fees. Could what happened at Gramblin’ happen at udder schools in de state? You betcha! Meantime, you know de executives at NBC Sports an’ de Superdome had to be burnin’ de phone lines when de news came out de players had refused to play a game. De city uf New Awlins and NBC make a whole lotta money on de Soul Bowl — de annual Gramblin’-Southern football game dat’s played de day afta Tanksgivin’. Since de hotels, restaurants an’ Superdome make a ton uf money on dis event, one can imagine how nervous day wuz at de rumor Gramblin’ wuz gonna cancel de res’ uf dar season. But some folks what’d graduated from Gramblin’ got togedder wit’ school officials and de players an’ worked tings out … for now.

Parishwide Bus Service Long Overdue For sometime now, we’ve been sayin’ our area needs a parish-wide bus system. It looks like it’ll finally happen. In de beginning, it looks like service will be to Sulphur an’ Westlake. But longrange, dars talk uf expandin’ service to DeQuincy and Vinton. Folks, look at it dis way: de mo folks who ride de busses de less cars we will have on de highways. An’ dar are many folks now, an’ even mo comin’ to dis area, who would benefit from dis service. Beaucoup federal money is available for transit projects like dis, so de cos’ to local taxpayers should be lessened. An’ az Martha Stewart would say, “that’s a good thing.”

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Courthouse Great Addition Now dat de new Ward Three Courthouse iz open, we can truly say it’s a wonderful addition to de downtown area. No overcrowdin’; no parkin’ headaches; no cramped offices for city employees workin’ de court system. In our last issue, we goofed. We mentioned Judges Quirk and Hood and Ward 3 Marshall Joey Alcede. We forgot to mention de person dat makes de whole traffic system process go, an’ dat’s City Prosecutor Lydia Lee. She haz an office alongside de udders mentioned, an’ works hard to keep tings movin’ along in traffic court. Sorry for dat, Lydia.

Traffic Jams On Bridges Although State Police, de Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Lake Charles and Westlake City police do an excellent job uf workin’ recks on I-10 an’ I-210, dar seems to be awful long delays when dar are accidents on de bridges. Maybe a wrecker service positioned at de foot uf each bridge would help dem get to de wrecks sooner an’ move de wrecked vehicles out uf de way sooner. Imagine money bein’ lost by companies when dar trucks are jus’ sittin’ dar in back-ups on de interstate — sometime for hours. Now my fran Kevin suggests day get dem jaws like what day had around here afta de hurricanes dat would pick up large amounts uf debris and move it. Me, I tink de car insurance companies would have a little trouble wit’ dat one. But sometin’ else needs to be done to keep traffic flowin’. A new I-10 bridge would help, but dat’s years away.

It’s Still All About De Money An old politician tol’ me years ago dat whenever dar are issues in politics, de answer iz always money. De whole Obamacare fiasco iz certainly fallin’ into dat category. I know folks who have stayed on computers for hours and have not been able to get through. De money angle here is dat de federal gubment hired a Canadian company dat couldn’t get de program workin’ in time because uf money not bein’ allocated to de job. Instead, gubment deadheads got de money. An’ when you look at de insurance companies havin’ dar hands in dis, you know de answer is money because all day want to do iz make mo money for dar company, be it privately owned or owned by shareholders. De phrase “maximizing shareholder value” should ring a bell for anyone who’s ever worked for a company listed on a stock exchange. Why is it come az no surprise to mos’ uf us dat dis Obamacare ting iz a real gumbo (an not a good chicken an’ sausage variety either)?

Mary Jumps Into De Picture U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu sed she wuz goin’ to either sponsor or a support a bill in de Senate dat would allow folks to keep dar current medical insurance. Dat’s what waz promised, but insurance companies are cancelin’ thousands uf policies because de insurance companies say dar policies don’t meet Affordable Care standards. Landrieu sed, “The promise was made and it should be kept. And it was our understanding when we voted for that, that when people have insurance, they could keep what they had. So I’m going to be working on that fix.” Read this quote again folks. Maybe if Mary and Nancy Pelosi an’ udders would have read de bill instead uf havin’ folks tell dem what wuz in it, dar wouldn’t be dis mess. Meantime, de Republicans are jumpin’ all over dis again, knowin’ Landrieu haz a race for re-election next year, an’ day want to gig her every chance day got. But de udder question is, since de Republicans are fightin’ among demselves like cats an’ dogs, will day be able to put up enough uf a fight to remove her from office?

Day Need Your Support A former governor once told a legislator from our area, “I don’t need your support when I’m right. I need you when I’m wrong.” Such iz de case wit’ some uf our college and high school football teams. McNeese wuz disappointed after dropping a game to Southeastern. Barbe wuz ranked No. 1 in de state until day los’ two games in a row. LSU certainly had hopes for a better season dan day ended up wit’. But what we as fans have to do iz rally behind our teams and show our support. Everyone likes to stand by a winner. An’ trust us, all three uf dem teams are gonna win a whole lot mo games. So show your pride durin’ good times and bad.

Deep Taughts While Watchin’ Football 10) Are we gonna get some decent shrimps befo de season iz ova? 9) Should I wait for dem speckled bellies dat Cane promised me? 8) Iz Johnny Football gonna get de Heisman again dis year? 7) Jus’ how does dis time change save energy? 6) Why does my cable bill look like de national debt? 5) Are de Houston Texans gonna turn it around? 4) How many folks are watchin’ de Edwin Edwards reality show on A&E? 3) When iz de Today Show gonna have Lesa Cormier an’ his band on dar show? 2) Why do my dogs listen to me and my cats ignore me? 1) How can my New Awlins brudda-in-law claim he makes a better roux dan me?

Final Shot Lefty sez dis year instead uf fryin’ a turkey, he’s gonna fry some boudin. Sometimes Lefty takes hiz Cajun pride a little too far. www.BestOfSWLA.com

November 7, 2013

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ECONOMICS, ETC.

michael m. kurth, Ph.D.

Dreams Of Our President The Affordable Care Act (AKA “Obamacare”) was to be President Obama’s signature program — the one that defines his presidency. I suspect it will be, but not in the way he envisioned. The botched roll-out of its website and the failure of healthy youth to sign up for expensive insurance designed to subsidize the unhealthy and those with pre-existing conditions is yet another case of dreammeets-reality. This is not the first time the president’s dreams have crashed. Virtually all his visions of a socialist utopia have gone “poof” when exposed to the light of reality. Here is a rendition. The Dream of Green Energy: During the 2008 campaign, Obama promised to make the U.S. energy independent and create 5 million new green energy industry jobs over the next 10 years. Well, the U.S. is on a path to energy independence, but not because of renewable green energy. Hydrofracking has opened massive new oil and natural gas fields in the U.S. and Canada and sent prices of fossil fuels plunging. This is a major set-back for green energy, which requires a price of $6 a gallon for gasoline to be economically com-

petitive. The net result: billions of federal dollars poured into green energy with only 250,000 new jobs created — just 5 percent of what the president promised. The Dream of World Peace: Obama was in office only 9 months when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — not for any achievements, but for his commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and his promise to create a “new climate” in international relations by reaching out to the Muslim world. Has world politics changed? We still have soldiers being killed and maimed in Afghanistan, and when they depart, that country will again be ruled by corrupt drug lords. The Egyptian military had to overthrow the Obama-endorsed, anti-Christian Muslim Brotherhood to restore order in that country. And Iraq is now a client state of Iran, a radical Shiite nation on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Osama Bin Laden may be dead, but terrorism is not. In 2012, there were more than 8,500 terrorist attacks worldwide, and they killed nearly 15,500 people — a 69 percent rise in attacks and an 89 percent jump in fatalities from 2011. The Dream of Transparent Government: During the 2008 campaign,

Obama promised to make our government open and transparent: “No more secrecy,” he declared. But even the radical left is alarmed by revelations of the NSA spying on U.S. citizens, the Obama administration’s use of the IRS to target the President’s opponents, and Eric Holder’s Justice Department’s secret raiding of the phone records of up to 100 Associated Press reporters. (The DOJ was apparently trying to identify the news organization’s private sources.) A scathing report by the Committee to Protect Journalists — hardly a right-wing organization — states: “In the Obama administration’s Washington, government officials are increasingly afraid to talk to the press. Those suspected of discussing with reporters anything that the government has classified as secret are subject to investigation, including lie-detector tests and scrutiny of their telephone and e-mail records.” The Dream of Racial Equality: Martin Luther King dreamed of a society where people are judged by their character and not the color of their skin. Obama’s election was greeted by many as the fulfillment of that dream: a sign we are now living in a post-racial society. But to describe Obama as our “first black president” is not quite accurate. He is our first mixed-race president. None of his relatives experienced the atrocities of slavery or the struggle for civil rights. And he grew up in an international environment that he frequently touted when he was a student at Harvard. So how has the black community done under the Obama presidency? According to a study by the Pew Research Center, not much has changed on the employment front, as black unemployment remains double that of whites. The biggest obstacle to black economic success has been poor education, and the most promising development in the black community is growing support for charter schools. Where does Obama stand on this issue? He favors public schools with their bureaucracy and teacher unions that are widely blamed for the poor-quality education black children have suffered. The Dream of Healing the Earth: In his victory speech after he received the 2008 presidential nomination, Obama said

people would look back years from now and declare “this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” There has been little change in the earth’s surface temperature for the last 16 years, but sea levels continue to rise at a rate of 1 to 2.5 millimeters (.04 inches to .2 inches) per year. It is not clear whether climate change and the rising seas are due to human activity or natural causes, but either way, it is almost certain the U.S. government can do little to prevent it. Nevertheless, the president is set to launch a whole new set of regulations on coastal residents. The Dream of Building the Middle Class: Obama frequently speaks of “building the middle class.” This is ironic because the middle class is the hallmark of capitalism. Throughout history, there has been the wealthy ruling class and the impoverished peasants, with few people in between. Only in the capitalist countries has a large middle class developed. The symbols of American culture are blue jeans, not suits; beer, not champagne; football, not polo; and hamburgers, not lobster. So how is the middle class doing under Obama? Average household income has fallen, home ownership is down, and the number of food stamp recipients have doubled. Now we are confronted with President Obama’s signature dream: affordable healthcare for everyone. How does he plan to achieve this? Not by increasing the number of doctors, nurses and healthcare practitioners; nor by opening more clinics, cutting regulations and paperwork, and promoting competition. His plan is to force everyone to buy government-defined medical insurance financed by tax dollars. Wherever this has been tried — and the examples are many — the result is always the same: a two-tiered healthcare system where the wealthy can get high quality medical care, often by coming to medical facilities in the U.S., while average citizens wait for long periods in public clinics for their government-rationed care. Can Obama’s dream world supplant economic reality? His track record says it all.

Accidents • Wrongful Death • Serious Personal Injury Criminal, Domestic Law Cases

Larry A. Roach (1932-2003) Barry A. Roach • Larry A. Roach, Jr. Fred C. "Bubba" LeBleu • David M. Hudson 12

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November 7, 2013

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2917 Ryan St. • Lake Charles (337) 433-8504 • Fax (337) 433-3196

BAGGETT JERSEYS TO BE RETIRED By Duane Bergeron In one of the fastest decisions ever made in the history of McNeese State University women’s athletics, former basketball players Ashlyn and Caitlyn Baggett will have their jersey numbers retired this month. The ceremony will take place on Thursday, Nov. 14, prior to the Cowgirls home game against Rice University in Burton Coliseum. The jersey number of former player Pat “Shoney” Jean will also be retired. That will occur next year to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the women’s basketball program. The numbers “10” and “11” will be retired in the ceremony. They will also be the first ever so accorded an honor in program history. While Caitlyn and Ashlyn thrilled McNeese basketball fans, they also gained national attention for both being a sister act on the team and creating a level of excitement for women’s basketball. Head coach Brooks Donald Williams has brought the McNeese Cowgirls to new heights of glory along with the contributions of the Baggett twins. As members of the team, the sisters led McNeese to three consecutive postseason tournaments (2011, 2012 NCAA and 2013 WBI) plus two Southland Conference Tournament titles in 2011 and 2012. They won the regular season championship in 2011. Ashlyn was named the SLC Tournament MVP in 2011 and Caitlyn in 2012. Both of them were three-time All SLC and All-Louisiana selections. This sister act garnered individual honors along with those accorded the team. In the McNeese Cowgirls record book, they ended their collegiate careers ranked second and third in career scoring. For Ashlyn, she racked up 2,053 points in total scoring, putting her in second place, while Kaitlyn was in third with 1,674 points. Ashlyn was the second player in the program’s history to score 2000 points and the first to make 300 career three point shots. And as if that wasn’t enough, Ashlyn is both the McNeese and SLC career three point leader with 308 career three point baskets. Caitlyn holds the career assists record with 550. They rank highly in career steals and Caitlyn holds the single game record for free throws made and consecutive free throws made. She made 17 consecutive free throws in 2013 against Mercer in the first round of the WBI. The twins excelled in the classroom too. They were both named to the Southland All-Academic team three times. Ashlyn was named the league’s Student Athlete of the Year three times in a row and was also named to the 2011-12 Capital One District 6 Academic All-America Team. Caitlyn was honored with the prestigious Southland Conference Steve McCarty Citizenship award in 2013. Both have made their mark on the McNeese Cowgirls basketball program and it’s a legacy that will be remembered for years to come. www.BestOfSWLA.com

November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

LA POLITICS

john maginnis

Must-Miss TV: Edwin Plays Along

LAGNIAPPE

November 7, 2013

which seems to be Edwards’ attitude. That’s also how many in Louisiana would feel about the program, if, that is, it only aired within the state, not to be seen by the neighbors. Some will fear that, once viewed by the rest of the nation, the show will undermine the penance the state has paid and the lengths its people have gone — even electing Bobby Jindal — to outlive its old tawdry reputation. It’s doubtful many, if any, corporate executives seriously considering relocating here would take this production seriously. But for those tired of Louisiana being the butt of a long line of bad jokes, here we go again. As for the Edwards family, if they’re enjoying themselves and the money is good, all they’re giving up is their privacy. Tough luck for us they don’t value it more.

Scott Schafer / A&E

When the previews of The Governor’s Wife first aired, my response was that it would be both unwatchable and unmissable, much like a train wreck. It was that way in viewing its debut on A&E. When the second 30-minute episode started right afterward, two train wrecks turned out to be too many. This is pretty awful TV, as it makes Duck Dynasty look like Masterpiece Theater. But given that American Hoggers and Swamp People have secured their places in the vast wasteland of reality programming, who’s to say The Governor’s Wife won’t find its audience? For its image, Louisiana should be so unlucky. The premise of the show, as set up in the opening voiceover by Trina Edwards, is that of a fairy tale. That it is, starting with the title. “I am the governor’s wife,” she declares to open the show. She is not. Supriya Jindal is the governor’s wife. Trina is the ex-governor’s wife. That hasn’t the same ring to it, but A&E isn’t going to let truth in labeling get in the way of ratings and commercials. Louisiana viewers, particularly the residual fans of the ex-governor, may have tuned in expecting to be entertained by a running stream of his quips and ripostes about his life and times. His fan base was deeply disappointed. There’s nothing gubernatorial, or even ex-gubernatorial, about how Edwards portrays himself. He could be any old dude who goes along with whatever makes his much-younger wife happy. To that end, he plays the foil to Trina, who’s center stage nearly through-

Not All Legislators Paid The Same

out. The “reality” script is as contrived and stilted as the acting, right down to Trina’s tearing up as she worried over their in-vitro baby making venture. I was crying too, but for different reasons. Well, they had one playful exchange that bordered on humor. In the opening scene, as the two prepared for a book signing of Edwards’ authorized biography, Trina asked what he wanted her to do. He said, “You get the money for the books.”

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She said, “I’m supposed to take the money.” He said, “I think that’s your role in this marriage.” The gold digger references played in most scenes Trina shared with Edwards’ daughters, Anna and Victoria, who lamented that she’s already had to “share my inheritance with the federal government.” That was as close to reality as the dialogue came. Rather than carry on, I could just lighten up and not take it all seriously,

While all Louisiana legislators receive the same base salary, those in leadership positions receive bonuses. And payments for per diems and mileage can help even the lowliest lawmaker land a spot in the top rung alongside the bestpaid from both chambers. These are just a few of the findings resulting from a series of public records requests sought by LaPolitics and filled by the House and Senate in recent weeks. In total, the state spent $6.1 million last calendar year compensating the elected members of the Legislature. This figure included $4.3 million that was

doled out by the House and $1.7 million by the Senate. Since 2012 marked the beginning of a new term, a few outgoing lawmakers were paid for short stints, but the lion’s share of the money went to elected members who are still serving in the Legislature. Every member receives a salary of $16,800. But they also get $6,000 annually through an “unvouchered expense allowance,” which was passed in 1996 as a way for legislators to increase their taxable income without actually increasing their salaries. That gives each member of the Legislature a base income of $22,800. The top of the leadership chain in each chamber, however, receives a little more. This bump puts them atop the pay pyramid. The highest echelon begins with the budget chairmen. For their roles, Finance Chairman Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville, and Appropriations Chairman Jim Fannin, RJonesboro, both receive an additional salary hike of $28,000 for meeting well before the session begins and long after it ends, crafting spending plans that are always guaranteed to be as controversial as they are necessary. For wielding the big gavels, Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, and House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles, get much smaller perks — $14,870 in additional pay. The only other members who see more money through positions are their backups. President Pro Tem Sharon Weston Broome, D-Baton Rouge, and Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, get bonus pay amounting to $7,500 each. Every other lawmaker is confined to a base compensation of $22,800, although every member of the Legislature also receives per diems and mileage, which go toward their total taxable income. The per diem rate is $149. During the session, lawmakers get a per diem for each day, amounting to $12,814 for practically every legislator last year. They also get paid mileage for one round trip home per week during the session. The further away from Baton Rouge a lawmaker lives, the higher his mileage pay will be. Per diems and mileage payments are also given out for interim non-session committee meetings and legislative business, as well as for a basic “travel” category, which must be approved by the president or speaker. When all of these factors are combined, the lawmakers in each chamber with the top five taxable incomes from 2012 are:

— Senate Natural Resources Chairman Gerald Long, R-Winnfield: $54,655 — Sen. John Smith, R-Leesville: $54,544 At the other end of the spectrum, the lowest paid legislators last year were Sens. Rick Ward, R-Maringouin, $37,175, and Jody Amedee, R-Gonzales, $36,660, and Reps. Kenny Havard, $36,448; Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge, $36,359 and Alfred Williams, D-Baton Rouge, $36,227. While these figures represent only taxable income, the state also spent an additional $2.2 million — $1.4 million in the House and more than $820,000 in the Senate — during the last calendar year reimbursing lawmakers for office

expenses and lodging and paying for airfare, rent and event registrations on their behalf. With the average taxable income of a Louisiana legislator coming in at $41,755, they’re still far below their counterparts in places like Illinois, $67,836; Massachusetts, $60,032; and Ohio, $60,583, according to the latest salary breakdown compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Arkansas lawmakers are much closer to Louisiana in base pay, making $15,869 a year with a per diem of $147. The figures are even lower in Mississippi: $10,000 a year and a $123 per diem. Legislators in those states are cer-

tainly better off than the ones in New Mexico, where lawmakers receive no salary at all, though they do get a $154 per diem. In New Hampshire, a two-year term nets legislative members only $200 — and nothing more. The highest annual salaries for lawmakers are where you might expect them: California, $90,526; Michigan, $71,685; New York, $79,500; and Pennsylvania, $83,801.

Jeremy Alford and Kelly Connelly contributed to the story on legislative pay. For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.

House: — Fannin: $81,138 — Kleckley: $75,192 — Leger: $51,706 — Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton: $51,060 — Rep. Roy Burrell, D-Shreveport: $51,019

Senate: — Donahue: $67,074 — Alario: $63,789 — Senate Insurance Chairman Blade Morrish, R-Jennings: $58,975 www.BestOfSWLA.com

November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

TAKING CHARGE

dale archer, MD

Forever Young Today’s culture is so obsessed with looking and acting young it’s difficult to believe our founding fathers powdered their wigs gray in order to appear older and wiser. That’s right — being old was in. No more! From hair dyes to Botox to Viagra to wrinkle creams to a plethora of surgical procedures, the race is on to be beautiful and remain forever young. We’re bombarded daily with images via magazines, billboards, television and the Internet. It’s all about the look and the image, not about the experience and wisdom behind the eyes. Virtually every public figure from politicians to actors to TV talking heads has had “work” done to their face or body. This mirrors our superficial culture, in which anything important can be defined by 140 characters or less. There are many reasons America is so obsessed with youth, but perhaps nothing has done more to further the cause than the technological revolution. Let’s face it: the old are by and large slower and not as connected. How many people older than 60 do you know who use Twitter, Facebook or a cutting edge smartphone? But is this a bad thing? As the world continues to speed up, the wisdom of the ages can be Googled by anyone. The analogue world has been replaced by the digital age. Who needs to ask an old guy for advice when you can

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November 7, 2013

become a superficial expert on any topic after 30 minutes on the computer? Few people have time to slow down and become a true expert at anything anymore. Why, that could take (gasp!) days, weeks or even months! This constant access to information leaves the impression that a tidbit of knowledge, or a sound bite, is enough to be relevant. It suggests that a quick 10-minute read or video is equivalent to wisdom gained from years of hard-earned experience. There’s a mindset that it’s better to multi-task three things at once rather than take the time to do a single project perfectly. The ever-shortening attention span is a direct result of the ever-present smartphone,

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America’s Obsession With Never Growing Old

a 50- channel TV culture, video games that provide escape on demand and the 24-7 media cycle that provides never-ending information. Throughout the advance in technology the quest to remain young has accelerated at warp speed. Why is this the case, when before, gray hair and wrinkles coincided with patience, self-awareness and wisdom? As Hannibal Lecter told Clarice in ‘Silence of the Lambs’, “We begin by coveting what we see every day.” Ads and social media portray youth as sexy, attractive, cool and oh-so-connected. Look at any magazine, movie, video game or TV show and it’s easy to see. In 2011 alone, Americans spent $10.4 billion on cosmetic surgery. Annually, over $1.2 bil-

lion is spent on liposuction, $800 million on hair transplants and $11 billion on vitamins and supplements. There’s now no greater compliment we can pay another than to say, “Wow! You look so much younger!” There’s no doubt that being young is fast, fun and exciting. But there’s a time and a season for all things. Trying to hang onto the fast lane too long deprives us of the introspection, self-understanding and deep thoughts that usually accompany the process of growing older. Just because we can cling to youth a bit longer while life flies by at breakneck speed doesn’t mean that’s the best way to live. Frank Sinatra (remember him?) said it best in his introspective song “It Was A Very Good Year,” which traces life from teens to 20s to 30s and beyond: “But now the days grow short. I’m in the autumn of the year. And now I think of my life as vintage wine, from fine old kegs, from the brim to the dregs. And it poured sweet and clear. It was a very good year.” Dr. Dale Archer is a board certified psychiatrist who founded the Institute for Neuropsychiatry in Southwest Louisiana. He’s a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN Headline News and other national TV programs and the author of the New York Times’ bestselling book Better than Normal. Visit him at DrDaleArcher.com.

WEIRD NEWS

chuck shepherd

The Bar Is Always Open A 61-year-old Texas man admitted to a hospital appeared to be falling-down-drunk even though he denied having had a single drink. He was found to be manufacturing beer in his stomach. With “autobrewery syndrome,” stomach-based yeast automatically ferments all starches passing through, converting them into ethanol. As a rule, natural stomach bacteria control the yeast. But if, for example, antibiotics inadvertently eliminated the bacteria, the yeast would ferment. The case was reported in a recent International Journal of Clinical Medicine.

People Different From Us — Deborah Cipriani, 55, of North Ridgefield, Ohio, runs America’s only rescue center for skunks. She told London’s Daily Mail some of her com-

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November 7, 2013

panions like to sleep with her in bed (which is reportedly fine with partner Kevin). — In Layton, Utah, Diane Westcott and her husband have four cats and a dog. Since 2003, they have had a goose who sleeps with them. Gladys the goose wears diapers because, as Diane explained, it’s “not possible” to potty train a goose.

Great Art — Writer John Bohannon and the American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science has established an annual “Dance Your Ph.D” video competition. Entrant Sarah Wilk used glowing green balls and a flaming Hula-Hoop to help illustrate her “Odd-Z Transactinide Compound Nucleus Reactions Including Discovery of 260-Bh.” Peter Liddicoat used a juggler, a ballerina and others for “Evolution of Nanostructural Architecture in 7000 Series Aluminum

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Alloys During Strengthening by AgeHardening and Severe Plastic Deformation.” — Eager to make a point that his country of residence, France, is more oppressive to artists than his native South Africa, Steven Cohen staged a one-man demonstration at the Eiffel Tower in September. He wore a bird outfit, tights and a garter. Cohen was arrested. His lawyer complained that her client had been kept in custody too long for such a minor charge. “France,” she exclaimed, “is throwing artists in prison.”

Police Report — Abbott Griffin, 57, was arrested in Toledo, Ohio, in August and charged with robbing a Circle K convenience store. He allegedly grabbed the clerk and bashed him repeatedly with a Bible.

— One resident of a shelter in Seattle was charged with assaulting another with a tub of butter-substitute.

