EASTER EGG HUNTS READY TO ROLL ä PAGE 6G
THE ST.TAMMANY
ADVOCATE
COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE • MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • SLIDELL
1G
THURSDAY MARCH 26, 2015 H
THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
TAKE AWALK
Sharon Edwards TAMMANY TIMES SEDWARDS@THEADVOCATE.COM
Crawfish Cook-Off to benefit hospice
If somebody says “come on over, we’re boiling crawfish,” my answer is — “I’m on my way.” That’s what I call living the good life in Louisiana. Now, one of the largest community crawfish boils in St. Tammany Parish has helped create a home for those leaving this life. Hospice Foundation of the South’s Hospice House was built by proceeds from the annual Crawfish Cook-Off. The 12th annual Crawfish Cook-Off will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 18 at Fritchie Park in Slidell. There will be all-you-can eat crawfish prepared by more than 60 teams, plus live music by the TopCats, Category 6 and Rockin’ Dopsie. Beverages and other foods will be available for purchase. Tickets are $30 in advance, and $10 for those 10 and under. All proceeds go to sustain the Hospice House, which in March marked the anniversary of opening its doors to those in need. “In the past year we have been able to provide a serene, dignified environment for 36 patients and their families for their final days,” reads a statement on the organization’s website. Participating hospice programs recommend people who, because of circumstances in their lives, need a place to live while dying. They are provided 24-hour care, often at no cost. The home has three bedrooms, and each room has its own bathroom and a screened-in porch area. There is a living room for families to congregate. There is also a kitchen and dining room for residents and family members to have a special occasion, or just a dinner together. Volunteers help with cooking meals, light housekeeping, laundry, mowing grass, weeding flower beds, visiting residents and running errands. At the Crawfish-Cook-Off, teams will prepare the spicy crustaceans using their favorite, and sometimes secret, mix of ingredients. Often moms, grandmothers and others are on site to make sure the crawfish come out just right. A lot of work goes into the presentation as well. Teams go all out with costumes and decorate their tents with a theme. They compete for the prizes and bragging rights. But many find their greatest joy in throwing the biggest crawfish boil in Tammany — to celebrate a good life. Tickets to the Crawfish Cook-Off 2015 went on sale this month and can be purchased at any St. Tammany Parish Whitney Bank branch. For sponsorship opportunities or information, call Hospice Foundation Director Kathy Busco at (985) 6435470 or visit www. hospicefoundationofthe south.org. Sharon Edwards is community news editor of the New Orleans Advocate.
More than 3,000 turned out for the American Heart Association’s annual Heart Walk on Saturday at Fontainebleau State Park near Mandeville. The event raises Roddric Johnson, left, Brittany Scott and Amris Willis, funds to prevent heart disease and stroke of Ochsner Northshore, head down the road during the while promoting heart-healthy activity. American Heart Association’s annual Heart Walk.
Advocate staff photos by SCOTT THRELKELD
Participants fill the roadway during the American Heart Association’s annual Heart Walk on Saturday at Fontainebleau State Park near Mandeville. Matalie Constant, 3, hugs her mama, Jessica Constant, during warm-up exercises during the American Heart Association’s annual Heart Walk.
Olivia Prouhet, 4, reaches up to feel the wind as she rides atop the shoulders of her father, Jeremy Prouhet.
Preservationist instills life in historic cemetery “As you read the stones and Steps away from the Tchefuncte River, on the sharp learn about the people and curve of Main Street, is the their accomplishments, hisMadisonville Cemetery. Its tory begins to unfold and mysoldest burial record dates to teries solved,” Vacante said. “You can see when epidemics 1819. A plaque dedication to rec- and tragedy wiped out entire families.” ognize the Madisonville An old survey led VaCemetery as historic will cante to a patch of grass be held at 1 p.m. Friday in the cemetery after by the Daughters of the researching the history American Colonist. of Joseph H. Hawkins, Through the years, responsible for fundneglect and overgrown ing and support that led weeds have consumed to the colonization of many markers. It is beTexas. lieved past floods may IN “I started pulling have washed away some PROFILE grass and loose dirt of the gravesites as well. DEBORAH away with my glove, Iris Lulu Vacante and BURST and 3 inches down, I several others have come together to clean and hit a slab and saw the name Joseph,” Vacante said. “The help maintain the cemetery. Sitting under the cool breeze thought that the final resting of an oak tree, Vacante opens place of this important man a thick, 3-inch binder full of was almost lost forever was research material with a page mind-blowing. She then noticed several dedicated to each grave, with details of the deceased’s life graves were void of names and death. She believes the his- while others lay buried under tory of the town begins in the other graves. “These people were here cemetery.
St.Tammany Children’s Museum coming together
BY SARA PAGONES
spagones@theadvocate.com A giant globe that shows children the forces at work on their planet, an underwater exploration robot that they can control and a towering structure for climbing that rivals any playground — these are a few of the enticing exhibits that the Children’s Museum of St. Tammany hopes to create in a 30,000-square-foot educational attraction that will be part of a nascent cultural arts district along the Tchefuncte River. Plans for the museum, which was first conceived in 2004, have taken on a more definitive shape with the completion of exhibit concepts by Argyle Design Inc., a Brooklyn-based firm that has done the same ä Museum type of work fundraiser for the Chil- highlight of dren’s Muse- season. 4G um of Houston and the Boston Children’s Museum, among others. The museum’s board of trustees hired Argyle last year. Earlier this month, Cheryl Bartholow and Michael Joyce, of Argyle, unveiled ideas for exhibits to fire the imaginations of children from toddlers to 12-year-olds. Argyle made several trips to St. Tammany to reach this point, interviewing students at 14 schools as well as educators, parents and museum board members and sponsors to gain insights into what they want in the museum. Their slide show of artist renderings depicts a light-filled structure that provides clear sight lines throughout so families can keep an eye on their children while they explore what Argyle is calling the How and Why Galleries and participate in myriad hands-on activities. The exhibits have a definite St. Tammany flair, with a history house that tells the story of the parish from the point of view of a family in the 1920s holding a reunion and a fishäSee MUSEUM, page 2G
Aces Against Aneurysms Tournament expanding
and has been a resident of the north shore for more than 25 years. Although she traveled frequently as a child, she often visited Madisonville in the summer during the 1960s and ’70s. “I loved digging up old bot-
Becky Winchell has said for years she’d like to expand the Aces Against Aneurysms Tennis Tournament which is held each April at Pelican Athletic Club, 1170 Meadowbrook Blvd. in Mandeville. For the sixth annual event, it appears that’s REC & happening. LEISURE Winchell, the ANDREW tournament CANULETTE founder and an aneurysm survivor herself, said a men’s bracket will be added to the wildly popular women’s event this year. Though a “test run” of sorts for the men was held in 2014, she expects the 2015 men’s tournament to fill quick-
äSee CEMETERY, page 2G
äSee ACES, page 2G
Advocate photo by DEBORAH BURST
Iris Lulu Vacante poses next to the gravesite she uncovered in the Madisonville Cemetery. She discovered it is the burial site of Joseph Hawkins, a Madisonville resident during the 19th century and major contributor to the colonization of Texas. just like so many of us, trying to make a difference in this town, and they are being lost or forgotten,” she said. “Important people like Brig. Gen. David Bannister Morgan, who was second in command under Andrew Jackson.” Vacante has a 30-year career in early childhood education