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10/15/2016.

Kendra Maness Editor/Publisher Slidell Magazine

Editor’s Letter public appearances, even a dinner and stage production where John read accompanied by a blues guitarist. Throughout all of it, the hardest battle we faced was John’s humility.

Behind-the-scenes of Tales from Bogue Chitto Flats. l-r: Director Grace Marshall, Author John S. Case, Assistant Director Suzanne Stymiest & Producer Kendra Maness Funny how fate just kind of takes you on a journey and it’s all you can do to hold on for the ride!

After I spent years begging “The Storyteller” John Case to compile his short stories into a book, my dream became reality when John & I published Bogue Chitto Flats this past November. John was humble about his writing and was surprised at the overwhelming response to his books. (No surprise to me!)

Shortly afterwards, there were book signings and distribution outlets, live readings and

You see, John’s a true Southern gentleman to the core. It’s just not in his DNA to be prideful. In order for me to promote the book, I needed to promote the author. “I feel like I’m rolling a boulder uphill,” I remember saying to him on more than one occasion. I honestly believe that John thinks people read his stories just because they’re his friends.

Enter Grace Marshall and Suzanne Stymiest, two of the most talented actors, directors and playwrights this side of the Mason-Dixon line. They too loved the book and saw the potential to adapt the stories for the theater.

John was bashful and apprehensive. We were bullish and optimistic. Their strong personalities helped push that boulder up and over the top! A play was born!

Grace and Suzanne enlisted EIGHTEEN of their most talented actor/friends and adapted five of John’s stories. The result is simply UNREAL. Wow, this play is sooooo good.

I’m the Producer, a new role for me. I’ve come to realize that a good producer does everything the directors tell them to do. I’m learning and having the time of my life.

And I’m enjoying the breeze from atop the hill.

Tales from Bogue Chitto Flats will hit the stage August 26-28 at Cutting Edge Theater.

PO Box 4147 • Slidell, LA 70459

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 Making Cents of Your Money, Mike Rich MikeRich@MyPontchartrain.com La Serendipity, Donna Bush Donna.Bush@yahoo.com Once Upon a Time, excerpt from “Slidell, Camellia City” by Dan A. Ellis Go Beyond, Rose Marie Sand

COVER ART BY MATT LITCHLITER

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

m at t litchliter This is the FOURTH Slidell Magazine cover in just the past year for Matt Litchliter.

Once we discovered his artwork, we were hooked! Matt’s bold and colorful, in-yourface paintings are exactly what we love! His portraits of Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. and Morgus the Magnificent were two of our most popular covers. Last month, Matt helped us honor our Louisiana law enforcement with an emotional graphic illustration/dedication on our cover. This month, he gets us pumped up for a new Saints season with his portrait of our indomitable QB getting the job done!

Portrait paintings are just one of the many art forms Matt enjoys. While attending Southeastern Louisiana University under the Fine Arts program, Matt expanded his notions of creative design and worked to challenge his conceptual processes by experimenting with mixed media, assemblage and found object wall sculpture. “I love working with different textural mediums that alter the experience of my work…plywood, fabric, paper and canvas, each conveys its own set of principles and adds flavor to my creative process.”

Matt has also been a tremendous help with Slidell Magazine as a creative consultant.

He’s part of our Slidell Mag family and we appreciate his talents and friendship!

www.SlidellMag.com 985-789-0687

Kendra Maness - Editor/Publisher

Cover Artist

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SEPTEMBER 2016

Jerzy

Extraordinarily Fascinating “Ordinary” People

by Charlotte Lowry Collins

“Jurek”

Pol

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. ~Vince Lombardi

Watching the intense focus and confidence of the Olympic contenders last month was awe-inspiring. I watched them before my interview with Hall of Famer, “Coach Pol”, who coached over 20 teams in the World Championships. I’ve always been fascinated with watching the emotions in coaches on the sidelines, and how they handle the stress of the most climatic moments in sports history.

Driving up to the address, I realized that Jurek and Melanie Pol live in that beautiful 1890 home on Teddy Avenue in historic Brugier Subdivision, and have restored it back to its former glory. I was met by a tall, strong man with svelte, European looks. As we strolled up the walkway, Jurek explained that his wife, Melanie, had driven past this house for 15 years, fantasizing about owning it someday. Climbing the front steps, I saw a sleek grey cat’s tail motioning to me from under the rocking chair. I would soon learn that Jurek and Melanie have several rescue cats inside and outside.

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The room Melanie chose for us to sit in was the dining room, the one where they spent

most of their time. In the light reflecting off the yellow walls, the medals, awards and memorabilia almost glowed with a golden hue. Sitting down, Jurek began with, “I didn’t choose this sport, it chose me.” He was

referring to acrobatic gymnastics, where teams of bodies balance in seemingly impossible poses, and perform flurries of somersaults. When he was only nine years old, he was accepted into a gymnastics school in Warsaw, Poland. Because it was sponsored by the government, there were many demands that went with the prestigious selection.

As Jurek described, “I was passionate about gymnastics. But then, I saw kids on the trampoline.” Demonstratively, he popped his hand straight up from the table. “It looked like they were flying,” he smiled. “It wasn’t long before I switched to trampoline. I loved the feeling of freedom, as your body soared for a moment.” The passionate boy trained seriously several hours a day after school, and between his studies. He steadfastly climbed the ladder of success and, in 1966, Jurek made the Polish national team. For the first time, he was allowed to travel outside of Poland.

“My eyes were truly opened when I entered Western Europe for the first time. There were grocery stores with actual food on the shelves, not just empty like the stores

back home. Poof went my image of the rotten Western Europeans that we had been taught. I grew up with Marxism and Leninism. Now I saw that food and a multitude of other things could be purchasedbyeveryone, not just officials.

You know, borders there weren’t made to keep people out, but to keep us in.”

Going back in time, he led me though the changes in his family since the 1800’s. “I was told that in 1812, my paternal French great-grandfather DePohl was given an estate in Poland for his heroic acts of loyalty to Napoleon.

He marched with Napoleon and helped secure the new country. As it turned out, he loved Poland and decided to stay and raise a family there. The estate was later lost to the Germans and Russians in World War II. Soon after, we dropped the letters d, e, and h to become the Pol family in order to disguise our distinguished heritage and survive the Communist persecution. My grandfather was a Colonel and went underground to fight the Germans. Many of my ancestors were sent to Russian concentration camps. I learned a lot through these family recounts and my own personal experiences, and I grew very curious about the United States.”

Moving ahead in time, he related, “We lived very close to the Olympic Center and the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw. It was one of the first universities focused on sports management sports medicine, and I received my Master’s there in 1975. My thesis was on the Biomechanics of Trampoline Skills and Technique.

As I won championships, I began to travel abroad. I spent a lot of time training, and wasn’t home for family holidays like other kids. When I competed, I had ice in my veins. I trained so hard it was almost to perfection.

In the early days, every time you went to compete, you had different equipment. Sometimes, the springs would break on the trampoline and cause me to fall out. I would never fall out on my own, I was a sure performer.

I found I never ‘blew up’ in competitions unless there was equipment failure,” he chuckled.

To make money during college, Jurek began helping his coach as an Instructor. In order to recruit kids, he would go to the elementary schools and test them. “I finally recruited about a hundred kids, and they were quite good. Soon after I left, they won the National Junior Championship,” Jurek exclaimed proudly. The reason Jurek was not there to see the victory was because this young instructor simply walked off the train in Germany

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during one of their trips. He had aspired to be a Professor one day, and had been accepted... but only if he agreed to join the Communist Party. Jurek told them he would, right after the next championship. His choice was an easy one, knowing his principles would never allow him to follow through on his promise to join the Party, so off he stepped. He left with nothing. “I had a few hundred bucks, but that was it.”

From Germany, Jurek went to Sweden, got a work permit, and worked on a tulip farm. Soon after, he applied for immigration to the U.S., to fulfill his childhood dream. “I learned Swedish in about six months, and they made me Foreman. It was a great job, but then my immigration papers came through. On Thanksgiving night, I arrived in New York, but I had no idea what Thanksgiving was at the time. Not long after that, I was on a plane to New Orleans, and now, here I am in Slidell,” he stated emphatically.

Of course, I had to know why he picked this area over anywhere else in the country. “No snow,” he laughed.

Then he went on to elaborate, “It was exotic with the riverboats, sailboats, and musical culture.” He also worked for a promotional company for Jazz Fests in Sweden, where he made contact with Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Bassie, the Philharmonic Orchestra, and Preservation Hall with Professor Longhair. “We talked a lot about the New Orleans area, and I was intrigued.”

One of Jurek’s first moves was to secure a coaching job at the YMCA on Lee Circle. He went to Loyola, and got his past education transferred to a teaching certificate and an undergraduate degree. Unfortunately, they did not honor his Master’s degree, but it was enough to start the New Orleans Acrobatic Team, uptown in 1976 in St. Stephen’s gym.

Leaning forward, Jurek confided, “We won championships right away because of the uniqueness and excitement of our beautiful sport. In 1978, my partner and I won Gold Medals in the U. S. National Championship in Acrobatic Gymnastics. Since the beginning, the team has won 20 USA National Championships and 57 international medals.

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Jurek admitted, “I looked up once, saw her, and never took my eyes off her the entire time I was teaching. It was like lightening had struck me!”

It took him a week to call and ask her for lunch. “She didn’t say yes, but… she didn’t say no. What she said was very strange. She asked me to call another day because she was watching the Wizard of Oz with her daughter. I didn’t get it then, but that’s who Melanie was, a devoted, single mom. When I asked again, she said only if her daughter could come, as they were a package deal. Now we all love the movie, and have decided to ‘follow the yellow brick road’ together. Our wedding reception was on St. Patrick’s Day in a yellow room at Commander’s Palace, and that’s why we painted this room yellow,” he said, motioning around us.

Soon, Melanie took on the role of Artistic Director and Danielle, their daughter, competed with them, helping coach their team and later winning a gold medal in the 1997 National Championships. In the 70’s, their team competed internationally, but Jurek didn’t feel safe without a U.S. passport in the Communist countries.

In 1980, he finally received U.S. citizenship. Then, the Berlin Wall went down in 1988. Finally, in 1989, he returned to Poland to visit his parents for the first time in fourteen years. “I was scared to death to go back there. The country was still so fresh from communism.”

In the meantime, they attended a St. Patty’s Day parade in Olde Towne Slidell. Sitting on the Salmen Commissary steps, Melanie looked around and said, “I could live here.” Once they learned about Our Lady of Lourdes for Danielle, it made sense, and the Pols moved to Slidell.

Fifteen years later, they saw the “For Sale by Owner” sign on Melanie’s dream house in Olde Towne. But it took Katrina to bring their business here to Slidell.

