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Slidell Magazine
Editor’s Letter By Kendra Maness
Every time I sit to write the Editor’s Letter, I’m glancing at the magazine calendar and storyboard to let the readers know what’s in store for them in this issue and the months ahead. I see the upcoming events and holidays and I try to write something about them that’s timely and witty - to show off how “in-the-know” and cool I am. Problem is, I’m not so timely and witty and cool. I’m a nostalgic, good ol’ days geek who tears up on the first note of just about ANY holiday song. I love traditions and my family is chock full of ‘em. Particularly when it comes to singing. Now, don’t think for a second that I, or any member of my family for that matter, can carry a tune in a bucket. There’s not a decent singer among us. But, we make up for it in volume and enthusiasm. Most of us know most of the words to most of the songs. (which means that you can just mouth through the parts you’re not sure about and somebody’s always got your back.) Sobriety was optional. Next month is Mother’s Day - the biggest holiday in my family. Sure – Christmas and Thanksgiving brought the cousins to town…but Mother’s Day was a never-miss. Just about my entire family lived on our block, on Florida Avenue in Slidell. There were 6 family houses in total. We lived next door to my grandmother and had the swimming pool so our house usually hosted Mother’s Day.
Each year we set aside a day To honor Mother dear We send bouquets and cakes and cards To Mother once a year
The day started early on the front carport, with Bloody Mary’s and fresh-shucked oysters from my Uncle Buddy. (Isn’t that funny? I think everyone has an Uncle Junior or Uncle Buddy.) While the kids swam, the BBQ grill heated up (sausage cooks the fastest so that was always a snack while the chicken was slow cooking) and the family started to arrive. The table was blessed and we would begin stuffing ourselves while catching up on the latest family news. After lunch, coffee was served and the cards and gifts were presented to all of the mothers. My grandmother was always seated at the head of the table and the stack of cards in front of her towered over her petite 4’9” frame.
It’s not a big remembrance For one we hold so dear So don’t forget to honor her Each day throughout the year Let every day be Mother’s Day While your Mother’s still with you A million years could not repay All the things she’s done for you So fill her heart with gladness Let every wish she’s wished come true Let every day be Mother’s Day While your Mother’s still with you.
To all of the Moms, Happy Mother’s Day
After the card reading, my Uncle would lead us all in our traditional Mother’s Day songs. My grandmother would simply glow as we sang in her honor. There was never a dry eye in the house.
Kendra Maness - Editor/Publisher Editor@SlidellMag.com Graphics: James Bell Photography: ImkePhoto.com Contributing Writers: Nancy Richardson The Storyteller, John Case Jeff Perret, DVM DrJeff@SlidellMag.com Frank Davis www.FrankDavis.com Food Spy FoodSpyOfSlidell@SlidellMag.com
The following is an excerpt from one of our family songs. I’ve tried to look it up on Google to determine the author but couldn’t find a match. It may have been written in 1933 by Clarence Williams, a Hall of Fame New Orleans songwriter.
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ef o
Extraordinarily Facinating “Ordinary” Person of the Month
April 2012
by Kendra Maness
EDITOR’S NOTE: Every one of us is fascinating in our own way. We all have a story, an experience, or a mission that makes us unique. Each month, Slidell Magazine will name an Extraordinarily Fascinating “Ordinary” (EFO) Person of the Month. We chose the title carefully - these individuals are anything but “ordinary”.
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his month, Slidell Magazine had the pleasure of meeting an entire family of Extraordinary Fascinating “Ordinary” People, the Braniff’s. Individually, any single one of them could easily be an EFO Person of the Month. Collectively, the family is simply dynamic! Theirs is a fascinating journey of true faith and indomitable spirit. Rob and Lisa Braniff joined their families and lives together 18 years ago. Both were single parents at the time – Rob with a 3 year old son and Lisa, a 6 year old daughter. Having more children was never an option (Rob had fought two battles with testicular cancer), but with two small children, they were an active and ready-made family. For the Braniff’s, their life and family were complete. As the years went by and their children neared adulthood, Rob and Lisa looked forward to the freedom that would come once the kids left for college. “Starting a family again just wasn’t on the radar,” Rob said.
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The Braniff Family
An EFO Person doesn’t hold public office or a board position. They don’t own a company and you won’t find them in the Society section. An EFO Person is your neighbor, family member or coworker that has the “it” factor - something about them simply fascinates you. We all know people like this and, often, these individuals don’t get the recognition they deserve.
Slidell Magazine will be highlighting a different person in our community each month and sharing their story with you.
In 2004, Lisa was working as an accountant and Rob was a minister on staff at a local church. The African Children’s Choir visited Slidell and the Braniff’s hosted many of them in their home. “That was my first exposure to orphans,” Lisa said. Rob and Lisa hosted 3 little girls for five days. “I remember starting to have thoughts, for the first time in my life, of the orphan crisis in this world. And there are so many people that have a home, have space, have resources and love. Love being the biggest thing,” Lisa says. “Then Katrina happened and we got side tracked.”
had love to give. Yes, there were children out there who needed a home. Yes, we wanted to grow our family. Suddenly, we just wanted to do those things. It morphed into an outright “we are called to do this”. Once we felt that, we just had to act.”
In 2007, when their daughter, Jessie, left for college, the Braniff’s thought again of the orphan crisis. “We didn’t even have plans to adopt. Jessie had just moved out and Ryan (their son, now 21 years old) was still at home. We weren’t in that frame of mind,” Lisa says.
An Awakening Things soon changed, though. Lisa says, “All of a sudden, there was this awareness that – yes, we
Send us your submissions! Email me at Editor@SlidellMag.com and tell me about an “ordinary” person that you find “Extraordinarily Fascinating”.