Government In Action — As several states debate permitting marijuana use with a doctor’s prescription, Irvin Rosenfeld presented his experience to a packed house at Kentucky’s state capitol. Rosenfeld suffers from painful bone tumors. He began smoking dope in the federal government’s Compassionate Investigational Drug program in 1982. Since then, he has consumed 130,000 government-supplied joints (12 a day, carefully measured). He says they absolutely have prolonged his life. “I didn’t ask for my bone disease,” he said. “All I asked for is the best medicine possible.” — While Congress struggled to pass a budget or an increase to the national debt limit, one program made it

through easily according to a September New York Times report: farm subsidies for inactive “farmers.” The subsidies were renewed, based on a 2008 law. That virtually assured that more than 18,000 in-name-only farmers (who received $24 million last year) would not be cut off. Included, according to a 2012 Government Accountability Office report, were recipients at 2,300 farms that hadn’t grown a single crop in five years. — The security contractor USIS, which does $2.45 billion worth of background checks for the National Security Agency, gets paid only for completed files. However, full background checks often require months of work. At some point, reported The New York Times in September, when USIS needed cash, it “flushed” still-open files, treating them as if they were completed, and submit them for payment. Subsequent, crucial information has sometimes failed to make it into the flushed files.

More Police Reports

gen supply. The man had already survived three explosions under the same circumstances.

A News of the Weird Classic (June 2008) Bird droppings are collected on 20 islands off the coast of Peru, where 12inch-thick seabird guano coats the land. In the 19th century, China fought with Peru on the high seas for the right to mine the guano, which, at that time, was 150 feet high in places. Said an official of the Peruvian company that controls guano production, “Before there was oil, there was guano, so of course we fought wars over it.” The exceptionally dry climate means that 15,000 tons of guano are available yearly.

Open Sores Bandit Honesty Keener, 37, was convicted in Gloucester County, N.J., in August of a 2011 break-in during which she demanded money from the female resident. She threated to rub her open sores over the resident’s skin.

— Deaaron Hearn, 22, was arrested in Iowa City, Iowa, after a traffic officer told him to summon a friend to drive his car home. Hearn responded by reaching into his pocket, placing a $20 bill to his ear and attempting a make a phone call. — In October, Brenda Diaz, 26, allegedly attacked a Shell station’s Slushie machine in the nude while her two children were waiting in the car in Holyoke, Mass. Police tasered, peppersprayed and arrested her.

Undignified Deaths —A 68-year-old hiker with a broken ankle was killed in Mansfield, Australia, after he was lifted from the bush by an Ambulance Victoria helicopter. Moments after he was airborne, he fell to his death. — A 52-year-old man was killed in an explosion in Rowan County, Ky., in July when he lit a cigarette while he was hooked up to an oxy-

Deadline to place orders for Thanksgiving is Sat., Nov. 23 We are open until 1pm on the day before Thanksgiving

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November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

TECH BYTES

vic wukovits

Stay Private How To Keep Your Privacy On Facebook

Are you on Facebook? If so, then chances are you’ve seen something scary from one of your friends about privacy settings that was posted because Facebook changed something. Most recently, the Facebook “Graph App” is the culprit. The message will inform you that by jumping through some hoops, you’ll keep Facebook’s information invisible to the public and Facebook won’t delete you — or some other such nonsense. Most of the people who post this sort of thing are just copying and pasting something they saw one of their friends post. Chances are, they don’t even understand all the instructions they’re putting out there for you to follow.

You have the ability to review anything you’re tagged in before that tag appears in Facebook. What’s even better is that a lot of people don’t even have their own Facebook privacy settings locked down, so these false threats aren’t comparable to what they’re unintentionally exposing about themselves already. The best way to make sure strangers aren’t up in your business on Facebook is to check your privacy settings. Start by accessing “Privacy Settings” through the menu at the top right of your Facebook interface; just click the little gear icon. I recommend you do this on your computer, as the mobile apps for Facebook can be limited in some ways, while the computer will have all the features. Facebook has made the privacy settings very user-friendly by asking simple questions for you to answer. To change the setting, click on “Edit” and select the degree of privacy you want. For example, “who can see your future posts” lets you select the default level for people with whom you share your Facebook posts. This can be changed on an individual 20

LAGNIAPPE

November 7, 2013

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basis, but I keep mine set to “Friends.” In fact, most of my privacy settings are kept to only friends; I don’t want anyone I’m not friends with to see my activity or information. You can also limit the audience of your old posts in the same way. But remember that anyone you’ve tagged and their friends can see still see these. I don’t lock down the settings for who can find or contact me, as I can easily ignore any request to be my Facebook friend. By not imposing that restriction, I can enjoy being surprised by an old acquaintance when they get around to joining Facebook. I do keep my timeline linking to search engines turned off, as I don’t want my stuff searchable on the Internet. Another degree of control is the ability to review posts or photos in which you’ve been tagged. I try to keep my Facebook profile pretty clean. And while I might enjoy some of my friends’ crass humor, I don’t necessarily need to be associated with some of the stuff they post and tag me in. By turning these on in the “Timeline and Tagging Settings” in your “Privacy Settings,” you have the ability to review anything you’re tagged in before that tag appears in Facebook. You can also review tags that people try to add to your content — another degree of control I keep on. Facebook also makes it possible to block certain users, app invites, and apps themselves. This allows you to keep a clean news feed, removing annoying game posts and invites you get on a daily basis. My list of blocked apps is pretty substantial. Being able to clear out the clutter is key to having a Facebook timeline you can tolerate on a daily basis. Before you go copying and pasting some scary post about threats to your privacy on Facebook, make sure your own privacy settings are set correctly. Then, go visit www.snopes.com and see if the post you’ve read is really a valid concern. Checking facts before spreading hysteria is always a good idea. Another suggestion is to “Like” my Facebook page (facebook.com/ BayouTechnologies) where I post my articles and other great tech tidbits you can use.

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November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

FILE 13

brad goins

The Hippie Menace The great catastrophe began on Sept. 28, 1968, when the television show The Mod Squad debuted on the ABC network. Before The Mod Squad, hippies were marginal creatures, who poured lighter fluid on electric guitars or stood on Atlanta street corners trying to sell copies of The Bird. But The Mod Squad spread the insidious message that hippiedom could be mainstream — so mainstream that even a bunch of detectives could be hippies. Those who’d always been known as people who “hassled” (in the hippie lingo of the day) hippies could themselves be hippies. One of them even wore an afro! Hippiedom spread even further into the mainstream exactly two years later when The Partridge Family (another ABC show) debuted. The message here was plain enough: hippiedom had permeated the nuclear family structure itself. There were no more important structures of society left for hippiedom to conquer. Just in case a few people who’d been in comas missed these shows, a mere six months later, All in the Family debuted. On this show — which enjoyed unprecedented popularity — Rob Reiner strutted around as a perfectly integral member of the family, and also clearly the family member who was the smartest of the bunch. Indeed, much of his immense hip-

The Mod Squad

pie intelligence was used to mock those characters in the program who dared to question hippieism. Reiner clearly looked like a hippie. Why did he look like one? Well, he was one. It was as simple as that. It shouldn’t have been lost on anyone that two of the three networks were now willing purveyors of the revolting doctrine that hippiedom could be, and was, an essential part of American mainstream life.

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LAGNIAPPE

November 7, 2013

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There were occasional hopeless efforts of resistance. The Brady Bunch, a television show about a wholesome, mainstream American family, once featured a guest star who had the trademark long, shaggy hippie haircut. “Momma,” asked a young daughter, “why is his hair so long?” “Well, honey,” said Momma (Florence Henderson), “he doesn’t feel very good about how he is inside so he tries to cover himself up with hair so you

can’t see in his eyes.” This was the perversity of hippiedom expressed in a nutshell, and a powerful argument against it. But in the end, it was merely a prophet crying in the wilderness. Some may have thought that Reaganism would put a crimp in the hippie domination of American popular culture. But dropping a 25 megaton bomb on HUD subsidies didn’t even slow down the hippie juggernaut. That was evident in Prince’s 1985 album Around the World in A Day, with its psychedelic art and tunes. The record was an arrogant, triumphant and assured celebration of hippiedom’s lock on popular American culture. The message was clear — we’ve won. Take the chorus from the album’s biggest hit, Little Red Corvette. “You need a love that’s going to last.” Love? What love would that be? Oh, I don’t know. Could it be the love that was the focus of the line “All you need is love” — the quintessential hippie principle as expressed by the quintessential hippie, John Lennon? Prince’s “You need a love that’s going to last” translated into “You need John Lennon’s hippie love, which you can be sure is going to last a long, long time in American mainstream culture.” Prince’s message was just following

up on the movie The Big Chill, released two years earlier, which had reinforced the message that hippiedom was still firmly in control of the American family and the cinematic branch of popular culture. But even the most potent cultural force will eventually lose power if the public isn’t reminded of its strength from time to time. Thus it was that movies celebrating and advancing hippiedom followed fast and furious: Born on the Fourth of July (1989); The Doors (1991); Forrest Gump (1994). All of this was small potatoes in comparison to the emergence of the ultimate tag team of hippiedom: Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Depp had earned his hippie chops early on with What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1983). At about the same time, Burton honed two irreverent and disturbing portrayals of the terrain of the hippiedom with Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985) and Beetlejuice (1988). In the 21st century, the hippie team of Burton and Depp tried taking hippiedom to a new realm of domination: historical revisionism. In two films — Sweeney Todd (2007) and Alice in Wonderland (2010) — they created the potent myth that hippies had been prominent in Victorian England, thus giving hippiedom a mythical historical background. For those who didn’t know the historical background was fictional, it was just more verification of the validity of hippiedome. Movies always have far more influence on the popular culture than music. Why? People listen to the words in movies and don’t listen to the words in music.

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton

The war has been lost. But is there still a chance for an effective revolt? Maybe. It’ll be up to you to try. Tell your children and grandchildren to break their Country Joe and the Fish and Quicksilver Messenger Service albums, to burn their Eldridge Cleaver and Ram Dass books, to tear up their Stairway To Heaven black light posters, and smash their mood rings and Pet Rocks. It’s our last chance. But maybe it is, in the long term, a real chance. The most desperate of measures may, in just the right circumstances, forge the most unlikely return of goodness, truth and purity.

Prince

Still, hippies have ensured that Prince’s message of hippie dominance of popular music endures. Of course, there are the usual suspects — Phish, Flaming Lips, Spiritualized. But hippiedom’s now extended its reach into experimental music, in a subgenre called (not very subtly) “psychedelic trance.” “Oh Brad,” you say, “trance is just experimental music. Nobody listens to it. It has no influence over anything.” Don’t you believe it. Hippieism’s conquest of America’s popular culture and media is complete. Everywhere one looks, one sees the cultural icons of hippieism: Johnny Depp, Russell Brand, Brad Pitt, Lil’ Wayne and that freak Drew Barrymore. Now even Miley Cyrus wants to be a hippie. She doesn’t, apparently, know how to do it. But she seems bound to do it or die trying. www.BestOfSWLA.com

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THE LAKE AREA IS ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S CENTERS OF CAJUN CUISINE. THE AREA ALSO OFFERS EVERYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE, FROM THE ALL-AMERICAN BURGER TO THE INTERNATIONAL DELICACY. IN THIS SECTION, RESTAURANTS SPOTLIGHT SOME OF THEIR MOST POPULAR AND TANTALIZING HOUSE SPECIALTIES AND THEIR UNIQUE OFFERINGS IN MOUTH-WATERING DETAIL.

COYOTE BLUES If Mexico and Louisiana were neighbors, Coyote Blues would be a border town. Our chefs start with traditional Southwestern dishes, then let their spicy, good-time Cajun roots take over. Mesquite wood-burning grills, market-fresh ingredients and the rich flavors from these two familiar lands bring the place where Mexico meets Louisiana right to your table. Our menu offers a wide variety of options, from traditional Mexican items to unique steak and seafood dishes. We are proud to be the only Fresh Mexican Grill in the Lake Area and we sincerely thank all our guests for the generous acceptance and support we have seen since opening our doors in 2010. It is our promise to you is that we will continue to raise the standard of dining in Lake Charles with our high-quality food, drinks and exceptional service. Enjoy Coyote Blues today at 3624 Ryan Street in Lake Charles. For to-go orders or catering, call 502-5131.

PANDA SUPER BUFFET Situated in the old Copeland’s building at 3525 Hwy. 14 (Gerstner Memorial Blvd.), Panda Super Buffet impresses from the moment you walk in the door, not only with its stunning decor, but also with its wide variety of excellent Chinese-American and local dishes. Come into Panda Super Buffet for its all-you-can-eat buffet, offered all day, seven days a week and you'll discover why Panda was voted best buffet in SWLA. Choose from a huge selection, including a sushi buffet, a Mongolian Grill buffet and much more. Can’t take the time to eat in? Choose one of Panda’s delectable Chinese favorites from the take-out menu. And Panda also serves local favorites such as crawfish, oysters and crabs, in season, and now serves luscious ribeye steak. Wash all that delicious food down with Panda’s drink menu, which now includes beer, wine, mixed drinks and sake. You also get free refills on soda! The adult lunch buffet is a huge hit, as is the Sunday afternoon buffet. Ask about their special rates for kids. Panda also takes reservations for your corporate parties and special gettogethers. Gift certificates also available.

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DARRELL'S PO-BOYS You know the Darrell’s Special, with its three meats, three cheeses and distinctive jalapeno mayo, is the most famous sandwich in Lake Charles. A little messy, but dearly loved nonetheless, this sandwich is undeniably a local institution. And you know that Darrell’s has won the award for best po-boy in Lagniappe’s Best of Lake Charles every year the competition has been held. What you may not know is that Darrell’s also offers smoked brisket and smoked sausage sandwiches, both topped with Darrell’s own homemade barbecue sauces. For your toppings, choose from a wide variety of cheeses and condiments. And you may not know that Darrell’s now gives diners the option of getting every sandwich on wheat bread. All Darrell’s most popular po-boys – the shrimp, ham, turkey and roast beef – now offer this healthy option. Darrell’s is both a friendly, casual family restaurant and the perfect laid-back sports bar. The spacious dining area provides a variety of screens for easy viewing. And of course, Darrell’s wide variety of beers serve as the perfect accompaniment for an after-work wind-down or an after-hours wing-ding. Fresh, hearty foot in a fun, spacious place – those are the qualities that have made Darrell’s a local favorite year after year. If you haven’t yet tried a Darrell’s Special on wheat, why not make the drive to 119 W. College and experience the pleasure of a sandwich at Darrell’s all over again?

WINKYDOO'S Remember how good Borden’s was? Well, you can still get all those old-fashioned treats, like real malts, banana splits, sundaes and more, at Winkydoo’s malt shop in Sulphur. Windydoo’s uses Bluebell ice cream, Colombo yogurt and a wide selection of low-carb, nonfat and sugar-free items. At Winkydoo’s, the sandwiches are made from scratch. Choose from the muffuletta, Cajun roast beef, turkey, ham, barbecue beef and hot link sandwiches. Or try the Frito pie. Or enjoy the hot dogs – made fresh with homemade chili. If the menu at Winkydoo’s doesn’t take you back in time, then the nostalgic atmosphere will. When you want a treat, or just want to reminisce, Winkydoo’s has something for you. There’s a treasure in Sulphur ... Winkydoo’s Malt Shop! Take a trip to Winkydoo’s and reexperience the world of the old-fashioned malt shop today. And remember, we have a convenient drivethru window. 2701 S. Ruth Street • Sulphur 70665 • (337) 527-9189

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November 7, 2013

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OTIS & HENRY'S AT ISLE OF CAPRI Otis & Henry's Bar and Grill combines the comfort of a neighborhood bar and grill with the favorites of a steakhouse. The menu has something for everyone whether it’s Chicken and Andouille Gumbo, Redfish Opelousas or mouthwatering Cajun Rib-Eye. Don't pass up the Bourbon Pecan Pie, it’s sure to become a favorite!

PITT GRILL Pitt Grill is celebrating more than 60 years of fine food tradition. Pitt Grill first opened in 1950. It was located next to the Pitt Theater on Kirby Street in Lake Charles. Fifteen years later, it moved to Prien Lake Road and Ryan Street only to move again and settle on Earnest Street. Since then, a new location has recently been built on Prien Lake Road. Pitt Grill has been in continuous operation since it opened in 1950. It’s locally owned and operated by Bob and Jana King. Pitt Grill serves you top-notch burgers, poboys, sandwich wraps, fried chicken, seafood and breakfast ‘round-the-clock. Pitt Grill now serves imported and domestic beer. Visit Pitt Grill online at www.pittgrill.com or find Pitt Grill on Facebook. Enjoy Pitt Grill’s comfort food and family favorites at five locations: 606 West Prien Lake Road in Lake Charles; PG’s Diner at 3048 Highway 14 in Lake Charles; 102 Benoit Lane in Sulphur; 1119 Lowe Grout Road in Iowa and 2360 West MacArthur Drive in Alexandria.

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November 7, 2013

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MR. BILL'S SEAFOOD EXPRESS Family owned and operated since 1988, Mr. Bill’s Seafood Express at 500 E. McNeese St offers some of the Lake Area’s best seafood — fried, boiled or grilled. Try Mr. Bill’s shrimp, oyster, or fish dinners, from two-piece dinners for one to 18-piece boxes for families. Try popcorn shrimp, grilled fish, soft-shell crab, fried oysters. Can’t decide? Try the seafood platter, with stuffed crab, stuffed shrimp, a fish filet, four shrimp, four oysters and a crab cake. Try Mr. Bill’s best-seller: fried shrimp — fresh and oh, so good. You can also pick up a family box when time is short and a hungry family is waiting at home. Choose from 6-, 8- or 12-piece fish dinners, 36-piece fish, shrimp or oyster dinners, or a combo of fish and either shrimp or oysters. Of course, you’ll find an assortment of seafood po boys — shrimp oyster, fish, soft-shell crab or a combination of any two seafood choices. Not feeling like seafood tonight? Try Mr. Bill’s fried or grilled chicken stuffed potato, a 16-oz. ribeye, grilled or fried pork chops or chicken strips, Mr. Bill’s fantastic burger, or a grilled or fried chicken or pork chop po boy. Salad choices include fried or grilled shrimp or chicken. And of course, you’ll find boiled shrimp by the pound, and boiled crawfish in season. Daily plate lunches are available. Mouthwatering sides include boudin balls, homemade onion rings, fries, fried cheese sticks, corn nuggets, crabmeat jalapenos, fried mushrooms, shrimp and cab pistolettes and more. Wondering what to do about the holiday feast this year? Stop in at Mr. Bill’s and order a perfectly-fried or smoked turkey for the holiday meal or for holiday parties. Catering is available. MSU, Sowela and Delta students receive free soft drink with student ID. Gift certificates available. Check out Mr. Bill’s Facebook page for daily specials or for more info, call , 477-9746.

COTTEN'S FAMOUS HAMBURGERS The "King of the Grill" here in Southwest Louisiana is Kenny Cotten, and you can find him cooking up his famous specialty at Cotten's Famous Hamburgers, 2001 Oak Park Boulevard in Lake Charles. Kenny and the friendly folks at Cotten's offer a large variety of menu items, including catfish sandwiches, shrimp burgers, egg burgers, steak dinners, seafood, chicken tender sandwiches and more. Taking notes? Well here's a hot tip: One of Cotten's famous hamburgers and an order of their onion rings (which Kenny should actively seek a patent on) is a no-lose sure bet for a great fill-up. And since their burgers are so inexpensive, well heck, a place like this with great food and great prices are few and far between. In fact, they've earned Best Burger honors a whopping eleven times!

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SHOP-A-LOT DELI Shop A Lot, located on Hazel St. two blocks behind JC Penney in the Prien Lake Mall, is Lake Charles’ best-kept secret, offering a wide variety of sandwiches, burgers, seafood baskets, plate lunches, dinners and fried chicken. In the mood for a burger? Try Shop A Lot’s jumbo bacon cheeseburger, or go the seafood route with a crab burger or beer-battered fried fish burger.. You’ll find a mouthwatering election of sandwiches including fried pork chop and fried shrimp. Try one of Shop A Lot’s many po boys, including catfish, shrimp, roast beef and cheese, sausage and cheese, and Philly Swiss cheese. Hungry for some great seafood? Here’s where you’ll find the area’s best shrimp and catfish baskets. Dinners and lunches include hamburger steak and fried pork chop. There’s also some of the best fried chicken in the Lake Area, served in two- to three-piece dinners, in two- to six-piece tender baskets. Or take home Shop A Lot’s delicious chicken in boxes of eight, 12, 16 and 18 pieces. You’ll also find great sides and extras like corn dogs, egg rolls, cheese sticks, sausage on a stick, potato wedges, fried corn nuggets, meat pies and Shop A Lot’s famous fried boudin link. Wash it all down with Coca Cola products, Gold Peak teas or one of Shop A Lot’s delicious frozen daiquiris, including hurricane, margarita and strawberry. Shop A Lot is open Monday-Saturday, 10 am-6 pm. Call in your order ahead at 433-2135 and use their convenient pick up window.

PEKING GARDEN Want a taste of the Orient? Head to Peking Garden and take advantage of one of the Lake Area’s most consistently good restaurants. Enjoy a relaxing evening with your loved ones, or show up for an important business lunch. Peking Garden offers an exciting alternative to the same old everyday buffet. Mr. and Mrs. Jay Huang opened this family-owned and operated establishment back in 1984. Since then, Peking Garden has frequently been voted “Best Chinese Restaurant” in local Reader’s Choice contests and was chosen “Best Oriental Food” in Southwest Louisiana for three years by Louisiana Life magazine. Party rooms are available for business meetings, parties or birthdays. And the decor at Peking Garden is something to marvel at. And don't forget ... everyone in SWLA is talking about Peking Garden's famous egg rolls: They're big, fat and tasty! If you haven’t visited Peking Garden lately, it’s time to go again. Whether you dine in or take out, you’re sure to pleased with their authentic oriental cuisine. Their famous kitchen just underwent a massive makeover, so all of Peking Garden's fine food is coming out even better than you remember.

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BAR NOW OPEN!

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ZEUS GREEK AND LEBANESE CAFE Zeus is fast becoming a local legend. This incredible Greek and Lebanese restaurant, at 409 W. Prien Lake Rd., offers Greek and Lebanese favorites served in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, complete with live music on Saturdays. Start off with favorite appetizers such as hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, grape leaves or spinach pies. Or, try a bit of everything with the appetizer platter, which includes baba ganoush, hummus, spinach pie, feta cheese, a meat-stuffed grape leaf and mujadarah (a combination of lentil, rice and salted onions). You’ll also find soups and salads, including the fantastic Lebanese parsley salad called tabbouleh. Try Zeus’ vegetarian entrees, which include stuffed eggplant, falafel and vegetarian kabob, a skewer of broiled vegetables served with rice pilaf, hummus and a feta salad. Dinner specialties includes chicken shawerma (slices of chicken breast marinated and broiled on a vertical grill; gyro (seasoned lamb and beef broiled in the vertical grill); lamb, chicken, beef, ground beef or shrimp kabobs (can’t decide? Get a mixed plate and have a mixed kabob of lamb, beef, chicken and ground beef.) You’ll also enjoy lamb chops hot off the grill; the Zeus steak: a 12-oz. ribeye grilled to perfection in Zeus’ secret Lebanese seasoning; moussaka, a Greek dish featuring layers of potatoes, eggplant and ground beef; grilled or broiled tilapia; or shrimp scampi. For the kids, there’s chicken fingers, and chicken shawerma or gyro served with fries. Zeus offers catering and private parties, as well as gift cards. Enjoy their belly dancers on Fridays from 6-9pm and some incredible guitar stylings on Saturdays from 6-9pm. Visit Zeus, where hospitality is the tradition. Call ahead orders at 439-7099. Visit zeuscafe.com for more info.

BAR-B-QUE PIT STOP Imagine a traditional plate lunch, but with four meats instead of one. That’s the Super Plate Lunch at Bar-B-Que Pit Stop in the Landmark Event Center in Westlake. For your super lunch, choose from pulled pork, brisket, chicken, pork ribs, pork steak and pure pork sausage. (There are also Single and Double plate lunches for smaller appetites.) Also unique to Bar-B-Que Pit Stop is the Just Meat selection. Enjoy a whole, half or quarter chicken or a whole or half rack of ribs, plus links of boudin and sausage. They serve such traditional favorites as gumbo, red beans and rice, burgers, poboys, peach cobbler and bread pudding. The selection of baked potatoes includes the Loaded With Meat option. Bar-B-Que Pit Stop offers dine-in, drive-through and delivery. Find the Pit Stop at 2400 Westwood Road at the north end of Sampson Street. Hours: Mon-Fri 11 am7 pm; call 433-7818.

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November 7, 2013

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BILLEDEAUX'S CAJUN KITCHEN Billedeaux’s Cajun Kitchen, located at 2633 Fruge St./Highway 90 in Lake Charles, offers homestyle Cajun cooking — plate lunches, smoked meats, boudin, sausage and po boys. You’ll find mild or spicy boudin, smoked boudin and boudin balls, and smoked pork and turkey tasso. If you’re in the mood for some great sausage, you’ll find some of the area’s best at Billedeaux’s — pure pork, spicy garlic pork, mixed beef and pork, turkey and venison. Try Billedeaux’s smoked chicken or turkey or smoked pork ribs. You’ll also find great stuffed pork chops, po boys — including sausage, brisket, ham and cheese, pulled pork boneless rib or Philly cheesesteak. Or try one of Billedeaux’s great burgers — chicken, brisket, hot link and boudin burgers. You’ll also find jambalaya lunches with chicken, sausage or brisket. Billedeaux’s also offers beef jerky, rice dressing, hogshead cheese, potato salad, fries, and more. For downhome Cajun specialties, you can’t do better than Billedeaux’s. Call 439-9944 or follow them on Facebook.

