32nd Edition - March 2013

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By Kendra Maness

The art of writing and mailing a letter has all but been lost. Texts, emails, and facebook messaging have instant gratification for our busy worlds. But there is a certain beauty in writing or reading a letter – touching it, smelling it, saving it, seeing the stationary, the penmanship. The Storyteller, John Case, reminded me of this last month when he began developing a story based on family letters he found hidden in an antique chest. These letters, and so many like them, document the history of our families, our communities and our country. Digital media just doesn’t give you the sensory satisfaction of an old letter.

As an editor, I suffer the consequences of the digital media age also. I’ve yearned to print a Reader’s Response or “Mailbag” page in the magazine that would have letters to the Editor, but we just don’t receive many. Not that we don’t get a lot of feedback – we do! I receive dozens of wonderful facebook messages each month…

“Awesome edition!”…. “I loved the story about…” and a whole lot more of those little thumbs-up symbols that mean people “like” us. Readers call me or approach me at events to give me feedback. Good or bad – I live to hear the response! It helps to steer the magazine in the direction the public wants. I love it.

Last month, I received a reader’s response letter in the mail. Simply put, it was worth the wait. It now is framed in my office, watching over me as I write this now. It will remain in the Slidell Magazine office forever. I hope it touches you as much as it touched me:

Feb 1, 2013 Dear Slidell Magazine, My name is Terry Moretti. I am the grandmother of Dylan Hockley who was a victim at Sandy Hook School on December 14, 2012. My sister, Grace Marshall, a Slidell resident, sent me a copy of the Slidell Magazine, Vol. 30, January 2013.

I am writing in appreciation for “26 Acts of Kindness” written by Gay DiGiovanni. Thank you for a beautifully written article which I tearfully read.

My daughter is Nicole Hockley who was quoted in the article. Thank you for stating that Nicole chose to focus on the love rather than the anger. You quoted my sister’s pride for her niece, and I add a mother’s pride for my daughter.

Dylan was a beautiful boy and my heart is broken that he is no longer in our lives but he is forever in our hearts. Anne Marie Murphy, Dylan’s aide, is also forever in our hearts and prayers…she is my heroine.

I want to add my appreciation for the Editor’s Note on page 23 which explained the changes in the cover and the reasons for the changes. I found the cover to be a lovely tribute to the 26 victims and their families. I applaud Slidell Magazine for their caring and thoughtfulness.

Over the years, through my sister Grace, I have met many Slidell residents and am proud to call them friends. I am adding Gay and Kendra to that list.

It is my sincere hope that we will all do our best to keep the 26 Acts of Kindness a real part of our everyday lives.

Sincerely, Terry Moretti

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ef o

Extraordinarily Fascinating “Ordinary” Person of the Month

by Kendra Maness

A

lan Zaunbrecher has always believed in giving one hundred percent to accomplish any goal.

Growing up, his parents promoted healthy competition between the six Zaunbrecher children. Whether it was in sports, education, or volunteerism, Alan says, “We were expected to do well. To do less than our best simply was not an option.

The inspiration I had to do well came from my family.”

From the time he was in 7th grade, Alan knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. “My mother said I had a good quality in knowing how to talk to people; that I could relate to them, and that’s what lawyers do. So, I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer.” Fulfilling his childhood dreams, Alan graduated from Tulane University in 1976 then continued his education through Tulane University School of Law, where he earned a Juris Doctor degree in 1979. With a strong desire to always give his best and with a passion for his profession, Alan returned to school in 1991 to earn the prestigious Masters of Law, with Distinction, from Tulane School of Law.

Alan Zaunbrecher March 2013

values instilled in them from their parents.

“I hope that if they have learned anything else from me, they have learned this - to work hard and to treat everyone fairly and with respect.”

Moving to St. Tammany Parish was an easy decision for the Zaunbrechers. “I think it’s a great mix of people and society. We have access to arts, sports, nature, just about everything. I think that people want to live here for the variety that St. Tammany offers. There’s a really good mix of age groups and that offers the opportunity to meet people, and their parent and their grandparents, and really get to know each other as neighbors and families. We’re not a retirement community, we’re not a tourist community, we’re no longer just a commuter community of professionals – we’re a mix of all of them and so much more. St. Tammany Parish has matured so

much over the past 40 years. Every single walk of life - every age and demographic -it’s all one big beautiful melting pot. It has all the flavor and culture of living next to New Orleans, but all the greenery and safety of the Northshore. I’ve been here for 30 years, and I can tell you, I’ll never leave.”

With so many opportunities for his family, Alan invested in the community that he loves and became a small business owner as a founding member of the Zaunbrecher Treadaway Law Firm in Covington. With his new business came new accomplishments, both personally and professionally. In the past 33 years, Alan has been an active litigator, defending more than 200 civil trials in federal and state courtrooms. He has also been honored to serve as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Louisiana for many years.

Alan met Sue, his beautiful bride of 32 years, while at Tulane. “She’s funny and interesting – I love to talk to her.” Alan and Sue raised their three children, Austin (28), Davis (26) and Afton (23) with the same

Alan and Sue with their children 6

Alan’s always been a problem solver. Ten years ago, he saw the need to alleviate some of the burden placed on the St. Tammany Parish judicial system, and gained his certification as a mediator. “I think it’s the best chance we have to alleviate the crowded court system,” he says. “Mediation is about knowing what’s important to people.” Remembering the words of his mother, Alan adds, “It’s listening objectively to both sides of every case. It’s given me invaluable experience you cannot recreate and made me a better attorney. A non-biased mediator is looked to by both sides for guidance and, by being neutral, a professional mediator stands a better chance of reaching the parties concerned than an advocate would.” His work through mediation has seen over 1,000 cases to resolution, with 95 percent resulting in settlement, giving our courts some much needed breathing room.

Alan’s also been able to merge his dedication in the legal profession and his passion for volunteerism through his charity work. “Volunteerism is in my DNA,” he says. His charitable work has had an impact on everything from our economy and environment, to our youth and to people in need. He served as Chairman of the Louisiana Superdome Commission (LSED), where he directed the construction of over $200 million in District projects, including the New Orleans Arena, Zephyr Field and the Alario Center. (This is amazing to me - I had trouble managing a kitchen remodel!) He currently serves as special assistant to the Attorney General representing the Superdome and the State. He also gives back to the community through organizations like Habitat for Humanity, as a member of the President’s Council at the recently opened Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at St. Tammany Parish Hospital, and through the many pro bono cases he has accepted during his career. “When I first moved my office here, I sought out pro bono work here in Covington. I always try to keep two pro bono cases going. When I finished one, I’d call up and ask for another. I think it’s something every lawyer should do. It goes beyond the legal profession too, like in the volunteer work I do with the state. It’s always been important to me,” he says.

His charitable legal work was recognized recently when he was awarded the prestigious Pro Bono Publico award from the Louisiana State Bar Association for 2012 for his volunteer legal services to the poor. “When I served as the President of the Greater Covington Bar Association in 2011, my goal was to reenergize it. We increased the number of pro bono cases Members accepted by 60 percent. These are simple things like family law issues such as wills, things people need but may not be able to afford.”

His free time is spent on hobbies like gardening and bow hunting, but his love of the game of basketball eventually led him to his role as an official for high schools and small colleges.

“I played basketball in high school and football in college. I was actually better at basketball than football but they don’t have many 6’3” forwards in college,” he laughs. “I began refereeing in college and law school and stopped when I was a young lawyer and young father. But when my children got old enough, I went back, and I’ve been refereeing for the past 12 years now. For me, the motivation to referee is no different than my motivation to do pro bono work. It’s important that the kids get good officials and a fair game, that’s always been my

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Alan and fellow volunteers are on the job at a Habitat for Humanity home build motivation.” Alan’s fairness and skill as a referee is noted and appreciated – he’s been chosen to officiate the Louisiana High School Final Four Games 4 times in the past 5 years!

Life is coming full circle for Alan as he strives for a new goal – district judge. The opportunity to run for judge representing the 22nd Judicial District came about when the seat was vacated by Judge Will Crane earlier this year. The election on April 6 could mean a new role for Alan, and one he’s spent a lifetime preparing for. “My candidacy for judge is just a natural extension of what I have been doing for 33 years. I feel that being a judge at the district level is an important job; a way to give back to the community and profession that’s been so kind to me. The district court, the first level of court, is the only court that 99% of people who have to go to court ever see. It’s a job, through education and training and experience, that I believe that I’ve developed the qualifications to fill.”

Alan recites his favorite quote, by our 26th U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt. “Far and away, the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” It’s a philosophy he believes in and lives by – working hard, doing good for others, and truly enjoying the opportunity to do them both. Slidell Magazine is proud to name Alan Zaunbrecher our Extraordinarily Fascinating “Ordinary” Person of the Month for March 2013!

Sli-Ku I tend to notice that, as a people, we have a penchant to overcomplicate the simplest of all manner of things; more to the point of this diatribe, how we choose to communicate the simplest expressions with unnecessary verboseness. A perfect example would be the previous sentence! Why don’t we say what we mean in a way so everyone can understand? Maybe we’re trying to be too “clever” for our own good. We create new words for other words that already exist. There are many examples of this throughout human history. Abraham Lincoln could have said, “87 years ago…” But noooo! He had to go all SCORE on us, leaving the crowd wondering, “How long ago?”

Another great example, and tailor-made for this month, is the well-known warning immortalized by William Shakespeare: “Beware the ides of March.” ~ Soothsayer: Act I, Scene II from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar Ides of March is a fancy way of saying March 15. Once again, cleverness worked its way into a simple sequence of days and the end result became…13, 14, ides, 16, 17, etc. Even back then, who signs off on something like this?