Now their routine consisted of teaching, coaching at night, then working on the house until 1am. They did everything themselves. “Remodeling involved mental gymnastics,” Jurek interjected. I can vouch for the fact that you have to truly love older homes, because it is an ongoing process.

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The Pol’s road to success was an uphill climb. Their gym started with a big box fan, literally. “My students learned with blocks of wood for resistance, like we did in Poland, no special equipment. They had an advantage when competing in the heat. They were used to no AC, unlike the fancy gyms,” Melanie and Jurek laughed together.

Finally, a week before Katrina, they were able to purchase $20,000 worth of real equipment, including a long awaited trampoline. Five days after the storm, they came back, in a convoy with a trailer to retrieve and clean the equipment. Instead, they had to pile all but the trampoline on the curb. With no insurance on the brand new equipment, they knew it would be tough to rebuild. Melanie looked out the rearview window at the mess and said quietly, “It’s time for us to start a new adventure.” You would have to meet Melanie to appreciate her energetic positivism.

They continued coaching at night, this time at Gymnastics Plus in Slidell. Kids are Jurek’s passion now. Jurek had taught

Melanie and Jurek with daughter Danielle after she won Nationals

The Pols with grandson Cameron at Jurek’s 2016 Hall of Fame induction

PE part time, and became certified in PE, Chemistry, Biology and Physical Science, to teach full time for Operation Jumpstart in St. Tammany Parish. He is now an online facilitator for our high-ranking parish school system. As Jurek proclaimed,

“There are no bad kids, something or somebody caused that. Imagine a student hungry, having had no breakfast, water or electricity, maybe family problems that morning, and they come to school angry.

They just need someone to care, let them

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end. I speak English, Polish, Russian and Swedish, so that helps when we compete internationally.”

So what’s next for this family that turns around the lives of our youth? “I’ve met most of my goals in elite gymnastics. I just received my certification in Educational Leadership, so that is the next goal in my career. I’m interested in working with younger kids, more of the beginners. I can’t help being interested in Gymnastics.”

know they are important, and maybe let them vent in private. We end up sharing a smile, and respecting each other. I find myself mentoring them. Every kid counts.”

Coach Pol, as his students refer to him, was inducted in the USA Sports Acrobatics

Hall of Fame in 2001 and, most recently, in the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2016. “Make no mistake, it takes a lot of hard work. Other than sleep, it is like a 24 hour a day job - training, dealing with rules, uniforms, parents and the business

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If I have peaked your interest in this overly modest Hall of Fame coach, simply search his name on USAgym.org to see for yourself. There’s no end to the amazing residents of our beloved Slidell, Louisiana.

Maybe your future little Olympiad may find a professional mentor right here in Slidell! Jurek stresses that he’s always looking for kids to try out. “You don’t have to have any experience, just desire!” Boys and girls, ages 8-15 are welcome to try out for his Gymnastics Class Acrobatics Team. Call 985-788-6066 to speak with Jurek and see your kids soar!

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Shrek the Musical Slidell Little Theatre • 2pm

Krewe of Titans Poker Run • 10am The Dock

Shrek the Musical Slidell Little Theatre • 2pm

SAINTS VS FALCONS • 7:30PM

GRAND OPENING First Street Galleria 3:30pm

GRAND OPENING B.L.I. Studios Located by JC Penney 3:30pm

TUE

Friends of NRA Banquet Trinity Hall • 7pm

GRAND OPENING South Slidell Library 11:00am

WED

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SEPTEMBER

SAINTS VS RAVENS • 7PM

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Walk for ALD Honey Island Elementary 8:30am-Noon

SAT

SeptemBEER Fest Harbor Center • 12-6pm

Double M Tent Sale • 9:30-11:30am

Saints Kickoff Run Champion Square • 7am

SYFA Banquet Slidell Auditorium

OCTOBER

SMH Faith, Hope & Fashion Show Slidell Airport • 6-9pm Sylvia • Cutting Edge Theater • 8pm

Freddy Drennan's Wild Game Cookoff Fritchie Park 11am-4pm

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Sylvia • Cutting Edge Theater • 8pm

Unleashed! Rescue Me Gala Benefits St. Tammany Humane Society Pontchartrain Yacht Club • 7:30pm

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Shrek the Musical • Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm

River Clean Up on the Pearl Pump Slough Rd • 9am

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Shrek the Musical • Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm

Public Policy Meeting Chamber • 8am

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Shrek the Musical • Slidell Little Theatre • 8pm

FRI

SAL • 2016 Artists of the Year Show • City Hall Gallery • 8/9-9/23

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Third Thursday Artist Galleries de Juneau • 5 -7pm

Business After Hours Ponchartrain Investment Management 5-7pm

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Communication Committee Chamber • 8:30am Art & Conversation BAH Chamber mARTketplace • 5pm

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St. Tammany Parish Fair • Sep. 28 - Oct. 2

EYP Business After Hours The Wine Market • 5-7pm

Coastal Conservation Banquet Slidell Auditorium • 6-9pm

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Cultural Economy Luncheon Speaker: Billy Nungesser Harbor Center • 11am- 1pm Art for Sale & Viewing

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Bayou Jam Concert • Redline Heritage Park • 5:30pm

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Tales from Bogue Chitto Flats Cutting Edge Theater • 2pm

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Storyteller Football: A Southern Tradition You can’t keep a good thing a secret forever. In this case, I would go so far as to say that the world is better for it. No, I won’t go that far. But there is no doubt we, as southerners, made it famous. I am not talking about BBQ, tobacco spitting, or moonshine whiskey. I am talking about American college football.

nation to the game in its present form.

I did know, or know of, Bear Bryant, Vince Dooley, Paul Dietzel, and Johnny Vaught. They are the coaches that made small southern football stadiums famous, turning them into the main attraction in towns like Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa, Athens, and Oxford.

In the last fifty years, professional football has become America’s favorite pastime, surpassing hockey, soccer, basketball, and even America’s previous favorite, baseball. I am not sure I can explain the appeal, but if the salaries paid to some professional players are any indication, it is a colossal success.

A few make a million dollars a game. Not bad for a day’s work.

addicted to the game as the next man or woman.

Twenty-two men trying to maim each other sounds a little like gladiators of old; but again, I confess I look forward to the season and feel disappointment when the season ends.

Why football is such a big deal, I don’t understand.

That does not mean that I don’t like it; I am as

I never knew Knute Rockne or Amos Alonzo Stagg. They were the legends that introduced this

I will focus mostly on the games, the teams, and traditions that I know the most about. That would be those associated with Ole Miss and LSU. Over the years, these teams have had their share of the joys of victory and the heartbreak of defeat.

Along with the rivalries between these teams, the fans have developed their own personalities and traditions. Some of these traditions would, to an alien, seem as strange as the battle taking place on the gridiron. **********

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For Ole Miss, it all started in 1954 when the Maryland Terrapins invaded the Ole Miss campus for a traditional fall football contest. This was long before the stadium was named Vaught Hemingway and long before Johnny Vaught was a household name in Mississippi.

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Maryland had been the national champion in 1953, and the Rebels were not yet on the national radar as a powerhouse. I remember that fall afternoon. Though I am not a believer in global warming, I must admit Septembers and Octobers were colder then. My memory is that an overweight middle-aged gentleman, well-dressed in a black wool overcoat, cigar, and hat, ambled to a seat in front of me and announced that he had just left the dressing room and the team was ready to play. It crossed my mind to wonder how he had the privilege to make such a visit. I was later told he was a U.S. Congressman. It was obvious he had been visiting with another favorite spirit of football season, Jack Daniels.

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The Rebels won that day. Some details are sketchy in my memory, but they won and a tradition was born. Overnight, those who did not know Oxford, Mississippi from Oxford, England vowed they had been fans for years and Ole Miss was their team.

A similar transformation was taking place in Baton Rouge. After a few shaky years, Paul Dietzel was hired in 1954. He was one of the first to recruit players to play offense or defense exclusively.

Most players did not play on both sides of the ball on his teams.

Another tradition, the defense was called the “Chinese Bandits” and the offense was called either the “Go Team” or the “White Team.” Tiger Stadium was much smaller then than it is now, but even in those days, it was one of the largest stadiums in the conference, thanks to money poured into the program by Governor Huey P. Long. He also poured money into the band and, making a trip to Baton Rouge, an even more enjoyable venue. The trip was such a draw that, for financial purposes, Ole Miss chose to play in Tiger Stadium for almost a dozen years straight, giving up their home field advantage in Oxford.

A train called the Rebel Special would originate in Memphis on Saturday morning. It would stop at all the small towns along the way, taking on game-bound passengers. This was the Bible Belt – Mississippi, that is, not Baton Rouge – and this trip may have been the only time some of these people would partake of adult beverages. But rest assured, most did. By the time the train crossed the state line, it may have been carrying upward of a thousand slightly tipsy fans. The trip ended as the train pulled up almost directly next to Tiger Stadium.

A tradition that may seem strange today has to do with the game day dress code. As I have said, fall days were cooler then and, usually, the Ole Miss vs. LSU game was held during October so you could expect cold weather. Men wore their best dark suits, white shirts, ties, wing tips, and felt Stetson hats.

The real eye-catcher was what women wore. Try high-heeled lizard skin shoes, a dress too dressy for church but not a cocktail dress, hose with a seam down the back of the calf, gloves, a hat, and of course, your full-length mink coat. If you were less affluent, you may have worn a fox skin wrap.

I specifically remember my aunt waiting for the train dressed in her best. When it was announced that the train was going to be

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15 minutes late, she took that opportunity to go to Benoit’s, an upscale ladies shop, to buy a new hat for the trip. I remember it to this day. It was a pale brown felt hat with a narrow band of, what I assume, was peacock feathers. ********** In 1959, the Rebels traveled to Baton Rouge to face a powerful LSU team. Both teams were highly ranked. In fact, LSU was number one, and Ole Miss, number three. Both had great defenses, as only seven points had been scored against either team all year.

Tickets were $4.00 then. They were in high demand, and it is said one man offered a new Cadillac for four tickets. Another is said to have offered his wife.

As expected, it turned out to be a defensive struggle. Ole Miss held on to a 3-0 lead and LSU’s offense could not move the ball.

Johnny Vaught had confidence in his defense and, that night, he would punt on first, second, or third down, just in case a snap was muffed. He also wanted to keep his defense on the field. Coach Vaught wanted to force LSU’s offense into making a mistake; and they did, turning the ball over four times. Sometime during the fourth quarter, after being sacked for a 10-yard loss, Ole Miss decided to punt on third down. The ball took a bounce right into the arms of Billy Cannon and a legend was born. I remember that night, not as I have seen it on film one hundred times since but because, as Billy ran by my seat, I was sure he stepped out of bounds.

