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The Southside Advocate 07-15-2026

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BOCAGE COUNTRY CLUB HIGHLAND JEFFERSON TERRACE KENILWORTH PERKINS SOUTHDOWNS UNIVERSITY CLUB

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W e d n e s d ay, J u ly 15, 2026

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Danny Heitman AT RANDOM

A summer New Year’s party taught me we can always restart I work at a nonprofit that orders its business by the fiscal year, a 12-month period that begins each July and concludes at the end of the following June. Every summer, though the calendar year is already at its halfway point, my fellow employees and I are turning a page and starting a new chapter in our work lives. As our fiscal year ended last month and we prepared for another one, our staff decided to have a little fun with a workplace New Year’s party. It was the first New Year’s celebration I’d ever attended in June, and maybe the best one. To prepare for the gathering, I ordered New Year’s party hats and festive noise makers. In a nod to summer, we brought in gourmet ice cream and watermelon for the refreshment table. With a knowing wink at our inside joke, we wished each other Happy New Year as we gathered in our conference room for summer treats. While savoring sliced melon and frozen treats, we took a rare chance to catch up on each other’s lives. There was news of children, summer road trips and personal and professional challenges we’d navigated in recent months as a work family. I was left with the thought that we should celebrate New Year’s every summer. When the traditional New Year’s Day arrives each January, I’m grateful for the chance to mark another milestone with friends and family. But by the time New Year’s rolls around at the close of the winter holiday season, I’m often pretty tired. When viewed through weary eyes, Jan. 1 can seem like just another box I’m checking before I finally put the holidays away. Our June New Year’s party was much more relaxed, and it offered a welcome pause in the progress of the year. Many of us remarked at how surprising it felt that half of 2026 is already gone. It’s an abiding truth that as we get older, time seems to move more quickly. That’s all the more reason to create small moments of reflection so that we can consider where we’ve been and where we’re going. Those respites don’t have to be solemn affairs. They can even be as frivolous as a New Year’s party on a sweltering summer day. What I liked best about our summer New Year’s party is that it gave us all a new beginning. The celebration reminded me that beyond New Year’s Day each January, each year is full of other beginnings. There’s the start of spring, summer, fall and winter, the beginning of a school year, personal birthdays and wedding anniversaries. Each offers a chance to think about the turning of time, our place in the world, what kind of people we want to be. Yes, the year might look a little shopworn right now. But as my summer New Year’s party reminded me, we always have the power to start again. Email Danny Heitman at danny@dannyheitman.com.

STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

Deidre Brown, aka Chef Victory, poses with a plate of rotisserie chicken, cauliflower rice, roasted Cajun potatoes and sauteed vegetables at Vivian’s Rotisserie and Grill in Main Street Market on June 24 in Baton Rouge.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

As the Main Street Market grows in offerings, alliance behind initiative seeks to build more community

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BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

ince 2002, Baton Rouge’s Main Street Market has been a pillar of the downtown community, serving as a gathering space and a way for local businesses to gain exposure. Last year, the market, operated by Big River Economic & Agricultural Development Alliance, underwent a $1.5 million renovation that included new floors, paint, furniture, a 250-gallon grease trap under the parking garage, four restaurants and a coffee shop. Main Street Market is a gateway to the Red Stick Farmers Market, as each restaurant in the facility uses ingredients from local farmers and producers that participate in the alliance’s weekly farmers markets. “The mission of BREADA is about three things,” said executive director Darlene Rowland. “That’s supporting small farmers, increasing food access and building community. So everything we do with

Barista Stephany Johnson adds milk to a drink during the morning rush at River & Roots coffee at the newly renovated Main Street Market. River and Roots and all of Main 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday Street is really trying to touch on at 501 Main St., Baton Rouge. those three mission initiatives.” Main Street Market customers River and Roots Market can access free parking inside of River and Roots, an alliancethe parking garage if they scan operated coffee shop and market, the QR codes inside of Main Street ä See MARKET, page 2G Market, which is open 7 a.m. to

A GARDENING FIRST

La. horticulturist wins national garden club award

Mary Ellen Miller, of the Shady Oaks Garden Club, from left, stands with Joe Willis, holding the National Garden Club Award of Excellence, and his wife, Paula Barton-Willis. PROVIDED PHOTO

BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer

LSU AgCenter horticulturist and Orleans Parish outreach agent Joe Willis has spent the last 10 years providing resources for gardeners so they can have success. This year, he became the first Louisianan to win the National Garden Club’s Award of Excellence, the organization’s highest honor. Willis speaks at garden clubs, teaches Master Naturalist class-

es, and shares horticultural wisdom with individuals around New Orleans and beyond. “When I got the notice from the National Club saying that I had won, and that I was one of three winners, I thought, ‘Oh man, that’s quite an honor.’ I was very humbled at the same time,” Willis said. Willis won two Louisiana Garden Club Federation awards and a Louisiana County Agricultural

ä See AWARD, page 2G


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