Thrive September 2015 Issue

SEPTEMBER 2015

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September 2015

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Thrive Magazine for Better Living

WOME N’S FA LL CO NFER ENCE Center ebr

Thursday, October 15, 2015 | Lake Ch arles Civ ic

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ation of

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September 2015

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Contents

56

22

6

Regular Features

In This Issue Wining & Dining 6 1910: Serving Local Food with Flair 8 Say Hello to Okra 10 Rouge et Blanc Dinner and Events

Places & Faces 12 Making Strides: Faces of Breast Cancer 18 Great Acadian Awakening 22 The Buzz on the Ducotes

28–36 Cover Story:

Money & Career 38 Investing Later in Life

16 First Person with Victor Monsour 24 Who’s News 27 McNeese Corral 43 Business Buzz 54 The New Family Tree 55 Solutions for Life 68 Happenings

28

RITA: 10 Years Later

40 Protect Yourself Against Credit Card Fraud 42 Dealing with Job Loss

Rouge et Blanc

October 2015

Home & Family 44 What You Can Do About Bad Neighbors 46 State Releases ACT Scores 48 Are You Reading Banned Books?

Look for this favorite insert next month.

Style & Beauty 56 Wear Killer Heels Without Killing Your Feet 60 Fall Style Preview

lanc e et B R 2014 Roug OCTOBE

Mind & Body

by ored Spons

62 Train to Run 66 New Look for Glaucoma Treatment

DON’T JUST LIVE, THRIVE!

Thrive is designed for people focused on living a happy, healthy life, one that is balanced, full of energy and contentment. Thrive readers want to make the most of every day and be successful in all areas of their lives – family, health, home and career.

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Editors and Publishers

Kristy Armand Christine Fisher

Advertising Sales ads@thriveswla.com 337.310.2099

Creative Director

Barbara VanGossen

Submissions edit@thriveswla.com

Managing Editor

Erin Kelly

Business Manager

Katie McDaniel

Assistant Designers

Shonda Manuel Kris Roy Mandy Gilmore

Submitted articles and photos are welcome. Thrive assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials and does not guarantee any submissions.

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September 2015

All our wonderful dogs are available for adoption through 4Paws Society. Call 287-3552 for more information and to learn about other programs that are available.

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UDE This pre , OH ROMEO perfect cious red and he reall for any loving white terrier is y the hou needs to be human. How e t s fighter e. He’s defin he only “dude ver, . ” in itely a lover not a

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September 2015

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5

Wining & Dining

by Emily Alford

When Chef Andrew Green of Prytania Private Dining was courting his wife in New Orleans, they indulged in the city’s rich culinary history as they fell in love.

And now, years later, the local boy has come home to bring a bit of New Orleans flair to downtown Lake Charles in his new restaurant, 1910.

The name of the restaurant is an ode to the great fire of Lake Charles, which burned the city’s downtown in 1910, but was also something of a rebirth, taking it from backwoods logging outlet to a more cosmopolitan cultural center due to the careful planning of post-fire architects.

It’s that kind of care and planning that Green applies to his menu, hoping to make 1910 as much a rebirth for downtown dining as the fire was to Lake Charles’ city center.

6 www.thriveswla.com

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“I’m just hoping to jump in there and keep the culinary bar set high for Southwest Louisiana,” Green says.

“There’s no reason we’re not on the map from a culinary standpoint. Lafayette has achieved that, and New Orleans obviously has the crown, but I think we should be known as a place that has culturally relevant food.”

Green sees a weak spot in Lake Charles dining culture. The city has good Cajun food and nice upscale casual dining spots, but nowhere has he found a mix of the two. “I’m really struggling to find a place that has really good, culturally relevant food in Lake Charles,” Green says. “Ask somebody who has the best gumbo in town, and they say it’s at grandma’s house.”

September 2015

But while Green hopes to nod to the town’s Cajun roots with his menu, he doesn’t define 1910 as a Cajun restaurant.

Instead, he hopes to offer a New American take on many tried and true classics. For instance, instead of offering up “grandma’s gumbo” Green takes the ingredients for gumbo—rice, chicken and sausage—then makes and extra thick roux without any broth and fries the mixture into a gumbo croquette. The result, he hopes, will be like nothing his patrons have ever tasted before.

“We took local food and kind of refined it a bit,” Green says. “I don’t even know how we came up with this but me and a couple of my guys just said ‘Why

September 2015

don’t we do that?’ Before we knew it, we had this dish.”

The restaurant will focus on serving wine to compliment its locally-inspired dishes, but it will also have a full bar. It’s important to Green that all his customers feel welcome, whether they’ve come to 1910 for a romantic evening out over a shared bottle of merlot, or a laid-back affair with conversation over beers.

“I’m not going for a super fancy vibe, but I’m also not trying to make it all hip and casual either,” Green says. “I want people to feel comfortable in the space, and not like they should have dressed up or that they dressed up too much.”

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Wining & Dining

Say Hello To Okra is such a ubiquitous part of Creole cuisine that anyone who’s grown up in Southwest Louisiana might find it unremarkable. Passe’, even.

If it’s not floating around deep-fried inside of a gumbo, it’s being stewed with tomatoes. On certain rare occasions it might show up pickled.

It’s a humble vegetable, hardly the sort of thing to inspire, and yet for some reason, Saint Martinville stops everything once a year for their annual Okra Festival, and Roy Blount Jr. made time in his busy career to write an ode to it (the appropriately named “Song to Okra”).

That might have more than a little to do with the fact that okra’s history is so deeply entwined with Creole – and thus Louisiana – culinary culture. “The word ‘gumbo’ actually comes from the Swahili word ‘ki ngombo,’ which is what they called ‘okra,” explains Panderina Soumas. And she should well know: Ms. Soumas, a major cook who also owns and operates Soumas Heritage Cultural Creations in Bossier City, traces her ancestry back to the same slaves who carried the first okra seeds over from West Africa to the Americas. Though some might suspect okra had originally been imported as a crop by plantation owners, Soumas says that’s not the case: “Traders and plantation owners didn’t care about growing okra because it wasn’t profitable. They already had tobacco, cotton, their cash crops.” Instead, slaves carried it over – in their hair, where it had traditionally been braided, and in small pouches – in an attempt to keep their culture alive.

Though they’d used okra as a crop in their

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Okra

native land it had a number of cultural uses – in fashion, in religion – that made it more useful as a reminder of identity than as a source of food for those first slaves.

Only when they found they had the ability and the need to grow their own crops in their quarters did the slaves start to rely on okra for food, and only later still did the plantation owners learn from them that okra had more than a few culinary (and extra culinary) uses. As Soumas explains it, dried and ground okra seeds often served as a coffee substitute in a pinch and even had a number of medicinal uses: it shows up time and again as an ingredient in folk remedies meant to sooth teething children. More than that, though, it flourished so well in the humid Southern climate and did so much to thicken stews and roux that it soon found a natural place in the pantheon of Creole and Cajun ingredients. Which is not to say that it’s universally revered: the same sliminess that

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by Austin Price

makes it such a perfect thickening agent in gumbo also makes okra a risky, overpowering addition to most dishes.

Soumas suggests adding only a small amount to dishes to lend them a light earthy, peppery taste.

Failing that, she suggests stirring it constantly while you fry it, noting that her mother “always used a wooden spoon to stir it. It had to be a wooden spoon.”

Regardless of how you do it, make some use of okra. It’s a staple of Southern cuisine and culture for more than a few reasons, it has more than a few benefits for the health conscious (it’s packed with Vitamins A and C, it’s got more than a little iron and it’s a reliable source for dietary fiber) and its season is coming up: okra flourishes in the late summer and early fall.

September 2015

Instead of THAT,Eat This!

by Beth Winslett Fontenot, MS, RD, LDN

Whether you want to eat fewer calories or just eat better, simple alternatives to the foods you love can make a difference. So, instead of THAT, eat THIS. Instead of dipping your chips or veggies in Ranch dip, try hummus dip. Two tablespoons of Ranch dip has 120 calories while the same amount of hummus dip has 60 calories.

Instead of ordering the 740-calorie Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese at McDonald’s, make your own lower-calorie version. Order one plain burger and one cheeseburger. Put the two meat patties and slice of cheese on one bun, and discard the other bun. Ask for lettuce and tomato for added nutrition, and you’ve cut about 340 calories.

Instead of screaming for ice cream, indulge in a Smart Ones fudge bar. Ice cream contains anywhere from 130 to nearly 300 calories for one-half cup. For 80 calories, you can cure your craving with an ice cream bar that also delivers four grams of fiber and three grams of protein.

Instead of snacking on a chewy granola bar, choose a crunchy one. Chewy bars generally contain more sugar and fat while crunchy ones of equal size tend to contain less, thus fewer calories.

September 2015

Instead of going to a Mexican restaurant for nachos, make your own. Use reduced-fat tortilla chips, fat-free refried beans, and shredded chicken.

Top with diced tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, shredded low-fat cheese, and light sour cream. You will save yourself loads of calories, sodium, and fat.

Instead of snacking on chocolate chip cookies, choose Fig Newtons. One chocolate chip cookie has 75 calories.

At 110 calories for two cookies, the fig bars aren’t nutritionally perfect, but at least they contain actual fruit and more nutrition than the cookie.

Instead of munching on Lay’s potato chips, munch on air-popped popcorn. For 160 calories you only get about 15 chips, but you can eat three cups of air-popped popcorn for 140 calories. All you need is a brown paper bag and a microwave oven. Not only do you get more to eat, but popcorn is a great source of fiber. Instructions can be found at allrecipes.com.

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Instead of a baked potato, choose a baked sweet potato. Sweet potatoes have slightly fewer calories, more fiber, and are an especially good source of vitamin A. They are delicious on their own. No butter or sugar needed.

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9

Wining & Dining

Stirrin’2015 Up aWine GoodDinners

and Events

We call this a

Post Game Pep Rally. restaurantcalla.com

/restaurantcalla

1400 Market Street, Lake Charles

Lunch: Tu – Fri, 11am – 2pm l Happy Hour: Tu – Fri, 4 – 6pm l Dinner: Tu – Sat, 5 – 10pm 10 www.thriveswla.com

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September 2015

The region’s preferred Sports Medicine provider.

Wednesday, October 7th Tasting and Bottle Signing with The Count of Buena Vista Vineyards Crave | 6pm

Thursday, October 8th Wine Dinner with The Count of Buena Vista Vineyards The Pioneer Club | 6:30pm Call 337-436-2805 for tickets information.

Tuesday, October 13th VIP Sponsor Reception Home of Dr. John and Lucinda Noble 6pm to 8pm Featuring a selection of French wines and food pairings.

Wednesday, October 14th Wine Down to Benefit Calcasieu Community Clinic Reeves Uptown Catering Starts at 5:30pm with a Champagne social, tasting begins at 6pm Republic National Distributing Company and Ryan Reeves will pair up to create a knockyour-socks off dining experience with six tasting-sized portions paired with six different wines, three white and three red.

Tickets go on sale September 7th.

Call 337-478-8650. Tickets are $50.

Thursday, October 15th Imperial Calcasieu Museum Fundraiser Blue Dog Cafe | 7pm Five courses-each a Culinary Olympics Gold Medal winner.

Wine commentary by DC Flynt, Master of Wine.

Includes a lecture on the Blue Dog presented

by Jacque Rodrigue on September 30, 2015, at Imperial Calcasieu Museum.

Tickets are $150 each. Call 337-439-3793 for more information.

Friday, October 16th Wine Dinner 1910 Restaurant and Wine Bar Featuring the wines of Taft Street Winery

(337) 721-7CFO • www.centerforortho.com LAKE CHARLES • SULPHUR • DERIDDER

Team Physicians: McNEESE ATHLETICS 14 AREA HIGH SCHOOLS OUR DOCTORS John Noble Jr., MD

George “J.” Trappey IV, MD

Geoffrey Collins, MD

Andrew Foret, MD

Craig Morton, MD

Kalieb Pourciau, DPM

Tyson Green, DPM

Jonathan Foret, MD

Steven Hale, MD

David Drez Jr., MD,

Senior Advisor

William Lowry Jr., MD

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September 2015

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11

Places & Faces

by Felicite Toney

According to the American Cancer Society, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is a celebration of survivorship—an occasion to express hope and a shared determination to make this breast cancer’s last century.

On October 10, the ACS will kick-off the Making Strides of Calcasieu Walk in Sulphur’s Heritage Square. Participants will join more than one million people nationwide who are taking a stand against breast cancer. Southwest Louisiana is just one of nearly 300 communities.

Most of us know a friend, loved one, or family member whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. Here are two of many survival stories.

JOIN THE CAUSE

OCTOBER 10 • 8:30 am SULPHUR HERITAGE SQUARE

For information on how you can join the cause, email: SouthwestLAStrides@cancer.org.

12 www.thriveswla.com

Living the dream Reta Durgan was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 when she was 52. She was a wife, mother to five daughters, and a grandmother to ten. And now, she added another characteristic to her list: survivor.

“I was diagnosed in April and had planned on retiring in May, but had to leave two weeks early for surgery,” she says.

It all happened quickly, but despite the difficult diagnosis, she didn’t let it keep her down. The doctors were amazed at how fast she recovered from surgery. With the support of a strong and loving family, she stayed positive and continued living her life the way she wanted to.

“I am the same person I was before the diagnosis,” she says. Just a few short months following her diagnosis, she opened her dream restaurant, Mama Reta’s.

“I’m living the dream,” Durgan says. “Here I am, every day, sharing the good news.” She isn’t shy about her story and loves to share it with her restaurant patrons. Her advice to those dealing with cancer is to stay positive.

“You can still live your dream. You have to work it out. You have to pray about it.” September 3 will be the one-year anniversary for her restaurant. “I’m loving it. I’m enjoying myself. I’m impacting the lives of others. That’s my goal.”

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September 2015

Good days and bad days Louise McDaniel works as the workplace wellness and community outreach manager for CHRISTUS St. Patrick’s Hospital, so when she was diagnosed with breast cancer 13 years ago, she knew what to do.

McDaniel noticed a lump underneath her right armpit during a self-exam; she contacted her physician and had surgery.

What she thought was a cyst turned out to be breast cancer.

“My initial reaction was shock and disbelief,” she says. “I was only 43.”

She and her husband Lyles told their children, who were 14 and 11 at the time, and they came together as a family to share her emotions and give her their full support. According to McDaniel, support from loved ones is very important during this time. “People who have been diagnosed with cancer need to have the love and support of their family and friends constantly,” she says.

September 2015

In addition, those who have been diagnosed shouldn’t be afraid to talk and to share their feelings.

“Everyone has good days and bad days.”

Four years after her initial diagnosis, a mammogram showed something in the same area. She underwent a breast biopsy and discovered that the cancer had returned.

She had a second surgery and had both breasts removed.

“Nobody wants to hear the word cancer. It makes you very humble, you see your own mortality and you want to fight for your life,” she says.

McDaniel is a two-time cancer survivor with some helpful insight for other survivors: “It doesn’t have to be a death sentence. We’re lucky to have technology, doctors and health care professionals to help make you a survivor.” She also advises that people should be diligent about self-examinations and annual wellness exams.

McDaniel stresses the importance of knowing your resources, such as the American Cancer Society and local health professionals. “Build a relationship with your doctor. Ask questions and understand your options.”

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13

Places & Faces

Southwest Louisiana AIDS Council Works to Treat Patients and Community AS OF 2011, LOUISIANA RANKS IN THE TOP THREE U.S. STATES WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF HIV. ACCORDING TO NUMBERS COMPILED BY THE LOUISIANA OFFICE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, THERE ARE ROUGHLY 18,000 PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN LOUISIANA. IN SPITE OF BREAKTHROUGHS REGARDING TRANSMISSION, TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF THE VIRUS, LOUISIANA LAGS BEHIND MUCH OF THE COUNTRY IN PUBLIC EDUCATION, AND LEADS THE NATION IN INFECTION RATES. IN RESPONSE, ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE LAKE CHARLES-BASED SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AIDS COUNCIL (SLAC) HAVE WORKED FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS TO CLEAR MISCONCEPTIONS AND HELP STEM THE SPREAD OF THE DISEASE.

SERVICES According to Director of Client Services Carol Giles, SLAC’s mission of the organization is to provide information about HIV and AIDS to the community, promote prevention, and to provide medical and support services to people living with and affected

by HIV. SLAC provides primary medical care to roughly 620 people with HIV through the Comprehensive Care Clinic at the W.O. Moss Memorial Health Clinic.

They also provide medical and non-medical “case management” services to an additional 500 clients in the community.

The approach at SLAC is unique in that it is based on a “health system navigation model,” linking clients to medical care, Giles explained. “The goal of case management is to help plug people into the community services they need in order to stabilize their lives and help them remain in healthcare.”

This focus on keeping patients connected to care helps to suppress the disease to allow patients to live healthy lives while also fighting the spread of the virus.

Case management also provides links to other services—like housing, health insurance, and nutritional services—HIV survivors require to live normal lives.

Since Lake Charles is in a rural area, and public transportation is not an option throughout much of the city, SLAC spends a significant portion of its budget on transportation services to and from doctor’s appointments.

There are also staff counselors and psychiatrists who work with people living with HIV and mental health issues and addictive disorders.