These two schools played competitively for 20 years with give-andtake wins and losses. Lots of memories and lots of traditions were born in those years. Tailgating came of age, stadiums mushroomed in size, and one very personal and noteworthy event took place.

It was the fall of 1968. Three of my friends and I decided we would leave Oxford and go to the game in Baton Rouge. We planned to leave Ole Miss on Friday at lunch and drive to New Orleans, then on up to Baton Rouge for the game that Saturday night.

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On Wednesday night, we decided to have a planning session, but after a few beers we decided to go ahead and leave that night.

Classes could wait. After all, this was LSU vs. Ole Miss week.

Between the four of us, I doubt we had $50.00, and New Orleans was a little pricier than Oxford. We got lucky. We discovered Ripple wine. We got a room for $5.00 a night at the Lafayette Hotel on St. Charles Avenue and thought life could get no better. But it did.

LSU was ranked number two in the nation and was undefeated.

The Rebels were not ranked that season, as I recall, having lost a couple of games. We were improving, however; at quarterback, we had a first-year signal caller named Archie Manning.

I don’t think I have ever seen a more exciting game, on the field or off the field. You see, coincidentally, I looked behind me and saw, seated there, a young lady I had dated a few times. At halftime, her date left to get concessions and I went up to speak to her. It just so happened her date had been giving her a hard time, so I invited her to come sit with me. (Her name was Brenda, and as of this writing, we have been married 46 years.)

Back to the game. In the last minute of the game, Steve Hindman caught an Archie Manning pass and stumbled into the end zone

backward to eke out a three-point victory. The next morning, a headline in the Baton Rouge Advocate read, “Yes Virginia, Archie is a Super Manning.”

Two years later, after Archie’s spectacular performance at LSU, Ole Miss played The University of Houston in Oxford. Sadly, Archie would break his arm and all but end his college career. I was there. I saw it happen.

In 1972, an unranked Ole Miss team with a 4-3 record went into Tiger Stadium to play a highly ranked LSU team led by quarterback Bert Jones. In fact, LSU was undefeated and ranked sixth in the nation. Going into the final seconds of the game, Ole Miss held a four-point lead. Jones had marched his team down the field and had first and goal on the nine-yard line. Some say five seconds were on the clock, some say three. Jones took the snap, clock started, or did it? Pass incomplete. Jones took another snap. Clock started, or did it? To everyone’s amazement, there was still one second on the clock – just enough time for Jones to complete a winning pass to Brad Davis.

The next week, a large professionally made sign was erected at the Mississippi and Louisiana state line. “Set your clock back four seconds, you are entering Louisiana.” That was another time I left Tiger Stadium disappointed. *********** To be a division one or, specifically, an SEC football talent, is very rare. Only a small percentage of the male population has that ability. The rest of us who are less talented must be content with being a part of the game vicariously. We dream and imagine, but the closest we can come to the game is being in the stands or possibly writing a story, such as the one you are reading now.

While conducting research to write this story, I was able to have a lengthy telephone interview with Coach Billy Brewer. He is paramount to this story, as he was the Ole Miss quarterback the night of the legendary Billy Cannon run. Contrary to popular lore, he does not recall Coach Vaught having a propensity to punt on first, second, or third down. He is sure it was not in the game plan that night. He believes Coach Vaught just wanted to tire down the LSU offense and hang on to the three-point lead.

He recalls that an assistant coach had scouted the LSU team in Tiger Stadium the week prior to the famous game. His word to the players was something to the effect that the crowd noise is deafening. Be prepared. Coach Brewer says that even with the warning they were not prepared for the electricity created by the crowd. Even thinking about it still makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up, he says.

Billy Brewer went on to be the head coach at Ole Miss from 1983 to 1993. He also shared in the joys of victory and the heartbreak of defeat as his teams played in the shadow of the Billy Cannon run.

The fact that most of us have to experience football vicariously stimulates our imagination; in other words, it makes us stretch the truth or even tell lies about our football adventures. In my years, I have known a lot of these football liars. In other venues, those designated with the label “liar” are usually typecast as cheats, scum of the earth, rascals, or whatever degrading term

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may be in your vocabulary. Let’s not call them liars without clarifying that they are just avid Southeastern Conference football fans.

The night Bert Jones threw four passes in five seconds? You guessed it, I was not there. In fact, I was unpacking our best china in the first house Brenda and I ever owned when it happened.

Needless to say, she subsequently assigned me a less breakable task.

Many years after Archie broke his arm, I was sitting in the stadium at Ole Miss, listening to a gentleman, maybe six years younger than I, point to the place on the field where Archie broke his arm and tell his son that he had been there and had seen it. Well, I was there too and where the gentleman pointed was the wrong side, as well as the wrong end, of the field. But I would not correct him. Even I have been known to tell stories so long that I began to believe them myself.

Liars? Yes, I am among them. You see, I must confess. I never saw the Ole Miss/Maryland game. I was only seven years old at the time. I have heard about it. In fact, if all the people that say they saw that game actually had, it would have had to have been played in a stadium with a seating capacity of 200,000. Yet old-timers must insist they were there, lest they somehow not fit in as elite Southeastern Conference football fans.

As famous as the Ole Miss vs. Maryland game was, it pales in comparison to the famous LSU, Halloween Billy Cannon run. LSU fans, as well as Rebel fans, have varying memories of the

As I said, lying about football just goes with the territory, but the story about Brenda is true. I would not lie about that. The part about the interview with Billy Brewer also is the truth. And I did see Archie get his arm broken. By the way, it was on the northwest side of the field.

Now, how many passing yards did Archie have in that Alabama game of 1968? Was it 950 or 1050? And how many passes did Bert Jones throw against Ole Miss in 1972? Was it five passes in three seconds or three passes in five seconds?

Let the games begin.

event; and it is obvious that most of the people living in the state of Mississippi and the state of Louisiana are liars. That crowd could not have fit into the whole city of Baton Rouge. To tell you the truth, I was not there either.

 John Case

September 2016

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Dr. Davis completed dental school before finding his true calling in Orthopedic Spine Surgery. The similarities between oral and spinal surgical techniques were familiar to him.

“Dentistry was actually great training for spine work,” Dr. Davis says. “I had a natural and immediate attraction.”

Dr. Sanchez has been told he has “a flair for patient care.” Dr. Sanchez is a comprehensive orthopedic surgeon with experience in multiple orthopedic subspecialties.

Dr. Myers is focused first and foremost on taking care of his patients in pain.

Dr. Davis joined Paradigm Health System to focus on serving his hometown community, Slidell, after gaining decades of experience in nationally renowned surgical programs, where he practiced as well as taught.

He specializes in spinal treatment ranging the full spectrum—from complex trauma surgeries for broken back and neck to minimally-invasive surgery, simple discectomies and the correction of other adult degenerative spine conditions.

“As my career is based in teaching, the mission of my practice has always been to focus on the careful education of my patients about their condition,” Dr. Davis says. He takes time with his patients and feels that this helps his patients understand and feel more comfortable about the treatment and potential outcomes.

Dr. Sanchez strives to establish a thriving community practice of allencompassing orthopedic care. His experience runs the spectrum from adult reconstruction with knee and joint replacements to foot, ankle and hand surgery. He is also skilled in sports medicine and trauma injuries.

What distinguishes Dr. Sanchez as a physician is his commitment to customer service. In the end, he feels strongly this level of intimate interaction results in better treatment compliance and far less likelihood of complications and setbacks. His best outcomes result from a collaborative effort of using tools, technology and the extensive network of Paradigm physician specialists to pinpoint an accurate diagnosis and create the best course of care.

Dr. Myers is a fellowship-trained interventional pain management specialist. He works closely with Paradigm’s collective network of specialists to help patients dealing with pain.

His extensive education offers his patients comprehensive care, ranging from conservative treatments and responsible medical pain management, to more progressive interventional pain procedures. In addition, he is experienced in the growing field of neuromodulation and minimally invasive interventional therapies. Whether a patient suffers from complex chronic pain or specific acute pain, Dr. Myers uses a multimodal approach to ensure they benefit from all available and appropriate diagnostic technologies to create a comprehensive treatment program. Dr. Myers is particularly interested in consulting with a patient before they seek surgical care but he is well versed in helping patients who continue to experience pain following surgery.

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21

Go Beyond MARTHA’S VINEYARD

Story by Rose Marie Sand

RMS: I’m writing my column this month about my recent trip to Martha’s Vineyard, and..

KM: Wait, Donna Bush is writing about stomping grapes in a vineyard, so let’s don’t make the whole issue about wineries..

RMS: But Martha’s Vineyard isn’t really a vineyard.

KM: It has to be. It’s named Vineyard, for goodness sake.

Nope, that’s not even close.

It’s not the first time someone’s assumed that Martha’s Vineyard is a vineyard, and not the first time my editor’s questions have led me to an Internet search. I’m sure it won’t be the last.

My visit to Martha’s Vineyard included days spent in the cool waters of the Atlantic on a private beach, steamed lobster straight out of salty waters in Chilmark, grabbing brass rings on a ride on America’s oldest platform carousel “The Flying Horses” in Oak Bluffs, where we also gawked at the pastel colored gingerbread houses.

Ask anybody you know what the name Martha’s Vineyard conjures, and most likely

We hiked to beautiful, serene clay cliffs near

RMS: Yes, well, it is, but I didn’t see one grape vine and the only bottles of wine were at the package liquor stores.

KM: So who’s Martha?

RMS: Sigh.

22

all of them will assume there’s a Martha Stewart-type person behind lovely, perfectly symmetrical lines of grape vines. Although no one’s ever seen a bottle of wine with a blonde-model-turned-mogul-turnedprisoner-then-returned-mogul, pictured in front of shabby chic furniture she made herself out of twigs and a glue gun.

the town of Aquinnah, saw a fair share of historic lighthouses, and some alpacas on their farm.

But no vineyards. And believe me, if there had been any, we’d have sampled their fare.

There were a few bottles of wine around as the family barbecued on the deck of our vacation rental home, and lounged in a hot tub gazing at constellations and planets in an ink black night.

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Martha’s Vineyard is a famous place to visit for not only tourists, but it’s home to the affluent (cost of living is 60% higher than average), including many celebrities we did not see. We didn’t see a Kennedy, an Obama, a Clinton, an Oprah, a Reese Witherspoon or Jake Gyllenhaal.

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Ferries are the only way to get to the islands, and you have to book a space for your car months in advance because, well, it’s Martha’s Vineyard.