STEAMBOAT BILL'S Chicago native Kathi Kocik Bonamici came to Lake Charles in 1982 and began selling shrimp on the side of the road. Her humble roadside business became Steamboat Bill’s, now known for the freshest, tastiest seafood around. They’ve also become known for their generous portions of such seafood favorites as butterfly shrimp, stuffed crabs, fried oysters and gumbo, and you have to wait in line during crawfish season because Steamboat Bill’s is the place to go for hot, perfectly spiced crawfish. Steamboat Bills is located on North Lakeshore Dr. in Lake Charles. They’re open seven days a week for you to enjoy the best seafood in the Lake Area. The original Steamboat is at the corner of Broad and Highway 14 / Martin Luther King Highway.

LUNA BAR AND GRILL Imagine a local bistro with a courtyard, the walls covered with carefully crafted art, the food made from fresh ingredients and original recipes and served in a cultured and relaxing atmosphere. Imagine a sophisticated watering hole without sophisticated prices — a place where the food is of the highest quality. The unique bistro you’re imagining is Luna. It has everything the discriminating diner could desire— abundant original art on celestial themes, live music on the weekends and a relaxing atmosphere where culture counts. The foods at Luna don’t fall into one broad classification. Luna’s is carving out its own dining niche with its unique and exotic food. Some examples? The Neptune is a grilled yellow fin tuna sandwich with fixings and jalapeno mayo. The Saturn sandwich combines grilled turkey with feta cheese, avocado and sautéed mushrooms. As for entrées, the Orion Salmon has a pecan glaze and is seasoned with citrus and herbs. The chicken Ella is topped with sautéed crawfish and sits in a basil creme sauce. Luna recently unveiled a new Sunday Brunch menu, served from 11am-2pm. After 2pm Sunday, the famous full menu at Luna goes into effect. There are specialty salads, crawfish bread, Sun Burger, shrimp Bienville and scampi, ribeye, a kid’s menu, freshly prepared desserts and more, more, more. Vegetarians and vegans will find menu items they can enjoy. Luna is an artsy, intimate and comfortable bistro-style bar and grill. Head downtown to 719 Ryan. For to-go orders, call 494-LUNA. 32

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CAJUN TALES Are you hungry for some hot and spicy Cajun cuisine? How about a tale of good food? Their story-telling ability aside, this place sure knows how to spin a good meal. Would you enjoy some stuffed homemade crawfish pie topped with crawfish etouffee? Or perhaps you're craving some broiled stuffed catfish topped with sautĂŠed shrimp? If so, then Cajun Tales is the place for you. Nestled just off Interstate 10 in Welsh, Cajun Tales opened in August of 1989 and soon became a huge success. Known for its delicious food, Cajun Tales serves some of the finest seafood in the south. For those with an appetite for variety, Cajun Tales offers an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet on Friday and Saturday nights. And don't worry about the little tykes in your family: Cajun Tales now offers a special kid-size menu, tailor-made for even the smallest visitor. Cajun Tales also features a variety of cheesecakes and other delicious desserts. Catering is available on-site for office parties, weddings, rehearsal dinners, etc. (They are now booking Christmas parties.) Whether you're hungry for some crab-finger appetizers, a tasty Cajun-style steak or a seafood platter with all the trimmings, make the short drive to Welsh and you won't be let down.

KD'S DINER The Japanese like to wake up to a nice plate of fish. The French open their eyes to a croissant, and Persians like a nice sheep's-head broth. We Southwest Louisianians have our own a.m. needs ... they center on omelets, bacon, French toast, pancakes and a great cup of coffee ... and KD's meets that need. Serving a great breakfast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is only a part of their wellrounded repertoire that also includes gumbo, salads, po-boys, burgers, fantastic homemade daily specials and a whole lot more.

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BIG EASY FOODS For more than a decade, Lake Charles has been home to one of the most delicious secrets in the country. Big Easy Foods—a locally owned business, managed by partners Larry Avery and Mark Abraham—found its early footing by producing and selling unique recipes of sausage and boudin in stores throughout Southwest Louisiana. Then known as French Market Foods, the company’s products grew in popularity with the local community. With popularity came demand, and that demand required bigger and better manufacturing capabilities to meet it. Avery and Abraham knew it was the right time to implement their vision of growth by enhancing their product output—as well as their product line—and they knew that Lake Charles, Louisiana was the right place to do it. Once the 15,000 square foot USDA plant was complete, the Big Easy Foods brand expanded by developing a unique and flavorful holiday classic; the Louisiana stuffed Tur-Duc-Hen. From inception, the stuffed Tur-Duc-Hen earned its place on dinner tables across the country, and with Big Easy Foods offering seven unique stuffing recipes, their Tur-DucHens found favor with a broad palette of holiday dining sensibilities. To help sasiate the national craving for this savory Louisiana delicacy, Big Easy Foods implemented a user-friendly e-store where those with an appetite for all-things-Louisiana can shop and ship, having the flavors of the deep south delivered directly to their door with very little effort. Bigeasyfoods.com makes it quite easy to find and ship the entire Big Easy Foods line, which has grown far beyond its original sausage and boudin borders. This innovative and evolving line now includes a buffet of single serving and dinner sized Louisiana entrées, boneless stuffed chickens, Louisiana seasoning, boudin balls, cornbread casseroles and meat pies. While the Big Easy Foods name has become synonymous with sausage, boudin and Tur-Duc-Hens, the brand is also a major supplier of Wild Caught Gulf Shrimp to stores across America. In recent years, public awareness about the superb quality and flavor of Louisiana shrimp has increased, shifting demand away from chemically infused foreign competitors. This changing tide has helped position Big Easy Foods as a premier processor of domestic shrimp in the gulf coast region, placing Big Easy Foods branded Wild Caught Gulf Shrimp in grocery stores, restaurants and popular seafood recipes. With the holidays fast approaching, there’s no better time to put a Big Easy Foods stuffed turkey or Tur-Duc-Hen on your menu. Big Easy Foods products are located in grocery stores across Southwest Louisiana, and they can also be purchased by visiting their office, which is located directly behind the Big Easy Foods manufacturing facility on Ryan Street. For those that like the convenience of shopping online, or who’d like to gift Big Easy Foods to family or friends, www.bigeasyfoods.com is always available, providing weekly discount codes, product bundles and e-specials.

ROY'S MEAT MARKET Located at 401 S. Thompson St., suite B, in Iowa,Roy’s offers a huge variety of fresh meats. Before your next barbecue, or for those upcoming holiday meals, stop by Roy’s for the highest-quality meats, including five-pound orders of shoulder steak, round steak, sausage, pork chops, pork ribs, whole fryers, leg quarters, hamburger chuck and T-bone steak. Call 582-2220 to order ahead, or fax it in at 582-2221. Check them out on the web at roysmeatmarketswla.com. 34

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November 7, 2013

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THE HARLEQUIN

THE MONGOLIAN HOUSE

In 1956 Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Hunter had a dream of opening up a restaurant and lounge in Lake Charles. That dream materialized into Harlequin Steaks & Seafood. Today, 57 years later, the Harlequin is still under family management, being run by Nic Hunter. Decades and other restaurants have come and gone, but the Harlequin is still consistently offering a product that is more than just a meal; it is a dining experience. Open for lunch and dinner, the Hunter family and Harlequin staff would like to invite Southwest Louisiana to enjoy a meal with them. For those who have been loyal patrons over the years, they say "thank you" and they look forward to seeing you again soon. For those new to the Lake Area, or those who have not experienced the Harlequin for some time, they say "come and experience the restaurant 57 years in the making!" Whether you order a classic filet mignon or ribeye, or enjoy one of their "off the menu" fresh gulf seafood selections, they guarantee you will leave the Harlequin understanding why they have been around for 57 years. Their steaks are what have made the Harlequin famous, but after 57 years "we have truly become the ultimate restaurant experience for Southwest Louisiana." Visit Harlequin at 501 W. College or follow them on Facebook!

The Mongolian House, an authentic mixture of Japanese and Chinese cuisine prepared Mongolian style, is taking the lake area by storm. Located at 211 W. Prien Lake Road, they offer a complete menu of traditional Japanese sushi, and their experienced sushi chef always looks forward to preparing elegant works of art for you to enjoy. When you step into The Mongolian House, you are transported to a beautiful Asian atmosphere. They strive to ensure your visit is as comfortable and memorable as possible. They take pride in their delicious meals, generous sushi selection, and serene Asian decor. They offer four distinct areas ... Mongolian grill, buffet, sushi bar and regular bar. The Mongolian House can also accommodate large groups or parties. Call them at 564-6922 for more info. They are open Monday-Thursday 11am-2:30pm and 4:30pm to 9:30pm; Friday and Saturday 11am-10:30pm and Sunday Noon-9pm. Visit them online on Facebook or at www.themongolianhouse.com.

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November 7, 2013

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BIG DADDY'S SPORTS GRILL

SONNIER'S Sonnier's Sausage and Boudin serves up the best boudin (regular, jalapeno or smoked) and sausage (variety) famous with the green onion jalapeno. They also offer fresh meat cut daily, cracklins, beef, pork, poultry and expert deer processing. You can choose from several flavors, including pepperjack cheese deer sausage. Call-in orders are welcome. Sonnier's is proudly locally owned and operated by Lane and Laurie Sonnier and is located at 1217 Mill St. in Lake Charles. It's a family tradition! Call 656-2876 or stop by Sonnier's today to treat yourself to some of the best meat you'll ever have. Find Sonnier's on Facebook for more information and photos of their fantastic offerings!

Big Daddy's Sports Grill, located at 1737 West Sale Rd. in Lake Charles, defies the imagination with their wonderful, homecooked offerings. No wonder they are referred to as "the little restaurant with a lot of flavor. For breakfast, lunch or dinner, you’ll never go wrong with Big Daddy’s ... so drop in today for a culinary experience that’s sure to please. Everything single item on their varied menu is a sure-fire winner. For example, Big Daddy’s Sports Grill serves up a tender, mouth-watering ribeye steak with your choice of a baked potato, rice and gravy, french fries, a fresh, crisp green salad and bread. Also, the glorious 1/2-pound burger from Big Daddy’s pictured here pretty much ends all conversations about burgers. Hurry over and get one of these out-of-this-world mouth-watering masterpieces today. It’s a half-pound beef patty atop a tasty toasted bun with lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, mayo and mustard. Shown with waffle fries, this burger can also be paired with fries or homemade onion rings. Stop by, call today (477-9033) and check out Big Daddy's on Facebook ... you'll be glad you did!

SOUTHERN SPICE Southern Spice Restaurant and Grill has been serving the Lake Charles area home-style southern and cajun cooking since 1997. They continue to strive to bring you the best, home-cooked food and a friendly, family oriented atmosphere. From hamburgers to plate lunches and seafood to steak, they have a little of everything to please just about anyone. So, bring in the whole family and enjoy some home cooking without the work. Southern Spice has been voted best breakfast, best chicken-fried steak and best onion rings numerous times, and was also recently named one of the top 20 restaurants in all of SWLA. Southern Spice has two locations: Lake Charles (3901 Ryan St., 474-6065) and Moss Bluff ( 277 Hwy 171 North, 855-0010). The Lake Charles Southern Spice is open from Monday-Thursday 7am-9pm and Friday and Saturday 7am-10pm. The Moss Bluff location is open MondaySaturday 7am-9pm. Visit them online at www.mysouthernspice.com or follow them on Facebook. www.BestOfSWLA.com

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FOX'S PIZZA DEN OF SULPHUR Owners Dewey and Kelly Freeman own and run this establishment individually, and before they opened their doors to the public they decided to offer only the very best pizza, hoagies and wedgies. And that's exactly what you'll find at Fox's Pizza Den of Sulphur — everything's made from the best quality ingredients and baked with tender loving care. Try one of Fox's gourmet pizzas such as the Veggie De Light, with olives, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, tomatoes and mozzarella; the BBQ pizza, with chicken, barbecue sauce, green peppers and onions, covered with cheddar and mozzarella; the Steak Rancher Pizza, with choice sirloin steak, ranch dressing sauce, green peppers, onions, mushrooms and mozzarella; the Hawaiian pizza, with pineapples and ham; the Bacon Double Cheeseburger, with lots of beef, bacon, mozzarella and cheddar; the Taco Pizza, with taco meat, nacho chips, cheddar, lettuce, tomato and salsa, served with taco sauce on the side; or Fox's Favorite, with pepperoni, beef, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, onions and mozzarella. There's also the Fox's Deluxe — extra cheese, pepperoni, ham, bacon, Italian sausage, beef, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and black olives. All pizzas are made with Fox's award-winning pizza sauce and 100-percent real cheese on hand-tossed crusts. Of course, you can create your own masterpiece by simply choosing your favorite toppings. Sizes range from the 6" diameter Bambino to the 30" diameter, 52-slice Big One. It's a mouthwatering monster that's perfect for holiday parties, football games or any occasion that requires you to feed lots of hungry guests. Fox's also offers stromboli — a traditional Italian turnover filled with the same great ingredients that top the popular pizzas. Get them in Hawaiian, meaty, veggie, steak rancher, barbecue chicken, chicken rancher, Fox's Deluxe, or Pepperoni Plus. Still hungry? Try Fox's desserts — cinnamon sticks, cinnamon rolls, plain cheesecake or tiramisu, among others. They also offer hoagies, a fantastic burger and more. Dine in, carry out or pick it all up at Fox's drive-through window. 2590 Maplewood Dr., 513-1181, foxspizzadensulphur.com

CANCUN MEXICAN RESTAURANT AND CANTINA You won’t have to go south of the border for freshly made authentic Mexican food with Cancun Mexican Restaurant at 4001 Ryan St., 477-6802. Start your meal with the Quesadilla Rellena — a flour tortilla grilled and stuffed with cheese, chopped beef and refried beans served with lettuce, quacamole, jalapenos and sour cream; or Nachos Cancun — nachos with toppings of beef, chicken and refried beans with all the trimmings. House specials include the Fajitas Mixtas — marinated strips of beef, chicken and shrimp served with sautéed onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, refried beans, Mexican rice, salad and flour tortillas on the side; the Chimichanga — a flour tortilla stuffed with beef or chicken, fried golden brown and topped with cheese sauce, sour cream, lettuce and pico de gallo; or Enchiladas Rancheras — two cheese enchiladas topped with pork and enchilada sauce served with lettuce, sour cream and quacamole. Cancun also features vegetarian combination plates, children’s plates, a large selection of beer and wine and the best margaritas in town. There are lunch specials every day and don’t miss the 99 cent margarita special all day on Thursdays with the purchase of a meal. To-go orders are available. Gift certificates are also available. Book your holiday parties early! Cancun has been a family-owned business for over 20 years.

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3TOPIA It’s a gamer’s paradise. Imagine a restaurant that enables you to play a new game the day after it’s released. Reserve a booth or reserve several. Move them around as you like for group play. If you’re not a gamer, 3topia’s accommodating atmosphere works just as well for sports and movie viewing. There’s even speed dating one night a month. Food is tailor-made for gamers and other connoisseurs of the couch. 3topia is big on comfort food and finger food. And there’s the occasional exotic item to pique your interest. Enjoy the Cajun Cuban (pulled pork and tasso) on ciabatti bread. Or try the beef stroganoff panini. On the comfort end of the scale, try the triple threat bacon burger or the Salisbury Roll — a beef meatball cooked in a tomato-based sauce and served on a bed of cheesy mashed potatoes. Round it out with fried corn on the cob, spicy rice, fried pickles, queso and other favorites for casual dining. 3topia has a full-service bar. Patrons can order food from both Zeus and 3topia. There’s additional parking in the rear and next door behind the Chinese restaurant. 3topia is truly a “new experience.” Get your game on with food that makes you feel good. Check out 3topia at 409 W. Prien Lake. Hours: Mon-Fri 3 pm-2 am; Saturday noon-4 am; Sunday noon-midnight. Call 439-7099 or visit 3topia on Facebook.

RENEE'S CAFE Renee's Cafe is celebrating its 10th year in business this year with a special celebration on Nov. 14 and 15! Famous for its panini sandwiches, gumbos, chicken salad and burgers, Renee's also offers a relaxing place to dine while enjoying the view. Renee is back and serving all her patrons her original menu items, just let her know your favorite. While you're there, check out the new decor and don't miss the cupcake tree ... she planted it herself! While the cafe still serves its trademark line of panini sandwiches, there’s now a significant offering of classical American favorites, gumbos (seafood on Fridays) and a few specialties of the house that are unique to Renee’s. Among the last group is the French Twist — a grilled chicken breast topped with melted Swiss cheese and served on a grilled croissant — and a chicken pesto wrap. More traditional offerings include the BLT, grilled cheese, chili cheese dog, turkey club, and many, many others. For a loaded sandwich, try the Limit, with beef, ham and turkey piled high on a jalapeno bun. Or choose a garden, Caesar or chef’s salad, or the lavishly topped grilled chicken salad. Come in and try their alwayscooked-to-order breakfast. It's fast and so good, you'll wonder why your mom never made it this good this fast! There’s a different homemade soup every day. Sandwich, breakfast and cookie trays are available. You can also start your day at Renee's with a fabulous breakfast. Renee's serves up great food weekdays from 8 am to 2 pm. Sandwich trays, cookie trays or our fantastic chicken and sausage or seafood gumbo for your holiday get-togethers can also be delivered to the downtown area so you can stress less this year! Renee's offers downtown delivery with a minimum $25 order. Located on the fifth floor of the Capital One Building, Renee’s continues to offer one of the most expansive views of Lake Charles to be had from a dinery. To check out daily specials, call 4396916 or fax 439-0587.

Seafood Restaurant • I-10 Exit 54 • Welsh, LA Cajun Tales in Welsh is your destination for

Delicious Seafood! Tues.-Thurs. 8am-9pm Fri.-Sat. 8am-10pm • Sun. 8am-2pm

337-734-4772 KSGIVING! HAPPY THAN TO YOURS, ILY FROM OUR FAM R ANOTHER THANK YOU FO ! FANTASTIC YEAR ur Business! We Appreciate Yo

ENJOY OUR FAMOUS FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT SEAFOOD BUFFET 5pm-9pm ---------------------------------LUNCH BUFFET 11am-1:30pm (DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY & SATURDAY)

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CATERING ON OR OFF-SITE! Christmas Parties, Weddings, Rehearsal Dinners!

---------------------------------EXTENSIVE MENU FEATURING PRIME RIB, MOUTH-WATERING STEAKS, BABYBACK RIBS, SEAFOOD, CHILDREN'S MENU & MORE! www.BestOfSWLA.com

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MARY ANN'S CAFE The oldest restaurant in Lake Charles, Mary Ann's (110 W. Broad St., 436-9115) has proudly served fresh, handmade ground chuck hamburgers and thinly sliced onion rings sine 1950. In fact, actor John Wayne was once quoted as saying that the best hamburger he ever ate was at Mary Ann's. Mary Ann's was recently voted the best hamburger in Lake Charles, and it's no surprise. Mary Ann's takes pride in preparing the freshest food â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to order, to their demanding specifications, with no shortcuts. Mary Ann's also offers home-cooked breakfast items, including bacon, ham, sausage, eggs any style, omelets, French toast, pancakes and hash browns. Aside from the famous burger-and-rings combo, lunch items include grilled chicken breast, sliced turkey, tuna or egg salad sandwiches; po boys and fries. There are daily or weekly specials on entrees and desserts. Quality food, reasonable prices, and the old-time atmosphere of a 1950s cafe ... that's Mary Ann's. Hours are Monday-Friday, 8 am-2 pm; and Saturday 8 am-1 pm. Gift certificates are available. Check out their Facebook page.

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CASA MANANA The Martel family thanks the people of Southwest Louisiana for their patronage for over 30 great years, and hopes for another 30. The family sends out a special thanks to area diners for their knowledge of food and their refusal to settle for anything less than the best. To please these savvy diners, Casa Mañana has been obliged to maintain only the highest standards during its quarter century of food service. Once again, a heartfelt thank you. We couldn’t have done it without you! The high Casa Mañana standards are evident in the salsa, cheese, tortillas and quacamole — all homemade with fresh ingredients, every day. Diners appreciate the care and preparation that go into the Mexican ribs, slow-cooked in a homemade sauce for 24 hours. And they’re more enthusiastic than ever about Casa’s world-famous fajitas and margaritas. And today’s carb-conscious diners can always ask for our low-carb tortillas. Casa Mañana has been voted best Mexican restaurant in town for over 15 years running. This year, Casa was also voted best restaurant service in Lake Charles, and best margaritas in Lake Charles. So go to the Mexican restaurant where the diners demand the best — and get it! Whether it’s nachos, burritos, cervezas or margaritas, Casa Mañana sets the standard. Casa Mañana also now offers a spectacular Casa Mañana/Que Pasa food truck ... perfect for you to use for all your tailgates, parties, catering and more. Call today for more information! Catering is available, as well as gift certificates for the holidays: Call 433-4112 for information. The Martel family appreciates your business and says, “thank you for eating at a locally owned and operated business!”

QUE PASA TAQUERIA The Martel family invites you to try some of the finest creations of authentic Mexican food — right here in Southwest Louisiana. Such stand-out taqueria favorites as Gorditas and Carnitas are all made-toorder with fresh ingredients at Que Pasa. We are now serving delicious Fish and Shrimp Tacos at Que Pasa! If you like, opt for one of the Casa Mañana standards that have tantalized Lake Area diners for decades. The same Fajitas, Enchiladas with Chili Gravy, Chalupas, Quesadillas, Queso dip and Margaritas you’ve enjoyed for years are all served in their pristine form at Que Pasa. The restaurant is offering an array of drinks from its famous Yucatan Liquor Stand. These include such popular favorites as the Mojitos, Palomas and Blueberry Margaritas. Que Pasa Taqueria serves you authentic Mexican food that’s fresh and fast. And remember — all food and drinks are available at the drive-thru window. Even the 3-7 pm Happy Hour specials are available for drive thru (and for dine in and to go as well). Catering’s available too. Grab a fresh taste of Mexico today at 4080 Nelson Road (310-PASA). Que Pasa also now offers a spectacular Casa Mañana/Que Pasa food truck ... perfect for you to use for all your tailgates, parties, catering and more. Call today for more information! The Martel family appreciates your business and says, “thank you for eating at a locally owned and operated business!” www.BestOfSWLA.com

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Welcome To Westlake SWLA'S BEST-KEPT SECRET IS A SECRET NO MORE DANIEL W. CUPIT, MAYOR

awmills provided most of the work in early and mid-19th century Westlake, a community that was built around the earlier settlement of Bagdad, also known as Lisbon. Settlers arrived by way of the water routes and the few makeshift roads in existence at the time. Early residents included families from France, the British Isles, Germany Denmark, Spain and the eastern United States. In 1857, Kingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Mill was in operation on the west bank of the Calcasieu River. In 1881, Allen J. Perkins bought the site from W.B. Norris and Westlake began to boom. Westlake really became a defined

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community in 1888, when Perkins, a lumberman who operated a sawmill with Charles Miller, subdivided 160 acres just north of where the Interstate 10 bridge now stands. By this time, the community consisted of a commissary, school, barbershop, saloon and syrup mill. There was also a small post office, a number of dwellings and a steamboat that shuttled people, livestock, merchandise and materials back and forth from Westlake to Lake Charles. This was about the same time the Louisiana Western Railroad (now Union Pacific) was built across south Louisiana. Now, with the announcement by

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Sasol of a $20 billion plant expansion, Westlake will surely be in a hub of growth-related activities. Westlake is already blessed with a great school system, championship golf, great recreation facilities and a riverboat casino and hotel.

‘Growing And Promising’ EARLY DAYS IN WESTLAKE AND BAGDAD BY BRAD GOINS

estlake began to come into being 200 years ago, when Calcasieu River was called Rio Hondo, and both Texas and the Spanish administrators of the Louisiana territory were laying claim to the lands between the Calcasieu River and the Sabine River. Many pioneers tried to get into the strip of land in the early years of the 19th century to stake their claim on the disputed territory. One of these was Reese Perkins, who built a ferry that ran from the west bank of Calcasieu River to the east. Perkins was a prominent pioneer in Calcasieu Parish. He eventually became justice of the peace of the area that was just beginning to be called Calcasieu. But what may have interested him more than the law of the land was the cattle route of the Gulf Coast. Perkins built the ferry across Lake Charles to enable ranch owners to move their cattle from Texas to New Orleans and back. It was said that as many as 2,000 head of cattle crossed on this ferry in a day. It was a lucrative trade, and it wasn’t long before a village sprang up

Left: Early historian of Westlake William Henry Perrin. Above: Perkins & Miller sawmill around the end of the 1800s.

around the west bank of the ferry. Two investors worked as partners to organize the settlement, which, at first, was called Lisbon. One of the partners, a fellow named Holt, sold all his lots and left town. The little town was struggling in spite of the brisk cattle trade that wound through it. It was renamed Bagdad. And fast and loose finances continued to plague it. One common complaint was that the

ferry rates were prohibitively high. Because of the high rates, it was alleged, many cattlemen took their cattle far to the north — through the town of Lecompte, near Alexandria — rather than through Lake Charles (or the little town of Bagdad, for that matter). One disgruntled citizen, the 19th century American historian William Henry Perrin, complained about the ferry: “The authorities of our parish have permitted ferries to tax the traveling public at so high a rate that farmers haul their produce two or three times as far as otherwise necessary in order to avoid the enormous expense of ferriage. Can this parish afford the enormous and continuous loss of trade this involves?” Perrin pointed out that in Vermillion Parish, whose population, he noted, was significantly less than that of Calcasieu

Parish, ferries ran free of charge. He declined to accuse any one person or group of making the ferry at Bagdad a monopoly. But he did try to rally the citizens to action. “Let the people come to the front and demand justice …” he wrote in one passage of rousing prouse.

