BY FRANCES Y. SPENCER
Contributing writer
Recent West Feliciana High graduate Leila Ramos has brought her own “stations of hope” to the Zachary area.
Ramos founded Hope Resuscitated, a nonprofit focused on educating teenagers and young adults about overdose prevention, as a way to curb the fentanyl crisis. Boxes of free Narcan spray are available outside of the Zachary library For information, visit hope-resuscitated.org.
At the Zachary Branch Library, 1900 Church St., meet Heather Kinsel, the artist of the Resin Geode Artwork display at the Zachary Branch Library at 10 a.m. on July 19.
Kinsel said, “I let God’s beauty and grace flow through my creativity into my artwork.”
The display has several pieces that were inspired by women of the Bible and their stories. The exhibit can be viewed at the Zachary Branch throughout the month of July
The Pride-Chaneyville Branch Library 13600 PridePort Hudson Road, will host Lethal Luau: Murder Mystery Game for 20-somethings at 5 p.m., July 16. Through Aug. 15, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library will have free programs, workshops, story times, concerts and performances for all ages through the 2025 Summer Reading Challenge, Color Our World. Learn more at www ebrpl.com/SummerReading
Track your reading and earn rewards. Sign up at your library branch or online at ebrpl. beanstack.org.
Baker prayer breakfast
The Baker Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast is at 7 p.m. June 27 at the Baker Auditorium, 3325 Groom Road, Baker Tickets are $7 at the door Senate President Pro Tem Regina Barrow is the speaker For information or to purchase tickets, call (225) 778-0300.
Festival announces music
Downtown Live will present the third annual Zachary Really Hot Air Balloon Festival from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Aug. 8 and from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Aug. 9 at BREC Zachary Community Park 20055 Old Scenic Highway
After a week relaxing in the Colorado Rockies where there are places that still have snow on the ground, I landed at the Baton Rouge airport to be stifled by oppressive heat. Fast forward to last week when that heat joined its familiar friend humidity as the rains came every afternoon and most mornings. The rain, lightning and, in some cases, hail led to the obvious question of how this unholy trinity could affect Zachary sports? Specifically, what does all this mean to the games, leagues and tournaments at Zachary Youth Park.
For those of you who have not been there, Zachary Youth Park has all you need if you are a baseball or softball enthusiast. The park has six turf fields, two T-ball
tires, all within a 33-acre park.
To answer weather-related questions and more, I contacted Parks and Recreation Director Gordon “P-Wee” LeBlanc. LeBlanc let me know that despite the rain, “The game must go on safely.”
The week of June 9, when monsoon season returned to the area, LeBlanc relayed that only 10 of the 44 games were canceled due to lightning. Pretty impressive considering upward of 10 inches of rain over the week. To be clear, baseball or softball games are not canceled unless there is the threat of lightning. “We only don’t play if it’s lightning and we have a lightning predictor to ensure safety,” LeBlanc
Community news report/LSU’s College of the Coast and Environment
Coastal environmental science student Lucille Yoes was selected as an LSU global ambassador for 2025. She and the rest of the 2025 cohort traveled to Dakar in the African nation of Senegal. Yoes graduated from Zachary High in 2023 when she was student of the year She answered a few questions about her experience. Your most interesting activity? We were lucky enough to visit Senegal the week of three different holidays — the last of Ramadan, Eid (the day after when the fast is broken) and Senegal’s Independence day
For Eid, the day Ramadan ends and families break their fasts, the students were paired up and spent the day with different host families. The family that I was hosted by lived outside of the city in a fishing village called Yoff. My friend and I cooked all day with the women and daughters of the family, walked around their community, and even were brought to one of the aunt’s mother’s house for a second round of amazing food.
I got to see firsthand how the community celebrated that holiday, and even though the family I spent the day with had a pretty large language barrier between us, we were still had such a great time together I have connected with the oldest daughter on social media, and I do hope to stay in touch with them.
Independence day is celebrated with a huge parade through Dakar It included a large military display and school children and
Community news report
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The concert schedule is available online. In the meantime, the festival is looking for board members. “We’re looking for energetic, reliable team players who aren’t afraid to work hard, get a little dirty, and be part of something unforgettable,” a Facebook post said. Visit www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100093362362338 to message the group about your interest
Help with school window coverings sought
The Zachary Community School District school resource officers have postponed their window covering project as the group seeks more supplies. Needs include thread, magnets, 28-48 inch tension rods and fabric. All patterns and colors are welcome, so clean out that fabric stash. Donations can be brought to
Wayne and Melissa Brumbaugh, who teach agriculture and sponsor FFA at ZHS, said, “This national chapter achievement reflects the dedication, teamwork and passion that define our FFA community
“To every member who has worked tirelessly to make this possible, thank you. Your commitment to excellence in agriculture and leadership truly shines.”
The Zachary High School chapter of the National FFA Organization was named the first-place Overall Chapter in the State at the 96th annual state convention and expo in Alexandria. The chapter was also honored for Best Overall Building Communities Activity and the Largest Chapter Member Increase Zachary member Joseph Bassett placed third in the state for his Specialty Animals Proficiency Award.
the front office of Copper Mill Elementary School from 7:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday See the Zachary Police Department Facebook page for future dates.
