THE SOUTHEAST
ADVOCATE
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THURSDAY DECEMBER 3, 2015 H
COURSEY • HARRELLS FERRY • MILLERVILLE • OLD JEFFERSON • PARKVIEW • SHENANDOAH • TIGER BEND • WHITE OAK THEADVOCATE.COM
Darlene Denstorff AROUND THE SOUTHEAST
DDENSTORFF@ THEADVOCATE.COM
Sign up for holiday camps
ORDINARY OBJECTS TURN
EXTRAORDINARY
Workshop puts youths’ bling fingers to the test
Registration for BREC’s winter holiday camps ends Dec. 11. Camps will be held for ages 6 to 12 at Antioch Park and Forest Community Park from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 21-31, with halfdays on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31. There will be no camp on Dec. 25. Cost is $98 per child or $14 per day. Call (225) 272-9200 or visit brec.org/holidaycamps for details.
Advocate photo by C.J. FUTCH
Bridget Sonnier-Hillis, psychology instructor at Baton Rouge Community College, counts the iPods donated to the school’s Music and Memory drive. Student and teachers in the Social Sciences department at BRCC collected 37 iPods and $550 in iTunes gift cards.
Festival of Lights
Baton Rouge’s oldest holiday tradition brightens up North Boulevard from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday with the annual Christmas lighting, a 35-foot Christmas tree in Town Square, Bethlehem Village where children can craft ornaments and decorations and a train ride on the Mansion Express at the Old Governor’s Mansion. The evening of visual, culinary and performing arts also features Santa’s Gift Shoppe and holiday music.
Hiking with BREC
The December installment of BREC’s Woods Walk Hiking Series will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at Forest Community Park. A BREC naturalist will lead the hike through the conservation area and discuss the trees and animals found there. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Participants must be able to complete a 1-mile walk without a stroller.
Meet and greet
A meet and greet with Chelsea L. Johnson, the poet behind “The Heart of a Worshiper,” will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Jones Creek Regional Branch Library. Johnson will share selections of her inspirational poetry.
The YoYo Man
Jim Johnson, the YoYo Man, will visit children ages 6 and older at Jones Creek Regional Branch Library from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Johnson will demonstrate his yo-yo tricks and give tips on improving kids’ own yo-yo techniques. Call (225) 756-1140 to register. An exhibit of Johnson’s yo-yos is on display all month. äSee AROUND, page 5G
Advocate photo by C.J. FUTCH
Olivia Zachary, 11, uses the hex nut bracelet demo piece as a reference as she works on her own version at the library’s jewelry-making workshop on Nov. 24. Participants used hardware donated by Goodwood Hardware to create accessories.
BY C.J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com Brusly Middle School student Kaden Perrault, 12, sat quietly at a table in the East Baton Rouge Library Main branch teen room Nov. 24, trying to line a series of hex nuts up perfectly in a braid of leather string. “You really need a third thumb, don’t you, to keep everything tight,” said Elaine Boudreaux, library staff member conducting the workshop on creating jewelry from hardware. Perrault and Boudreaux kept running into the same issue with the project: If the braid wasn’t held tight as the hex nuts were incorporated on alternating sides, the hardware didn’t line up, and the bracelet became a jumbled mess. After a couple of false starts, the two got
into the rhythm of the project, and soon, Perrault had a shiny metal line that resembled a perfect backbone. It was difficult, Perrault said, but ultimately worth the finished product, as he put the bracelet on, adjusted the length, and tied it off. Boudreaux moved on to the next participant, Olivia Zachary, 11, a homeschool student, who was working on the same project. This is the most difficult of the planned projects, Boudreaux said, but she encouraged all the students who participated to use the materials donated by Goodwood Hardware to be creative, and come up with their own projects, too. Alexis San Miguel, 13, a Westdale Middle student, did just that, playing around with äSee WORKSHOP, page 2G
musical moments
Donated iPods can soothe Alzheimer’s, dementia patients BY C.J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com Bridget Sonnier-Hillis began pulling iPods of nearly every generation out of a box on her desk, one of them still in its original packaging, never opened. The donated iPods were part of a nearly month-long drive to collect technology destined for a landfill, and redirect them to Music & Memory, a nonprofit group that distributes the players to nursing homes across the United States. Sonnier-Hillis, psychology instructor at Baton Rouge Community College, learned of the program when, as part of a series of events on campus to recognize Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, the school hosted a screening of the documentary “Alive Inside: A story of Music and Memory,” about how people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia-related illnesses respond to music that has been meaningful to them. “I particularly remember a clip of a man named Henry (in the film) who went from non-verbal to talking about his memories when he heard a Cab Calloway song,” Sonnier-Hillis said. äSee MUSIC, page 3G
Special workshop in the works DSAG to host two days of programs BY C.J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com Coming off the success of their 15th annual Buddy Walk last month, the Down Syndrome Awareness Group of Baton Rouge’s membership is busy again, planning a unique workshop for people of all ages with Down syndrome, their families, teachers, therapists and friends, said Duane Lee with DSAG. “This is our third year to present the workshop, and we think it keeps getting better ev-
ery year,” Lee said. Lee said he and Veronica Crow, who chairs the workshop committee, try to choose topics and speakers that its membership wants, needs, and may not otherwise get a chance to hear. “We try to offer a wide variety of programs for different age groups with Down syndrome, for parents and caregivers, for educators and professionals,” Crow said. This year’s speakers are Brian Skotko and Sue Levine, co-authors of the book “Fasten Your Seatbelt: A Crash Course on Down Syndrome for Brothers and Sisters,” Crow said. “They’re nationally known, so we’re really excited to get
them here,” she said. The workshop, set for Jan. 22 and 23 at Pennington Biomedical Center, will also include a self-advocacy track for participants with Down syndrome including self-defense, art and dance, she said. Other tracks will be for siblings of those with Down syndrome and parents. Skotko and Levine will speak to siblings ages 7 and up, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 22. The remainder of the workshop will resume at 8 a.m. Jan. 23. For more information on exhibiting, sponsoring or attending, contact veronica.crow@ dsagbr.org or cheriseknapp@ gmail.com.
Santa to visit St. George in Fire Dept.’s parade Advocate staff report St. George Fire Department’s annual Santa Claus parades will leave the fire stations to roll down Airline Highway at 10 a.m. Dec. 5 and Dec 12 and at noon Dec. 6 and Dec. 13. For a listing and schedule of which neighborhoods will be visited by Santa and the fire trucks, visit stgeorgefire.com. All units are on-duty fire engines and subject to emergency calls, a news release said. The fire department once again will partner with the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and Christmas for Challenged Children to collect food
for those in need and new, unwrapped toys for the physically challenged children served by Christmas for Challenged Children. Parents are urged not to allow children to approach the fire engine with Santa and don’t run alongside or between the vehicles. All donations should be handed to the volunteers in the vehicles behind Santa’s fire truck. Collection barrels also will be set up at each St. George Fire Station. Monetary donations will be accepted, as well. Checks should be made out to the charities.