We don’t say Monday, Tuesday, Humpday, Thursday, etc…do we? Of course we don’t. Ask Caesar if he would have rather been told “Beware this upcoming 15th”, instead of the whole ides fancy talk. I’m guessing he would have answered YES! Actually, I’m sure he would have rather been told, “Beware, you’re about to get stabbed over 20 times in the back starting with your boy Brutus if you show up March 15th!” See, simply stated with not a lot of room for misinterpretation.

This month is National Nutrition Month….as well as Frozen Food, Potato Chip & Dip, Popcorn, Sub Sandwich, Waffle, and Food-on-a-Stick Day/ Month. The 30th is I Am in Control Day while the 20th is Extraterrestrial Abduction Day. Unless it is from the perspective of the ETs, these two observances are quite in opposition to each other. The month is named after the god of war, Mars, so it shouldn’t be too surprising having so many

conflicting observances. Does anyone know which observance happens on March 14th? Think about it...does presenting the date this way 3.14 help? It’s Pi (π) Day. Pi being that mathematical constant that is the ration of a circle’s circumference to its diameter and most commonly represented as 3.14. It’s considered an irrational number in math. Many more people consider this holiday wannabe just as irrational. I just think it’s “clever!”

I like to look at the bright side of life and walk on the sunny side of the street.

March in Slidell allows me to do so with ease, as it is chock-full of life. The month promises that we shall “Spring Forward” as we leave winter behind.

The Camellia City earns its name as it comes to life with the warming of the month, blooms popping up seemingly everywhere. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade showers Olde Towne with shamrock beads and pots of gold. Feasts and the lifting of religious dietary restrictions are part of the March 17th holiday as well. Along with the mid-month bounty celebrations, other hints as to Nature’s wealth that’s about to be bestowed upon us start to be seen. Trees, shrubs, and bulbs all swell preparing to explode color upon the landscapes of the city.

Mother Nature does the best Spring cleaning!

This is also the one month when most of us turn into the March Hare in Alice in Wonderland, we go a little mad. Blame it on the NCAA basketball tournament affectionately known as March Madness. Non-sports fans get caught up in the fever, some even claim to have fever and call in sick to work to watch the games played during the work week. College basketball becomes the center of the office pool universe with more money bet on this tourney than any other sporting event.

The events of March are like ingredients, making a perfect blend for another delicious month of living in the Camellia City. I offer this soul-food haiku dish to rejuvenate and nourish our spirits as we head into the new season.

Dig in…eat up…and make sure to come back for seconds!

Pinch of Spring flour A too stuffed crust of wild hare March Pie’s recipe

Until next time…

Lee Kreil

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February 22 - April 5th Beade Towne Olde Towne Feed Store EVERY WED-SUN Harvey Jesus & Fire Silver Slipper • 4-8pm 10

Bubbly on the Bayou Patton’s 11am-2pm

“Streetcar Named Desire” Slidell Little Theatre • 2pm Harvey Jesus & Fire Silver Slipper • 4-8pm 17

St. Patrick’s Day Parade Olde Towne • 1pm

Slidell Library: Free Continuing Ed Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Publisher 10am-12pm Dr. Seuss Party • All Ages 4:30pm

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Grand Opening/ Ribbon Cutting Iberia Bank • 3-5pm

Louisiana Spirit Puppet Show Slidell Library Ages: 5-11 4:30pm

Dine and Discover “Incapacity Planning” Chamber Boardroom 11:30am-1pm

Bayou Jam Top Cats Heritage Park • 5:30-7:30pm Jazz on the Bayou Chateau Kole • 3-7pm

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Bayou Jam Four Unplugged Heritage Park • 5:30-7pm 31

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Storytime Slidell Library Ages: 2-3, 9:30am Ages: 3-5, 10:30am Storytime Lacombe Library All Ages • 10:30am

Chamber 50th Anniversary Luncheon “A Legacy of Membership” Pinewood Country Club 11:30am-1pm

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EYP After Hours Palmetto’s Restaurant 5-7pm

2013 LABI Legislative Issues Luncheon Benedict’s Plantation 11:30am-1pm 3

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i n u m m o C and

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A Day for Girls’ Health SMH Regional Cancer Ctr 1-5pm

Public Policy Committee Chamber Boardroom • 8am

“Streetcar Named Desire” Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm

Business After Hours Edward Jones, MLS Merchant Services Nathan’s Restaurant 5-7pm Bayou Title’s Continuing Ed: “Reverse Mortgages” Abek Realty 10am-2pm

“Sweeny Todd” Cutting Edge Theater • 8pm

“Streetcar Named Desire” Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm

Flipside Silver Slipper • 8pm

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Business After Hours Slidell Magazine and NOLA Grill at NOLA Grill 5-7pm JOIN US !!!!!!!!

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Storytime Pearl River Library All Ages • 10:30am Storytime Slidell Library All Ages 6:30pm

Crescent City Soul Silver Slipper 8pm

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Japanese Dance presented by Sugai Barker Slidell Library • 3-4:30pm

“Streetcar Named Desire” Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm

“Streetcar Named Desire” Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm

“Sweeny Todd” Cutting Edge Theater • 8pm

“Sweeny Todd” Cutting Edge Theater • 8pm

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Bobby Cure & the Summertime Blues Silver Slipper • 8pm

Jazz on the Bayou Chateau Kole • 3-7pm

“STILL Dancing with the Mom” “STILL Dancing with the Mom” Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm 30

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Harvey Jesus & Fire Silver Slipper 8pm

Storytime Slidell Library All Ages • 6:30pm 4

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Family Storytime Slidell Library All Ages • 6:30pm 21

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THU 7

14

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Grand Opening/ Ribbon Cutting Mia Sorella • 3-5pm

“Streetcar Named Desire” Slidell Little Theatre • 2pm

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Storytime Slidell Library Ages: 2-3, 9:30am Ages: 3-5, 10:30am

Storytime Slidell Library Ages: 2-3, 9:30am Ages: 3-5, 10:30am Exploration Express Slidell Library Ages: 5-Teen 3:30pm

March 2nd - April 13th Picasso, Miro’ and Matisse City of Slidell Art Gallery 12

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WED

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Every Saturday Camellia City Farmer’s Market Slidell Harvey Jesus & Fire Silver Slipper • 8pm 6

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Rotary Golf Tournament Oak Harbor Golf Course

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J

THE BANK ROBBER told me that they were acquiring right of way to widen a state highway when it was pointed out to him that there was a grave under a tree in the path to be acquired. The community demanded that it be respectfully removed.

Journalists have a code. It is called the five W’s; Who, What, When, Where and Why. I am not a journalist, I am a Storyteller and I am not confined by such rules of order. I have found that by not following such s uch protocol, I can tell you stories that a jjournalist ournalist would never be able to acquire.

The T he following is such a story.

T his is a true story. Only one name is This accurate, all others have been changed.

Not one location is precise, but rest assured it happened nearby. I think when you finish the story, you will understand why I chose the liberties I have rather than follow the W’s imposed on journalists.

More often than not, one story leads to another. I have a Facebook friend who was a journalist. She feeds me stories and I do the same for her. We are from the same hometown, but we have never met. She is considerably younger than me. That gives her a different perspective on things. Her name is Molly. That is the only real name I will use. Not long ago, she told me a true story about a peddler who disappeared in the backwoods of Mississippi in the 1870’s.

A couple of years after his disappearance, a dam that had been built to prevent flooding was breached and a body was discovered in the scattered ruins of the

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embankment. There were no forensics in those days, but it was assumed it was the peddler.

The dam coincidentally was on my greatgreat uncle’s property. I will call him Uncle John. He was not suspected in the disappearance as I understand it, but a neighbor was, and that neighbor disappeared during the night and was never heard of again.

I have an uncle who is in his 90’s now. That would make him one generation closer to Uncle John than I am. I contacted him to verify the story but he had never heard it discussed. He did, however, have another story about a peddler.

This uncle was an official with the highway department in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He

It seems that some peddler back in the 1800’s was standing under a tree and dropped dead. His name was not known and he was buried under the tree where he had taken his last breath. My uncle arranged for the state to hire a funeral home to disinter the body and move it to a cemetery.

Of course the funds were limited, but a resting spot was found and, sometime during the early 1960’s, the body (or what remained of it) was placed in a small wooden box. That box was then placed in a fancy black hearse and reburied with the pomp and splendor of a dignitary.

I thought this would be an interesting story, so based on my uncle’s memory of an event that happened fifty plus years ago, I went in search of the story of the “twice-buried peddler”.

I found the cemetery, but it was not exactly like my uncle described. I found no clues as to a peddler being buried there. After all, what was I expecting? An Italian marble monument?

Across the street from the cemetery was an abandoned country store. There was a gentleman in front which I assumed to be the owner of the property, and I was correct. I introduced myself to him and, for the purpose of this story, I will call him Bill Maddox. I told him that my reason for being there was the search for the peddler. He said he was not familiar with the story, and assumed it had happened in some other area. It was probable that he was too young to remember. That would have been a great topic of conversation back then; after all, his parent’s country store was the hub of activity in this rural community. The store had been there since 1948 when this highway was still a country gravel road.

Well it turns out my new friend Bill was a storyteller extraordinaire and, before long, we were exchanging tales we had been told through the years. Soon he asked me if I had ever heard of William B. Kingston. I told him I had not, and for the next fifteen minutes he related a story to me that kept me spellbound.

I could not wait to get home and Google the name; when I did, I found that every word he told me was true - but there was more. What I am going to relate to you is a combination of what he told me and what I discovered in my research. Make sure you stay tuned until you read the last paragraph.

The story of William B. Kingston Country stores were the meeting place for locals before other forms of entertainment such as TV came along. Also, good and dependable transportation to take you to more interesting places was limited. It was mostly a male thing, but hanging out and gossiping at the local store was a favorite pastime for many. The practice still exists in rural communities today.