Lisa and Rob started on the long journey that accompanies adopting a foreign child. “We found an agency and got the ball rolling. In the beginning, we felt strongly about going to the Central America area, to Guatemala. I don’t really know why. But we knew we wanted a little girl. We even knew what we would name her - Isabella - and call her Izzy.” The social worker who visited the Braniff’s inquired about their interest in adopting a special needs child. The average waiting time for a foreign child adoption could range from 2-7 years, but there was little, if any, wait time for special needs children. “We were very clear with her that we didn’t want children with any kind of special needs because we didn’t think we could handle it. Our social worker asked us over and over,
‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like to consider a special needs child?’ We said no again and again,” Lisa says. Rob adds, “When she left, I felt horrible. Today, we look back and realize that God will equip you to do whatever He calls you to do. Here we are, four years later, with our third special needs child! We only adopt special needs children now.” Just two months after deciding to adopt, Lisa had a dream that Izzy was Chinese, rather than Guatemalan. Taking it as a sign, the Braniff’s changed adoption agencies and began the even more arduous process of adopting a child from China. “In China, if you want to adopt non-special needs and started the process today, you would wait about 7 years. The child you would eventually adopt is not even going to be born for a very long time,” Rob says. “We thought we had 2 or 3 years to wait and save the money needed for the adoption and then just a month later, I got an email from the program with a picture of Izzy. I knew from the moment I saw her that it was her,” Lisa said. Izzy was available for immediate adoption because she was a special needs child. “They said she had congenital heart disease and my heart just sank. When I saw her picture, there was a connection that was unmistakable. But, she had this condition that I had never heard of and I kept thinking – no, I’m not doing this. I can not go fall in love with this little girl, adopt her, and possibly bring her home only to die,” Rob said. Izzy had been abandoned when she was about ten months old. “She was found at a hospital. Her parents must have known something was very wrong, because the medical reports say that she was purple when she was found,” Lisa said. “In China, you can’t legally give your child up for adoption. You have to abandon them.” Lisa explains, “When a couple gets married, they sign an agreement saying that they will honor the birth policy of the country. (On the Eastern side of China, the limit is one child. The Western side, the limit is two.) Everybody wants a boy because he will carry on the family name and because the boys take care of the parents when they get older. They don’t have nursing homes there like they do here; the parents live with their son and his family. So, if the first child is a boy, they register him and if he becomes sick, they can take him for medical attention. The rural areas are not monitored like the cities and families will sometimes have multiple children to help with the farm. So, if the first child is a girl, they might keep that child and continue trying for a boy. If their second child is a boy, they register him for health care. But, if the little girl gets sick, they can’t take her to the hospital - they would get in trouble because they violated the birth policy. If a child needs medical attention to save her life, the parents will abandon her so she can get it.” Izzy stayed at the hospital and an orphanage, gaining strength, and underwent heart surgery when she was about a year old. From there, she was sent to a foster home, where she lived at the time Rob and Lisa first saw her picture. “You have very limited information. You know where she’s from, some of the medical aspects, whether they’re in an orphanage or foster home. And that’s about it,” Lisa says. Having only 48 hours to decide about the adoption, Rob and Mary trusted in their faith and began their journey to bring Izzy home.
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Lisa and Rob hired an agency, similar to a messenger service, to maintain contact with their daughter. “Once you have the child identified, you hire someone who lives in China and you can ask a few questions or send them things. Usually, it’s very broken contact, very limited.” “So, we get a report back and the answers to our questions just blew us away. We found out that Izzy had just turned two and that she spoke both Mandarin and English because she was being raised by an American couple that had a Christ-centered orphanage for special needs children,” Lisa said. “Then we just got flooded with pictures and information!” “From that point on, we connected with these people personally. We even got to talk to Izzy on the phone, which is normally unheard of,” Rob said. Since making that first contact, the Braniff ‘s have been active advocates for the foster home, sending missionaries and money for support. “We call them our Chinese family,” Rob laughs. By the time the Braniff’s were able to meet their daughter, some 10 months later, Izzy knew Rob and Lisa as Mommy and Daddy. The Braniff’s stayed in China for almost a month to help Izzy adjust and to finish paperwork, then brought their daughter home. Their faith was rewarded when, upon their return, Izzy was reviewed by doctors and found to be in great health. “It turns out that the surgery she had was perfect, which is rare. The hospital in China was in a big city and it was a learning center so they had teams of doctors. She had a sizeable hole in her heart and they patched it. Our doctor was amazed because of how well it was done,” Lisa said.
A New Chapter Begins Lisa has maintained an online blog, sharing her family’s journey over the past four years. An entry from 2008 documents what would be the next chapter in the Braniff family’s life: … On a lighter note, Rob went into her room the other night because we heard her on the monitor. He thought she wanted a sip of water or needed to go to the potty. When he went in there and asked her what she wanted, she signed to him “Daddy and Mommy more baby”. And Rob says, “More babies, you mean more water.” And she shook her head and signed again “Daddy and Mommy more baby.” So I’m on my way into the room at this point because I hear Rob exclaim over the monitor “More babies, you mean more water!!!” When I get in there, he’s telling her that she’d better get started praying about it if she wants a little sister. And Izzy got totally excited and started jibber jabbering about getting on her favorite plane (favorite plane ~ isn’t that funny?) and going to China to get her sister. They sat there and totally carried on about names for her and how Izzy is going to do this with her and that with her. And I’m standing in the door way of her room marveling at how God takes you from “Don’t leave me, Are you going to love me forever?” to “Let’s get on my favorite plane and go get my sister in China”. Notice there was no mention of a little brother in China. As the Braniff family hung the angel on the Christmas tree that year, just 7 months after adopting their first child, Izzy again told her parents that they would be bringing home a new daughter from China soon. “We had zero dollars,” Rob said. Lisa laughs and adds, “How do you tell your daughter, ‘Honey, Mommy and Daddy would love for you to have a little sister but adopting you cost us every dime we had!” “So, I told her to pray,” Rob says. “And she said, ‘I already prayed and Jesus said she’s my sister and that we need to go get her.’”
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Rob and Lisa weren’t aware of it at the time, but they had already met the child that would be their daughter Marianna, or Mari. When they traveled to China to pick up Izzy, Rob and Lisa had spent the day at Izzy’s foster home, visiting with the children. Rob passed a child in a high chair and stopped to put his hand on her head. “When I met her, it was remarkable because of how beautiful she was. I was captivated by that,” Rob said. Rob had to study the young girl before he saw why she had been placed in a foster home for special needs children. “I then realized she only had one leg, no left hand, and a partially formed right hand.” Mari was born with amniotic banding syndrome. ABS occurs randomly during pregnancy, when the fetus becomes entangled in fibrous string-like amniotic bands in the womb, restricting blood flow and affecting the baby’s development. If a band wraps tightly around a limb, the limb can be completely amputated. “Mary was found the day she was born with a birth note attached. She was left near an orphanage in a small town because she would have been a social taboo had her mother chosen to keep her. They would have both been put out on the streets and shunned by their family and their community because of the beliefs that the Chinese culture has,” Lisa said. Rob and Lisa continued to pray for the answer of whether or not to adopt another child and the image of Mari continued to return to them. They began making inquiries to locate Mari’s files, “like finding a needle in a haystack,” Rob said. Again, the Braniff’s faith was strong that if God willed them to have Mari, he would lead her to them. One year to the day after Izzy was brought home from China, the Braniff’s received a call with news that Mari’s file had been located and she could be adopted.
