$50 MAY SPECIAL!! We Welcome New Patients!
Mention that you saw our ad in Slidell Magazine to receive a $50 credit on your account towards your out of pocket expenses. This offer only applies to new patients.
Edwin L. Kopfler, D.D.S. Center for Dental Medicine
Gentle, Caring Dentist & Team You Can Trust for Your Whole Family!
985-641-1181
1101 Robert Blvd • Slidell
www.SlidellDentist.com
3
4
SATURDAY MAY 28, 2016 LINEUP SCHEDULE 12-12:40PM
BIG E BRASS BAND
12:50- 1:30PM
GREG BARNHILL
1:45 - 2:30PM
SWINGAROUX BIG BAND
2:45 - 3:30PM
RONNIE KOLE
3:45 - 4:30PM
NEW SUIT BAND
4:45 - 5:30PM
DON THANARS & THIRD COAST
5:45 - 6:30PM
BIG AL & HEAVYWEIGHTS
6:50 - 8:15PM
AMANDA SHAW
8:45 - 9:40PM
MICHAEL SOULMAN BAPTISTE & THE REAL SOUL BAND
This year’s festival painting featuring Louisiana’s own Cajun Fiddler, Amanda Shaw, painted by Adam Sambola
ADMISSION $10 12 and Under FREE 12PM-10PM HERITAGE PARK • SLIDELL A portion of the funds from the Slidell Jazz & Blues Festival will support local music education and/or provide music grants or scholarships to local young musicians.
SLIDELLJAZZANDBLUES.COM
5
Editor’s Letter
Kendra Maness, Editor/Publisher
columnists John Case (The Storyteller), Leslie Gates (Crimi-Mommly Insane) and Dr. Jeff Perret (Pet Points), all came from ONE story, submitted to the Editor.
Cover Artists
PAUL & JULIE WOOD
PAUL WOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
Slidell Magazine prides itself on having excellent literary content, so let us see what you got!
Have you ever jotted down your thoughts on paper? Written a poem to your love? Kept a journal? Thought about penning a book but just never got there? Now’s your chance to be published! Next month, Slidell Magazine will begin a new storyline called “Reader’s Submissions”. There is sooo much literary talent in Slidell, and we feel it’s time to share it with all of our readers! Over the past years, we’ve received Reader’s Submissions and enjoyed the different writing styles and perspectives from our community. Some of the best were published here in our pages. As a matter of fact, some of our most popular and beloved writers have come from these amateur writers, who never considered themselves “authors”. Just think, popular
Throw out the APA style handbook - writing is about feeling, not grammatical rules. (I know it makes my high school English teacher cringe, but I start sentences with “and” all the time. And I always will.) I’ve been hesitant to put out the public call for Reader’s Submissions before, simply because I’m afraid to say “no” if it’s something that doesn’t meet the standards of Slidell Magazine. But I’m ready to take a chance if you are! SUBMIT YOUR STORIES! The subject matter can be about anything. Remember, we’re a community magazine and our motto - Keep It Fresh, Keep It Positive is our way of life. Those are the best guidelines I can give you. The rest is up to YOU. We love hearing stories about old Slidell, impactful moments in your life, and experiences you’ve had. One of my favorite Reader’s Submissions (which was published here) came from Gay DiGiovanni. It told the story of a canoeing trip, seen from the eyes of a dragonfly who joined the convoy. How unique! Let your imaginations wander and your pens flow freely! Submissions should be made to my email: Editor@SlidellMag.com
PO Box 4147 • Slidell, LA 70459
www.SlidellMag.com 985-789-0687
Kendra Maness - Editor/Publisher Editor@SlidellMag.com
Devin Reeson - Graphic Designer Graphics@SlidellMag.com
Illustrations by: Zac McGovern www.HalMundane.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS EFOP, Charlotte Lowry Collins The Storyteller, John Case Jockularity, Corey Hogue Pet Points, Jeff Perret, DVM Crimmi-Mommly Insane, Leslie Gates Crawfishing, John Felsher www.JohnNFelsher.com Making Cents of Your Money, Mike Rich MikeRich@MyPontchartrain.com Brazil: Past 2, Birds, Donna Bush Donna.Bush@yahoo.com
COVER ART BY PAUL WOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
I can’t wait to hear from you!
Paul Wood Photography is comprised of the husband and wife team of Paul and Julie Wood, and has been serving the community of Slidell since 2010. This is Paul’s second cover for Slidell Magazine. Being a photographic artist and studio owner is Paul’s third career. He retired from the Navy after twenty years and then worked as a state I.T. worker for another eleven years before finally commiting to photography fulltime. Julie worked at the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center until Katrina, and then started her career as a digital artist “It may be my name on the building, but most of the credit goes to my wife, Julie. She’s the digital artist and retoucher, business manager, marketing expert, phone-answerer, and networking guru. We never would have gone as far as we have without her.”
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $39/YEAR MAILED TO YOUR DOOR EACH MONTH! SUBSCRIBE TODAY! www.SlidellMag.com Mary West Director of Sales MaryWest2@aol.com 504-610-1051
Photo by Nick Martino
Paul and Julie are extremely honored to be asked to provide the “Rosie” images of all the very hard working ladies who are supporting the EST Habitat for Humanity.
SIZE
12 Months
6 Months
1 Month
1/4 Page
200
240
290
1/2 Page
350
380
430
Full Page
610
650
700
Aditorial
650
700
750
view more of us at: www.slidellmag.com
Slidell Magazine is proud to support Leadership Northshore (LNS), an innovative program to assist in preparing emerging community leaders for leadership positions in local government, business and community affairs. Each year, a new class of 25-30 members start on this intense 9 month learning process. The class is also divided into 4-6 project teams, with each team developing, coordinating and funding a specific project of their choosing that will have an impact on St. Tammany Parish. Look for future stories in Slidell Magazine as we continue to highlight the wonderful work that Leadership Northshore is doing in our community.
HONOR • RESPECT • REMEMBER The Southeast Louisiana Veteran’s Cemetery opened in Slidell in June 2014. The cemetery, located off Camp Villere Road, has been a blessing to our community and provides a peaceful and respectful resting place for any veteran in the Southeastern Louisiana region who has served active duty. We all remember with honor and pride when our Slidell son, Marine Sgt. Michael Guillory, was brought home and laid to rest in his native town, the first veteran burial at the location. The Hero’s Farewell Team, a project team of the 2016 Leadership Northshore class, will honor our veteran heroes and their families in the final phase of life. The team’s mission is to provide permanent seating in the Committal Shelter, provide volunteer help for services and remembrance celebrations, and to assist with burial fees for spouses of veterans, which assistance is not now available.
a whole. Team member Carla Mouton, Director of Program & Donor Services with the Northshore Community Foundation, interjects, “We also wanted something that benefited both sides of the Parish, even regionally. The Veterans Cemetery was a perfect fit.” Covington Mayor Mike Cooper was the team member chosen to speak with Veterans Cemetery Director, Ted Krumm, to identify their needs. At first, it seemed that there were few things that the project group could offer. That is, until Mayor Mike looked into the services the cemetery provided a bit further. “The cemetery is fairly new. It was origially funded through the LA Dept of Veteran’s Affairs. The Committal Shelter, where the ceremonies are held before the burials, is outside. So, during the summer, what they needed was a fan because of the
heat.” With further discussion, the group became aware of the shortage of funds that the cemetery has to improve upon the currrent conditions. Mike continued, “Right now they are using lawn chairs for seating. They have to put them out, and take them down with each service. They would like permanent seating in benches.” The team’s answer to this has been to raise the funds needed to purchase permanent bench seating for the Committal Area through bench sponsorships of $1000. Each bench sponsored will have a metal plaque with the sponsor’s name engraved on it. The team is especially proud to add that Gina Guillory, Sgt. Michael Guillory’s mother, was the first bench sponsor. Sean says, “The metal plaques are called the Top Honor spots, but we are also looking for any donation amount, because every little bit
Team member Sean McLain, a lieutenant with the Slidell Police Department, where he has served for over 20 years, tells us why the team chose the cemetery as their project. “Our team talked about things that touched us. The Veteran’s Cemetary benefits all of Southeast Louisiana. It serves so many people.” Because the project team consists of members who live and work in both East and West St. Tammany Parish, the team thought it was important to initiate a project that would encompass the Northshore as 8
Lawn chairs provide the current seating for services at the Veterans Cemetery.
One of the visions of Hero’s Farewell is to provide permanent bench seating.
counts. Early on, we came up with the idea special connection to the Veteran’s Cemetery. of the magnets for sale for $10.” A replica Her husband served in both the Army and of the magnet can be seen at the opening Navy, and her father was a Air Force bomber 5 pm | Thursday, March 20 of this story. Sean describes the thought in World War II. She notes, “The cemetery serves all branches of the military, starting behind the magnet design, “It needed to back in WWII all the way up to current. It’s represent the cause so we chose a design that looked like a ceremonial military burial beautiful, clean. You feel the respect, the flag, folded in a triangle. People truly have honor of those who served.” gotten behind this, especially in this day Awareness is a key component of the Hero’s and age, because they love our country and Farewell project. The team recently partnered appreciate those who served it.” with Zea’s Rotisserie Grill in Covington and There are currently about 100 veterans buried at the cemetery, with plans for expansion. In addition to the benches, the group quickly identified the need for volunteers to assist with the expansion of services. Carla says, “They need volunteers for all of the services there. Particularly on Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and The Spirit of ‘45 Day, which marks the end of WWII. We’re working with the ROTC groups in all of the St. Tammany high schools. We want to make sure there are volunteers that represent each of the branches of services, and will be available for the burial services, flag presentations, placing wreaths and flags on the graves, and any other needs the cemetery has.” Team member Laura Suhm, Sales Manager with the Northshore Harbor Center, has a
Slidell with the goal of raising awareness and much needed funding. On the last Tuesday of every month, through June, Zea’s at both locations will give back 10% from their restaurant sales to the cause. Note - you MUST MENTION Hero’s Farewell. Another goal of the group is to help in the burial expenses for Veteran’s spouses if needed. Burial is free for any veteran who served active duty, but there is a cost for the spouse. Mayor Mike says, “There are times that we determined that the spouses sometimes don’t have the funds so we incorporated that into our long-term mission also.” As for long term goals, Carla says, “We hope that Veterans’ groups will continue the support for the cemetery. In addition, plans are to set up a fund through the Northshore Community Foundation to continue the support of the
April 2014
Hero’s Farewell Project Team Members: Sean McLain, Carla Mouton, Tony Andre, Laura Suhm, and Mayor Mike Cooper
cemetery, in addition to helping with the burial expenses for the veterans’ spouses to be buried at the cemetery. There will be a link maintained on the Northshore Community Foundation for donations.” Look for Hero’s Farewell project team members at various events throughout the parish, including the LA Veteran’s Festival on May 14 at the Harbor Center. To support Hero’s Farewell with your donation or to purchase your magnet, visit their facebook page:
“Heros Farewell Project”
Vein Care is aLL we do. Call for a FREE Screening.
LaBellaVitaVein.com 1431 Ochsner Blvd. | Suite B | Covington
985-892-2950
No Vein. No Pain! Randall Juleff, MD, FACS
Dr. Juleff and his staff are fully committed to providing modern vein care in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
Before
After
9
Women Business Display Tables available Contact JoBeth for more information
985-643-5678 • www.estchamber.com
Cosmos will be available for sale. 100% of the proceeds go to Scholarship Fund.
Trinity Banquets & Receptions Doors open at 11:00 Luncheon/Presentation at Noon $35 each Reservations Required
WEDNESDAY MAY 11,2016
Founder of “Believe and Succeed”
See our special guest, Jody Mediamolle
Business Luncheon...
A Women in
1808 Front Street • Slidell
Join us on the first Thursday of every month 5-7pm Art & Conversation Business After Hours
INSIDE THE MARKETPLACE
Tired of the same old boring koozies for that fabulous drink? Get a koozie with some flair! Koochie Koozies has several unique koozies and flip flops to match your individual style.
Koochie Koozies
Featured Artist of the Month
SUN
MAY
Monty Python's Spamalot Slidell Little Theatre • 2pm
Frozen Meet and Greet Sunrise Bistro • 2-4pm
Monty Python's Spamalot Slidell Little Theatre • 2pm
Ambassador Meeting TBD • Noon
www.estchamber.com
Reservations Required
Bayou Liberty Pirogue Races - NEXT SUNDAY June 5th • 12-7pm
30
3
GiveNOLA Day The Lion King - Kids Little Oak • 5:30pm
TUE 4
WED
31
1
25
18
JUNE
Business After Hours STARC and First NBC Patton's • 5-7pm
SBSC Meeting Chamber • 8:30am
Third Thursday Artist Galleries de Juneau 5 -7pm
Communication Committee Chamber • 8:30am
Art & Conversation Business After Hours Chamber mARTketplace • 5pm
2
26
19
Taste and Tipsy Bayou Bend • 7-10pm Boy Scouts Annual Social 117 Rue de la Paix • 6-9pm
12
Business After Hours Cinco de Mayo Party Silver Slipper • 5-7pm
3
27
20
Public Policy Meeting Chamber • 8am
Camellia City Farmer's Market 3 on 3 Basketball Tourn. Boys and Girls Club 8am-7pm Sat & Sun
Mayor's State of the City Address Breakfast Palmetto's • 8am
Slidell Movie Night Heritage Park • 8:30pm
$35
LSNAA Alumni Crawfish Boil Carr Drive Beach • 12-4pm
Slidell Summer Street Show Olde Towne • Sat - Sun • 10am-5pm
4
Slidell Jazz & Blues Fest Heritage Park • Noon-10pm
28
Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo Music Fest • New Orleans
21
Monty Python's Spamalot • Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm
Louisiana Veteran's Festival Harbor Center • 11am-9pm
14
See our special guest, Jody Mediamolle Founder of “Believe and Succeed”
Cosmos will be available for purchase. 100% of the proceeds go to Scholarship Fund.
Doors open at 11AM
SAT Crawfish Mambo: Cook-off & Music Festival UNO Lakeshore • 11am
7
The Little Mermaid • Cutting Edge Theater • 8pm Monty Python's Spamalot • Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm
FRI
Red, White, & Blue Masquerade Trinity Banquets • 8pm
13
6
Women In Business Luncheon
EYP Luncheon Joe's Italian Restaurant 11:30am
Cupcakes, Cosmos, & Conversation Women in Business Luncheon Trinity Banquets • 11:30am
11
THU Communication Committee Chamber • 8:30am
5
Trinity Banquets & Receptions Wed, May 11
Dine & Discover Workshop Online Reputations Chamber • 11:30am
24
17
10
East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity Women Build, May 2-7. GO ROSIES!