Usually, a bench was provided by the owner of the establishment and, usually, it was placed under some type of canopy. Such was the case of the store owned by Bill Maddox’s father. Bill was about twelve years old in those days.

William B. Kingston worked at a nearby paper mill. He probably worked as a laborer; but it was evident, even in the eyes of young Bill, that Kingston often had an unusual amount of extra money to spend. He liked to visit the store and would come by almost every afternoon after he got off from work. He would arrive about five o’clock in the afternoon and not leave until the store closed around 8pm. Often it would be just William B. and the Maddox family that would sit on the bench and enjoy the evening. The Maddox family became very fond of the young man who, in 1964, would have been 32 years old.

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Mr. Maddox made the trip to pick up the tires and the wholesaler questioned his need for such an expensive type and brand. He informed the wholesaler that it was for a very special customer, W. B. Kingston.

“W.B. Kingston? He is a crook. Watch out for him, he is a bad sort.”

Mr. Maddox replied, “Must be some mistake, this is a nice fellow.

Almost like one of my family.”

Christina Lowrance

The robbery occurred in September. In late December, W. B. carved a pistol out of a bar of soap and, along with three fellow inmates, kidnapped the sheriff, the jailer, and the radio operator.

They released their hostages unharmed and fled in the sheriff’s car. They were able to avoid capture for sometime as they could monitor all the radio transmissions. Finally, they abandoned the car in the vicinity of the Maddox store. The story has it that W. B. was barefoot and it was extremely cold

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The subject was dropped and Mr. Maddox returned to the delight of W.B. Kingston who, as always, paid in cash.

A few days later, there was a bank robbery in a nearby community.

The robber left enough clues that allowed the authorities to easily track him to New Orleans where he was sharing an apartment with a female accomplice. They found almost 23,000 dollars in the apartment, along with the bags that the teller had described putting the money in. W. B. Kingston was arrested, then returned and jailed in the community near the scene of the crime.

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One day in 1968, he came in and wanted some very special, expensive tires. Of course, this was not an item carried in the Maddox store inventory and they told him they would have to make a trip to the warehouse, which was some distance away. That was okay with Kingston - he was willing to pay the extra cost.

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W. B. would only purchase items that came from the Maddox family store. If they did not have it, he would request that they order it for him. He did not mind the wait - it gave him more of a reason to sit on the bench at the store and visit with the family that he had developed a genuine friendship with. Once he came in and asked them to order $100 worth of candy for his wife. That was a lot of candy in the 1960’s. It took some doing, but Mr. Maddox filled the order.

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A manhunt, one of the largest in state history, commenced. Soon, three of the escapees were captured. W.B. remained in the woods for several days in the freezing cold weather and finally approached the home of someone he probably knew. He asked them to call the local sheriff. He felt the state police would shoot him on sight for kidnapping a law enforcement officer, but he trusted the local authorities.

Escaping from jail and kidnapping the sheriff was big news and, the night it happened, the local television station interrupted its regular

broadcast to cover the event.

This prompted an angry letter to the newspaper from a local resident who was very displeased at not being able to see her favorite program.

After W. B. was captured, he must have read the newspaper containing the letter to the editor from his jail cell. He responded, in turn, by writing the following letter to the paper: Dear Editor: In reference to a letter placed in your newspaper about people breaking out of jail and news of their escape interrupting television programs, let me extend my most profound apologies to the public, and especially Mrs. Ruth Day, for causing interruptions on the Hal Holbrook Show.

I am sure, however, they will recover from such a devastating blow of not being able to see all of ”Mark Twain”.

But in the future, I will send a special delivery letter to Sheriff Tom Fredricks and have him contact them for their schedules, (and also the weather bureau as it was cold out there those nights) and we will arrange our new breaks as not to interfere with the best programs.

It would be nice if I could watch television. Maybe I would become as interested in myth as you are, and stay in the cozy confines of my cell.

W.B. Kingston This was not Kingston’s first brush with the law. In 1952, he robbed a bank in Tennessee. He was caught and put into jail – from which he escaped twice. In the 1990’s, a new jail was built in that town and, at the dedication, it was deemed to be “Kingston-proof”. This was a statement to the legend that he had created when he was only twenty years old.

Based on the 1968 bank robbery and his multiple escapes, he was sentenced to 45 years in state prison and 25 years in the federal prison. With such time before him, he confessed to bank robberies in Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama and Georgia. None of the money except that from the 1968 robbery was ever recovered.

Kingston did not serve his time patiently. During the mid-seventies, a rash of livestock mutilations began to appear all over the country. It was believed that it was part of a satanic cult. The investigation of these crimes was turned over to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

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At this time, Kingston was being transferred to and from Marion Prison in Illinois and Levenworth. He contacted the prison authorities and told them he had quite a bit of information about the animal killings but would not talk unless sent to a small, rural jail. He felt his life would be in danger in a large prison population like Marion or Levenworth.

belongings were correspondence between him and the murderer. No reason for the correspondence was ever determined.

He convinced the authorities to send him to a small jail in Minnesota, as many of the mutilations had occurred in that state. He told of how it was a satanic cult and that, when he last had contact with them, they were moving toward human sacrifice. He related how four teenage campers were killed in a ritual in Colorado and their bodies buried in a gravel pit. He denied having any involvement in the ritual, but assured officials that his story could be collaborated if they would bring a friend of his who was in prison in Texas up to the Minnesota jail.

Bill Maddox had the privilege of becoming friends with a criminal profiler a few years ago. He told him the story much as he told it to me and I have related it to you.

His testimony included the fact that the mutilators put pieces of cardboard on their shoes so as to leave no recognizable footprints as they performed their occult ritual. Then, prior to leaving, they melted the snow and their imprints with a blowtorch.

In the early 1980’s, W. B. was released from prison. Not because he had served his sentence, but because he was dying of cancer. In a few months, he was dead.

This would give the appearance the act was done by aliens.

The Federal officers followed his instructions and transferred his friend to the jail in Minnesota, where he confirmed W.B.’s story. The next day, Kingston and his friend escaped the jail. It was believed that there was no truth to the testimony and that it was only a ruse to make for an easy escape.

Again, Kingston was captured shortly after.

In 1976, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer (later confirmed to be a spy) murdered his wife, mother and three children. He disappeared and has not been found to this day. Found in Kingston’s

The profiler smiled and said “Bill, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I don’t think Kingston liked you and your family as much as you thought he did. No, he just liked to have a reason to be at the store. You see, he was burying his money in fresh graves across the street. He was just keeping an eye on the money.

Bet you it is still there.”

More about the peddlers later.

John Case March 2013

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Frankly St. Paddy’s Day! In some ways, you can think of St Patrick’s Day as Ireland’s national holiday, similar to Mexico’s Cinco de Mayo or Independence Day in the U.S. But, because St. Patrick’s Day is also an official feast day (or “saint’s day”) observed by the Roman Catholic Church, it also has fairly strong religious connotations, at least in Ireland itself.

The holy man, St. Patrick, is considered to be Ireland’s patron saint. His 4th century arrival on the shores of the Emerald Isle played a substantial role in the development of the island’s culture. The Irish Celts had always been pagan, but St. Patrick’s arrival signaled the beginning of their conversion to Christianity. St. Patrick was, according to legend, the one who got the Christianity ball rolling and altered the course of Irish history and culture. Now, of course, the Irish Republic is predominantly Roman Catholic.

By Frank Davis

holiday.’ Green is one of the colors in Ireland’s tri-color flag. It is also the color most typically associated with the classic Irish symbol, the shamrock, and of course Ireland herself is frequently referred to by her nickname, the “Emerald Isle.”

What do people EAT on St. Patrick’s Day?

Most Irish attend church services on St. Patrick’s Day. But there is certainly another side to St. Patrick’s Day. March 17 is the one day when green beer flows freely from the taps of bars throughout the world. Probably because of the day’s religious overtones, the holiday celebrations are a bit more subdued in Ireland itself. Many of Ireland’s pubs are actually closed for most of St. Patrick’s Day! However, the religious restrictions on drinking alcohol during Lent that are normally in place are lifted for the day. So, many Irish lift a pint of Guinness Stout or Harp Lager before or after dinner, in honor of St. Paddy.

So what’s up with all the green?

There are many reasons to associate green with Ireland, and by extension with its ‘national

Family gatherings with a special meal are traditional on St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland.

In the U.S., St. Patrick’s Day dinner often means corned beef and cabbage, but other dishes are often served in Ireland’s homes – a hearty Irish stew, a savory roasted chicken, or a shepherd’s pie, for example.

Me, I like to stick to traditional corned beef and cabbage, but with a N’Awlins twist! The meal is made that much more yummy because of all the cabbages and veggies we catch at the parades each year. You know what they say is true – the BEST food is FREE food!

Happy St. Paddy’s Day! Making Your Own Corned Beef Lots of folks skip over making their own corned beef because they think it’s difficult… but it really isn’t. Follow these instructions and see just how simple it really is!

Now, bring the water to a boil and toss in the onions, garlic, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, beef seasoning, thyme, lemon, Tabasco, sugar, and crabboil. Then let the stock boil for about 10 minutes uncovered.

5 lb. choice top round roast Water to cover beef by 3 inches Salt (see recipe directions) 1 raw egg in the shell 2 onions, coarsely chopped 6 cloves garlic, smashed 12 whole black peppercorns 6 whole cloves 3 bay leaves 2 tsp. Frank Davis Beef Seasoning ½ tsp. thyme ½ lemon, sliced 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce ¼ cup granulated sugar 1 tsp. Frank Davis Liquid Crab boil

At this point, turn the fire off, add the beef, weight it down with a large dinner plate or soupbowl so that it doesn’t float, and set the pot aside until the pickling stock comes to room temperature. Then cover it and place it in the refrigerator for 15 days. Remember, it takes a full 15 days to “corn” the meat in the pickling stock. And I suggest you turn the meat and stir the mixture every other day.