“One of the biggest obstacles for people remaining in medical care and getting their HIV 14 www.thriveswla.com

SLAC – CCC Clinical Team: Rachel Rowland, NP; Brenna Jacob, LMSW and Carlos Choucino, MD, FACP, FIDSA

under control is co-occurring mental health or substance abuse disorders. So we work very hard at trying to help people identify those issues and get appropriate treatment and care,” Giles said.

The services provided by SLAC are free to clients. The only requirements are that clients are residents of Louisiana, have an HIV diagnosis, and meet income criteria that are set by the federal government.

Although there have been dozens of breakthroughs regarding what is known about the treatment and transmission of HIV in the last 30 years, there are still misconceptions and stigmas that hinder treatment for people living with the disease.

As part of their community outreach campaign, SLAC is working to dispel some of the most common and harmful misconceptions and educate the area with the truth.

HIV is not a death sentence. While this may have been true 30 years ago, medicine has come a long way in the treatment of people living with HIV. “For a number of years now, the emphasis has been not on dying of AIDS, but on living with HIV,” Giles said. “I think the fear that people are dying is an important barrier.”

HIV cannot be spread through casual contact.

HIV survivors are often isolated from friends and family because of this fallacy. “The only way that HIV can be transmitted is through sexual fluids, direct blood to blood contact and through breast milk for nursing mothers,” Giles said. “There is no risk of transmission from hugging somebody, eating or drinking after them, or having them spit, sweat or cry on you.”

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HIV has varying demographics. “In the early days of the epidemic HIV was referred to as GRID, or a ‘gay related immune deficiency. Some of the illnesses were seen first in gay men. It very rapidly became much more than a ‘gay man’s disease,’” Giles said. Although nearly 30 percent of all HIV cases in Louisiana happen in women, many of whom are not drug users, Giles said along with stigmas that exist about homosexuality, the stigmas about HIV persist.

PREVENTION As part of their HIV prevention program, SLAC offers free, confidential testing at their resource and wellness center at 1715 Common St. in Lake Charles.

Modern HIV tests can provide accurate results in less than one minute.

“So people can come in and be linked to care, if they’re positive, the very same day. If they’re negative, they know it immediately,” Giles said.

People who test negative also have the option to work with the staff at SLAC to develop risk “risk reduction” plans.

“If someone is coming in and getting an HIV test, they’re obviously engaged in some type of risktaking behavior. So we work with everyone that comes in for testing in order to help them reduce their risk of HIV transmission,” she said.

Anyone interested in testing is encouraged to call ahead at (337) 439-5145.

September 2015

k l a ThTihsisw k wal o t s o u t s t s e u g s t e g

e n i l h s i n i f e thfinish line the faster.

faster.

When you walk and fundraise in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, you help the American Cancer Society make the greatest impact and save more lives in more communities, through groundbreaking research and programs like clinical trials matching and free rides to treatment.

Walk with us, because you can help us finish the fight.

MakingStridesWalk.org/swla

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer October 10, 2015 hen you walk and fundraise in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, you help the American Cance Heritage Square, Sulphur

ciety make the greatest impact and save more lives in more communities, through groundbreaking researc September 2015 Thrive Magazine for Better Living www.thriveswla.com 15 d programs like clinical trials matching and free rides to treatment. Š2014, American Cancer Society, Inc.

Places & Faces

F or decades, Victor Monsour has been the man behind the camera. As owner of

Monsour’s Photography, he has led one of the most stable, recognizable and wellrespected businesses in the region—one that recently earned him a Lifetime Service Award from the Convention & Visitors Bureau— but after 35 years, he’s stepping out of the spotlight and passing the keys to the camera to fellow photographer Jason Carroll.

Monsour’s career started when he was just a kid with a Kodak Brownie. Once that passion was discovered, he didn’t let it go. He enrolled in Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, where he earned four scholarships and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in photographic science with portrait and industrial majors.

While there, he also earned a two-week scholarship to assist NASA photographers at Ames Research Center in Sunnydale, California.

For Monsour, who has been selected as the leading photographer in the state by Louisiana Professional Photographers, photography is a part of everyday life. His work has been featured locally, nationally, and statewide.

Monsour recently spoke with Thrive about the history and future of his iconic business.

first person with

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Victor Monsour

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

by Erin Kelly

September 2015

When and how did you first discover your love of photography?

I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors, whether it be hunting, fishing, birding or wildlife viewing.

I started being interested in photography my senior year at LaGrange. I would borrow my parents’ Kodak Brownie and would take pictures of nature and wildlife.

Right after high school graduation, my friends and I were planning a bass fishing trip to Lake Anacoco. I went to Photo & Copy and bought my first camera, a used Mamiya. I quickly discovered it was difficult to fish and be ready to capture images in the moment. I had to decide if I was going to be a fisherman or a photographer!

After spending a few semesters at McNeese State University, a neighbor recommended I attend Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. At that time, it was the best school of photography in the country. I finished my prerequisites at McNeese before enrolling.

What are some of your most memorable assignments?

In school, near graduation, I was awarded a two- week scholarship at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Shortly before I graduated, I had an assignment at the Naval Air Station Point Magu in California photographing the harpoon missile shield. Being able to do assignments for the federal government in California and several times in Louisiana was really a privilege.

I also enjoyed collaborating with the Junior League of Lake Charles on the Marshes to Mansions cookbook, which resulted in a nice coffee table style book. Being awarded by the Professional Photographers of Louisiana for an industrial image taken at PPG was also a great experience.

Photographing the aftermath of Hurricanes

September 2015

Katrina and Rita for clients from Houston, Indiana and New York who had businesses in New Orleans and Southwest Louisiana was another memorable moment in my career. In some small way, I felt I had an impact on helping these businesses get back online quicker. I am especially grateful to Reagan Cook, a pilot I’ve flown with for aerial shoots for many years.

I’ve been blessed to have a career that has taken me all across the country, from Hawaii to Boston and as far north as Cincinnati.

What is most important in capturing a great photo?

Generally speaking, lighting is the most important element. Proper lighting helps draw the viewer to what needs to be seen. Photographs beg attention from the viewer so you want to use the right lighting to force people to mentally look at what you want them to see.

What are your favorite locales in Southwest Louisiana to photograph?

I’ve always loved the local waterways, flora, live oak trees with sweeping Spanish moss throughout Southwest Louisiana. Sam Houston Jones State Park is beautiful and a perfect representative of a quintessential Louisiana scene. I’ve taken many family portraits there.

The Lorraine Bridge, Gulf Coast Beaches, Southwest Louisiana marshes are also great locales. Right outside of our area, near St. Francisville, the Afton Villa Gardens are gorgeous.

What are your greatest inspirations?

Traveling and being outdoors in nature always gives me fresh ideas.

I also love people and genuinely enjoy making them happy. When I am photographing families, I like to have fun with them, help them relax and this engagement inspires me.

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What are you enjoying most about retirement?

In early 2015, I retired after more than 35 years of owning Monsour’s Photography. Over the years, my employees have helped create and sustain the successful business. Together, we went through tremendous changes in technology.

It has been my sincere pleasure to work with thousands of businesses and families and I have many fond memories. Our clients have felt like family after more than 35 years in business.

I was fortunate to sell the business to Jason Carroll so that the studio’s legacy of high quality commercial, industrial and family photography will live on in Southwest Louisiana.

I encourage the community to support him.

Retirement has allowed me to have more fun with my grandchildren and quality time with my family members. I’m taking up a new hobby of billiards with newfound friends and still enjoying capturing wildlife photography, a true passion of mine. I’ve also had more opportunities to garden and fish, which I really enjoy.

Join the Fight Against Alzheimer’s Monsour was diagnosed with earlyonset Alzheimer’s in June 2014 at the age of 59. He began a clinical trial for a new Alzheimer’s drug in August 2015.

“We are making memories; working with him in the garden, going to church together, taking him on fishing trips, enjoying long weekend getaways and spending quality time together. He chooses to live life to the fullest every day, and that is not changing now,” said his daughter, Megan Monsour Hartman.

Join them in the fight against the disease at the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s® being held at the Lake Charles Civic Center on October 31. Register, donate and find more information at www.alz.org.

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Places & Faces

THE GREAT

g n i n e k a w A n Acadia

by Angie Dilmore

In 1976, Revon Reed wrote a book in French about Cajun Louisiana entitled Lâche pas la patate, which translates as, “Don’t drop the potato.” In other words: “Don’t neglect to pass on the tradition.”

Taking this advice to heart, the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau and the City of Lake Charles have partnered to host the Great Acadian Awakening Music Fest at the Lake Charles Civic Center from October 2-4.

Similar organizations will host simultaneous festivals in cities across south Louisiana.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the Acadians’ arrival to Louisiana. These festivals celebrate the unique history, language, music, and culture of the Acadian people. The first Grand Réveil Acadien took place in 2011, inspired by the events of the World Acadian Conference in 2009.

The goal of these gatherings is to ignite a renaissance and an awakening in the younger generation’s pride and interest in the Cajun French language and culture.

This year’s event includes music by Jo-El Sonnier and other well-known Cajun artists, dancing, movie night featuring Against the Tide (a film depicting the brutal expulsion of the Acadians from Maritime Canada), genealogical displays, a lecture by Acadian scholar Warren Perrin, art vendors and of course, Cajun food!

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Schedule of Events Friday, October 2: Acadian Awakening Movie Night featuring Against the Tide, in the Rosa Hart Theatre, 7:00 p.m.

This film showcases the epic story of the Acadian people and their plight, from expulsion to forging a new home in Louisiana.

Directed by Pat Mire, a direct descendent of the exiled people.

The story is told by Mire and other descendants, historian Carl Brasseaux, folklorist Barry Ancelet, and narrated by Zachary Richard.

Mire will attend the event and be available for questions and answers.

Saturday, October 3: Genealogical Library Research Stations and Historical Displays, 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. & 12:15 –3:30 p.m. in the Buccaneer Room.

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The Southwest Louisiana Genealogical & Historical Library will have research stations for the public to utilize in learning about their family history or learning about genealogical research. Library staff will be on hand to answer questions about research as well as the library’s resources and programs. There will also be table top displays depicting the events leading up to the deportation of the Acadians, following their paths as they wandered from place to place during the decade-long journey before families landed in Louisiana.

Historical Lecture by Warren Perrin, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., Buccaneer Room Warren Perrin, a celebrated scholar and Acadian expert, will give a lecture about the history of the Acadian people.

September 2015

Cajun French Music Association – Music & Learn How to Cajun Dance, 12:30 – 1:45 p.m., Jean Lafitte Room.

Dance to the music of Lesa Cormier & the Sundown Playboys, accompanied by the Cajun French Music Association’s Youth Band. The Cajun French Music Association Dancers will help everyone learn how to Cajun Dance so they can cut a rug throughout the festival.

Opening Ceremonies by Dignitaries, Exhibition Hall, 2:00 p.m.

Barbe Choir will sing the anthem of the Acadian People -- “Ave Maris Stella” Performance by Henry Heights Elementary School, French Immersion Warren Perrin will speak on the importance of preserving the Acadian Culture.

Art Vendors and Local Cajun Fare, 3:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Local artists will display their work

and local restaurants will prepare their best Cajun recipes.

alive and kicking, and that it sounds great in any genre,” says primary lyricist Sam Craft.

Rusty Metoyer & the Zydeco Krush, 5:15 – 6:45 p.m.

ACADIAN AWAKENING MUSIC FEST BAND LINEUP:

Rusty Metoyer and The Zydeco Krush is a young, energetic Zydeco band from Lake Charles. Staying true to his roots, Rusty learned to play the accordion through the traditional style of French music, and he is passionate about keeping his Cajun heritage alive.

Sunday, October 4: French Mass, Cajun French Music Association Building, 3481 E. Prien Lake Rd., 11 a.m.

Experience an authentic Cajun French mass performed by Father Roland Vaughn of St. Charles Borromeo Church.

Noon

Sweet Crude 3:30 – 5 p.m.

This band of young musicians play and sing original music with fourpart harmonies, tribal rhythms, and pop hooks. They reconnect with their Cajun roots by singing many of their songs in French. “We want to show that the language is still

Pride.” Jo-El was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2009, and he is a 2015 Grammy Award winner.

GRAMMY WINNER Jo-EL Sonnier, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Jo-El is backed by six accomplished musicians whom he calls “Louisiana

Following the service, the Cajun French Music Association will crank up the band for more Cajun dancing!

Immaculate Conception Cathedral,7:00 pm Performance by the Niel-Michaud Canadian Choir

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19

Places & Faces

Celebrating a Storied Past Banished

Around the year 1604, a small band of French citizens left France and arrived in Canada’s Maritime Provinces – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, as well as what is now Maine. Similar to the Pilgrims, they sought peace and religious freedom. They befriended the native Indians, worked the land, and lived peaceably. When war broke out in the area between the French and British, the Acadians chose to remain neutral. All that came to a tragic end in 1754 when Major Charles Lawrence, illegally and without approval from the British government, demanded that the Acadians sign a loyalty oath to the English King and renounce their Catholic faith. When the Acadians refused, the men were torn from their families and arrested. Within days, all the farms, barns, crops and livestock, churches, and shops that made up the Acadian colonies were burned. A mass expulsion, known as Le Grand Dèrangement, or the Expulsion of 1755, ensued.

Sources vary, but it’s estimated that the British deported approximately 11,500 to 15,500 Acadians from the maritime region. About onethird of them died from disease and drowning.

For a decade, the Acadians wandered through French Canada, the American colonies, France, England, and the Caribbean. They likely hoped to one day return to their homeland. But that was not to be their fate. The Acadians became a people without a country; a people forced to rely on each other for survival.

Settling in a New Home

In 1764, the first Acadians arrived in Louisiana – a small group of around twenty. Though earlier a French colony, Louisiana was controlled by Spain at that time. The following year, led by Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil, nearly 200 more Acadians arrived from Halifax via Santo Domingo. When they arrived in New Orleans, they were given a gun, tools to help them clear the land, and provisions for six months -- rice and corn seed, salted pork and beef, hardtack, and flour. They were led to the Attakapas region (now Iberia, Lafayette, St. Martin, St. Mary, and Vermilion Parishes) and given land. Another

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group settled in the Opelousas area.

Hundreds of displaced Acadians arrived in Louisiana from 1765 to 1768.

As early settlers, the Acadians overcame numerous difficulties. They had to adjust to a new climate. They suffered (and many died) from diseases such as malaria and yellow fever.

They dealt with prejudice from most everyone.

The Louisiana Creoles, the Spanish, and the French who already lived in the area looked down on the Acadians, considering them peasants. But the Acadians persevered. As they did in Canada, they strived to live peaceably and mind their own business. They kept mostly to themselves until the early 1900s, when circumstances brought about the beginnings of their assimilation into American culture.

Factors such as World War I, a countrywide sense of nationalism, and the discovery of oil and subsequent onset of industries in Louisiana prompted Acadians to leave the farms and mingle with other Louisianans.

Improved transportation, the economic equalization brought about by the Great Depression, and the development of radio and motion pictures furthered the integration.

By the 1950s and 60s and with the advent of television, the nation’s regional, ethnic cultures began to weaken. At the same time, Cajun music gained attention and acceptance.

Holding onto Heritage

Throughout the twentieth century, Acadians struggled to hold onto their identity. While Cajun French was often still spoken in homes and between Cajun employees in the workplace, the Compulsory Education Act of 1922 banned the speaking of any other language but English in schools or on school grounds. Cajun French language, culture, and people were still looked down upon. The Acadians felt pulled in different directions, trying to fit into society while also clinging to their identity. As late as WWII, they maintained an “us and them” mentality, referring to themselves as “Les Français” and Englishspeaking outsiders as “Les Americains” In 1968, the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) reintroduced French into many Louisiana schools, in an effort to preserve

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the Acadian language.

Since then, despite assimilation over the decades into mainstream America, the Acadians have maintained their sense of group identity.

During the 1970s and 80s, they embraced a renewed pride in their heritage.

Through music, traditional foods, school programs such as French Immersion, and festivals dedicated to celebrating the Acadian people, great efforts have been made to preserve their history, language, and culture.

Setting the Historical Record Straight

Still today, the British banishment 250 years ago evokes an emotional response within many Acadians. In 1990, Warren A. Perrin, an attorney from Lafayette, filed a lawsuit against the British Crown for the 1775 expulsion.

He did not seek monetary compensation.

Instead, he wanted the British government to formally apologize for the suffering it caused Acadians. For several years, the British Foreign Office fought the lawsuit, arguing it could not be held responsible for something that happened more than two centuries ago. But thirteen years later, in 2003, a proclamation acknowledging the suffering of the Acadians was issued under the auspices of Queen Elizabeth II and signed by Canada’s governorgeneral. In addition, Britain established July 28 of each year as a day to commemorate the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada.

“The efforts and hopes of all who had toiled over the two-and-a-half centuries to make Louisiana their home and a vibrant community resonate with many Cajuns today,” says Perrin. “The [Great Acadian Awakening] evokes the joy and sadness of the Deportation of the Acadians and is not held to focus in the past, but rather to understand that this tragic event has shaped the character and vision of our people scattered in the great diaspora - and that we are still vibrant.”