INNER WHEEL Inner Wheel began in England in World War I, when a group of wives joined together to help their Rotarian husbands in their efforts towards the public good. The women formed a club called “Inner Wheel”, referring to the Rotary club’s wheel logo. The idea of Inner Wheel spread quickly and many clubs were soon formed. Now, 100,000 members in over 100 countries make Inner Wheel one of the largest women’s organizations in the world. Each club enjoys close ties with its corresponding Rotary Club and helps to support and assist Rotary. The Inner Wheel Foundation was formed in 1988 to provide myoelectric prosthesis to children who are born without an arm or hand, or have lost them through disease or accident. Prosthetic clinics work with the Foundation to also provide for recycling and distribution of myoelectric limbs. The children’s Myoelectric Limb Project provides an avenue for children whose insurance or family circumstances do not allow them to benefit from the latest updated technology. Turning “disabilities into possibilities” is not a dream but a reality of the Inner Wheel U.S.A. Foundation. The 600 nationwide clinics of Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics work with the Inner Wheel Foundation by bringing new technology to those in need. The Foundation also receives support from professionals in the field of myoelectric prostheses for children, who offer knowledge and volunteer their time. To help Inner Wheel “Give a Child a Hand”, visit: www.InnerWheelUSA.com 9
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The Braniff’s have always had faith that the money for their adoptions, about $27,000 per child, would be provided. “You wouldn’t believe the amazing things that have happened. We could write a book about all of the people, some of them complete strangers, that have heard our story and helped us,” Rob says. “We had crazy things happen with Mari,” Lisa says. “There was a couple who found me through my blog and said they were planning on adopting internationally, but it fell through. So they gave us the $6,000 they had saved. We could tell you stories like that for days.” Along with the donations, the Braniff’s learned from other adoptive parents the key to success. “First, there’s a lot of faith involved, second you do a lot of fund raising, and then you apply for grants,” Rob said.
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Despite her special needs, Mari’s adoption and transition to America was relatively easy. Recalling when they first went to pick up Mari to bring her home, Lisa says, “In China we had a room with two double beds. I knew we were in trouble because she was leaping from one bed to another on her knees!” She laughs and says, “I had to be the one to adapt, not her! I recognized quickly she can do anything she puts her mind to.” The first thing the Braniff family did upon returning with Mari was to get her fitted with a prosthetic leg, enabling her to fully walk for the first time in her life. “She had never had a prosthetic before. She put it on and was off and running that day!” Lisa says. During a fundraiser for Mari’s adoption at Slidell Athletic Club (where Rob has worked as personal training director since 2008), Rob was approached by a member of Inner Wheel who first told him about donated myoelectric limbs for Mary’s left arm. (See sidebar to find out more about Inner Wheel Foundation). With a price tag of $15,000 or more, the Braniff’s couldn’t even consider a myoelectric limb for Mari. “But, our insurance covered about 80% of the cost and, thank God, Inner Wheel covered the rest.” “We were originally told that our insurance wouldn’t cover any of the costs for the myoelectric limb. Inner Wheel was willing to cover it 100%, all the way until she turned 18. It’s aligned with all the muscles so, every time she grows a little bit, she’ll need to get another one. Inner Wheel made that commitment. So many people have helped to make all of this possible for us and for the children. We are so blessed,” Rob said.
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Lisa is astounded at Mari’s precision with her new arm and her adaptability. “She built a bird house and her cutting and hand writing is amazing.” Mari loves her new arm (nicknamed “Handy”) and welcomes the opportunity to practice with it. Both girls are home schooled and very advanced for their age. They attend an interactive school for P.E. and dance classes so both children are very sociable – particularly Mari. “She’s very open and comfortable, she has an amazing self image. When she first came here and got asked questions by the other kids, it took her by surprise at first. But once she realized that the kids were genuine and they really just wanted to know, she would explain to them, ‘I was born this way’,” said Lisa. The next chapter for the Braniff family has already begun. Rob leaves for China on May 4, where he will meet and bring home their new son, Josiah. “With Josiah, it will be different because he only saw pictures of us. He was in a regular Chinese orphanage and he does not speak any English,” says Lisa. But Rob and Lisa know it will be okay. “We’ve been called to Josiah just like we were called to Izzy and Mari. Our faith is strong. God is showing us the way.”
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FASTER AIRPLANES, YOUNGER WOMEN AND BIGGER CROCODILES When I was young, my dad, like all dads dreamed. He dreamed of ways to get rich or at least make a better living for his family. Somehow, he found out that someone on the Mississippi Gulf Coast had a turnover pie machine for sale and I suppose he imagined he would be the next Hubigs Pie Company.
He dropped out of school in the ninth grade and was not known in the community as its most outstanding y o u n g citizen.
It was the late 1950s and he asked me to ride to the coast with him to see and, I suppose, purchase the machine. I was just a kid and being from central Mississippi I had never been to the coast, so I was naturally excited about the trip. As it turned out, the person with the pie maker had sold it but he told my dad that there was one just like it for sale in New Orleans. Dad decided that we would go to New Orleans and look at that one. In those days the route to New Orleans from the Gulf Coast was U.S.Highway 90. There were no interstates and Highway 90 passed by a restaurant named the White Kitchen just East of Slidell. It looked like a promising place for coffee and pie so we stopped. I had noticed that just next door to the restaurant was a silhouette sign of a tiger beside the road. Attached to it was a sign that indicated the existence of a small zoo. Of course this interested me more than the pie and the teaspoon of coffee Dad would add to my milk. Dad gave me 50 cents and I went to the zoo. Even for a kid, there was not much there of interest and due to the fact that I recall little about it, I must have not been
Arthur Jones was an adventurer, animal enthusiast, airplane aficionado and mercenary. He must have also liked women - he was married and divorced six times. The age of his wives ranged from sixteen to twenty when he married them. His next to last wife was the beautiful Terri that he married when she was 17 and he was 55.
Arthur Jones impressed. I do however, remember the gruff, energetic man that ran it. This was the first and only time I ever saw Arthur Jones in person. The name of this little zoo was Reptile Jungle and I do remember a number of snakes and alligators. I do not remember seeing a tiger. Arthur Jones was born in Arkansas in 1926 but the family soon moved to Seminole, Oklahoma. His parents were both medical doctors but by all accounts, Arthur walked to the beat of a different drummer.
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From the humble beginnings of the Reptile Jungle, Arthur, with his love for planes, started flying to South America and sometime Africa to catch wild animals. On many occasions these ventures were illegal on all three continents. He often flew back home to Slidell and landed his Mitchell B-25 WWII airplane on U.S.Highway 90 between the Pearl River Bridge and the White Kitchen. He would then taxi his plane to the Reptile Jungle. If his cargo was legal, he would notify the authorities and they would block the road while he landed. If his cargo was illegal he would land late at night when there was no traffic. I can’t explain how he managed these landings, no runway lights etc., but he was once arrested late at night having landed with several illegal South American monkeys.
Being an adventurer, he started filming his safaris. He produced a television program seen weekly called Wild Cargo. It was sponsored in part by Bill Garrett Chevrolet of Slidell. Good thing for Arthur that there was no OSHA around in those days because several of these episodes depict his crew being in real danger. Once one of the crew members was attacked by a wild hog and rather than rescue the person, he gave orders to keep filming the attack.