MON
Education Committee Meeting Chamber • 8:30am
23
16
9
2
985-643-5678
29
Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo Music Fest • New Orleans
22
15
8
The Little Mermaid Cutting Edge Theatre • 2pm Monty Python's Spamalot Slidell Little Theatre • 2pm
Some Enchanted Evening with LPO Heritage Park • 4pm
1
www.estchamber.com
Look for the RED Fleur de Lis For more info: 643-5678
Chamber Events!
M A Y 2 0 1 6
Sponsored by
The
Storyteller The Way They Were romantic relationships, or at least maintaining them, so I could include that the pursuit of a fourth wife was also in the mix of things he liked to do.
Jerry Atkins was one of the few in my high school class that I had kept in touch with. Ours was a small class of about a hundred or so from a small town in Mississippi. After graduation, we went our various ways with only a dozen or so coming back home to live. Jerry was one of those, and I was not.
His primary law practice seemed to be his public defender roles. The courts respected him for this, and rewarded him by assigning him the more interesting cases. A judge once said, “Jerry won’t make much money on this, but we will all be entertained when he tells the story.”
We had seen each other at class reunions over the years and, in recent years, we had been in contact by email and Facebook. To say we were close friends would be incorrect but, as you age, you have a desire to reconnect with anything from your youth. Jerry satisfied that desire.
I suppose Jerry’s storytelling was one thing that attracted me to him. His stories were totally of the oral tradition, as writing them down would have taken too much discipline. I was surprised but not shocked when a call coming from him was put through to my office.
Never really ambitious, Jerry’s activities ranked in the following order: He played golf, hunted any animal he could shoot, rode his motorcycle, and when there was work to do, practiced law. Note that work was near the end of his “to do” list. I should insert that Jerry had never been great at
“John, I have read the stories you write, and I know you like to tinker with genealogy, so I got a project for you that will blow your skirt up.”
Care at your Convenience Aimee Coulon, APRN
When the EMERGENCY ROOM is NOT the answer...
OPEN 7 DAYS 9am - 6 pm
LAB & X-RAY DONE ON SITE!
NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED (985) 690-8300 PROUD TO BE LOCALLY OWNED • LOCALLY OPERATED
Dr. Wade Estopinal, M.D.
12
985 Robert Blvd. Suite. 101 - Slidell, LA
www.doctorsurgentcare.org
Jerry had contacted me before about putting on paper some of his stories, fact and fiction. So far, none were my style. They were his stories, and I could not see the images. If I cannot see the images, I cannot write the words. He was correct, however. I had written a few stories about “back home” and a few others that had been published in various small publications, newspapers, and local magazines. Again, he was correct that one of my favorite pastimes was genealogy research. Just something I liked to do. “Tell me what you got, Jerry.” “I am going to ask you to do something that, not long ago, made me mad,” he said. I had discovered at some point in doing historical family research that Jerry’s great-grandfather fought for the Union. I had told him this, and I could tell it made him uncomfortable. Knowing this, I jokingly said, “Jerry, you still don’t believe your great-grandpa fought for the Yanks, do you?” “Damn, John, I don’t care who he fought for, but some people would take offense to your plundering around in their background without first asking them.” “Anyway, John, with that said, that is exactly what I want you to do.” “Do what?” I asked, puzzled. “Plunder around in someone’s family history,” Jerry said. “And, don’t worry; they won’t care, because they are dead.” He continued, “You remember Lia Lade? You know, the screwy, weird girl that showed up our senior year.” “Yea, I remember her, but that is all. Did not know anything about her.” “That is my point. You have to find out. I have been appointed to settle her estate, and she is more of a mystery now than she was back then.” “Come up Saturday,” Jerry continued. “I will tell you what I know, and you’re going to like this one. I won’t take no for an answer.” Reluctantly, I agreed. I had family living in the area, and a visit was overdue. The plans were made, and on Saturday morning, I drove two hours north, arriving just after noon. We had agreed to meet at Serio’s Grocery. Serio’s was a century old Italian grocery that had long since lost any hope of making an economic contribution. It had been a favorite in the 1950s because it was the only place that had a raw oyster bar. It was also a place where, I am told, alcohol could be purchased. Alcohol in all forms was illegal by either city or state law and, in some cases, both. That was long ago, however. Now, Serio’s just served as a place that the elderly family members would open each morning to have something to
do, and a place to share the company of the few old customers and friends who would stop by. The shelves were void of groceries except a few canned items such as beans, Vienna sausage, and crackers. A stack of Octagon soap was there, and had been as long as I could remember. If Serio’s had any redeeming features, it was that its proprietors were extremely friendly people, and it sold the coldest beer in town. Beer was now legal. Jerry chose this as our spot of rendezvous, mostly because he knew it was one place I would remember how to find. Sure enough, I found him inside, leaning against a rusty beer cooler with a Budweiser in hand. The electronic components of the cooler had long since quit functioning. Now ice was added every day. That makes the coldest beer anyway. After some small talk, I urged Jerry to divulge what this mysterious assignment was. He handed me a copy of the local paper. On the page with legal announcements was a legal notice which, in essence, was seeking any heirs of Lia Lade and for them to come forward and claim her estate. I could not imagine this being of much importance and I handed it back to him. I felt disappointed that I had been duped into a two-hour drive and a lost Saturday by Jerry again. “So, what brings you into this? She’s dead. Just give whatever she had to whoever shows up. If no one shows, it goes to the state, doesn’t it?” I said, giving the paper back to him, never imagining a misfit like Lia could have amassed anything of particular value. “John, she has a bank account with over $300,000 in it.” “Wow, that’s pretty good for a recluse.” That piqued my interest. Once again, I wished I had done what I always tell young people to do when they ask me about writing; that is to keep a journal. If I could just go back and read what my impressions of her had been fifty years ago... Unfortunately, I did not know that I would write someday, and I kept no journal. Even with a journal, little could I have known the first day I saw her that, years later, she would captivate a great deal of my time as I tried to unravel the mysteries surrounding her. Jerry could tell I was interested. This could be my kind of story, but I couldn’t help wondering about his interest, beyond his legal assignment. “Yes, John, I have to settle the estate. But, more importantly, I have gotten interested in her. You have got to find out who they were and where they came from. That’s more important than finding her rightful heirs.” “They?” “Yes, she and her mother, Valarie.”
“Where is her mother?” I asked. “Died about ten years ago. Lia had her cremated the day after she died, or maybe it was the following day. As soon as the coroner gave his blessings, she burned her.” Jerry had a way with words. I thought for a minute. “Jerry, I deal in genealogy, but I am an amateur. You have to understand that the latest census records released are of 1940. This girl was born about the same time we were, 1947. She would not be on any census that is available to the public. Marriage records are pretty protected too. Maybe her mom would be on a 1920 or 1930 census, but I would need to know her mother’s maiden name. Are you legally empowered to get some information we might need, such as Lia’s permanent school record?” “I can try to make a case for it. Yes.” “Do you have access to the house?” “Sure, I have the key in my pocket. You want to go in?” “You bet,” I replied. I followed Jerry the few blocks to the house. As I drove, I tried to get a mental handle on Lia. I don’t remember precisely when she first arrived, just that it was early in our senior year. One morning, she just appeared, walking up the concrete steps. ********** In 1964, the word hippy was not yet common. “Beatnik” was a familiar word, and “counterculture”, but in our little community, conformity was our biggest interest, not non-conformity. Styles and trends were at least three or four years behind the west and east coasts, and I think we thought of that as an asset. That morning, as usual, students were grouped into their own social cliques. Some groups were louder than others, but when she appeared, a hush fell over the campus. Some derogatory comments were made, as I remember, but that is part of the price you pay for being different. She was different. She had a head band that wrapped around her forehead, tied to allow the excess of material to hang to her shoulders, just behind her right ear. She was thin with very long, straight hair, and she wore a long sundress and sandals. The colors she wore were bright, a sharp contrast to the fall colors the rest of us conformers wore in the cool temperature. She wore no bra, and for a skinny girl, she needed to. I can’t say so much for the guys in my class, but the girls were raised to be hospitable and friendly. They were raised to reach out to a stranger. I suppose that is due to that good Southern Baptist upbringing. Almost as if they were an appointed committee, several of the girls moved to greet her. I remember 13
Does your Retirement & Wealth Preservation Plan provide you with the flexibility and protection you need and deserve?
to this day the astonished expressions on their faces when she ignored them. She just turned her head to the side, did not speak one word, and proceeded into the large doors that led into the school foyer and, subsequently, into the principal’s office. In an interview I would soon have with classmates, they told me that she never spoke to them the entire school year. Neither did she speak to anyone else that they knew of. Another classmate revealed to me that one day she was doing some volunteer work in the principal’s office. It was in the spring, and Lia had worn an outfit to school that exposed her midriff. That was something that would have never been tolerated in those days; and I would suspect, in my hometown, would not be tolerated in a school setting to this day. This classmate said that Lia was called to the office and her mother was summoned as well. This unnamed classmate said she could hear the conversation, and that Mrs. Lade was using words the classmate had never heard before; not curse words or words of disrespect, but legal sounding words.
Amber Andre
Tania Fuselier
Chuck Sabadie
Jay Badeaux
Mike Peterson
If you are unsure, call us today!
ElderCareLA
985-718-4191
2019 2nd St. • Slidell
Lia was sent back to class, her mother went home, and Lia’s wardrobe was never questioned again. She was an island, all alone and by herself. We all knew she liked it that way, and we left her alone. We would be graduating in just a few months. ********** I had not remembered the part of town where Lia’s house was located as being that nice, and I was surprised at the condition of the property. The house was a large Victorian, with porches on three sides. It sat behind a shield of cedar trees, a vacant lot on each side. I really don’t suppose I had ever noticed it before. It was pretty well hidden. “Neat as a pin inside and outside, even the storage building,” Jerry said as he got out of his car.
“Surgery is a decision made WITH YOU...not FOR YOU” -Dr. Boucree
ELIMINATE YOUR NECK & BACK PAIN
Dr. Joseph B. Boucree, Jr.
Certification, Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Fellow, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
SPECIALIZING IN:
SPINE SCOLIOSIS ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY
985-205-3456 SPINECAREDR.COM 1570 Lindberg Dr., Ste. 8 • Slidell, LA MOST INSURANCES ACCEPTED 14
I nodded affirmatively as we proceeded to the front door. Jerry fumbled for some keys, and soon the door opened into a spacious room with high ceilings. The old design of the home made it appear that this room was the entire house, but of course it was not. Above the windows that circled the room, well above the windows, were inserts of stained glass. Even though the curtains were drawn, this cast an eerie light pattern, with the different colors creating a kaleidoscope adventure for the viewer. It took a minute for my sight to adjust to the darkness, and Jerry stood silently as I took it all in. Against one wall was a table with a typewriter, a good one, but still a typewriter. There was also a computer and a printer, with stacks of paper by each. On an adjacent wall was a bookcase filled with books. There was more furniture in the house, but not one piece of personal material that would give the appearance that living people had ever occupied this room. Not one magazine, newspaper, box of matches, decorative bowl, or anything else was present. Jerry whispered as if we were in a funeral parlor, “It is as if she knew she was going to die. There is not one bit of evidence in this house that gives an inkling as to who she was.” “Did you turn on the computer?” I asked. “Yep, clean, cleaner than clean, the hard drive is missing.” By this time, I had ambled my way to the bookshelf. I estimate that there may have been as many as a hundred books on the four shelves. Each appeared to be a romance novel, and all were written by Pamela Slade. This meant nothing to me, as I had never
read a romance novel, but why the fixation on just one writer?
Arbitration
“Have you been upstairs?” I asked. “It’s just an old house with high ceilings. There is no upstairs”. “I mean, did you get into the attic?” “No, didn’t see a way.” “Probably a scuttle,” I replied. After some searching, we found a scuttle in the ceiling of the porch on the exterior of the house. Jerry said he remembered seeing a ladder in the storage building. Soon, he came back with it. It was daylight but, even in the daylight, this felt like a spooky situation. Jerry climbed first, pushed up the scuttle cover, and was pleased to find a light switch within reach. I followed. The attic was an unheated duplicate of the interior of the home. Neat, with nothing that did not have a use. This was not a junk room. In front, we saw six cardboard boxes. To the right, there were two other smaller boxes. The cardboard boxes were lined up side by side. First, we opened one of the large ones on the left. It did not take long to see that each box held twenty to thirty file folders. In each folder was the manuscript of a book. We scrambled to get to the title page. Yes, the writer was Pamela Slade. The first manuscript was dated 1962. A quick examination of the two smaller boxes held an even bigger surprise. There was more than $200,000 in uncashed checks from LT&J Literary Agents Inc. The latest check was written just six months prior. The oldest was written nine years earlier. It did not go unnoticed by Jerry or me that nine years ago was about the time Lia’s mother had died. In another box was a broker’s account summary from Edward Jones. It indicated her mother had almost $3,000,000 in stocks and mutual funds. Jerry now knew he truly had an estate problem. We sat in two massive chairs on the front porch and formulated a plan. We could not find out who Lia was unless we could find out where she came from. Since Jerry had the legal authority on his side, and he was also getting paid, with perhaps a better payday ahead than he had originally thought, the investigation would be done primarily by him. I would mostly assist. We formulated a “to do” list. Some of the tasks were to be done by Jerry; some, by me. The list included:
Are you involved in a personal or business dispute? Are you interested in an alternative to the costs and delays associated with bringing your claim to Court? Do you want a trained and experienced ARBITRATOR to hear and decide your case in a confidential setting at a time and location convenient to you? Contact RESOLUTIONS by Mark A. Myers PLC
Alternative Dispute Resolution services in Southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi
Voted Best Mediator in St.Tammany Parish!
RESOLUTIONS
Slidell, Mandeville, & New Orleans, LA
Mark A. Myers PLC
985-768-9015
www.facebook.com/resolutionsadr
www.resolutionsadr.com
Divorce Mediation • Civil Mediation • Elder Mediation • Workplace Conflict Mediation • Arbitration
Father’s Day June 19th
jewelry, accessories, and gifts!