Sources: Acadian-Cajun Genealogy and History, LSU Health Sciences Center, Grand Reveil Acadien

September 2015

Transforming Lives:

Louisiana Leads Effort to Fight Human Trafficking It’s not every day – or year – that you see an Italian nun addressing the Louisiana State Legislature. But Sister Eugenia Bonetti did just that during this year’s legislative session. She is the coordinator of the Counter-Trafficking Office for Women and Children of the Italian religious superiors, and her work on behalf of victims over the past two decades has been recognized and honored across the world. Sister Eugenia was at the State Capitol at the invitation of State Senator Ronnie Johns, who is working with a team of state and community leaders to build a shelter for victims of underage human trafficking. The home will be run and funded by Metanoia, a nonprofit organization founded by Father Jeff Bayhi, Pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Zachary.

Metanoia is a Greek word meaning “for a transformative change of heart,” which is exactly what the nuns who will run the shelter hope to offer its residents.

Shining Light on a Hidden Crime Louisiana has earned a well-deserved reputation for fun, courtesy of our unique culture, cuisine, festivals, gaming and sporting events. It’s something we are proud of, but there’s a dark side to the celebration, one that connects our state to the international crisis of human trafficking, where people are forced into the sex trade.

“When I talk about this, people say that’s ridiculous, it can’t happen here,” says Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson.

“I’m here to tell you that I’ve seen it and it is happening here – far too often.”

He explains that human trafficking is the second largest illegal moneymaker in the world, behind the sale of illegal arms. It was third, falling behind the sale of illegal drugs, but traffickers realized that you can only sell a drug once; you can sell a young girl multiple times a night.

In the past seven years, Edmonson says there have been more than 500 confirmed human trafficking cases in Louisiana. “As we became aware of the growing problem, we realized we didn’t have the tools or the training needed to identify and help the victims. I met with Governor Jindal and we made this issue a top priority. The legislature supported our efforts and we made some changes that are helping us make a big difference.”

In fact, Louisiana has gone from topping the list nationally for human trafficking cases to ranking among the best in the country for response to the problem. Human trafficking legislation passed in 2014 ensures that criminals are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that victims are identified and protected. Most importantly, Edmonson says all law officers in the state now receive training in identifying victims and connecting them with available resources that can September 2015

help them change their lives. “What may seem on the surface like a prostitution case could actually be a girl being held and forced to work this way against her will.

It’s important for law enforcement officers to be able detect subtle signals, to ask the right questions and to ‘hear’ what isn’t being said.”

These efforts are making a difference.

Calls reporting human trafficking have more than doubled in Louisiana over the past two years, as a result of increased awareness from both public safety officers and the public. “Even if one life if saved, it’s worth the effort,” says Edmonson.

Father Bayhi says the shelter is needed because once a victim is rescued, neither the criminal justice nor foster care system is equipped to deal with minors who have undergone this level of abuse.

“In the United States, victims are typically runaways who are lured in a number of different ways. They are taken far from their homes and families, abused and threatened with harm to themselves or family members if they escape.

In some cases, a family member or guardian cooperates with the traffickers.”

Seeking Expert Guidance Father Bayhi was aware of Sister Eugenia’s work in Italy and Europe ministering to trafficking victims.

In an effort to help leaders in the state better understand his goals for the shelter, he organized a trip to Italy last fall for Senator Johns, Colonel Edmonson, Bobby Gaston, special programs manager with the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association, and Rev. Rodney Wood, the Legislative Chaplain.

They spent a week observing Sister Eugenia’s ministry. They heard firsthand accounts from victims of the horror they went through, as well as the hope and help they received from the shelters operated by the nuns. As Sister Eugenia explains it, “We offer these girls a home, a family; something many of them have never had before. There is no time limit to their stay with us. They need unconditional love and support and that is what we give. There is no judgment. We are rebuilding a Thrive Magazine for Better Living

by Kristy Armand

Sister Eugenia addressing the Louisiana State Legislature.

The group from Louisiana during their visit to Rome with Sister Eugenia.

person, day-by-day. “ Overwhelmed and impressed by what they witnessed, Father Bayhi and his group convinced Sister Eugenia to not only speak to the state legislature on the issue, but also to send four trained nuns to run the shelter in Louisiana. These nuns accompanied Sister Eugenia to Louisiana in May and expressed their excitement and commitment to their new calling.

Father Bayhi has been raising money for the shelter, which will be located in a secure location near Baton Rouge, for several years. It will be the first of its kind in the state designed specifically for juvenile victims. Senator Johns says the contract between Metanoia and the state has been approved, which will allow them to move forward with construction of the $2 million project by the first of the year. “This is a privately funded project with no state money involved in the construction. It is something the state legislature strongly supports.

It’s the right thing to do for these victims who have no where else to turn.”

Anyone interested in contributing to the shelter can send donations to: Metanoia, Inc., 425 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806.

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Buzz

Places & Faces

The on the Ducotes

by Mitch Thomas

From cucumbers to blackberries, apples and cabbages, and many more in between, the survival of a considerable number of the foods we enjoy depends on the continuing diligence of the pollinating honey bee. Those brave enough to approach its hive may also be rewarded with a rather sweet and tasty treasure.

Working with the bees, instead of attempting to shepherd them, will often yield a much more productive, and possibly less painful, relationship with the highly helpful insect, allowing both the bee and the beekeeper to enjoy some sweet success.

Swarm cluster

Nola Ducote and her husband Steve began beekeeping about three years ago. A gardener, Nola hadn’t seen very many bees buzzing around her plants. Aware of the dangers facing bee populations, like Colony Collapse Syndrome, she and her husband decided to try their hands at doing what they could to support a bee population. Over the years Nola went from one hive she purchased from her ex-husband, who has around 40 years of beekeeping experience, to managing 50 hives today.

The honey the Ducotes’ hives produce is sold to farmers markets, Peddler’s Market Place in Westlake and Olde & Nu

Treasures in Sulphur. At $8-$8.50 for a 1-pound bottle to $15 for 2 pounds, the honey sales make for a rather nice side business. Nola still keeps enough for herself and her husband to enjoy as well.

“Honey’s good for you,” Nola said.

“If you have allergies, the old saying is – and we have people swear by it -- if you have bad allergies, taking a tablespoon of honey a day will help alleviate your allergies. The raw honey from a hive is kind of like taking an allergy shot. You’re taking the pollen into your body and your body’s making antibodies and building immunity to that pollen before it’s completely out in the open.”

Beehives

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September 2015

September 2015

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Places & Faces

Movers and Shakers in Southwest News? You tell us! Send press releases to Louisiana... Who’s edit@thriveswla.com with the subject line “Who’s News.”

Lakeside Bank Welcomes Commercial Lender Rahul Patel Rahul Patel has joined Lakeside Bank as an Assistant Vice President and Commercial Lender.

He brings 18 years of Rahul Patel experience in the business and banking fields to Lakeside. Most recently, he served as a private client banker with JP Morgan Chase, where he worked with both consumer and commercial clients. Prior to that, Patel worked for over 14 years in the real estate development, business franchise and hotel management fields.

For more information, contact Patel at (337) 474-3766.

His office is located in the bank’s main office at 4735 Nelson Road in Lake Charles.

Imperial Health Welcomes New Gastroenterologist Juan C. Teran, MD, MS, FACP, FACG, has joined the Imperial Health physician team. He has 20 years of experience in his field, including positions as staff gastroenterologist Dr. Juan C. Teran at Verde Valley Medical Center in Arizona, Medical College of Virginia and at the Cleveland Clinic Florida. Dr. Teran is certified by the American Board of Gastroenterology and the American Board of Nutrition. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Physicians and of the American College of Gastroenterology. His office is located in the main Imperial Health office in Lake Charles. For more information, call (337) 312-8462.

Knight Media Printing Hires Representative Brittany Jackson as Outside Customer Service Representative Knight Media Printing has announced the addition of Brittany Jackson as their new Brittany Jackson Outside Customer Service Representative. Jackson will be interacting 24 www.thriveswla.com

directly with customers at all stages of the business relationship.

Before joining Knight Media Printing, Jackson served as Executive Director of The Museum of Contemporary Art in Hot Springs, AR and has several years of Customer Service experience.

Internal Medicine Physician, Jason K. Langhofer, DO, Joins Memorial Medical Group Memorial Medical Group welcomes Jason K. Langhofer, DO, an internal medicine physician, to their staff. He will join Dr. Jason K. Langhofer, DO the medical staff of Internal Medicine Clinic of Southwest Louisiana.

Dr. Langhofer is experienced in the care and treatment of such conditions as hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes. For more information, call (337) 494-6800.

Candy Rodriguez joins KPLC-TV Lamar University graduate Candy Rodriguez will join KPLC as Reporter. Candy is a native of California by way of Anahuac, Texas.

She shadowed the staff at KFDM/KBTV in Beaumont, and covered news on the Candy Rodriguez Lamar campus for LUTV. Candy is a first place award winner from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and majored in Political Science at Lamar. Candy takes over for Monica Grimaldo, who left for KOLD-TV in Tucson.

In addition to reporting, Candy will also handle weekend newscast producing duties.

Lakeside Bank Welcomes Garland Prejean as New Vice President

throughout his career, including serving as a Vice President for Cameron State Bank for 10 years. Most recently, he was a Vice President with JPMorgan Chase Bank. In his new position with Lakeside, Prejean will be responsible for managing the bank’s human resource department and associated policies. He will also provide leadership, support, and training throughout the organization.

Tina Meiners Joins Flavin Realty Flavin Realty would like to welcome its newest agent, Tina Meiners.

Meiners is a full-time agent with a B.S. and M.S. in Forest Management and Forest Biology. Tina specializes in residential, Tina Meiners commercial, timberland, and vacant land. She has 32 years of experience as a professional forester managing timberland investment. For more information call 337-478-8530.

Speaker Chuck Kleckley Elected Vice Chair Delegates to the 69th Annual Meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC), the Southern Office of The Council of State Governments, on July 22, Chuck Kleckley elected Speaker Charles E. “Chuck” Kleckley of Louisiana vice chair of the Conference. Delegates from SLC’s 15 member states unanimously elected Speaker Kleckley to the position. Senate President Robert Stivers of Kentucky and Speaker Philip Gunn of Mississippi were selected chair and chair elect, respectively.

As vice chair of the SLC, Speaker Kleckley will assist the chair in executing the activities of the Conference, guide the Conference in policy deliberations, and serve as liaison to the House and Senate leaders of the member states.

Garland Prejean has joined the executive staff of Lakeside Bank as a Vice President and Director of Human Resources.

Originally from Lake Garland Prejean Charles, Prejean has over 30 years of experience in the financial field. Prejean has held a variety of senior leadership positions Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

Axiall Announces Lake Charles Executive Promotions

Curtis Brescher

Jim Rock

Axiall Corporation has promoted Curtis Brescher to director of operations for its Lake Charles, North and South plants. Jim Rock, who has served as works manager of the Lake Charles facilities since 2014, has been promoted to vice president of operations excellence.

Brescher will move with his family to Lake Charles from Baton Rouge. He joined Axiall in 2013 following 19 years at Honeywell and led the company’s Plaquemine plant. Brescher was the site manager of the Honeywell Baton Rouge plant from 2008 to 2013, and previously managed its Orange, Texas, facilities.

Rock, who has held a variety of senior-level operations roles during his 38 years with Axiall and its predecessor, will remain in Lake Charles. In his new role, he will be responsible for the execution of cost reductions and infrastructure process improvements across all Chemicals division plant sites.

Police Juror Tony Guillory Appointed Calcasieu Parish Police Juror Tony Guillory has been appointed to a national leadership position on a subcommittee focused on housing issues. Guillory is the Vice Chair of the Tony Guillory Housing Subcommittee for the National Association of Counties (NACo.) The Housing subcommittee is part of the Community, Economic and Workforce Development Steering Committee.

Dr. Alan Hinton Presents Medical Study Results at National Conferences Lake Charles Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr. Alan Hinton recently completed a yearlong medical study focusing on improving visualization in Dr. Alan Hinton arthroscopic knee surgery.

The study compared 50 patients in which a partial release of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) of September 2015

the knee was released during arthroscopic surgery with 50 patients who had the same surgery without the release.

The results of the study were peer reviewed and accepted for presentation at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) annual meeting in Orlando, Florida in July, as well as the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) conference, held in Los Angeles, California in April. The results of the study are currently being submitted for publication. For more information, call (337) 477-5252 or visit www.alanhintonmd.com.

Comeaux Named West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital Employee of the Month West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital (WCCH) recently named Debbie Comeaux, RN, data abstractor in the quality management Debbie Comeaux department, as its employee of the month for July 2015. Comeaux works diligently with physicians and staff to implement improvements that helps to provide exceptional healthcare and safety throughout WCCH. Comeaux is a resident of Lake Charles and has been with WCCH for four years.

Gastroenterologist Sarpreet Basra, MD, Joins Memorial Medical Group Memorial Medical Group welcomes Sarpreet Basra, MD, a gastroenterologist board certified by the American Board of Internal Dr. Sarpreet Basra Medicine. He joins fellow gastroenterologists Dr. Frank Marrero and Dr. Khaled Nour at the Digestive Health Center located at 2615 Enterprise Boulevard in Lake Charles.

Dr. Basra provides comprehensive care in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal and liver conditions. For more information, call (337) 494-4785.

Dr. William Bailey Presents Pacemaker Research William Bailey, MD, Cardiac Electrophysiologst with Louisiana Heart Rhythm Specialists in Lafayette, Louisiana, recently presented two research reports at the Annual William Bailey American College of Cardiology Scientific Session in San Diego.

The first presentation summarized the results Thrive Magazine for Better Living

of Biotronik’s multi-center ProMRI study which has confirmed the safety of cardiac and thoracic spine 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging scans for patients with Biotronik’s ProMRI pacemaker system. Dr. Bailey’s second presentation analyzed the diagnostic image quality of all MRI scans obtain during the ProMRI trial, as assessed by study radiologists. For more information, call (337) 233-PACE.

Caraway Earns Specialized Certification Erin Caraway, an occupational therapist with Lake Charles Memorial has received a Neuro-Integrative Function Rehabilitation and Habilitation (NeuroErin Caraway IFRAH) approach certification. Neuro-IFRAH allows therapists to establish excellence in the treatment and management of adults with hemiplegia as a result of stroke or traumatic brain injury. Through the integration of scientific theory, skilled handling, and client-centered, function based treatment plans, Neuro-IFRAH provides a fully integrative and comprehensive approach to recovery after hemiplegia.

Caraway has worked as an occupational therapist at Memorial since 2013.

Rebecca Braud, MD, Joins Medical Staff at WCCH West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital (WCCH) has announced the addition of Rebecca Braud, MD, family medicine physician, to its medical staff. Originally from Rebecca Braud Baton Rouge, Dr. Braud is a graduate of Louisiana State University. She received her medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed her residency in family medicine at the LSUHSC Family Medicine Program at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. Dr. Braud is located at 622 Cypress Street in Sulphur. To schedule an appointment, call (337) 527-2491.

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Jared Morton Joins City Savings Bank City Savings Bank has announced that Jared Morton has joined its team as assistant branch manager for City Savings Bank’s Countryside Branch, located at 2197 Hwy. 171 in DeRidder. A native of DeRidder, Morton previously worked at the Beauregard Parish Sheriff Department where he served Jared Morton the community for the past ten years.

In 2012, he graduated from McNeese State University in Lake Charles with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. For more information, visit www.citysavingsbank.com.

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Court Appointed Special Advocates Swear in New Volunteers Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a division of Family & Youth Counseling Agency (Family & Youth), swore in seven new volunteers in August 2015.

The newest volunteers in the CASA family are; Vicki Dugas, Heather Goleman, Loueanna Grice, Amanda Jemison, Catherine Deshotel, Rebecca Ryder, and Judy Anderson.

L to R: Vicki Dugas, Heather Goleman, Loueanna Grice, Judge CASA volunteers are everyday Mitch Redd, Amanda Jemison, Catherine Deshotel, Rebecca citizens who judges appoint to Ryder and Judy Anderson advocate for the safety and well being of children who have been removed from their parents due to abuse or neglect. For more information, call (337) 436-9533.

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September 2015

Al Cochran Donation

McNeese Engineering Ranked 3rd in Nation

2015 EDA Grant

Al Cochran, a 1965 engineering graduate of McNeese State University, has donated $20,000 to the university through the McNeese Foundation to establish the Alfred Cochran Civil Engineering Scholarship.

McNeese State University’s College of Engineering ranks third among all public and private institutions in the nation with the greatest lifetime return on investment for its engineering majors, according to the 2015 College ROI Report by PayScale, Inc., the world’s leading provider of on-demand compensation data and software.

Depending on whether financial aid is or isn’t included in the ROI calculations, McNeese graduates have a 20-year net ROI of between $1,079,600 (no aid) or $1,104,600 (with aid). Rice University ranked at the top with a lifetime ROI of $1,168,400 followed by University of California –Berkeley at $1,103,100. To see all of the rankings visit www.payscale.com/college-roi/major/ engineering.

McNeese State University has received a $102,590 grant from the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce to help lead innovation and economic development in Southwest Louisiana.

The grant from the EDA University Center Economic Development program funds the third year of a five-year grant awarded to McNeese in 2013. McNeese was one of 19 universities awarded the grant in a national competition to advance and strengthen regional economies.

L to R: McNeese President Dr. Philip Williams, Cochran, Patricia Prebula, president of the Foundation’s board of directors, and Dr. Nikos Kiritsis, dean of the college of engineering.