I ended up calling the Chamber of Commerce to find out about the Vineyard angle. So, here’s the scoop, straight from those in the know (a guy who answered the phone named Chris): “The title refers to a natural grape growth on the west side. There aren’t actual wineries now, although there have been in the past (he didn’t know when). There are craft breweries on the island, but nowhere can you buy wine made in Martha’s Vineyard.”

And Martha? “The island’s namesake is not positively known, but it is thought that the island was named by an English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold, after either his mother-in-law or his daughter, both of whom were named Martha.”

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Of Your Money

By Mike Rich, CFP® Pontchartrain Investment Management

Can you sleep when the wind blows?

Years ago, Mary and I spent a week with our three children and Mary’s extended family at a cabin in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, just above Boulder Canyon in Colorado. The place was owned by my mother-in-law’s cousin, who lived outside of Denver. We cooked on a wood-burning stove, our drinking water flowed from an ice-cold glacial stream, and the “facilities” were in an outhouse just down the path. The cabin was tiny, rustic, and wonderfully quaint.

It was ours for seven glorious days.

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We were there in August. Snow was still on the ground in places, and nighttime temperatures got down to the mid-thirties, which was a thrill for those of us escaping the summer heat and humidity of south Louisiana. And let me tell you about the wind. The cabin was nestled against a steep slope, and at night the wind came howling down from the mountains high above us near the Continental Divide.

Gusts of 30 miles per hour or more were common.

One night, Mary and I had settled into bed, but I couldn’t sleep. Next to our bed was a bookshelf filled with old mystery magazines that the owners had collected over the years. I pulled one off the shelf and began to read, listening to the wind pound against the cabin’s stout walls.

The building itself had been there for more than 40 years and had seen a lot of wind, so I figured we’d be OK. I was cozy, my family was safe, and I soon fell asleep, even as the wind continued to howl.

I wasn’t a financial advisor then, and I wasn’t thinking about money as I listened to that wind. But now, I think about money and financial security a lot, and a question that comes to mind as I meet with people brings me back to that week in the Rockies: “Can you sleep when the wind blows?”

In other words, are you sure you are doing everything necessary to work towards building financial security for you and your family? Do you have a financial plan in place that addresses your goals, savings and investments, insurance needs, retirement income, and how to pay for your care when you are old? If you do, congratulations. My guess is that money problems aren’t keeping you awake at night.

If you don’t, you might want to meet with me and make a plan. Here are some of the things we’ll do:

1) We’ll set goals.

People who can sleep when the wind blows know when they want to retire, how much income they’ll need, and where it will come from. They know that college costs are on the rise and how much they want to set aside for their kids. If you want to set goals like that – in other words, if you want a specific target that we can actually make a plan for – call me, and I’ll sit with you to get some things down on paper.

2) We’ll look at your plan for saving and investment.

People who can sleep when the wind blows know that time is their ally and getting rich quickly is not likely to happen. They know that saving means paying themselves first. They understand the miracle of compounding. They know that nothing is guaranteed, but that small amounts of money can eventually grow to big sums, especially if they start saving early in life. They know that $5,000 a year, invested over 30 years in a tax-deferred account at a hypothetical 8% per year, will grow to $611,729.34. They also know that if they increase that $5,000 by only 5% a year, year in and year out, the total will be $1,033,328.61.1 3) We’ll get a handle on the financial risks in your life.

A single, unplanned, nasty event, such as a disability that stops your income for months and months, or the unexpected death of a breadwinner, can cause irreparable damage to the best of financial plans. People who can sleep when the wind blows know that bad things happen to almost all of us at one time or another and that many of those things involve large sums of money flowing out of our pockets. They also know that insurance companies are masters at taking on risk and that insurance premiums are a relatively small price

to pay for peace of mind. If you would like an objective evaluation of the financial risks in your life, call me and schedule a meeting.

4) We’ll have a frank discussion about living longer and who will take care of you when you and your spouse are old (and how you will pay for it).

Yep, here I am again, banging on the table about long term care planning. During the week I was working on this article, three people called me about long term care insurance. They’re either taking care of family members, or a loved one is in an assisted living facility or nursing home and they are witnessing first-hand how much it costs.

As I write this, I have four clients receiving such care. Some of them have insurance, and some don’t. Long term care is expensive and, for my clients who are paying out-of-pocket, it’s probably going to have an ugly impact on their savings.

Seven out of ten people who turn 65 years old today are likely to need someone to take care of them when they are old,2 and it could cost a lot of money. I’ve been seeing this statistic for years, and it hasn’t changed. In my opinion, dealing with long term care costs is going to be one of the defining financial issues for baby boomers.

However, it doesn’t have to be an issue for you.

If you want to sleep when the wind blows and be

prepared for the potentially devastating financial impact of long term care, meet with me so we can get a plan in place. Don’t leave this one to chance.

I’m fortunate to know several real-life rocket scientists. We attend church together. They’re smart people. But, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand and deal with the things I’m writing about here. You just need a plan, and you just need to get started. Call me today and I’ll go to work.

And you can get a good night’s sleep.

I’M NOW ON THE RADIO! Listen for my advertisement on The Bridge Radio, 88.7FM This is a hypothetical example and is not representative of any specific situation. Your results will vary. The hypothetical rate of return used does not reflect the deduction of fees and charges inherent to investing. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.

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The City of Slidell presents its 2016-2017 Cultural Season Calendar Exhibits at the Slidell Cultural Center at City Hall

Located at 2055 Second Street in Olde Towne Slidell. Hours are Wednesday - Friday, 12 - 4 ��. Free admission.

Artists of the Year presented by the Slidell Art League

Aug. 19 - Sept. 23, 2016 • Opening Reception: Friday, Aug. 19, 7 - 9 �� We are honored to host the works of the Slidell Art League’s Artists of the Year. Featuring the works of Master Artist Robin Miller-Bookhout, Apprentice Artist Dolores Crain and Inspirational Artist Mary Ann Fabich.

Mixed Media 2016 Juried Exhibition

Oct. 7 - Nov. 12, 2016 • Opening Reception: Friday, Oct. 7, 7 - 9 �� This eclectic exhibition is open to artists from 10 southeastern states, and features artwork created using two or more media.

“Stop the Madness!” presented by the East St. Tammany Cultural Economy Coalition

Nov. 18, 2016 - Dec. 23, 2016 • Opening Reception: Fri. Nov. 18, 5 - 7 �� This exhibit explores current events as seen through the eyes of participating artists and is designed to spark critical conversations.

Salad Days 2017: Juried Exhibition of Student Art

Jan. 22 - Feb. 25, 2017 • Opening Reception: Friday, Jan. 22, 6 - 8 �� Juried exhibition featuring the works of St. Tammany’s talented student artists.

From the Vaults of the New Orleans Museum of Art

“Dat Color On Da Bayou”

by Robin Miller-Bookhout

March 18 - April 29, 2017 • Opening Reception: Saturday, March 18, 4 - 10 �� Another exquisite exhibit from the vaults of the New Orleans Museum of Art. Opens during Arts Evening.

Slidell Photo Club Exhibition

May 12 - June 23, 2017 • Reception: Friday, March 5, 7 - 9 �� The City of Slidell is honored to host an exhibit featuring photography from the members of the Slidell Photo Club.

Olde Towne Arts Center 2nd Annual Summer Exhibition

July 14 - August 25, 2017 • Opening Reception: Friday, June 17, 7 - 9 �� The City of Slidell is honored to host this national juried exhibition presented by the Olde Towne Arts Center.

Arts-in-Education programming

The City of Slidell is proud to present a great lineup of arts-in-education programming including the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra’s Early Explorer’s Concert in December and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra’s Young People’s Concert in February. Schedules are coordinated in conjunction with the St. Tammany Parish School Board.

The City of Slidell’s Cultural Explorers Club

Created for kids ages 4 to 18, this program encourages children to explore the many facets of the arts. Kids who attend symphony, dance, theatre, and visual arts events and participate in any visual or performing arts experience will be inducted into the club and receive a patch and certificate from Mayor Drennan. Participation is free.

Slidell Cultural Events

Bayou Jam Fall 2016 Concert Series

Sundays, 5:30 - 7:30 �� • Heritage Park • Free Admission

Join us in Heritage Park for this popular concert series. Sept. 25 - Redline • Oct. 9 Witness • Oct. 30 - Bayou Jam Halloween Bash with Vince Vance and the Valiants

Christmas Under the Stars Holiday Celebration

Dec. 2, 3 & 9, 10, 2016 • 6 - 9 �� • Griffith Park • Free Admission This holiday celebration features thousands of twinkling lights, festive decorations, visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Parade of Trees and a lifesize Christmas Village.

Slidell Movie Nights at “Slidell’s Bayou Christmas”

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016 • 7 �� • Heritage Park • Free Admission • No ice coolers Bring your chairs and blankets and join us for a holiday movie in Heritage Park.

Holiday Concert with the Northshore Community Orchestra

Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016 • 7 �� • Slidell Auditorium • Free Admission Join us for the second annual holiday concert, featuring the Northshore Community Orchestra. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Bayou Jam Halloween Bash

Arts Evening - Olde Towne Slidell Cultural Festival

Saturday, March 18, 2017 • 4 - 10 �� • Olde Towne • Free Admission Come enjoy an evening celebrating art, live entertainment, fine and casual dining and antique and boutique shopping. Rain date - Sunday, March 18.

Bayou Jam Spring 2017 Concert Series

Sundays, 5:30 - 7:30 �� • Heritage Park • Free Admission April 2 - Mario Sperandeo & Audio Beach • April 23 - Harvey Jesus & Fire

Some Enchanted Evening with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Sunday, May 7, 2017 • 6 �� • Heritage Park • Free Admission Join us for our annual twilight concert in the park. Arrive early to peruse the works of fine artists at the Enchanted Art Walk, starting at 4 pm. In the event of rain, the concert will move to the Slidell Municipal Auditorium at 2056 Second St.

Slidell Movie Nights Summer Series Some Enchanted Evening

Saturdays • June 3, 17 & July 8, 22 • 8:30 �� • Heritage Park • Free Admission Grab your lawn chairs and gather your family and friends and enjoy family-friendly movies under the stars.

Sponsorships for the upcoming 2016 - 2017 Cultural Season are now available. For more information, please call Alex Carollo, Director of Cultural & Public Affairs, at (985) 646-4375.

Thank you to our previous sponsors for an amazing 2015 - 2016 cultural season!