St. Margaret Mary Catholic School
With Arthur’s love for airplanes, he occasionally served as a mercenary. He said, “I have killed 630 men and 63 elephants and I regret killing the elephants more.” Arthur also said that he did not care about the cause for which he was fighting; he just liked the flying and the killing. Later he said that he had adopted a Teddy Roosevelt attitude: “Sneak around softly and carry a Thompson submachine gun.” I was told by the late attorney Bob Thorne that during the early part of the space race, NASA needed a small amount of a metal that only came from a country that was not in a diplomatic relationship with the U.S. We did have relations with Brazil, and Brazil could acquire this on our behalf. For some reason the transaction had to be a sort of black market occurrence. Bob and Arthur headed to Brazil in Arthur’s Mitchell B-25 with their luggage stored in the area designed for the bombs. Somewhere over Mexico, they decided to have some fun with a small Mexican village consisting of not much more than grass huts. Arthur lowered the nose of the B-25 to buzz the village and simulate a bombing run. In his excitement, he pulled the wrong lever and actually released their luggage on the huts below. No one knows if anyone was injured but some damage to the crude dwellings was visible. When they arrived in Brazil, they had no passport or other credentials as they had been lost with the luggage. The two men were taken into custody by the local authorities and remained there until rescued by the American Embassy. In February of 1963, Arthur loaded his plane with four alligators and crates of poisonous snakes to be sent to an animal show in Cincinnati. Arthur was not known to keep his planes in the best condition and, on this occasion, he was not flying it. As they approached Lunken Airport, the pilot radioed an emergency. He had no landing gear, one dead engine, and the other engine was sputtering. By radio, emergency personnel asked the pilot what was his passenger count and what was the nature of the cargo. He informed them that his copilot had just bailed out and his cargo was poisonous snakes and alligators. Rescue was not prepared for this and I am sure were perplexed by this information. There was a crash landing but no serious injury to either pilot. No snakes or alligators were released on the citizens of Ohio.
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Arthur with one of the many baby elephants that he brought back to the U.S.
Arthur Jones training on his Nautilus machine It was the late 1960s and, while living on Fremaux Avenue in Slidell, Arthur developed a body building machine in his garage. He promoted it and sold several prototypes. He eventually named the machine the Nautilus and it became the most famous machine of its type in the world. Soon Arthur was rich. At one time Forbes Magazine listed him as one of the 400 richest men in the world. He went on to invent other exercise equipment for people with back pain. This too was a success. With his money, he began to purchase land around Ocala, Florida and built a game reserve there of about 750 acres. At one time he had 98 elephants and 4000 reptile species. His menagerie also included 3 white rhinos and a 340 pound Gorilla named Mickey. He also bought larger and faster planes and at one time owned three Boeing 707s, one Citation 2, a Beech Baron 589 and a Cessna 180. He later acquired a Boeing 747 on which he brought 60 plus baby elephants from Africa to Florida. One of his airplanes had the tail number N666AJ. Arthur liked to comment that the 666 was the sign of the devil. Later he eliminated much of the game reserve, but built a subdivision with a runway that could land any aircraft that was in production at that time. A homeowner could land his plane and taxi to his home. The subdivision is called Jumbolair and today John Travolta is one of the residents. Arthur Jones appeared on the Johnny Carson Show, 20/20, and Life Styles of the Rich and Famous several times and passed away in 2007. His motto was Faster Airplanes, Younger Women and Bigger Crocodiles. No, my dad never opened the pie business.
John Case April 2012 14
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ou’d have had to be living under your neighbor’s garden shed to not be familiar with this tag line for Nike, the famous footwear and sports apparel company. The message is clear: if you want a body like a cage fighter, then take the batteries out of the
by Mike Rich
remote, pass on the second helping of bread pudding, and load up on fruit and veggies in the party buffet line. According to my wellness consultant daughter, if we do this, along with a little exercise (well, maybe more than a little), the rest falls into place and fitness, wellbeing, and world peace start to happen. And, you know what? She’s right. It works. We just have to do it.
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Retirement Planning • 401(k) Planning • 403 (b) Planning • Estate Planning • College Savings Plans Profit Sharing Plans • Advisory Accounts • Brokerage Accounts • Traditional IRA • Roth IRA • SEP IRA Simple IRA • Annuities • Disability Insurance • Life Insurance • Long Term Care Insurance Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC.
16
As LPL Financial Advisors, we at Pontchartrain Investment Management urge our clients all the time to “just do it” when it comes to money planning. I can’t count the number of times a client has told me she hadn’t done any real planning because no one was there to coach her into it. It seems we all know that not planning to do the right things with our money for now and the future will likely end badly, just as we all know that a steady diet of fried oyster po-boys with a side of onion rings is not good for us, either. So, with this article, we hereby announce to one and all: we’ve had it with excuses, your financial security won’t happen by magic, and it’s time: “Ya’ gotta just do it.” We recommend some places to get started below: #1 Protect first: It doesn’t make much sense to build assets if you aren’t protecting the ones you already have. Your family comes first, so any breadwinner in the house needs life insurance. You’ve got a choice between whole life and term insurance, but the important thing is have the correct amount, and we can help you figure that out. Whole life gives you cash value and a lot of other benefits, but term can get you started. For many people, it’s cheap. And, for your biggest asset (no, it’s not your house), you need disability income insurance. EVERYTHING STOPS if you can’t work and don’t have an income. If you have a group policy, make sure you understand how it works (some don’t work very well). If you don’t have a group plan, get your own. Just do it.
#2 Build liquidity: If the air conditioner blows up this summer and you have to use a credit card to pay for the repair (or, gulp, a whole new system), our guess is that you don’t have enough liquidity. If the money seems to disappear before you can build up emergency cash, consider opening an on-line savings account and setting up automatic, regular deposits. Automatic is good. Set it and forget it. Make it an iron rule that you won’t touch it unless you have a financial emergency (a Saints weekend in New Orleans is not an emergency). Just do it. #3 Eliminate short term debt: In our opinion, short-term debt is bad debt, and we want it off your balance sheet. Pay off high-interest credit cards first, then tackle the rest. Just do it. #4 Build a diversified portfolio of assets with an eye on stability of income in retirement: No matter what your goal – college savings, a bigger house, retirement, or a new fishing boat – rate of savings is key, and planning for the long term is even more key. The investment landscape can be overwhelming, and the financial entertainers on TV and the Internet pummel us with so much drivel that it’s no surprise many of us just give up trying to figure it out and then, sadly, do nothing. If that’s the case, call Andy, Chris, Lee, Steve, or me to help. It’s our job, it’s what we love to do, and we’re passionate about helping people achieve their financial goals. Just do it. #5 Design your long term care strategy: A recent study1 predicts that, for a 65-year old couple, there’s a 70% chance that one of them will need some type of long term care, either in the home, in an adult day-care environment, or in a residence facility, such as a nursing home or assisted living facility. Let me repeat that number: 70%. That’s big. It means that a lot of people are likely to be spending a lot of their retirement money on long term care. Many people will choose to remain in their homes for such care, but even that’s costly (the current rate in Slidell is about $16 per hour2). It’s not too difficult to imagine how much harm could be unleashed so quickly on a retirement income plan than an unfunded long term care need. There are at least five strategies for dealing with this, and we can help you find the right one. If you are in your mid-40s or older, the time to start planning is now. Just do it. One more thing. I read an article recently that said many people choose to live by default, rather than by design. These folks let other people and outside circumstances dictate how they move through life, and it’s easy to extrapolate this default mode to how one deals with money. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way for you. You CAN design your money life.