Harold Pearson Donation The Harold Pearson Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established at McNeese State University with a donation of $15,247.39 from the estate of Harold L. Pearson through the McNeese Foundation. Pearson was a retired Calcasieu Parish schoolteacher who taught 30 years and he received both national and state teacher of the year awards. The scholarship will be awarded to students majoring in science and planning to teach high school chemistry or related subjects. Richard Reid, left, vice president for university advancement and executive vice president for the McNeese Foundation, accepts the donation from Pearson’s sister, Faye Pearson, who is a 1962 McNeese graduate in education.

September 2015

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2005 was a record-breaking year for hurricanes. Fifteen were formed and seven of those reached major hurricane status. Two of them, Katrina and Rita, will be forever remembered by residents of Southwest Louisiana.

It was an intense time that bonded all of us together.

Rita 10

RECOVERY 10 YEARS LATER

by Brett Downer

photos by Liz Mueller

Time has passed. Now Southwest Louisiana rises from blue roofs to a blue-chip economic future

years ago: Thousands fled from here — and $8 billion in damage was left.

Now and beyond: Thousands are coming here — and $86 billion in growth awaits them.

We can look back and recall the most powerful natural disaster in our recorded history, one that smashed or erased whole communities.

We can look at our region today and see the first flexing of a new wave of industrial and economic muscle.

Between the two, we can see the connection.

Today’s massive expansion is being built up in a region that, a decade ago, we had to build back.

28 www.thriveswla.com

That makes this month’s 10th anniversary of Hurricane Rita more than a symbolic milestone. It’s a signpost of our progress.

“You can’t change the weather,” as they say.

So with Rita, Southwest Louisiana starting doing something about it right afterward. The collective determination to clean up and rebuild was a telling sign of the area’s spirit. That attitude — or the rediscovery of it — rejected a future of stagnation or decline.

Worst storm ever Hurricane Rita struck Southwest Louisiana a decade ago — at 2:40 a.m. Sept. 24, 2005, just outside of Johnson Bayou, with 120-mph winds and a 15-foot storm surge.

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September 2015

In emptied-out Cameron Parish, which took the direct hit, perhaps the lone structure where someone could have survived the storm was the upper reaches of the Cameron Parish Courthouse.

The block-like building, which faces the Gulf, took Rita in the teeth — and took on water — but held firm just as it did in 1957, during deadly Hurricane Audrey.

Rita was the most destructive natural disaster in the area’s history. It also was a top-10 storm nationally for property damage.

A lot has changed since that time. Because of Rita’s widespread effects, and because there are people too young or too new to the area to know it firsthand, it’s instructive to take a difficult look back.

Teamwork in leaving The approach of Rita forced the unprecedented evacuation of Southwest Louisiana.

In Lake Charles, “we had to put that together very, very quickly,” said longtime Mayor Randy Roach.

“Think about an evacuation,” Roach said. “You might think it means, “I pack my SUV and leave.’ But what about those who can’t?

“I think of the nurses at the hospitals, I think of all the ambulance drivers — people not from here — and in a matter of hours, (we) coordinated an evacuation.”

Roach took on duties ranging from directing city resources to helping elderly folks step aboard charter buses that were headed for safer places.

(One bus, its route still undetermined, had an overheard sign with the destination of: “Someplace Special.”)

Roach said the bus boardings were aided by volunteers who simply showed up at the Lake Charles Civic Center and “helped put people on buses, helped with their luggage. It was not with a sense of panic, but because they wanted to volunteer.

“Sometimes you don’t get a sense of how the human spirit works … until something like that,” he said. “That was a great personal experience.”

commodities, the racket from generators.

The reminders of Rita lasted for months.

There were the blue roofs. The debris piles. The “local” home-repair outfits with out-of-state area codes. The limited hours at stores and businesses.

There was “Refrigerator Land,” a Stonehenge of fouled, taped-shut iceboxes awaiting disposal, on a slab near the Legion Street exit of I-210.

There was the “Branch Ranch,” the Prien Lake Park dumping ground for limbs and brush that became a wood-chipping operation.

There was the situation with your own house. Or fence. Or trees.

Scenes from a disaster Evidence of Rita was immediate, everywhere and enduring.

There was catastrophic misery of Cameron Parish, where homes and livelihoods were wiped out overnight. Shrimpers, camp owners and fiercely independent lifetime residents suffered first from wind and storm surge, then from FEMA and insurance companies.

Of the 3,500 homes in Cameron Parish, nearly every one of them suffered damage — and some 2,000 had to be replaced altogether.

About 250 fishing boats in were destroyed, wiping out out three-fifths of the commercial fleet.

Many boats weren’t replaced for lack of insurance.

Inland, there was the storm surge and 100-mph winds.

Shingles slashed across the skies. Trees and AUTO-HOME-LIFE-HEALTH-BANK fences wavered and surrendered. Freed barges clanged against the I-10 bridge. The Harrah’s casino riverboat tossed in the froth of the lake, then was shoved 4344 Lake Street up onto the banks — dead for good.

Lake Charles, LA In the immediate aftermath, there was “Look and Leave,” the scramble for gasoline, For a quote visit the newfound value of www.shaynelaughlin.com ice and beer as market

337.477.7354

Shayne M Laughlin, Agent • www.shaynelaughlin.com September 2015

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A can-do attitude The $8 billion in destruction was in Louisiana alone.

Along Rita’s full swath, the price tag was north of $12 billion.

After the storm, however, people weren’t interested in numbers. It was not about the statistics, but the logistics — like how to get back to their property, assess the damage and start fixing things. There were houses to check on, businesses to reboot, materials to round up.

People were impatient about wanting to get back to their homes and enterprises. Sometimes, the back roads worked fine when “Look and Leave” rules got in the way.

Piles went to the curb. Neighbors returned each other’s blown-off house fixtures. Friends shared a bag of ice, a chain saw, a helping hand. Word spread fast when a retailer was open or a pizza joint had food available.

Grew ‘closer together’ Roach was specific to Thrive in linking the Rita-era spirit of the region with its prosperity today.

“If you could go back in time to where we were before the storm, I think the community — in several respects — has grown closer together,” he said. “There’s a greater sense of community — a better appreciation that we are all in this together.”

As the area continues to grow, “I hope we don’t forget that lesson,” the mayor said. “Whether we’re in times of adversity or times of opportunity, we rely on and depend on each other,” he said.

“As part of the recovery, we rebuilt, not just repaired,” he said. “We have certainly seen economic growth because of our success in recovering from the storm.”

How? “It was each person,” Roach said. “The citizen, the small-business man … all these people working every day, involved in the recovery and working every day since. Their influence multiplies by the hundreds and by the thousands.”

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With a little help Insurance payouts, a home-repair rush and federal aid that came in multiple forms all had the postRita Southwest Louisiana economy percolating.

The money was being turned around quickly to buy materials and hire out for repairs. Also, other government services were helping people have a place to stay and a means to cart off the mess.

Calcasieu residents got $620 million in individual, housing or other FEMA assistance.

Cameron Parish residents received an average of $3,871 per person, or $82 million total. In Beauregard Parish, it was $57 million; in Jeff Davis, nearly $53 million.

There were 13,000 FEMA trailers — notorious for sure, but for many the lone stopgap housing available as they rebuilt their homes.

More than 8.5 million cubic yards of debris was removed in a year’s time— enough “to fill 2,050,000 trash trucks which, if placed end to end and side by side, would fill a four-lane highway from New York to California,” according to FEMA. The pricetag exceeded $230 million.

Elsewhere, the American Red Cross and Salvation Army served a combined 1.5 million meals and snacks. The United Way of Southwest Louisiana raised $3 million for hurricane aid. Also, scores of service organizations, church groups and foundations sent their crews and dollars to help.

Better positioned Getting federal recovery assistance was a “very tedious, very bureaucratic, frustrating process,” Roach said. “But (when we did), we were able to leverage a lot of those dollars.”

In Lake Charles, he said, the major post-Rita elements were: — Lakefront improvements.

— Downtown improvements.

— A bond issue.

In Cameron Parish, visitors such as former President George H.W. Bush, George Clooney and Vice President Joe Biden have celebrated recovery benchmarks.

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

Biden visited the Grand Lake Elderly Apartments.

Bush and Clooney presented $2 million from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to help rebuild South Cameron Memorial Hospital.

Progress like hospital reconstruction and infrastructure improvements not only gets communities back on track, it makes them sturdier for challenges ahead.

Lake Charles’ infrastructure got upgrades, for example, but the city also bought generators.

“We’ve been able to ‘harden the assets’ to get facilities in shape for future disasters,” Roach said.

Take all the rebuilding that people did on their own property, add all the improved and restored public services, and the result is a region freshly primed for growth.

That’s exactly what’s happening today, 10 years after Rita.

Now: Huge growth ahead George Swift tracks the total value of announced industrial projects in Southwest Louisiana.

The scorekeeping ought to be done in pencil, though, because the total has been regularly revised upward.

It’s Swift’s job as president/CEO of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance to drive those numbers up — by encouraging new and existing businesses to expand and diversify the region’s economy.

The tally of announced projects stands at a remarkable $86 billion — No. 1 in the nation.

Eighty-six billion dollars?

“Yes,” said Swift.

And it’s still a running total.

As Swift told Thrive earlier this year, half of the projects are already underway. The largest is the multibillion-dollar Sasol construction/expansion project, while other big-ticket efforts are set for chemical and natural-gas enterprises in West Calcasieu and Cameron Parish.

Tens of thousands of construction jobs will spring from the projects. Skilled workers will come in to meet the labor demand, then turn over September 2015

their payroll dollars in the local economy. We’ll stretch housing, traffic and infrastructure capacity to during the emerging construction boom. They are challenges that other regions can only wish they could have, but they will be challenges.

Ten years later, we can look back at Hurricane Rita and wince once more for the destruction it caused. But we can also see clearly how the collective spirit of Southwest Louisiana was to rise up and rebuild, not to sit back and surrender.

Today, we live in Southwest Louisiana 2.0 — a place that is newer, refreshed in its purpose and poised for results.

The most recent progress would seem to have no connection to a storm from 10 years ago. Maybe, though, some of the area’s newfound spirit was stirred by the very winds that aimed to take down our houses.

“I’m very proud of what this community did. It reflects on our values,” said Roach, who will be retiring as mayor of Lake Charles.

On the 10th anniversary of Rita, “we should reflect on these things,” he said.

If the order to leave comes,

BE SAFE AND GO. Rest assured that we’ll be here to

PROTECT YOUR HOME AND PROPERTY.

READERS TELL THEIR

stories

We all went through Hurricane Rita. It was a shared experience. Even if you’re new to the area, you’re sure to have heard the stories of how we all weathered the storm together.

We asked our readers via Facebook to share a few of their stories of challenges and triumphs. Here’s a few snapshots.

AN EASY WAY TO PREPARE FOR A HURRICANE

GOT A CAMERA?

DO A HOME INVENTORY.

“We had a convoy”

We had a convoy of family. We wanted to know everyone was safe.

It took nine hours to get from Lake Charles to Oakdale. We rested at a cousin’s house for a while and drove through with no hassle to Vicksburg. The people there were awesome. We stayed at a shelter at a church for two days, constantly hearing about our city. We went to Baton Rouge for a couple days, staying with various family friends. A few of us drove (home) to check on everyone’s homes.

Mine was completely destroyed. A few were damaged a little. We were told it could be weeks before Lake Charles would be “open” as far as services and electric, so some of us went to Little Rock and some to Henderson. The people of Little Rock were great. We had a “vacation,” which was bittersweet knowing what was ahead.

After 10 days we headed back to Louisiana and Henderson Lake Fosse National Park where (we) lived for a couple months until we received FEMA trailers or our houses were repaired. It was a struggle losing everything but with God we have overcome.

Feeling better prepared is a snap.

Taking pictures or video of your valuables now makes it easier to get reimbursed for them later if they’re damaged in a storm. For more easy ways to prepare for hurricane season, call me first.

Pat Hight Insurance Agency 337-474-2020 3405 Lake Street pathight@allstate.com www.allstateagencies.com/PatHight

149568

~Melanie Fontenot Watson © 2009 Allstate Insurance Co., Northbrook, IL

September 2015

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“I prayed”

We lived in Choupique on a beautiful place with old oaks and pecan trees. We packed up our important papers, boarded windows (and) doors and opened all the gates on the property so the horses and cows could go where they needed to get out of harm’s way. I was scared, no doubt, not knowing what would happen ... as we drove down the long driveway to close the gates at the road, I prayed. I prayed God would wrap His arms around all the animals and that 100 year old house and protect them. We went to Baton Rouge to stay with friends. As soon as we could come back to check on things, I was humbled and in awe of what God had done! All animals were safe and sound and the house was still standing. There were oak trees all around the house and not one of them was damaged. The Carlyss Fire Department came out and pumped water into the huge water troughs for all the animals—they rocked! ~ Lauren Colley Vincent

“We were scheduled to be married”

This is such a huge memory for Eligha Guillory Jr. and me. We were scheduled to be married on October 8, 2005.

Rita had other plans. We evacuated knowing we would return for our wedding and Rita would blow over, but instead we returned to a badly damaged home and a devastated and bruised community. We had to purchase a 26 foot travel trailer to live in. We placed it in our front yard for the entire time our home was being rebuilt (13 months). Many residents were still evacuated therefore many guests would be unable to attend. We really wanted to keep our special date of October 8, so a few people made that happen. We purchased a $99 dress from Dillard’s in Arkansas, Father Henry Mancuso open Sacred Heart (with no AC) for our small ceremony and Beth Dawdy made our wedding cake. In all, we had 15 people present from a list of 600 guests. This year will mark 10 years of marriage and we are blessed. We had a larger ceremony on November 12th, when most residents were back and had regained some sense of normalcy. Living in a 26 foot travel trailer for the first 13 months of marriage will make or break you and it definitely made us stronger. ~ Nomica Golden Guillory

“(We) became stronger”

I rode it out in Moss Bluff, in a building that was made for such things. I never realized just how scared and nervous I could be. After, I helped my friend at her store south of Lake Charles. The only store in the area, we sold gas and supplies to the people of Cameron as they headed there to recover what they could of their homes. It was heartbreaking, but good to see how strangers come together to help one another. I shot many pictures of the destruction in the area. When I look at them, my mind goes back to that terrible time when SWLA became stronger. … I wouldn’t want to stay again, but I wouldn’t go too far away. There was so much to be done right after it’s over. It was really heartening to see all the people come together to help. One example is Mr. Tadlock, who got into one of his large tractors and started clearing the streets in the garden district. This was happening all over. ~ Liz Anne Mueller

“Best medics in the area”

Working on the ambulance with some of the best medics in the area.

Helping others in such a difficult time has always ranked up there with one of my favorite accomplishments. This picture was taken three days after the storm. Very little sleep but nothing but optimism on our faces. ~ James Michael Burk

32 www.thriveswla.com

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

JD Gets Me

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33

“I will never forget”

I was living in Sulphur and was due to give birth to my baby girl the first week of October. Me, my mom, my oldest daughter and my brother evacuated to Alexandria, where a family member lived. We were there a couple days and I went into full labor, had to get in my car and drive to both hospitals in Alexandria. Both refused emergency care because I did not have medical records. So I got back in my car and drove as far down as I could manage. I made it to Deridder and Beauregard Memorial Hospital welcomed me with open arms and wonderful care! My daughter was born September 25. The hospital was so amazing they let my mom daughter and brother all stay in hospital for a week due to storm. I will never forget that storm. ~ Laticha McKelvey

“One riverboat capsized”

I worked for Harrah’s Lake Charles at the time. I had just made 4 months working the craps table when Rita sprung up. They weren’t sure until the night before whether they would shut down or ride it out.

They sent us all home and told us to evacuate, and to call in once it had passed. By the time I got back from Crystal Springs, Miss., I was living on the last income I would make from them. One riverboat had capsized on the lake, while the other was beached. The damage was so extensive as to render repairs a non-option.

Harrah’s was good enough to place employees at other properties, while those of us who elected to stay here were compensated with three months at half their monthly salary pre-Rita. All this barely a month after Katrina had refugees down in a motel not far from the house. My boyfriend at the time and I had spent the whole weekend after Katrina grilling and food-sharing with them. ~ Erin Morris

“We did what we could do”

We live in Lafayette and had family affected with both (Rita and Katrina). We did what we could do in Lafayette ... we helped our neighbors in New Orleans and Lake Charles with whatever we could offer. We helped with the animals, a lot of food and water assistance, sheltered a lot of displaced families, housed a lot of out of state workers and did some fundraising. Some families fell in love with Lafayette and stayed. ~ Rennie Louviere

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Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

The People of CITGO

FUEL GOOD THINGS IN THE

Communities We Serve At CITGO, we realize that a good education is the key to a brighter future and we promote education as one of our core values. We proudly partner with local schools to make sure that students in our communities receive what they need to perform well at school and we are excited to continue the CITGO Earth Keepers recycling program in participating Sulphur and Lake Charles schools.

Every new school year presents fresh opportunities for students to grow in their academic careers and follow their hearts and dreams for a brighter tomorrow. To all of the students in SWLA and especially to our Partners in Education - Sulphur High School, Sulphur High 9th Grade Campus, E.K. Key Elementary School and Calcasieu Alternative Site - here’s to wishing you a happy new school year!

To find out more, visit www CITGOLakeCharles.com.