• Get legal access to Lia’s permanent school record. (Jerry) • Contact LT&J. (Jerry) • Contact Edward Jones. (Jerry) • Contact the postman who delivered her mail to see if he had any insight. Postmen know everything. (Me) • Interview classmates, town merchants, and anyone else who may have known Lia or her mother. (Both) • Read some of the books. (Both) • Search online for anything to do with Pamela Slade, or either of the Lades. We certainly recognized the similarity between Slade and Lade. (Both) • Talk to the coroner that handled her and her mother’s death certificate. This should have been Jerry’s job, but he and the coroner had butted heads some years ago, and he knew he would get nowhere. The coroner was also a classmate of ours. (Me) • Methodically search the house for additional information. (Both)
1736 Gause blvd. e slidell, la 70461
(985) 201-7415 open tuesday - saturday 10a - 6p
15
g Celebratin
Nurse’s Appreciation Week
GIFT FREE $20 with ase! Purch
WEE SPECIAKLY LS!
ALL MONTH LONG!
985-661-8998
1213 Eastridge Dr. • Slidell, LA
NEW!
MAEVN EON Collection
soft, lightweight, COOL-MAX fabric, wrinkle resistant
16
I then called the coroner. He was not a doctor and had no medical training. He was reluctant to release confidential information at first, but when I gave him a few details about why I needed answers, he opened up.
**********
It dealt with young love which progressed into a lifetime of problems and, ultimately, a sad ending. Saying it was a Nicholas Sparks would be a stretch, but for the time, it was along that style.
Bringing personality to medical apparel
TheScrubStop.com
A few said they had seen the two in years past at the grocery a few times. They both dressed in the same “hippy” style they had in the sixties. Both still had waist length hair and wore sandals. None gave us any information that was useful.
I had never read a romance novel, and was expecting less than I got. The first book by Pamela Slade was published in 1962. It was, in my opinion, a very good book, and not a romance novel.
New CAREISMA Collection
WEBSITE!
I called all the 1965 classmates that still lived in town to see if they had any insight as to who Lia was. All said that she had remained as aloof and distant as she had been in high school. None had heard her speak a word in the 49 years that had passed. The same comments were made about her mother. Most of the people I talked to did not even know her mother had died.
I asked about the mother first. He told me that he had listed the death as “natural causes” even though she looked healthy - skinny, but healthy. He also gave me her date of birth, 1932. That meant she was only about fifteen years older than her daughter, Lia. An autopsy had not been requested on either of the Lades.
SOPHIA VERGARA IS HERE!
NEW!
We went back inside, and I chose the first and third books in the rack. He chose the second and forth. We agreed to meet again in a month and, after visiting my relatives, I returned home.
NEW!
KD110 Collection (from the makers of Grey’s Anatomy)
NEW! INFINITY Collection by Cherokee (athletic inspired)
In summary, the book was about a somewhat Elmer Gantry sort, a young man from the Midwest who had a degree in engineering and was drawn to California to a quasi-religious cult. Even though the cult was religious in nature, the practice of free and open sex permeated the organization. For the young man, this had additional appeal. He was employed by an aircraft firm and was paid very well. The cult took the money from its members, leaving them only enough to live on, thereby keeping them dependent. All their basic needs were then funded by the commune, creating more dependency. Eventually, he had a more-than-one-night fling with a new but highly dedicated, 18-year-old convert. She became pregnant. When the child was born, they named her Valarie. Soon, conflict arose between the couple. The husband wanted to withdraw from the cult and raise the child mainstream with a good education. The mother was brainwashed and did not wish to leave the cult. Eventually, the father was given custody, or at least took it, and raised the child. The mother disappeared into the cult as it moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles. She was not heard from again. The book continued with details about the father’s drug and alcohol problems; mental and physical abuse of the child; and yes, hints of incest in later years. The subplot of the book dealt with the mental development of the child being raised in this fashion. It offered a passionate insight and, I felt, was well written. The next book, the third she had written, had no connection to the first, and was more in line with what I thought a romance novel would be; entertaining, but just a read-and-pitch book.
********** The first break in gathering any useful information came about three weeks after our first meeting. Jerry was able to acquire a subpoena and was allowed to view, but not copy, Lia’s permanent school record. She was becoming even more mysterious. She had transferred from a prestigious private school in California. When Jerry called, I could tell he was holding back the best part. “John, get this: Straight ‘A’ student, president of her class, and, are you ready? Most popular. “She also tied for the highest SAT, score of 2200. Damn smart.” The next Friday, I drove up and met Jerry at Serio’s. Cold beers in hand, we compared notes and realized that there were only two things of significance that had been learned in all of our research. Lia’s mother was only fifteen years older than she, and Lia’s performance and acceptance in her California private school were both remarkable. With no other way to turn, we decided to go back to Lia’s home for one last look. We searched every nook and cranny. The house was sterile. I returned the two books I had taken home to read, and Jerry did the same. All of the books had dust covers that were pale blue with gold and red coloring. I was thinking such a cover must be a requirement for a romance novel, when I happened to notice the last book in the rack. This book was different. Jerry and I had discussed the fact that it appeared Lia had continued to ghost write after her mother’s death, simply based on the copyright dates of the later books, which fell within the last few years. Also, the checks those books had earned had not been cashed. Maybe it was one thing to steal her mother’s pen name, but another to forge checks. The cover of the last book was black, giving it a gothic, spooky appearance. Could there be some significance? I did not mention my observation to Jerry, but slipped the book into my coat pocket, assuming we had just run out of leads. I was wrong. On the way home, I stopped to purchase gasoline and get a Krystal hamburger at a convenience store. I opened the book. Within a few pages, I realized that this book was probably autobiographic of Lia. In summary, the story was about a girl who got pregnant at fifteen. She had an abusive father. I reflected back on the first book I read by Pamela Slade. This was almost a sequel, yet definitely written by Lia as the copyright was 2011. The abuse had continued, not only toward the daughter but toward the granddaughter as well. The name was different, but I assume this character was Lia.
TRI-MARKET PRODUCTIONS presents
SLIDELL SUMMER STREET SHOW June 4 & 5 10am-5pm
Olde Towne Slidell, LA
FREE ADMISSION ANTIQUES ARTISTS CRAFTSMEN LOCAL CUISINES MUSIC TALENT STAGE FUN FOR ALL! ACCEPTING VENDORS:
Years passed, and the father (grandfather) did not return from a weekend outing. His car was finally found near Mendocino, California, but he was not. About three months later, his body was discovered at the base of a cliff on the Pacific Ocean.
A Juried Event of approximately 200 Booths!
There are several places along this part of the coast where the ocean spray makes the rocks slippery. It was assumed that he slipped. His body, wedged in some rocks below, was not immediately found. The book ended with the mother and daughter leaving California, vowing to start a new life, free of abuse.
For More Information: 936.827.9699
When I was done, Jerry read the book, and we compared notes.
APPLICATION DEADLINE MAY 31, 2016
985.750.4106 www.trimarketproductions.com 17
Struggling with the challenges of Diabetes? Let’s talk about how you can get relief!
It was obvious that some of the book had nothing to do with Lia’s real life. According to the book, she and her mother both were socially active in their new community. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. ********** I was in a deep sleep when the phone rang at 2 a.m. It was Jerry. “I am FedExing the book back to you. As soon as you get it, call me. You are not going to believe what I have discovered. Don’t ask questions; just call me when you get the book.” I agreed. Two days later, when the book arrived, I called Jerry. “Turn to page three.” “OK.” “Third paragraph, see the bold face letter in italics?” “Yes.”
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE. LOCAL SUPPORT.
www.PursueWellnessForYou.com Kelly Lutman
Certified Health Coach
985-768-8898
“It’s a code. This unusual font is dispersed through the entire book. Note, it is subtle, but if you make a note of every time that font appears throughout the book, it spells out a message.” “What is the message?” “We Killed My Grandfather.” We realized that if that was true and this book was anything near autobiographic, we had a murder as well as an estate to settle. Over the next few weeks, Jerry contacted the authorities in California. They had no interest in a case that happened over fifty years ago, especially one that had been classified as an accidental death. I turned to a genealogy site to which I subscribe called Genealogybank.com. It is a collection of online newspapers from all over the United States, dating back over one hundred years.
“I love the antique jewelry at Antiques and Art on First!” ― Wynn Williams President, Rotary Club of Slidell Northshore
SLIDELL ANTIQUE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Barbara’s Victorian Closet Mall • J.R.’s Treasures • Slidell Museum Antiques & Art on First • Carolyn’s Wonderland Aunt Tiques Curiosities & Collectibles • Magnolia House Antiques Mall Art Impressions Gallery • The Who Dat Shoppe • The Place To Be Anda’s Antiques • Jeanie’s Southern Traditions • Damsel N Distress Artists’Galleries de Juneau • Slidell Magazine • Guilty Treasures Jean’s Antiques & Collectibles • Terry Lynn’s Café
18
www.slidellantiques.com
I guessed the accident must have occurred somewhere prior to 1965. In my query, I bracketed the date range of 1961 to 1966. I also inserted the name Lade in a query line. It only took a few seconds. I could not believe the luck. It told of the body of a man that was found in rocks at the base of an ocean cliff south of Mendocino. His name was Homer Lade. ********** Almost a year passed, and the state did take Lia’s estate. While I heard they paid Jerry handsomely for his efforts, the only thing I got was the story you are now reading. Not long after Lia’s estate was settled with the state, I drove up to not only visit with Jerry, but to check on some banking problems for an elderly uncle. At the bank, I recognized the bank officer as Becky, a former classmate who had assisted me many times before. She mentioned that she had heard that I was helping Jerry solve the Lia Lade case. I told her I had been helping him, but unfortunately we had not been very successful. She glanced away from me and said, “Maybe you did not ask the right person.” “What do you mean, Becky?” “Have you ever heard of Pamela Slade?” “Yes, her mother’s pen name.” “That is all I am going to say.”
I realized that Becky had given me more confidential information than maybe a good banker should. I assumed that there must be an account at the bank in the name of Pamela Slade that we did not know about. Could this be more money? Jerry arranged to get a subpoena for any and all records registered in the name of Pamela Slade. Jerry arranged the proper legal papers we would need to examine her accounts. ********** Becky was waiting for us, as well as the branch manager of the bank. “We have already arranged to have someone here to have the box lock drilled. A safety deposit box is the only thing here in that name.” Inside the box were two pieces of paper. Without looking at them, Jerry slipped them into a briefcase that he had brought with him. Back at the office, we examined the safety deposit box’s contents. The first paper was an assemblage of meaningless writing, some poetry, but no plot or interconnecting thoughts. What we did recognize were the familiar fonts we had found
in Lia’s last book. She was leaving one last code. We deciphered it: My father was my grandfather. He molested my mother and then me. I killed him. She did not push him, I did. On the other piece of paper, which was folded tightly, it read: I hereby leave all my possessions to whoever has spent the time to find out about me and my mother. You would not have this in your hand unless you put forth effort. You read my mother’s work. Then you read mine. No one ever asked me one question about myself in all the years I lived here. They did not ask questions about my mother either. At first that is what we wanted, but then we were very lonely. The proof that you are now reading this is proof that you have solved the code, therefore spent the time to find out about us. There are no living heirs. That is all you need to know. Lia Lade
Jerry told me that we were too close to the case to be able to claim the money, and it was too late anyway. I was put out that he would not attempt to collect $3,000,000. It bothered me, but then I reasoned he knew what he was doing; after all, he solved the code, not me, so I had no right to the money anyway. It has been thirteen months now and I have not seen Jerry. I understand that his fourth wife is a gorgeous Scandinavian blond half his age. He met her in Europe. I understand he lives very well in France, most of the time in the Burgundy area, but he also has a yacht on the Mediterranean. Though Lia did not say so in so many words, I felt compelled to let people know why she and her mother were “the way they were”.
John Case April 2016
**********
LIFE IS ABOUT THE RIDE, NOT THE DESTINATION. LIFE IS A HIGHWAY - MEANT TO BE ENJOYED, SAVORED, AND TREASURED TO THE FULLEST.
Here at Park Provence, we allow you to focus on the ride while we take care of the details. Want to enjoy delicious homemade meals, a gorgeous home, and days packed with fun without having to cook, clean, or coordinate? Then buckle up, & let Park Provence take the wheel! READY TO HIT THE ROAD TOWARDS YOUR BEST LIFE? Call our DIRECTOR OF FUN Audrey Baker at 985.200.8533, or visit www.ParkProvence.com to learn more. PARK PROVENCE - INDEPENDENCE WHEN YOU WANT IT, ASSISTANCE WHEN YOU NEED IT.
1925 Possum Hollow Rd. in Slidell • One Block From Fremaux Town Center • (985) 200-8533 • ParkProvence.com 19
Zac MCGovern Presents:
VETERAN’S MEMORIAL BRICKS Honor your Veteran and support the redesign of Veteran’s Memorial Park with Memorial Bricks. All of the money from the sale of bricks will go to the maintenance of Veteran’s Memorial Park Sponsored by the Slidell Garden Club.