You just have to do it. Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC 1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care Information, 10/22/08 2 http://www.genworth.com The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investment (s) may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing.
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Frankly By Frank Davis
Where da Beignets at?
T
hat little hamlet located on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish (it usta be a bedroom community but at some point we all got out of bed lookin’ for breakfast, I think) needs something that it doesn’t—and never did—have. And because of our inherited culture, it needs ‘em very badly! Follow along with me here for a little bit. When it comes to traditional “sweets,” granted we got cinnamon rolls, we got kingcakes, we got both jelly and cream donuts, we got MawMaw’s old fashioned apple cake, we even have those old-tyme “shoesoles” . . .and because of our historic past, we even got true Indian frybread pastry. But because our geological location on the north shore is so unbelievably close to the Crescent City, there is absolutely no excuse for us not having beignets! D’ja think about that?
That said, can somebody tell me why in God’s name are we forced to drive across the “Five Mile Bridge” or the “Twin Spans” or the Causeway (or even to the edge of a small shopping mall on the fringe of Mandeville off Highway 22) just to be able to pick up a dozen of those unique, pillowy, fantastically delicious N’Awlins French doughnuts we call beignets! Personally, I think not having them within walking distance from my house is a mortal sin! Anyone born and raised here (by here I mean in close proximity to The Big Easy) needs to have access to an occasional bag of beignets and real café au lait! Or if not a whole bag, maybe just the unmistakable signature Buffalo China white saucer with 3 of the beloved French doughnuts heaped high with powdered confectioners’. I mean, Good Lord, y’all….we just got to have ‘em in Slidell! But the sad story is, we don’t have them! Yeah—I know what’s rolling around in your mind right now.
“Frank, what about that little coffee shop we usta have on Front Street in the old Train Station? Didn’t they make beignets?” Not even a facsimile, huh! “Well then what about the Daylight Donut Shop that usta be in the strip center on Hwy 90 near the mall?” Guess you, like me, just never got sold on mini-beignets. As the old saying goes, “Coming close don’t count.” So to address this dilemma, I now take it upon myself to rectify the situation by giving y’all what I consider to be the best, most authoritative recipe ever written for real beignets. Oh, sure, you can make the drive across the lake to Decatur Street in the French Quarter, drop in at Café du Monde, or scoot on out to Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie and pick up a bag of the puffy, golden treasures at Morning Call or bring home a couple boxes of the prepared mix. But none of that has the flair like making beignets in your own kitchen “from scratch,” like your MawMaw usta do! So. . .you ready? Here goes:
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1 envelope Fleishmann’s Active Dry Yeast 3/4 cup water at 110 degrees 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 well beaten egg 1/2 cup evaporated (Pet) milk 3 1/2 – 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/8 cup Crisco shortening Cottonseed oil for frying Powdered Sugar in a shaker or sifter
First, combine the yeast, water, and sugar in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (you could also do this in a food processor, or the old fashioned way, by hand). Once together, let the mixture sit until it becomes frothy (about 5 minutes). Then add the salt, egg, and evaporated milk and mix everything on low speed. When fully combined add in enough flour (about half of it) until a dough starts to come together. Then add the shortening. When the shortening is incorporated, begin adding the remaining flour, a little at a time, until most of it becomes part of the dough. At this time, turn out the dough-ball onto a floured board to finish by hand, just like when you make bread. What you want to do is knead it (adding just enough flour as necessary to make it non-sticky and smooth). Now you’re ready to plop the dough into a large oiled bowl, loosely cover it, and let it rise (you can make the dough at night and let it rise overnight in the refrigerator if you want). After the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down and turn it onto a floured surface and roll it out into a large rectangle that ends up about 1/2″ thick.
Then with a very sharp knife, working at a diagonal to the rectangle, cut the dough into 2″ wide strips. Then cut them into diamond shapes by making diagonal cuts in the opposite direction. You’ll have about 2 dozen oldtime beignets. Finally, place the beignets on a floured baking sheet and let them rise about 40 minutes in a warm place (I personally like to use a barely warm oven). When the rise is over, bring 2-3 inches of cottonseed oil in a large saucepan or chicken fryer to 350-360 degrees. Then drop 2-3 beignets at a time into the hot oil, being careful not to smash or deflate them. When they are golden brown, flip them over with a meat fork or small dowel pin and fry them until golden brown on the other side. (Be aware that they fry up pretty darn quick, so start checking them right after they go into the oil). When they float to the top and turn a beautifully golden brown, lift them out of the oil with tongs and place them on a paper-towel-lined platter to drain. Immediately, though, avalanche them with 10X powdered sugar and serve ‘em piping hot next to a steaming cup of authentic café au lait!
Hummmmmmm. . . you know what? After getting a good look at this recipe, now I know why grandma didn’t make these things at home that often! I also now understand why she made regular road trips to the French Market and came back with powdered sugar all over her black dress!!!
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19
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Courage Under Fire
PART II
By Kendra Maness
Last month, Slidell Magazine began its twopart story on Fire District 1. As the millage renewal vote date approaches (April 21), we continue our coverage of these brave men and women and why the renewal is so important to them – and our community. Fire District 1 is the largest fire district in St. Tammany Parish, serving 92,000 people and covering 122 square miles. The district stretches from the Slidell/Lacombe border, up to Pearl River, to the border of New Orleans and the Mississippi state line. The 146 full-time employees of Fire District 1 handle 7000 “rolls” a year – response calls that could be fires, motor vehicle accidents, chemical spills, medical emergencies, and even train wrecks (two in the last 6 months at the Front St/ Bayou Liberty crossing). Your vote on April 21 to renew the millage for Fire District 1 would insure that these highly trained professionals can maintain their standards of excellence 22
in community safety and service. Chief of Administration Chris Kaufmann is grateful for the public support shown to Fire District 1 and is hopeful that confidence will continue with the millage approval. “The elderly members of our community are very supportive of us, particularly our medical response. To hear the feedback from them was great. But I understand that one group can’t speak for everyone. Some people are anti-tax, under any circumstances,” Chief Kaufmann notes. “The perception is this – ‘It won’t happen to me. I won’t need to be cut out of my car, my house won’t catch on fire, and I’ll go to the hospital if I need medical care.’ These
aren’t the people that are thinking – ‘I’m at that age in my life where I may need to call 911, and when you get there, I want you to do everything possible to save my life.’ It takes, unfortunately, going through something like that to appreciate our medical response.” With 89% of the funding for Fire District 1 coming from property taxes paid by the citizens of their district, Chief Kaufmann stresses the importance of this vote. “We don’t pick and choose to protect one part of the district more than the other. We provide the same level of care and protection to everyone. We know where the call volume and population is denser in the district, and we place our equipment there for that. We don’t say ‘we’re not going to respond to your area because there are only two taxpayers there’. Some people are focused on the aspect of tax reduction at all costs and not looking at the data. Some ideologies are
that, if it’s a tax, it’s bad – do away with it. Trust me, I’m a financial conservative. We’re a business and we don’t guess on numbers when we budget. We have real numbers from our history to support our budget projections.” Medical responses make up the majority of the rolls for Fire District 1 but the scope of their training and responsibility is huge. The recent train accidents were reminders to us all that Slidell is a transportation crossroads for any number of chemicals and hazardous materials. “Because of the rail road and the I-10/I-12 corridor, there is the possibility of disaster every day,” Fire Chief Larry Hess points out. “The most recent train wreck in Slidell had cars containing chlorine – a very, very poisonous gas. Had those cars come off the tracks and leaked, we would have had a major issue here in Slidell because it’s right there downtown. There were 22 loaded hazardous materials cars as part of that train. We were just lucky they didn’t come off the track. But we have the knowledge, the equipment and the personnel to handle it in case it did happen. And that’s the level of service we need to maintain.” Chief Kaufmann agrees. “We need to offer a basket of services - to bring everything to the scene so we can handle any situation. We need to get the message out to the voters. This measure needs to be passed so that we have the quality of life, the infrastructure, the essential personal, and the emergency services. We have to get funded to do this.”