Š 2015 CITGO Petroleum Corporation

September 2015

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35

Live from St. Pat’s, It’s the Storm of Your Life

As Hurricane Rita approached and raged through Southwest Louisiana, John Bridges helped talk people through the storm.

The KPLC-TV broadcaster joined other news colleagues at a makeshift anchor desk at Christus-St. Patrick Hospital for the duration of Rita. In the evacuation leading to the storm, even the TV station was a crosstown refugee.

The station’s own studio was abandoned because of the risk of downtown flooding from storm surge or the effect of high winds on its adjacent broadcast tower.

The improvised broadcast center was a tabletop in a hallway, right by the water fountain.

“We had one camera, one microphone and a TV with rabbit ears,” Bridges said. “No graphics — just a wipe-board with emergency phone numbers. We did interviews using our cellphone speakers.”

The wild weather was as nonstop as the coverage.

“At the height of the storm, I remember hearing the constant roar of the wind and rain hitting against the windows. It seemed like it would never end,” Bridges said.

“At one point, (then-reporter) Rhonda Kitchens and I were on the air when someone started evacuating the hallway, saying the roof

had blown off,” he said. “As everyone started leaving, Rhonda and I wondered when we should stop talking and leave.

“Finally, someone came back in and said only a window had blown out and we were all OK.” He also shared a thought about his own viewers: “I could only imagine what it was like inside the home of someone who had not evacuated.”

During breaks, Bridges watched some of the storm from the hospital parking garage.

“We heard trees breaking and could see the sparks of transformers across the neighborhood,” he said.

St. Pat’s — the city’s oldest health care facility — served multiple purposes as an unspoken hero of the hurricane.

“The hospital never stopped,” Bridges said of KPLC’s temporary headquarters. “Although most patients had been evacuated, there were some who had to stay and I understand there were a few surgeries.”

Also, “many of the police and fire department personnel were sheltered there,” he said.

Hospital representatives apparently paid attention to all details.

“When the power went out and water pressure was lost, I remember (former) Children’s Miracle Network director Poddy Champeaux getting together volunteers to help haul water in buckets from the lake — to flush the toilets,” he said.

“Those volunteers were, of course, called The Poddy Patrol.”

From its elevated mid-city digs, KPLC was able to provide TV and Web coverage for Rita’s duration.

“It was reassuring to see the KPLC tower downtown stay on the entire time,” Bridges said. “We never went off the air and stayed online throughout the storm.”

National Hurricane Museum Science Center Plan Hurricane Awareness Day September 26, 2015

In 2005, the year of Katrina, Rita, Dennis and Wilma, Atlantic hurricanes killed 3,483 people and caused more than $115 billion in property damage.

Today, in 2015, the Louisiana Gulf Coast has not only recovered, but is thriving. National Business Climate Ranking Reports such as Area Development, Business Facilities and Site Selection have named Louisiana one of the top 10 states in the nation for business climate. The Lake Charles metropolitan area, in Southwest Louisiana, is on the cusp of a prolonged period of economic growth with the announcement of more than $65 billion in announced capital projects that are expected to bring more than 18,000 permanent jobs to the area.

The 2005 hurricane season hardened the resolve and commitment of the entire Gulf region and that resolve is now embodied in the new the National Hurricane Museum & Science Center (NHMSC). Dedicated to saving lives and reducing property damage through better preparation and education, the NHMSC is ready to break ground in Lake Charles⎯in itself a symbolic destination at the center of the Gulf of Mexico coast ⎯and become a 21st century thematic learning center.

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To demonstrate the educational role, value and mission of the NHMSC in the fields of hurricane education and emergency preparation and response, the NHMSC, together with Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes, the City of Lake Charles and a series of public and private partners, are hosting a public event showcasing community involvement in building a safer and smarter Gulf Coast at future NHMSC site. Hurricane Awareness Day, scheduled for 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, September 26, will showcase exhibits and demonstrations by emergency responders, activities for families on lessons learned for better preparation, as well as celebrate the music, food and culture of the region. Exhibition booths will demonstrate the latest technologies, run practice emergency response training, feature emergency transportation vehicles, and coordinate other weather preparedness related activities.

In addition to the exhibitions and activities, a 10k, 5k and 1-mile fun run will be held.

Emergency Responder’s Appreciation Day will also be held at the Lake Charles Civic Center on the same day. It will begin with a memorial service for fallen responders and various emergency response vehicles will be parked at the site of the Hurricane Awareness Day event and open for the public to view.

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

10 YEARS LATER, WE STILL CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH.

Everyone at Entergy salutes our Rita first response team.

You gave this storm everything you had – and it made all the difference.

A message from Entergy Services, Inc. ©2015 Entergy Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

September 2015

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37

Money & Career Working Through

Retirement?

Don’t Ignore Your Debt

38 www.thriveswla.com

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

FOR YEARS HARD-WORKING AMERICANS KEPT THEIR EYES ON THE PRIZE – RETIREMENT. BUT WE ALL KNOW 65 ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE. THE OLDEST BABY BOOMERS TURN 69 THIS YEAR , YET MANY ARE STILL WORKING AND DON’T HAVE PLANS TO STOP IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. THEY DON’T VIEW THEIR RETIREMENT YEARS AS A TIME FOR LEISURELY GARDENING OR A CROSSCOUNTRY TRIP IN AN RV; INSTEAD, THEY CONSIDER IT AN OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP GOING. ACCORDING TO A RECENT STUDY BY THE AARP, A SURPRISING 70 PERCENT OF BABY BOOMERS PLAN TO WORK INTO WHAT WAS TRADITIONALLY CONSIDERED THE “RETIREMENT YEARS.”

“Some want to. Some have to,” said Jeff Mancuso, Senior Vice President with Lakeside Bank. “Regardless of the reason, it’s important to remember that just because you are working doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be concerned with paying off debt. Nor is this a time to continue accumulating debt.”

According to Mancuso, it’s easy for older consumers to fall under the misconception that as long as they are still earning a paycheck, they can continue managing their debt the way they did five or ten years ago. Unfortunately, many of these Boomers enter their sixties with more debt than ever before, as a result of large mortgages, home upgrades, helping adult children and/or aging parents, and other enormous responsibilities.

A recent Pew Research study found that 80% of Baby Boomers are carrying some debt into retirement. The median debt level for Baby Boomers is about $70,000, with Boomers holding nearly twice as much housing debt as the previous generation did.

“As Boomers get closer to retirement – even if they don’t plan to officially ‘retire’ – their attitude toward debt should change based on future plans, needs and expectations,” Mancuso said. “It’s logical to consider that they will see some increase in expenses related to health care and, in many cases, elderly care for their parents. This means that they need to have an increased focus on paying down debt so there’s more flexibility in their budget.”

Although the recession in the late 2000s has led to a more cautious financial attitude across the country overall, research finds that many Boomers have held onto their long-standing reputation for being nonsavers. They are not as focused on actively paying down their debt as other groups are – even though it’s a more pressing issue for them than younger generations.

So, what can a Boomer hoping to retire do to get a better handle on their debt? “It may seem tricky to save for retirement while also paying down debt, especially if you haven’t taken retirement savings seriously before,” says Mancuso. “This means you are faced with a dilemma: Pay down debt before saving for retirement or do both at the same time? There is no easy answer to this question. It depends on several factors, including your future plans and your financial situation. A best-case scenario would be to pay down debt and save at the same time, but this isn’t always feasible. Set up an appointment with your banker for some insight into your specific situation. It’s always better to have a plan with clear-cut goals.”

For more information on personal financial management, call Lakeside Bank at (337) 474-3766 or visit www.lakesidebanking.com.

Rahul Patel has

Joined the Migration to Lakeside Bank

Lakeside Bank is proud to introduce our new Assistant Vice President and Commercial Lender.

Rahul brings of 18 years of experience in the business and banking fields to Lakeside. Most recently, he served as a private client banker with JP Morgan Chase, where he worked with both consumer and commercial clients.

Rahul shares the Lakeside philosophy of supporting our local community by providing

exceptional personal service and a vision for future growth. It’s this commitment that has made us the region’s fastest growing local bank.

The way banking should be.

Rahul Patel

Assistant Vice President/Commercial Lender

4735 Nelson Rd., Lake Charles September 2015

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474-3766 LakesideBanking.com www.thriveswla.com

39

Money & Career CONSUMER ALERT:

Protect Yourself Against Credit Card Fraud Identity thieves, computer hackers, and scammers work hard to get consumers’ credit cards and card numbers to commit fraud.

Unfortunately, too many of these con artists are successful, but Attorney General James D. “Buddy” Caldwell says there are ways consumers can fight back.

“Taking a few simple measures can help keep your credit cards and card numbers safe,” Attorney General Caldwell said. “Always keep a record of your account numbers, expiration dates and the credit card companies’ phone numbers in a secure place in order to report fraud, a lost card or a stolen card.”

Caldwell also advises consumers to never lend their cards to anyone, including kids or roommates, and to shred card receipts and statements when they are no longer needed.

Tips to Fight Credit Card Fraud: • Don’t give your account number to anyone on the phone unless you made the call to the company and know the company is reputable. If you are unfamiliar with the company, research the company’s reviews and complaints.

• Carry your cards separately from your wallet. It can minimize your losses if someone steals your wallet or purse. And carry only the card you need for that outing.

• Keep your eye on your card, during a transaction. Make sure you get it back before you walk away.

• Never sign a blank receipt. Draw a line through any blank spaces above the total.

• Save your receipts to compare with your statement as soon as possible.

40 www.thriveswla.com

• Open your bills promptly — or check them online often — and reconcile them with the purchases you’ve made. Once you’ve reconciled your transactions, shred all receipts and statements.

• Immediately report any questionable charges to the card issuer.

• Notify your card issuer if your address changes or if you will be traveling.

Consumers should report a lost, stolen, or compromised card to the card issuer immediately. For more information about credit card fraud or for other consumer-related information, call Attorney General Caldwell’s Consumer Protection Hotline at (800) 351-4889 or visit www.AGBuddyCaldwell.com.

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

Applying for a Personal Loan?

What You Need to Know Whether you’re looking to fund a special purchase or cover a major expense, personal loans may be a good option to finance costs. Today there are personal loan options for nearly every consumer, but before you head to the bank, it’s important to become familiar with common loan terminology.

JD Bank has compiled a helpful list of personal loan terms that are important to understand when considering an agreement with a lender: Equity: Difference between value of an item and remaining principal left for the borrower to pay off on the loan for that item.

Term: Period over which a loan agreement is in force. Short-term loans are generally less than three years whereas long-term loans can be paid out over more than three years. Long-term personal loans are typically used for mortgages, cars and education.

Secured & Unsecured Loans: A secured loan requires borrowers to offer collateral, like a house or car, as an assurance in case the borrower defaults

on the loan. Unsecured loans do not require collateral, but often come with higher interest rates.

Interest Rate: A percentage of the principal paid by the borrower to the lender over the duration of the loan term. When shopping for a loan, lower interest rates are best. Be cautious of lenders that have a wide interest rate range – for example, lenders whose lowest interest rate is 5 percent and highest is 13 percent.

customer walks away with no question left unanswered.”

If interested in learning more about personal loans, contact a JD Bank branch manager at a location nearest to you.

“Personal loans can be a great way to finance many types of expenses,” says Susan Hebert, JD Bank’s Kinder branch manager.

“But it’s key for consumers to fully understand the agreements they’re entering into. JD Bank makes it a priority to ensure that every

BECOME A

PERSONAL TRAINER AND LIVE

YOUR PASSION!

SOWELA Technical Community College SEPTEMBER 22 - OCTOBER 29, 2015

Tuesdays & Thursdays • 6:30pm - 9:30pm Class Fee: $600 plus text books

To Register, call 337-421-6964.

To order textbook and start the required reading or for course details, please contact W.I.T.S. at 1-888-330-9487 or visit www.witseducation.com.

FREE Online Info Session Visit www.witseducation.com to register.

• Earn an excellent salary working with people • Program internships can walk you into jobs • Hands-on practical labs that help you master the skills of success • Employer driven - we have a national pool of sites waiting for you • Certification Exams included

September 2015

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41

Money & Career Losing a job is stressful—plain and simple.

Dealing with Job Loss

Looking for a new one is no easy task either, especially if you worry about how to pay the bills. But take a deep breath. The Federal Trade Commission offers these tips to help you get back on your feet professionally and financially.

Look to your employer for help.

Your company may offer a range of services, from workshops to retooling your resume to classes on how to look for jobs.

Contact your local unemployment office for information about applying for unemployment insurance benefits in your state.

Make a budget. Add up your monthly expenses and create a survival budget to get a sense of how long your savings can keep you afloat. Look for expenses you may be able to eliminate.

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Contact your creditors. They may be willing to discuss some type of minimum payment. They’re much more likely to be reasonable with you if you tell them your situation upfront, rather than waiting for them to contact you after you’ve missed a payment.

601 S. Pine Street • DeRidder, LA 70634 • (337) 463-7442 www.thriftyway.com • thriftyway2@thriftyway.com 42 www.thriveswla.com

Consider your health care options. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, better known as COBRA, allows people who lose their jobs to buy health insurance at a group rate for a limited time. COBRA can be expensive. If you’re relatively healthy and don’t have chronic conditions, a bare-bones major medical plan may save you money while still protecting you from catastrophic emergencies. Visit HealthCare.gov to learn more.

Order a free copy of your credit report. It has information about where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you have filed for bankruptcy. Credit reporting companies and other businesses that provide background

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

information sell your file to potential employers that, in turn, use it to evaluate your applications for jobs. It’s a good idea to dispute inaccurate information in your report so it can be corrected before your next job interview comes along.

Form a network. Networking is about building relationships and is a key part of job hunting. All it means is talking to others — either formally or informally — about your job search and career goals.

Join a professional, business, civic, or some other kind of association or club. It can be a good way to learn about trends and unadvertised jobs. Members often know employers with open positions. Association and club listings can be found online or at your local library.

Visit CareerOneStop. Sponsored by the U. S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, this site offers tools to help people look for work, and a directory of resources to help you cope while unemployed.

Be wary of job scams. It’s tough enough to find a job without scammers trying to take advantage. During your job search, you may see ads for job placement firms that promise results. Unfortunately, some firms misrepresent their services, promote nonexistent vacancies, or charge high fees in advance for services that don’t guarantee placement.

September 2015

All you need to know to stay in the know!

Cardiovascular Specialists Opens New DeQuincy Office Dr. Corey Foster, board certified cardiologist with Cardiovascular Specialists, an affiliate of Imperial Health, is now seeing patients in the group’s new DeQuincy office Dr. Corey Foster every Monday. The office is located at 122 W. 4th Street.

Dr. Foster is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease. He joined Cardiovascular Specialists in July 2014. For more information, call (337) 436-3813.

CSE Supportive Friend of USS Orleck

CSE Federal Credit Union provides membership to over 500 Select Employee Groups and Associations throughout SWLA. As a privately funded, nonprofit organization, the USS ORLECK Naval Museum became one of those members in February 2013.

Through this relationship the Orleck’s members may be eligible to join CSE. For more information, call (337) 477-2000.

Merchant & Farmers Bank Invests in SOWELA Technical Community College Merchants & Farmers Bank, one of Louisiana’s oldest hometown banks, has invested in student success at SOWELA Technical Community College by establishing the Merchant & Farmers Bank Endowed Scholarship through the SOWELA Foundation. When fully funded, the scholarship will be awarded to students from Calcasieu Parish. For more information, call (337) 421-6565.

PetSmart, PetCo, SuddenLink, Lake Area Animal Hospital or Dynamic Dimensions Moss Bluff. For more information, call (337) 477-3757.

CITGO Awards Scholarship to Lake Charles Student

L to R: David Vogel, CITGO Manager Business Planning and Optimization; Jerry Dunn, CITGO General Manager Engineering and Technical Services and Phillip Comeaux, CITGO Scholarship recipient.

September 2015

SOWELA Technical Community College in Lake Charles and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches have signed an agreement that will allow fulltime SOWELA faculty and staff to enroll in up to six undergraduate or graduate credit hours at a reduced tuition rate. The agreement provides higher education opportunities to SOWELA faculty and staff to reach their academic goals. With Northwestern State University’s vast online offerings, this partnership provides SOWELA’s employees with both affordable and accessible higher education opportunities. For more information, visit www.sowela.edu or www.nsula.edu.

CITGO Petroleum Corporation recently awarded scholarships to six high school graduates who are dependent children of company employees or retirees, including one child of a Lake Charles Refinery employee. The student was honored at the CITGO Scholarship Banquet in July.

Since 1987, CITGO has been active in Investments* helping qualified dependent children 401K Pension Rollovers of its employees and retirees reach their Long Term Care collegiate goals, through Insurance offering college and Education Savings university scholarships.

Since then, CITGO has awarded more than 270 scholarships, totaling more than $2.5 million.

The student selected as a 2015 CITGO scholarship recipient was Phillip D. Comeaux, Lake Charles, LA, son of William (Bill) Comeaux, CITGO Senior Analyst, Logistics.

Hobo Hotel Collecting Shoes Lake Charles-Hobo Hotel for Cats, a local nonprofit animal rescue group located at 650 E. School Street in Lake Charles, is collecting gently worn shoes to help raise funds to rescue abandoned cats and kittens. The deadline to deliver shoes is September 15. Shoes may be dropped off at any of the following locations: Hobo Hotel for Cats,

SOWELA Signs Tuition Agreement Partnership with Northwestern

Looking to Strengthen Your Financial Future?