50 each
$
ORDER YOURS TODAY! Pat Dalton • 985-646-1088 • pmd406@bellsouth.net 21
Sponsored by
by Corey Hogue
Every spring, one of the most anticipated races in the world happens in Louisville, Kentucky - The Kentucky Derby. While around here many people enjoy the first Saturday of May rejoicing the return of the beautiful, scorching Louisiana weather, or enjoying the wonderful, rhythmic buzzing and biting of mosquitoes, or rediscovering that the warmer, sunnier weather reminds them that their lawn mower is so much more than rustic garage decor - some, of course, try to forget all of that by turning on the TV, kicking up the A/C, and watching the Kentucky Derby. It starts the first leg of the American Triple Crown and is affectionately termed “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”. With a name like that, you can’t help but feel a rush of adrenaline. Never having
1346 Lindberg Dr, Suite 3 • Slidell
985.641.5825
BrattonPhysicalTherapy.com
been to a racetrack myself, or even ridden a horse for that matter, I decided to check this May event out and see how it correlates to Louisiana sport racing. I know what you may be thinking, “This is SLIDELL Magazine. Why do I care what’s happening in Kentucky?” Well, it’s inspiration, my friend. I started to wonder: What kind of history does Louisiana have with horse racing? What exactly is the Kentucky Derby? And what the heck is up with those names!? Seriously, horses with names like “Mine That Bird”? I will not mine that bird, thank you very much! The Kentucky Derby is the first race of the “Triple Crown”, a three part racing championship that also includes the Belmont Stakes and Preakness Stakes. The Kentucky Derby
ends an annual two-week long festival in Louisville, Kentucky. It is a Grade I Stakes race for three-year old thoroughbreds and is 2 kilometers, or one and a quarter miles. The winning horse is draped with a blanket of roses and is given a place in the history books. Oh, yeah, not to mention the little detail of the prize money. The 2015 Kentucky Derby winner, American Pharoah, left with 62 percent of the $2 million guarantee, which amounted to $1.24 million. Not a bad award at all. In order to be eligible to run the race, there is a point system, officially branded as the “Road to the Kentucky Derby”, that a competitor must compete in. It was instituted at the beginning of the 2013 racing season. It
“It’s amazing. It allows you to walk normally while still recovering and without pain.” ― Jena Bratton OWNER Phyiscal Therapist
Bryce Jacobs
THE ONLY ONE IN SLIDELL!
facebook.com/BrattonPT
The Alter-G “Anti-Gravity” Treadmill
INCREASED MOBILITY • PAIN-FREE MOVEMENT
consists of 36 stakes races overall, including 17 marquee events comprised within a 10 week run up to the Kentucky Derby. The 17 races are worth much more points and are split into three “legs,” two of which have races in Louisiana, the “Risen Star” and “Louisiana Derby” races. The top 20 point earners earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby as long as 20 horses enter the race (which hasn’t been a problem since 2004). There are 24 horses that may be entered and four horses can be listed as “also eligible” and would be ranked in order accordingly. They enter the race should any horse be scratched in the days leading up to the race. So now, let’s talk about Louisiana and horseracing. What surprised me as I began to research is that Louisiana has a richer history in the sport than I originally thought. While the Fair Grounds are easily one of the most recognizable horse racing tracks in Louisiana (heck, it’s the third oldest track still in operation in America), it wasn’t the first. The Eclipse Track, built in 1837 on what is now Audobon Park, ushered in a trifecta of race tracks in the New Orleans area, with the Metairie Race Course following shortly afterwards in 1838 and the Fair Grounds (then the Union Race Course) in 1852. It made New Orleans one of the major horse racing cities in the United States through the 1850s! In the coming two centuries, only the Fair Grounds lasted, surviving the Civil War, legislation that made horse racing illegal for 18 years, the Great Depression, two World Wars, fires, Hurricane Katrina, and the kitchen sink. Out of Louisiana’s racing history, only one horse has risen to high heights - pun intended. Risen Star, the horse whom one of the qualifying Derby races was ultimately named after, was owned by Ronnie Lamarque and Louie Roussell and won two of the three Triple Crown races in 1988, the Belmont and Preakness. Since then, there have been many Louisiana racehorses, just none that have captured quite the same lightning in a bottle. Our own Tom Benson just recently got back into the horse racing business, having left the sport after the death of his eldest son and partner in horse racing. His two horses, Mo Tom and Tom’s Ready may even have a chance of winning the derby, some say. But if I had the opportunity to ask Tom Benson anything about his revisted interest, it would be......what is up with these names? Personally, I am so glad my parents didn’t decide to follow the lead horse racing has created in moniker making. Otherwise Jockularity would be written by Scour That Brick or WhatAGreatDinner.
It turns out, there is actually a method to the madness. Names can’t be longer than 18 characters, be initials, have commercial, artistic, or creative significance, be suggestive or have a vulgar or obscene meaning, be considered in poor taste or be offensive to religious, political, or ethnic groups, be names of living persons unless written permission to use their name is on file with The Jockey Club, and, finally, they can’t be the same as a horse that has already won a major race. Some thoroughbred owners name their horses according to their lineage. For example, Mine That Bird is the son of Birdstone and Mining My Own. Another example is the horse Sticky GI, who is the offspring of Lost Soldier and Super Glued. Ok, that makes sense. And is actually very clever. It’s like those celebrity names that get mashed together like “Brangelina”. When it comes down to it, the naming preference comes down to the owner or breeder. Some name their horses after towns, others off of inside jokes, but the reasons are endless. There was even an owner, as a funny prank, that named their horse “Flat Fleet Feet”. Those poor announcers. You try to say it a mile a minute and see if you can get through it. I am 0 for 50, in case you are wondering. Basically, as long as it follows the rules, it is legal. And let’s not forget, these are HORSES. Real live animals with minds of their own who have to be kept on track and in good health and cared for. Think about how different Drew Brees’ game would be if he also had to navigate a cow around the field and make sure it was going where he wanted
it to go. (I just pictured it. And I laughed out loud. Do the cows get jerseys? I have so many questions.) Sports with beings other than humans is such an interesting notion to me. Not only do jockeys and trainers have to be skilled, but everything from the horse’s bloodline down to their body structure and demeanour can make the difference between a regular racehorse and a winner. There is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to be shed, but it’s done more than just by humans. In this way, the ownership and employees shares a special bond with the horses that are ridden in the races. Both have to give their all to attain the ultimate prize. The horse runs the race because it is asked to, it is trained to. It is what they are born to do. And some of the humans that run the stables, ride the horses, or even do the taxes for these businesses have these same motivations. There are so many similarities, even with all of our obvious differences. Horse racing is a complicated world, full of biology, money, and precise skill. Louisiana has been proud to share in its history for a long time and will continue to do so for as long as it stays a business. The history of the Fair Grounds is good enough example of that commitment. While it is fun to study the names of the horses, the determination behind those names to get to the Derby, and beyond it, is no laughing matter. It is a prestigious spot to earn in the history books for the winner of the race. Money aside, these races are quite an impressive sight to behold. On that note, this is OnomatoPitaBread, signing off. 23
Of Your Money By Mike Rich, CFP® Pontchartrain Investment Management
Paint a New Financial Picture for Yourself Three years ago, I wrote about my daughter, Heather. She’s the beautiful young woman you see here. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida, where she is a fitness consultant and Certified Wellness Coach. At the time of my article, she was building her business from scratch after leaving a job with a non-profit organization several years ago. Heather tells me that her business is – finally – taking off. How did she do it? She had a vision, and she acted on it.
BE PREPARED FOR THE FINANCIAL STORMS IN LIFE. Call us for a free consultation
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT 2242 Carey St. Olde Towne, Slidell, LA
985-605-5066 www.mypontchartrain.com
Investment Services • Annuities • Retirement Planning
Life, Disability, and Long Term Care Insurance
24
Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC.
Back in 2013, Heather told me that she was tired of what she called her “full-time, life-sucking, no-future, no-flexibility, depressing, and frustrating job” (during this rant, she forgot that it paid pretty well), and she wanted something different. She wanted to work less, earn the same amount of money (or more) while working from home so she could spend more time with my two beautiful grandsons, do the work she really wanted to do, and, basically, escape the rat race and follow her passion for making and keeping people healthy. To reach her goal, she created a “vision board.” You can find lots of references to vision boards on the Internet. To Heather’s credit, after she created her vision, she actually followed through on it and built a successful business. By the way, if you want to learn more about how she helps her clients, get some tips on healthy living, or buy a copy of her book, do an Internet search for “Healthy Heather.” And, if you are ever in Tallahassee, you can find her column in the Sunday edition of that city’s major newspaper. Like Heather, lots of successful people use visualization to achieve their goals. Athletes, movie actors, artists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and a whole host of other movers and shakers swear by it. They paint mental and, sometimes, physical pictures of what they want, how they will get it, how they will feel when they get it, and what they’ll do after they get it. As a financial advisor and Certified Financial Planner™, I’m big on visualization because it can work wonders for people by helping them see how – with some effort and commitment – they can work towards financial independence. So, let’s have some fun. Picture yourself in the following money situations:
1) You pay for an emergency repair at your house without having to use a credit card. One of the foundations of a solid financial plan is to make sure you have enough cash on hand to handle emergencies. Out there in the financial world, you can read all kinds of guidance about having two, three, or six months or more of living expenses on hand. If that seems overwhelming, then start with a few bucks in a jar in your kitchen cabinet. Build it up every month from there, and keep it only for emergencies. Credit card points are good, but do you want to know what’s even better? The feeling you’ll have when you pay cash for an unexpected expense and there’s no bill coming in your mailbox the next month.
2) You receive a check in the mail every month for the rest of your life. Employer pensions are disappearing, and fast. If you don’t have a pension, you can build one yourself. My guess is that getting a check in the mail or your bank account every month during retirement (and maybe for as long as you or your spouse live) would be pretty cool. If you agree, call me, and I’ll discuss several strategies with you.
3) You have a “permission slip” to spend your money freely during retirement. By using plain old, boring whole life insurance, you might be able to increase your cash flow during retirement. Visualize what that might look like: more cruises, gifts for the grandchildren, a new fishing boat, whatever. Here’s how it works. When you are no longer around to enjoy that extra cash flow, the death benefit replaces the money you spent so your spouse can live out his or her days with dignity and financial security.1 This is a pretty cool strategy, and a lot of people don’t know how incredibly powerful it can be. Now you do. Call me to find out if it can work for you.
4) You can no longer take care of yourself and need someone to help you. This picture is not much fun to imagine, but it’s going to be in living color for a lot of us baby boomers. We’re living longer, but we’re not necessarily any healthier. Seven out of ten of us are going to need some type of care when we’re old,2 and the cost is shaping up to be staggering. I have clients today who are spending upwards of $5,000 every month. So, even though it might not be pretty, draw a mental picture of yourself when you are old and might need care. What does it look like? How do you want to receive it? Who’s going to provide it? How will you pay for it without ruining your retirement and maybe putting your spouse in a financial mess? If you don’t have good answers for these questions, call me and I’ll help you figure it out. You might be surprised at how you can re-position assets to deal with the problem, while maintaining control over your money.
5) You work with a trusted financial advisor who takes the task of designing and maintaining a financial plan for you and your family off your shoulders so you don’t have to worry about it and can enjoy life. You are not alone. You are expected to be an expert in your job, but you don’t have to be an expert about money. Let me handle it. It’s what I do, and it’s my passion. Heather can tell you from experience that the challenge with visualization is that it’s easy to do, but not so easy to make real. She spent years building her business. It takes work, discipline, commitment, and implementation. When it comes to working toward your own financial success, I can’t help you with the first three, but I can help you define and implement your vision and keep you on track. Call me, and I’ll starting painting your new financial picture.
“ I feel better knowing everything’s
taken care of and our bills are getting paid on time.”
The savings and debt tracker on Insights by Regions is helping Ashlee save money on a tight budget even though she has debt to pay off. Ready to move your life forward? We’re ready to help. Watch Ashlee’s real Next Step story and plan your own at regions.com/ashlee.
Slidell Branch | 985.326.2520 Gause Branch | 985.847.0667 Michele Tierney | Branch Manager
I’M NOW ON THE RADIO! Listen for my advertisement on The Bridge Radio, 88.7FM Benefits depend on the claims paying ability of the issuing company.
1
Probability of needing LTC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care Information, 10/22/08 Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC.
2
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
© 2016 Regions Bank. Actual Regions customer compensated for her appearance.
25
Story by Kendra Maness, Editor/Publisher Photos by Paul Wood Photography
2016 Women Build “I had a dream about you,” Kentrell said to me in November 2015, at the Habitat for Humanity Art Auction. “I have been praying to God for help with Habitat, and He sent me you as the answer to my prayers.” I barely heard her amongst the revelry of music and friends at one of my favorite events of the year. Certainly, she was joking. I had become friends with Kentrell Jones, Habitat’s indomitable Executive Assistant, over the past few years, and brushed it off as a friendly joke. In the party atmosphere, we chatted about the auction and agreed to meet at a later date so I could hear about her dream.
Kendra Maness Slidell Magazine Publisher Spokesperson 2016 Women Build 26
East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity has always held a special place in my heart. I participated in my first Women Build shortly after moving back home to Slidell in 2010. That’s when I learned about Habitat’s mission and importance, and loved the experience of working side by side with other women to create a home for a family. Fast forward four years or so and the bond with the Habitat family was sealed when I joined Executive Director Debbie Crouch, Habitat ReStore Manager Eric Jones, artist Lori Gomez and Marketing Specialist Kim Bergeron on their journey to Kentucky to obtain the signature of the two surviving
Debbie Crouch Executive Director East St. Tammany Habitat For Humanity
Beatles, Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney, on a piano donated to Habitat and beautifully restored and painted by Lori. As Debbie, Eric and I sat outside of a hotel room at 2am, in the middle of nowhere-Kentucky (or maybe it was Georgia?), and stared at the broken down van that held the priceless piano en route to Paul McCartney’s concert (and signature) in Louisville, KY, I talked with the Habitat crew about their mission, their goals, and the awful predicament we were in. Their determination for their cause and the success of our mission was inspiring. The van was eventually fixed, just in time for our meeting with Paul McCartney. He signed
Kentrell Jones Executive Asst./Dreamer East St. Tammany Habitat For Humanity
Paul Wood Rosie Campaign Photo Guru Paul Wood Photography
the piano, which was later auctioned for $98,888. Let me tell you - there’s no greater feeling than facing adversity and working as a team to conquer it. I learned that through the improbability of obtaining the signatures for the piano (and witnessing the Habitat team accomplish that), but I also see it every time I visit the Habitat office.
The Rowdy Rosies
Habitat for Humanity’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Their mission is to put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope.
WOMAN OF DISTINCTION Glenda Drennan SPONSORED BY Mayor Freddy Drennan
In the United States, 48.5 million people are living in poverty. Minimum wage is not keeping up with the rising cost of living and many workers struggle to afford decent housing.
Build Date May 3, 2016
Decent, stable housing provides more than just a roof over someone’s head. It provides stability for families and children. It provides a sense of dignity and pride. It offers the opportunity for better health, physical safety and security. Statistically, children raised in a stable home environment have higher educations and better job prospects. Habitat for Humanity believes that increasing the housing supply across the globe is essential if we are to succeed in the fight against poverty. Habitat has more than 1,400 local affiliates in the United States and more than 70 national organizations around the world. They have helped 6.8 million people improve their living conditions since their founding in 1976. Habitat helps by building or renovating simple, decent houses in partnership with those in need. The East St. Tammany Habitat affiliate was founded in 1992. A group of concerned community members saw that there was a need for an affordable housing service organization for the community. At that time, there just wasn’t anybody to address the needs of families that could probably afford a monthly house note, but had never earned enough income to afford that hefty down payment. Or the families that earned enough money that, as interest rates increased, could keep up the mortgage payments so they wouldn’t inevitably foreclose. So, many of the families that our Habitat serves are living in substandard living conditions because of their wages. While they work hard and have a full time job and they pay their bills on time, their wages just don’t stretch far enough. They end up sacrificing where they live by living in sub-standard housing because they have to pay for the car note, living expenses, school supplies, doctor’s bills and such. There are two Habitat affiliates in St. Tammany Parish. The East services the communities of Slidell, Pearl River, and Lacombe.