Baroque, $2,500: CLECO Power, LLC • Jazz on the Bayou / Ronnie Kole Foundation Expressionist, $1,500: Jonathan Johnson Agency, Blue Cross Blue Shield of LA Neoclassical, $1,000: Lowry-Dunham, Case & Vivien Insurance Aganecy • Lori Gomez Art • The Slidell Independent • Slidell Northshore Rotary Club

Impressionism, $500: Blue Bell Creameries • CiCi’s Pizza • Councilman Bill & Laura Borchert Dr. Nathan Brown, Northlake Oral & Facial Surgery • Chateau Bleu • Representative Greg Cromer • Honey Island BBQ & Catering Olde Towne Slidell Main Street Pontchartrain Investment Management • Purple Armadillo Again, LLC • Roberta’s Cleaners Silver Slipper Casino • Slidell Historical Antique Association • Terry Lynn’s Cafe • Vicky Magas Insurance Agency

(985) 646-4375

www.myslidell.com

A Taste of Napa Valley on the Northshore

story and photos by Donna Bush

Just a short, beautiful drive from Slidell, close to the horse farms of Folsom and the tasty water and beer of Abita Springs is La Serendipity Vineyards. Owners Ernie and Jan Langlinais moved to their twentyfour acre slice of heaven about nine years ago to stage themselves for retirement.

Dictionary.com defines serendipity as “good fortune; luck”. Ernie translates it as, “You never know what you will get when you drive through the gate.”

Jan, a retired second grade school teacher from Lyon’s Elementary, and Ernie, a Mandeville CPA with Hurst and Langlinais, have delved deep into a career as vintners, growing Blanc Du Bois grapes and producing their La Serendipity Blanc wine on site.

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.

28

Ernie and Jan had thought about raising cows, maybe planting a big garden. Then their friend, Michael Pulaski, suggested growing grapes. Ernie, a wine connoisseur, liked the idea and quickly delved into research to see if it was feasible. He

learned which grapes would grow in Louisiana without being susceptible to Pierce’s disease; how to build the trellises; cut back vines and train them to grow properly on the trellis providing a canopy.

They started with just 500 vines seven years ago and now have 1600 plus, producing juicy succulent white grapes. It takes about 2 years in the ground to get a harvest. 2010 was the first year they harvested and they gave the grapes to Pontchartrain Vineyards, but decided to purchase their own winemaking equipment for the following year’s harvest. They were off and running. 2010 was one of the best productions ever!

This past year saw the purchase of bigger and better winemaking equipment – a fancy de-stemmer, and much bigger wine press crushing and straining the grapes into a 700 liter stainless steel vat (rather than 5 gallon buckets with

a kitchen strainer balanced over the top). A new wine room was built with chillers and thermostats to keep the temperature at the correct level for each stage of the wine making process.

The old wine room in their 1920’s-era barn will be used for processing their “experimental” red grape, which will be harvested for the first time this year. La Serendipity is the only vineyard growing this proprietary vine in a commercial setting. Less of a sure thing than the Blanc Du Bois, if the red grows for five years it will survive in the area planted.

Even after the harvest, it will still be 1 ½ - 2 years to know whether it will be drinkable, with 300 days in an oak barrel to increase tannins and flavor, stored at 58-60 degrees. An unknown tidbit I learned from Ernie – the red wine vinegar sold by numerous vineyards is their red wine mistakes! Hmmm!

Winemaking is an intensive yearround process. Vines are pruned to 29

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train them on their trellises, and frequently inspected for any sign of problems. As the first grapes begin to appear, netting is strung to protect the fruit from birds that can quickly strip the crop. Then comes the harvest.

Netting is removed to reveal loaded strands of grapes, which are picked from the vines. Each filled 5 gallon bucket is placed on the back of the mule and driven by Michael with the help of Maggie, the Langlinais’ English sheepdog, aka wine dog. They go to the wine room for de-stemming and crushing, followed by pressing the grapes to garner all of that sweet luscious juice, then pumped into 150-gallon stainless steel vats. The grape juice sits in the vats with a temperature of 34 degrees for 2 days, after which the temperature is brought up to the 50’s and the juice is tested for acidity, ph and sugar levels. If needed, sugar, acid, other chemicals are added. On the fourth day, commercially produced yeast designed for white wine is introduced. The wine is racked multiple times throughout this process. Racking means that it is moved from one vat to another, further clarifying the wine. An interesting by-product is cream of tartar or potassium bitartrate, which crystalizes during the fermentation. Cream of tartar is often used in cooking, but can be mixed with white vinegar to make a cleaning agent. With each racking, the wine is sampled or tested for balance, sugar level, etc. Toward the end of this process, it is tasted and tweaked based on numerous blind tastings. If necessary, it is blended to produce the desired flavor. This year’s harvested grapes will be available for your enjoyment in April of 2017. Our local vintners have consultants that offer expertise in additives for the wine as well as soil and fertilizer recommendations for the grapes.

New for this year is the making of Pétillant-naturel (natural sparkling white wine). Pét-nat, for short, is one of the oldest methods of creating sparkling wines. The grapes sit in a tub for 3-4 days allowing the natural yeast to do its thing, and then it is bottled, sealed and allowed to ferment for 6 weeks. Sparkly, bubbly like champagne with very low alcohol content is the fruit of this labor.

The harvest is accomplished by a great outpouring of friends who want to come join in, help harvest the grapes and be a part of the process. Additionally some of their wine drinkers will come for the harvest just to enjoy the experience.

And an experience it is! This was my first harvest and I WILL be back next year. I’m planning to bring my editor, Kendra, and a few other friends with me! First of all, you start with a beautiful morning in a vineyard, sun rising over the vines, struggling to burn off the mist. A group of friends, even if you didn’t know them before, now you do, picking grapes, sharing buckets and stories. It’s like therapy for the soul! There’s even kissing in the vines!

Yes! But they’ve been happily married to each other for 30+ years, so I guess it’s okay!

Water and Gatorade flow freely! No one wants to get

dehydrated! Plenty of shade to take a break when needed. About 10-10:30, the harvest is called for the day. It’s heating up and we have grapes to stomp. Yes! I said stomp!

We are not stomping the grapes made into wine for sale.

But, we are stomping grapes “I Love Lucy-style!” After a break from the heat, some light food of delectable salads, fresh grown-on-site figs stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto and more. Oh! And last years wine!

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Then the women go change into their “Lucy” grape stomping outfits. This year, Jan had bandanas made for each of us imprinted with the La Serendipity logo.

Only women can stomp at this party. However, men can wash the women’s feet! After all, we must have clean feet to stomp grapes!

Probably 10-20 gallons of grapes are de-stemmed and placed in a vat for stomping. Each woman has her feet bathed and then she will enter the vat to stomp! Many “I Love Lucy” scenes are re-enacted. The dance armin-arm. The running stomp. And of course, the grape fights! OMG! It was quite hilarious.

There are many benefits to grape stomping as well as grape fighting. Your skin will be softer than a newborn babe! And who out there as not had a secret desire to have their feet bathed by their manservant and then walk around in a vat of grapes drinking wine! Deny it if you can! But, I think not!

La Serendipity Blanc – the name rolls off the tongue just like the wine does, with “a lightly sweet, lilting flavor!”

For more info, visit www.laserendipityvineyards.com Wine tastings are available by appointment Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

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Varicose Veins Do Occur In Men!

M

ost people are surprised to hear that varicose veins and vein problems in general can occur in men. They are surprised also when you tell them that it’s just as important to treat in men as it is in women. Much of these biases arise from the fact that many people think of vein disease as just a cosmetic problem and can be ignored. As you have heard me say many times in the past...nothing could be further from the truth!

Let’s start out with the smallest of vein problems, spider veins. We always recommend that we check for the underlying cause of all vein problems, venous insufficiency. This can be done very simply and easily with an ultrasound examination done right in the office.

If we do not see venous insufficiency then we treat the spider veins only. We have cosmetic procedures that are very good at doing this and they make people very happy. Have we done these procedures in men?

Absolutely! Why shouldn’t men want to have their legs looking as good as they possibly can?

The next category is varicose veins. Now the presence of varicose veins is a whole different ball game. If a person has varicose veins they will absolutely have some amount of that underlying problem we call venous insufficiency. This means that the one-way valves in the leg veins are not working properly and blood starts to move in the wrong direction, downward. This is when the process becomes an important medical issue. Why? Well, varicose veins just by virtue of their presence can cause pain, achiness, skin irritation and fatigue. Also, sometimes clots can suddenly form in a varicose vein and the area then becomes intensely inflamed. You may have heard of this as something called “phlebitis” for short. This pain and irritation can take weeks to resolve and can also lead to the development of the dangerous type of blood clotting that in some cases leads to sudden death. Then there is just the ongoing process of venous insufficiency that with time can lead to skin discoloration and skin breakdown and chronic ulceration that can be very difficult to heal.

Ok men, I don’t think we need to want legs that look like Jennifer Aniston but what’s wrong with wanting to look good? And...the health of your legs in general could be on the line!

Dr. Randall S. Juleff is a board-certified Phlebologist. His practice, La Bella Vita Laser and Vein Center, is located at 1431 Ochsner Blvd., Suite B in Covington.

To learn more information about veins call 985-892-2950 or visit labellavitavein.com.

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Crimi-Mommly INSANE Sponsored by

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“GOT MILK?” Before kids, I used to keep my living spaces pretty darn orderly and clean.

The Army barracks rooms, various apartments… I always prided myself on paying attention to detail in that area, and it seemed to make up for the mess I felt like on the inside most days.

EVERYTHING had a place. My six matching coffee cups had a cute little wooden hanging caddy on the kitchen counter, the towels were folded neatly, color coordinated,

on some dainty wire shelving that sat across from the toilet, usually with a witty bathroom book and a candle on the top shelf that HAD to be purple, the color theme in that particular area.

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If a drop spilled on the carpet, I usually cleaned it right away.

Dust drove me CRAZY, as did the toilet bowl rings and any pee smell that accompanied it.

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Fingerprints on windows and toothpaste splatters were wiped away as soon as I saw them.

All that was on the kitchen table was a napkin holder. With actual napkins in it.

There were always clean clothes, too. And I DON’T just mean in an ever-growing pile that sat on the floor in front of the dryer. They were FOLDED! In DRAWERS!

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Although I worked full time jobs during these years and, well, partied a lot, I still managed to come home and make sure my surroundings were pleasing to me, and whoever else walked through my door. So, the question is this…

WHAT. THE. HELL. HAPPENED? Every morning, while laying in bed, my day starts with staring at the ceiling fan, wondering why I STILL haven’t dusted it off yet. It’s been like…

YEARS. It’s to the point of thickness at the topside of the blades where it should easily catch wind at the highest speed and just fly off. But it doesn’t.

Why don’t I just stand up, grab a towel and wipe it off? Because that would mean I had nothing else immedietly pulling me away from it, like all the other mundane tasks ahead of me, the kids, friends and family needs, my thoughts. Plus, it would mean that I could actually find a towel.