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The millage renewal will restore the funding that was previously approved for Fire District 1 and had been temporarily suspended because of Hurricane Katrina. The millage will be assessed on property taxes, and will affect minor increases in costs to homeowners, particularly when compared to the protection and safety benefits. For example, a house valued at $163,900 with homestead exemption would pay only $5 more a month from the minimum millage (28) to the maximum millage (35). “These are real numbers,” Chief Kaufmann said. “We understand our obligation to the community and we have a history of being good stewards of the tax payers’ money. We are not asking for anything more than what we need to maintain the services the community needs.” The millage renewal cost will be offset due to the excellent
PIAL ratings Fire District 1 has earned. The Property Insurance Association of Louisiana, or PIAL, sends engineers to our district about every 4 years to do a community rating assessment. Each district is rated on almost 1,100 specific things, including response
times, training, equipment, station locations, etc. The rating, or PIAL number, ranges on a scale from a 10 (the worst rating, meaning there is no fire protection in the district) to a rating of 1 (the best - less than 2% of fire departments in the US have this rating). Fire District 1 was rated a 3 and a 4. (There are 2 ratings within the district because of its geographical size and the vastly different areas of coverage – rural and suburban). Chief Hess explains why this is so important. “PIAL notifies all the insurance companies in the state of what your area rating number is. There could be a $400-500 a year difference in your homeowners insurance or business insurance because of just one rating number. The same property, with the same insurance, covering the same contents could see that much of an increase if our fire district doesn’t maintain our high PIAL rating. On your fire insurance policy, they’ll tell you what your area’s rating is. Many businesses won’t even relocate to an area if the PIAL number is not better than a 5; they just can’t afford the insurance.” “We had to educate ourselves on tax assessments, homeowners insurance, millage, PIAL, and all of those things so we could pass that on to the public,” Chief Kaufmann said. “We requested information from the LA Department of Insurance on what the cost would be if a 3 rating dropped to an 8. There would be a 30% increase in insurance cost. That would be huge. We’ve done a lot of homeowner’s meetings and seminars about this. We had local insurance agents that didn’t know this, so we educated them about it too.” “If the millage is not passed, our rating could drop because we could not maintain the kind of services that will be needed. We couldn’t grow with the community,” said Chief Kaufmann. “But if your parish is growing and you enjoy your quality of life and your population is increasing, how could you not increase the infrastructure? We have to keep up with this community rating. If not, the number goes down and you’re going to end up paying more for your homeowner’s insurance; instead of paying for the actual fire protection you should be getting. You’re going to pay it one way or another. But with the millage, you’re going to be protected.”
24
Total Comparison of Calls (January 1st through December 31st for the past 5 years) Fires
Overpressure Rupture, Explosion, Overheat (no fire)
Rescue & EMS Incident
Hazardous Condition (no fire0
Service Call
Good Intent Call
False Alarm & False Call
Severe Weather & Natural Disaster
Special Incident Type
3639
2523
2463
2365 2193
2166
2134
2131 1960
1458 1265
1242
1002 836 588
5
159
2011
435
287
185 10 0
244
182 4 3
2 2010
252
249 6 9
5 2009
712
642
569
528
231
225 13 6
12 2008
11
227 8 7
2007
A large factor in the PIAL rating is the location of the stations. “We have 7 fire stations, and an 8th at the training academy that we can standup when needed. We have them strategically spaced out to provide the best in response time and patient care on a daily basis. Our group can get out in the field and administer life support, sometimes advanced life support, faster than we ever could in the past because of the training, location, and equipment we now carry. Time is life.” Chief Kaufmann sums it up. “Not everybody needs our services every day. But how do you pick and choose what services you will provide based on need for any one day? We have to look at the menu of services that are needed at any given time… and prepare. On an annual basis, every single one of our services will be needed hundreds, sometimes thousands of times.” “We work for the people of the community. And we have an intrinsic, absolute obligation to the tax payers to be there for them and do the best we can.”
Please Vote YES for the Fire District 1 Millage Renewal on April 21.
YES!
Wa l k - I n s We l c o m e John Barton MD, Aqib Sultan MD
Primary & Urgent Care Clinic / Minor Emergency Laboratory Services, X-Ray, IV Fluids, Respiratory Treatments, Vision Testing, Audiometric Testing, Medicine Consults,Vaccinations, Pediatrics
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Happy Birthday Leadership Northshore team heading St. Tammany’s Bicentennial Celebration By: Kim Bergeron
O
n April 30, 2012, Louisiana will celebrate 200 years since it became the 18th state of the Union. Across the state, festivities will mark that historic occasion with celebrations of our heritage and culture, our music, our food and everything that makes Louisiana the most unique state in America. Okay, so maybe we’re biased. But where else in America can funerals become impromptu marching celebrations, critters inspire cultural festivals and cuisine top the list of reasons people visit?