Jan Stumpf SPONSORED BY Quentin & Jan Stumpf
JoBeth Kavanaugh SPONSORED BY Linda McElveen, MD Mike Kavanaugh Johanna Heller
Kelly Meilleur SPONSORED BY C. Bradley Dickerson, DDS Tans Alterations Corporate Cleaners
Laura Kaufmann SPONSORED BY KB Kaufmann & Co
Lisa Clement SPONSORED BY Bruce Clement
Mary Swann SPONSORED BY Gene Swann
Rhonda Pike SPONSORED BY Mike Pike, Pike’s Collision
Susie Finley SPONSORED BY Creative Upholstery and Design
Tanya Witchen SPONSORED BY Tanya Witchen, REALTOR RE/MAX Alliance 27
The Relentless Rosies
“The biggest misconception is that Habitat gives away houses for free,” says Debbie Crouch, EST Habitat’s Executive Director. “We don’t. Partner families purchase them. They pay a mortgage on them just like anybody else. They pay real estate taxes, they pay insurance, just like anybody else. And those dollars contribute to the local economy.”
WOMAN OF DISTINCTION Parish President Pat Brister
“By taking them from the renter’s cycle and putting them into the homeowner’s cycle, they’re actually bettering their community. By putting more dollars into our community’s economy, it makes Slidell and St. Tammany a better place to live.”
SPONSORED BY Pat Brister Build Date May 7, 2016
Anne Pablovich SPONSORED BY Parish President Pat Brister
28
Beth Warren SPONSORED BY Parish President Pat Brister
Brenda Case SPONSORED BY Lowry-Dunham, Case & Vivien
Erin Bivona SPONSORED BY Parish President Pat Brister
Gina Campo SPONSORED BY Parish President Pat Brister
Kelly Rabalais SPONSORED BY Parish President Pat Brister
Leslie Long SPONSORED BY Parish President Pat Brister
Mary Burckell SPONSORED BY Parish President Pat Brister
Trilby Lenfant SPONSORED BY Parish President Pat Brister
Families left homeless by natural disasters, war and civil unrest often face dire housing situations as they struggle to rebuild their lives. Slidell is testament to this after Hurricane Katrina. As with all Habitat affiliates worldwide, East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity provided shelter and housing assistance to help families recover after the tragedy. In fact, our Habitat’s biggest build years were immediately following Katrina. The East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity affiliate was very small before Katrina, on average building about 2 houses a year. When the storm hit, there were about 24 Habitat homes built in East St. Tammany Parish. After the storm, they were able to quickly coordinate the first house being built and, since then, have built over 100 new houses for families. Habitat also renovated 13 of the houses that were damaged during the storm for families that were in their program prior to Katrina. Women Build Women Build began when Habitat International noticed that women were a huge part of the volunteer workforce. A survey was done to see how women could better serve as the volunteers that contribute to the Habitat mission. One of the things that was discovered was that the female volunteers may not come with the skill set ahead of time. Because of this, when they were volunteering on the build site, the men who already had the skill set just kind of took over and dominated the job. The women were never really learning and couldn’t progress in their volunteer capabilities. Women Build was started with a two-fold purpose. The primary focus was to build up worksite learning opportunities so that women could get the skills to lead the tasks themselves. With that knowledge, they could teach other women, so that they feel more included and empowered when they are on the jobsite. It’s about educating and promoting the skill set that you’re learning. The second purpose came about because so many of the partner families that are in Habitat programs across the globe and the US have a female as the head of household. Taking on that responsibility is a big change for them. But when
they become partner families and they own their own home, they are the ones responsible for fixing anything that is broken. If you don’t give them the opportunity to learn how to change the screws in a light bulb or if you don’t give them the opportunity to learn how things were built, they’re not going to have the best knowledge set ahead of time to care for their house and maintain it. Plus, there is something really empowering about a homeowner being on site, building on their house and their neighbor’s house, and saying, “I did that.” It gives them a higher sense of ownership rather than them saying, “I need someone to come and fix it for me.” It’s about including women and getting them to learn the skills so that they can take a leadership role and have a bigger ownership on the project.
The Royal Rosies WOMAN OF DISTINCTION Adele Bruce Smith SPONSORED BY Sheriff-Elect Randy Smith Build Date May 5, 2016
The goal of Women Build is to have 75% of the volunteers during Women Build week (held each May and October) be female so Habitat can offer them that learning opportunity. Field supervisor and site leaders will lead volunteers on individual tasks. That’s why novice and experienced builders alike are welcome to come. A Dream Becomes Reality In January, I talked to Kentrell about her dream. I admit, it was a bit intimidating. She was SURE that God had answered her prayers of help for Habitat by sending her a vision of me in a dream. We didn’t know what the solution was, or what our next move would be, but Habitat’s mission is centered around faith - and we believed that God was speaking to us. Kentrell and Debbie asked me to be the Spokesperson for the 2016 Women Build. What a beautiful compliment and great opportunity to represent a cause I’m so passionate about! Although none of us could foresee exactly what that meant, we were all confident that, at the very least, I could draw attention and support to the Habitat mission. In past years, Habitat had named “Women of Distinction” to represent their Women Build. I liked the idea. Now, if you know me, you know that I’m a “go-big -or-go-home” kind of gal. My goal was to have 5 teams, one for each build day, comprised of 10 women each (the maximum that is allowed on a build site), led by five Women of Distinction - the most influential women in Slidell. Oh, and one more thing - I wanted these women to raise more money for our Habitat than any other Women Build before! The Women of Distinction would be: Glenda Drennan Parish President Pat Brister Dawn Sharpe Adele Bruce Smith Senator Sharon Hewitt
Chrissy Smith SPONSORED BY Primerica
Davina Ordoyne SPONSORED BY E.C.O. Builders
Eva Michelle Trader SPONSORED BY Madcon Corporation
Jackie Morel SPONSORED BY The Alibi
Shannon Ordes SPONSORED BY Ordes Electric
Pam Kaufmann SPONSORED BY PMI Human Resources
Renee Meeks SPONSORED BY Meeks & Associates, LLC
Lisa Baudot SPONSORED BY Lisa & Jay Baudot Dr. Amery Creighton Kelly Donaghy David Eshnaur
Susan Williams SPONSORED BY Adele Smith Art Leadingham Karen D’amour Janey Holley Bert Scott 29
The Resourceful Rosies
Each were tasked with: 1. Raising $500 in sponsorships for themselves 2. Recruiting 9 additional female team members for their build day 3. Insuring that each of the 9 women would also be sponsored for $500 each also
WOMAN OF DISTINCTION Dawn Sharpe
In total, our goal was to have 50 women raise $25,000 - that almost HALF the cost of an entire house!
SPONSORED BY East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce
The Women of Distinction all readily agreed and our next task was to bring attention to our cause to garner the support we needed.
Build Date May 4, 10, 17, 2016
Paul and Julie Wood from Paul Wood Photography Studio are not only friends of mine, but they’re also creative geniuses in photographic art. Julie and I batted around ideas. The iconic image of Rosie the Riveter has been used in the Women Build campaign for years - why not bring Rosie to life? Each of the Women Build participants, called “Rosies”, would have a free photo shoot at Paul Wood Studios, dressed as the WWII symbol of female power and the grit and determination of the Women Build cause. Brillliant!
Barbara Doyle SPONSORED BY Pelican Pages
Christy Fugate SPONSORED BY Thornhill Law Firm
Debbie Callens SPONSORED BY Thirty One Gifts
I was the first Rosie to pose. It was more of a test than anything else. Posting the picture on facebook, I hoped that a few people would notice and I could spread the good word about Habitat. WOW! The reaction was overwhelming! The picture caused the buzz we needed. Soon, women from all backgrounds and experiences were volunteering to raise the money we needed and be “Rosies”. WOOHOO! The Rosie phenomenon soon took off! The Women of Distinction began building and naming their teams, taking pictures and growing closer as a group. “It’s become a sisterhood,” said Rowdy Rosie team member Lisa Clement.
30
Jody Mediamolle SPONSORED BY Believe and Succeed
Melissa Mitrik SPONSORED BY EYP
Romona Carlin SPONSORED BY SWCC
Roxanne Lord SPONSORED BY Pontchartrain Investments
Sharon DeLong SPONSORED BY Slidell Main Street
Sharron Newton SPONSORED BY Rotary Club of Slidell Northshore
Tisha Batuk SPONSORED BY Slidell Memorial Hospital
Victoria Langlinlais SPONSORED BY Silver Slipper Hotel & Casino
The Rosie campaign has grown and spurned greater interest in Habitat Women Build. For more than half of the Rosies, this will be their first build - but they all assured me, not their last! Once the groups began to gel, they set their sights even higher than the $25,000 goal. Glenda Drennan asked her team at the first meeting, “Wouldn’t it be great if all of the Rosies could not only build on the home, but raise enough money to pay for the ENTIRE house?” The party planning began immediately and, within just two weeks, a Bourbon & Wine Tasting event was held on March 30, 2016, hosted by Rowdy Rosie team member Jan Stumpf and her husband, Quentin. It’s estimated that there were close to 300 people in attendance, and the Rowdy Rosies presented Habitat with $14,500 towards the Build. GO TEAM!
The Remarkable Rosies WOMAN OF DISTINCTION Senator Sharon Hewitt SPONSORED BY Senator Sharon Hewitt Build Date April 29, 2016
The Remarkable Rosies, led by Woman of Distinction Senator Sharon Hewitt, kicked off the Women Build on Friday, April 29. But their volunteer day didn’t end at the site. After a hard day’s work, the ladies continued their fundraising efforts with their friends and the public at The Wine Market, with a whopping 20% of dinner and drinks donated back to Habitat! There were also raffles with items donated by The Wine Market and numerous Remarkable Rosie team members. “Habitat for Humanity is a charity that I have supported for many years and I have participated in Women Builds every fall and spring for the last five years,” Senator Hewitt said. “It’s a rewarding experience because you know that you are helping a struggling family with a home of their own. And I am always so proud of the new handyman skills that I’ve learned!” “This year, Kendra Maness and the East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity have taken Women Build to a whole new level,” Senator Hewitt said. “With all 5 of the teams working together, we will have raised a significant amount of money toward funding an entire home.” Woman of Distinction and Chamber of Commerce CEO, Dawn Sharpe, had such a great response to her request for Rosies that she has THREE teams participating on three separate build days!
Adelaide Lowry SPONSORED BY Backyard Products and Suzie Hunt
Amy Kussman SPONSORED BY Backyard Products
Dawn Rivera SPONSORED BY Rotary Rebuilds Slidell
Jennifer Irwin SPONSORED BY Advanced Medical Rehab of Slidell
Jess Briere SPONSORED BY Gulf Coast Bank
Jessica Karr SPONSORED BY The Vallejo Law Firm
Julie Wood SPONSORED BY Paul Wood Photography
Rebecca Rummel SPONSORED BY New Orleans Pool and Patio
Winn Williams SPONSORED BY Rotary Club of Slidell Northshore
Women Build 2016 is impacting our community in ways I could have only imagined. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all of our sponsors and our Rosies. And a HUGE thank you to our Women of Distinction. YOU DID IT! From dream to reality...
WE CAN BUILD IT!
31
Crimi-Mommly INSANE Sponsored by
ie Gates vern l s e L y b Story ac McGo ns by Z
L O R T N O
Illustratio
C
My husband and I took our kids and my friend’s kids to the lakefront. Five children, ages 7 to 13, running around in the grass, sometimes too far away for my comfort, frequently giving me near panic attacks while climbing on the brick wall that drops into Lake Ponchartrain. It was such a beautiful day, one that I didn’t want ruined by my anxieties, but how do you let kids just be kids without trying to control every moment? Walking back to my truck to get something, I noticed a wedding party finishing up some pictures and heading over to the reception. The bride was absolutely stunning as she walked across the grass, her dress and long blonde hair flowing in the warm breeze towards a picturesque backdrop of the lake. It set the stage for the perfect photo. I may have been the only one to notice it, snapping a mental shot in my head... everyone else had almost made it across the street by this time, looking
Finnan’s Family Pharmacy A Full Service Independent Pharmacy
985.288.5899
3044 East Gause Blvd. Slidell, LA
for food and drink under the many white tents strung with lights. It was decorated for what seemed to be a flawless wedding and reception. The centerpieces on the tables were glistening, the catering smelled great, and the cash bar tempted me to invite myself over while pretending to know the family. I secretly wondered what flaws were in the plans, or who would do something stupid later to make a good wedding day blunder story. Nothing can be THAT perfect.
COME GET YOUR
BEACHIN’ BAGS & SNAZZY ICE CHESTS FOR SUMMER!
FinnansFamilyPharmacy.com
FREE DELIVERY 32
to SLIDELL and PEARL RIVER!
GIFTS FOR EVERY OCCASION!
I decided to sit on my back bumper for a few minutes, and take it all in, watching all the nicely dressed people do their thing. It calmed me. My thoughts were led to my own wedding day, and ALL the preparation that went into it. Any bride can relate. Your wedding day is supposed to be the perfect day. I remember all the planning while trying to stay under budget. My Mom and I did all the flower arrangements and decorations, even put bird seed in recycled communion cups that she had collected, wrapped in mesh and tied with a lilac ribbon. It was for the guests to throw as we retreated to the car at the end of the evening. I found a lady who made cakes out of her home, got a decent priced dress that wouldn’t show any back fat while also lifting my boobs, picked all the songs that would make every generation attending happy...chose the food... found a good, inexpensive photographer (that wouldn’t photograph my back fat)... everything down to making sure the cake topper somehow physically and emotionally resembled me and my husband-to-be. The whole process gave me the realization that I may be a tiiiiiiny bit of a control freak. Ok, maybe A BIG ONE. If you are in total control and plan everything perfectly, then what could go wrong? When I think of the ultimate control, I think of the military. You are literally controlled from the day you sign up to the last second of your time in. Towards the end of my Army training period, the Drill Sergeant collected driver’s licenses from the whole platoon. From these, he would randomly pick 10 of them. These soldiers were to pack their bags and wait for some UNKNOWN orders. It was news to us. Most of the platoon was done with training and heading off to their permanent homes as a new Soldier, wherever Uncle Sam decided to send them. Whatever they were drawing names for couldn’t be good. It had to mean MORE TRAINING. I was in Virginia at the time, and had been there for 11 weeks, plus the 8 weeks of boot camp before that. My best friend Tonya and I joined the Army together out of high school and were about to head off to AIRBORNE school. I remember being so psyched! And at that point, very much physically and mentally prepared for the challenge that awaited me. But, completely out of my control, the plan had changed, as my license was the first to be drawn from the pile. Having no clue WHERE I was going or WHAT I would be doing there, my control freak kicked in. Not that I could do anything about it. The worst part, it was highly likely that I was going to have to tell my best friend of four years/battle buddy/and
www.firstcastlefcu.org
Free Kasasa checking refunds your ATM fees, nationwide.* So even if you use one of the big banks’ ATMs, we’ll pay you back. No more searching for a “free” ATM.
