PERMITS ä 2G POLICE REPORT ä 3G
ADVOCATE THE SOUTHSIDE
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THURSDAY APRIL 9, 2015 H
B O C AG E • C O U N T RY C LU B • H I G H L A N D • J E F F E R S O N T E R R AC E • K E N I LW O R T H • P E R K I N S • U N I V E R S I T Y C LU B THEADVOCATE.COM
Plant sale raises money for Burden gardening program
Darlene Denstorff ON THE SOUTHSIDE
DDENSTORFF@ THEADVOCATE.COM
Story time comes to the garden
BY C. J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com
The LSU Agricultural Center and the Junior League of Baton Rouge are hosting story time from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday in the Botanic Gardens at Burden. Storybook reading and imagination-themed activities will be available for children, ages 3 to 8, every 30 minutes beginning at 9 a.m. Visit discoverburden.com for information.
Tax measure meetings
The St. George Fire Protection District is holding public meetings to discuss two tax measures on the May 2 ballot. One is a revenue replacement proposition to replace revenue generated by a 1.25mill capital improvements tax that expires this year, organizers said. The second is a new 2-mill tax proposal. Both are dedicated to capital improvements and general operations. The meetings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 14 at the Jones Creek Regional Library and Sunday, April 15 at the Bluebonnet Regional Library. An open house and ribboncutting will be held from 10 a.m. to noon April 18 at the district’s new administration and training complex at 14100 Airline Highway.
BRAC seeks applicants
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber is accepting applications from Baton Rouge Area educators for its BRAC Excellent STEM Educator Award program. The organization will recognize five teachers who demonstrate science, technology, engineering and math excellence through teaching, creating connections to the workplace and student engagement, a news release said. BRAC will confer five awards to winning teachers at a May 12 ceremony in conjunction with its Signature Speaker event. “Through the Excellent STEM Educator Award, BRAC seeks to recognize public school teachers who are demonstrating exemplary performance in teaching the STEM disciplines that are requisites for success äSee SOUTHSIDE, page 4G
Advocate photos by C. J. FUTCH
Syndie Toussaint, 6, left, and Charity Rhymes, 11, paint tiles at the Gardere Initiative offices on Monday that will be used to decorate the new BREC Hartley-Vey Park Playground.
Creative coloring
Student-painted tiles to decorate Gardere office BY C.J. FUTCH
Advocate photo by C.J. FUTCH
Davanna Hart, known to the Horticulture Society as ‘the Succulents Lady,’ left, and Kathy Smilie discuss their strategy for the succulents area at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden. booth, and it’ll have a little bit of everything,â€? she said. Davanna Hart, who got the nickname “The Succulents Ladyâ€? because of her life-long passion for the plants, has been working with two other members of the Horticulture Society to arrange assorted succulent plants in shallow dishes, all of which will be offered for sale. “The most expensive one will be about $40, and the price goes down from there, depending on the size,â€? Hart said. äSee GARDENING, page 4G
Socialization, stimulation key at Camp Bow Wow BY C.J. FUTCH
largest Camp Bow Wow location in the country, he said, and he built it big for a reason. There’s a market for it. Drew Detlefs’ eyes almost It was a slow day on a Tuesnever leave the screen of the television in his office at Camp day in March when Detlefs Bow Wow, a day care center for pulled up his day camp count. “We have 113 dogs here todogs. He has cameras monitor- day. And that will pick up later ing nearly all areas of the in the week,â€? he said, eyes con14,000-square-foot facility on Pecue Lane. It is, so far, the äSee BOW WOW, page 4G
cfutch@theadvocate.com Blue and red are among 6-year-old Magnolia Woods student Syndie Toussaint’s favorite colors, which is why she spent part of Monday painting those colors in neat stripes across a ceramic tile outside the Gardere Initiative’s office on Ned Avenue. “I just like smiley faces,� said Charity Rhymes, 11, a South Baton Rouge Charter Academy student, about the multicolored assortment of smiles on her own tile. These, along with the tiles painted by dozens more children, will be used to decorate a BREC playground going up at Hartley-Vey Park next door to the office, said Murelle Harrison, with the initiative. Construction on the playground will be June 6 with a community build day, Harrison said, and Monday’s art session was a continuation of the project that began earlier this year, with a neighborhood vote on what equipment children and parents would like to see on the
Donna Montgomery can’t bring herself to pick a favorite plant. “How can I choose? There are so many wonderful plants,� she said, walking from greenhouse to greenhouse, full of volunteers checking plant labels, adding prices, and moving pots to the shopping area at the LSU Agricultural Center Botanic Gardens at Burden. The East Baton Rouge Master Gardeners Program members began the process of potting and growing more than 7,000 plants of 250 varieties for the April 11 plant sale, to run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the gardens just off the Essen Lane exit for Interstate 10, beside Mary Bird Perkins-Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center. “It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year,� Montgomery said, adding that the proceeds will support the master gardener’s program and will be shared with the Burden Center, funding educational activities like plant health clinics, school gardens, seminars for home gardeners and other programs at Burden. This year’s sale will also include a variety of gardening accessories donated to the society that will be sold “dirt cheap,� volunteer Cathy Mayer said, with a chuckle. “We’re calling it our treasures
cfutch@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff photo by PATRICK DENNIS
Jamarion Mitchell, left, and Anthony Garner draw with crayons Monday outside the Gardere Initiative äSee COLORING, page 5G Offices.
Camp counselors monitor the doggie campers in the large dog yard at Camp Bow Wow. The doggie day care business also features boarding and obedience training.
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