FERRY PROBLEMS, NAME PROBLEMS A mile south of Bagdad was the fledgling town of Westlake, which would come to have its own ferry troubles. In Westlake, the same accusation of monopolizing of ferries were leveled, and it was felt that the high rates might almost have been designed to keep people from using the ferries. continued

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Westlake had a few troubles with its name as well. Traditionally, the settlement had been called “West Lake Charles.” The story, whether true or false, was that the postal officials were opposed to the designation of a large area as “west” something or other. Town leaders resolved the problem by dropping the “Charles” and combining the first two words to create a new one — “Westlake.” Early settlers of Westlake were of a mix similar to that which is still dominant in Lake Charles; settlers came from a number of European countries and northern sections of the U.S. They were as likely, in the early days, to travel by water as they were to take their chances with the primitive roads. It was water that gave Westlake its primary source of income for the 19th century. Westlake residents helped lumber men load their products onto ships, which then sailed down the Calcasieu and eventually docked in Texas or the Caribbean.

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NEW INDUSTRY ARRIVES AS THE OLD DEPARTS Fortunately for Westlake, by the time the lumber industry in Southwest Louisiana was exhausted, the railroad enterprise was becoming profitable. Surveyors determined that the route of the Louisiana Western Railroad, which would later become part of the Southern Pacific Railroad, would run through Westlake. While Westlake shared Bagdad’s early problems with town names and ferries, it avoided the smaller town’s problems with organization. An engineer named James Kleinpeter organized the area in and around Westlake according to a method that used square acres. In 1888, Allen Perkins undertook the subdivision of all the plots and did so in a completely straightforward manner. Perkins became “the father of Westlake” and Westlake became a going concern. In his historical writings about Southwest Louisiana, which were published in 1891, Perrin called Westlake the “twin city of Lake Charles.” He stated that until recently, the town had not appeared on any maps. But, he claimed, by 1891 it was “growing and promising.” One can see that it might have been a bit hard to gauge prosperity at a time when the bustling metropolis of Lake Charles had a population of only 4,000. But Mr. Perrin was an optimist. He wrote in his history of the area that “no warm country has so few insects.” At the time of Perrin’s writing, Westlake was the home of the Perkins and Miller mill, the A.J. Perkins and W.B. Norris store, a Baptist church and the “saloon of H. Escubas.” The town offered a good view of the opera house in Lake Charles. Although it would be more than half a century before Westlake would be incorporated, the settlement was assured of a future. Bagdad, on the other hand, has disappeared from the landscape so thoroughly it isn’t even possible to find a reference to it on the Internet. That is oblivion indeed. The railroad must have helped the growing city of Westlake a great deal. And the replacement of ferries with bridges probably didn’t hurt any.

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Will Ousley ARTIST, POET AND 'FREAK' OF BAGDAD BY C. JANET AUSTIN

ake Charles is on the east side of the Calcasieu River, and Westlake, of course, is on the west side. The Calcasieu River turns into the northwest corner of the lake. Before the river reaches the lake, there’s a bend on the river where it flows east to west, then it bends and goes south. It was at that bend that Bagdad was located. There was once a primary ferry crossing from Lake Charles at the end of what’s now Bagdad Road in Westlake. Bagdad was home to Will Ousley, the self-proclaimed “Freak of Bagdad,” who was a master artist, poet, philosopher, humorist, musician, wood carver and a very interesting fellow. He was a man in love with life. William C. Ousley was born April 28, 1866, in Marietta, Ga., to Thomas and Mollie Ousley. With a deed dated October, 21, 1871, Mollie O. Ousley turned over custody of her son, Will, to Matt Pitts and his wife. Later, Willie came to be in the custody of Mr. and Mrs. A.K. Kingery, and came with them to the community of Bagdad in 1876. He remembered that the railroad didn’t come further west than Morgan City. He and his family came to Bagdad by way of a covered wagon from New Iberia — a trip he said took them almost three days. As a child, he began drawing and painting on anything he could get his hands on. He worked as a sign painter and paper hanger. Ousley said he received his

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instruction from Paul Sullivan of Sullivan and Castello. He also stated he went to New Orleans and worked under P.A. Wayne, a famous church painter, scene artist and decorator. In 1890, his family sent Ousley to New Orleans to study under the noted German artist, Eraste Humbrecht. Humbrecht was the artist commissioned for the artwork in the historic St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square in New Orleans, including his mural “St. Louis and the Seventh Crusade,” which was painted in 1872 behind the altar. When Humbrecht retouched his mural, Ousley assisted him. Humbrecht told Ousley, “You will be a great artist some day.” Perhaps Ousley was afraid to believe Humbrecht. At any rate, Ousley took to house painting and paper hanging when he left New Orleans.

‘A NATURAL BORN ARTIST’

Ousley standing under his favorite pecan tree.

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In a letter to the Lake Charles American Press printed on March, 22, 1929, Ousley stated, “I have been called a natural born artist all my life, but the only natural part is stickativeness and bulldog hangonitism.” Ousley was noted for his exquisite paintings of the Calcasieu River and most notably the river’s West Fork. It’s been stated repeatedly and emphatically by scores of people that no one could quite capture the beauty of the swamp wetlands of Southern Louisiana as Ousley did. He was a master painter who frequently used squirrel’s tails as paintbrushes. He produced more than 2,000 paintings in his life. More than 1,500 of them

were of the Calcasieu River and more than 900 of the West Fork. It’s said he wanted to restore the beauty that had disappeared because of the sawmills. Ousley painted the West Fork in every season: winter, spring, summer and fall, in all colors and shades, at all times of the day, in daylight and by moonlight, capturing the beauty of the Calcasieu River and the West Fork as no one else has. A favorite spot featured in his works was a tree on the banks of the river known as “The Lone Tree” — a solitary old pecan tree on the river bank outside his back door. One painting titled “The Old Tree at Ousley’s Landing at Bagdad, Louisiana” is an oil on board and is signed in the lower right, titled and dated 1931. Ousley stated that it was on this spot that he was baptized on May 10, 1880, by J.A. Terry, Baptist minister. He received much of the inspiration for his works as he swung in the homemade hammock outside his house. A writer for the Louisiana Tourists Bureau’s magazine, Knowing Louisiana, wrote this of Ousley after visiting with him during the 1930s at his Bagdad studio: “In (Ousley), you will encounter a personality unlike any other you could meet on your farthest travels. As a philosopher and humorist, a lover of all mankind, you can be entertained for hours

Oil on board painting: "The Old Tree at Ousley's Landing at Bagdad, Louisiana"

amidst a riotous collection of paintings, tubes, brushes, paint cans and papers on which are written some of his favorite poems. It is the character of the man himself — with all the wisdom and jest he has to impart — that makes his studio a tourist shrine.”

PAINTING WITH BLUING, SOOT AND BERRY JUICE Ousley couldn’t remember exactly when he began to paint and draw. He just

remembered he “never had money to buy paints and brushes.” He said, “I’d take the bluing from the wash, the soot from the stove, berry juice, chalk — just anything that I could get, make my colors. For my brushes, I’d use the tails of squirrels. And they made good brushes, too!” His studio was a small one, with one room across the front of the structure and two shed rooms with dirt floors leading off to each side. In the shed rooms, he stored discarded gear. In the front room by the window was his easel. There were plenty of chairs for visitors. The floors were bare. He worked there each day many hours, begrudging the time needed for eating and sleeping. He always said that for him, painting was a hobby. It was a hobby that gained him some fame as well as financial security. The hobby ended up fulfilling his lifelong dream to do nothing but paint. A painting of Ousley’s was entered in a Beaumont Fair and subsequently sent to the Sweeny Studios in New Orleans. Harry Rothschild purchased the painting and sent it to Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the White House, where it hangs today. Ousley received a thank you letter from Mrs. Roosevelt. At least one painting by Ousley hangs in Buckingham Palace. Another hangs in the Executive Mansion in Baton Rouge, a

gift from A.O. King, former senator of Louisiana. Ousley stated in his letter to the Press that: “My paintings have now been seen from New York to California.” Ousley’s youngest son, James, recalled in an article for Nola Mae Ross, “I remember people like (movie stars) Carmen Del Rio and W. C. Fields visiting him to see his paintings.” The son also recalled that his father was written up in Life Magazine and that many national magazines published his father’s poems. He also stated that a short movie was made about Ousley. If you’re lucky enough to get a genuine Ousley, it’s pretty easy to determine whether it’s authentic. Most have a personal note about the story of the painting or an original poem by Ousley inscribed on the back in pencil. Here is part of a poem titled “The Heart of a Friend”: “And when we reach the sunset of our life, “And at last we come to the end, “May our last thought be of the pleasures it brought, “That we lived in the heart of a friend.” Ousley died on June 3, 1953 at the age of 87. I would have loved to have known this unique man who had such a love for life and living — the self-proclaimed “Freak of Bagdad.”

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continued

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Mistletoe & Moss T he Junior League of Lake Charles holds its 21st Anniversary Mistletoe and Moss Holiday Market, November 20th – 23rd, 2013 at the Lake Charles Civic Center. General admission hours are Thursday, November 21st 10 am – 8 pm; Friday November 22nd, 10 am – 8 pm; and Saturday November 23rd, 9 am – 4 pm. The ladies of the Junior League will transform the Civic Center Coliseum and Exhibition Hall into a shopping wonderland, with vendors from across the country offering unique gift items. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to get a head start on your holiday shopping list. Over 75 merchants will be on hand selling an incredible array of items including apparel, food, accessories, art, home décor, children’s items and specialty gifts. Shopping is just the beginning of what you’ll experience at Mistletoe and Moss. The Preview Party Gala on Wednesday, November 20th, 7 – 10 pm, offers a chance to be the first to shop at the merchant booths. You’ll enjoy fantastic cuisine and cocktails from Lake Area restaurants and caterers, live entertainment (featuring a surprise guest!), and a local art raffle. Tickets are $50.00 per person. Added this year, is a Jazzy Brunch.

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Celebrate the Junior League of Lake Charles' 80th Anniversary on Thursday, November 21st, 11 am – 1 pm! Enjoy jazz music to give that New Orleans feel with catering by Luna Bar & Grill. There will be door prizes and sampling of some of the area’s best Bloody Mary’s competing to be named the “Best Bloody Mary.” If you are interested in competing we are still looking for individuals or teams to compete. But remember you must be an amateur. Friday night at the Market has traditionally been for the Ladies, but this year’s “Ladies Night” is a night out with

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your man – and a chance to shop while he is entertained and fed! Local comedian Jeff D will keep you and your man laughing – and who knows, the best joke of the night may be yours? The evening will include a complimentary drink and will be catered by Luna Bar & Grill. There will also be door prizes from our merchants and market vendors. Tickets are $25.00 per person event is from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Set your alarm clocks and bring the kids for Snacks with Santa on Saturday November 23rd. Seating’s are at 8:30 – 10 am; 10:30 am – Noon; and 1:30 – 3:00 pm. Your child will be the first in town to tell Santa what’s on their list. Kids will not only enjoy meeting Santa, but they will also enjoy a performance by the Lake Charles Dance Academy. Tickets are $10.00 per person, with children under 1 admitted free. There is no stroller fee for this event. Limited tickets are available. A local photographer will also be available to capture a photo of your child in Santa's sleigh. General admission for the market is $8.00 per person. Children 8 and under are admitted free. There is a stroller fee of $8.00 on Friday & Saturday. A complimentary bag hold will be available. Much more than a chance to shop, the Mistletoe and Moss Market is a chance to give to the community. Proceeds from the event support the Junior League of Lake Charles, Inc.’s mission is promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. The Junior League of Lake Charles has been “Serving, Strengthening, Sustaining the Community” for 80 years. Establishing and supporting local programs such as Family & Youth Counseling Agency, Harbor House, The Children’s Museum, and the Court Appointed Special

Advocates (CASA), just to name a few. Proceeds support many current programs such as Kids in the Kitchen/ Fit Kids program, which helps address the urgent issues surrounding childhood obesity and nutrition. In addition, a dedicated group of Junior League volunteers work on a number of projects with non-profits agencies that are limited in achieving their goals because of lack of man (or women) power through it’s Done in A Day program. The Fostering Families Committee designs, creates, and distributes personal care packages to children recently removed from their homes and placed in Foster Care. The League provides approximately 200 bags each year, that are distributed through local and regional Offices of Children’s Services, OASIS Women’s Shelter, Transitional Living, and Harbor House. Each duffel bag, which has a detachable back pack and overnight case; is stuffed with much needed toiletries and items (games, footballs, stuffed animals, etc.) that will bring some comfort and joy to children during the tough time of transition. These are just a few examples of what the Junior League of Lake Charles is currently doing within our community. All of these programs are made possible through the League’s volunteers and fund raising events, the Mistletoe and Moss Holiday Market & Leaguers & Links Golf Tournament, with Mistletoe and Moss Market making up the majority of the Junior League’s annual funding. To put it all into perspective, 1 general admission ticket will provide 1 toy for Impact Support’s Joy drive. 2 general admission tickets will help purchases supplies for the ETC transition living program store for teens transitioning out of foster care through Impact Support. 2 Jazzy Brunch tickets allows five 5th graders to participate in our Fit Kids program for 5 weeks through Healthy Choices. 2 Preview Party tickets will

This year’s Mistletoe and Moss Holiday Market, hosted by the Junior League of Lake Charles, Inc. promises to be the best yet! You won’t want to miss this opportunity to get a head start on your holiday shopping list. purchase 1 personal care bag for a foster child through Fostering families. 4 Ladies Night tickets provide training and material to 1 teacher to implement The Leader In Me program in their classroom. 1 Snacks with Santa ticket purchases 1 book to be donated to the school library which a league member will read to the entire grade level through Impact Support. Holiday shopping for unique gifts, glam catered parties, and the opportunity to help make a difference in kid’s lives – all in one place, all in one fun-filled weekend. Join the fun, help make a difference, and give back to your community, at this year’s special 21st Anniversary Mistletoe and Moss Holiday Market and as we celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Junior League of Lake Charles, Inc. Make the Mistletoe and Moss Holiday Market another “Christmas tradition” that you will look forward to each year. For more information about the Junior League of Lake Charles, Inc., to purchase tickets for this year’s market, or to see a complimentary list of this year’s merchants and donors, visit or contact the Junior League of Lake Charles office at 436-4025. You can also donate directly to the Community Project Fund or the Gift and Memorial Fund online. Tickets are

also available at the Civic Center Box Office. If you are interested in becoming a merchant for next year’s market, please contact the Junior League of Lake Charles office. The Junior League of Lake Charles would like to extend a special thank you to the volunteers, merchants, attendees, and donors for coming together to make this unforgettable and much anticipated event possible.

Luna Bar & Grill 121 Artisan Bistro Mr. Gatti's Pizza Devall Towing Agave Tamale Nina P's Central Crude Desserts Papa John's IBERIABANK Ember Grille Spring Mountain Water Cardiovascular Specialists of SWLA Hunter's Harlequin Pronia's Martin GMC Peking Garden Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers Stine Reeves Uptown Catering Panera Bread Mimosa Boutique The Boarding House Johnny Carino's Navarra's Jewlery & Gifts Zeus Greek & Lebanese Café Boiling Point The Artful Eye

Gray Plantation Novrozsky's Relaxation Retreat Marilyn's Flowers and Catering Sausage Link Dillard's Pat's of Henderson Jo's Party House Capital One Bank Mazen Streetbreads Pink and Blue Avenue La Truffe Sauvage Community Coffee Accessory Zone Casa Manana Subway J&J Exterminating Coyote Blues Mexican Grill Tony's Cintas- The Uniform People Donut King Rotolo's Donut Palace Dippin Donuts Center for Orthopaedics Delicious Donuts Roach Law Firm Nelson's Donuts

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American Press Happy Donuts First Federal Bank McDonald's Carson & Thompson Accounting and Tax Albertson's First National Bank A Piece of Cake Lake Charles Rubber and Gasket Co., LLC Chick-fil-A Langley Williams & Company Church's Chicken Luxaire/Solar Supply Popeye's Mike Hooks, Inc. Raising Cane's Whitney National Bank Coca-Cola Axiall Corporation Gulf Island Shrimp and Seafood Stockwell Sievert, Viccellio, Clements, & Shaddock Hunt Brothers Pizza Walnut Grove Misse's Grocery

November 7, 2013

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November 7, 2013

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BULLYING ROUNDTABLE: LOCAL EXPERTS DISCUSS OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO VICTIMS AND BULLIES AND THEIR FAMILIES â&#x20AC;˘ By Karla Wall Bullying has been in the forefront of news in the last couple of years, with several cases of kids committing suicide as a result of being bullied. Lagniappe sat down with local school officials and local counselors to discuss the issue. On hand for the roundtable discussion were Keri Forbess-McCorquodale, owner of Solutions Counseling and EAP in Lake Charles; Sara McDonald, counselor with Family and Youth; Wayne Savoy, Calcasieu Parish School superintendent; Sabra Soileau, coordinator of positive behavior support for Calcasieu Parish schools; and Kirby Smith, public information officer for the Calcasieu Parish school system. continued www.BestOfSWLA.com

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BULLYING IN SWLA

I Karla Wall of Lagniappe and Keri Forbess-McCorquodale.

n the following pages, you’ll find a roundtable discussion on the topic of bullying with local school officials and local counselors; a rundown of how many incidents of bullying the Calcasieu Parish School System has handled over the last few years; the school system’s policy for handling cases of bullying; and a feature profiling a local martial arts fighter whose anti-bullying presentations to area students use fun, laughter and a new definition of the term

“superhero” to help students deal with being bullied and to avoid becoming bullies. It’s information designed to let area parents in on what the school system is doing to address the problem of bullying, and what they can do to help. Lagniappe: According to the National Education Assoc., 160,000 students miss school every year because of bullying. According to the National School Safety Center, 2.7 million children are bullying victims each year, 282,000 children were attacked by bullies each month over the last year, and one in seven students in grades K-12 is either a bully or is being bullied. This is not a small problem. And I want to talk in a moment about how big a problem it is here in Calcasieu Parish. But first, let’s define what bullying is. What exactly is bullying, and how does it differ from normal childhood teasing and normal childhood behaviors? What is the threshold? What is the duration? Frequency? Level of intimidation? What constitutes bullying? Keri Forbess-McCorquodale: I think a lot of it has to do with not necessarily the intent of the bully, but more how it’s perceived by the victim. Whenever the victim begins to be affected at a certain level — whether it’s physical, such as being sick all the time or experiencing sleep problems, or psychological, such as anxiety issues — then it’s crossed the line. Because everybody has different tolerance levels. Some people can blow it off; others are truly and deeply affected by bullying. So that’s one aspect of it. Another is the level of the teasing. Making fun of somebody one time is not bullying. It’s a problem when it continues and becomes a pattern. And bullying doesn’t end in high school. We do a lot of work not only with kids who are being bullied, but also with adults who are dealing with being bullied. Bullying in the workplace is a huge issue for human resources. This isn’t something that ends with high school. Bullies who are allowed to behave inappropriately in school grow up to bring that behavior with them into the workplace. It continues to impact everyone. LAG: So if a student just has that mentality, and if he or she is allowed to get away with it, they become bullies as an adult. KFM: Yes. And bullies are also good at choosing their victims. They tend to choose people who are not going to stand up for themselves, and who aren’t going to fight back. And bullies are also good at “spreading the love.” Once bullies see that bullying works on one kid, they have that “aha moment,” and they realize they have some power. And they begin to spread it around. Sabra Soileau: Our school system is actually given a definition to go by from

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BULLYING IN SWLA the state Dept. of Education. It has to do with a pattern of one or more behaviors, including gestures, facial expressions, written electronic or verbal communications, taunting and physical acts — not just hitting or pushing, but taking of another’s property and other acts. LAG: But those things have been happening among schoolchildren forever. Are we just hearing more about it now? Is it that children are less able to tolerate it now? SS: Bullying has become a buzzword — all of these behaviors we’ve seen for years and years are now being called bullying. But what constitutes bullying is a pattern of behavior between the same group of students.

Clockwise from left: Sabra Soileau, Wayne Savoy, Sara McDonald, Karla Wall, Keri Forbess-McCorquodale, and Kirby Smith.

There’s a whole generation of what we call “helicopter parents,” who hover over their children. And those children never learn how to have their own voice; never learn how to fight their own battles; and never learn how to stand up for themselves. And anytime anything goes the least bit wrong for those children, the parents swoop in and rescue them. And that’s created a whole generation of kids who aren’t used to experiencing negative emotions — it’s not OK to be sad, it’s not OK to be angry, it’s not OK to hurt — because they’ve never been allowed to experience those emotions, and they don’t know how to cope with that. -- Keri Forbess-McCorquodale

LAG: So it’s a matter of duration?

Kirby Smith: There’s also been a change in the perception of the terminology: of being labeled a bully and a victim of bullying.

ents. I would say there’s been a shift in the resiliency of children, as well, and the terminology does have something to do with that. One of the first things I discuss with a child who’s been identified as a victim of bullying is the terminology. The term “bullied” has a dual relationship with the term “victim.” When children identify with the word “bullied,” that affects their ability to handle that situation, and their way of approaching the issue.

Sara McDonald: As a counselor, I work mostly with children and their par-

continued

SS: It is. And a matter of power shift. If a power change takes place to such a degree that the victim doesn’t want to go to school, then it’s a bullying situation.

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BULLYING IN SWLA Wayne Savoy: The word “bullying” is used to cover a lot of things, and our responsibility as educators is to sift through all of those things and get to the real truth. There’s a process we use to determine the answer to that original question of when teasing crosses the line into bullying. We stick to that process because bullying is not acceptable. But for that process to work, there has to be a support system for both the child accused of bullying and the child making the accusation of bullying. When there’s a case before us, both of the families are included — those of the child being accused of bullying and

of the child making the accusation. And that family involvement is making a huge difference.

ment, and 133 cases of sexual harassment. It’s a small percentage of the student body. LAG: And how are those cases handled? What’s the process in dealing with a bullying situation?

LAG: How big a problem are we looking at in Calcasieu Parish? How many cases of bullying do parish schools deal with? SS: The numbers have changed somewhat over the last few years because we’ve recently [added] harassment to the list of behaviors that fall under bullying. But we had 1,000 cases last year. In 2010, we had 338 cases of bullying, 572 cases of threatening behavior, 157 cases of harass-

Kirby Smith

SS: We actually have a flow chart that we go by (Note: See accompanying sidebar). We outline what steps are to be taken in these cases. We have a reporting form to be filled out. It’s very important for us to get it in writing, because stories can change. After the report is filled out, the school administration follows the process and completes an eight-page investigation form, which involves interviews with the families. As soon as we start the investigation, we notify the parents. WS: And it’s not unusual for us to have communication between my office, Sabra’s office and the school administration to ensure that everything is handled properly. If everyone’s on the same page, then we proceed. We have contracts that are signed by each child involved in a bullying situation promising that they’ll stay away from each other. Sometimes these cases involve students who have had issues with each other since elementary school. There are a lot of things we can do, but everyone has to cooperate. If one part of the contract is not followed, then you’re right back where you started.

Sara McDonald

LAG: Other than the contracts, what are some of the consequences of bullying in parish schools? SS: Bullying is a level three offence. There are four levels, with the fourth level consisting of code-blue offences, such as drugs, alcohol or weapons. The consequences for bullying can range from having to take a social skills class, or a conflict resolution class, all the way to out-of-school suspension, depending on the situation. LAG: And what is the school system doing to address the issue of bullying? What are some of the education and awareness programs you have? SS: There are things we’ve done to increase awareness among teachers. We’ve initiated a three-hour module for teachers on identifying bullying situations, how to intervene in those situations, and 56

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BULLYING IN SWLA

Sabra Soileau, Wayne Savoy, Sara McDonald.

suicide and how it’s related to bullying. I do think it’s making a difference. I think teachers are now more aware. But a lot of these situations don’t happen during class. They happen while you’re having 500 students moving through the halls between classes. They’re happening on the playgrounds and on football fields. They’re not happening while we’re teaching math. So sometimes teachers may not have a chance to identify those situations.

causes a child to bully. And what’s the typical profile of a child who’s bullied? What are some of the signs that parents can watch for in order to prevent a problem?

WS: You’re looking at a minimum of 380 structured minutes of class time per day. In between those times is when most bullying situations take place. And that’s what makes it difficult. A lot of times, the problem is brought up at home, and then brought to our attention. Then we can address the problem.

SM: I don’t know that you can categorize it that way. Anyone could potentially be a bully, or be bullied. Research shows, though, that being a bully is just as harmful for the bully as it is for the child being bullied. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to both sides. Children who are bullies actually have a higher incidence of chronic depression, and even suicidality, than those who’ve been identified as victims. So it’s more detrimental to the bully to allow a situation to continue. A lot of these people tend to be isolated, and have poor social skills, obviously.