*Account approval, conditions, qualifications, limits, time frames, enrollments, log-ons and other requirements apply. No minimum deposit is required to open the account. Enrollment in electronic services (e.g. online banking, electronic statements) and log-ons may be required to meet some of the account’s qualifications. Limit [1] account(s) per social security number. There are no recurring monthly service charges or fees to open or close this account. Contact a credit union service representative for additional information, details, restrictions, processing limitations and enrollment instructions. Kasasa is a trademark of BancVue, Ltd., registered in the U.S.A.
33
sister from another mister, goodbye that night, as we headed different ways. The Drill Sergeant drew name after name, none of them hers. As he drew the 10th and final name, Tonya and I looked at each other across the sea of camouflage, realizing the odds, and did what we had to do... we put on our tough face. There was nothing else we COULD do. We knew the day would come, just didn’t think it would be so soon. With fingers crossed behind my back the final name was yelled... “PRIVATE SCHILL!” My heart dropped. Tonya (aka Private Schill) and I were now heading to Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri for 9 more weeks of training at TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOL. Yep.
34
To give you the quick version so not to bore you with details and acronyms, we would be learning to drive almost
every type of wheeled military vehicle, memorize every part, its name, how to tell it’s broken, and how to fix it. The first day of arrival we had a briefing on the Hemmt fueler. A very SHORT briefing. Basically, it’s a big scary truck with lots of tires and a huge tank on the back that holds 2,500 gallons of fuel in it. We were told to grab a buddy and pick one of these fuel trucks out of the motor pool. I grabbed Tonya, we “rock, paper, scissors” on who was driving first, then climbed into the massive truck. Eighteen years old, 5’3, 110 pounds, and the last thing I had driven was my little two door Honda Civic. I knew this was going to be interesting. Tonya and I gave the “nice knowin ya” look while proceeding forward in a long convoy of other clueless Soldiers, through the dirt roads of the Ozark Mountains. Far from the flat Louisiana roads I was used to.
Everything seemed to be running smoothly. Tonya cheered me on as I peered over the huge steering wheel. Driving up a steep, dusty hill, I felt like a BAD ASS, and thought to myself, you are in TOTAL CONTROL of this beast! As they do, though - this hill went DOWN. The truck had air brakes. I pushed the brakes to slow my descent but the truck kept hitting bumps and dips. This caused my foot to pump the air brakes, which eventually means, you run out of air… AND ultimately… BRAKES! We were seconds from hitting the fuel truck in front of us. Forget the embarrassment! Fuel + collision = EXPLOSION! I was definitely NOT in control. I reached for the emergency brake in my Honda Civic that wasn’t there, when Tonya yelled, “Jake Brake! The Jake Brake!”
Somehow remembering where it was in that quick moment of panic, I pulled it, skidding to a stop a couple inches from the truck in front of us.
She didn’t get past the first stanza. The loud truck, with obvious muffler problems, drove in what I swear was slow motion, about 10 feet from the “perfect” celebration. Windows rolled down, dog hangin’ out and barking, speakers radiating the loudest country song EVER as the driver proved his singing voice to be even louder. I wanted to control the situation, maybe wave my hands and point at the mountain of white tents? Tell him to pull the Jake Brake? Nah. I just let it happen. It was going to anyway.
We exhaled. Then lit a cigarette. In the fuel truck. This was 20 years ago. There are many stories to tell of our military experience together, but this one seemed fitting. Three years later, we were finally separated. She went to Korea, I went to Kuwait. Couldn’t control that either.
control, THAT’S when you can start living. Tonya and I were walking near her house a few weeks ago. It was down a country road lined with many trees. I needed advice on something I was dealing with. She stopped, looked me in the eyes, changed into her military voice, pointed to the trees next to us, and told me, “Look at unexpected changes in life as a tree that falls in your path. You can’t control it or change it, you can’t do anything but STEP RIGHT OVER IT… and that’s what you need to do… JUST STEP OVER IT AND MOVE ON.”
I went back to my husband and kids, and the other two children who, ironically, are Tonya’s, and I spent the rest of the day enjoying every unexpected moment.
We can’t control our children, our spouses, or the perfect wedding, no matter how much we stress, plan, organize... things will happen that are out of our control. Changes will be made without our input.
This isn’t the first time she has saved me from myself, and it won’t be the last.
There is a quote that reads, “Relax, nothing is under control”.
Back to the wedding on the lakefront...
Find yourself a battle buddy or two, pull the Jake Brake if you have to, step over the tree, do what you have to do to Soldier on…
To me, that’s not scary, it’s FREEING.
When it was time for the Bride and Groom dance, a lady stepped out with a mic and began belting out a beautiful song, almost opera-like. As everyone watched (including me), I hear a truck pulling out of the bar down the road.
When you can accept changes without getting angry or frustrated, stop molding your life into some perfect pattern, and quit thinking that the world will fall apart without your
But when you finally realize something is out of your control, THAT is when you have actually gained control.
Walk in a field… Pick flowers… Own a cat…
Specializing in:
Enjoy your allergy-free life.
AA I M
&
E
D
I
C
A
L
P
R
O
F
I
Asthma, Allergy & Immunology Louisiana-aai.com 187 Greenbriar Blvd. Ste A Covington, LA
BOARD CERTIFIED PHYSICIANS B. Steele Rolston, MD I. Alisha Qureshi, MD, MRCP Jodi Buras, FNP
Asthma Chronic Cough Hay Fever L E Food Allergies Eczema Hives Drug Allergies Insect Allergies Sinus Disease Frequent Respiratory Illness Clinical Immunology
Schedule an appointment TODAY!
985-893-5780 Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, L.L.C. 35
Sponsored By:
by Jeff Perret, DVM
Trifexis (spinosad+ milbemycin oxime) TM
CAT LICKING W
hen I was a kid, we had a big strapping orange tabby tomcat named Riley. My Dad named him that because he said the cat lived the “The Life of Riley” (if you’re under 50 years old, Google it). There was nothing Riley enjoyed more than licking and sucking on chins and earlobes. He wasn’t always gentle about it either. He was more like the owl in those old Tootsie Pop commercial: one, two, three licks, then CHOMP! One minute
he’d be contentedly purring, ‘nursing’ on a chin or an ear, and the next he’d latch on tight, hanging there like one of those green Anole lizards we used to clamp onto our ears, just for fun. As kids we thought it was pretty funny, and I’ve always wondered why he did it. Was there some reason that he found those particular bits of flesh irresistible, or was he just weird? One potential reason for this behavior might have been the
Dr. Jeff recommends using:
Trifexis
TM
(spinosad+ milbemycin oxime)
Memorial day with no Fleas. 36
Help prevent heartworms, kill fleas, and take care of worms.
most obvious one: he thought we tasted pretty good. When our bodies break down proteins from the foods we eat, ammonia and urea are produced, which later end up in our sweat. Sweat also contains sugar and salts, such as sodium, chloride, and potassium. When your sweat evaporates, it can leave sweet or salty residue on your skin that animals can smell and/or taste. Maybe to Riley we were all just giant, walking, talking lollipops - there’s that owl image again!
Some cats do seem to find our natural human ‘flavor’ pretty tasty, but things we put on our bodies may also make us more appetizing to our feline housemates. We usually attribute bizarre appetites to dogs, since they’re known to eat everything from kitty poop to shoes to rocks to grass to underwear; but sometimes cats also find the most unusual things to be irresistible. If your cat seems attracted to licking body areas where you apply lotions, cosmetics, or topical medications, it’s a good idea to check with your veterinarian to make sure they won’t harm him. Some medicinal creams and topical hormones have been found to cause major illness and, in extreme cases, even death in pets. “There definitely is a risk for cats licking transdermal creams that are now increasingly commonplace in human medicine,” says Michele Gaspar, DVM, a feline internal medicine specialist and consultant for the Veterinary Information Network (VIN). It’s important to understand that cats differ from dogs in their responses to hormonal transdermals. Cats also lick or suckle as a form of bonding. Mother cats begin bathing their kittens as soon as they’re born, licking away the placenta, blood, and other fluids. They lick around the rear end to help stimulate their babies to urinate and defecate on their own. (Aren’t you feeling lucky not to be a mother cat right now?) Kittens learn to groom themselves by watching mama kitty and often practice grooming each other, so it’s not a stretch to imagine that cats would bond with their humans in the same way. Perhaps they see us as “hot messes” in need of some therapy. Perhaps they just want to bond with their best friends. Either way, I guess we should be thankful. As any cat owner knows, cat tongues are covered with tiny barbs, called papillae, that help them comb dirt and debris from their fur when grooming and also help them to strip the flesh from the bones of their prey. But, if your kitty likes to spend lots of quality time ‘bonding’ with you, it may be your flesh that’s being stripped. If you prefer to keep all your flesh on your bones, you may want to learn the signs that your cat is about to start slowly devouring you, and redirect her attention with a toy. With all that I now know about why cats like to lick humans, I guess it’s possible that Riley was motivated by yummy flavors on our skin, or that he could have been seeking the same comfortable, secure feeling that he remembered from nursing on his mother, all the while letting us know that he felt like part of our family and that he trusted us. Or maybe a little bit of both.
SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS!
Double “M” Feed, Garden & Pet Supply
Your one-stop shop for all your gardening needs! Plants, Creole Tomatoes, Herbs, & Fruit Trees Arriving Daily
985.646.0290
ccdmfeed@yahoo.com
Monday-Friday: 9am - 6pm Saturday: 9am - 5pm
1121 Gause Blvd. Slidell, LA
• No Exposure to Diseases Or Parasites from Other Dogs • Medication Administered FROG • Less Separation Anxiety • Waste Cleanup • Mail Pickup • Daily Walks • Injections Ming
Or, maybe, he was just weird.
Gina Triay 37
BRAZIL Part 2
Birds Back in January, I told you about my exciting trips to Brazil to see and photograph jaguars in the abundant habitat of the Pantanal and the 656 bird species found there. We were in a birder’s paradise! Although we saw nowhere near 656 species, we were certainly treated to an incredible number. Our guides designed our jaguar photography trip to give us 3 days in the Pantanal at the Southwild Lodge before we moved to Jaguar Camp. We were warned that the bird life would be phenomenal and we would be tempted to photograph birds everywhere we went. Roy and Fabiano told us, “Get the bird photography out of your system while we are at Southwild. When we get to Jag Camp, our focus will be solely on jaguars. No stopping until we get lots of jags under our belts.”
38
We hope you enjoy this installment from award-winning outdoors photographer and writer, Donna Bush. Inspired by life... Curiosity seeker...Inviting all Slidell Magazine readers to join her.
We heeded the warning and took advantage of the richness of bird life surrounding the lodge. We didn’t have to look far, with an active jabiru stork nest, containing four juvenile chicks, less than 50 feet from the lodge and a viewing platform erected nearby.
Jabiru storks are prehistoric looking birds with a height of 5 feet and a wingspan of 7.5 feet, making them the tallest flying birds in South and Central America. They range from Mexico to Argentina, with the highest concentration in the Pantanal. Each time our boats landed at the launch, several jabiru would sweep in looking for a handout of fish. Occasionally, the boatmen would toss them a piranha as a reward. The jabiru nest, made of sticks, is about 36 feet above the ground in the fork of a tree. Monk parakeets sub-letted the lower portion of the nest to raise their own families. These bright green and gray parrots are native to South America but have established quite well in suburban and city habitats across the United States thanks to the pet trade. They are the only parrots to nest communally, often housing dozens in the massive nest with multiple entrances. Noisily, they dart from nest to feeding spots and back. Several other parrots can be found throughout the Pantanal, both north and south. One of my all-time favorites was the South American native, blue-fronted parrot. They became
habituated to the patrons at the lodges and visited most every morning for breakfast, with an extreme fondness for two members of our group. One was my Alaskan friend and frequent travel buddy, Cathy Hart. We delighted in photographing the parrot on her camera and shoulder. Even more interesting was their affection for Bob Glassmaker and, particularly, his ear. I’ve never had a parrot bite on my ear, nor do I want to, and according to Bob, it’s not pleasant! Also delighting us were peach-fronted parakeets, and nanday parakeets.
Cutting Edge Theater presents
T H E
Another colony breeding bird is the yellow-rumped cacique - a long, slim perching bird with black body, yellow rump, yellow spots on its wings and a yellow bill with gorgeous blue eyes. The female builds a bag-like nest of woven plant fibers hanging from a tall tree with an active polistine wasp nest. The wasps provide protection from mammals and parasitic botflies. The colony may contain up to 250 nests with 1-2 eggs in each. Needless to say, there is a hubbub of activity around their nests! Many other bird species were easily seen and photographed near the lodge, such as yellow-billed cardinals, orangebacked troupial, and even a toucan! Yes! A toco toucan, the largest and best known of the toucans, actually landed in the tree beside our van on the day we were leaving. Of course, everything is packed - camera gear, tripods, etc. What do you do with a vanload of photographers who’ve never photographed a toucan? Why, you let them get out their gear and take pictures, of course! We shot for probably 30-45 minutes, which is not very long in a photographer’s time frame. (Eric, my husband and Sherpa, emphatically agrees!) Once again, we pack everything up, get on the van, and prepare to depart. This time we actually make it. When I think of toucans, I always think of ‘Toucan Sam’ from Fruit Loops cereal fame. I don’t believe there has ever been a toucan that looked exactly like Sam, but they are extremely colorful. Primarily considered fruit-eaters, they are among the nosiest of the forest dwelling birds. We saw toco and channel-billed toucans, plus curl-crested aracari and red-necked aracari. Aracari are smaller versions of toucans and just as appealing to the eye. There are five different kingfisher birds in the Pantanal and we were up close and personal with all of them at the Southwild Lodge where we weren’t on photo restriction.