Start with a nonmetallic pot (crock, glass, enamel, plastic, or porcelain) and place the beef roast in it. Then measure out enough water to cover the meat by 3 inches. Now, take the water back out!

Next, cut the beef into chunks about 4 inches thick and set them aside for a moment. The reason you cut the meat is you want the “corning solution” to penetrate all the pieces thoroughly.

Then, using the same nonmetallic pot, refill it with the predetermined amount of water and begin adding the salt. Now this is important! Begin stirring in and dissolving salt until you can get the raw egg in the shell to begin to float. See, when the egg starts floating, you know you’ve got enough salt to produce “corned” beef. It’s that simple!

Just for the record, you don’t need saltpeter (sodium nitrate) to make corned beef. It’s just an unnecessary chemical used primarily to turn the beef red. I suggest you leave it out!

When you’re ready to cook the beef, take it from the pickling stock and soak it for about 2 hours in cool fresh water to remove any excess salt (I’d change the water a few times). Then drain the meat and cook it according to my N’Awlins Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe.

Check out my website, www.FrankDavis.com. Here you can order cookbooks and spices, get free recipes and fishing tips and lots more good stuff!

MAY THIS YEAR BRING YOU THE LUCK O’ THE IRISH! HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY EVERYBODY!

Chef’s Notes: Not only beef but wild game can be corned this way (deer, antelope, rabbit, etc.) using the same recipe. And if you want to freeze some of the meat, you can. Just transfer it directly from the pickling stock to a Ziploc bag, add about a cup of the stock to the meat, squeeze out all the air from the bag, and drop it in the freezer!

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19

Making ₵ents The Fed speaks:

of your money

by Mike Rich

“Listen up. You are ruining the economy.”

An article posted on the Bloomberg website last November reported that Federal Reserve officials are concerned that frugal retirees are blunting the impact of stimulus spending because they’re not buying enough houses, cars, and other expensive stuff.

“Spending decisions of the older age cohorts are less likely to be easily stimulated by monetary policy,” William

C. Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said in a speech late last year.1 To put that in English, I think he means that old people are the problem in our economy because they aren’t spending enough money.

Seriously? It’s kind of like doctors complaining that people who eat healthy food are bad for business.

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20

I guess the Fed hasn’t gotten the message yet that spending – too much spending, to put it more precisely – is a lot of what got our country into a dismal financial mess. Plus, somehow they’ve missed the news that Wall Street’s debt-packaging shenanigans nearly destroyed the world economy, and took a pretty big bite out of a lot of retirement savings plans, too. Do ya’ think that maybe our government could actually learn something from the retirees who are now trying to live within realistic budgets? Judging from Mr. Dudley’s remarks, it doesn’t appear so.

I’m not retired yet, but at age 61, my wife Mary and I are quickly moving into the “older age cohorts” that Mr. Dudley lamented about, and so are a lot of our clients here at Pontchartrain Investment Management. Andy, Chris, Steve, and I certainly want them to enjoy their retirements and all the things that go along with the golden years – leisure time, travel, gifts for grandchildren, big motorcycles, whatever – but we also want to make sure their money lasts at least as long as they do. And, for our clients who are not yet retired, but want to be some day, we urge them to do some things that would make Mr. Dudley and his Fed buddies go nuts.

Consider these admittedly “anti-spending” moves: 1.) Save at least 10% of your income. More is

even better. We like 15%. In our view, saving and investing regularly is good because it means you’ll likely have some money to spend on yourself in the future when you are no longer earning any. Some of this money belongs in a cash account for emergencies, some needs to be set aside for things like college costs or a big down payment on your next car, and some is for retirement. Speaking of retirement, keep a sharp eye on future taxes. To find out how to deal with this, call us.

2.) Tune out the Great American Marketing Machine. How many times a day is the average person exposed to some type of product advertisement? It’s difficult to measure, but our guess is that it’s a lot. “Buy me, you need

me, you can’t live without me, your neighbors will laugh at you if you don’t have me.” It never stops. But, our experience here is that the folks who end up with the most secure financial lives are the ones who live within their means and don’t buy everything in sight. And, for all of those senior citizens the Fed is mad at for not spending enough, their retirement money has a lot better chance of lasting than those folks who are falling prey to the “shop ‘til you drop” mantra. Are you as fed up as we are? If so, let’s get together and talk.

3.) Create a budget and stick to it. Hands down, this is one of the best things any family can do to move closer to financial health. If you don’t know where your money is going, well, you don’t know where it’s going. We have a pretty nifty spreadsheet that will help you get organized. Call us, and we’ll show you how it works.

4.) Pay down bad debt. Just about any debt generated by the plastic in your pocket is, in our opinion, bad debt, and we want you to get rid of it faster than you would a roach in your kitchen.

5.) Protect your assets. If you read these articles regularly, you’re probably sick of this, so I’ll get to the point. If you are not protecting your assets, you are risking everything you are working so hard to build. Life and disability income insurance are absolute musts for the breadwinners at your house. And, so a potential lawsuit doesn’t throw a wrench in your retirement plan, we want to make sure your property and casualty insurance – including an umbrella liability policy – is upto-snuff, as well. But, the real biggie for baby boomers and beyond is going to be how to pay for the unbelievably high cost of long term care.

The conversation about this retirement money-killer is no longer buried on page eight of the leisure section in the newspaper, it’s front-page news, and everyone but the wealthiest among us needs a plan. More and more here, we are witnessing first-hand how families suffer when there is not enough money to pay for a loved one’s care, and it isn’t pretty.

The good news is that we have sensible strategies for making sure you don’t have to go through the same thing, and one is probably right for you. Do you want to avoid this fiasco? Call us, and we’ll sit with you to figure it out.

So, there you have it. Old people, young people, and people in between – unite! Save more, spend less, live within your means, pay off bad debt, and protect your assets from bad stuff. You CAN do it. Make an appointment with us now to get started… and make those Fed people really angry.

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

985-605-5066

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1

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-12/baby-boomers-blunt-fed-easing-while-saving-for-retirement.html

Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC. The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

21

Stephan Wanger’s Bead Town A man. A vision.

And a Louisiana legacy in the making.

By Kim Bergeron

The world needs more people like Stephan Wanger.

It’s something that many people come to realize within minutes of meeting the Bead Town creator.

He’ll tell you he’s not a formally trained artist. But others often describe his works as masterpieces. He’ll tell you that Bead Town is a community project, designed to be created by the people, for the people. That it’s something not just to see, but also to touch. In reality, it’s much more than that.

It’s the vision of one man that has taken on a life of its own, inspired by the rubble of Katrina, nurtured in small Louisiana communities, embraced by over 3,000 children as part of an arts-in-education program, and celebrated by thousands of people who have had the opportunity to experience the magic of this project. It’s the essence of Louisiana’s Main Street communities, one small town at a time.

More recently, it was a huge attraction at Mardi Gras World, where thousands of locals and tourists were invited to become part of the

creation process. And now it has come to Olde Towne Slidell, where three more works will be added to the exhibit which will ultimately tour the state, and, subsequently, the nation and Europe.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Bead Town is the universal reaction it draws from all who come to visit. Though knowing in advance that the exhibit contains works of art created by upcycling Mardi Gras beads, visitors are in no way prepared for just how spectacular the works are when seen in person. Cliché as it may sound, the photos do not do the works justice. In fact, they don’t even come close.

The reactions are generally a combination of audible gasps and jaw drops, a concurrent sense of amazement and amusement. To see tens of thousands of tiny plastic spheres transformed into shadows and highlights, shapes and textures, larger than life images with incredible details, is simply astonishing.

From Hamburg to New Orleans, with love.

So how is it that a very humble young man from a small community outside of Hamburg, Germany, ended up in New Orleans, where he’s transforming Mardi Gras beads into fabulous works of art?

It’s a fascinating story in which the cultural differences of two communities half a world apart are outnumbered by striking similarities. A world in which all roads ultimately led Wanger to the place he now calls home, and where he says, at the end of his life’s journey, he will be buried.

Wanger grew up in Wilhelmshaven, a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany, home to the country’s only deep water port and its largest naval base. Like Louisiana, he says, the area is quite flat, surrounded by water, and offers an abundance of seafood.

“I always say it’s so flat you can see on Sunday who’s coming to visit on Wednesday,” jokes Wanger. “It’s very much like New Orleans, but without the pine trees.”

Wanger was fourth generation Navy, serving his country for four years. During that time, he traveled to over 50 cities in 20 countries. Among the areas he visited were Chicago and the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the young soldier was instantly enamored.

“I decided I wanted to try my luck in America,” he says. “As a young boy in Germany, I always had a huge fascination with the United States.

So by the time I was 22, I left the Navy and my country and headed to new adventures.”

The young immigrant soon learned that the high school certificate he had earned in his homeland would not qualify him for college admission.

In 1992, after earning his GED, he enrolled in Chicago’s Columbia and graduated just two and a half years later with a degree in marketing and communications.

The original World Record Holder, “Sanctuary of Alegria - Home of Happiness”

Wanger took a job as director of special projects during the World Soccer Cup in 1994, promoting the city of Chicago to national and international audiences. That was followed by work in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention in 1996, for which he is quick to clarify that his contributions were

bipartisan. He then became a business development director for a financial software company.

“This was during the whole web-dot-com craze in the ‘90s,” he says.

“I spent so much time creating marketing proposals and website proposals in order to jump on the opportunity train. I was making good money, but I wasn’t happy.”