I know that there are horrible things lurking behind the fridge and under the couch cushions.

I see the cobwebs in the high corners of the ceiling and the dirty baseboards. I am completely aware that I need to clean the exploded coke that has been in the freezer for way too long and scrape out all the burnt food at the bottom of the oven. I’ll get to it one day, but not today.

Those are my “long term goals”, saved for when I don’t have much else to care about.

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Keeping up with the house steadily became worse with each passing year. Then, after the third child, my life was strictly about surivival.

Here is an example of this realization...

Our oldest was five years old and having some developmental issues that consumed my thoughts daily. Our 2nd child was two years old, and potty training miserably. The youngest, just months old and still on the boob. My husband was active duty Army at the time, and had

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“change me” cry, but the “hurt” cry.

I panicked, ran towards her, jumped over the laundry pile, stepped on a Lego that embedded into my heel, then slammed my little toe of the other foot into the corner of a table.

My oldest was freaking out, saying “Oh no!” over and over, about to have a major meltdown for something I can already tell that he did. There were toys all inside the playpen.

Ones I didn’t put there. “I was just giving my sister some toys to play with,” he cried. He didn’t mean to smack her in the forehead with one of them.

As I held them both, I noticed the pain from my toe getting worse. The scene was now the three of us on the living room floor, all crying for different reasons. My other child, still upstairs on the toilet.

been sent somewhere else, I don’t remember where, I just know he was gone. There was no family around to help, and the one friend I had in the neighborhood had moved away.

I woke up that particular morning needing coffee. BAD. I brewed a pot then headed upstairs to get dressed.

Because of the extra baby weight, it was never hard to pick out an outfit. The SAME black yoga pants, an undersized, hideous nursing bra, and one of my husband’s big t-shirts that usually ended up with two dotted milk stains on the chest area. My stringy hair was lopsided from attempting to trim it myself every few weeks, and complimented by a lovely shade of yellow with two inch long dark roots. Every now and 36

then, I would glance in the mirror, not to see the mess I had become, I knew I looked like shit… but to stare into my own eyes… a sort of silent internal pep talk, to get through whatever challenges awaited me that day.

Up most of the night before, I could barely keep my eyes open. I didn’t drink much coffee back then, but I had no choice if I was going to be alert enough to keep the children alive the rest of the day. After changing and feeding the baby, I led my toddler to the “big boy potty” and told him that I would be right back. The coffee was calling my name.

I had just dug a dirty coffee cup out of the sink to wash it when the baby started crying from the play pen in the living room. Not the “hungry” or

ALL I wanted to do was have one warm cup of coffee with LOTS of cream and sugar! Why? WHY COULDN’T I JUST HAVE THAT?!

When all was calm-ish, I made my way up the stairs on the heel of one foot and the toes of the other. A new kind of coordination. When reaching the top, I could hear water hitting the floor in the bathroom.

My son had gone potty (all two of em), missing the toilet with both.

The sink was filled with water, toothbrushes, the soap dispenser, unopened tampons, and was now overflowing as the faucet was still running. He was having a good ole’ time. Glad somebody was.

Fast-forward past my amazing downstairs coordination act, and desperate wanting of a “Go-Go Gadget Arm” reaching across the kitchen so I didn’t have to walk anymore, I FINALLY (really this time) poured a

cup! Now, I don’t drink black coffee, Can’t stand it. So what happens when I open the fridge? Yep. Out of milk.

freak before kids? Do I REALLY need to explain any further?

When the time comes to peel back the couch cushions, dust the fan, or get a new coffee cup caddy and purple candle, I think I will know. It might come in spurts or in a whole new sane stage of motherhood that I know nothing about yet.

If you are a Mom, you know exactly what happened. LIFE happened.

Feeling defeated, I put my head down in my hand and my elbow on the kitchen counter. Staring at the ground, I see my little toe, its tip unnaturally pointing outward and turning blue. The black yoga pants, they seemed to be taunting me, saying, “You will NEVER get rid of meeee!” And my husband’s shirt, already dotted with milk, was…

Maybe you can’t quite put it into words, or are still hard on yourself for what seems to be a “step back” in your personal growth, but I’m here to tell you different. You have stepped UP. For your kids. And we serve them in the best capacity we can at different stages of motherhood. The superficial stuff can wait if it has to. It’s not a contest.

Especially if one of your hard days sounds anything like “keeping the kids alive and pouring a cup of coffee”.

There is always more to the story that we don’t give ourselves credit for. Don’t make it about what you didn’t do, but what you DID DO. It probably mattered more anyway.

Wait.

MILK? And there I sat, on the couch. Feet up, toes wrapped together with scotch tape, and the PERFECT cup of coffee in my hand.

Survival mode at it’s best.

So, what happened to the clean

All I can do is live day by day, and make decisions based on love. NOT on what people think I should do.

They’re not living my life.

There is a quote that says, “Think of the mess like fairy dust. One day it will all go away, and take all the magic with it.”

It’s good to know there is still a lot of magic to be had in our home. Makes me proud of our beautiful mess.

Fairy dust spinning over my head as I wake every morning?

Yep. I can live with that.

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by Corey Hogue

Have you ever looked at your cable bill and shook your head, wondering why in the heck you pay so much for something that is such a drain on your brain? They don’t call it the boob tube for nothing. I tell ya, it took me a long time but I realized that I was getting annoyed with it. No offense to cable providers, because they have to make a living too, but it was just too much.

If you don’t have the specific equipment, you can purchase or rent it from them, for a charge of course. ANOTHER fee. And if you want DVR, ANOTHER fee. AND if you want the sports package, or the movie package, or anything else besides the regular cable package, ANOTHER SET OF FEES!! There are fees for everything!

But, being an avid sports fan sometimes

comes with these additional costs, doesn’t it? You want ESPN. You want the SEC channel. You even, maybe, want the golf channel now and again. So that means you have to man up, and pay the bill, right? Or does it….

Recently, after a particularly rough cable bill, my wife and I sat down and looked at what we liked to watch. Going into the conversation, I knew there were sacrifices I just wasn’t willing to make, so I figured the idea of “cutting the cord” was a dead end. Ya’ll... I need my Sunday football.

But, we researched the services we would need, looked into some cable alternatives, and it turns out - there are other options that don’t mean losing all of the activity on

the field and court that I know and love!

We bought a Roku, and cut the cord.

A Roku is a small box you connect to the internet and your television to stream apps from the internet. Apps like Netflix, Hulu, and ESPN. I was very happy after it was all said and done, and turns out, it saves us about a hundred bucks a month and we haven’t lost a single show, series, or event that we “couldn’t live without”. The hardest thing to consider in our analysis was how to watch LIVE shows. There are many services that offer streaming services. But only a few that have NFL or NCAA or anything else. The good news is, it is very possible, albeit not through just one service. But hey, you can’t watch every sport on just one channel, right?

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It is kinda scary cutting the cord as a sports fan. Those licensing deals have been in place with networks like CBS and ESPN for years. It can be intimidating because if you don’t have the right service or there is no service for your favorite team, that’s game over. But, time moves on and this is a fad that is not going anywhere. In fact, if anything, it’s becoming less of a fad and more of the norm. Many people are making this switch, so networks are moving to try to make things more accessible to these customers who are choosing cable alternatives. As a result, consumers are able to customize their own entertainment packages as they see fit.

Which is great! It also forces consumers to analyze what they really want to watch on their screens and cut out what they don’t need. With football season underway, I thought some of you might appreciate hearing some pros and cons of cutting the cord in this all-too-important time of our lives every year.

First of all, most of the games you might want to see need subscriptions. It’s no fun, and there is little you can do to get around it. The good news is that, collectively, the subscriptions you would need are less than cable. With SlingTV or Playstation Vue, you can watch a bunch of different live shows, including ESPN, which will have a ton of different sports selections.

Of course, if you have a subscription to ESPN, you can download their app and watch it through their service already, on most of your devices, not just your TV. Most of the time, the subscriptions you purchase will include the SEC Network, which is where you might find a few LSU games. Me, I just turn on Playstation Vue and watch it live. No problem. They offer both services through different packages.

CBS, however, can be a bit more difficult.

CBS All Access is CBS’s streaming service but unless you are a cable member, NFL shows are not available. But don’t worry, I have you covered on that too. Read on.

For those who have limited funds, but still want a good game service, check this super secret free service out...get ready for it...it’s revolutionary…...get an antenna!

Ta-da! Yes, I know, it’s insanely simple and made me feel like a fool for forgetting it.

Basic cable is available for free over the air waves. You just need a converter box

cheaper, why haven’t more people made the jump to a cable-less existence? Well, let me tell you what I think.

(some antenna or digital televisions have this built in) and the antenna, and connect it to your television. That’s it. Make sure you have an antenna that will reach the stations nearby. You can look for the range to your house online. It may take some tinkering, but you can get that basic live service for free. Even HD is available! I guess the saying is true; sometimes to go forward, you have to take a step backwards.

There is another extra benefit to cutting the cord. If you have the services that you stream over an internet connection, you can watch them from pretty much any other device. Which means you can watch the Saints game while you are kicking back and enjoying the beach, or are working on a Sunday, or even in a different state where you would be watching the Bears play instead. Which means that you have more freedom to watch what you want to watch. With all of this freedom, there has to be a catch besides money, right?

Because if it was this easy, and this much

Cable is stable. Hah! What a rhyme! There is little chance that you will lose picture unless the power goes out or your equipment fails.

When you cut the cord, you place a lot of stress on your internet router to maintain a strong internet connection. It happens, but if your internet connection is strong enough, it doesn’t have to. Also, you are at the mercy of the networks and their ability to stream their content live. Because all of this is still so new, some networks don’t know how many people are going to tune in at once. If there is too much demand, and not enough supply, then the whole thing could crash. Which can cause some serious frustration. Like, throw-your-drinkat-the-television-because-Drew-Breeswas-in-the-middle-of-throwing-a-last second-pass-that-would-either-end-invictory-or-failure-for-the-Saints-and-it-cutoff-right-before-Brandin-Cooks-caughtthe-ball kind of frustrating. You have to weigh what you think is best for your situation and what you are willing to risk.

To me, it’s worth the risk. But for me, I haven’t experienced these issues since we became cord cutters about a year ago.

The companies that know these problems are possibilities are constantly working to prevent them. Can you say that about the cable company?

All in all, sure, it’s much easier for sports fans to keep cable, but it is not the cheapest or most efficient option. Cutting the cord and grabbing only the subscriptions you need to watch the shows you want means that you are paying for only what you need. For me, it’s been a really smart, cost-saving solution for my household. So, if you are not looking for fuss, and want the easy way out, cable is the way to go. In my opinion, though, with cutting the cord, the risks are worth the reward of a more streamlined and efficient experience. Not to mention I can watch pretty much what I want from anywhere, not just my television. Yeah, you might have to get some equipment and get the best internet connection you can buy. But it is very worth it. No matter what, it sure beats looking at another massive cable bill. Now, I think there’s probably a sports game on that needs my attention.

