The Mid City Advocate 12-17-2015

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ADVOCATE THE MID CITY

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THURSDAY DECEMBER 17, 2015 H

GARDEN DISTRICT • SOUTHDOWNS • GOODWOOD • TARA • SPANISH TOWN • CAPITAL HEIGHTS LSU LAKES • MELROSE PLACE • BEAUREGARD TOWN THEADVOCATE.COM

Darlene Denstorff AROUND MID CITY

DDENSTORFF@ THEADVOCATE.COM

Park to host Santa Road Show BREC’s Santa Road Show stops at Gus Young Avenue Park from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. There will be holiday games, crafts, marshmallow roasting and other activities for all ages. Bring your camera to take family photos with Santa. Call (225) 926-5848 for information.

‘The Nutcracker,’ bayou style

Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, accompanied by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, presents “The Nutcracker: A Tale from the Bayou” at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the River Center Theatre. Tickets are $45 for orchestra (floor level), $38 for balcony rows A-C, $25 for balcony rows D-J and $20 for balcony rows K-O. Ballet VIP members can buy VIP tickets for $55. Visit http:// bit.ly/1Y8UYwk.

Holiday movies on the plaza

The Main Library will show free, family-friendly movies on the big screen in the Outdoor Plaza. Bring blankets and lawn chairs. No smoking is allowed. Refreshments will be available for purchase. SATURDAY: 6 p.m., “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (1966); and 6:45 p.m., “Home Alone” WEDNESDAY: 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., “Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas”; 11:30 a.m., “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”; and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., various holiday movies In case of bad weather, movies will relocate indoors to the large meeting room.

Temporary home for vets restored BY C.J. FUTCH

cfutch@theadvocate.com Volunteers of America is building a fence, a covered pavilion and a fire pit outside The Garfield House, a transitional home for formerly homeless veterans, said Amanda Gustavson, marketing director for VoA. The project was funded by a $6,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation, with labor from volunteers of both her organization and area Home Depots. “They came out in September of 2013 and began some other projects,” Gustavson said, including the demolition of a back fence and an old wooden pavilion, both of which were rotting. Jan Smith and her fellow

Home Depot co-workers began planning in February for the ongoing beautification project, she said. “We came in and did a walkthrough assessment of needs,” Smith said, including the preferences of the nine residents of the house. “We tore down the back fence two years ago, and the pavilion, so we went back and figured out how much wood, how many bolts and screws, we would need, then wrote a grant proposal, which was awarded,” Smith said. The group came together Dec. 5 for a work day. The Home Depot Foundation supports programs meant to improve the lives of military veterans, she said.

There are many factors at work that could lead to homelessness for veterans, Gustavson said, and their priority once they’re at the Garfield House is to make sure they have resources at their disposal to address what brought them to the house in the first place. “Whether that’s substance abuse treatment, help for posttraumatic stress disorder, financial planning or medical help,” she said. And while they’re at the house, she wants them to feel at home. Advocate photo by C.J. FUTCH “We want it to look nice,” she said. “Every time I come by, Allen Ray, manager of Home Depot’s Denham Springs locathere’s always a group sitting tion, holds a post steady while Jamar Hayes, manager of the outside in the back here, so we Gonzales location, secures a cross piece on Dec. 5 for what will be a pavilion at The Garfield House, a transitional home äSee HOUSING, page 4G for formerly homeless veterans.

HOLIDAY

SPIRIT ROLLS ON

Advocate photo by C.J. FUTCH

Baton Rouge Harp Ensemble member Ann Marie Gladney, 15, rehearses her solo.

Heavenly sounds draw group together BY C.J. FUTCH

cfutch@theadvocate.com

Something for teens

The Main Library has a number of events in store for teens. CHRISTMAS COOKIE CONTEST: 2:30 p.m. Saturday; show off your cooking skills, decorate your sugary creations, then vote for the best-looking cookie. SCRUMPTIOUS SUGAR SCRUB: 2:30 p.m. Monday; make a sugar scrub to keep your skin soft during the winter months or give away as a gift. RAINBOW LOOM BRACELET: 2:30 p.m. Tuesday; make bracelets using Rainbow Looms to keep or give as gifts. CHRISTMAS MOVIE: 2:30 p.m. Wednesday; watch “Elf,” starring Will Ferrell.

Advocate staff photos by HILARY SCHEINUK

ABOVE: Paradegoers wave for throws as the annual Cortana Kiwanis Christmas Parade rolls down Government Street in downtown Baton Rouge on Saturday. TOP: The All Stars in Motion dance team marches in the parade.

Holiday tennis camps

Registration deadlines are approaching for BREC holiday tennis camps: JINGLE BELL TENNIS CAMP: ages 6 to 17, $89.99 per person, deadline is Saturday. Camp is 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Capital One Tennis Center, City-Brooks Community Park. Call (225) 343-3767. CHRISTMAS JUNIOR TENNIS CAMP: ages 5 to 16, $140 per äSee AROUND, page 4G

Dancers from the XLR-8 All Stars dance team march down Government Street on Saturday.

Dressed as Santa, Tom Gibbs pushes his granddaughter, Lucie Montalbano, 2, and runs with his other granddaughter, Ava Phillips, 10, as they take off down Government at St. Phillip streets for a fun run ahead of the parade.

Former LSU baseball star Ryan Theriot tosses beads to paradegoers.

The ladies who make up the Baton Rouge Harp Ensemble range in age from 10 years to nearly 78 years and have varying levels of experience on the stringed instrument that brought them together, said Gladys Runnels, co-founder of The Runnels School and member. “The common factor among us is Ms. (Rebecca) Todaro,” Runnels said. “She is responsible for bringing us all together.” Todaro, former harp instructor at the school, has moved to New Orleans, but still makes the drive to Baton Rouge to rehearse with the tightly-knit group. All are either current or former students, or parents and friends of either Todaro or her students, but all eight share a deep love for the harp. The group’s first concert took place Dec. 12 at the home of Tom and Brooke Yura. Brooke, a relatively new harpist, began playing a few years after her daughter, Rachel, 16, began taking lessons. “I came to love it. I love the way it sounds, I love listening to my daughter practice. I just love the instrument,” Brooke Yura said before the concert. “When she got more serious about it and moved up to a pedal harp, I started learning on her old one,” she said. It has become another way in which the mother and daughter relate and has taught them the fine art of working together. That’s a lesson everyone in äSee SOUNDS, page 4G


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