Divine Sister JUNE 10/11/17/18/24 • 8PM
ADMISSION: $22-$30
AL REGION ! E PREMIER
August 5/6/12/13/19/20 at 8PM
Auditions for our summer Actin' up workshoP May 14 at noon / ages 6-18
CECA
Cutting Edge Center for the Arts
767 Robert Blvd. Slidell
985-649-3727
CUTTINGEDGETHEATER.COM
39
Just like our belted kingfisher in Louisiana, they hang out near the river, hoping to catch some fish. The most common and largest, at 11 inches tall, is the Amazon kingfisher. Also commonly seen is the green kingfisher, at a mere seven inches in height. My favorite is the green-and-rufous. At about nine inches tall, it is much harder to spot, but stunning to behold. The American pygmy is the smallest, at six inches, with very similar coloring to the green-andrufous. Last, but not least, is the ringed kingfisher, which includes the same colors as our belted kingfisher. There are reports of ringed kingfishers in Louisiana, as they have spread into Texas from Central and South America. We spent several hours trying to get a shot of a kingfisher plucking a fish out of the water. Just like Louisiana, the Pantanal has a surplus of herons, such as the reclusive rufescent tiger heron, the boat-billed heron, capped heron, striated heron, whistling heron and the cocoi heron. The cocoi is very similar to our great blue and the striated looks like our green heron. One day, we watched a cocoi with a juvenile caiman. First the cocoi caught the caiman, then while trying to position to eat him, the caiman latched on to the cocoi’s beak. This went back and forth for at least an hour, before the cocoi finally was able to get the caiman into his mouth and began to consume him. Nature! The will to triumph and survive! I left my room early one morning in search of tea and breakfast, only to find a whistling heron with a rather chubby frog stuck on its’ beak. Of course, I had to grab my camera gear, which immediately fogged up in the transition from air-conditioned room to humid outdoors. I was able to capture a couple of images, but even more interesting was watching the heron’s struggle to eat its catch. The frog was dropped and picked up several times in an attempt to ingest it. After one of the drops, a southern crested caracara swept in and plucked the frog away from the heron. So sad! There are many other birds that are the same species as ours, such as the Neotropical cormorant, cattle egrets, black crowned night herons, great horned owls and swallow-tailed kites. Some swallow-tailed kites stay year round in Brazil but several will winter only and return to the southeastern US to nest.
40
Speaking of Neotropical cormorant, on our initial day at jaguar camp, we were headed out for our very first jag hunt when we spied one with a catfish speared on its beak. Our boatman didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Portuguese. We somehow manage to relay the message that we wanted to go back to photograph the cormorant and fish. The three of us - myself, Cathy, and Mark - got about 3 or 4 shots before Fabiano raced back and vividly explained to the boatman in Portuguese that we were NOT to stop to photograph anything except jags without his approval. That evening, while sitting in the salon reviewing the day’s shots, I found the perfect set of 3 images of the cormorant with the speared catfish, then flipping the catfish to take it headfirst so that the fins don’t fan out and damage its throat. I showed them to Fabiano and my fellow photographers who all agreed this was the shot of the day. Of course, I reminded Fabiano that I got that shot when he came back to chastise us for stopping and shooting something other than jags! LOL!
Throughout our trip, Cathy and I carried on a lively competition to get a shot of a sun bittern with its wings open. The sun bittern is a Neotropic water-edge bird found from Guatemala to the Pantanal. They prefer to fish in the shade along the edge of rivers or ponds. With closed wings, they display a multi-colored horizontal pattern across their backs from wing to wing, paired with horizontal white stripes on their head from beak to back of head. This alone is an interesting display, but wait until you see one gliding in for a landing with wings spread wide! The look is that of a colorful tapestry, amazing to behold. The fact that they like to fish in shaded areas made photography a challenge, but trying to catch one on landing approach became quite the task. Thankfully, we are all shooting digital now instead of film. I don’t think I could afford the cost of film that Cathy and I spent to capture that perfect landing shot! Think ostrich in Brazil and you have the greater rhea, the largest of all South American birds. These flightless birds use their long, powerful legs to outrun trouble. Even though their wings are flightless, they are used for balance and changing directions as they run, much like a rudder on an airplane. The polygamous male designs and builds their ground nest in which the female lays one egg every other day for 7-10 days. Other females will lay their eggs in the same nest, which might contain up to 50 eggs. Males perform the incubation and caring of the young chicks. Interesting, huh? Maybe we could transfer some of these traits to the human species! “So, did you hear the one about the greater rhea who walked into the hotel lobby?” No, it’s not a joke. At one of our lodges, a greater rhea walked into the lobby like he was a local guest. They also visited the poolside breakfast to sneak tastes off guests’ plates and sips from coffee cups. Who would’ve thought?
Azalea Estates of Slidell 354 Robert Blvd. Slidell, LA
985-641-2827
COME TAKE A TOUR OF YOUR NEW HOME!
Celebrating 20 Years of SMILES! Unparalleled Amenities! Activities • Entertainment • Exercise • On-Site Library Beauty & Barber Shop • Outdoor Walking Paths Blooming Gardens • Courtesy Transportation • Small Pets Welcome
www.AzaleaEstates.com
Perhaps the rarest bird was the harpy eagle, one of the largest and most powerful birds of prey in the world. With talons that can be as large as a bear’s claws and legs almost as thick as a man’s wrist, they are impressive in size. During our brief trip in the Amazon, mostly a birder’s destination as it is very challenging for photography, I walked the grounds after breakfast. One of the birders came running to tell of a harpy eagle sighting. I gathered my camera gear and raced to the boat with them, my heart pounding as much as theirs. I knew of the endangered harpy eagle from my ornithologist friend, Jennifer Coulson. I also knew that they were rarely seen in the wild! What a treat! He perched in his tree looking down at us as if he were holding court! And indeed, he was! Many, many other birds of prey were observed. Too many to list, although
41
I can’t talk about Brazil without mentioning the hummingbirds. There were many different species everywhere we went, but almost as challenging to photograph there as they are here. My favorite, also because I captured great images, was the swallow-tailed hummingbird, about 6 ½ inches in length, boasting vibrant colors of blue, green, purple, black and gray. It also helped that they loved the plants around the swimming pool, so I could take pictures clad in a bathing suit and sipping a Caipirinha (the national drink of Brazil). Before I sign off, I must tell you about the extraordinary macaws. Macaws are found in Central and South America in a variety of colors and sizes with 17 species total, some endangered. They can be seen at many zoos and wildlife parks in the U.S., but there is nothing like observing them in the wild! one always stood out. The black-collared hawk, which followed us everywhere we went. (Probably because the boatmen would fish for piranha while we photographed and would often throw them one.) Their call was an interesting, whining statement which reminded me of Happy Days’ Fonzie walking into a room, raising his thumbs on each hand, and saying, “Ehhhh!” Possibly the most unique species was the great potoo. Although similar in looks to an owl, it is in a different family all its own. Like owls, they are nocturnal and much the master of disguise. During the daytime, they remain stationary in a tree limb looking as if they are one with the bark. Picture this: We are driving along the Transpantaneira
Highway (think dirt road) and Fabiano taps the driver’s door to signal him to stop. He points at a gray tree in the distance and says, “There’s a great potoo!” I must admit, it was extremely hard to spot. But even better, after we returned to the lodge and viewed our images, we discovered the great potoo had a baby potoo tucked under her wing! Wow! Speaking of babies, I also photographed a line of proboscis bats on a tree trunk. After a closer look at the images, I discovered one had a baby tucked under her body. Also known as the Brazilian long-nose bat, they roost together in groups of 5-15, sometimes more, for protection from predators. No, they are not blood-sucking bats. Instead, they feed on insects living on the surface of ponds, lakes and rivers. Nice!
Their vibrant colors provide a magnificent display amongst the green canopy and array of colorful fruits and flowers found in Brazil. Large, powerful beaks make short work of cracking nuts and seeds. Interestingly, their tongues have a bone in them that aid in tapping into fruit. Their gripping toes allow them to easily hold onto branches and grab fruit, seeds, etc. Intelligent and social, macaws will flock together in groups of 10-30 and usually mate for life. We visited The Sinkhole of the Macaws, Buraco das Araras, in Bonito in the south Pantanal. The Sinkhole was formed when the cave roof collapsed, leaving a giant hole 406 feet deep with a diameter of 525 feet, and numerous cliffs that provide excellent nesting spots for the red and green macaws, plus about 130 other bird species. Red and green macaws are actually red, green and blue. They appear striking against the red rock cliff faces and blue sky.
42
Photography at The Sinkhole is challenging due to the lighting aspects and shooting from platforms with other people on them. Every
little move adds camera shake. Despite these adversities, I was able to capture some incredible flight shots, plus some perching photos.
is mostly seeds from native palms. Even though 2 eggs are laid, rarely will more than one survive. This, in addition to the illegal pet trade, has generated their endangered status.
The endangered hyacinth macaw was seen throughout our travels. The largest parrot in the world, at over 3 feet in length, sports remarkable cobalt blue feathers, paired with a yellow eye ring and a patch of yellow skin next to the lower bill, which is a rich black, curved and powerful. The majority of their nests are found in manduvi trees where they hollow out a hole into the trunk. Their diet
On the flipside was the yellow-collard macaw, often called a mini-macaw, at only 15 inches from beak to tail. They also nest in tree cavities and dine on fruit and seeds. Monogamous for life, they are quite mischievous. We also saw the vibrantly colored blue and yellow macaw, mainly found in pairs but often flocking together in groups. When flying in
pairs, they appear to be auditioning for a Blue Angels flight, as their wings almost touch. As with all macaws, they are extremely intelligent with complex social behavior and vocalizations, always displaying amazing antics as they interact with each other. I’ve barely touched the surface of the numerous bird species that we saw in the Pantanal. I hope I’ve given you a taste of what the area has to offer and a desire to see more. Stay tuned to a future edition where I’ll share more of the rich wildlife that I viewed and photographed in this magnificent area.
A Special Event, Open to Everyone!
BUSINESS AFTER HOURS Thursday, June 9, 2016 • 5-7pm
Food • Drinks • Door Prizes • Networking
Come out and meet the owners and creators of Kensington Garden Rooms!
a provider of BEAUTIFUL gazebos from
Kensington Garden Rooms
Jack Owen
Simon Johnston
Damion Merry
From the hit series
www.SOSbuildings.com
985-503-7645
890 East I-10 Service Road • Slidell 43
Spring in South Louisiana means Crawfishing Time
Mudbugging! Sponsored by
Ron Newson
Nothing quite confirms the arrival of spring in South Louisiana as the aroma of crawfish boiling in a big pot surrounded by family and friends waiting to pinch tails. More than 330 crawfish species populate North America. They range from the mountain streams of the Pacific Northwest to the desert impoundments of the Southwest to the rocky lakes of the Northeast; but nowhere
does this crustacean take on more cultural significance than in South Louisiana. About 35 species live in Louisiana, but most people only eat two -- red swamp crawfish and white river crawfish. Louisiana produces about 95 percent of the national crawfish crop, or about 150 million pounds annually. Not surprisingly, people in Louisiana eat more than 70 percent of that harvest!
Following that tradition of consuming large quantities of crawfish, my older sister planned the perfect Easter weekend family activity a long time ago. “Daddy,” she instructed my father, “You and John get up early Saturday morning and go out into the swamp to catch a bunch of crawfish. Come home at about noon and clean them so Mom can cook them. Tell her to put plenty of corn and potatoes in the pot. When the crawfish are boiled and ready to eat, Mom can call us and we’ll gladly get out of bed to come over and help you eat them. Also, Daddy, can you buy a variety of tasty beverages for everyone of all ages?” I must admit, my sister planned one heck of a day and executed her plan brilliantly. As ordered, Dad and I got up early that
Invest in your dreams. Ron Newson, Agent Registered Representative Bus: 985-641-0190 Toll Free: 800-969-2990
1101418.2
Ask me about State Farm Mutual Funds . Making the right investment choices today may help you reach your dreams for tomorrow. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. CALL ME TODAY. ®
®
Before investing, consider the funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact State Farm VP Management Corp (1-800-447-4930) for a prospectus or summary prospectus containing this and other information. Read it carefully. AP2012/05/0538. Securities and insurance products are not FDIC insured, are not guaranteed by State Farm Bank and are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of principal. ®
Saturday morning and headed to some swampy creek bottoms near Hickory where we dutifully caught about 80 pounds of mudbugs. Mom cooked them to perfection for an old-fashioned Cajun crawfish boil. After we all stuffed ourselves with succulent crustaceans, my sister, her family and assorted friends headed home just about the time we started to clean up the mess. “This was a lot of fun,” she said walking out the door smacking her lips. “I had a great time, but Daddy, buy more drinks next time. Why do we have to wait for a holiday to get together? Let’s do this every weekend!” With or without my sister planning the operation, Dad and I enjoyed this ritual nearly every Saturday during the spring back in my youthful days. Sometimes starting as early as December, crustacean connoisseurs can buy farm-raised crawfish, but Dad and I preferred to catch our own. For us, the end of duck hunting season in late January marked the unofficial passing of winter into spring. Then, we waited for the first warm Saturday in February to signal the beginning of crawfishing season. Nearly every spring weekend until about the time school ended in late May or early June, Dad and I vigorously pursued those tasty crustacean morsels in swamps near Slidell. In the early 1970s, a vast pine forest occasionally broken by logging roads and hardwood creek bottoms covered a huge triangle between Slidell, Covington and Bush. It belonged to the Crown Zellerbach Corporation, a timber and paper company. The company allowed people to use the land for hunting, fishing and other recreation as long as they didn’t chop down any trees. While pines dominated the forests of that area, the upper reaches of the Abita River, Bayou Lacombe and Bayou Liberty, plus several other creeks, flowed through these forests. In places, these streams created hardwood bottomlands that periodically flooded. Some spread into quite large cypress swamps. Some roadside ditches also held water and flowed into these swamps. In years with wet winters or springs, such as what we recently experienced, high water created ideal conditions to produce bountiful crawfish populations in these backwater swamps. We could access the Crown Zellerbach property through Airport Road or from Highways 11, 36 and 41. Back then, Airport Road looked nothing like it does today. Just a lonely country road, it marked the end of civilization between Slidell and Covington. Now, Airport Road stops at the Slidell Airport, but in those days, it went past the airport through the forests northwest of Camp Villere, at the time an outpost surrounded by woods. Airport Road connected to Dixie Ranch Road and several other dirt logging roads traversing the forest.
Schedule an appointment today! Picayune,MS 718 Hwy 11 South, Ste. B (601) 799-0707 • info@idoc.me Pearl River, LA 64185 Hwy 41, Ste. B (985) 250-8000 • info@idoc.me
Kraig Stasney, O.D.