We are Louisiana, and we are a cultural gumbo with a flavor unlike that of anywhere else in the world. We live to celebrate, and St. Tammany’s Louisiana Bicentennial Celebration will help us further that cause. The multifaceted St. Tammany edition of the Louisiana Bicentennial Celebration includes a free festival on May 19 in Slidell’s Heritage Park, a student art and essay competition, a commemorative coin, a perpetual time capsule and the creation of a Louisiana themed video and book library in the Slidell Museum. The event
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is the project of the Leadership Northshore 2012 Bicentennial Team which includes Kim Bergeron, the City of Slidell’s Director of Cultural & Public Affairs; Scott Garrett, St. Tammany Fire Protection District 1 Battalion Chief; Captain Will Hart, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, District 4 Commander; and Pastor Barb Simmers, Peace Lutheran Church, Slidell. The team members chose this project because they believed it was important to ensure that St. Tammany is well represented as part of the statewide celebrations of the historic occasion, and to capture personal accounts of recent events for future generations. Events commemorating the state’s bicentennial have been a key focus of Louisiana Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne, who oversees the Louisiana Bicentennial Committee and spearheaded comprehensive, statewide educational curricula to engage teachers and students in the efforts. “Every parish of the state has been encouraged to recognize the Bicentennial in their own unique way,” said Lt. Governor Dardenne. “The St. Tammany celebration promises to be one of the state’s best and I look forward to being there in May.” Parish President Pat Brister says Parish President Pat Brister says she is also looking forward to the festivities. “There can be no better way to celebrate Louisiana’s birthday than with the good times that come with our food, music and art in ‘Heritage’ Park on Bayou Bonfouca,” she said. “The rich natural resources of St. Tammany were used to build so much of our region, many of them within a stone’s throw of the park. It seems right to celebrate today in an area that helped build yesterday.”
Louisiana!
The festival, which will be held Saturday, May 19, 4:00 to 9:30 p.m., will kick off with a welcome and Bicentennial overview from Lt. Governor Dardenne. Headlining the main stage entertainment is Louisiana Music Hall of Famers LeRoux, whose still-popular ballad “New Orleans Ladies” took its place on Billboard’s Hot 100 hits in the summer of ’78 and is featured on the state’s Bicentennial CD. Joining LeRoux on both the stage and the Bicentennial CD is Christian Serpas and Ghost Town. Rounding out the lineup are the Dynamic Smooth Family Gospel Choir, recipients of the 2011 St. Tammany Parish President’s Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement and local jazz favorites, the Bayou Liberty Jazz Band. The Children’s Tent will include Cajun-themed entertainment by Papillion, live alligators presented by “The Gator Relocator” Howard McCrea and storytelling by Louisiana artist and book illustrator Emile Henriquez. The first 250 children to visit the Children’s tent can create hand painted, Louisiana themed ornaments crafted by local artist Kelly Landrum-Hammell.
The Louisiana Heritage and History tent will feature the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and presentations by Louisiana historians, including Tom Aikland, Karen Raymond and Charlotte Lowry-Collins. The festival will also feature a First Responders’ Showcase and a Community Service Organizations showcase. Of course, no Louisiana festival would be complete without the state’s favorite cuisine. Fest-goers can choose from crab cakes with crawfish sauce, catfish poboys, chicken tenders remoulade, Louisiana shrimp, jambalaya, gumbo, white chocolate bread pudding and more. Admission to the festival is free. In the event of rain, the festival will take place on Sunday, May 20.
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Student Art and Essay competition The Student Art and Essay competition is open to students in grades 3 to 12. Essays will focus on Louisiana history, traditions and technology, comparing that of past generations to the present and predictions about changes in the future. The art competition will showcase Louisiana’s culture and scenery. By including a focus on events and traditions of today, students can help capture a part of history—that which won’t be found in traditional history books—for future generations. Over 100 of the essays and art entries will be compiled into a book, copies of which will be added to the Slidell Museum and the Perpetual Time Capsule. Additionally, the first place winners of the art and essay contests in each of three age categories will be recognized at the Bicentennial Festival. A distinguished panel of judges for the competition includes Louisiana Senator A.G. Crowe, Representatives Greg Cromer and Kevin Pearson, Slidell Mayor Freddy Drennan, S t . Ta m m a n y P a r i s h S h e r i ff J a c k S t r a i n , Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith, St. Tammany Fire District 1 Captain Larry Hess, and artists Mickey Asche, Randy Caminita, Phil Galatas, Adam Sambola and Milo Stephens.
St. Tammany Edition of Louisiana Bicentennial Coin A St. Tammany edition of the Louisiana Bicentennial coin is currently available. The two-sided collectible bronze medallions, plated in 10K gold and sterling silver, feature the American flag, a state map with a star identifying St. Tammany Parish, and the state bird, the Louisiana Pelican. Only 750 of the limited edition, numbered coins are available at a cost of $15 per coin. Proceeds from the sales will be utilized to fund the festival, time capsule and the new Slidell Museum library.
Perpetual Time Capsule Slidell Mayor Freddy Drennan was quick to offer the city’s support of the project, including use of the Slidell Museum to house the time capsule commemorating the occasion. “This is a great way for us to capture this moment in time to share with future generations,” said Drennan. The capsule will be added to the Slidell Museum in July, 2012. It will include a request that it be opened in 50 years, its 28
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contents incorporated into the museum and replaced with new contents to be opened 50 years from that date. The Leadership Northshore team’s hope is that the tradition will be carried on in perpetuity. Time capsule contents will include a book featuring selected entries from the Student Art and Essay Competition, plus contributions from the St. Tammany Bicentennial Celebration sponsors and the team members. Along with the capsule, the Bicentennial team will also add a new video and book library to the museum, featuring the works of Louisiana authors and historians and a library of videos about the customs and history of our state, including documentation of recent events that forever altered the course of Louisiana--Hurricane Katrina and the B.P. oil spill. For Information about sponsorship, vending, the Service Organization showcase and the Art and Essay Competition, or to purchase the limited edition Bicentennial Coins: LNSBicentennialTeam@gmail.com Will Hart (985) 276-1499 Scott Garrett (985) 960-1073 Pastor Barb Simmers (985) 373-7214 Kim Bergeron (985) 646-4375 Event information, Student Art and Essay Competition rules and Bicentennial Coin order forms are also available on the “St. Tammany’s Louisiana Bicentennial Celebration” page on Facebook
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How To Pill a Cat 11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Throw t-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
As a veterinarian, I‛m often asked for advice on the easiest and most effective method of administering medication to pets. The following “advice” is a reprint from the internet. I wish I could take credit for this. It‛s genius and oh-so-true! ENJOY!
12. Call fire department to retrieve cat from tree across road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap. 13. Tie cat’s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by a large piece of fillet steak. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.
1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on each side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow. 2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat gently in left arm and repeat process. 3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, pick up and throw soggy pill away. 4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for count of ten. 5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse in from garden. 6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into cat’s mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.
7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill out of foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep up shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set on one side for gluing later. 8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with a pencil and blow into drinking straw.
14. Get spouse to drive you to emergency room. Sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearms and removes pill from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home and order new dining table. 15. Arrange for ASPCA to collect cat and contact local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.
How To Pill a Dog 1. Wrap it in bacon.
9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap. 10. Retrieve cat from neighbor’s shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door just enough so that head is showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with plastic band.