Roku, here I come!

39

Zac M cG ov e r n p r e s e n ts

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Seizures Seizures occur fairly commonly in dogs, as they do in people, and are frightening things to experience even for those of us who deal with them as part of our professional lives. Seizures can appear in different ways but the one that is the scariest to observe is a grand mal seizure, which is generalized, and affects the whole body. During a generalized seizure the patient falls to the ground and the limbs thrash; the patient may urinate and or defecate, and drooling is common.

Idiopathic epilepsy is a seizure that occurs in an otherwise normal brain. The good news is that if the seizures can be controlled, an epileptic dog may have an otherwise normal lifespan.

Seizures in dogs and cats can occur with idiopathic (meaning the cause is unknown) epilepsy but they also may be due to more serious conditions, including congenital abnormalities, toxins, infectious diseases, immune-mediated diseases, metabolic diseases, brain tumors, traumatic injuries, and vascular accidents (strokes) and liver disease.

Age plays a role in determining how likely a certain cause is for any given seizure patient. For instance, seizures in puppies and kittens are much more likely due to congenital diseases than in a 10-year-old

dog or cat, and seizures due to idiopathic epilepsy usually begin between the ages of 1 and 6 years.

In older patients, cancer or organ failure would be a more likely possibility. These numbers are only general guidelines, however, and all possibilities must be considered in any given case.

In addition to age, certain dog breeds have a higher frequency of some diseases that cause seizures than other breeds. For instance, toy breed dogs can be prone to episodes of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), especially young puppies. Yorkshire Terriers are prone to congenital liver anomalies called portosystemic shunts, hydrocephalus and immune-mediated diseases of the brain. Golden Retrievers and Boxers are both predisposed to cancer of all kinds, including brain tumors. Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Border Collies and quite a few other breeds have a high incidence of idiopathic epilepsy.

Lifestyle differences can also help determine the cause of the seizure. Is the dog vaccinated for rabies and distemper? Is he confined to a yard, or does he roam, thereby increasing the chances of accidental intoxication or trauma? Many seizure disorders can be diagnosed, or at least strongly suggested, by basic blood tests. Diagnosing some of the rarer causes for seizures requires some advanced testing, such as a CSF tap (collecting cerebrospinal fluid), MRI or CT scans. Many of these higher-end diagnostics may require referral to a veterinary specialist. For the average pet owner, these tests can sometimes be cost prohibitive, and may end up revealing untreatable diseases, especially in an older pet.

So, what should you do if your dog is having his first seizure? Keep yourself and your dog safe. Just as in people, dogs and cats have no control over their body movements when seizing, so it is important not to put your hands or face near the animal’s mouth during a seizure. Despite any wive’s tales you may have heard, a seizing patient cannot swallow his own tongue, so there’s no need to place anything in the mouth to prevent it. Stay away from the mouth to avoid being bitten. If the patient is on a bed or somewhere they might fall, it is a good idea to carefully move them to the floor.

For a first seizure, it’s important to take your pet to the veterinarian for diagnostics. The list of possible causes is long and the best hope for treatment in most all of those diseases is proper diagnosis. The

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hope is that the seizure will be a one-time occurrence, even though the cause may not be identified, or that the patient will have mild idiopathic epilepsy that needs no treatment. The good news is that about 70% of veterinary patients with idiopathic epilepsy who require medications are well controlled.

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Despite the dramatic appearance of a generalized seizure, if it is brief (less than 5 minutes by your watch), and the patient makes a good recovery within the next 24 hours, most seizures are not immediately life threatening. Seeking immediate veterinary attention is always a good idea, but it is essential if the seizure lasts longer than a few minutes. Irreversible brain damage can occur in cases of prolonged seizure activity. As an aside, the 3-5 minute time limit applies only to the seizure itself, not any abnormal behavior that may follow the seizure, such as blindness, pacing, aggression, or drinking a lot.

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If your dog has recurrent seizures, you can also use the 5-minute time limit as a guide as to when the seizure has become an emergency that requires a trip to the veterinarian, rather than a notation in your log book. Regardless of cause, if recurrent seizures are documented, anticonvulsant medication is usually indicated to try and control them.

Unfortunately anticonvulsant medication is a symptomatic treatment, not a cure. The aim is to have as few seizures as possible with minimum side effects. Fortunately, a number of anticonvulsants are available from which to choose.

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Living with a seizing pet is a difficult matter. It’s necessary to give the anticonvulsant medication regularly and monitoring blood tests are needed when certain drugs are used. In some cases, adverse side effects can be more of a problem than the seizure itself, requiring a change in medication.

In order to maximize the chance of successful seizure control, close communication between owner and veterinarian is necessary. It is helpful for the owner to keep a seizure log and there are several excellent on-line resources to help owners do this. Patience is also necessary because time for the drug to work on the brain varies from drug to drug, and dog to dog. Assessing effectiveness takes time, dosage changes, and sometimes drug changes or additions.

In all of my cases, I try to learn something from each and every animal I treat. Seizure disorders can be challenging, especially when we can only achieve some limited control over the seizures, as opposed to an outright cure. A cool, calm approach, close communication with your veterinarian, and a measure of patience can all go a long way in contributing to successful seizure control.

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Slidell

THE SLIDELL RAILROADS An excerpt from the book “Slidell, Camellia City�

by Dan A. Ellis Available locally at The Book Sack

The first Depot was built in 1883 on the west side of the tracks.

This photo is circa 1885 Before the Civil War, the first railroad lines in the South were primarily built as competition to northern rail transportation owners and were thought of as passenger or light freight conveyors to support the movement of port trade that was ordinarily too slow for upriver passage.

Following the Civil War, the first railroad construction was the L&N Railroad, 139 miles from New Orleans to Mobile. The railroad engineers first drove pilings that, in 1869, were not adequately creosote-treated.

Within nine months, a train plunged into Bay St. Louis due to blighted pilings. All the pilings needed replacement because they were eaten through by marine boring worms called Teredos.

The 139-mile line of tracks required engineering feats crossing six major water-ways. The four water bodies of Pascagoula, Ocean SpringsBiloxi, Pass Christian-Bay St. Louis, and the Rigolets required pivoting bridges for vessel access to inland waters. Of these four bridges, the crossing on the Bay of St. Louis was the first to exhibit a problem. Even though the ties and timbers were well treated with the best preservatives of that time, in a matter 44

of months, the marine mollusks, Teredos Navalis, were boring deep holes into the pilings again.

The adult teredo, the size of a school pencil, had a voracious appetite for sub-surface timber and created almost complete deterioration as they multiplied. Even after the pilings were replaced, the wooden bridge crossing the Bay of St. Louis became so frail as to prevent railroad traffic.

In quest of a solution, railroad supervisor J.W. Putnam was sent to England to examine a waterproofing and preserving process discovered by a scientist named Dr. Bethel.

His technique was to pressurize timber logs causing the inherent sap to coagulate, resulting in the wooden fibers becoming thoroughly waterproofed. This concept was brought to the Mississippi Gulf Coast at Gautier. There, in 1874, Putnam established the first creosote plant in the United States.

The process began with soaking and boiling the timbers in oil; then, under pressure, the oil was forced into the heated wood. Today, creosote pilings endure for decades, foiling the Teredos destructive nature and stymieing the marine mollusk problem.

As a result of this improved creosoting treatment method, a creosote plant was built near the north shore at what was to become the town of Slidell. The result was a more durable lumber product that impeded Teredos and even extended the life of the pilings, poles, and railroad ties from natural decay.

Illinois Central On August 23, 1854, the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern (later the Illinois Central) was opened for business. Its construction was due to the rivalry between New Orleans and Mobile. The Illinois Central route went from New Orleans, west around Lake Pontchartrain, through Bogue Chitto, through Jackson, and on to Chicago.

Mobile had built their own railroad about the same time in competition for northern trade. At that time, the vast long-leaf pine forests which laid to the interior were largely unknown to lumbermen who continued to cut timber only at the bayous and rivers near the Gulf coastline. However, it was the need for lumber for construction of the increasing numbers of railroad freight cars that resulted in the Illinois Central railway carrying timber to northern cities.

In the late l870s, freight agent T.K. Edwards sent the first carload of yellow pine lumber north of the Ohio River without an advance buyer. The cut lumber was offered at whatever price it would bring. It was a small beginning, but by 1885, lumber had become the largest single class of freight carried by the Illinois Central Railroad. The expansion of the yellow pine industry was greatly aided by the dwindling supplies of northern white pine.

By 1883, there was a sawmill at every train stop along the railroad. By 1902, the Illinois Central had reached its peak in servicing the lumber mill industry.

At 5pm on October 29, 1870, two trains, one from Mobile and the other from New Orleans, met near Chef Menteur Pass, 27 miles east of New Orleans. Two representatives of the railroad drove in a gold spike and a silver spike joining the final rails that united the Gulf City with the Crescent City. The next day, the first excursion train traversed the 139-mile run between the two cities. Regular passenger and freight service officially began on November 21, 1870.

While riding the L&N line in May 1895, Charles Dyer described the following in his book entitled “Along the Coast.”

“The Chef Menteur is a place which should not be missed when one is making a trip along the Gulf, as it is honored in the heart of every fisherman in the south. Chef Menteur is the name of the bayou which connects Lake Borgne with Lake Pontchartrain and here the fish abound at almost all seasons of the year. As a consequence, fishing clubs of all descriptions are located on the banks. It was in the dining room of one of these clubs, that we were served with a fish breakfast, truly fit for the gods.”

“After passing a few hours very pleasantly at the Club we took the (L&N) train once

more for the East, catching a fleeting glance of Lake Catherine as the train stopped a moment to drop a small percentage of its human freight. We arrived at the Rigolets in a few moments thereafter.”

During the early months of 1881, small parties of surveyors for the New Orleans and North Eastern Railroad began to break through the neighboring forests, swamps and marshes. Theirs was the difficult task of giving New Orleans a rail outlet to the North and East. Their job was made easier by the combination of comparatively high ground and a junction with an established link of water transportation in the immediate area.

The Northeastern (N.O. & N.E.) As early as 1868, George Ingram organized the Mandeville and Sulphur Springs Railroad Company. Upon Ingram’s death in 1870, the Charter was purchased by Captain William H. Hardy who changed the name to New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad Company.

It was completed in the mid-1880s running from New Orleans in a northeasterly direction through the forests of east Louisiana and Mississippi to Meridian, Mississippi.

