COMMUNITY NEWS, 2G
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SCHOOL NEWS, 4G
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CRIME BLOTTER, 5G
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PERMITS, 5G
ADVOCATE THE SOUTHSIDE
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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19, 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
BROTHERSACROSSAMERICA Photos provided by KEVIN NEE
Baton Rouge Magnet High School teacher Brothers Kevin and Scot Nee pause on their transKevin Nee takes a breather at the Devils America bike ride to enjoy the sights at Riverside Tower National Monument campground in Park in downtown Spokane, Wash. Devils Tower, Wyoming, during his transAmerica bike tour earlier this year.
Nees make the most of coast-to-coast bike ride BY KATE STEVENS
So, Nee put aside his rockclimbing equipment and answered the call of the open Although Kevin Nee had been road. This summer, Nee, 60, comtaking long-distance bicycle trips for years, he considered pleted his longest bike trip by himself more of a rock-climber traveling 4,532 miles on his Surly Long Haul Trucker tourthan a bicyclist. But, around the age of 50, the ing bicycle from Bellingham, sport became a bit too rough Washington, to Virginia Beach, for an “aging guy like me,” said Virginia. “Life at 10 mph is pretty aweNee, a former collegiate gymnast now coaching gymnastics some,” Nee said. “You see a lot and teaching at Baton Rouge more than what you see zooming by in a car at 70 mph.” Magnet High School. Special to The Advocate
Nee began biking in the ninth grade when he rode from his home in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to Huntsville, Alabama, a distance of 60 miles, just to spend the night in a baseball park and come home the next day. Since then, 22 of Nee’s 32 bicycle tours have been more than 500 miles long, he said, including trips from Chicago to Baton Rouge and along the Mississippi River from Kansas City, Kansas, to Baton Rouge. International trips have led
Kevin Nee bikes across the Melrose-Twin Bridges County Road, a 21-mile dirt road Nee and his brother took to avoid riding 50 extra miles through Montana during his trans-America bike trip earlier this year. Nee along trails from Quebec City, Quebec, through the Canadian countryside to Nova Scotia and then on a ferry to Portland, Maine. “You meet the best people out there,” Nee said. “People are friendly and helpful. They’re interesting to talk to. It’s just awesome.” It was Nee’s younger brother and occasional long-distance bike partner, Scot Nee, who inspired him to think about a trans-American bike trip. “I need to do this before I get too old,” Nee said, and the brothers began planning. They
Brothers Kevin and Scot Nee celebrate the end of their journey with bicycle wheels in the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach, Va. on Aug. 10 after their trans-American bike ride. The pair started off with their bicycle wheels in the Pacific Ocean in Bellingham, Wash. on June 1.
began their trans-American trip in Bellingham, where relatives lived, on June 1. The pair carried all they would need, including camping supplies, extra fleece clothing and a stove, Nee said. Once they made it through the snow-capped Cascade and Rocky mountain ranges, the brothers shipped home 24 pounds of gear they wouldn’t need in the warmer regions of the country. They carried about three days of food on them, usually dining on tuna fish in a pouch or canned franks and beans for
Darlene Denstorff ON THE SOUTHSIDE
NATURE + SCIENCE
DDENSTORFF@ THEADVOCATE.COM
BREC hosts fall camps during break
BREC is hosting a variety of fall holiday camps for children to enjoy during their school Thanksgiving breaks. Call (225) 272-9200 or visit brec.org/holidaycamps for details. FALL HOLIDAY CAMP: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Mayfair Park, ages 4 to 12; holiday-themed games, arts and crafts. Fee is $42 per child or $14 per day. FALL ZOO CAMP: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Baton Rouge Zoo, ages 6 to 12; features guided zoo walks, seasonally themed games and crafts and interaction with zoo animals. Fee is $35 per day for East Baton Rouge Parish residents and $42 per day for out-of-parish residents. Call (225) 7753877, option 2. AUTUMN HARVEST CAMP: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center, ages 7 to 12; arts and crafts, live animal encounters, hikes, games and a themed afternoon snack. Fee is $46 for East Baton Rouge Parish residents and $55 for out-ofparish residents. Call (225) 757-8905. FALL ROCKET CAMP: Monday and Tuesday at Highland Road Park Observatory, ages 9-13; build and launch two model rockets while learning about the American space program and safety procedures. Fee is $55 for East Baton Rouge Parish äSee SOUTHSIDE, page 3G
Children at the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center spent the afternoon Saturday learning about cyanotype, which is a photographic printing process.
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Advocate staff photos by BRIANNA PACIORKA
Palmer Crain, left, and Slade Coffrey, center, watch as cyanotypes develop in the afternoon sun at the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center on Saturday. Children spent the afternoon learning about cyanotype, which is a photographic printing process.
lunch and dinner, and shopping in towns each time they needed groceries, Nee said. The brothers always ate a big breakfast in mom-and-pop-type restaurants to fuel them for the day’s ride, Nee said. “French toast got me across America,” Nee said, adding he lost 25 pounds on the 71-day trip. The pair spent just nine nights in a hotel and took only five days off from their journey to rest and sightsee, Nee said. They traveled through 15 äSee BROTHERS, page 3G
VIPS lends skills, heart in schools BY RANDEE ILES
Manship School News Service Volunteers are working to improve public education in East Baton Rouge Parish through Volunteers in Public Schools, a community nonprofit with multiple programs aimed at achieving this goal. In two of the programs, EveryBody Reads and EveryOne Counts, volunteers meet with children to read to them and help with math problems. Besides volunteering, VIPS is helping schools by creating partnerships with area businesses and organizations through Partners in Education. LSU’s College of Human Sciences and Education participates in the program. “We have so much human capital and human resources and kind hearts and hands that will hopefully be able to make a difference,” said Renée Boutte Myer, outreach and advocacy coordinator for the college. Myer participated in a recent VIPS Principal for a Day program, where Partners in Education representatives were paired with principals in East Baton Rouge public schools. Myer was matched with Charlotte Britten, principal of Buchanan Elementary, near the LSU campus. The representatives and principals shadowed each other to observe what public schools are like and to create relationships. Through the program, VIPS hopes to dispute misconceptions about public schools. Through previous volunteer work and the College of Human Sciences and Education, Myer said she already is aware of the challenges äSee VIPS, page 3G