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It was then that Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast. As he watched the news, Stephan couldn’t help but reflect on the similarities of the areas devastated by the storm and his homeland, and the attitude of many toward rebuilding.

He recalls as a young boy watching movies about war, but he didn’t really understand the concepts of the battles pitting countries against countries. As he grew older, he realized the magnitude of the atrocities that some of his countrymen had committed and their contributions to the wars. He was also haunted by the fact that after World War II, many people felt that Germany was not worth rebuilding.

“I thought to myself that this was my homeland they were speaking about,” he said. “I had nothing to do with those wars but I loved my home and felt it was certainly worth the effort. So when I heard similar things being said about not rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina, something within me resonated and I knew I had to help.”

With tremendous gratitude for the opportunities that life in the U.S. had provided to him, Wanger felt strongly it was time to give back.

He headed to the Crescent City, taking a job in construction where he felt the most assistance was needed.

From trash to treasure.

During this time, Wanger says the days were long but the nights were quiet, offering time for much reflection but few ways to expend his abundant energy. He found himself contemplating over the debris piled up along the streets, destined for landfills. Inspired by a desire to reduce the environmental impact and a vision for the potential for transformation of trash into treasures, he pulled from the piles a myriad of unlikely art supplies, including some water stained antique columns, battered doors, terra cotta planters and Mardi Gras Beads—lots and lots of beads. The architectural remnants became his canvases and the beads his “paint,” and the beginning of Bead Town was born.

Strings of the beads soon graced the planters in semi-ornamental designs, a technique that would later be perfected by the placement of beads, one by one, enabling greater detail in the imagery created.

It was then that Wanger saw a local tourism commercial that encouraged New Orleanians to “Be a tourist in your own hometown.”

“I remember thinking that it was right after Katrina, and with fifty percent of the region destroyed and the other 50 percent helping those whose homes were destroyed, that was quite a challenge,” he said. “So I tapped back into what I had learned in Chicago, moved on from construction and started putting beads together to capture the iconic images that make Louisiana so special--the food, the culture, the architecture, stuff like that. I was on a mission.”

That mission became telling the story of Louisiana—not just New Orleans and Baton Rouge, but also the smaller Main Street communities that collectively weave together the rich cultural fabric of the state. The project has taken him to numerous schools for arts-in-education programs, with thousands of children learning the beading process and participating in the creation of additional murals that celebrate iconic Louisiana images. It has also taken him to Ruston, Delhi and Winnsboro, Alexandria and Slidell, and will continue on to Denham Springs and many other Main Street communities, each of which has a story to tell as part of the bigger picture. In each city, additional works have been or will be created

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One of the many iconic Louisiana brand mosaics in Stephan’s “Taste of Louisiana” series which tell each community’s tale, and collectively, they will capture the legacy of a state like no other in the world. The exhibit will then travel throughout the United States and Europe, sharing the story of Louisiana.

It’s an effort that has produced one Guinness World Record—that of the world’s largest bead mural, consisting of over one million beads on an 8 foot by 30 foot canvas. During the course of his time in Slidell, Wanger will break the prior record with an even larger mural, “Paragons of New Orleans”, with an estimated 1.5 million beads on a canvas 42 feet long by 8 feet high. And everyone who has taken advantage of the opportunity to add to that mural, both during its residency at Mardi Gras World and its current stay in Slidell, will be part of that record. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often.

One little girl. One big symbol.

Of the many stories Wanger shares of the people whose lives have been touched by the Bead Town project, perhaps none is more symbolic than that of a young girl named Honor. While visiting from Dallas with her parents, Honor was enjoying a guided tour of Mardi Gras World, where she was fascinated by the Bead Town project. She asked her parents if she could help and was encouraged to add a bead to the mural. That one bead quickly turned into 20, and 20 turned into more. The young girl was so enthralled that she didn’t want to leave.

Her parents decided to indulge Honor’s wishes, and stepped into the nearby café for a long lunch. When they returned, she still did not want to leave. She begged her parents to let her return the next day before they returned home to Texas. They obliged.

The next day she worked for hours, side by side with Wanger. She advised him that she had thousands of beads at home, and planned

24

to continue to use her newfound art skills to create her own bead mosaics.

“A few days later, I got an email from her parents,” he says, “and, true to Honor’s word, it included a photo of a two foot by two foot skyline she had created with beads. I was delighted, not only at the prospect of her being so touched by this project, but also by the thoughts of her persistence in ensuring that her parents got all the necessary supplies so she could create her own beaded artwork. It was a very exciting thing.”

The symbolism of Honor’s efforts is not lost on Wanger.

“Too often in today’s society, people have a need for instant gratification,” he says. “I find that many of our young people want immediate results for their actions. People need to recognize that, just as with all of the Bead Town artworks and Guinness records, things like education and rebuilding and all of life’s milestones take time. It’s kind of like running in a marathon. In the long run, it doesn’t matter if you finish it in two hours or in eight hours, what matters most is that you finish it.”

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What little Honor’s story represents is the 3,000 children from all of the schools that have worked together to showcase the products and places and culture of Louisiana. It’s the 2,000 people who contributed to the “Paragon of New Orleans” and took a memory of New Louisiana home with them. It’s the Main Street communities who are embracing the opportunity to share their stories. It’s one bead at a time, one step at a time, one day at a time. It is, in so many ways, a metaphor for life.

This is Bead Town and Stephan Wanger is its Mayor.

He has served his people well.

Atocha

Treasure Jewelry Louisiana Main Street Director, Ray Scriber, with Stephan For more information about Bead Town and Stephan Wanger, visit www.galeriaalegria.com.

In Slidell, Beade Towne Central will be hosted at the newly revitalized Community Feed Store, 2318 Carey Street at Robert Street. Additional Bead Town mosaics will be located at several businesses throughout Olde Towne Slidell. Exhibit hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11am - 8pm. Admission is free. This exhibit was coordinated by the City of Slidell’s Main Street Manager, Catherine Olivier, with exhibition space generously donated

by Pontchartrain Investment Management.

One Of A Kind Gifts 25

GO BEYOND

by Rose Marie Sand

W

“Find what brings you joy, and go there” —Author unknown

When I walked into my Mom’s house last week, I found her staring at her TV with tears beginning to pool.

“Did you go zip lining?” she asked accusingly.

“I was just at Rouses, Mom. The zip line excursion was last August, when I was in Alaska,” I replied.

“Well, don’t do it again,” she insisted.

Mom was watching a talk show whose guest that day was a young woman who’d suffered a fall in a zip lining accident. I quickly reassured Mom I had no future zip line plans, knowing all the while that if I had a chance, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

And heartbeats are exactly what zip lining is all about – that feeling of your heart beating in your throat. You’re free flying through tree tops like Tarzan, but with the benefit of cables that the noble savage didn’t need.

What better opportunity to go beyond your fears than stepping off a tree, and trusting that the cables and your wits will insure that you’ll live to tell the tale?

Hurricane Isaac was threatening our shores when my friend, Sally Novatney, and I left home on August 24, 2012. The unrelenting fear of hurricane damage haunted me as I packed to leave. What would I find when I returned?

Images of wrecked homes and belongings

26

threatened as dark as the skies. Yet, I trusted that I’d have a home to return to, drove to the airport for a long awaited cruise and stepped off the security of solid ground into an airplane bound for Vancouver.

A cruise ship excursion in Ketchikan, Alaska brought me to the lush Herring Cove rainforest reserve and the perch on a minuscule platform in the tall stands of spruce trees. Ketchikan serves as a gateway to Tongass National Forest, a 17.5-million-acre area of temperate rain forest, mountains, glaciers and coastline.

In our tour excursion brochure, this particular zip lining company, Alaska Canopy Adventures, seemed to be geared for families and nervous people. Sally and I signed up expectantly.

The eight-mile ride from the port to Bear Creek included passengers who were zip lining and others who were taking a nature walk through the extensive ecosystem that supports a wildlife population complete with eagles and bears. As the tour operator explained the two different excursions, someone remarked they’d never want to do the zip lining – too scary. For me, the choice between zipping above the bears walking around the forest floor, or flying with the eagles was a no-brainer. You walk, I’ll fly.

I listened to ground school orientation by the friendly young guides like my life depended on it. We signed our release forms, suited up, and before you knew it, seven of us were all

harnessed together like tightly packed treetop sardines, waiting for the first sardine to take flight. Sally chose to be the first; I think she wanted to zip before she changed her mind.

Other than the helmet, harness system, industrial gloves, boots and a couple of layers of clothing, I felt quite Tarzan-like by the time we completed the course. But in the moments before the first zip – a mere 100 foot expanse – all I could do was repeat the instructions we’d been given in ground school like a mantra.

1 - Left hand on top of the cable with the pulley device that lets you zip – check.

2 – Right hand clutching harness paraphernalia at my chest – check.

3 - Wait for the high sign that signifies Sally had landed safely – check.

4 - Sit comfortably into the seat harness at edge of platform – check.

5 - Lift feet, cross ankles – and fly!

The instructors tell you to make sure to take in the lush scenery – one can spot bears, eagles, waterfalls and other assorted sights of nature’s bounty.

But my eyes were riveted to the next tree, my brain still on auto pilot and the next small brown platform gleaming like a crown jewel.

The 22 year old speck named Travis in the tree that seemed thousands of miles away was my only goal on that first zip.

6 - Look for the sign from Travis that you’re at the right distance to brake – check.

7 - Move right hand clutching the said chest harness on top of my beating heart to the BOTTOM of the two cables (not the top one!) strung between the trees. Pull the cable gently to slow down – check.