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3105 Lake Street, Lake Charles | (337) 475-6226 Thrive Magazine for Better Living

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43

Home & Family

What Can You Do About Bad Neighbors?

by Emily Alford

IN A PERFECT WORLD, WE’D ALL LIVE IN LAKEFRONT CABINS WITH SPRAWLING BACK PORCHES OFFERING WATERFRONT VIEWS. OUR CLOSEST NEIGHBORS WOULD BE A QUARTER MILE AWAY AND WOULD MOSTLY KEEP TO THEMSELVES, EXCEPT FOR THE OCCASIONAL WARM APPLE PIE THEY BROUGHT OVER ONCE A YEAR AFTER THE HARVEST. In reality, most of us are stacked one on top of the other in stories-high apartment buildings or separated by a thin strip of grass between two houses.

And it can be great to live amongst people. In fact, one study by the National Institute of Health found that “social support is essential for maintaining physical and psychological health.” And what better way to find that social support than through block parties, friendly coffee with neighbors, or even just a wave hello on the way to the mailbox?

However, on the flip side, the “Broken Windows” theory of community— first posited by political scientist James Q. Wilson and criminologist George L. Kelling in The Atlantic Monthly in 1982—posits the theory that little disturbances within a community, broken windows, graffiti, excessive noise, lead to an “everyone else is doing it, why can’t I?” mentality that pits neighbors against each other. We all want harmony in our communities, be it an apartment complex or subdivision, so what can you do about neighbors who

44 www.thriveswla.com

just won’t keep to themselves without becoming the Hatfields and McCoys?

“We encourage people to get involved in the community,” says Mark Kraus, Deputy Chief of the Lake Charles Police Department. And sometimes getting involved can be as simple as a calm conversation between grown-ups. So before you call the landlord or even the police to report small offences like noise complaints or pets that roam too freely, try and talk it out in a calm, compassionate way with your neighbor. “If you can approach that neighbor and talk as adults, then you should,” Kraus says. “Listen to what they have to say and then both parties try to come to an agreed resolution.”

Remember to try and kill the problem with kindness. People are less likely to respond positively when they feel they’re being attacked, so try to get the upper hand by being friendly. For instance, Jordan Willard, a lifelong New Orleans resident, has taken cupcakes around to all her neighbors when she was planning a party to make sure everyone knew there might be a little more noise than usual.

“My roommate used to get super Martha Stewart about it,” she says. “We’d bake dozens of cupcakes and take them around to everyone to apologize in advance for how loud it was about to get. I guess it worked because we never got in trouble.”

But what can you do if you’ve tried to be nice but the annoyances won’t stop? Well, according to Lake Charles city ordinances, loud music, engine revving or lawn mowing are technically ticketable offenses, since “between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., impulsive sound which occurs less than four times in any hour should not equal or exceed 80 decibels.” Fines begin at about $150.

But before you call the police on a neighbor’s birthday party, it might be wise to ask whether the tension you’ll create is worth the quiet you may or may not get.

And if a pesky pet is your problem, the parish also has law on the books against “nuisance animals,” which are described as animals that “molest passersby, moving vehicles, or other animals while at-large; damage private or

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

“ If you can approach that neighbor and talk as adults, then you should.”

public property; bark, whine, or howl in an excessive, continuous, or untimely manner; or cause unsanitary conditions or odors about the premises of the owner or others through urination or defecation.” So again, if you’ve got a neighbor who lets his or her dog dig up your begonias or if the people at the end of the hall leave their dog alone to bark all day, you’re within your rights to complain, and fines are fairly steep—$100 for a first offense. Still, it’s well worth it to weigh the pros and cons of being the person on your block who called the cops on man’s best friend.

However, there is one instance in which being nosy could save a life.

Louisiana currently ranks second in the nation for domestic violence homicides, and FBI statistics estimate that a woman is battered every 15 seconds. If you can hear your neighbors screaming through the walls, or worse still, if you can hear and see the signs of domestic violence on spouses and children, speak up before it’s too late.

You should never try to dissolve a domestic violence situation by yourself, Officer Kraus says. “Don’t go and try to be the police,” he warns. Instead, call your local police and alert them to the situation, and the officers will keep your call anonymous. “People don’t have to leave their homes to help,” he says. “Say you don’t want to be involved, and we’ll check it out. They’ll never know you called.”

Being a good neighbor can be as simple as monitoring your own habits to ensure they’re not causing someone else to lose sleep or it can be as important as anonymously saving the life of someone in danger. The most important thing to remember is that being a community means giving as much as we take.

Mark Kraus Deputy Chief, Lake Charles Police Department

Make the move.

Elevate your lifestyle.”

“

Call me to sell your home TODAY.

Abby Cagle 337.532.0401

September 2015

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45

Home & Family

State Releases ACT Scores

Beauregard, Vernon, Cameron Rank Highest

The Louisiana Department of Education has announced that a record number of high school seniors have earned scores of 18 or higher on the ACT, leading to more graduates entering college without the need for remedial courses. Although this improvement comes after years of raising expectations for Math and English in Louisiana, the state remains one of the lowest-performing states in the nation, ranking in the bottom five.

The good news: Among seniors in spring 2015, 24,619 students earned a college-going score of 18+, an increase of nearly 1,000 from 2014 and a substantial jump of more than 6,300 from 2012.

The DOE attributes this jump to changes implemented by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and local school systems.

Those changes were launched in 2012 and included an overhaul of the state’s accountability system, the creation of the Jump Start career education program, and expansion of Advanced Placement courses.

The number of high school graduates enrolling in college has grown significantly from 19,826 in 2011 to 22,972 in 2014. Only time will tell if this number will improve the state’s college graduation rate. According to US Census data, Louisiana ranks 49th in the nation in the number of residents with associate or bachelor’s degrees, followed only by West Virginia.

46 www.thriveswla.com

Still, the state continues its push. During the 2012-2013 school year, Louisiana became the 10th state to provide all high school students the opportunity to take the ACT at no charge. In addition to providing all students with access to the ACT, the Department, BESE, and schools across the state have embarked on ambitious initiatives that have expanded opportunities for high school student.

“ By providing access to more rigorous courses and tests for all students, we are seeing achievement increase across the board.”

John White. “By providing access to more rigorous courses and tests for all students, we are seeing achievement increase across the board. Our state needs to keep raising its expectations if we expect to compete.”

BESE President Chas Roemer says the most recent ACT numbers reflect a continued improvement in academic achievement.

“The combination of expanding access to the ACT and raising standards has given more Louisiana students the chance to show what they can do, and the results are inspiring,” Roemer says. “This important progress validates the hard work of students and educators across our state. We must continue raising expectations to ensure that our students are prepared to compete for any job or college placement opportunity.”

“Four years ago, BESE, the Department, and local school systems set out to increase the career and college opportunities for students. Raising expectations for all students is not easy but our students are showing they are as smart and capable as any in America,” said State Superintendent

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September 2015

Highest State ACT Scores

Local Average ACT Scores Allen Parish, 19.3 Beauregard Parish, 20.3 Calcasieu Parish, 19.7 Cameron Parish, 20.4 Jefferson Davis Parish, 19.2 Vernon Parish, 20.4

Highest ACT Scores Nationwide Massachusetts, 24.3 Connecticut, 24.2 New Hampshire, 24.2 Maine, 23.6 New York, 23.4

Ascension Parish, 20.6 Beauregard Parish, 20.3 Cameron Parish, 20.4 Lafayette Parish, 20 Lincoln Parish, 20.3 Livingston Parish, 20.5 Orleans Parish School Board, 20.9 Plaquemines Parish, 20.1 St. Charles Parish, 20 St. Tammany Parish, 21.5 Vernon Parish, 20.4 West Carroll Parish, 20.1 West Feliciana Parish, 20.5 Zachary Community Schools, 20.7 Central Community Schools, 21.1

Lowest ACT Scores Nationwide Florida, 19.6 Louisiana, 19.2 Mississippi, 19.0 North Carolina, 18.9 Hawaii, 18.2

Quality • Style • Selection

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Quality furniture vendors Custom-order upholstery furniture Over 800 in-store fabric samples Complimentary design assistance

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Hours: Monday - Saturday 9:30am - 6:00pm • www.sofasandchairsla.com September 2015

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47

Home & Family

I’m Reading Banned Books: Are You?

by Felicite Toney

Banned Books Week is September 29-October 3 and I’m ready for it. I have my copy of Fahrenheit 451 and many other favorite books of mine that have faced challenges and censorship over the years. One week is not enough time to read them all. But why wait for Banned Books Week?

Banned Books Week, established in 1982, was created as a response to book challenges being made across the nation. A book may be challenged in an attempt to ban it from shelves in a certain establishment, such as a library or a school. If a challenge is successful, the book may become permanently banned from the establishment. So, Banned Books Week is a time for readers to celebrate the freedom to read by reading books that have faced such challenges.

But why are challenges made in the first place? Simple: People disagree with the content. According to the American Library Association (ALA), “often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from ‘inappropriate’ sexual content or ‘offensive’ language.” The website lists the top three reasons why books are challenged:

1 The material was considered to be “sexually explicit” 2 T he material contained “offensive language” 3 The materials was “unsuited to any age group” It’s easy to understand why challenges are made, but banning books is not the answer.

Let’s take a look at 2014’s most challenged book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie. This book was the third most challenged in 2013, and has been on the list since 2010. The summary is pretty innocent: Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, leaves his troubled school on the reservation to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.” The book has faced challenges due to its content. According to the ALA, reasons include: “anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence and depictions of bullying.” Most of the challenges for this book came from parents of high school students. Why shouldn’t we allow readers to witness life through characters who faces new challenges? Isn’t that what high school is, anyway? Doesn’t that help teach empathy and understanding?

Other books that have faced challenges over the years include Animal Farm by George Orwell, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.

All of these books have one important thing in common: They’ve all been challenged due to the opinions of others.

In 2011 only 18 percent of Americans thought that there are books that should be banned; however, a Harris Poll indicates that the number has grown by 10 percent. Today, 28 percent of people living in a country that represents

48 www.thriveswla.com

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

Come Home to

Easy Living

freedom think it’s okay to ban books. Meanwhile, only 16 percent held movies and television to the same standard. This worries me greatly. Luckily, it’s not so easy to ban a book, especially when librarians are fighting the good fight.

By banning or censoring books, we take away the basic rights of readers. We are limiting their knowledge and, in some cases, imposing our beliefs onto them. The end result is that we create a narrow-minded culture of sheltered kids who only know their own lives, or the lives of parentapproved characters. We as a society should allow readers, especially youth, to choose what to read and experience the lives of others through books. I speak from experience when I say that I read a lot of books in high school and without many of them, I don’t know how I would have survived.

I have a bachelor’s degree in English and library science and education classes under my belt. I consider myself an advocate for reading. Reading is important. It not only promotes literacy, but it also gives way to creativity and critical thinking.

As readers, we travel the world through books and experience the possible and impossible through characters created just for us. For children and teenagers, reading satisfies their hunger for bigger and better things. It allows them to safely explore new worlds, situations, and people from the safety of their home, school or library. When people fight to censor or ban a book, they’re fighting to take away a safe haven for young readers. This is why Banned Books Week is so important.

Banned Books Week is a celebration of reading.

It is important that we as individuals respect the diversity of mankind and allow each other the freedom to choose what to read. It is also important that we support the freedom to read in spite of those who wish to take it away from us. Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, made it clear what he thought of censorship: “There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.”

and we’ll take care of the pests: Rodents • Termites • Mosquitoes • And more!

Satisfaction guaranteed.

continued on p50

LAKE CHARLES • 474-7377 DERIDDER • 463-4574 September 2015

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jjext.com www.thriveswla.com

49

Home & Family

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1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling 2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier 4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell 5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck 6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou 7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz 8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman 9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle 10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky 11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers 12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris 13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey 14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain 15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison 16. Forever, by Judy Blume 17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker 18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous 19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger 20. King and King, by Linda de Haan 21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar 23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry 24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak 25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan 26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison 27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier 28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson 29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney 30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier SOURCE: 2000-2009, ALA

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Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

COME SEE OUR

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

Friday night high school football is a long-standing tradition in Southwest Louisiana, and Walnut Grove is built on a foundation of local history and tradition.

We are expanding rapidly, with new commercial and residential properties available. As we grow, we are proud to add an extra glow to the night time skyline.

West Sallier Street, Lake Charles www.walnutgrovetnd.com

(337) 497-0825 Residential and Commercial Property Available

September 2015

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51

Home & Family

We’re the Perfect Fit

for Any Real Estate Need

Whether you are buying or selling property, there are questions around every corner. CENTURY 21 Bessette Realty, Inc., and our staff of experienced agents have the answers. We’ve won numerous awards for superior service, sales excellence and community involvement.

Bessette Realty, Inc.

That’s what we’ve built our reputation on for over 20 years, and we’re ready to go to work for you.

3025 Lake Street, Lake Charles | 474-2185

52 www.thriveswla.com

century21-bessette.com Each office independently owned and operated.

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

The practice is

growing & moving!

For more than 10 years Dr. Prestia & her staff have been committed to providing the best, most up to date care possible, and thanks to all of you, the practice is growing and thriving! To continue to offer you professional, compassionate, and timely care; we’ve moved next door (keeping our suite address) and Dr. Prestia’s sister, Anne B. Griepsma, has joined our staff as Nurse Practitioner. She is available for annual exams, routine primary care, and our new comprehensive weight loss services!

Call us for more information and to schedule your appointment with Anne. We look forward to seeing you in our new office!

Alice Babst Prestia, M.D. APMC Anne B. Griepsma, APRN, FNP-C 4150 Nelson Rd. Suite E - 2 Lake Charles, LA 70605 337.475.8949 ph · 337.475.8946 fax

WOMEN’S FALL CONFERENCE

Thursday, October 15, 2015 | Lake Charles Civic Center

In Celebration of Women

Register in one of three easy ways: ONLINE: Register at www.womenscommissionswla.com.

Registration cost – $30. Deadline is October 5.

MAIL-IN: Clip or copy the registration form below, or download the printable registration form that can be found on our website. Checks or money orders may be made payable and mailed to the following: Women’s Commission of SWLA, Inc. P.O. Box 6712, Lake Charles, LA 70606 Registration cost - $30. Deadline is October 5.

ON-SITE: The cost of on-site registration is $40.00 per person, for the entire day or any portion of the day. On-site registration opens at 8:00 a.m. on October 15, 2015. Cash, checks or credit cards will be accepted on the day of the Conference.

For additional registration information, email registration@womenscommissionswla.com.

New Construction Loan?

Last Name ____________________________ First Name_________________________ Home Address ____________________________________________________________ City _________________________________________ State ________ Zip __________ Home Phone ___________________________ Alt./Cell Phone ______________________ Email: ___________________________________________________________________

Call us!

SPECIAL SEATING: I will need handicap access

* Subject to approval. Some restrictions may apply.

Member NCUA, Equal Housing Opportunity.

Membership required

I am hearing impaired/hard of hearing

WORKSHOP PREFERENCES: Indicate your workshop number in the box provided.

Session I Workshops # 1-7

Session II Workshops # 8-14

Session III Workshops # 15-21 REGISTRATION FEE:

ONLINE & MAIL-IN: $30.00

ON-SITE: $40.00

Women’s Commission of SWLA, Inc. PO Box 6712, Lake Charles, LA 70606

477-9190 September 2015

PLEASE USE ONE FORM PER PERSON TO REGISTER.

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53

Home & Family

Each day, an abused or neglected child is removed from an unsafe home and placed in Louisiana’s foster care system.

They remain in the system until their home environment is safe—but for many that never happens. Of the 4,000 children currently cycling in state foster care, about 350 are ready to be adopted today. More than 60 of them are in Southwest Louisiana, right here in our community. .

KPLC reporter Britney Glaser, in partnership with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), highlights one child each month who is legally ready to be adopted. Thrive is supporting The New Family Tree by featuring each month’s story.

SOUL SURFER

BETHANY HAMILTON HAS A

DAMON

BRACES

SMILE!

J’Von has spent a couple of years in foster care. He has been without a mom or dad for years, waiting in foster care to be adopted, and moving from one foster home to another. It is a life in limbo J’Von does not like, but sadly, it is all he has known. “Cause ever since I was little I moved from place to place,” he said.

J’Von wants to be in one home with a mom, dad or both, something he has expressed to Department of Children and Family Services child welfare specialist, Desiree Bellard. “He’s very much so adoptable,” she said.

“He is yearning to be in a stable home. He does not like moving from place to place.”

At school, J’Von excels in science and math. “I like field trips and experiments we do in science and math,” he said.

J’Von says he is happy to help with chores around the house, would love to have siblings and a dog, and that race, age, and location do not matter to him. He just wants what every child deserves: a loving family to look out for him. “It doesn’t really matter as long as I have a family to live with,” said J’Von. J’Von is legally free to be adopted through the Department of Children and Family Services. Adoptions cost little to nothing through the state.

The next round of MAPP certification classes begins Thursday, September 17 from 6–9 p.m. These classes run for seven consecutive Thursday evenings at the DCFS office on Kirkman Street in Lake Charles.

There are still many children in Southwest Louisiana ready to be adopted today. Call the Department of Children and Family Services at 337-491-2470 for information on the foster-to-adopt process. Follow Britney Glaser’s “The New Family Tree” series at kplctv.com.