LAG: Let’s talk a bit about what

KFM: If your reaction when somecontinued

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BULLYING IN SWLA thing makes you unhappy is to overpower someone else, then you bring that with you into the real world, and that’s not looked upon positively. So these people lack the skills they need to navigate life, and they end up being socially isolated.

LAG: What are some of the signs that a child is being bullied? SS: They’ll start trying to avoid going to school, claiming stomach aches and headaches more frequently. They’ll exhibit anxiety when in certain areas of the

school. They’ll start to exhibit a fear of walking home or taking the bus. We’ve had students ask to stay late and help out the teachers because they don’t want to ride the bus — they’d rather wait for their parents to pick them up. These are some signs that maybe something isn’t right in the student’s typical day. SM: It’s very important for parents to be proactive. Parents need to get into the habit of communicating with their children on a regular basis: say, sitting down to supper together and talking. If parents

Wayne Savoy

don’t talk to their kids on a regular basis, it’s much less likely that their kids will come to them with a problem. KFM: I work with way too many children who have way too much time to themselves; they’re filling that time playing video games or watching TV. They’re not talking to anyone, so they lack the ability to communicate with their parents because that’s not part of their everyday lives. I’m a big believer in limiting TV and video games to an hour or an hour and a half a day. That forces a family to interact. I’m also a big believer in having dinner together as a family, with the TV off, so that you actually look at one another and talk; so that you’re comfortable talking to each other. If you don’t talk to your children, [they] aren’t in the habit of talking to you about little things; they’re certainly not going to talk to you about the big issues. So setting that tone of interaction and communication is very important. LAG: What about when a parent determines that there is a problem? What steps should parents take if their child is being bullied or is being a bully? WS: First of all, they should bring the matter up to the administration at their child’s school. Go to the school principal, or assistant principal, and discuss the problem. The main thing is to notify the administration. Once the parents notify the administration, the process of taking care of the problem is begun. The sooner the school knows about the problem, the sooner we can get involved and address the problem. SS: For a situation that’s not happening at school, though — because these things can happen on the weekends and after school — parents should go to the police and file a statement. The key is to let someone know there’s a problem and that you’re taking a stand against it. It’s important to make everyone aware of the situation. LAG: Can a parent over-react? Can they foster a mindset in their child that they can’t take care of themselves? KFM: There’s a whole generation of what we call “helicopter parents,” who hover over their children. And those children never learn how to have their own voice; never learn how to fight their own battles; and never learn how to stand up for themselves. And anytime anything goes the least bit wrong for those children, the parents swoop in and rescue them. And that’s created a whole generation of kids who aren’t used to experiencing negative emotions — it’s not OK to be sad, it’s not OK to be angry, it’s not OK to hurt — because they’ve never been allowed to experience those emotions, and they don’t know how to cope with that. LAG: How do you walk that line, then, between preventing a bullying situation from getting out of hand and being overprotective? KFM: To me, it’s talking to the child involved and getting a full sense of the sit-

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BULLYING IN SWLA uation. Age also makes a difference, obviously. You deal with a high school student differently than you would an elementary student. I’m a big believer in trying to empower the child, saying to them “How would you rather handle the situation?” or “What do you think needs to happen next?” — trying to get a feel for how far they want you to go in rescuing them. Most kids would love to be able to handle their own situations, but often they haven’t been given the opportunity to do that. To me, the first step is talking to the child who’s being bullied and saying, let’s figure out how to make you less attractive to bullies. Again, bullies choose as their victims people they think are going to respond the way the bully wants them to respond.

LAG: How are schools getting the word out about bullying? SS: Schools are taking it upon themselves to get the word out, for the most part. Sulphur High is having someone come in in November to speak to the sophomore and junior classes, because they’ve identified a problem in those groups. Vinton Middle School ordered books this year that contain bullying lessons in them — lessons on identifying a bullying situation; a checklist to help you determine if you’re being bullied; how to stand up and say no.

SM: When you look at the effectiveness of a lot of those training programs, the one that is found to be most effective, which is only at 50 percent, is bystander training — training people to stand up and intervene … SS: And say “No, that’s not OK.” We’re teaching kids to draw attention to it. KS: Schools email me all the time about programs, speakers and other things they’re doing. For example, St. John Elementary recently got a visit from Mrs. Jindal, and the teachers decided to all wear

their anti-bullying shirts that day. And that sends a very strong message to our teachers and our schools. And I think there’s been a paradigm shift in the last 15 years or so in looking at the problem. The solution to the problem back then might have been, “take care of it after school on the playground.” There’s a really different outlook on the problem now. Teachers are aware of it; administrators are aware of it.

SM: Often, parents want to rush in and rescue children. They don’t want to see their children hurting. And it takes a lot of support and coaching of parents to help them understand that sometimes it’s OK for their children to feel bad. If a child is in his bedroom crying, and comes out after two or three hours, on his own, wiping his eyes but no longer crying, then he’s dealt with that emotion, and he’s developed skills to cope with that. LAG: What about the other side of the coin? How do parents deal with a bully? WS: I think that if everyone’s involved in the process of taking care of the problem, then each family understands the other’s perspective. The parents of the child being bullied see that the parents of the child doing the bullying want what’s best for the child being bullied, too. They don’t want their child involved in hurting another child. I’ve found that in most cases the parents are truly surprised that this is happening. And I believe that parents of a bully can’t help but think of what they would do if someone were doing this to their child. KFM: I see way more victims than I do bullies. I don’t find that kids are being brought into therapy because they’ve been bullying. So I’m very heartened to hear that when you sit down with those parents that they’re willing to look at the situation and deal with it appropriately. KS: I think that when you talk about helicopter parents, the tendency in that group is to say, “No, not my child.” I think what’s great about the process we use in the school system is that it says to the parents, “We want to help you; we’re not attacking your child; we’re trying to help your child with the tools that we have available, because we have wonderful tools we can offer both sides.” SS: I feel for the parents involved in a situation like this, because I know they’re having some heartache. The parents of the bully are hurting, too. For the most part, I find these parents cooperative, but sometimes emotions are heightened, and parents are sensitive, but they realize we have to look at the steps we can take to eliminate the problem. www.BestOfSWLA.com

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THIS IS A PARENT’S WORST NIGHTMARE. I LIVED THROUGH IT AND WANT NO OTHER PARENT TO HAVE THE EXPERIENCE. AWARENESS NEEDS TO BE RAISED. YOUR CHILD COULD BE NEXT. AS PARENTS, WE NEED TO TALK TO OUR CHILDREN. IT MAY BE YOUR CHILD WHO IS BEING BULLIED OR IS THE BULLY. PLEASE DON’T THINK THIS CAN’T HAPPEN TO YOUR CHILD, BECAUSE IT CAN.

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veryone knows the saying “sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you.” When we teach our kids sayings like this, we are doing them an injustice. Not only do words hurt, but they can also kill. Be careful what you say, because you never know what’s taking place in another person’s heart and mind. Kids today often think it’s funny and cool to make fun of others. In fact, it’s sad that at times we take pleasure in hurting others in order to make people laugh. Instead of picking on others and ruining their lives, why don’t we be the bigger person and stand up for those who are picked on and help change their lives? Two years ago, my world and my family’s world was forever changed in the worst way possible. After I came home from dinner, I walked upstairs to find my 15-year-old daughter lying on the floor with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. This is a parent’s worst nightmare. I lived through it and want no other parent to have the experience. Awareness needs to be raised. Your child could be next. As parents, we need to talk to our children. It may be your child who is being bullied or is the bully. Please don’t think this can’t happen to your child, because it can. It’s time we all take a stand, and get more involved, and help change many people’s lives throughout the Calcasieu Parish area and beyond. Unfortunately, in today’s society, cyber bullying is an epidemic and children can no longer get away from it. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, are just a few ways kids send terrible messages about others. Not long ago, weekends would offer kids some relief from bullying situations. Not anymore. Remember, when a young person hits the ENTER button, it’s as if he’s put a message on a billboard on I-10 for everyone to read. And once they’ve hit ENTER, they can’t take the message down. Many people have asked why I’m doing this — trying to raise awareness and help. I simply say that if it happened to your child, you would do the same, and you would do whatever you could to prevent another parent from going through this. So, don’t wait for your kid to be bullied or commit suicide. Take a stand with us all and help put an end to all the nonsense.

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Local Martial Artist Josh Quayhagen Spreads AntiBullying Message By Karla Wall

ocal mixed martial arts fighting sensation Josh Quayhagen may have made a name for himself by fighting others. But his message to his students and the youths he speaks to in local schools is simple: It’s not cool to bully others. Through his Peaceful Warriors program for school-age children, Quayhagen seeks to tell children that “it’s not cool to make fun of others. It is cool to stand up for yourself and for others.” But Quayhagen is quick to point out his program doesn’t focus on physical solutions to being bullied. “We teach kids to be bold and strong in dealing with bullying,” he says. “Not strong physically, but strong in will.” Quayhagen says his passion for helping kids deal with being bullied and avoid being a bully started at an early age. “First, I have little brothers and sisters. I come from a large family, and I’ve seen them be bullied,” he says.

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“WE TELL THEM THAT REAL SUPERHEROES STAND UP FOR OTHERS AND HELP OTHERS. WE TRY TO TEACH KIDS TO BE REAL SUPERHEROES.” At age 16, already heavily into martial arts, Quayhagen started teaching martial arts classes. And his students, he says, often came to his classes to learn martial arts in order to deal with a bully. “It broke my heart,” he says. Students came in, says Quayhagen, expecting to “learn to beat someone up. But as they learned, and grew, they developed confidence. They’d walk around holding their heads a little bit higher. And the bullying disappeared. (The students) began to see that there was a way around the bullying problem without resorting to violence.” Quayhagen brings his Peaceful Warrior message to local schools, churches and other organizations.

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“We have demonstrations, do tricks, and have people who can relate to the kids talk with them. We challenge them – give them missions: maybe to help someone, to say something nice about someone, to get someone else involved in anti-bullying. We teach them that one person can spread love.” The people involved in the program, says Quayhagen, aren’t all that much older than the students. “They’re people the students can relate to,” he says. “We have a football player, a pro wrestler. We make (the students) laugh, we relate to them.” So far, says Quayhagen, the group has made presentations to “every junior high school in (Calcasieu) parish” — schools as far away as Anacoco and Bayou Chicot, local private schools; even a local grief counseling program for children who’ve lost family members. “We go wherever we’re invited,” he says. The Peaceful Warrior program is also offered regularly at Performance

Evolution, Quayhagen’s gym, throughout the summer. “We offered it three times per week last summer,” he says, “in two four-week sessions. And we plan to offer it on almost the same schedule next year.” The goal of the program is simple, says Quayhagen. “We’re trying to change the mindset that’s involved in bullying,” he says. “Kids think it’s cool to tease other kids. That’s just how you fit in. It’s what you do. “We’re trying to change that mindset, to change that norm. We try to tell kids that it’s not cool to make fun of others. We tell them a superhero doesn’t bully others. “We tell them that real superheroes are strong-willed, stand up for others, and help others. We try to teach kids to be real superheroes.” For more information on the program, or to schedule a visit from the group, call Performance Evolution at 304-8227.

HOW THE EDUCATION DEPT. HANDLES BULLYING: THE OFFICIAL PROCEDURE REPORTING Each school is required to inform, both verbally and in writing, the involved students, school staff, volunteers and parents/legal guardians of the children involved, of the procedures for reporting and investigating incidents of bullying. A principal or designee is responsible for receiving reports of incidents of bullying via the LDOE Bullying Report Form. Any student or parent/legal guardian has the right, and is encouraged, to report an incident of bullying. All school employees and parents chaperoning a school sponsored event who witness a bullying incident shall report that incident to the school. A verbal report must be made on the same day and a written report must follow no later than two days later.

4. All complaints and investigative documents shall be kept for three years.

REFERRAL FOR COUNSELING Each principal may establish a procedure for referring victims and offenders for counseling when bullying is suspected, reported and/or confirmed.

INVESTIGATION Upon receipt of the written report of bullying, the principal/designee of the school shall initiate an investigation into the bullying incident no later than the next business day during which the school is in session. The principal/designee shall notify the parent/legal guardians of the students involved of the allegation of bullying the same day the investigation is initiated and before the student can be interviewed. Documented interviews with the alleged victim, alleged offender and witnesses must be conducted privately, separately and confidentially. The principal/designee shall follow the procedure for investigating bullying outlined by the LDOE by gathering information via the LDOE Bullying Investigation Form. The investigation of a bullying report shall be completed no later than 10 school days after the date the written report is submitted to the appropriate school official. The principal/designee will determine whether the incident falls within the scope of the LEA and will take appropriate action as determined by the investigation.

FINDINGS 1. The principal/designee shall compose a written document containing the findings of the investigation, including input from the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; parents/legal guardians, and the decision by the school. 2. The principal/designee shall also promptly notify the complainant of the findings of the investigation and that remedial action has been taken if such release does not violate the law. 3. The document outlining the findings of the investigation shall be placed in the record of both students involved. www.BestOfSWLA.com

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Orchids will be for sale at the monthly meeting of the Calcasieu Orchid Society on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2:30 pm in the home of Mary and Joe Richardson, 4618 West Autumnwood Lane, Lake Charles. Speaker for the meeting will be Dr. Joe Abendroth from Lafayette, who is an orchid grower specializing in orchids called “slippers.” His talk and slide show will be titled “All About Slippers: Paphiopedilums and Phragmipediums.” He will bring a variety of orchids for sale. Abendroth will give a demonstration about ways to repot an orchid and to choose materials to use as growing mediums for orchids. Abendroth has been raising orchids sicne 1968. “My father was president of the American Camellia Society, and he was determined that I should raise camellias, even though I was working 18 hours a day,” he said. “So he built us a greenhouse for camellias.”

B A T O N

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CALCASIEU ORCHID SOCIETY PROGRAMS ARE OPEN TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN RAISING ORCHIDS. MEETINGS ARE HELD AT 2:30 ON THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH.

A friend happened to give Abendroth an orchid. “It was a Cymbidium and I threw it in that greenhouse and it bloomed,” he said. He never looked at a camellia again. Slippers, the type of orchid that fascinates Abendroth, is not a variety commonly described as “pretty.” In fact, it is sometimes described as “weird.” One of the petals is curled into a pouch, making the flower resemble a shoe. The colors 64

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The Frank Smith orchid. The Paphiopedilum bellatulum is shown at opposite left. Both orchids were grown by speaker Joe Abendroth.

are often subdued green or browns instead of the brilliant purples or yellows of the type of orchids used for corsages. “I don't know why I like them so much,” he said. “They are very complex and their color spectrum is wide. I guess I just got intrigued,” he said. Calcasieu Orchid Society programs are open to anyone interested in raising orchids. Meetings are held at 2:30 on the third Sunday of each month. Topics at other meetings will range from basic cultivations of orchids to ways to grow some of the more exotic orchids. Members are encouraged to bring in their orchids for “show and tell” or for help.

UPCOMING LECTURES: Jan. 19 — “So You Want to Build a Greenhouse,” by Bobby Gianelloni, president of the Acadian Orchid Society in Lafayette. Feb. 16 — “Cowhorn Orchids, Cigar Orchids, and Bee-swarm Orchids: The World of Myrmecophila Hybrids,” by James Jeansonne, Baton Rouge. April 27 – Anthropod pests – what they are, how they live and what they do. The speaker, Dr. Bob Danka, will also share his thoughts about ways to manage them to improve your orchid culture. Danka is a research entomologist with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. May 18 — “Cattleyas” by Bobby Gianelloni. For more information, email Margo Racca at mracca@centurytel.net or call Fred Sahlmann at 433-2423. www.BestOfSWLA.com

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ou’ve dieted, exercised, and worked hard to achieve your body image goals, but there’s that problem area that just won’t go away. Maybe it’s a muffin top, thunder thighs, love handles on the hips or a prominent backside. Even people who are physically fit often have that one spot that just won’t cooperate. Area doctors who specialize in cosmetic procedures offer options. They strive to stay up-to-date with the latest technology. At the offices of Dr. Lee J. Monlezun, a gynecology and reproductive specialist, and Dr. Ralph Colpitts, a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, that technology involves the use of laser beams. Each physician has a different system and the machines work in different ways, but the results are the same – a more contoured, sculpted, thinner body. Both laser systems are non-invasive alternatives to liposuction, a surgical fatremoving procedure. Some may think that as weight is gained, more fat cells are created. But

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Monlezun says that’s not so. “You have as many fat cells today as the day you were born,” he says. “Those same fat cells are always there. But as we get older, the cells become larger, especially when a woman reaches peri-menopause.” Fat cells can be redistributed as we age, often settling around the middle of the body. The laser treatments can counter this process.

How It Works Colpitts uses new equipment called iLipo Ultra. This equipment and the system that goes with it has been used for several years in Europe, but is relatively new to the United States. Four paddles that emit low-level laser beams are placed on the targeted skin and secured by a wrap. The lasers basically bore holes into the fat cells, allowing the fat to drain out of the cells. This 20-minute treatment is followed by a massage with a suction paddle that encourages the released fat to move towards the lymphatic system where it can

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be absorbed into the body and eliminated. The fat cell isn’t harmed, but is made smaller by the removal of the fat. The session ends with 30 minutes of aerobic exercise to further facilitate circulation and the elimination of fat. Colpitts recommends a patient have the treatment twice a week for eight weeks. Patients are weighed and measured on each visit. Most see immediate results, losing up to two inches over the course of the eight weeks. Monlezun uses a system called Liposonix that also makes use of laser therapy, but in a completely different way. During a single session that requires one to two hours, Liposonix directs a high intensity laser beam to targeted areas. The laser

works in a way that’s similar to the way light is focused through a magnifying glass to create heat. The computer-directed beam vacillates back and forth, focusing on one small square of skin for 59 seconds. Then the technician moves the head of the laser to the next area of skin to be treated. Fat cells in the path of the laser are completely destroyed. As with the i-Lipo system, the fat and cell debris are absorbed by the lymphatic system and eliminated from the body. With the Liposonix method, this process of elimination takes 8-12 weeks. While some slimming effects may be noticed quickly, the full results of the procedure aren’t seen until after that period. In both of these methods, the laser targets only the fat layer 1/2 inch beneath the skin; it doesn’t harm the skin or muscles.

Benefits Of i-Lipo And Liposonix As alternatives to liposuction surgery, both these procedures are non-invasive.

There are no incisions, no anesthesia, no post-operative pain, no recovery time and no scars. The risks of liposuction surgery include bleeding, puncture of organs, and, as with any surgery, even death. There’s no pain during the i-Lipo procedure – only a warm relaxing sensation. A patient can have the slimming benefits of fat-reduction surgery without the pain of an invasive operation. Most clients see a loss of one to two inches or one dress size.

Possible Side Effects Monlezun is honest with his patients. The high-intensity Liposonix laser causes discomfort. Patients describe intense pinpricking sensations and heat. A patient is given pain medication prior to the procedure to ease the discomfort. The affected area will feel tender and be bruised for 7-10 days after the procedure. Bruising is caused by destruction of the arteries, veins and nerves surrounding the fat cells. Advantages of this method are that it’s done in only one office visit (plus four follow-up appointments to track recovery) and the fat cells are permanently eliminated. Proponents of the i-Lipo system claim there are virtually no negative side effects. The cost of both of the procedures is around $2,000; possibly more or less for Liposonix, depending on how much area is treated.

smooth, slim and define isolated trouble spots.

Contraindications Not everyone is a good candidate for i-Lipo or Liposonix treatment. Some people have medical conditions that are contraindications to the procedure. Some patients take medicines, such as blood thinners, that can make the procedure dangerous. If a person is very overweight or obese, laser treatment may not be the best option and the doctor may recommend bariatric surgery, liposuction or drastic lifestyle changes first. Some patients are turned away because they aren’t fat enough. According to Monlezun, a patient must have “an inch to pinch” to be an appropriate candidate.

He once saw a patient who thought her abdomen was fat and requested Liposonix, but she actually had severe hernias, which of course was a contraindication to treatment. Each patient has an initial consultation and must be approved by the physician before treatment.

Will The Results Last? Colpitts’ office staff guarantee their patients will see positive results from the iLipo procedure, but they can’t guarantee the fat won’t return. Yes, the results of the procedures can be permanent, but only if a patient makes wise lifestyle decisions. The fat will come back if someone who’s had the procedure overeats or leads a sedentary lifestyle.

With Monlezun’s Liposonix, a large percentage of fat cells in the treated areas are destroyed — but not all the fat cells. The remaining cells can cause a patient to re-gain the weight if he’s not careful in his habits. Colpitts and Monlezun and their staffs encourage patients who’ve had the procedures to eat healthy food in moderate amounts and be active. Some patients assume that undergoing the procedure gives them a license to go out and eat a huge meal. Not at all. They’re simply setting themselves up for failure. But for a motivated patient, i-Lipo or Liposonix can be viable ways to achieve their personal goals.

You’ve dieted, exercised, and worked hard to achieve your body image goals, but there’s that problem area that just won’t go away. Maybe it’s a muffin top, thunder thighs, love handles on the hips or a prominent backside. Even people who are physically fit often have that one spot that just won’t cooperate. The Ideal Candidate These laser treatments are appropriate for both men and women. They can be done on any part of the body except female breast tissue. The i-Lipo system has a smaller paddle that is appropriate for necks. The procedures are most successful with clients who are generally fit and in good shape, but have one or two persistent problem areas of fat. They will be less effective for someone who’s very overweight or obese. Age is generally not a factor. Monlezun has treated patients 21-77 with Liposonix. An ideal candidate is also someone who’s able to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regimen. It’s important for patients to realize this isn’t a weight loss program. The goal of these procedures is to www.BestOfSWLA.com

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h, how far we’ve come, men. Once we were wild and proud creatures. But now there’s no way we can get around the old saying, “back when a man was a man,” when we’re walking through our neighborhood drugstore watching grown men shopping for moisturizer. As it’s not February, and it’s not for that special somebody in their lives, I had to wonder why men were shopping for moisturizer. I took to a little investigating and found that such shopping is becoming commonplace. Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, nor am I declaring that men should be gross. I have respect for manly traditions — shaving, exercising, drinking. It’s just reaching a point in our culture where being a man has become something a little less manly.

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Manly Manicure And Pedicure? After writing that, I had no idea how this could be a real thing, because unless you’re having “adamantium” claws added to your hands — a la Wolverine — a manicure is never manly. What’s Happening Now: From Shar B of Yahoo Answers comes the word that many men have professions in which their hands are used and seen a lot. In their cases, it’s a distraction to their clients, and in bad taste as well, to be seen with unkempt nails in need of clipping and cleaning. So, for these men, a manicure is considered necessary and in good taste. There’s nothing feminine about it. Many men are getting pedicures, especially during the summer months when they wear sandals. Who wants to see overgrown toenails and ugly, cracked heels?

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And these men, bless them, love the attention of a female manicurist.

Manly Moisturizing? This is a joke, right? Last I checked, there had always been a certain privilege afforded to men when it came to aging. We could let it all go and still enjoy the first/better half of our lives without the need to look as though we were neveraging. All of this, sadly, has changed. Unlike Sean Penn, who ages and remains wicked awesome, modern men have turned to

moisturizers and exfoliators to keep their skin youthful and vibrant. What’s happening now: Shave.com reports that most men are introduced to the idea of using a wide range of cosmetics by their partners. A 2010 study by Kantar Worldpanel that looked at 25,000 households across the U.K. discovered that women buy half of all male grooming products. Many women said they did this to keep their partners from stealing their own moisturizing creams and cosmetics. But certainly, the high profile campaigns featuring iconic male role models such as David Beckham have promoted the idea that it’s OK for men to use cosmetics. Instead of waking up one day and realizing you’ve wasted your youth, then doing your part to keep food on a HarleyDavidson employee’s table, guys are continued

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putting magic potions on their faces with the hope that they will still look 33 when they’re 40. What will happen to the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. if the average mid-life crisis takes place in a man’s late 60s? Will they be too old to want a motorcycle? Will the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. have to close up shop and put its workers out in the cold? It’s your move, pal. Motorcycles and a roadmap for a face? Or, lotions and maybe fewer wrinkles?

Manly Body Hair Removal? I’m no historian by any means, but I’m pretty sure Magnum P.I. was impressing plenty of ladies without needing to shave away his chest fur. He didn’t even need that coif for utilitarian purposes, such as warmth, since he lived on the beaches of Hawaii. Sure, a smoothly shaven chest looks pretty on a man, but men aren’t supposed to be pretty. Unless your formal profession as an Olympic swimmer requires you to shave your arms, legs, chest, and back, it seems really pointless. What’s happening now: According to Fashionbeans.com, one of the most common reasons for exfoliation is that guys (or their partners) believe excess body hair to be unattractive, whether it’s on the chest, back, shoulders or anywhere else. It’s obviously personal preference. It’s also widely believed that a hairless physique shows off muscle definition, so many guys are opting for a close chest shave and smooth abs to help show off the results of their gym efforts. As guys move towards a more groomed overall appearance, hair removal

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IT’S SHILLY TO SHAVE BEFORE GOING FOR A SCHWIM. plished than you actually are. The need for men to do away with their gray hair is beyond me because I come from a long line of men who, granted they even live past 50, have all balded. I envy the Richard Geres of the world, with their beautiful locks that dance in the winds of the Scottish Highlands; the Morgan Freemans and Donald Sutherlands who defy the sun’s radiant light entrance onto their magnificent scalps with the tenacious power of their mops. Even my ediManly Hair DO WHAT TO MY HAIR? Coloring tor, Brad Goins, mocks Was gray hair ever anything to worry me and my relatives with his unwavering head of gray awesome. about? Going bald, sure; but gray? How dare any man alter such a gift It’s distinguished and leads people to believe you’re smarter and more accom- just because it’s switching to a more graceis becoming more and more popular. Shaving used to mean not looking like a hobo while at work. Now it means: try to fool everyone into thinking that you’re only moonlighting as the waiter of a restaurant until you’re discovered by Zeus and invited to Mount Olympia. You’re purposefully lying about your ambitions. Is that what you want to be remembered as, a liar? Be better than that, sirs. Be a manly man.