Having a summer event?
If you are hosting a summer camp, vacation Bible school or other event open to the public, send us the information to run in this space. Emails are zachary@theadvocate.com for the Zachary area and extra@theadvocate.com for the Felicianas.
Chamber to host Business Expo
The Zachary Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Zachary Business Expo on Sept 9 at the Americana YMCA. Businesses that want to have a booth must be active chamber members. Contact Chloe McCreary at (225) 654-6777 or chloe@zacharychamber.com.
Send news and events for the Zachary area to zachary@theadvocate.com by noon Friday or call (225) 388-0731.
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civilians dancing and celebrating (In the parade) the Senegalese coast guard had men in full wet suits and diving gear, with their respirators in, riding in the parade
I am currently completing my scientific dive certification for Dr (Cassandra) Glaspie’s Marine Community Ecology lab and, though I know those men were very hot, it was pretty cool to see them in a parade like that.
Coolest thing you saw?
Definitely the large baobab trees, mangroves and in general, observing how different the landscape was from anything I have ever gotten to see before, which as a student of the coast and environment, I was of course so excited about Most impactful thing you learned?
Our group did a tour of Goree island, a major channel of the exportation of African slaves to the Western Hemisphere
To be able to have a guided tour of the island, including the “house of slaves” where victims were held before purchase, was extremely impactful and enlightening.
Our tour guide of the island gave us such a rich description of the history of the slave trade and the island. I never could have received such an impactful lesson if it not for me being present there and being taught African history by an African.
We (also) got the opportunity to visit a street school, a school organized by a singular man with no government funding and no funding to pay teachers He has made a way for students who cannot afford public schooling, (which costs) $10 a year, can receive some sort of education.
Any new insights into subjects you’ve covered in the classroom? It was very enlightening to see how in the people living in and around Dakar held traditional knowledge and a certain respect about where they live, then paired with the effects of colonization.
We were informed by our guide, Korka, that it is illegal to cut down Baobab trees (tree of life trees) and that even before it was a law, people did not cut these trees even if they grew in the middle of an intersection or soccer field (we saw both
examples). The people there hold a belief that good spirits live in the trees and cutting them down would drive them away We also visited a government-subsidized tradition medicine hospital that uses tradition remedies for pain and sick-
ness.
We also went on a city planning tour that showed us the postcolonial coast of Senegal and how it struggles with nontraditional methods of building that are not what is best and most sustainable for the environment there.
The trip provided lots of opportunities to understand the importance of including traditional knowledge when seeking to address modern problems, especially environmental problems, which can be applied all around the world.
Summarize your trip in one word: I would use the word “interdisciplinary.”
The global ambassador program includes one junior from each of LSU’s participat-
ing colleges. With this, the itinerary’s range of activities was extremely wide. Each of us were able to see other students’ areas of study applied in Senegal and learn so much about topics outside of our own fields. It was also amazing to always have other students to ask questions, in addition to tour guides, and have conversations connecting different disciplines. I personally talked a lot during our beach cleanup day and mangrove tours but was not the best shooting basketballs on the NBA Academy’s courts.
This year’s cohort was truly a perfect blend of personalities and studies, and it made the trip extremely fruitful to everyone.
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relayed.
Recreational baseball finished last week, and LeBlanc and his park team were preparing for one of the last baseball tournaments of the season that includes 20 games on two fields. To date, none of the tournaments has been canceled due to weather, though they sometimes run from 6:30 in the morning until almost midnight to get all the games in The senior adult league softball season finished up June 12th with the purple team (Scardinia) winning and the Mayor’s team finishing second to last LeBlanc refers to Mayor David McDavid’s team finish as “third place overall,” though LeBlanc is a team member and there were only four teams.
After a short break girls softball begins July 7th and will run through August. There will be league games for most ages during the week and tournaments on the weekends. For more information on schedules and registration go to the Zachary Youth Park website, https://zacharyyouthpark.org.
Coach Brewerton named a Grizzly Great Athletic director and head football coach David Brewerton will be inducted into the Catholic High School Hall of Fame and recognized as a Grizzly Great at a ceremony on Aug. 2 During his high school career at Catholic, Brewerton was a two-sport athlete garnering all-district honors as an offensive lineman in football and as a wrestler During his senior year he won the city, regional and state title in the 275 pound weight class. Of course, as a coach he has
been a part of several state championships in wrestling and football, with the ones that matter most coming during his time at Zachary High School, where he has won four 5-A state football championships. Closer to home, the ZHS Hall of Fame committee is still accepting nominations for the 2025 class through Aug. 1. Guidelines and applications are available at: HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS — Zachary Community School District or by picking up at the Zachary High School front office or Academic/Athletic Building. The ZHS Athletic Hall of Fame pays tribute to past Zachary High School and former Northwestern High School (19551970) athletic greats. Nominees must have graduated at least five years before induction.
Warren Brady covers sports for The Plainsman. He can be contacted at zachary@theadvocate.com.