For more information, call 337-491-2470. or 1-800-814-1584. Follow Britney Glaser’s “The New Family Tree” series at www.kplctv.com.

GET YOURS!

Quick Facts on Adopting a Foster Child

See Dr. Robert Lamb 337.478.3232

Oak Park Dental Family Dentistry & Specialty Practice 1616 W. McNeese St. Lake Charles, LA

OakParkDental.com Dr. Harry Castle Dr. Kyle Ferro Dr. James McGee 54 www.thriveswla.com

10-Year-Old Boy in Foster Care, Ready to be Adopted Today

• Minimum age is 21.

• Single people can adopt.

• Many of the children in state custody are considered “special needs,” which is defined as the following: older child, race/ ethnic background, sibling group, medical conditions, physical/ mental/emotional handicaps.

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• Children in foster care are there as a result of abuse, neglect or abandonment.

• The certification process typically takes 90 days to complete. Once matched with a child, the process to legally adopt a child takes about one year.

September 2015

!

Solutions for Life

from Solutions Counseling & EAP

by Keri Forbess-McCorquodale, MS, LPC, LMFT, CEAP

Increasing Your Job Security (Part II) Last month we discussed some things you can do to increase your job security, and this month we’re going to continue the discussion.

First, a recap. There is no 100 percent proof positive way to keep a job in a layoff situation, but there are ways to decrease the likelihood of you being at the top of the “pink slip” list. We talked about the need for everyone to know you – your name and your smile. We also talked about the need for people to associate positive feelings with you, not “what is he/she whining about now” feelings. You need to look at your past and current baggage, and deal with it effectively. Bottom line: You must deal with any personal issues.

This month I want to talk to you in terms of work issues. There are ways to make yourself stand out in an organization (in a good way), and we need to make that happen: Add Value. You need to always be thinking “I’m here to enhance this company,” and be thinking about ways to do it. Did you read a useful article lately? Copy it to your boss. Did you do something differently at another organization that might benefit at your current one? Share it. How can you help your company save money? How can you help your company make money?

When I’m working with organizations, one of the things I do is make sure that every employee understands how they impact the bottom line. When it’s time for your evaluation, you need to be able to say, “Here’s how I made you more money this year.” Did you find a less expensive product that would work just as well as the more expensive one? Did you turn an unhappy customer into a happy one? Do you understand that

September 2015

if your job is to clean the building, the cleanliness level will directly impact the customer’s level of comfortableness (and therefore his likeliness to return)?

Every employee has the ability to add value.

Positive Attitude. It’s easy to teach people the technical aspect of their job.

A positive attitude is the other part of your job. Attitude is not easy to teach, and frankly, it’s not your company’s job to help you have a better attitude.

That’s your job. If every time someone asks “How are you?” you answer with “OK,” or “I’m making it,” how do you think you come across? Your answer should always be “I’m great, how are you?” I don’t care if you’re not really great today. Your average co-worker really doesn’t want to know if you’re not so wonderful today. And certainly your customers do not need this information.

Here’s an added bonus: even if you don’t feel “great,” you will feel better if you say out loud that you are “great.”

You’ve experienced this – you wake up feeling blah, but you get yourself out of bed and into the shower. By the time you’re dressed and ready to go, you feel better.

Speaking of “dressed,” let me be clear about one thing – you should always look your best (whatever that means for you). If some days you look like a million bucks, and others you look like something the cat dragged in, everyone can tell what kind of day you’re having.

No one except your closest friends at work should know you’re not “great.”

If you’re not happy, or if things are not going so well, get some outside help to deal with it. The workplace is not the appropriate venue.

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Embrace and Initiate Change. Fear of change is our worst enemy. It keeps us in unhealthy situations and keeps us from trying new things. It causes anxiety when we know we must adapt.

Smart people understand one thing – change is the only thing in life you can really count on. So, you might as well stop being scared of it. In fact, good employees keep their eyes open regarding how competitors and trend setters are doing things. Then they prepare themselves for the eventuality that the same thing needs to happen in their organization – actually, they would bring the ideas to the “powers that be” so things could start moving in that direction.

Trust me, every time your supervisor must bring a change to you and your co-workers, he/she is thinking about how it is going to be received. Who will balk? Who will roll their eyes? Who will nod their head and begin the process of implementation? You need to be that last person.

One of the things I always discuss with people who are unhappy at work is this – if and when you leave this job, you need to make sure it’s on your terms and not that you’ve been asked to leave. If you will take the suggestions from both last month and this month, I promise you will put yourself in the prime position!

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Style & Beauty

Killer Heels without Killing Your Feet

Wear

by Jen Breen

For many women, nothing makes you feel as sparkling, sexy or powerful as a killer pair of heels. Throughout the ages heels have meant prowess—even for men. Neither Marie Antoinette nor King Louis XLV would’ve been caught dead in Versailles without a glamorous pair. High heels are fashion artistry. Nothing else quite expresses your personality like the right pair. But if you’re not mindful of the pair you choose, your killer heels could kill your feet.

According to a survey by the American Podiatric Medical Association, 42 percent of women admit to wearing heels even when it’s painful, and 73 percent admitted to already having a shoe-related foot issue.

“Any shoes that constrict the natural shape of your foot will cause discomfort, but when this pain results from wearing high heels it can lead to serious damage,” said Dr. Kalieb Pourciau, foot and ankle specialist with the Center for Orthopaedics. “Not only do high heels restrict your foot, but it increases the weight you are placing on the ball of your foot, essentially crushing your toes.”

The most common foot complaints are bunions, painful bone protrusions that typically emerge from the base of the big toe and alter the shape of the foot. Bunions change the path of the foot during motion.

“While high heels are not the source of bunions, they do worsen the condition and cause further damage,” said Dr. Pourciau. “If you have a bunion and still wear high heels, the foot is pushed forward,

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increasing pressure on the toes and causing the bunion to grow much more painful. Heels with a pointed toes can be excruciating.”

Aside from aggravating and advancing the damage of bunions, women who wear heels on a regular basis commonly experience corns and calluses, thick layers of dead skin usually found on the toes or the sides of a foot that have grown as a natural bodily defense to protect the foot from the shoe. Another more painful result is the development of a hammertoe, which causes the bone of the toe to curl under, leaving the top to rub against the shoe. Dr. Pourciau said this can be extremely painful and will continue worsen with consistent heel wearing. Surgery is often required to alter a hammertoe.

“High heels can be especially damaging as one ages, especially for women who have spent decades wearing them,” said Dr. Pourciau. “Our feet change as we age, naturally making heels less comfortable, because we lose fat deposits that protect the ball of the foot. When you place your foot in a high heel the weight is thrown of this spot that now has less protection. Not only can this be painful, but if your feet already have years of damage from heels, continued wear can put you at greater risk of stress factors and osteoarthritis.”

It’s almost impossible to get many women to ditch their heels. Can you imagine Carrie Bradshaw chasing after Mr. Big on the streets of New York without them?

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Dr. Pourciau provides the following tips when shopping for your next pair of killer heels: Choose a pair that fits: This may seem like a no-brainer, but your size may not always actually fit. If the shoe causes your feet to slide to the front, leaving a gap in the back of the shoe, it doesn’t fit. It will place too much pressure on your toes. Narrow heels that are snug, but not tight, are your best bet.

Evaluate the slope and pitch of the heel: Be easier on the arch of your foot. Look for heels that have a more gradual slope instead of sharp drop to the sole of the shoe. Some heels are just too high.

The thicker the heel, the more stability: Not only will this offer more balance it will also distribute the weight of the foot more evenly, placing less pressure on the toes.

Cushioning is crucial: A full shoe insert can help alleviate the pain, but if you wear heels frequently invest in silicone metatarsal pads.

Open-toe heels are better: Open toes shoes will relieve the pressure placed on inflamed areas such as calluses and corns.

September 2015

September 2015

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Style & Beauty

The on the

by Kristy Armand

You can’t fight gravity, but you can make sure you have the facts on sagging facial skin and what you can do about it.

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Like many other changes in our bodies, sagging skin is a problem all of us will face as we get older. Dr. Mark Crawford, facial cosmetic specialist with the Aesthetic Center in The Eye Clinic, explains that elastin fibers and collagen in your skin help keep your face smooth and supple. “As you age, those fibers begin to break down, robbing your face of its youthful definition. Skin also renews itself much more slowly as you get older than it once did. As a result of these

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factors, along with genetics, weight changes, and sun damage over time, facial skin starts to become less firm and resilient, and begins to sag in different areas, often under the eyes and around the mouth, most noticeably.”

Dr. Crawford says while sagging skin is a common concern, misinformation about the causes and cures are even more common. Here’s a closer look at some of these, with the facts to help you minimize the damage and keep your face looking firm.

September 2015

For more information about facial cosmetic treatments, call the Aesthetic Center at (337) 310-1070 or visit www.facehealth.net.

Our cardiology services are here for the hearts you love.

At Lake Area Medical Center, we offer cardiology services ranging from diagnostic procedures to stent placement and vascular care. With experienced, board-certified heart specialists on the medical staff, and the newest cardiac cath lab in the area, we’re working to make a real difference in people’s hearts … and lives. To learn more, visit LakeAreaMC.com or call 337-475-4130.

Miguel DePuy, M.D.

Corey Foster, M.D.

Richard Gilmore, M.D.

Jake LeBeau, M.D.

Thomas Mulhearn IV, M.D.

Michael Turner, M.D.

4200 Nelson Road • Lake Charles

Independent Members of the Medical Staff.

Patient results may vary. Consult your physician about the benefits and risks of any surgical procedure or treatment.

82398_LAMC_Hearts_swoosh_8x4_875c.indd 1

September 2015

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Style & Beauty

PREVIEW

by Emily Alford

As kids head back to school and shorts go back into storage, it’s pretty common to open the closet and wonder,“What on Earth did I wear last fall?” That mismatched collection of pilled sweaters and baggy leggings is probably not going to cut it this year, so if you’re thinking of updating your wardrobe for cooler weather, why not invest in a few pieces that feel fresh and fun (and therefore will probably stay on trend for a few years to come). Here are a few can’t miss pieces that felt completely fresh on Fall 2015 runways.

Available at Mimosa Boutique 3101 Ernest St #1 Lake Charles, LA (337) 564-5818 mimosa-boutique.com

IndustryInsider

Straight Answers to Your Questions on Industry and the Environment

Q:

How safe is it to work at an industrial plant?

A:

Safety is the priority at every industrial plant.

Because of the safety mindset within the plant, an employee’s risk of injury decreases significantly once he or she enters the plant. According to research, a person is safer working in a plant than driving on the highway.

Before any job begins, multiple safety checks occur and continue throughout the job, daily. If anything seems unsafe, employees have the right and responsibility to stop the job. If an incident should occur, highly skilled and specialized emergency response teams are in place onsite and are ready to work with area first responders.

Safety is our culture, and it’s built into every job we do. The goal is to protect ourselves, our co-workers, our families and our community, because this is our home too.

Mary Burns

safety representative with area industry

Visit www.laia.com to learn more and submit your question about local industry and the environment.

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September 2015

Available at Mimosa Boutique 3101 Ernest St #1, Lake Charles, LA (337) 564-5818 | mimosa-boutique.com

Did you know that 90 PERCENT of the signs of AGING are from the damaging effects of the SUN?

PROTECT & REVERSE THE DAMAGE

Rejuvenating treatments and products from the Aesthetic Center can help restore and protect healthier, younger looking skin.

We offer: 3Chemical Peels 3Microdermabrasion 3Cosmetic Injections 3Dermapen

3Targeted Skin Care Treatments 3PCA Home Care Products 3Jane Iredale Mineral Make-up 3Facial Cosmetic Surgery

It’s time to get your skin ready for the new season, with help from the Aesthetic Center.

Call 310-1070 for more information or to schedule your appointment.

Treatments are provided under the medical direction of facial cosmetic specialist, Mark Crawford, MD.

facehealth.net • 310-1070 • 1717 Oak Park Blvd.

September 2015

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Mind & Body

Train to Run

by Erin Kelly

There’s a new season ahead, and we’re not talking about fall or winter—or football. We’re talking 5Ks, triathlons, walks and runs. In September and October alone, there are 59 such events statewide, including several in Southwest Louisiana.

As experienced runners and competitors gear up for a new race, you may be thinking: “I wanna do that, too.” Maybe it’s on your list of goals. Maybe it’s something you’ve been thinking about, but are too nervous to try.

Well, worry no more. With adequate training, a realistic approach and the right accessories, you can join the ranks of those who run.

“People who aren’t avid runners, or maybe aren’t that active at all, hear the word ‘marathon’ or ‘5K,’ and they think the event isn’t for them. In reality, people of all fitness levels typically participate in 5Ks. It’s not as if you have to finish three miles in 15 minutes flat,” says Ellen Papania, CHRISTUS Athletic Club-Lake Charles Manager. “For many, these walks and runs are a way to support a cause, such as breast cancer. A competitive marathon is a different beast, admittedly, but it’s still a goal that can be accomplished, even if you consider yourself a novice.”

But where do you start?

GET THE RIGHT INFORMATION Talk to runners. Touch base with your doctor. Join a gym or hire a personal trainer.

“Get professional feedback on the best approach for you,” Papania says. “But remember, everyone has their own personal preferences and advice.

Everyone trains differently. You need to find a plan that works for you, but you have to start by having the conversation with knowledgeable people, like your doctor or a personal trainer.”

Get a physical and check-up before you make a drastic change to your physical lifestyle, Papania says.

GET THE RIGHT STUFF If you want to take your running game to a more serious level, it’s important that you have the right equipment.

“You don’t want to pick up the first pair of running shoes that you find on sale at your local discount store.” says Dr. Tyson Green, foot and ankle specialist with Center for Orthopaedics,an affiliate of Imperial Health and team physician for McNeese Athletics. He is also the Medical Director of CHRISTUS Wound Care.

The first thing you should check for when buying a shoe is the material. “Avoid leather. The material for a running shoe needs to be light and breathable,” says Dr. Green.

When choosing a shoe style, Dr. Green says it should be a comfortable, perfect fit from the first time you try it on. “Everyone should have their feet measured while standing to determine their correct shoe size. A running shoe should never have to be ‘broken-in.’ And just like tires, shoes need to be replaced regularly. You should swap out your athletic shoes for new ones when the tread starts to wear or the shoe is wearing out in different areas,” explains Dr. Green. “For runners, it is recommended that you get new shoes at least every 300 - 400 miles. This is about 20 weeks for the average runner.”

A good athletic shoe should also have sufficient support. Dr. Green says stabilizing the heel is the most important part of the support function.

“The heel controls the rest of your foot, so if the heel is supported well, chances are the rest of your foot will be also.”

Dr. Green explains that adding an insert to your shoe can give your foot more direct support. “Socks and shoes alone do not give your foot enough support for serious athletic activity. There is no shoe on the market that is made with a sufficient insert because it would make the shoe too expensive.

What you purchase is standardized for retail manufacturing, not customized for your foot.“ If you choose to add an insert, he says choose one with a heel cup to offer actual support, unlike a gel insert which is flimsy.

Good quality inserts can typically be purchased from a podiatrist, orthopedic specialist, or a physical therapist. “Over-the-counter inserts from these sources are fine in most cases, but if someone has a chronic or severe foot problem or injury, they should get a custom orthotic insert,” Dr. Green says.

“We can create a custom orthotic insert that will fit inside any athletic shoe. It can be moved from shoe to shoe and will last longer than your shoes, providing uniform support and comfort, reducing not only wear and tear on your feet, but more importantly, your risk of foot and ankle injuries.”

SLOW DOWN, CHAMP We know how it is. You get it in your head that you want to run a marathon, so you blaze out the door in your new running shoes with puffs of dirt flying in your wake. You’re ready to be the next Flo Jo or Carl Lewis. There’s just one problem: They trained their whole lives, and you’ve only just begun.

“The key to any workout—no matter what it is— is to start where you are,” says Papania. “You can’t start training like you’re Carl Lewis. You have to train like you’re you. Yes, we all want to be in great shape continued on p64

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September 2015

TESTING. DIAGNOSIS. TREATMENT. SURVIVORSHIP. Navigating through Uncertain Breast Health An abnormal mammogram or any type of breast health concern is frightening, but thankfully, you don’t have to find your way alone. The Breast Health Navigation program at West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital will help guide you through every step of your journey. Our team of professionals is ready with answers, treatment options, compassion and hope.

From our advanced team of physicians and mammographers to our breast health navigators, we’re here to help with all of the uncertainties.

West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital is here for you.

BREAST HEALTH

701 Cypress Street, Sulphur September 2015

wcch.com

NAVIGATION PROGRAM Thrive Magazine for Better Living

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Mind & Body immediately. Given the choice, most of us would skip all the hard work that it takes to get from A to B. But that’s not how the body works, and it’s not healthy.”

Talk to your doctor or a fitness professional. Assess your current state of physical health and fitness. Are you in fairly decent shape, but just need to get back in the game, or have you avoided any form of exercise for the past seven years? Those answers will make a huge difference in how you should approach training.

If you haven’t exercised in a while and you know you’re not in top shape, don’t blaze out the door, Papania says. Walk out instead. Then pick up your pace gradually.

“Your body needs to adjust to the idea of walking before it can comprehend running,” Papania says. “Eventually you’ll get into a brisk walk, then a slow jog, then into a run. But it takes time.”