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This Month In History April 16, 1889
April 30, 1803 The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France. On this same day, in 1812, the state of Louisiana enters the Union, making 2012 our bicentennial!
1960
Film comedian Charlie Chaplin is born in London. He began in vaudeville and, after being discovered by an American producer, goes to Hollywood to make silent movies, developing the funny ‘Little Tramp’ film character.
1896
After a break of 1500 years, the first Olympics of the modern era is held in Athens, Greece.
The United States launches its first weather satellite
April 15, 1912 The Titanic sinks at 2:27am in the icy waters off Newfoundland.
April 8 th Happy Birthday Buddha!
April 8 1974 Hank Aaron hits his 715 home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s record
“In God We Trust” is included on all newly minted U.S. coins by an Act of Congress.
1864 April 11, 1954
1964 Ford Motor Company unveils the Mustang
Last year, the computer program True Knowledge determined this is the most boring day in human history. Using algorithms that used weighted values for more than three million facts including historical events, birthdays of significant people, etc., it determined that this date was really, really uneventful.
1909
Robert Perry & Matthew Hensen become the first men to reach the North Pole
Food Spy o f
S l i d e l l
The Food Spy of Slidell
How I Rate ‘Em .......................Oops!Try Again! ...............................Not Bad .............................Cool! .....Way Good Stuff
...Slap Your Mama!
T
o honor the Lenten season, I was both a spy AND a detective to find out 1) Why eat fish on Fridays and 2) Which church has the best. Why Fish on Fridays?
In the first century, Jews fasted on Mondays and Thursdays. The converted Christians moved the fast days to Wednesdays and Fridays, because Judas engineered Jesus’ arrest on a Wednesday and Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Fasting usually meant avoiding meat in the diet. In those days, meat was a luxury food, eaten by those who owned cattle or could afford to buy it in a market. On the other hand, anyone could catch a fish in a lake or a stream. So meat was rich people’s food and fish was poor people’s food. That is why the most common form of fasting was to omit meat and eat fish.
Under current Catholic Church law, the days of fasting fall during Lent, the season of spiritual preparation for Easter. On Ash Wednesday and all of the Fridays of Lent, Catholics over the age of 14 are “required” to abstain from meat and from foods made with meat. With the awesome seafood in Slidell, I don’t think giving up meat is a real challenge. But, the big challenge is… Which Church in our area has the best fried fish?
I visited EVERY church in our area that offers a fried fish plate on Fridays, and not all were Catholic. A few churches had a drive-thru and some had extras you can buy like brownies, cakes, cookies and drinks. To see each of these church organizations was a sight to behold… truly a labor of love. KnoWhatImean? I saw men’s clubs, ladies auxiliaries, boy scouts and clergy, all pitching in to deliver their best Lenten dishes.
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And what a deal! For about $8 per plate, you get a fish dinner with all the trimmings. Side items included baked macaroni, french fries, potato salad, cole slaw, peas, hush puppies, bread and more! Be sure to call ahead. As I learned, not all churches have a Fish Fry every Friday. Fried fish, on Fridays or any day, must be fresh, flakey, and have an extra flavor you don’t get from the freezer section of the grocery. It must not be over cooked, burnt, or too brown. Golden brown is golden delicious! With their brand new church rebuilt and recently opened, this church is serving up the sweet taste of success and gets the Food Spy nod for the Best Fried Fish during Lent!
St. Genevieve Church
Lagniappe: With lots of crawfish boiling going on, consider keeping some of those spicy potatoes for omelets or potato salad. Awesome! Diet tip: People sometimes confuse thirst with hunger. So you can end up eating extra calories when an icecold glass of water is really what you need. If you don’t like plain water, add fruit juice or try some calorie free teas like mango or peach.
Reader input: YOU can take part in this article if you’d like! Send us YOUR discoveries, YOUR questions, YOUR memories!
Until next time, remember - You Are What You Eat!
YAWYE!!
v i c k y @ v i c k y m a g a s i n s a g c y. c o m Over 50 years Experience, Integrity & Family Protection
The Food Spy of Slidell FoodSpyOfSlidell@SlidellMag.com
W
FIRE ANTS !!! By: Carol Ruiz – Blue Star Pest Control
hether you call them red ants or fire ants, by this time of year, these nuisance lawn pests make themselves known. Not only can the anthills and their tunneling damage lawns, their stinging bite is extreme. As a mom and gardener, I have experienced many frantic fire ant moments over the years. Fire ant workers aggressively defend their nests from any invaders almost immediately, especially when temperatures begin to rise. Fire ants can begin to sting within 10-20 seconds after climbing upon their victims.
The Sting: You know immediately when an ant bites you. They use their mandibles, or chewing mouth parts, to rip and tear at the skin; then it will double its body under and jab its stinger into the tissue. One fire ant can bite and sting several times, leaving the stinger in the skin along with venom. MOVE AWAY FROM THE ANTHILL to reduce bites. Sting sites usually become red quickly and can form a pustule after a couple of hours. When multiple bites are experienced, especially on children or the elderly, Anaphylaxis could occur. (Anaphylaxis is an immediate, whole body, life threatening allergic reaction. Symptoms vary but
can include low blood pressure, rash and throat swelling along with many other symptoms.) For this reason, it is important to take fire ants seriously when found on your property. Remember that red/fire ants will not come off the skin easily. Simply jumping up and down or submerging yourself in water will not do the trick. The best removal technique is to rub the skin briskly with your hands. Next wash the area with soap and water which will remove any venom left on the surface. You can use alcohol to disinfect bites and placing a cool ice pack really helps to cool the fierce sting. Calamine lotion will assist in drying out the itchy, red pustules and try not to scratch them, as this may cause an infection.
Precautions: Regularly walk your yards to locate problem fire ant areas. It is easy to spot those familiar large mounds. Watch out for the mounds that are just below the grass blades as well as those that can be found under rocks, wood piles or debris left on the ground. If anthills are left untreated, the ants could find their way into the house. Either call a reliable local pest control company like Blue Star Pest Control (985) 641-3797, to send a professional out to treat your property or come in to
Pest Solutions on Fremaux in Slidell (985) 643-9009, and let them recommend the best professional products to help you to rid your property of fire ants.
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Mag Slidell ition st 21 Ed
Too cu te! Erin Be Jax, the Box er son cker, a o t Fritc hie Par f k
k Davis s Fran w o h s mera Kendra se for the ca o p how to
Andy Prude, of Pontchartr Investment M ain anagement, re ig ns over the St. Patric k‛s Day parade Ronnie Kole wows the crowd at Jazz on the Bayou
es and ny from Poni i miniature po in econd m S iin on m se a ri Nemo, rs at Sun be em m I BN Parties, visits
The amazingl y talented mus ician, Dana A and Landlubb bbott, er‛s owner, D ane Kennedy, it up for the ham camera at “M usic for a Caus benefitting U e” nited Way Now, you just don‛t see that everyday!
Kendra with one of her SEVEN dogs, Moosta, at Bark For Life