I can’t say I saw any scenery on that first zip, nor that I can check off the graceful landing part. I did learn that if you turned your wrist, your body turned in flight, which is not a good strategic move when your life depends on seeing Travis’ high sign. But, when I found myself turned to a view of the trees on my right, I remembered the instructions and turned my wrist holding the pully to get back into position - exhilarating!

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I hooped and hollered, and perhaps my zipping yells bore more of a resemblance to Carol Burnette’s crazed Tarzan yell than the athletic Johnny Weismuller’s yodel.

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With each of the six zips, I did a little better. By the last zip, I was confident enough to pull my knees into my chest – a move that increases your speed, the adrenalin rush, and your smile.

There are seven experiences to the course, starting with the measly 100 foot zip and increasing in length to 600 feet. In the mix is also Alaska’s longest suspension bridge; and if that’s not enough to keep the pulse racing, you rappel down to the ground from the last platform and then complete the course with a 250 foot mountain slide to the waiting four wheel drive Mercedes-built Unimog.

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The aim is to gracefully approach the next tree platform, where Travis helps you alight. If you brake too soon, Travis will have to come hand over hand to retrieve you; and if you braked too late, he’d grab you to keep you from smacking into the tree. Hopefully.

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Once safely ensconced at the visitors center housing the ubiquitous gift shop, we were treated to hot chocolate, salmon dip, cookies and a medal to prove our bravery.

Of course, we had to purchase an “I survived zip lining” tee shirt and the pictures taken during our last flight.

Sally and I decided to stop for clam chowder at Annabelle’s Keg and Chowder House in downtown Ketchikan when we returned.

With the lure of the aroma of chowder and Alaskan Brewing Company beer, we wore out medals proudly as we walked into the bar.

And then my heart was again in my throat as we entered and saw a huge screen TV showing CNN and a tag that read “Slidell, L o u i s i a n a . ” We couldn’t make out the street signs of flooded neighborhoods, and c o u l d n ’t h e a r t h e commentary. I’d worn

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my New Orleans Saints shirt for luck that day, and our fellow patrons noted our anxiety.

Quickly, we both called family and friends and were relieved that all were safe. Two beers later, we walked back to the ship, due to set sail in minutes.

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In a few days we were home again. Our homes were high and dry, and our families had survived their own heart-stopping ordeal.

Alaska and the August 2012 zip lining experience seems so far away in March 2013. I’d indeed crossed zip lining off my bucket list.

But on the drive home from the airport, I noted a billboard for a company offering zip lining excursions in Denham Springs. Maybe I’d be flying above swamp and crawfish instead of bears, but zip lining is only an hour way.

Maybe I’ll get Mom to come with me this time!

So, what did I take away from this experience?

Sense-memories of sitting in the harness and simply stepping off a ledge and letting go of fear.

The joy of letting go of unhealthy fear is a great life lesson; although it’s perfectly healthy to be afraid of storms. And zip lining.

But for once, I didn’t watch unceasingly alarming weather broadcasts of impending doom, but chased down a dream vacation and went beyond the fear.

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STILL Dancing with the Mom

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Health & Fitness Core Strength

By Dr. Kristin Smith of Global Medical Center

Although Chiropractors see patients for Most causes of low back issues are due to reasons other than lower back pain, a large accidental strains of the soft tissues of the percentage of people visit one lower back during activities or Low back pain trunk of your body without support counts. for that reason. Low back pain is poor posture. The likelihood of is the This can include squats, push-ups, and the 5th most common reason for these strains are fewer in people abdominal crunches. For a particularly seeing a physician in the US and with strong core muscles. effective core strengthening exercise, try it is the most frequent reason for the plank position done in yoga. Lie face activity limitation in people under The term “core muscles” refers most common down on a mat resting on the forearms with 45. Most of these cases are nonto the muscles of your stomach palms flat on the floor. Push off the floor, organic in nature. In other words, reason for seeing a and back. A sedentary lifestyle raising up onto your toes and resting on they are not related to serious physician in the US has been linked to a decrease the elbows. Keep your back flat and in a conditions such as inflammatory in core muscle strength and an straight line from head to heels. Tilt your arthritis, cancer, fractures, or infection. increase in low back issues. Strong core pelvis and contract your abdominals to muscles are essential to low back health prevent your rear end from sticking because they support your spine and keep it stable, balanced, and Low back pain is up in the air or sagging in the safe from injury. They make simple, the most frequent middle. Hold for 20 to 40 seconds, lower and repeat for 3-5 reps. daily activities more manageable reason for by assisting with everything from activity limitation getting dressed to reaching for a in people under As with any exercise program, be sure to consult a trained heavy platter from the cupboard. In professional to assist you. Body other words, strong core muscles positioning and proper alignment take pressure off of the spine by are crucial when strengthening the working in harmony and providing core muscles. Make sure to focus the postural support necessary on the quality of movement rather than the to stay balanced any time the body is in quantity and listen to your body by taking motion. a break when you need one. Consider including some core strengthening moves Core exercises help you strengthen your in your fitness routine to prevent any core muscles. The best part about them is unnecessary back pain and as always, let that they don’t take specialized equipment us know if we can assist you with any of or an expensive gym membership to do. your spinal and healthcare needs.

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An opportunity for St. Tammany to shine Story & photos by Kim Bergeron

They came by the thousands to New Orleans. Some sported colorful costumes and exotic hairstyles. Others wore uniforms and marched with instruments in tow. A few opted for a more casual, authentic look of tattered jeans with an acoustic guitar strapped across their backs. Some carried hand lettered signs and others donned custom made shirts, each of which provided a mini-campaign showing support for their favorite local talents.

In the corner, a matronly figure dusted a young, sequined and feathered dancer’s arms and shoulders with glitter, and nearby, an older lady strutted across the room with a duck tucked under one arm and Spyder, a costumed dog, following at her feet.

Some sat near family and friends, quietly singing in preparation for their upcoming audition. Others belted out their songs, oblivious to the crowd around them.

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Regardless of their talents, all shared the same goal: a coveted spot on the upcoming season of America’s Got Talent, with a potential prize of $1,000,000.

Near the center of the room, a pint sized dancer took advantage of the harlequin dance floor in front of a wall of mirrors, practicing her choreographed routine. She was joined by a teenaged hip hop dancer, and the two soon found themselves in an unplanned dance off. She flipped and twirled from one side of the floor to the other, then patiently waited on the sideline as he took his turn. He busted a few moves then spun on his head, hopped to his feet and to the other sideline, gesturing with his hand a challenge for the young girl to return to the floor to showcase her next moves. Over the next few minutes, the dance off continued, and a crowd slowly gathered around the two. Then

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An impromptu dance-off at the auditions gets contestants pumped! the young girl broke out what one could only presume was her ace in the hole: a myriad of flips, cartwheels and sequential spins, after which she stepped to the side, confidently crossed her arms and nodded toward her competitor with a “take that” kind of attitude. The crowd burst into applause and cheers, and the hip hop dancer threw his hands up as if defeated, quietly retreating back to the sideline.

Though the scenes would change throughout the day as some completed their auditions and others arrived and prepared for theirs, the organic nature of the event made for people-watching entertainment at its best.

Among the hopefuls in attendance were quite a few St. Tammany talents, including the Slidell Department of Cultural Affairs’ “Slidell’s Got Talent” 2008 winner, BriAnna Dewar, and runner up, Mollie Betsch, both of whom were ready to sing for the judges. They were joined by the more recent winners of Slidell Little

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Theatre’s “Slidell’s Got Talent” competition, Judges’ Choice winner, Glyn Bailey, a singer/songwriter and pianist from Mandeville, and People’s Choice winner, Slidell High School senior and singer Jonathan Koeppel.

All four had been granted coveted VIP “Front of Line” audition passes, enabling them to bypass the audition lines and the wait time of the NOLA auditions. They were among the many more northshore residents who made the trek for their shot at the $1 million grand prize.

Those who watch the show are familiar with the process—or at least, they think they are. But sometimes things aren’t always as they seem. What many don’t realize is that the show that airs on NBC is the refi ned product of a much longer process that involves numerous stages of auditions and interviews that can take place over multiple days, even weeks. The New Orleans auditions held on February 15 and 16 at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center were a preliminary round judged by the show’s producers. It was the last stop of the fourteen-city talent search, tucked into a weekend that followed the myriad of Super Gras festivities.

T h r o u g h o u t t h e d a y, a n n o u n c e m e n t s o v e r t h e loudspeaker advised the crowd of various producer requests. There was the call for anyone with lucky charms or pre-audition superstitions to come to the back of the room where on-camera interviews would capture their story. Some of the day’s more colorful characters were also pulled aside for a few minutes of camera time.

After those gems were taped, an announcer advised contestants that in a few minutes producers would be playing music and wanted everyone to show their enthusiasm by getting up and dancing or springing to life in their seats, sharing their energy as cameras panned the room to capture the audition experience. The music began and, right on cue, the room became an instant carnival, exploding with a multitude of personalities each hoping for their fifteen minutes—or longer—of fame.

Many of the snippets collected during the two day auditions may be woven into future episodes of the show

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Injections

Rick James is in the house! No, not really. But a contestant who looks like him readies for a shot at stardom!

later this year. It should make for good television, and may provide fleeting glimpses of many who weren’t selected to move forward, documenting that moment in time that they patiently awaited an opportunity to pursue their dreams.

F o l l o w i n g this round of auditions, contestants were advised that in the event they Slidell Little Theatre’s “Slidell’s Got Talent” competition winners, left to right, are selected to People’s Choice winner Jonathan move on to the Koeppel, Honorable Mention winner next phase, they Grace Reidenauer, Judges’ Choice winner will be contacted Glyn Bailey, with event emcee Christian within the next Serpas, back. few weeks by producers.

Those who are selected are also sworn to secrecy, and sign paperwork to that effect, barring them from revealing the results before they are aired on television.