According to Papania, one of the most common reasons people give up exercise is because they start too much too soon.

“It’s fine to focus on where you want to be, but you need to start where you are,” Papania says.

STAY COMFORTABLE Your body talks. When it tells you to slow down—listen.

“Resting doesn’t mean you’re slacking off. Resting allows your body to recover and restimulate,” Papania says. “Obviously that doesn’t mean you should take whole weeks off under the auspices of ‘resting’—but if your body feels exhausted and you just can’t go anymore, take it easy for a day or two if you need to.”

If you overdo it, you put yourself at higher risk for injury.

Also: Don’t forget to get plenty of sleep. “Never underestimate the power of sleep in relation to good fitness,” Papania says.

For more information on personal training at CHRISTUS Athletic Club-Lake Charles, or to join, call (337) 474-6601.

A QUICK LIST OF SOME—NOT ALL—UPCOMING RUNS AND WALKS IN SOUTH LOUISIANA.

SEPTEMBER

Crowley Town Club 5KolorRun, Crowley Run for the Roses, Alexandria Two Steppin Breakfast and 5K, Lafayette CajunMan Triathlon, Lafayette Escape from Run, Baton Rouge Running for Opportunities CARC 5K, Lake Charles Running of the Buffaloes, Baker STEPScenla 5K Color Run, Marksville Healthy Kids Running Series Fall, Houma The Macho Man Tri at the Y, Houma Tri for Those Who Can’t: Lions Club Triathlon, Jennings Doc’s DASH, Baton Rouge Lafayette Free to Breathe Lung Cancer 5K Run/Walk, Lafayette 26 Running for a Cure 5K, DeRidder 27 Meat Pie Triathlon, Natchitoches 12 12 12 13 18 19 19 19 20 20 20 26 26

OCTOBER

3 3 4 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 17

Boogie on the Boulevard, Kaplan Rabalais Run for Life, Baton Rouge Sugarman Triathlon, Youngsville Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Lake Charles Alzheimer’s Walk/Run Remember A T to TH E E Y E 5K,C Baton L I N Rouge IC FAIT Run, Lafayette Hammond Chamber Corporate Cup Run, Hammond Monster Dash 5K, Jefferson On Tap 5K Roux Run, New Iberia Run for SJS Awareness, Scott Run with the Fuzz 5K, Morgan City Ethel Precht Breast Cancer Walk/Run, Lake Charles

LaserCenter LaserCenter AT T H E E Y E C L I N I C

“LASIK helped meLaserCenter bring life into focus.”

AT T H E E Y E C L I N I C

For busy mother and photographer Torie Craven, being able to zoom in on life’s special moments without the added obstacle of prescription lenses has made both of her jobs a lot easier Aand T Tmore H E enjoyable.

EYE CLINIC

LaserCenter

LASIK at The Eye Clinic’s Laser Center

A Difference You can See

LaserCenter AT T H E E Y E C L I N I C

www.theeyeclinic.net 1717 Oak Park Blvd., Lake Charles Interest-Free Financing | Advanced Custom View LASIK | Board Certified Physicians

64 www.thriveswla.com

FREE LASIK Screenings available on Wednesdays & Saturdays by appointment. Call 1-877-95-FOCUS.

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September 2015

While we didn’t do such a great job picking out a book on animals for Mrs. Robinson’s preschool class, we do have a longstanding history of providing expert guidance and personal service to educational institutions all across the state of Louisiana. In fact, for over 25 years LCI Workers’ Comp has worked hand-in-hand with local businesses in virtually every category, from daycare centers to high schools. :: lciwc.com :: 985-612-1230

Put us to work for you.

September 2015

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Mind & Body

A New Look for Glaucoma Treatment

by Kristy Armand

Now Available at The Eye Clinic to Lower Eye Pressure

It’s so tiny you can’t see it or feel it, but if you have glaucoma, this microscopic device has the power to save your vision from the damaging effects of the sight-stealing disease.

Dr. Virgil Murray IV, ophthalmologist with The Eye Clinic, recently performed the first iStent procedure in Southwest Louisiana. The iStent, which is the smallest device ever approved by

the FDA, is about 1/3 the size of a grain or rice.

It’s the first device that has been approved, in conjunction with cataract surgery, to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) in adult patients with mild or moderate open-angle glaucoma and a cataract who are currently on IOP medication.

The second leading cause of blindness in the United States, glaucoma affects over

Meet the Newest Member of our Medical Staff,

Blake LeBlanc, MD,

Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Specialist & Surgeon Dr. Blake LeBlanc has joined the Imperial Health physician team. Originally from Lafayette, Dr. LeBlanc received a bachelor of science degree in biological sciences from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and earned a medical degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.

He completed a residency in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, also at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.

Dr. LeBlanc joins Dr. Bridget Loehn and Dr. Brad Lebert at the ENT & Allergy Clinic, an affiliate of Imperial Health.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. LeBlanc, call (337) 312-8564.

www.imperialhealth.com

1920 W. Sale Road, F3 | Lake Charles 66 www.thriveswla.com

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September 2015

3 million Americans over the age of 40, half of whom are unaware they have the disease. Dr. Murray explains that glaucoma is characterized by a buildup of fluid within the eye, causing intraocular pressure to increase. “This pressure affects the optic nerve, gradually shrinking the field of vision, but the but the individual may not notice any symptoms at all in the early stages of the disease. If left untreated, it can lead to permanent vision loss.”

The only acceptable treatment for glaucoma is to lower IOP. Most people with glaucoma require topical drops applied several times daily to manage IOP. This was the case for Lake Charles attorney Jim Watson, who was diagnosed with glaucoma three years ago. “The drops were an inconvenience. I hate having anything put in my eye, and I had to remember to use these several times a day. When we traveled, I had to make sure I had an extra supply. It was a necessary annoyance.”

So when Watson developed cataracts a year ago, and Dr. Murray talked to him about implanting the iStent during his cataract surgery, he was all for it. “It sounded like the ideal solution to both problems to me.”

Dr. Murray says the iStent helps lower eye pressure by improving the natural outflow of the eye. “It creates a tiny opening which allows fluid to drain from the eye the way it is supposed to, regulating IOP.” The iStent’s small size protects eye tissue that can be damaged by traditional glaucoma surgeries, and the patient does not feel it at all, according to Dr. Murray. “Recovery time is rapid and this device does not limit the patient’s vision treatment options in the future. “ Dr. Murray says the iStent is proving to be very successful,” says Dr. Murray. “Three out of four patients who have had the iStent are able to get off of their eye drops completely after the surgery.”

James Watson is one of those who was able to “drop the drops.” “I highly recommend this procedure. There was no pain, or really even any discomfort. The cataract surgery restored clear vision and the iStent relieved the pressure in my eyes. I was able to eliminate the medicated drops after my one-week follow-up appointment.”

The Quick Lift

®

Here at La Belle, we like to call the Quicklift® our ‘signature procedure’!

The Quicklift®, is a minimallyinvasive facelift procedure—and could be the answer to your needs!

This procedure is designed to produce a natural appearance, and not the ‘wind swept’ look you may have seen from facelifts of the past. The downtime after this procedure is minimal, and the actual technique of the surgery is much less involved compared to other facelift procedures—which means prescription medication is rarely ever prescribed, and the healing time is much quicker when you choose the Quicklift®!

Dr. Jay Appurao, M.D, F.A.C.S, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, as well as the American Board of Surgery, amongst other distinguished honors. Dr. Jay has been practicing general surgery for thirty years, and cosmetic surgery for fifteen years--and he is the only surgeon in Louisiana who has the Quicklift® franchise!

To find out more information on this procedure, please visit our website at: labellecosmetic.com.

Chin Implants

After

Before

For more information about the iStent and glaucoma treatment, call The Eye Clinic at (337) 478-3810 or visit www.theeyeclinic.net.

337.456.6532 | labellecosmetic.com

4906 Ambassador Caffery Pkwy , Building M, Suite 1 • Lafayette, La September 2015

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Mark Your Calendar!

Step Out and Step Up for Down Syndrome For the past 11 years UP4DOWNS, a local nonprofit support group, has made their primary fundraiser the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.

This year they will host the 13th annual walk on October 3 at Prien Lake Park. Registration is from 9-10am with the walk scheduled for 10am. There will also be a silent auction, face painting, food, dancing and activities from 10am-1pm. For more information, visit www.up4downswla.org.

Fashion Gives Back Event Fashion Gives Back presented by Mimosa is scheduled for September 24 at The Historic Cash & Carry Building in Lake Charles. This highend runway show will highlight the upcoming 2015 fall trends and will feature live music by the Flamethrowers. Most importantly, Fashion Gives Back is an event to help raise money for the organization Hand to Hold who’s mission is to provide comprehensive navigation resources and support program to parents of preemies, babies born with special health care needs, and those who have experienced a loss due to these or other complications. Tickets are available online at facebook.com/mimosaboutiquelc. For more information, call (337) 564-5818.

Louisiana Musician and Poet Laureate to Host Gala at Central Library Award winning Louisiana musician and Poet Laureate, Zachary Richard, will host an opening gala to celebrate the historical book “La Cenelles” on September 15 at 7pm at Central Library located at 301 W. Claude Street in Lake Charles. Accompanying Richard will be several Louisiana French immersion students who will read from “Les Cenelles,” as well as recite their own original poetry.

This event is made possible by the generous support of the Haynie Family Historical Foundation and is sponsored by the State Library of Louisiana, Action Cadienne and the Festivals Acadiens et Créoles. For more information, visit www.calcasieulibrary.org or call (337) 721-7116.

Watercolor exhibit to open at Stellar Beans “Waterworks,” an exhibit of artwork by students of local artist, Sue Zimmermann, will open September 2 at Stellar Beans, 319 Broad Street. The Show is a collection of watercolor paintings created in class under Zimmermann’s instruction. For over five years the class has been meeting at the Associated Louisiana Artists’ Creative Arts Center. The exhibit will be open through September. For more information, visit www.suezimmermann.com.

Exhibits Celebrate Historic Arts Places and Faces

SWLA Sickle Cell Anemia: Shoots for a Cure Photography Exhibit The Black Heritage Gallery will present the SWLA Sickle Cell Anemia – Shoots for a Cure Photography Exhibition, curated by Stella Miller, at the Black Heritage Gallery at 809 Kirby Street in Lake Charles.

The exhibit supports individuals and their families who have been affected by the disease. Sickle Cell is an inherited disease of the red blood cells that is characterized by pain episodes, anemia and damage to vital organs. The exhibition is a diverse gathering of 13 photographers and 23 clients with Sickle Cell Disease. Clients participating in Shoots for a Cure will have their photos on exhibit through Sept. 17. Admission is free. For more information, call (337) 433-2602.

Hope for Haiti Concert featuring

Sat. Sept.12th

Mickey Smith, Jr. & SAX In The City

Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center will host two exhibitions through October 24 that celebrate the rich legacy of one of America’s most influential art communities and the renowned pen-and-ink cartoons of New Yorker’s Edward Koren. For more information, call (337) 491-9147.

Concert and Silent Auction

Special appearance by “The Artist”

Hope for Haiti Concert

Sat. Sept.12th

featuring of entertainment Enjoy a night

Mickey Smith, Jr.

by Mickey Smith, Jr. and “Sax In The City” plus you get to bid on items from local merchants which will fund our Mission Team's work in Haiti this November.

& SAX In The City

Event Details:

Saturday, September 12, 2015 The Dwelling Place Church 1800 E. College St. Doors open 6:15 pm for Silent Auction Concert begins 7:00pm Advance Tickets $12@ Kids Kastle Daycare 3934 Common St. $15 Door Admission

Concert and Silent Auction

Info on facebook page: facebook.com/hopeforhaiticoncert

Special appearance by “The Artist”

* Donations are Tax Deductible. The Dwelling Place Church is a 501c3 non-profit organization.

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Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

Hold Onto Your Hats!

Countdown To Chennault International Airshow This October, the skies above Lake Charles will come alive with roaring aircraft and jawdropping aerobatic stunts by some of the best aerial performers in the industry. After taking a one-year hiatus, the family-friendly Kia of Lake Charles Chennault International Airshow is coming back to Southwest Louisiana this October 24-25 at Chennault International Airport.

“Thrill seekers will have their eyes glued to the sky during the weekend’s fast-paced line up of first-time performers as well as returning event favorites,” said Randy Robb, Airshow board president. “We are pulling out all the stops for this year’s Airshow.”

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jet demonstration team won’t disappoint as the Airshow’s headlining act. The squadron is the U.S. Air Force’s premier jet demonstration team and has been internationally known since 1953 for their hard-charging demonstrations of precision formation flying while pushing their signature red, white and blue F-16 Fighting Falcons to the limit. Fewer than 40 events in the country receive the honor of the Thunderbirds team’s performance each year.

“The U.S. Army’s Golden Knights Parachute Team will make its Airshow debut with their unmatched skills as the world’s most formidable parachuting team,” Robb said.

Since the team’s formation in 1959, the Golden Knights have awed audiences and left them speechless.

Other first-time performers and demonstrators include the Tinstix team, which combines pyrotechnics, aerobatic stunts and jet trucks; Skip Stewart’s highflying aerobatic symphony; Matt Younkin’s Beech 18 performance; and the Shockwave Jet Truck.

Several fan-favorites from the 2013 Airshow will return, including the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team. Their team of four men flying World War II North American Advanced Trainer aircraft will thrill audiences with their

September 2015

stunning formations that include bomb burst, vertical rejoin, avalanche, the breath-taking “Switch Blade,” along with graceful loops, rolls and billowing smoke. Other returning favorites include Melissa and Rex Pemberton of Pemberton Aerosports and Kevin Coleman.

The excitement will stretch from the sky to the tarmac with an array of nostalgic aircrafts and interactive aviation displays. The Kid Zone will return with fun activities to keep the kids entertained.

“The Airshow is a tribute to Southwest Louisiana’s rich aviation history, and it salutes our many veterans and active-duty soldiers,” Robb said. “Additionally, we want the Airshow to inspire area youth to pursue STEM education—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—and become a part of Southwest Louisiana’s next generation workforce.”

For those seeking an extra rush of thrills, a limited number of VIP tickets are available on the Airshow’s website until Oct. 1 and allow ticketholders access to the exclusive VIP tent, which offers free food, wine, beer and soft drinks as well as a prime spot for watching the performances. VIP tickets are $75 for adults and $25 for children 12 years of age and under.

General admission tickets are good for one full day of aviation fun and available for presale online for $19 for adults. Tickets sold at the gate will be $22. Children ages 12 and under can enter for free when accompanied by an adult.

All ticket sales are final with no refunds and no rain checks. There will be free parking throughout the entire Airshow.

All performances, demonstrations and/or flyovers are currently scheduled to appear but are subject to change and/or cancellation without notice.

To purchase tickets online or to learn more about the 2015 event lineup, visit the Airshow’s website at www.chennaultairshow.com.

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

www.thriveswla.com

69

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70 www.thriveswla.com

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015

Memorial Sports Medicine & Orthopedic

ALLSTARS Brett Cascio MD Sports Medicine Medical Director Shoulder, Hip & Knee Specialist

Lawrence Weber, MD, PhD Wrist & Small Joints of the Hand Specialist

Naomi Stauth MS, ATC, LAT

Garrett Tunks LAT, ATC

Nathan Cohen MD Hip & Knee Specialist

Jamey Rasberry, LAT Sports Medicine Program Director

Thomas Axelrad, MD, PhD Joint & Bone Trauma Specialist

Paul Fenn, MD Foot & Ankle Specialist

Robert Duarte, MD Total Joint & Revision Specialist

Roderick Joseph MS, ATC, LAT

Chris LaHaye ATC, LAT

Caitlyn Lafleur ATC, LAT

Trey Younger MS, LAT, ATC, CES

Aaron McDonald EdS, MEd, LAT

Alex Dibbley MA, ATC, LAT

Diane Conner LAT

Jeremy Stillwell PT, ATC, LAT

Roberta Boone PT, ATC, LAT

Kelly Okorocha ATC, LAT

Scott Lounsberry PTA, ATC, LAT

Serving all Calcasieu Parish High Schools under the medical direction of Brett Cascio, MD, board certified and fellowship-trained sports medicine and orthopedic surgeon. Memorial’s sports medicine program not only treats the injured athlete, but works to prevent injuries through IMPACT concussion testing, ACL injury prevention studies, and nutrition programs for optimal performance and health.

CalCasieu Parish sChools’ ChoiCe for sPorts MediCine and an offiCial Partner of the louisiana high sChool athletiC assoCiation

September 2015

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71

PREVENTION • EDUCATION SOCIAL & MEDICAL SERVICES

The mission of the Southwest Louisiana AIDS Council is to provide education to the people of Southwest Louisiana about HIV/AIDS and HIV Prevention and to offer assistance to those affected by the disease.

SERVICES PROVIDED Case Management Services

Transportation Assistance

Medical Case Management Services

Housing Assistance

Treatment Adherence Counseling Substance Abuse & Mental Health Counseling

Dental and Vision Care Assistance Food Pantry Free and Confidential HIV testing

SLAC Southwest Louisiana

AIDS Council

1715 Common Street • Lake Charles, La 70601 • P 337-439-5861 • F 337-436-8713 • slac.org

72 www.thriveswla.com

Thrive Magazine for Better Living

September 2015