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ful tone? What’s Happening Now: The news from Latimes.com is that for most men, it’s about staying competitive in a youth-focused workplace. But for others, it’s a need to keep up with younger wives. And for some, well, they just like the sleek black tops on those Jersey Shore boys. These are among the reasons stylists say that more men — including those in their late 40s and older, and those at senior corporate levels — are dyeing their hair; shedding the shame that was once attached to the practice. Hair salons across the board — from inexpensive chains to ritzy Beverly Hills places — are noticing a rise in the number of men coming in for color treatments, hoping that covering the gray will help them hang onto jobs or put them on the fast-track at work. There is only one thing to be taken away from this article, men. Confidence is the sexiest of all traits. Try not to be bothered with your physical downfalls, and embrace your strengths. No matter what you think the issue is, understand that it’s a part of who you are now and that there’s a time to let go of who you thought you were. It’s just like pictures in a photo album; your memory will trick you into thinking you were once perfect. But perfection is an unobtainable goal. Most of us learned this in high school when freaking zits stormed our faces and threatened to ruin everything. Give up the yearning for perfection and find peace with your true self to garner lifechanging power. So, with all of that said, stand tall, be proud, and know that you are THE MAN.

here are things we love about the cool weather of fall and winter: wearing beautiful boots and chunky sweaters and layering scarves. What we don’t love is having to battle with dry skin and rough patches and feeling that our skin is two sizes too small. Indoor heat and fireplaces, combined with low humidity outdoors, can wreak havoc on your skin, leaving it dry and dull. Fine lines and wrinkles appear more noticeable and the skin can lose its plumpness. If you’ve noticed some of these dehydration cues, it may be time to change to a more gentle and hydrating approach. “Some of the normal cleansing routines we use can be too harsh during the cooler months,” said Harold Bienvenu, MD, facial plastic surgeon and medical director of the ENT and Aesthetic Center of West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital. “A long, hot shower or bath will actually strip away moisture. It’s better to take a warm shower or bath lasting about 15 minutes, then blot with a towel and apply moisturizer. For extra-dry skin, use a mild face and body oil before toweling off.” Dry skin benefits from moisturizers that are hard-working and effective. A moisturizer that worked great during the spring and summer may lack essential ingredients to truly hydrate the skin during the colder months. Bienvenu suggests changing to a product labeled as a night cream or an ointment. It may seem counter-intuitive to exfoliate dry skin; some women feel doing so could make the dryness more visible. But a gentle exfoliator will help rid the skin of the flaky patches and reveal smooth skin underneath. In fact, an occasional gentle chemical peel will revive the complexion and restore a natural glow. Take a look at the products you use on your face and body. Those that are labeled as extra-cleansing or anti-bacterial or are heavily scented will further dehydrate your skin. Choose gentle or mild cleansers, preferably ones that are fragrance-free. “These are easy on the skin without harsh detergents,” said Bienvenu. Hands often show the signs of aging before other parts of the body. The skin on the hands is thinner than elsewhere, which means it’s more difficult to keep it hydrated, especially in cold, dry weather. Slather on hand cream as often as you think of it, and especially after you wash your hands. Keep bottles of high quality hand cream beside the sink as a reminder. Feet can also reveal dryness, with cracked heels, callouses, and thick skin. Just because we’re not showcasing feet in cute sandals doesn’t mean they should be neglected.

For best results, soak feet for five to 10 minutes in warm water, blot dry, then exfoliate with a pumice stone or similar tool. Apply an intense moisturizer, then wear socks to lock in the moisture.

“This is a great routine to do at bedtime,” said Bienvenu. “Letting the moisturizer have hours to soak into the feet is a boost. For extra-dry feet, you’ll see results after a few sessions; then you can

do this routine weekly to maintain beautiful feet.” For more advice and specific recommendations, visit an aesthetician, even once a season.

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Wild Tastes BY CALVIN TYLER

hat is it about hunting that stirs the common man into a frenzy? As I’m not the type to spend a much-deserved, God-given day of rest in the harsh cold of a duck blind, I set out to answer this age-old question. It wasn’t long before I realized that it’s rarely about the actual act of hunting, but more about the gathering together of like-minded people to share in the experience of being outdoors. There’s something about being outside, in the wild, with a gun and no telephone, that turns us into teenagers. We become youths who just want to tell each other jokes, and forget about the hardships of everyday life. The time spent at a camp, “preparing” for the hunt, is a time when somebody can really live in the moment and not be bothered by what’s going happen when bills are due. A person is completely out of his element, while at the same time being purely elemental. This is the root of what drives most sport hunters. Well, that, and the food. OK, the food you eat at camp plays a huge role in the overall enjoyment of the experience. If you’ve never eaten wild game before, let me try to explain the key differences between the meat that can be purchased at most big-name grocery stores

naturally from the wild, which keeps them lean and creates more calories from protein than fat. Just look at the difference between corn-fed and grass-fed beef. If you’re a hunter, chances are you’re also a meat-eater. So, now that I’ve figured out what everyone can agree on is awesome about the hunting season, let’s dive into some amazing recipes I’ve found to be common around local, commercial hunting lodges that, in the words of Justin Wilson, “I garontee,” will make a good time even better.

BILL’S BACON DUCK JALAPENO POPPERS What you’ll need: — 2–4 duck breasts — jalapeno peppers — cream cheese — bacon — tooth picks

(the kind that also sell toys, clothes and tires), and meat that’s lived on its own naturally. Domesticated food animals are fattened up as quickly as possible with low-

cost grains. This causes the animal to be fatter than usual, thus creating more calories from fat than protein. On the other hand, prey animals eat

How to do it: 1. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds. 2. If necessary, cut the breasts down to pieces a bit larger than the pepper halves. 3. Fill pepper halves with cream cheese.

Gun Show NOV. 16 & 17 at the Lake Charles Civic Center!

Sat. 9-5 • Sun. 9-4 • Admission $8 / Under 12 FREE Guns • Knives • Accesories • Ammo • Jewelry Coins • Antique Guns • Martial Arts • Etc

Gator Guns Richard and Donnie Presutti

www.gatorguns.com 309 W. Verdine #3 • Sulphur • 527-9885 74

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continued

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4. Place a stuffed pepper half onto a piece of the breast. 5. Wrap with bacon and secure with toothpicks. 6. Repeat, using up the rest of the ingredients. 7. Grill over medium heat until the bacon is done. Hunting enthusiast Bill Jackson says, “This is an excellent spin on a delicious classic. It’s mostly enjoyed as an appetizer or a finger food, and is best served with great conversation and a wintery beer of your choice.”

PATTY’S SMOKED DEER ROAST What you’ll need: — 5-7 lbs. venison roast, venison loin, venison sirloin or venison shoulder (reserve pan juices for gravy) — 2 cloves garlic, cut into slivers — 1/2 lb. bacon, chopped fine — 1/2 cup olive oil — fresh ground pepper — 1 cup dry red wine

— venison gravy (optional) — 2 slices bacon — 3 tablespoons flour — 1 cup beef broth — salt and pepper How to do it: 1. Trim any skin or fat from meat; cut slits at intervals in surface of roast and fill with garlic. Push in some of the chopped bacon; brush meat generously with oil and sprinkle heavily with pepper. 2. Pour 1/2 cup wine into water pan of smoker and fill with water; put in place over hot fire. 3. Place meat on rack in smoker; cover with lid and smoke 5 hours, feeding with a few charcoal briquettes at a time to maintain cooking temperature. Baste with remaining oil every hour, working quickly so as not to disperse heat in smoker. 4. Test internal temperature, it should be at 130-135 degrees. 5. Place meat in a large Dutch oven, add remaining 1/2 cup wine. Simmer 45 minutes longer, or until internal temperature reaches 165-170 degrees. 6. Serve hot with gravy or refrigerate and serve cold. For venison gravy: cut bacon in small pieces and sauté to render fat; stir in flour, add pan juices and broth gradually, stirring until smooth and thickened. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Hunting guide Patrick Benoit warns, “this recipe takes the better part of a day to complete, so, gather around with some buddies and make the best of it. You’ll be happy you did. The time spent will be rewarded with the best dang deer roast ever to grace a picnic table.”

GRAM’S QUACK GUMBO What you’ll need for the duck: — 3-4 wild ducks — 8 quarts of water — 2 large onions (quartered) — 4 stalks of celery (quartered) — 3 bay leaves — 3 cloves of garlic (diced) — 1/2 teaspoon of salt — 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

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How to cook the duck: 1. Boil ducks in a large pot along with all ingredients above. 2. Simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours or until tender. 3. Remove ducks and de-bone. 4. Chill the stock and skim off the solidified fat from the top and discard. 5. Reserve the stock. What you’ll need for the gumbo: — 2 cups flour — 1-1/2 cup oil — 2 cups sliced smoked sausage (pork, turkey, beef or chicken) — 2 cups chopped onions — 1 cup chopped celery — 1 cup chopped green pepper — 4 cloves garlic minced — 2 carrots thinly sliced — 3 tablespoons chopped parsley — 4 quarts duck stock — 1/2 cup red wine — 1 teaspoon salt — 1/2 teaspoon black pepper — 1/4 teaspoon red pepper — 1/2 teaspoon oregano — 2 tablespoons Tabasco How to cook the gumbo: 1. In a large heavy pot, make a dark roux with oil and flour. 2. Add all vegetables and cook for 10 minutes or until tender. 3. Add stock, wine and seasonings, then simmer for 15 minutes. 4. Add duck and sausage, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 5. Serve over rice. Grandmother Ellie Duhon teaches, “A great duck gumbo takes practice, yeah, but is well worth the effort. It’s a favorite at the camps everywhere, and it always brings a warmth to cold days.” Eating these dishes at home isn’t as exciting as enjoying them in the great outdoors. The magic comes from being surrounded by all of nature’s glory — especially if you can part with your mobile devices for a few hours (level 83 of Candy Crush can wait) — and having nothing more to do than talk about whatever you’re experiencing in that very moment. Get out of the house, grab some friends, take a trip to the middle of nowhere, and go find your true self. Be sure to bring along some ingredients because, trust me, your truest self loves a good meal. All these recipes can be tweaked and personalized to your preference. If you have any recipes of your own that you’d like to share, please forward them, along with any stories, to me at themodernmuchacho@gmail.com. Enjoy!

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LAGNIAPPE

Deer Smack-Down BY ROCKE FOURNET

orn and raised in south Louisiana, this boy was a natural at the dinner table. If you like to eat good food, and lots of it, this is where you want to be living. The Crowley Rice Festival recently offered a wide variety of the unique Cajun cuisine that this part of the country is famous for. The showcase event, very appropriately, the rice-eating contest, drew contestants from Texas to Florida and in between. Justin Baker, representing a long and hungry line of chow hounds from Lake Charles, was ready to shovel some dirty rice. He’d been beefing down for the contest and was hungry as a post-hibernation bear. Let the games begin! It was a 10-minute dirty rice throwdown, and the scoops consisted of one very fat cup of rice. Justin was off and chewing to an early lead when an air pocket apparently slowed him down. But he was cool under pressure, and a loud burp cleared his airway, and he was spooning again, spurred on by a raucous crowd.

Justin Baker: Champion rice-eater.

Kade Fontenot with his impressive buck.

Justin finished strong with a very impressive first place commemorative bowl after downing 21 scoops in the allotted time. In the ladies’ division, a woman, sure to make her husband proud, finished with 16 scoops. An up-and-coming Cajunfor-sure junior was a nine-year-old who thrilled his family with a seven scoop finish. A true champion in the making. After the big win, Justin celebrated with an appetizer of alligator on a stick and

a heaping plate of crawfish etouffee. It doesn’t get much better. Next year, he’s bringing his own spoon and shooting for a new record. It’s early in the hunting season, but a local hunter has already put the smack down on a nice buck deer. A student at Lacassine High, Kade Fontenot got his senior year off on the right foot recently with a mature eight-point Louisiana buck taken near Dry Creek. The buck looked

great, with an impressive 18-inch spread, as he first crossed Kade’s shooting lane. The buck was roaming and covering ground, probably in search of a doe girlfriend, when he stepped into Kade’s second field of fire. Kade was ready and waiting and coolly squeezed off a solid round; it was time for celebration! The only guy with a bigger smile was the guy who introduced him to this great sport, his dad, Kurt. A cool front just blew through, dropping the temperature into the 50s. It’s a great time to get out in it and soak it up. Get out and support your local home football team. McNeese put on a great show in a recent big win over a first-class Sam Houston team. A ticket to watch them is the best deal in town, offering maximum bang for your bucks. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday night, and there’s nothing that can compare with being there live and in living color. Go McNeese and play Jolie Blon some mo!

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LAGNIAPPE

November 7, 2013

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White Flags BY E.J. GASPARD

know plenty of people who engage in hunting. One of these is Rodney LeFleur. He doesn't look like a hunter to me, but what do I know? He's vertically challenged and fairly broad. Imagine a Weeble in camouflage. A couple of years ago, Rodney, his brother Bill and Bill's 14-year-old son Jeff, set out on a bow hunting expedition to D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge near Monroe. Bill and Jeff had prepared for this trip for a week. Both were dressed in identical khaki shirts and corduroy jackets. They wore blue jeans and lace-up leather boots. Rodney is the kind of guy who dresses in camouflage all year long. I wouldn’t call him an avid hunter as much as a rabid hunter. Rodney hunts every season: rifle, bow and black powder. I believe he would try hand grenades if they were allowed. He subscribes to at least five hunting magazines and displays pinups of slain deer on his office walls. "Remember the trademark of the white-tailed deer, Jeff," his uncle drilled into the boy on the outbound trip. "When you see the snow-white underside of that tail raise up, it looks just like a white flag waving. That's when you know you've got him." Rodney went on, "You can kill either sex this season, but there’s nothing like bringing down a big buck with a trophy rack." Rodney had the hunt planned. In addition to a strategy lecture, he gave Bill and Jeff copies of a hand-drawn map of the refuge, with potential hot zones marked in red. He took the liberty of putting down a deposit with the local meat packer for the processing of at least one, and possibly three, deer. The group arrived at the entrance to the refuge shortly before dawn. They checked in with the wardens and produced their licenses for inspection. Since Jeff was under 16, he also had to show his safe hunting class certificate and was told he could only hunt under the constant supervision of an older hunter. As Rodney and Bill, with Jeff in tow, set out across the beautiful refuge with its radical changes of terrain from hills to deep ravines, Rodney's senses were alive with the spectacle of nature. In his mind, he had already taken his first buck and was scouting the landscape for the easiest path to pack out the deer. When they came upon Bayou D'Arbonne, which runs through the center of the refuge, the boys decided to split up, with Rodney taking the eastern bank while Bill and Jeff scouted the west bank. The bayou runs pretty wide in some places, and since camouflage, stillness and stealth are all highly regarded in hunting, the two parties soon lost track of each other. About two hours into the trek, Rodney bent over to examine what looked like deer tracks crossing a trail. There was a ripping

sound as the seat of his overalls gave way, displaying a large patch of white underwear. That’s when his little nephew shot him in the left hindquarter with an arrow from across the bayou. They took him to the hospital in Monroe where the arrow was removed

without complications. But Rodney never hunted again. Part of it, I think, was the jokes: "Rodney's brother had to beat his son back to keep him from field dressing his uncle." "It's just as well that Rodney survived. The hams would have been too big for the smoker." “The sausages would have

been mostly hot air." Mainly, I think, it was because Rodney finally understood how it feels to be minding your own business only to be shot from ambush.

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November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

Post-Kill Tasks BY LARRY J. LEBLANC

housands of folks are out in fields, hills and thick forests in search of the generally elusive white-tail deer. The weather has been beautiful, with the daytime temperatures getting up near, or to, the 70-degree mark. So after you harvest your deer, you’re faced with a couple precursory tasks. First thing up is tagging the animal. There are many mediums used to affix the tag to the deer. I had used nylon string for years, until someone showed me how easy it was to use plastic wire ties. Ever since that time, I have used wire ties to affix the tags to the animals with success. Next, the deer must be field dressed and propped open for cooling. I find it hard to believe that many folks I’ve spoken with don’t field dress the deer immediately. Also, don’t forget to remove the windpipe as soon as you can, as that will start to turn rapidly and ruin the meat all around it. This is extremely important in our warm climate in order to keep the meat as fresh as possible until you can get it home and butcher it or, if you’re so inclined, take the

deer to a processor. I’ve also started to carry some rubber gloves with me that I slip on before I start to field dress a dear. I do that in case I have some cut or scratch on my hands, and also because I’ve become a little disconcerted

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by some of the diseases that have arisen around other parts of the country in the deer family; even though nothing like that has shown up in Texas, I’m not going to gamble on the possibility. Another reason for quick field dress-

ing is that the dead animal can become an immediate magnet for flies. To remedy this problem, I usually carry a good-size container of black pepper with me and cover the field dressed animal inside and out. Black pepper is a fantastic fly repellent, and don’t be stingy with it. Cover the entire deer. That includes the hair, head, mouth, eyes, nose, ears and every place a fly might land to feast or lay eggs. There are also commercially available mesh bags that the deer can be put into that will prevent the flies from getting to your deer. Now that the deer is properly tagged and field dressed, the next item of business is the job of moving the heavy animal to your mode of transportation in order to get it home or to the butcher. There are many products on the market with wheels on them, built just for that purpose, and as one can see from the number of four-wheelers on the back of pickup trucks on the highways, many have solved the problem that way. I don’t own one, nor can I justify the expense, so that leaves one of two options available to folks like me:

drag or carry the deer to the nearest road or leave the deer where it lay, or walk back to your truck and drive it to the location of the deer. The idea of carrying a deer on my back during deer hunting season is one I find not particularly appealing. I don’t care if it’s draped with a blaze orange jump suit, I don’t want it on my back. Dragging it out is not too bad, if you happen to be in pretty good physical condition, take your time, and don’t have too terribly far to move it. The other option is to leave the deer where it lay, walk back to your vehicle and drive near enough so you can load it more easily. That creates a couple of complications. One is finding the exact spot where you left the deer. The other is that someone may be happy to relieve you of the problem by stealing your deer while you are gone. That has happened on more than one occasion. There are a few unscrupulous people in the woods, as there are in any area of life. So if you are going to leave your deer lie, and go after your truck to come back and re-

trieve your trophy, hide it. Hide it well, unless you happen to be in a very sparsely populated area of the state, and know for sure who is in the area. Transportation of the trophy is normally not much of a problem in Texas, as every household must own at least one pickup truck. However, if you are new to the sport of hunting or just plain do not own a pickup truck, be aware that the game will bleed all over anything you put it on, or in. So, if you happen to be in the family car, line the trunk completely with plastic sheets like painting drop cloths before putting the deer in there. The plastic will take care of the blood and other fluids that will seep from the carcass, but the smell may permeate the entire car. Now, that would be OK with me if I were riding in your car, but I’ve noticed over the years that spouses tends to get a little touchy about things like that. It might be in your best interest to give that situation some thought before putting a deer in the trunk.

Fur And Wildlife Pageant The Fur And Wildlife Pageant will take place Nov. 15-16 at the South Cameron High School-Gymnasium at 753 Oak Grove Highway in Grand Chenier. Events will begin Friday at 6 pm and continue Saturday at 10 am, 2 pm and 6 pm. The Little Miss and Mister Cameron Parish and Miss Cameron Parish pageants will take place on Nov. 15 at 6 pm. These pageants are only open to Cameron Parish residents. The Baby, Tiny, Toddler, and Petite Miss Fur Queen pageants will take place Nov. 16 at 10 am. After a 30-minute break, the Deb, Teen, and Jr. Miss Fur Queen pageants will take place. These pageants will be open to all. The Queen’s Pageant will take place Nov. 16 at 6 pm. Interviews will start at 2 pm. For more information, call Vickie Little at 912-0114.

If You Want The Very Best, Don't Waste Time ... Go To Hackett's Cajun Kitchen! Located 2-1/2 miles South of Super Wal-Mart on Highway 14 is the place everyone is talking about - Hackett's Cajun Kitchen! Over 20 years ago, Charlie and Karen Hackett created a place where you can enjoy the best boneless stuffed chickens around...stuffed with your choice of: Cornbread or Rice Dressing; Shrimp Boudin; or Crawfish Boudin! Talk about great food...Hackett's is also home of the best plate lunch in Lake Charles... Talk about heaven for your palate...Hackett's also has 6 kinds of boudin: mild or spicy, regular, mild or spicy smoked, crawfish, or shrimp. Oh, yes, and 10 kinds of sausage, including andouille! Local owner Karen Hackett and her dedicated staff say "We invite everyone to Hackett's!" and "Thank You, SWLA for choosing us Best Cracklins, Best Boudin, Best Home Cooking, and Best Plate Lunch year after year in Lagniappe's Reader's Choice Awards." Great Food, Nice People...everyone is heading for Hackett's!!

5614 Hwy 14 • 2 1/2 Miles S. of Super Wal-Mart 474-3731 • 7:30am-3pm Monday thru Saturday

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November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

Fishing Paradise BY JAKE BUSSOLINI

he sun had barely awakened from its long October Louisiana night when Thomas Alleman, 26, of Lake Charles lowered his jon boat from its hoist at the Grosse Savanne marsh. An unseasonable chill was in the air as we started out for our red fish experience. There were two other boats carrying other members of my group, but Alleman didn’t subscribe to their search methods. They were looking for surface action to find the redfish, but Alleman, with several years of experience studying these marshes, knew exactly where he was headed. Deep in this marsh, among the many twists and turns of the canals, he knew of an area he called the “pipeline cut.” This cove contained a small reef of oysters in water that was two to five feet deep — perfect for the big redfish. As we sped through the cold morning mist, my mind wandered a little, thinking about the great day of fishing I’d experienced several years ago when I was fishing for largemouth bass at the Black Lake

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November 7, 2013

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Lodge. For years I had bragged about that fishing trip as the best day of fishing that I had ever experienced. I have fished more than 100 different waters in my fishing career, and this Lake Charles area bass fishing was still at the top of my list. In one day I caught more than 50 huge bass, most weighing more than six pounds, returning all of them to the water. Since that time, Black Lake Lodge had been destroyed by hurricane Katrina, so I could never fish there again. I’ve always been intrigued by the availability of both salt and freshwater fishing in close proximity to each other in this area. This time, I was being hosted by the Lake Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau as part of the South East Outdoors Press Association (SEOPA). My fingers were numb from the cold October wind created by the high speed of our jon boat. Just as I zippered up my light jacket, we found the selected fishing spot and the anchor was set.

I took the front seat of the boat, warming my hands, I was ready. The waters in the marsh were mirror still and there was no sign of any surface action. But we weren’t looking for surface action. I was a little concerned that the weather had turned cold, since that normally signals a change in fish behavior. Alleman pointed to a gas line marker directly in front of the boat and directed my first cast in that direction. Shrimp were the bait of choice that day. We attached them to a small 1/4 ounce jig head. The technique was to let the bait sink to the bottom, keeping the line taut to feel the bite. The small croakers pecked at the shrimp. It took me a few empty hooks to get the feel of the underwater activity. Once I got the feel, it was game on for me and the redfish. The first fish I hooked was a fine 30inch redfish weighing 14 pounds. The fight the fish gave me was great. The shallow water didn’t permit any deep dives searching for the bottom as I was accustomed to. But the fish had other ideas than letting me bring it into the boat. It fought 360 degrees around the boat, dodging the other angler’s line and running under the anchor rope. When we finally netted the fish, it was a beauty. At one point, I was actually able to catch a second fish before Thomas Alleman had measured the previous fish and put it on ice for the evening dinner. On nearly every other cast, I was able to hook another big fish. Periodically, the rhythm was interrupted by a giant crab that also thought the shrimp were tasty. On occasion, we switched to a Berkley gulp swimming mullet for variety, but switched back to the shrimp in short time. The routine of hooking these monster redfish was also interrupted by an occasional black drum, sand trout or flounder, all providing an exciting variety of the catch. I boated 15 of the big redfish in four hours. We released all the fish except two we planned to eat for dinner that night. The action was fast and steady, and despite my policy never to leave biting fish, we returned to the Grosse Savanne lodge around noon, calling it a very successful fishing day.