It’s an agreement producers take quite seriously, with violation resulting in possible disqualifi cation from the show.

So for BriAnna, Mollie, Glyn, Jonathan and the many others who have on this day chased their dreams, the waiting begins. Some may be called to the next round for the March tapings. Some will walk away with memories of the 2013 season auditions, and hopefully give it another shot next year.

Want to see who made it through to the next phase? A limited number of free tickets to the New Orleans tapings on March 4 and 5 at the Lakefront Arena are available at on-camera-audiences.com/shows/Americas_Got_Talent.

That show will be taped in front of the television judges, with a total of four seatings varying in length from four to fi ve hours each. These tapings will be edited down into what will become the “New Orleans auditions” edition of America’s Got Talent that will air as part of the upcoming season later this year.

In the meantime, let’s wish well all of the St. Tammany talents who auditioned in the hopes that this is Louisiana’s year to win it all.

Want your shot at the $1,000,000 first prize?

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by Jeff Perret, DVM

THEY EAT WHAT??

D

ogs are like family to us. We let them sleep in our beds, snuggle on the couch, and lick our faces up and down - even when we know where that tongue has been.

So, it can be just a tad disturbing to see them chow down on their own, or another animal’s, feces.

Yes, that’s poop! I imagine half the people reading this are saying to themselves, “They eat WHAT?!” And the other half are reacting with a knowing smile and a nod. This habit almost makes you love them just a little bit less…almost. At my house, we’ve had to rig a baby gate with a cat door to keep the dogs out of the cat’s litter box, which they apparently view as a buffet. This arrangement works well now, but only after a few feasts that left a frightened cat in one corner, and satisfied pooches with full stomachs in the other.

In medical terms, we call this behavior coprophagia. Some folks claim nutritional deficiencies as a cause, as if the dog is trying to supplement an incomplete diet; however, there’s just no scientific evidence to support this.

I mean, think about it: what nutrients are going to be present in the feces for the dog to digest that weren’t there the first time around? (Actually, rabbits do eat their own feces for nutritional reasons, but that’s a whole other story).

Not only is coprophagia unpleasant to think about, it can be dangerous.

Harmful intestinal parasites and bacteria may be found in poop. Hookworms, roundworms, whipworms and Coccidia are a few parasites dogs may pick up from other pets through their “dietary indiscretions.” The primary mode of transmission for most of these parasites is ingestion (eating poop or drinking poop mudshakes from a puddle), though immature hookworm larvae can also enter the body by penetrating the skin. These parasites can cause

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symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, anemia, and even death in extreme cases. Not only are they dangerous to our pets, they can be dangerous to us. A licking tongue, a bare foot in the grass, a dog or cat using the kids’ sand box as a litter pan…Yuk! It can happen more easily than you might think. Humans don’t get whipworms, but we can get hookworms and roundworms.

For the most part, practicing good hygiene will prevent parasite transmission from pets to people. If you have a puppy, wash your hands a lot!

The only sure way to prevent coprophagia is to scoop the poop immediately (go ahead and hover).

Warning: some dogs are so eager to complete the mission, they seem to get to it before it even hits the ground, so be ready. There are products on the market that, according to their labels, will “impart a forbidding taste” to the stool when sprinkled on the food. Now, I’m thinking that if the stool doesn’t naturally taste forbidding enough, what must this stuff taste like? I suppose it’s worth a try, but a motivated poop enthusiast will likely suffer through it.

Most of the time this behavior is displayed by puppies, and they

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The bottom line is that your best bet is prevention. This takes extra time and work, and the use of a flashlight or headlamp once the sun goes down. It is convenient and easy to let the dogs into the back yard on their own, but if you really want to stop this behavior you will need to leash-walk or accompany them outside. That way you can pick up any poop immediately and dispose of it. It’s a bit of a nuisance to get up earlier and accompany the dogs on all their potty outings, particularly in winter or in the rain. But any inconvenience is far outweighed by the reduced health risks and the perk of no longer having to deal with poop breath! Also, regularly scheduled feedings and walks can allow for better timing of bodily functions. They’re usually like clockwork. Some dogs can even be taught the command “leave it” for this and many other situations, such as dead animals, a dropped pill, or dangerous foods. Lots and lots of positive reinforcement, praise, and treats for obeying will help.

Don’t fault your best friend for his nasty habit. Help him avoid the temptation by removing it ASAP. Once he (hopefully) outgrows it, you can decide whether to allow face licking. But you’ll still never be sure exactly where that tongue’s been.

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eventually grow out of it, to the relief of their owners.

However, all this talk of coprophagia reminds me of the best dog I’ve ever owned, a 3-legged Doberman Pinscher named Trey (get it?). Trey was a coprophagic with few equals, and he never outgrew the habit. He had a particular attraction to my 2-year-old son Zachary, who is now a 21-year-old man. (I’m sure Zach won’t mind that I’m relating this embarrassing story about him). Anyway, while he was potty training, we used to let Zach roam the house without a diaper on, so that he would be more aware when the urge hit him. This way he could, hopefully, make his way to the toilet, instead of just taking the easy way out and using the diaper.

Trey soon picked up on this arrangement, and would follow Zach around the house to be on the job in case of an accident. I recall my wife calling me at work, while I was in surgery no less, the first time this happened. I told her, over the speaker phone, not to worry. Put Trey outside in case he gets an upset stomach. And finish the job of cleaning Zach’s bottom that Trey had started.

She didn’t find the whole episode to be as amusing as I did. But I digress…

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Let’s look at an example. The most infamous player that has been in Roger Goodell’s doghouse is Adam “Pacman” Jones. Before he even started his third year of professional football, he had altercations with the law eight, count ‘em - EIGHT, times. The boy (you can’t

a club with ladies and guns involved that injured two people and paralyzed a third from the waist down. The NFL had had enough of his actions and suspended him for a year and into another season, just based on his conduct.

As part of the conditions for his reinstatement, and because I believe this whole process has humbled him, he has settled down with the Cincinnati Bengals where he has been a quiet, hardworking player.

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be called a man when you don’t act like one) couldn’t control himself. There was finally an incident that broke the broken straw over the camel’s back. While I could go into detail about what he did, let me just say there was

“ Get your game face on!”

There are so many examples like this around the league. Look up Dez Bryant, Ben Roethlisberger, Rolando McClain, Johnny Jolly, and Kenny Britt, to name a few. There are some that are worse than others, but it seems that many football players don’t understand how to conduct themselves in public properly. It would be bad enough that these players bring such negative attention to themselves but worse yet, many of these players, on top of their legal troubles, can be a real pain in how they interact with teammates.

Ben Roethlisberger used to be a man who took his fame for granted and thought himself greater than his teammates. When rape charges were brought against him, and

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There are so many things that make up a great athlete like strength, stamina, and an innate, God-given ability to play a certain sport. But as much fun as I think it would be to watch robots throw footballs, sports are played by people who have personalities, emotions, and morals, which can contribute to how they are viewed by fans, employers and the masses in general.

These traits, and many more, make up what we call character. We know about the good character of players, such as the charities and meet-and-greets that these players do to support their community. But what of the athletes who are less-than-chivalrous? How did they get to be this way? If they have such bad character, why do they get to earn thousands or millions of dollars a year? Why do they even deserve our attention? It all boils down to one word: TALENT. Talent equals attention and attention equals money.

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the NFL commissioner went to his teammates to talk about the charges, none “went to bat” for him. He has also had former teammates accuse him of having a bad attitude and poor leadership. It makes focusing on football so much harder when the team is distracted by the circus out in public and a bad attitude inside the locker room. His unsportsmanlike conduct came back to bite him.

Titus Young might be the best example of this. A wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, Titus couldn’t control his temper when he was in college or when he got to the pros. His penchant for fighting with teammates escalated when he was sent home for sucker punching teammate Louis Delmas in the face. He was sent home again after “conduct detrimental to the team”, such as deliberately lining up wrong on the field and getting into a verbal confrontation with a coach. After getting suspended, Titus tweeted how he wanted to be released unless he got the ball more, that he was “tired of the threats.” You know how employers love to deal with issues like this but, in a SHOCKING twist, the Lions released him. Well, a player as talented as Titus Young deserves a second chance right? Of course he does! He was claimed by the St. Louis Rams... and then swiftly kicked in the rear nine days later. While no official reason was given for his release, the coach for the Rams said, “we felt Titus is better suited for another organization.”

This guy has a lot of personal problems to work out because it takes a special talent for a wide receiver to get kicked off a team that DESPERATELY needs a good receiver just nine days after he got the job.

There is a way to combat character issues instead of just avoiding these players entirely.

These are young men coming out of college and, in many cases, are still growing as adults.

It is important that these types of players go

to a locker room that is strong enough to give the player structure. For example, the Patriots have taken chances on difficult players like Albert Haynesworth, Chad Johnson (Ochocinco), and Aqib Talib, all who have been locker room divas.

The Patriots have such a strong, positive atmosphere with coach Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and many of the other players on the roster. These trouble players either thrive (Aqib) or fail (Albert, Chad); but while they have been with the team, they are quiet and work hard to be great football players because of the attitude of the team as a whole.

As the NFL draft approaches, these types of issues become magnified for future NFL players. Teams invest millions of dollars in players they are hoping will help lead their team to victory. Just think of the Saints and the Rickey Williams saga. For those of you who missed it, I covered his hijinks in my first Jockularity article in May 2012. He was a player the Saints wanted to count on but did not quite fit the bill. He was a distraction in the locker room and, when he got to Miami, was busted for drugs. This time of year, teams start to pry into drug problems, domestic issues, and other runins with the law, and they look into what the college coaches think of these players.