In 1880, the St. Tammany Farmer reported: Able engineers have pronounced it practicable to build a line directly across Lake Pontchartrain, about 22 miles.

In another news release in May 1881, the St. Tammany Farmer reported the preliminary survey complete, and that the railroad would cross Lake Pontchartrain to Mandeville on a trestle. However, a major change in plans was made, and the decision was to build the New Orleans Northeastern Railroad through the eastern part of the parish. It was scheduled for completion by December 31, 1882.

It wasn’t until the evening of October 15, 1883, that the first train arrived at New Orleans from Meridian, Mississippi. Aboard were Chief Engineer G. Bouscaren, General Superintendent R. Carroll, Division Engineer S. Whinnery, and General Freight Agent H. Colbran.

A Sportsmen’s Club dining room at the Chef

When the railroad surveyors were looking for high ground due north of New Orleans, they found the Bonfouca area met their requirements. The local settlers were agreeable to provide the right-of-way in exchange for economic progress.

This was an important moment in Slidell history because it was the building of this railroad that provided the impending destiny for Slidell.

On October 29,1881, the contract was let to build the NO&NE railroad bridge over Lake Pontchartrain. The project included 21 miles of trestlework and its approaches of sixteen miles which required that pilings, cross-ties, and bridge timbers be creosoted.

This required the construction of a creosote plant near to water access and proximate to future rail-line roadways that would be carved through the teeming forests.

Contracts were let all along the proposed route between New Orleans and Meridian creating a continuing requirement for creosote processed products. Contracts were also let for the bridge across the Pearl River and other bayous and streams.

One of the early inland settlements was at Robert’s Landing on the banks of Bayou Bonfouca. Reportedly, the ferry crossing was located just behind the present railroad station. Early commerce took place there with the import and export of lumber, cattle and wildgame in exchange for needed supplies.

With the entrance of increasing numbers of railroad employees, Robert’s Landing became the headquarters site for the work crews which built the needed creosote plant for the bridge. Work commenced at Robert’s Landing on December 3, 1881. On January 7, 1882, at Meridian, Captain William H. Hardy was the principle speaker for ground breaking ceremonies in announcing the opening of road constructions.

At Robert’s Landing, engineers, foremen, and work crews made camp for the next three years. The encamped workmen bought their food, clothing, and large quantities of whiskey, thereby generating business enterprises near the campsite which later became the rudiments for the town of Slidell.

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long as 90 feet were pressuretreated at the creosote plant and driven into the lake bottom to build the rail line trestle. (The railroad bridge was rebuilt in the 1990s. None of the original structure remains.)

The year 1884 was an important one for Slidell.

Not only had the railroad been completed, but the first telephone and telegraph line was extended to the town.

By August 1882, a telegraph line had been installed connecting Slidell Station to New Orleans and Meridian. The creosote works was completed and in operation. Bridge construction The creosote plant began as part of the railroad crossing the lake was nearly project in 1882. Careless handling caused major toxic half finished while the tracks pollution in bayous Bonfouca and Vincent were being completed to the lakeshore from Slidell Station.

From the North, a clearing was in progress across Honey Island Swamp Work teams were brought in from many and the rails had already been completed to areas to build the creosote plant. within 40 miles of Slidell Station.

Slidell Station was named during the The construction which followed brought first months of 1882, and a building was the rail line from Meridian, Mississippi to constructed near the future depot site called Slidell. On October 15, 1883, the first train the “Robert Brick House�. This building was from Meridian completed the awaited trip soon converted into employee lodgings by a to New Orleans. On November 18, 1883, the Mr. Beer of Tallulah, who also built a general first passenger train, the Queen and Crescent store adjoining it. Close by, a lumber mill ran between New Orleans and Cincinnati. was constructed by the company of Hamlet, Bliss, and Elliot, new arrivals from Alabama.

With the completion of the NO&NE It was not long before other construction Railroad in 1884, a new era was ushered in, sites began developing into hotels and as lumber mills and towns sprang up along boarding houses. the railroad line.

Many early investors in Southern railroads were British. The New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad (NO&NE) was under British financial control in 1883, the year it began operation. However the financial picture changed for them after the start of World War I in Europe. The British had become hard-pressed for American dollars needed in their fight against Imperial Germany; therefore, on December 29,1916, Southern Railway was able to acquire the NO&NE.

Some of the significant railroad personalities were Baron Emile von Erlanger and engineers Leon Fremaux and Bouscaren.

Construction of the NO&NE Railroad was, at first, a narrow-gauge line until 1886, when it was converted to a standard-gauge line.

In the early years of the 1900s, interstate or intrastate roads were nonexistent.Transportation was limited to rivers and railway lines. The two major railroads through Slidell were the Northeastern (N.O.N.E.) and the Great Northern (N.O.G.N.).

Once the tracks were laid, towns grew along the way to Meridian and to Jackson.

From a newspaper report: At the creosote works, there is quite a town being built, called Slidell, and a great deal of land in the vicinity has been bought by speculators. Several houses and stores have been put up lately, and town lots are selling at good prices.

Farmers were able to sell all the cows and hogs they could raise and all the produce they could grow to feed the construction crews. Any able-bodied man who wanted a job could get one.

After surveyors staked the right-of-way, contractors let sub-contracts for every few hundred feet of construction. All the grading was done by hand with men using axes, shovels, and wheelbarrows. Where water access was not available, oxen carts pulled hand-hewn timbers to road sites and bridges.

The creosote plant treated pilings and crossties for construction of the railroad bridge across Lake Pontchartrain. Cypress logs as 46

This 1905 photo shows Engine #429 which was later involved in a train wreck near Slidell

East Louisiana Railroad The East Louisiana Railroad was constructed by W.J. Poitevent and his brother-in-law Joseph Favre in 1884 to accommodate their lumbering interests. The railroad ran from Pearl River and reached Abita Springs in June 1887 and Covington on May 16, 1888. It served as a feeder to the vast lumber properties in St. Tammany, but also carried freight and passengers. A spur was also sent from the main route to Mandeville in May 1892. Logs were rolled from the flatbed timber cars into the West Pearl River at Florenville, north of Slidell, and from there drifted down to the company boom located one mile from Pearlington.

They were then towed to the mills through Jug Bayou and through the half-mile long canal that connected to the East Pearl River.

The Great Northern (N.O.G.N.) The New Orleans & Great Northern was built and financed chiefly by F.H. and C.W. Goodyear and other lumbermen.

Early plans of the company called for construction of a railroad from New Orleans to Bogalusa and then up the west side of the Pearl River to Jackson, Mississippi. In 1904, the East Louisiana Railroad was purchased from Poitevent & Favre and was added as the southern leg to its main line.

The railway was completed in 1909. In the following year, 77% of the road’s total tonnage consisted of timber products.

In 1890, Asa H. Hursey, Jr. built Poitevent and Favre’s new mill, nicknamed “Big Jim,” in Pearlington, MS. It was the largest mill in the world at the time, employing 600 men.

In 1913, the Poitevents closed their Pearlington operation and moved to Mandeville.

The Salmen Railroad The Salmen brothers of Slidell also took a turn at building a rail-line which ran from Slidell to Mandeville. The road was to be completed during the winter of 1904-05; however, it only operated to Bayou Lacombe by 1905.

Nevertheless, this railroad greatly satisfied their lumber operations within seventy five miles of Slidell. The track connected with the N.O.G.N. thereby allowing country wide access with their four engines and 250 railcars.

Captain William Hardy, The Railroad Magnate Captain William H. Hardy was born in Alabama on February 12, 1837. As a young man he taught grade school during the day and studied for the bar exam during evenings and weekends. He began his legal career in 1858 and volunteered in the Confederacy during the Civil War. Following the war, he returned to his law practice.

While at Paulding, Mississippi in 1868, Hardy planned a railroad to run from Meridian to New Orleans. He stated that the project was conceived on the proposition that timber was becoming increasingly valuable and that a

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1919 photo, at the site where railroad cross-ties were manufactured and loaded

demand would soon arise for the products of the long-leaf forests. In 1870, he incorporated the New Orleans & Northeastern Railway Company. However, before meaningful construction began, the nation underwent a financial crisis in 1873.

This was the same year of his marriage to Hattie Lott for whom he later named the city of Hattiesburg.

Above and below: The second depot, circa 1910

With better economic conditions in 1880, Captain Hardy regrouped the railroad stockholders and completed his first railroad three years later.

He had always contended that the lines of commerce must run North and South. When finished, he had mastered the engineering feat of completing the “longest bridge in the world,” spanning twenty-one miles across Lake Pontchartrain. The approaches required trestles made of creosote pilings which entailed an additional sixteen miles of expanse crossing through the marsh and swamps.

On to Gulfport – another Venture In 1886, Hardy was elected President of the reorganized Gulf & Ship Island Railroad Company. He had convinced the Mississippi State Legislature to change the company charter to meet his requests in establishing the railroad terminus at a point on the Gulf shore of his pleasing. He had already established and named one planned city, Hattiesburg, and he was determined to build and name his own city on the Gulf, which he named Gulfport, MS. The city of Slidell would become established along his first rail-line, along with many other towns and cities.

However, due to financial reversals, the completion of the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad, the deep water port harbor, and the channel to Ship Island were left to Captain Joseph Jones to put in place.

The Slidell Depots The first Slidell train depot was located on the west side of the rail line.

According to Jim Selzer with G.O.S.H., the first Slidell Station was located at Milepost 167.2, near Pennsylvania Avenue and was constructed about 1883, at what was then a camp town. It was not long before eagerness and determination became the catalyst for the creation of a new town that was incorporated in 1888.

Within a few years, Slidell’s second train depot was constructed, this time on the east side of the rail line and further south, near the corner of Front and Fremaux streets. Although photographs of the time depict the depot with a handsome Prairie style exterior, the condition of the building deteriorated rapidly. By 1910, the town council began demanding that the Northeastern Railroad Company remedy the deplorable conditions that existed. The current train station was built in 1913. The New Orleans and Northeastern as well as the New Orleans Great Northern Railroads utilized the station for many years. Their successor, Norfolk Southern Railway, donated the depot to the city of Slidell in 1996, and through the years the city has made extensive renovations to the building. The depot is home to the Times Grill with other spaces available for lease. There is also a limited service Amtrak station on the west side of the building that is served by one daily passenger train, “The Crescent.”

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Photos courtesy of GOSH Museum, the City of Slidell and other unknown but awesome sources

The third and current depot in Slidell in December 1956 and now

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The hilarious ladies of Slidell Newcomer’s Clu b having fun at the Re d Beans & Rice Cooko ff in Slidell Auditorium

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