Since my books about fishing deal with the science as it blends with the sport, I was intrigued that Thomas Alleman seemed to study every fish I caught, looking for any unique sign that he might have seen that fish before. On several occasions, he counted the number of spots on the fish, and on at least two fish he pointed out markings he had seen before. This is how an experienced angler judges the effectiveness of his angling technique. At his young age, Alleman had mastered that technique. Many anglers define the success of a fishing day by the number of fish they catch, and that is certainly a good measure. I think about angling in a slightly different way. A fine day on the water is part of a total event that includes the quality of the people you associate with, the conditions of the weather, the culture of the region, and, of course, the excitement of the catch. If I take away the wonderful people I met, the fantastic weather, the great Cajun food and southern hospitality and the culture of the region, I could still define Lake Charles as a fine fishing area. I cannot, however, take these factors away because they are an integral part of the area’s culture and surroundings. This is what puts Lakes Charles at the top of my list as one of the best fishing destinations in the south. It is also what allows the state to call itself a sportsman’s paradise. One benefit I received from this latest trip to Lake Charles was the ability to observe the great job being done by the America’s Wetland Foundation through its America’s Energy Coast initiative, which brings together public and private organizations to restore and maintain the Gulf area wetlands. I witnessed the migration of hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese to their winter habitat. It became obvious to me that there are many people working hard to improve the local environment so that this southern wonderland will continue to produce great fishing and hunting for years to come.

Jake Bussolini is a freelance writer and author of five books about freshwater fishing. His work can be viewed on his web site, www.jakestakeonfishing.com.

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November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

THURSDAY, NOV. 7

FRIDAY, NOV. 8

SATURDAY, NOV. 9

Cigar Club Kory Fontenot One Man Band Coushatta No Idea Cowboys Club 7 Radio Delta Downs Common Ground Dharma White Heat, Root Beer, more Isle of Capri Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band L’Auberge Eric Scott Loggerheads Kenzi Newman Luna Live Super Water Symphony, Blair Crimmins & The Hookers Yesterdays Wayne Toup

Cigar Club Ryan Bunch Coushatta No Idea Cuz’s Bar Jerry D & Rocking Randy Delta Downs Common Ground Dharma Dolo Jazz Suite No. 8 w AF The Naysayer Isle Of Capri The Coleman Brothers L'Auberge DJ CaGe Loggerheads Brian Racca Luna Live Signatures Yesterdays Steel Shot

THURSDAY, NOV. 14

FRIDAY, NOV. 15

SATURDAY, NOV.16

Coushatta Joe Harmon & The Harmonics Dharma Austin Miller Isle of Capri Corey Ledet L’Auberge DJ San-D Loggerheads Flashback Luna Live TBA

Cigar Club Hold Fast Fables Coushatta Isis Cowboys Club 7 Radio Delta Downs Chubby Carrier Dharma Lochness Mobsters, Holy Wave, Church Shoes, Root Beer, Mermentau Hellshovel Isle of Capri Brad Brinkley Comfort Zone L’Auberge DJ San-D Loggerheads Clayton Rougeau Yesterdays Molly Ringwalds

Cigar Club Paul Gonsoulin Coushatta Isis Delta Downs Chubby Carrier Dharma When the Word Was Sound CD release party; also Sick/Sea, Certain Satellites Isle of Capri Ryan Harris Killin’ Time Jitterbugs The Fallout L’Auberge DJ San-D Loggerheads Tom Brandow Luna Live Dark Side of the Lake Yesterdays Geno Delafose Frecnh Rockin’

Coushatta Eugene Pollard Dharma Open mic Isle of Capri Ganey Arsement L’Auberge Jack After Dark DJ Eric Scott Luna Live Downfall Rising

karaoke Annie's 9pm Friday; Saturday Bourbonz 8pm Tuesdays Chicageaux Bar 8pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday Club 90 8pm Saturday Coolers Thursday Crickets 8:30pm Friday Crystal's Tuesdays, Chad Evans DJ'S Bar Moss Bluff 9pm Friday

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November 7, 2013

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DeQuincy VFW 7-11pm Friday; 6-10pm Sunday Dirty Rice Saloon 7pm Thursday Frosty Factory 9pm Friday & Saturday Handlebars Club Tuesdays & Thursdays Huddle Up Thursdays Isle Of Capri 8pm-Midnight Wednesday Jacky's Western Bar 8pm-Wed/Thurs Kaw-Ligas Tuesday thru Saturday Mike's Place 8pm-until M,W,F Linda's Lounge 8:30-11:30 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; 9-1 Saturday Neighborhood Bar 7pm Thursday No Name Lounge 8-Mid Friday,

7-11pm Sunday Old Town Tavern Fri/Sat Nights R-Bar 8pm Friday Sam's Cove 9pm Thursday Slim's Yesteryears 9pm Thursday Spot Bar & Grill Fridays Sports Pitt 8pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday Sulphur VFW 9pm-Mid Saturday Tiki Bar 8pm Friday Texas Longhorn Club 9pm Thursdays, 1am Fridays

Fax listings to 433-8964

Dave Scott

U.S. PATENT MODEL EXHIBIT “The Curious World of Patent Models” exhibit, organized by the Rothchild Patent Model Collection, will be at the 1911 Historic City Hall through Dec. 28. From the time the U.S. Patent Office was formed by Thomas Jefferson in 1790, inventors were required to submit a working, scale model of their invention when applying for a patent. The Rothschild Collection is the world’s largest gathering of viewable U.S. Patent Models. Only one model exists for each invention, complete with its hand-written original tag. The exhibit will include a variety of Patent Models that children and adults alike will enjoy: household, agricultural, medical, toys, musical instruments, tools and more. Educational materials will accompany the exhibition. The 1911 Historic City Hall, 1001 Ryan St., is open Monday through Friday, 10 am-5 pm, and Saturday 10 am- 2 pm. Admission is free. For more info., contact Denise Fasske at 491-9159.

CHILDREN’S MUSEUM EVENTS Here are some upcoming events at the Children’s Museum in Lake Charles: Nov. 11: Veteran’s Day Workshop. Children can decorate a patriotic visor with stars and glitter. Class begins at 2:30 pm. It is limited to 20 children; Nov. 15: Swirl’n Spin Art. From 3:30-4:30 pm, children will meet in the ArtSpace to experiment with designs using the Swirl’n Spin art machine; Nov. 22: Finger Painting. 3:30-4:30 pm in the ArtSpace; Nov. 25: Fall Workshop. Children can use sticky shapes to create a fall leaf or pumpkin. Classes begin at 11 am and noon. They are limited to 20 children. Nov. 26: Happy Turkeys Workshop. Children can make a colorful “happy turkey” for the family table. Classes begin at 11 am and noon. They are limited to 20 children. Nov. 27: The Tortoise and His Hair. At 11 am, children will meet for story time with local author Eloise Huber, who will read her book The Tortoise and His Hair. Nov. 27: Placemats. Children will make Thanksgiving placemats at noon. Class is limited to 20 children. The Children’s Museum is located at 327 Broad St. Hours are 10 am-5 pm, Monday through Saturday. Admission is $7.50 for children and adults. Call 433-9420 or visit swlakids.org for info about admission fees, memberships and birthday parties.

Jay Kacherski

RECITAL TO FEATURE WORKS BY PIAZZOLLA A free faculty recital will be held at 7:30 pm on Nov. 14 in the Shearman Fine Arts Performing Arts Theater. Featured performers will be Dave Scott, on trumpet, and Jay Kacherski, on guitar. This program will include “Café 1930” and “Libertango” by Astor Piazzolla; “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by Bach; “Bacchianas Brasilieros No. V” by VillaLobos; “Mallorca” by Albeniz; “Como Poden Per Sas Culpas” by Alfonso X El Sabio (with Zachary Alcantara on trumpet and Lonny Benoit on percussion); and “Siete Canciones Populares” by De Falla. Scott, an associate professor of music at McNeese, teaches trumpet. He is a founding member of the local chamber ensemble Pastiche. Kacherski received his master’s in performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music and his doctorate at the University of Texas. He was runner-up finalist in the 2012 Texas A&M International Guitar Competition.

KIWANIS COATS FOR KIDS The Kiwanis Club is accepting used coats for its 2013 Coats For Kids drive. Coats will be accepted until Nov. 22, and will be distributed before Christmas to families in need. Coats may be donated at AAA Cleaners locations at 622 E. Prien Lake Rd. or 2713 Country Club Rd. Coats may also be donated at the following area schools: Barbe High, LaGrange High, Iowa High, S.J. Welsh, Oak Park Middle, Moss Bluff Elementary, Prien Lake Elementary, Oak Park Elementary, Dolby, St. John Elementary, EDS, ICCS, Our Lady Queen of Heaven and St. Margaret.

‘THE GRINCH’ COMES TO LUTCHER THEATRE “How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical” will come the Lutcher Theatre Saturday, Nov. 16 with two performances to be held, 2 pm and 7:30 pm. Ticket prices range from $35-65 and are on sale now at www.lutcher.org or by calling the Lutcher Theater Box Office at 409-886-5535. The Frances Ann Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts is a Stark Cultural Venue and is located at 707 Main St. in Orange, Texas.

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November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

MARDI GRAS POSTER CONTEST

RUDOLPH TO RETURN

Entries are being accepted for the 2014 Mardi Gras poster contest. Entries should be submitted by Dec. 6. The winner will receive $400 and the privilege of having his or her artwork printed on a commemorative poster showcasing Mardi Gras in Southwest Louisiana. All forms of artwork will be accepted, including digital/computer-generated artwork, watercolor, charcoal, pastels and photography. The winning poster will be scanned and printed. Entries must be 16 by 20 inches and matted. The poster must include the phrase “Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana 2014,” and all entries become the property of Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana. The drop-off for entries is Healthy Image Marketing Agency/Thrive Magazine, located at 836 University Dr. in Lake Charles. For more information, call 526-9009.

The Lake Charles Civic Ballet (LCCB) will present its classic Christmas ballet Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer December 12-14 at the Rosa Hart Theater. Created in 1969 by Lady Leah Lafargue Hathaway, Rudolph has delighted audiences every 2 to 4 years since its first performance. As it was from the first, the ballet is choreographed and set by the artists of the LCCB. The ballet opens in Santa’s workshop, as the elves prepare puppets, dolls and other toys. The reindeer show off their flying skills. Then the audience visits countries around the world to see how children in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan and Saudi Arabia celebrate Christmas. Finally, there’s a vicious snow storm with dancing snowflakes and the Snow Queen. Finally, the audience watches Rudolph’s bright red nose fly over their heads in the theater. School group matinee performances will take place Dec. 12-13 at 9 and 11 am. Tickets for matinees are $5 per student. On Saturday, Dec. 14, there will be an 11 am matinee and 6 pm gala. Tickets for these performances are $10 for students and $15 for adults. Reservations can be made via the LCCB website at lakecharlescivicballet.com; or contact Kelly Gifford at 802-5779. Find more information about the ballet on Facebook.

‘THE BIG BARN JAM’ Alston Entertainment will present “The Big Barn Jam” at the Beauregard Covered Arena in Deridder, La., Saturday, Nov. 16. Featured at the event will be live performances by Clay Alston, The Kentucky Head Hunters, Jeff Bates, Brent Perkins Band, Waylon Thibodeaux, and Katelyn Johnson Band. Beverages, food and concessions will be sold. Must be 21 with valid ID to purchase alcohol. No outside food or drinks are allowed. Gates open at 4 pm. Tickets are $15 per person; kids 12 and younger enter free. For more information, call 985-384-0378.

FLEA FEST Flea Fest will take place November 16-17 from 9 am-5 pm in the Burton Coliseum Ag Barn, located on the south side of Burton Coliseum. The fall Flea Fest will feature nearly 200 venders. Items for sale will include antiques, retro and vintage goods, handcrafted items, toys, collectibles, clothes, art work, comic books, furniture, gifts, jewelry and other flea market style goods. The event will also feature a Pet Town with cats and dogs that can be adapted, and an Auto World, which will featured vehicles of all types that are for sale. Food will be served in the diner. Adult tickets are $5, with the exception of Saturday 8-9 am, when adult tickets are $10. Children 12 and under will be admitted for free. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com and at the gate. For more information, visit FleaFest.com or call 502-8584.

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November 7, 2013

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DON’S TO GIVE VETS FREE CARWASHES On Nov. 11, more than 2,000 carwashes in all 50 states will honor veterans and military personnel on Veterans Day by giving them a free carwash as part of the “Grace For Vets” program. Both Don’s Carwash locations will provide free carwashes to veterans and military personnel on Nov. 11 from 8 am to 6 pm. The Grace for Vets program originated 10 years ago. More than 100,000 cars are washed each year as part of the program. “I’m humbled by everything our service personnel have given for this country. They deserve our appreciation and gratitude, and this is the smallest of small ways that we can help,” said Don Bruno, a U.S. Navy veteran.

BREAST CANCER WORKSHOP On Thursday, Nov. 14, West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital (WCCH) will hold its monthly “Pink Crusade” Breast Cancer Support Group meeting at 6 pm in the WCCH Board Room, near the Cypress Street entrance of the hospital. Carol Pettyjohn, local breast cancer survivor and advocate, will hold a motivational workshop at which she will share how positivity can provide the motivation and determination needed to embrace and overcome an unfavorable breast cancer diagnosis. There is no charge. For info, call 528-7320.

MOSS BLUFF HARVEST FESTIVAL The Moss Bluff Harvest Festival will take place at the Moss Bluff Recreation Complex, 1180 Recreation Blvd., in Moss Bluff. It will take place Thursday, Nov. 14 through Saturday, Nov. 16. Hours Thursday and Friday are 5-9 pm; and Saturday 10 am-9 pm. The community-wide festival will feature rides, craft vendors, a car show, blood drive, story time, kids zone, Queens pageant, pet pageant, prince & princess pageant for kids with special needs, live music, gumbo cook-off, food vendors and more. All proceeds support the Moss Bluff community. Admission is $2. For more information, contact Michelle McInnis at 540-4626.

FOURNET MEMORIAL DEDICATION The City of Lake Charles and the Mayor’s Committee for the First Lieutenant Douglas B. Fournet Memorial will hold a dedication ceremony for the memorial on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 11 am, at Veterans Memorial Park, located on Veterans Memorial Parkway. Fournet, a native of Lake Charles, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in April of 1970 for his act of sacrifice during the Vietnam War. The memorial will be the centerpiece of a redesign of the entry area of Veterans Memorial Park. In addition to the Memorial statue, new additions to the entrance will include a gateway entrance, two arbors and new pavers. Fournet’s family members will attend, and a reception will be held immediately following the ceremony in the Contraband Room of the Lake Charles Civic Center.

HARVEST FESTIVAL DOG SHOW The “Harvest Festival Fun Dog Show” will be held Nov. 23 at 1 pm at Moss Bluff Recreational Center, 1180 Don Manuel Blvd. The dog show will provide an opportunity for families to show off their dogs. Mom, Dad and kids will work together with their pooches to win prizes. A few rules apply: Dogs must have current rabies tags or proof of vaccination; dogs must be kept on leashes at all times; only dogs entered in show are allowed on the grounds; no dogs in heat are allowed to enter. Entry fee is $5 per class or $25 per dog for six classes. Classes are limited to 20 dogs for each category; first come, first served. All proceeds go to benefit the Moss Bluff community and Moss Bluff schools. For more info, contact Dianna Burnthorn at 540-2476 or email Tonya Goss at tgoss42@yahoo.com.

‘GLASS MANAGERIE’ The “Glass Managerie” will be performed Wednesday, Nov. 13 through Sunday, Nov. 17 at SFAA Performing Arts Theatre at McNeese State University. Performances will begin at 7:30 pm Wednesday-Saturday and 2 pm on Sunday. For more info, call 475-5000.

‘A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” will be performed daily at Lake Charles Little Theatre, 813 Enterprise Blvd., at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm, Nov. 9-24. “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a moving study of a woman whose life has been undermined by her own romantic illusions. This Pulitzer prize winner is a classic, famous not only in the south, but worldwide. For more information, call 433-7988.

www.BestOfSWLA.com

November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

REEL TALK

duane bergeron

Bad Grandpa

Paramount Pictures • Rated R

I can remember a time when motion picture comedies were a family event. In the 1960s, the number one box office attraction was Doris Day. The singer/actress could make anyone laugh until his sides ached. And the storylines were all “family friendly.” Those days have disappeared for good. Now the only comedies that can be watched by families are the computeranimated features. Most live action comedies rely on toilet humor to generate laughs. Bad Grandpa is a textbook example of that. Bad Grandpa is the latest in the Jackass series co-produced by actor Johnny Knoxville and the MTV cable channel. In its opening weekend, it knocked Gravity out of the No. 1 position and became the last hit of the fall season. Irving Zisman (Knoxville) has to deal with a double whammy: his wife dies and his daughter is going to prison. She can’t take care of her eight-year-old son Billy (Jackson Nicoll). Irving is 86 and hardly in any condition to deal with a situation like this. Reluctantly, he agrees to take Billy on a trip from Lincoln, Neb., to Raleigh, N.C., to bring Billy to his biological father.

With Irving’s unburied wife stashed in the trunk, Irving and Billy head out. Along the way, they start to bond in a way that neither would have expected. Their road trip includes several interesting diversions, such as Irving trying to pick up a woman in a nightclub and steal food in a store. When the two arrive in Raleigh, Irving turns Billy over to his father, but has to deal with the emotional ramifications of losing his company. Bad Grandpa follows the usual narrative-based formula for a theatrical film, but with one major difference: many of the scenes were shot with groups of people who didn’t know they were on a movie set. In this warped version of Candid Camera, reactions of bystanders who were caught on film were real, not faked. I have to admit the Jackass crew was very clever in setting this situation up. From the scene in which the dead wife’s funeral turns into a disaster to the reunion of Billy and his father in a biker bar, the “extras” on set were totally fooled into believing that what was taking place was genuine. It was impressive to see this succeed considering the logistics involved. None of the people in any scene could recognize Knoxville. He was

under such heavy old man makeup, no one could tell he was in their presence. With a gimmick like this, Bad Grandpa worked, using the Candid Camera angle to get laughs. Bad Grandpa came off brilliantly with this filmmaking tactic. As was mentioned previously, Bad Grandpa indulged in a great deal of toilet humor. That was a major detriment, and it wasn’t necessary. Knoxville and his crew went into overkill on this. The sight gags and other means used to generate humor were repulsive and self-defeating. I’m aware this is the modern style, but an excess of it is still counterproductive. Some limitations would have helped for sure. Bad Grandpa is humorous when it comes to its unique production techniques. But its somewhat morbid and very raunchy approach to comedy does more harm than good. This feature is recommended only to those who get off on this kind of movie. It’s definitely not for mainstream audiences. The Christmas film season will begin at the start of November with the arrival of Ender’s Game and Last Vegas.

SPECTACULAR SAVINGS!

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November 7, 2013

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SAM HOUSTON BRONCOS CROSS COUNTRY MEET 3 Miles • Held at Sam Houston Jones State Park Oct. 16 GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 1. Kellie Webb 2. Morgan Foreman 3. Jacqueline Rushford 4. Hailey Gilroy 5. Briane Miller 6. Ashlynn Derouen 7. Kelsie Williams 8. Hailey Sanders 9. Haley Cooley 10. Lillian Jeans

Barbe Barbe DeRidder Barbe DeRidder South Beau Merryville Sulphur Lacassine Merryville

19:43 20:28 20:57 21:27 21:47 22:01 22:02 22:06 22:10 22:29

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 1. Bradley Hoogerwerf 2. Julian Cornwell 3. Andy Hill 4. Brady Everett 5. Grant Larocca 6. Darius Denson 7. Matthew Myers 8. Bailey Sexton a9. Blake Lavergne 10. Tyler Poole

Barbe Sulphur Sulphur DeRidder Barbe DeRidder Hathaway DeRidder Bell City Bell City

17:35 17:47 17:54 18:08 18:13 18:19 18:23 18:28 18:47 18:49

GIRLS TEAM RESULTS 1. Barbe 2. DeRidder 3. South Beau 4. Sam Houston 5. Lacassine

BOYS TEAM RESULTS 1. DeRidder 2. Barbe 3. Sulphur 4. Bell City 5. Lacassine

SOUTH BEAUREGARD CROSS COUNTRY MEET 3 Miles • Held at Longville Lake Oct. 30 GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 1. Jacqueline Rushford 2. Laura Lewing 3. Haley Cooley 4. Ashlynn Derouen 5. Heather Champagne 6. Briani Miller 7. Kelsi Williams 8. Lili Jeans 9. Georgie Mahfouz 10. Kimmie Rushford 11. Jaclyn Deason 12. Carlee Burnett 13. Haley Sanders 14. Lindsey DeSantiago 15. Heidi Zaunbracher 16. Bethany Manuel 17. Kameron Guidry 18. Allie Hill 19. Brylee Young 20. Allie Ramsey 21. Erin Moss 22. Grace Gunder 23. Mikaela Dake 24. Amber Armentor 25. Adelaide Hollier 26. Hannah Guidry 27. Daria Jinks 28. Bracey Linscomb 29. Dakota Wing 30. Delaney Webb

GIRLS TEAM RESULTS 1. South Beauregard 2. DeRidder 3. Lacassine 4. Sam Houston 5. Sulphur 6. Merryville 7. Elizabeth 8. Johnson Bayou 9. Bell City 10. St Louis

DeRidder St Louis Lacassine South Beau Sam Houston DeRidder Merryville Merryville Merryville DeRidder South Beau South Beau Sulphur DeRidder Bell City South Beau Lacassine Sulphur Elizabeth South Beau Sulphur Elizabeth Bell City Lacassine South Beau South Beau John. Bayou John. Bayou Sam Houston Sam Houston

63 76 109 136 142 161 173 176 179 238

19:20 19:27 20:01 20:06 20:10 20:22 20:28 20:31 20:41 20:52 20:52 20:53 20:56 20:59 21:11 21:15 21:30 21:44 21:45 21:46 21:55 21:56 22:07 22:10 22:13 22:19 22:21 22:24 22:27 22:29

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 1. Julian Cornwell 2. Andy Hill 3. Brennon LeBlanc 4. Collin McClellon 5. Blake Hebert 6. Brady Everett 7. Tristan Trahan 8. Tylair Poole 9. Kolby Friday 10. Bailey Sexton 11. Houston Brady 12. Blake Lavergne 13. Kary Kyle 14. Kendall Royer 15. Caleb Dowling 16. Joey Boswell 17. Andrew Flower 18. Austin Dufrene 19. Donovan White 20. Darius Denson 21. Kyle Bodin 22. Kelvin 23. Cedric Coaston 24. Norman Foshee 25. Garin 26. Cameren 27. Will Hodgkins 28. Matt Griffiths 29. Keaton Jinks 30. Strack Brown

Sulphur Sulphur Iowa Elizabeth Johns. Bayou DeRidder John. Bayou Bell City Elizabeth DeRidder Elizabeth Bell City Hackberry DeQuincy Sulphur Elizabeth DeRidder Sam Houston DeRidder DeRidder Sam Houston Johns. Bayou DeRidder DeRidder Johns. Bayou Johns. Bayou St Louis Sulphur Hackberry St Louis

BOYS TEAM RESULTS 1. DeRidder 2. Elizabeth 3. Johnson Bayou 4. Sulphur 5. Bell City 6. DeQuincy 7. Grand Lake 8. Lacassine

72 80 85 91 131 239 284 288

16:00.2 16:00.8 16:30 16:37 16:40 16:41 16:47 16:49 16:50 16:59 17:02 17:15 17:16 17:17 17:20 17:21 17:26 17:33 17:37 17:42 17:51 17:52 18:00:0 18:00:4 18:02 18:03 18:14 18:21 18:29 18:37

TOP GIRLS FINISHERS FROM SHHS MEET: Jaqueline Rushford (3rd), Morgan Foreman (2nd), Kellie Webb (1st) and Haile Gilroy (4th).

TOP BOYS FINISHERS FROM SHHS MEET: Brady Everett (4th), Andy Hill (3rd), Julian Corwell (2nd), Bradley Hoogerwerf (1st).

Race results provided by meet hosts. Top 10 times provided for Sam Houston meet. Top 30 finishers shown for South Beauregard meet. DISTRICT RESULTS WILL APPEAR IN THE NOV. 21 EDITION

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November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

SARRO ON SPORTS

rick sarro

The invitation came out of the blue, and it took me around 5.5 seconds to clear my schedule both at work and home to hit the road with the New Orleans Saints. The moons and stars were aligned just so (or was it someone first in line couldn’t make it?) for me to accompany the Saints, the coaching staff and team executives on their charter flight to New England for the Oct. 13 game against the Patriots. Don’t think I was the only lucky soul not covered by a Saints contract to be allowed this special behind-the-curtains experience. There were about 15 other corporate sponsor suits getting this first class treatment, and my boarding pass came compliments of my affiliation with Coors Light, a regional marketing partner with the franchise. I’ve covered countless NFL games, along with major college programs (Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida) and been to three Super Bowls. But never before have I been on or even near a team plane, bus or hotel. During my full-time sports media days, teams, coaches and owners kept the press as far away from their confines as possible, and allowed only limited access

LAGNIAPPE

November 7, 2013

Michael C. Hebert / New Orleans Saints

On Board With The Saints

before and after games. That’s just the business of sports reporting. Doors open and close, keeping the media at bay unless you’re HBO’s Hard Knocks, whose full access cameras have turned into a voyeuristic peek inside NFL training camps and an excellent marketing tool for the league.