Dr. Lindsey Watson, O.D.
www.idoc.me
Come in and get your Evergreen Club Card. Buy 6 eligible Evergreen products and get the 7th one free. Applies to flags, door décor, door mat inserts and mail box covers.
Near where the Royal Golf Course now sits off Airport Road, we could see old concrete bunkers and walls pockmarked by bullet holes. Some looked as if they had been hit by rockets or artillery shells. I don’t know the history of these objects, but I suspect National Guardsmen training at nearby Camp Villere used these walls to stop bullets during target practice. As temperatures began to warm, we sometimes made scouting expeditions to our favorite crawfishing spots between the towns of Pearl River, Abita Springs and
45
Talisheek. Occasionally, we ventured north of Highway 435 toward Bush. Since most people crawfishing back then went to Honey Island Swamp in the Pearl River system, we largely had our honey holes to ourselves after hunting season ended.
Over 12 Years of Experience
COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL
Gift Certificates for Mother’s Day Available on our Website! acleangetawayjanitorial.com
Carlene and Charles Melton
985.445.7562
For the scouting expeditions, we’d bring a few crawfish nets to test the waters. To escape the cold, crawfish burrow into the mud for the winter and emerge as temperatures warm in the spring. If we caught a few in the test nets, we’d return the next weekend ready for action. A different species makes “crawfish chimneys.” As the weather warms, the crustaceans push up mud from their underground burrows. In the spring, people often see these mud cylinders dotting their yards. In the days before hand-held electronic entertainment, a young boy could spend all day in the sun trying to catch a single crawfish in one of these burrows and enjoy every minute of it. As a child, I’d tie a piece of hot dog or bologna to a string and lower it down the mud chimney. Then, I’d wait for a bite. When the string moved, I’d slowly pull it up toward the surface. If lucky, I could pull the greedy crawfish preoccupied with the gift of meat from its lair. Once, after spending several hours trying to outwit one crustacean, I finally caught the cagey creature. I wanted to keep him as a pet and played with him on the front porch, until my older brother came home and accidently stepped on it. That crawfish really made his mark in the world. Catching crawfish one at a time can occupy a young child for hours, but can’t feed a family. To catch crawfish more efficiently, we used a few dozen nets on wire frames. The frames formed a pyramid with a net mesh stretched across the bottom of it. We baited the nets with fish heads, chicken necks or other oily, bloody baits. Beef melts or bloody cow organs always worked best. Using a metal shower curtain clip, we attached the bait to the net. Dad and I, sometimes accompanied by a friend, would arrive at our chosen crawfishing location just after daylight. We generally started at a ditch running along a road and then proceeded into the swamp. We placed nets in likely spots so that the mesh sat flat on the bottom in water about two feet deep so the top of the frame protruded above the surface. We attached bright orange, red or chartreuse ribbons to the net frames to help us find them.
Ace
COMMERCIAL BUSINESS OWNERS:
INSURANCE AGENCY For All Your Insurance Needs
(985) 643-5440
Have you reviewed your insurance policy recently? If not, contact Ace Insurance Agency for a full policy and rate review. You may be underinsured and overpaying. We offer great rates for commercial property.
3412 Pontchartrain Drive
46
www.aceia.com
When approaching a “set,” we gently slipped a long stout stick through the wire to lift the net from the water. Weighted by the bait and catch, the net trapped any crawfish in the bottom as we lifted it with the stick. Then, we dumped the crawfish into an old ice chest that floated behind us as we dragged it through the shallow swamp. When we reached the end of the line, we sat on a stump for a brief break, about as long as it took Dad to drink a cup of rich Community coffee and chicory and smoke a cigarette or two. Then, we ran the nets again as we worked back toward the road. At the road, we dumped the catch from the ice chest into a large burlap oyster sack hidden and staked in shallow water. At the road, we rested a bit, ate a snack, resupplied ourselves and repeated the process. With each “run,” we rebaited and relocated our nets as necessary. As the morning progressed, we slowly worked our way deeper into the swamp with each run. By the
time to head home, we possibly penetrated more than a couple miles into the swamp. Walking “the line” back and forth through the water wore a youthful me out. Now, 40 years later, I can just imagine how my dad felt at the end of the day! We kept several spots in mind and rotated through them in the course of a spring season so we wouldn’t overfish any of them. Sometimes, we only caught a few crawfish and let them go to grow. However, we usually caught 30 to 60 pounds a day. Occasionally, we caught more than 100 pounds! As much as I liked catching and eating crawfish, I really loved watching nature come alive. Early in the season, we’d wear hip boots, long underwear and warm jackets to ward off the cold as we walked through frosty swamp water under bare trees largely devoid of life. Little by little, the spring sunshine warmed the swamp as flowers and colorful buds emerged. Each week, these once skeletal trees sprouted more buds that eventually became a leafy green canopy shading the swamps. As the water warmed, we put away the boots and coats until next hunting season. Instead, we wore old sneakers. By the time the season ended, we wore only shorts and looked forward to cooling off in the refreshing water on each run. As the season progressed, various animals also emerged from their lethargy to shake off the winter chill. Diverse birds began singing as other creatures added their voices to the swamp cacophony. When we lifted the nets, we never knew what else we might find besides crawfish. Sometimes, we caught small fish, turtles, sirens, (snake-like aquatic amphibians) or other creatures. Sometimes, we picked up even less desirable creatures. Occasionally, we watched a cottonmouth slither out of the net. That can get someone’s attention quickly! We always kept a .22 revolver strapped to our hips just for such encounters. I brought home a dead cottonmouth once. I wanted to see what it tasted like and make a belt out of its skin. Rather quickly, loudly and vehemently, my mother vetoed that activity. Back then, we used metal cylinders with lids as garbage cans. I curled up the still intact snake and placed it at the top of the garbage just under the lid. Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone move as fast as the garbage man when he popped the lid off that can! Another time, I put the head of a large alligator garfish in the garbage can. A heavily armored prehistoric predator, an alligator garfish can grow to more than 10 feet long and weigh more than 350 pounds. I placed the head of a 6-footer in the can with its toothy alligator-like mouth propped open. Partially buried by garbage, it appeared ready to leap out of the can. My dad never really figured out why the quality of our sanitation service declined significantly that year. Unlike with snakes, my mother never objected to us bringing home live crawfish. When we returned home with the catch, Dad went inside to clean up, grab a cold beverage and take a nap, leaving me to clean the crawfish. I dumped the live crustaceans into a vat containing clean water and added salt to purge them. Inside the house, Mom warmed the giant boiling pot and prepared the seasonings. After several rinses, we could add the clean crawfish to the boiling pot.
Summer Camp 2016
Kindergarten Graduates - 13 years
Weekly field trips
Registration OPEN NOW! A faith based camp All demoninations welcome!
Swimming & pizza parties
Before and After Care available
May 23rd - August 5th Camp Hours: 9am-4pm
985-259-4781 1410 8th St. Slidell, LA
Living with Pain? PRP Therapy Can Help
PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy) is a non-surgical treatment for chronic pain. It encourages natural healing of joints and costs less than painful surgeries.
(985) 326-8614
ortho-louisiana.com
1570 Lindberg Drive • Suite #10 • Slidell, LA 47
To get even with my sister, I told her that the crawfish scream when they hit the boiling water. Just as my mother poured the first crustaceans into the hot pot, I came up behind my sister and screamed. She moved almost as fast as our garbage man, but quickly returned when Mom declared the first batch ready to eat. With the aroma of seasonings, sausage, boiling potatoes and corn wafting all over the neighborhood, we realized how many friends we had in the immediate vicinity. They all came running, usually about the time the steaming scarlet crustaceans hit on the table covered with newspapers. Of course, NOBODY, ever waited until the succulent morsels cooled. We all burned our mouths on the first batch – each week – repeatedly. While the eating tradition continues stronger than ever in Louisiana and expands beyond the Pearl and Sabine rivers, few people still catch their own crawfish any longer. In the old days, anyone could stop just about anywhere in South Louisiana in a puddle that held two feet of water and catch crawfish. When Dad couldn’t go, I frequently put a few nets over my shoulder and rode my bicycle to ditches lining Robert Road or small drainage canals running near my home to catch crawfish.
Against the background of the white shell road submerged under a few inches of water, the lane seethed in a moving brown mass. I don’t know why millions of crawfish chose this particular time and place to cross the road, but people were scooping and grabbing everything they could. They dumped the squirming creatures into buckets, ice chests, even the trunks of their cars or pickup truck beds. To satisfy their mudbug cravings today, most people visit restaurants. Others buy live crawfish and boil them or buy the crustaceans already boiled. Most crawfish sold in restaurants and seafood markets come from rice farms, usually in central or southwestern Louisiana. Some commercial fishermen still trap wild crawfish in places like the Atchafalaya Basin and sell them.
In some places, people may still find a few roadside waters that hold good numbers of crawfish, but four-lane superhighways, elevated roadways and covered drainage ditches don’t offer many places to pull over and fish. The old timber company lands where we hunted and crawfished so many years ago turned into high-dollar private hunting leases behind fences and gates. A few public areas still offer good crawfishing opportunities. People can still catch some crawfish in parts of the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area. People driving along Interstate 10 where it crosses the Pearl River system can sometimes see vehicles parked next to the swamps in the spring. Some people access Honey Island Swamp by boat or via old Highway 11 and find good places to catch crawfish. No matter how someone cooks them, mudbugs always seem to taste better after a long, hard, fun day spent catching them. I hope this unique Louisiana experience never fades into history. I don’t know if future generations will experience the same thrill of picking up a net full of squirming wild mudbugs warmed by a spring sun or even the fear of watching a snake slither out through holes in the mesh that I did so long ago in the swamps near Slidell.
COME TO THE SOURCE!
10 OFF
Specializing in custom granite, quartz and solid surface countertops, cabinets, interior design, and installation and project management services
OFFER AVAILABLE UNTIL END OF July 15, 2016
O: 985.288.0801 C: 985.718.6135 48
On any given spring day back then, people could drive along any two-lane country road bordered on at least one side by water and find people catching crawfish. Once, we drove down an old shell road passing through a swamp near Thibodaux. Recent rains caused water to flow over the road. At the edge of the water, several cars parked. We just figured they planned to turn around and go the other way. However, we noticed something odd.
%
KITCHEN & BATHROOM REMODEL
58465 Tyler St., Unit 15 Slidell, LA 70461 Located by Lowe’s and Walmart
slidellkitchenandbath.com
IT’S GOOD TO BE AN ORIGINAL. Originality is synonymous with locally-owned businesses. Chains & franchises replicate themselves so many times, they lose a lot of what made them an original concept. At LOVE TO BUY LOCAL, we celebrate the original small businesses in our community & show
our support for them in the most meaningful way we can. WITH OUR WALLETS. Local businesses that make our community unique are absolutely vital to our local economy. Equally vital is our responsibility to support the businesses & owners that do so much for our community. Every month we choose to spotlight a couple of
our LOVE TO BUY LOCAL partners who are true Slidell originals. These are the leaders, volunteers & active supporters of our community every day. Support the small business ORIGINALS in our community when you make the choice to #LoveToBuyLocal - LOCAL STARTS WITH YOU!
Champagne Jewelers / L2BL DISCOUNT 15% off on all in-store purchases. Cannot be combined with any other discounts.
Son Property Inspection / L2BL DISCOUNT 10% off all property inspection services
Air Dat Heating & Cooling / L2BL DISCOUNT Card holders receive service calls for $50. Regularly priced at $85. (-$35 savings).
Sugar Love Cakes Bakery / L2BL DISCOUNT 10% off all purchase over $20. Cannot be combined with any other offers, discounts, or specials.
BUY LOCAL GOOD THRU
12/2016
CARD NUMBER
15 - 1234567
AND SAVE. LOCAL STARTS WITH YOU.
FOR A CURRENT AND COMPLETE LIST OF PARTNERS & DISCOUNTS, GO TO OUR WEBSITE.
om BuyLocal.c
LoveTo
HAVE QUESTIONS? Please contact us @ 985-641-2220 or WeCare@LoveToBuyLocal.com
LoveToBuyLocal.com
49
OUT TAKES Slidell Magazine was EVERYWHERE this month! Here are just a few of our adventures!
with Donnie r” John Case io for the le el yt or St “T he g stud the recordin Bergeron at n of “Bogue Chitto Flats” io rs audio ve
ag
Slidell M
y 2016 70-Ma
WE CAN BUILD Dawn Sharpe & Victoria Lan IT! guns during the Rosie the glinais show their Riveter photo shoot to support Habitat’s 201 6 Women Bui ld
2016 Habitat For Humani ty Women Bui ld Team: The Resourceful Rosies led by Woman of Distinction , Dawn Sharpe. Back, l-r: Christy Fugate , Debbie Tisha Batuk, Dawn, Roxann Callens, Sharon Delong, e Lord, Barbara Doyle. Front, l-r: Melissa Mitrik and Jody Mediamolle
John Maracich from Expo hanging out with The Signs Do at the Chamber Show n case
volunteers! Hard working or Freddy Drennan pf and May Quentin Stum much deserved break take a Wine Tasting e Bourbon & si Ro dy w Ro at The
You guys quack me up! Ken Thompson and Barbara Doyle of Slidell Rotary Club promoting their duck race fundraiser at the Chamber Expo
50
Sisterly Love! Ou r Mother’s Day picture, cir Slidell Mag Edito ca 1994: r with sisters, Sc Kendra Maness arlett and Wend y
: en Bui ld Team H umanity Wom r Fo t ta bi sies 2016 Ha The Royal Ro ruce Smith. tion, Adele B , Chrissy nc ti is D of ne an oy om rd W O by na d le e Meeks, Davi ichelle Back, l-r: Rene e, l-r: Lisa Baudot, Eva M ont, l-r: dl Fr . id M es rd h. Smit annon O ann n Williams, Sh Trader, Susa Morel, Adele, Pam Kauf m Jackie
EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY To qualify, earn 1500 Points or $20 Table Game Comp Dollars on Fridays and Saturdays between 12:01 a.m. and 10 p.m. On the day you qualify, you can play the Grand Slam Giveaway anytime from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for your chance to win $10,000 Free Slot Play instantly!
GRAND PRIZE DRAWINGS $10,000 CASH
May 28 & June 25 See Players Services for detals.
www.silverslipper-ms.com • 1-866-SLIPPER • 1-866-754-7737 5000 South Beach Blvd. • Bay St. Louis, MS 39520
51