But, even with all of this research, some team will draft a dangerous player because, despite all the trouble, they have talent.

the “Honey Badger” and his issues with drugs. One of the most interesting, though, is Manti Te’o. I have thought a lot about this particular player and his professional career.

While there are programs in place to help educate rookies on becoming a professional player while avoiding trouble, I think that the best place for Manti is somewhere like the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are another organization with a strong locker room and great defensive talent that would give Manti the support system and structure he needs while he improves his game without distraction. There is more for these players than to just drop off the edge of the planet.

It is so frustrating to read headlines about problem players. It is even more frustrating when your team relies on them to help the team win. But when you hear “problem player” or “character issue”, please don’t judge them then write them off. Pray that they get onto a team, like the Patriots, the Ravens, or even the Saints, that have a locker room that can not only handle them as a player, but make them better people.

Because, for these men, sports can mean so much more than just a paycheck. And, for many, this leads to a whole new life that can change who they are as people.

Corey Hogue March 2013 Jockularity@SlidellMag.com

There are many of these players in this year’s draft with question marks on their character profile, such as Alec Ogletree, a former Georgia linebacker, and Tyrann Mathieu. Alec was arrested for a DUI just days before the NFL Combine, which helps players give a good impression to future employers, and we all have heard about

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Slidell

Garden Club Honoring our veterans

By John N. Felsher

Slidell Mayor Freddy Drennan bought the first brick for the project. The Elks organization bought a flagpole and flag for the memorial.

Mike Pike, a Slidell businessman, will help construct and landscape the project.

Since 1775, more than 45 million Americans served in uniform during times of war and millions of others served their country in peacetime. About 22 million veterans still live in America, but nearly 1.2 million of those who served never returned home. Millions of others came home with painful, debilitating physical wounds and lifelong memories with mental wounds that can never heal.

“Everyone has been so enthusiastic about the project,” Dalton said. “We’ve already had a huge response from the people of Slidell. The mayor, councilmen, police and City of Slidell have all been very cooperative and helpful with our efforts at the park. If people want to keep buying bricks, we’ll keep selling them if we have to brick the entire park. If we sell enough bricks, we may be able to build some kind of planter out of the bricks. When the first phase of the project is completed, we’ll have a rededication of the park.”

The Slidell Garden Club began a project to honor those brave men and women who signed a blank check made out to the people of the United States to cover any cost up to and including their lives. For $50, anyone can buy a brick and inscribe the name of a veteran on it. The bricks will be used to create a walkway of honor at the Veterans Monument in Veterans Memorial Park, located near the tennis courts on Second Street.

“I am delighted with this project for the Veterans Monument,” said Sam Caruso, a current city councilman who served as mayor of Slidell when the town erected the monument nearly 25 years ago. “Certainly, those veterans deserve more than that, but I’m glad we can do at least this for them. I’ll be looking for the crew selling the bricks and will certainly buy one from them.”

Each brick will have four lines of 18 spaces each where people make request the engraving of an inscription to honor any veteran who served in time of war or peace. The members of the Slidell Garden Club will order the bricks in lots of 250 and place them near the memorial, starting later this spring.

“We are going to build a brick pad around the Veterans Memorial and create brick walkways of honor to it,” advised Pat Dalton, a Slidell Garden Club member. “Each brick will list the name of a veteran. This spring, we are going to landscape the area around the memorial. With the money from the sale of the bricks, we’ll buy trees, shrubs, flowers and benches for the park.

We also want to put up flags for all the uniformed services to include the Merchant Marine.”

The club plans to sell at least a thousand bricks with the first order of 250 already in the works.

Grant P. Gravois Agent LUTCF, CLF

1322 Corporate Square Dr.

985•643•4276 www.grantgravois.com

For more than two decades, the monument rested relatively undisturbed and unnoticed at the corner of Cleveland and Sgt. Alfred Drive. Then, some people wanted to move the monument to Heritage Park, but others objected to that and preferred to leave the monument in place.

“For many years, it stayed right there at the corner of Sgt. Alfred and Cleveland,” Caruso said. ‘When some people wanted to move it, we wanted to keep it at that busy intersection across the street from a school. We want children to ask about it. We did move it to a new location inside the park so people could see it while coming from both directions.”

The memorial now sits at its new location within the confines of Veterans Memorial Park between Second Street and Sgt. Alfred. The new

location offers more room to properly display the monument, add landscaping and create a brick plaza. It also increases the visibility and prominence of the monument. Besides the walkway of honor, future plans include adding more lighting and sidewalks.

Formed in 1959, the Slidell Garden Club functioned for many years simply as a collection of people who shared their love of growing flowers and other plants. Club members attended and competed in flower shows and made handicrafts. Some members would spend two or three months each year making Christmas ornaments and use them to decorate trees at Griffith Park. More recently, the club published a coffee table and recipe book about Slidell, called “Savoring Slidell.”. (See next page.)

“For many years, we simply functioned as a garden club,” Dalton recalled. “We had flower shows and learned about horticulture, but we don’t compete in shows any longer. About 15 to 20 years ago, we started the Sunflower Project to encourage children to plant seeds and grow things. Each year, we choose a fourth grade class at one school and give the students sunflower seeds with instructions on how to plant them. When the seeds produce flowers, the students measure the height and width of each flower head. The child who grows the biggest flower gets a $100 saving bond. The second largest gets a $50 savings bond.”

In about 2004, after the invasion of Iraq, the group became more active in veterans projects. When Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast in August 2005, they shifted their focus to beautifying the area around the Veterans Memorial and participating in Veterans Day and Memorial Day observances to honor all service men and women.

“One of our members thought it was a disgrace that nothing had been done at Veterans Memorial Park,” Dalton detailed. “We took over the project of building and maintaining a flowerbed at Veterans Memorial Park. Every Veterans Day and Memorial Day, we make a wreath so a veteran can lay it on the Veterans Monument. It’s grown considerably over the years.”

The Slidell Garden Club restricts its membership to 25 people because they meet in private homes. The club meets on the second Monday of every month from September through May. To order a brick or find out more about the Slidell Garden Club, call Dalton at 985-646-1088.

39

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Book Spotlights Slidell Heritage, Raises Money To Beautify City More than 20 years ago, a group of ladies with the Slidell Garden Club began to develop a project to spotlight the history, beauty, culture and recipes of the Camellia City.

In 1988, Kathy Jones, a club member and former president, first conceived of the idea to make a coffee table book about Slidell. The project progressed slowly as club members gathered reminiscences, recipes and artwork until Hurricane Katrina hit Slidell in 2005 and nearly killed the idea. Fortunately, as lives returned to normal after the storm, some club members more vigorously reignited the project.

As a result, Savoring Slidell: It’s Saucy People, Spicy Recipes and Southern Scenery hit the presses in April 2012. Today, people can buy the 144-page fullcolor hardbound book for $30. All proceeds go to help the Slidell Garden Club fund projects to restore and beautify places ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

“The project obviously was a labor of love for the members of the Slidell Garden Club,” Jones recalled.

“We ordered 3,500 copies on the first press run and sold about half of them already. It has a little bit of history of Slidell with local artwork and photography.

It has stories of Slidell today and Slidell in the past.

The proceeds from the book will go to beautify Olde Towne Slidell. We want to bring back some beauty to those areas so devastated by Katrina.”

People can buy copies of the book at various businesses around Slidell including MeMes Beads & Things, Petals & Stems, Accents N Things, Sara Hollon Interiors, Three Divas and a Sugar Daddy, Habanos and the Wine Cellar, Garden Spot Nursery, Dunaway’s Gifts, and Ken’s Bayou Archery.

For more information, call Jones at 985-643-3841 or see www.slidellbook.com.

40

Meteors and Termites By: Carol Ruiz – Blue Star Pest Control

I have lived in southern Louisiana all my life and have heard many stories about the damage caused by termites. I have seen entire homes come crashing down because termites ate at the interior structure. I remember visiting my relatives home when they “discovered” termites. Some of those same feelings were experienced. I saw panic, fear, and anxiety. How did this happen to them?

Will their home be completely destroyed?

Can this be stopped, prevented from recurring? How does this go undetected?

How many areas of the house are actually affected? Anger welled up at the prospect of treatment costs and if the contractor was being truthful or doing right by them. Unlike a meteor, we can and should prepare for the upcoming termite season. Being aware that they are in the area and can strike at any time is half the battle. Check out our website www.bluestarbugs.com today to make sure you are doing all that you can to prepare for termite season.

What do these things have in common?

In this writers mind I found a connection.

Recently Russia experienced a meteor that NASA reported was about the size of a bus, weighing in at about 7,000 tons.

Its sudden, unexpected arrival caused a massive sonic boom, shattered windows, and shook houses. People experienced panic and fear. Is this going to happen again? How can we prevent this? Anxiety probably reared its ugly head as time went on and I can only imagine that they are feeling angry, frustrated and maybe even a sense of hopelessness that things might never return to normal. Reports from the area said that over 1000 people were injured and millions of dollars in structural damage was done. Hundreds of asteroids and meteors are always circling in space and at any given time can impact the earth.

Some smaller ones cannot be detected, making it difficult to prepare for such an event. Here in lies the connection to termites that I can see.

Now, please don’t get me wrong, there are huge differences between the destruction caused by a natural disaster such as the Russian meteor and the destruction done to one’s home by termites. The interesting thing to me is that the feelings and emotions we humans experience in both cases are similar. As creatures of habit, we take comfort knowing that things remain basically the same. We lay our heads down with the hope that our lives, towns, and expectations for the future will remain intact. It’s hard to go through change, especially big change.

The lesson we can all take from those times when everything is going wrong is this: Things in life do get messy and can sometimes take drastic unexpected turns, but we humans are resilient. With help from one another we get through some truly tough times. Reach out to one another; we all have talents that should be shared.

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