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If you live long enough, though, you never know when a first will come your way. And on the personal side, having been a Saints fan since 1967, this was indeed a special treat — even though there was no one-onone face time to discuss

offensive strategy with head coach Sean Payton. More on that later. Before I packed my bag, I had to submit three pages of paperwork and a photo and clear owner Tom Benson of any liability if I decided to go off the grid and challenge Kenny Vacarro to try to cover my favorite flag football pass route on the tarmac. There were at least three pages of do and don’ts we corporate suck-ups had to review, press into memory and double-dare swear to adhere to or run the risk of being left in Foxboro, Mass. A few of the more important rules were we had to wear suit and ties on the plane out of New Orleans that Friday afternoon, even though the coaches and players were all comfy in matching black warm-up suits. We were prohibited from any overzealous contact or conversation with players and coaches on the team plane and at the hotel. We were reminded that this was a “business trip” for those guys, and we weren’t to be a distraction in their midst. No problem with that, even though I think I broke that rule when Payton came my way as I was

stretching in the aisle and we shook hands and exchanged hellos and welcomes. Hey, I was taught to be polite and shake a man’s hand upon introduction — despite the risk of Saints security giving me the evil eye (which they did not). An obvious no no was asking for autographs. This was easy for me, as I’ve never had an urge to collect autographs after 30-plus years around sports. If I didn’t ask Ted Williams, Muhammed Ali or Joe Montana to sign something over the years, surely I wouldn’t be chasing down Jimmy Graham. Now it was tough for everyone around me — my eight-year-old son, wife, siblings and friends, who all requested Drew Brees sign a Super Bowl football, program or my dinner napkin. The Saints apparently award tenure and years of service with front-of-the-plane seats. Payton and his staff, along with, say, fifth-year on up players, all boarded the front of the charter United jumbo jet. Rookies and younger vets, along with some team execs and we corporate visitors, were all seated in the back to mid-plane. Rule No. 13 was we were not allowed to venture to the front half of the plane. There was no chance to disrupt Brees, Marcus Colston or defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. But we were welcome to trip over second-year players Nick Toon and Akiem Hicks, or wait in line behind rookie running back Khiry Robinson. All was good for me, as I hit the jumbo jet jackpot with a seat assignment on the emergency exit row. That’s right — all 5 feet, 9 inches and 173 pounds of Sarro with first-class accommodations and enough leg room for the tallest of Benson’s Pelican hoops stars. I was a bit guilty for my embarrassment of riches on the wide row, especially when I saw Ryan and his ample girth struggling to squeeze into an aisle seat some four rows ahead of me. Luck of the draw, I guess. No one asked to swap seats, nor did I volunteer to give up my treasured leg room. The main rule — written in bold print — regarded the bus trips to the team hotel and stadium. The first six rows of seats were for owner Tom Benson and his traveling party. Benson flew up Saturday, because we weren’t greeted by the boss until Sunday’s drive to Foxboro Stadium. Finally, the toughest rule to swallow (pun coming) was no beer drinking on the flights to and fro. That’s right — no Silver Bullets on board or available. (Yes, I whispered an inquiry to an attendant in the back and was informed it was a dry plane.) A three-hour flight from New Orleans to Providence put us at the hotel around 11 pm Eastern time. Unfortunately, that was too late to catch the Boston Bruins, who were in town for a game across the street. Rhode Island supports Providence and Brown sports, but is Boston-strong when it comes to the Red Sox, Patriots and Bruins. And there was a huge buzz for the Bo Sox in the ALCS as they were on the verge of eliminating the Tigers. We had a free day on our own that Saturday, and I suggested a drive over to Newport on the coast. The first order of business was breakfast and a walk downtown to the historic Federal Hill area of Providence. Columbus Day was the furthest thing from my mind that weekend — but not so for the Italian community on the Hill. We happened on the annual Columbus Day

celebration and street festival. Everything was green, red and white; the grills were fired up for the Italian sausages and peppers. Italian loaves, pizza pies, pasta and wine were being prepared. I hadn’t been around so many Italians since my honeymoon tour of Rome, Florence and Venice. It was a slice of heaven for me. (I’m half Roman and half Sicilian.) We never made it to Newport. That night, R.J. Mata, the Saints’ director of corporate partnerships, hosted a large dinner party for us at Ruth Chris Steakhouse on the river in Providence. It was a New Orleans tradition in New England. It was another luck of the draw for me and our table, as I had Saints CFO Ed Lang

to my left, and Ben Hales, vice president of marketing and business development, to my right. There were no rules or restrictions on Lang and Hales, so I peppered them with questions in equal rotation. In his CFO role, Lang isn’t involved in player contracts. That’s left up to general manager Mickey Loomis and his salary cap gurus. Lang is responsible for protecting the big picture, namely, Benson’s billion-dollar-plus ownership of the Saints and the NBA Pelicans. Lang did admit to working knowledge and some involvement in Brees’ recent $110 million mega-deal. Hales, an avid cyclist and budding triathlete, is an Ole Miss grad. That night, he was bouncing between my questions and coverage of his Rebels battling Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M on ESPN. At

one point, when Manziel escaped a sure sack, reversed field and ran in for a touchdown, Hales buried his head in his hands and muttered some choice words aimed at Johnny Football. Those famous sizzling steaks and Rhode Island lobster were served up, along with choice wines meticulously selected by Hales, who was born and raised in New Orleans, but was the perfect portrayal of Ole Miss tradition and the Grove.

Get Rick Sarro’s perspectives on sports on Soundoff 60, which airs Monday through Sunday nights at 9 pm on Suddenlink Channel 60 and Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10 am as well.

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November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

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KNOX FENCE Tree Removal, Stump Grinding, Land Clearing, Demolition. Bonded. Insured. License AR 1604 337-884-6881 g0502-2012

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Don’t blend in, make your home stand out with a customized fence. Choose your own design or one of ours. We also do chainlink, ornamental, aluminum and iron fencing. Can install electric or solar gate operators. Call for a free estimate. Licensed and insured, 20+ years of experience. Ask for Steve at 337.540.6973 k0621

JUNK CARS SELL THAT JUNK CAR FOR CASH! I will buy your junk car, truck, van, motor home, or trailer. I also buy ATV’s, motorcycles, and even farm equipment. Even if it’s not running, you can make from $400 to $600. Clean your yard up, and decide what you’ll spend your extra money on! Call now at 526.9533. k1018 _________________

PLUMBING

Start an Exciting Career in Emergency Communications Entry Level $15 an hour w/benefits Applications available at www.calcasieu911.com Equal Opportunity Employer

Cash for Junk Cars Need Extra Cash? WE ARE NOW BUYING CARS • TRUCKS VANS • ATV’S • MOTORCYCLES

services BOAT & RV STORAGE BOAT & RV STORAGE - 6102 COMMON STREET. SECURED STORAGE! Call 337564-5377 cr _________________

Also Motor Homes, Trailers and Farm Equipment. Not running? You can still make $400 and up! Get your yard cleaned up while deciding how you’ll spend your extra money!

announcements

CALL 526-9533

WE WILL BUY!

classified k0621

RETAIL / OFFICE RETAIL OR OFFICE SPACE FOR LEASE. "Single or double available. Includes conference room usage, kitchen, 2 handicap accessible bathrooms, parking in front and behind building. 154 W. McNeese. Call Denise today for details! 337-474-3406 ph

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PLACE YOUR AD HERE! CALL KENNY AT 433-8502 TODAY! class@thelanyap.com _________________

PLACE YOUR AD HERE! CALL ROSE AT 433-8502 TODAY! _________________

services RAPHAEL BENOIT CUSTOM HOME BUILDERS - Home improvements, Remodeling & Additions. New Home Construction. Serving SWLA since 1993. Call Raphael Benoit at 337-802-6522 k0816 _________________

classified

announcements

VARIETY MOTORS CLEAN USED CARS ‘05 Dodge Neon ...............3,900 ‘00 Nissan Frontier ..........3,900 ‘03 Dodge Durango .........2,550 ‘99 Chevy Tahoe Ltd., .....3,250 ‘96 Mercedes Benz L200 2,900 ‘00 Honda Civic ..............3,900 ‘03 Crown Vic .................4,900 ‘01 Pontiac Grand Prix ....3,900

‘02 Toyota Camry ............4,900 ‘98 Buick Regal ...............3,995 ‘99 Saturn 2-dooR ...........2,500 ‘02 Isuzu Rodeo ...............3,550 ‘02 Dodge Caravan ..........2,900 ‘04 Ford Taurus ...............3,350 ‘07 Chevy Malibu ............5,550 ‘02 Ford Ranger 5-Speed .3,995

All New Car Trade-Ins! 1825 Kirkman St. • 337-912-2713

SELL THAT JUNK CAR FOR CASH! I will buy your junk car, truck, van, motor home, or trailer. I also buy ATV’s, motorcycles, and even farm equipment. Even if it’s not running, you can make from $400 to $600. Clean your yard up, and decide what you’ll spend your extra money on! HELP WANTED Experienced mechanic needed.Call now at 526.9533. k1018 _________________

announcements

HWY 90 CONSIGNMENT STORAGE Cars • Trucks • Boats • RV's Mobile Homes • Vans Safe and Secure Storage forThose Big Items in Your Way! CONSIGNMENT: Your items can be put up for consignment to make that extra money when you decide you no longer need storage for you item. Good prices, and large customer base to purchase any items you store with us.

HAIR SALON COUNTRY CLUB HAIR - Where a haircut still comes with a lollipop and a smile. Over 25 years in business. Walk-ins welcome. Located on 1214 Country Club Rd. Open Tuesday-Friday 8:30-5:30, Saturdays 8am-2pm. Call 4744722 k0816 _________________

Call now and make some room OR some cash for your items: 337.526.2533 www.BestOfSWLA.com

November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

THE

TRANSMISSION SHOP We work on all transmissions!

5817 Common Street Lake Charles 337-540-3795 337-540-6908 C. Scot LaFargue Owner

Laundry W rld Do Your Laundry in 4 Minutes!

HOUSE LEVELING LIFTING AND MOVING GUARANTEED 2-YEAR WARRANTY FOR ALL LABOR AND MATERIALS! Foundation Repair • Concrete Slab Stabilization Licensed, Bonded and Insured • References

CALL ONE STOP www.onestophouseleveling.com

337-309-7301

classified T ch of AT

LAGNIAPPE

November 7, 2013

www.BestOfSWLA.com

2 minutes to drop off 2 minutes to pick up 4319 Common St. • 474-8748 2501 Hwy 14 • 433-7503 Professional Wash, Dry, Fold/Hang Service Dry Cleaning Available

announcements DINING OUT

SHOP A-LOT DELI Drive-Thru Daiquiri Window Longer Dining Hours M-F 10AM-6PM SAT 10AM-4PM

2707 HAZEL 433-2135

PLACE YOUR AD HERE AND START GETTING RESULTS! A lot of people are paying way too much for classified advertising. Don't be one of them! CALL LAMONT AT 660-8877 TODAY class@thelanyap.com _________________

real estate MOBILE HOMES MOBILE HOME TO BE MOVED. 3/2, BO over $8,000. Camper for rent. All bills paid. 2 acre lot south of Lake Charles. 477-6243 or 564-5859 gpnmr _________________

southwest louisiana job finder help wanted MAZDA OF LAKE CHARLES is Now Hiring Sales Associates To expand their Sales Team. We offer insurance, 401K, Vacation, Great Hours, Large Inventory. No experience necessary, will train. Apply in person to Will Bryant 11am-2pm

services

help wanted

CONTRACTORS

HEY! GET WITH THE PROGRAM! Paying too much for classified advertising is VERY UNCOOL and it's holding your business back. Our classifieds keep growing because our advertisers get results!. CALL ROSE AT 433-8502 TODAY START GETTING THE RESULTS YOU DESERVE! class@thelanyap.com _________________

DEPENDABLE PEOPLE WANTED!

HOUSE LEVELING, HOUSE LIFTING. CALL ONE STOP CONSTRUCTION. Sill and truss replacement, foundation repair, general remodeling, etc. References available, free estimates, licensed and insured. All work is warrantied. Call us at 337-309-7301. r0905 _________________

Immediate Openings

announcements

• In House Staffing Pool (1 year exp.)

GET RESULTS!

Intensive Outpatient Psychiatric

ADVERTISE NOW IN LAGNIAPPE CLASSIFIEDS ..CALL ROSE AT 433-8502 _________________

• Program Specialist/Driver

Registered Nurses • ICU • Med/Surg • Psychiatric Services • In House Staffing Pool (1 year exp.) • Emergency Department

LPNs

r1219

services HANDYMAN JACOB HOME REPAIRS 337-302-3878

real estate RAGLEY-HWY 190 Convenience store and house for sale or lease. CAMP PEARL Loop off Topsy Bel Road, 2/1 log cabin on 1.3 acres $79,500.

SOLD! INDIAN VILLAGE AREA Parish Line Road. 3/2 home with 20x30 shop on 2 acres. $165,000 CANNON REALTY 337-738-5190

announcements NOW BUYING OUSLEY PAINTINGS Please Call 337-794-9714

announcements I BUY SCRAP CARS! PAYING UP TO $550 FOR TRUCKS AND LESS ON CARS. PLEASE CALL 802-8348 Must Have Title!

• Physical Therapist • Financial/Compliance Coordinator (Part Time)

Laboratory

announcements

• Medical Technologist

RV PARK/LAKE

Moss Memorial Health Clinic

FALL IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, that means camping season in SWLA! 25 minutes north of Lake Charles, Longville Lake Park110 acre scenic stocked pond with boat launch. Full RV hookups available. Call or come by for your campground reservations! 337-725-3395 7115 Hwy 110 East, Longville, LA.

• Licensed Practical Nurse • Nurse Practitioner

announcements

Additional Openings Include • Psych Tech • Medical Records Clerk

DIESEL ENGINES

LC YACHT CLUB JOIN THE LC YACHT CLUB! Sail boats and power boats are welcome, family friendly. Member- ship includes on the water clubhouse, sailboats, socials. Call Ship to Shore at 474.0730 _________________

real estate FOR SALE IN MOSS BLUFF 10 ACRES ON DUNN FERRY ROAD (NEAR SUTHERLAND) $200,000 850-420-6744

Powerstroke, Cummins, Duramax, remanufactured with warranty. Will deliver. 713-918-5811

announcements NOW BUYING OUSLEY PAINTINGS Please Call 337-794-9714

services I DO IT ALL! A ALL JOB'S, Very Reasonable, Carpentry, Tile, Brick, Stucco, Sheetrock, Vinyl Siding, 302-4110

g0502-2012

PLACE YOUR AD CALL ROSE AT 4338502 TODAY! class@thelanyap.com _________________

SHEAR PAWFECTION PET GROOMING 2924 Summer Place Drive, Sulphur, off Houston River Road, call 337-528-5910. Appointment only. "Where All The Pampered Pets Go!" k0816

stuff 4 sale

I AM LOOKING FOR WORK ... I AM A HOUSEKEEPING HOUSEKEEPER! - I am honest, hard-working, trustworthy and dependable. 10 years experience. Call me! Cami @ 337-287-4972

LANDSCAPING

FALL LANDSCAPE PACKAGES for every budget! We use state of the art software to show you what your landscape can look like. $100 OFF any new landscape project when you mention Lagniappe! SWLA Lawn and Landscape Licensed, Bonded, Insured 337-625-5625 K1018

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r1003

stuff 4 sale

EOE

announcements

HOUSEKEEPING

services

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For additional openings or to apply, please visit our website at www.lcmh.com Or apply at 3050 Aster Street, Lake Charles

r1219

Tree Removal, Stump Grinding, Land Clearing, Demolition, Crane Work, Debris Hauling. Bonded. Insured. License AR 1604 337-884-6881

services

Physical Medicine

Slender Solutions, an established salon for over 13 years located in thriving South Lake Charles is looking for Eager New or Upcoming Hair Stylists, Massage Therapists, and Nail Team who are excited to prosper with our expanding business! Private or open settings are available with limitless client possibilites! PLEASE CALL APRIL AT 5629400 TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT. Slender Solutions of Lake Charles.

PLACE YOUR AD CALL ROSE AT 4338502 TODAY! class@thelanyap.com _________________

announcements

FOR SALE STUDIO COUCH

TOWAWAYS

Opens into queen size bed. Good condition. Reg. $900, asking $500.

Towing and Recovery Service NOW RENTING U-HAUL TRUCKS & TRAILERS

337-478-6574

TRAILERS

Trailers Aluminum, Steel, Horse, Stock Motorcycle, Cargo, Gooseneck, Bumper, Lowboy, Equipment

Mark Pedersen Equipment Co. 337-436-2497 an

announcements RESTAURANT LOCATION! Adjacent to Bronco Stop. Full kitchen, dining area, tables, drink machines & more. Call Wali today and open your dream restaurant! 337-244-4423 gp _________________

PLACE YOUR AD CALL ROSE AT 4338502 TODAY! class@thelanyap.com _________________

24 Hour Service! 1121 Main Street • Lake Charles

Ronnie Mesh (337) 436-7237

FOR SALE 40 ACRES OUISKA ON CHITTO GOOD HUNTING, FISHING AND SANDBARS LOTS OF OAK AND CYPRESS TREES Ph 337-540-2667

Southwest SW Manufactured HOMES & RV'S Housing, Inc. NEW • USED • REPOS • SALES & SERVICE

2013 SINGLEWIDE 3 BEDROOM, 2 BATH, DELIVERY, SET-UP, A/C INCLUDED FOR ONLY $1700 DOWN AND $275 A MONTH WAC! PRE-QUALIFY TODAY! Corner of Hwy 90 and Hwy 171

www.swhomeslc.com 436-5593 www.BestOfSWLA.com

November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

Family Reunion We lived on the old home place, our little red house built new in the year of my first year in school, set up under a trio of gorgeous oak trees, a plot of land two acres big and full of memories for my father and grandfather’s generation. And it came to pass that we made a bigger fuss over cutting the grass and fixing the fence, because company was coming. Coming, coming, all these descendants of my paternal grandparents, who had a house on this land, The House, the every Sunday after church house, where my father would snack on a sweet potato to curb his hunger, or play Tin Can Shinny with his cousins, or maybe Grandpa would slip the boys a nickel, make them rich for licorice. Old people everywhere. Kids everywhere. Magnalite and Tupperware everywhere. Ice chests and fold-up lawn chairs. Tables, tables, borrowed from the church, some made from a sheet of plywood over a pair of sawhorses, even a table made from a big telephone cable spool. I was there. Pictures were taken. Hugs were exchanged. Smiling was done. Nostalgia was thick and sweet and tender. There was a Big Book for us to sign in, and list our ages… _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ I’ve missed a bunch over the years. This last one, the other day, I thought it could be a dud. Sat down next to my father and said, “Pop, looks like you’re the old man here.” All the originals of my grandparents generation are Long Gone. The Cousins, my father’s generation, they’re down to a handful. So it goes. This conveyor belt of life… I went to the Big Book, studied it like I never had. There it was, that first one, my grandfather in his seventies, my father in his forties, me in my teens. Some years big attendance, some years so small you thought it would die right there, except it hasn’t. Flipping pages, flipping years, and there’s Uncle Ninnie, signing in at 93. I was there. We were under Aunt Annie’s cedar tree, the one she planted as a child… There’s my grandmother’s handwriting. Goodness. I’d forgotten what it looked like. I looked at the date. Uh-oh… Flipped to the next year, and sure ‘nough, no her. One of my precious memories from childhood was seeing her and my father sing a duet of an old hymn in French. Probably started singing together when he was just a kid. She had a better voice than him (I’ll pause to silently laugh to myself at the understatement of that statement) but talent was in such short supply at these little country churches that anybody washed in the blood with a clean conscience was welcome to perform. At one of the reunions they sang one last time, she the old woman with sun wrinkles and thinning hair, and he the adoring son, who could only see the long chain of love and good works in her past, his admiration for her character just beamed at her at every glance. She sang with her eyes closed, head tilted just a little up, such a gentle little woman, never in the spotlight, except these count-on-my-fingers-and-toes occasions where she sang this one song with her second son. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ My uncle is there. Every year. You’re not sure how to spell dependable? Just write down J.D. Fontenot. That man was never late a single moment in his life. I remember his last reunion. He was so little. My little shrinking uncle, I kept thinking that as I glanced at him. One of his grandsons told me they’d arrived early – no surprise – but that he’d cried when people started arriving, such a non-him thing to do, and I took this information with alarm, that he (and he’d be the kind that would know), that he knew this was his last reunion. It was. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ I learned some new stuff this reunion. Our little community was always so safe, to the point of boring, but I found out there had been a murder there. A guy killed a man that had been messing with his wife. Everybody seemed to know and that’s as far as it got. He’s dead now too. Guess God will handle the lawbreaking that didn’t get handled down here. I found myself with a bunch of Uncle Ninnie’s descendants and I said, “I hate to say this, but it always seemed like Ninnie was a pitiful nickname for a man of that generation.” To which I found out that his real name was even worse: Camille. Even funnier: he had a sister named Camille. Reminds me of that old Bob Newhart show, with Larry, who’d always introduce Bob to his two brothers, “my brother Deryl and my other brother Deryl.” Heard a new one on my uncle. His parents wanted to just name him J.D. but the local priest wasn’t having none of that, so he grabbed two Biblical names, Joseph Daniel to make it American official… Probably not be true, but a fun story. The oldest of my father’s generation, L.C. (the family is big on initials), died this last year, just a little time after his wife of nearly 70 years. One of the family matriarchs shook

her head as we were talking about their end, said, “That was two people who were in love,” said it with awe, her having been married up close to fifty herself, and knowing a little about the subject. L.C.’s kids, up in their sixties and would be happy to be accused of being kids, told about how their parents met, just before WW2. On a double date with different dates. On a whim they switched dance partners and never went back to who brung ‘em… Just like that. Caught. Smitten. Forever. I lived with them for a few months just out of college. Such gentility. Such ease. So smooth, after all those years. Their big binge of the week, Friday afternoons, the work week done, they’d pop each a beer and share a bag of Pig Skins. Such tenderness, such consideration, so little friction. One of the best marriages I ever saw. If ever they had a spat, no child of theirs knew of it, or heard of it. He was far into Alzheimer’s when she died. He knew about serving in the Navy at Normandy but would have to ask if he was eating breakfast or lunch. When they returned from the cemetery he told his daughter that he was ready to go home. To which she said, “Daddy, we are home.” To which he said, “No. I want to go Home.” “I think he willed himself to die after she died. I think they were both holding on for each other.” _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ So, it’s Dad and I in his little car that he calls The Rat. On our way back to home is the cemetery in Kinder where so many family VIPs dwell. The car almost parks itself, just a hop to Mom’s grave. I can read the headstone from inside the car. “Your name is still there, Dad,” I say. It used to be odd to see his name on there, him still living, but it’s gotten to be a joke between us. He did as he always does, goes straight to Mom’s grave, bends down and puts his hand on the foot of the grave and this time he says to her, “Thanks for not giving my spot away.” He straightens up and nods, to whom? To God? To her? Just to the right of her grave is a small infant grave, my little brother, dead for decades. I was born between two babies that never came home from their birth alive. It haunted my mother. This time, for the first time, my father, getting tender in his eighties in a way I could never have imagined him to be when I was a kid, reaches for my forearm and says, “I’m so glad we didn’t lose you to those little country hospitals.” He squeezes me. I used to have such a strong why-me or why-not-me about my survival. Who am I, one of three, and the only one to get a chance? From my little brother we move to the next set of graves, my father’s parents. He, the child, is older than they, the parents. Here, he has nothing to say. I see his head moving side to side, I can almost smell the love in the air. Are you homesick, Dad? What would you say, if you could say? They are clean to him. He’s more educated than they ever were, he’s more progressive, but they still rank in high esteem for character. They owe him no apology. It’s he, that wishes he could say thanks to them. In their time, people didn’t talk about things that needed to be talked about. Death shut the option down. We move back to Mom. He reaches down and touches the toe of her grave and tells her he loves her and appreciates all the good memories. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ We’re in The Rat, driving away from the cemetery on that bumpy country road and he starts singing, Precious Memories, in that terrible voice of his. Precious memories, unseen angels From somewhere to my soul How they linger ever near me And the sacred scenes unfold And about here, with pine trees on the left and pine trees on the right I started singing with him. Precious memories, how they linger How they ever flood my soul In the stillness of the midnight Precious sacred scenes unfold It is a unique moment. I haven’t heard him sing in so long. To be there, with no radio on, to catch him fill the silence with this perfect song, written just a few years before he was born, and to have the good sense to join him, when on so many occasions I have missed my chance to do the right thing at the right time… There are more verses, but neither of us could remember them, so I followed his lead and we sang the first verse again. When we reached the end, he said, “Well, that’s all I know.” I said, “Me too.” It was a nice moment, so I kept whistling the tune. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ This edition of Uncle P’s Bedtime Stories is brought to you by Eighty-one, which hopes you take a chance on saying true things, while there is time to say true things. Uncle P can be reached at 81creativity@gmail.com. www.BestOfSWLA.com

November 7, 2013

LAGNIAPPE

It’s Play Time, All The Time! Live music every Wednesday through Saturday night Football drink specials Sundays & Mondays Tap Out Tuesdays: Domestic pints $1 Domestic 25oz mugs $1.50

Craft beer pints $2 Craft 25oz mugs $3

Ladies drink FREE 5pm to midnight on Wednesdays with City Heat and a variety of Zydeco music every Thursday

3-course meal 19.99 $

4:00pm to closing Offer includes soup or salad, entrée, and dessert from a select menu.