LOOKING FOR A NEW FURRY FRIEND? SEE DOGS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION ä Page 4G
ADVOCATE THE SOUTHSIDE
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THURSDAY DECEMBER 31, 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
Darlene Denstorff
ON THE SOUTHSIDE
DDENSTORFF@ THEADVOCATE.COM
Library to close for holiday Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of the New Year’s holiday. Regular hours will resume Saturday.
Walk with the birds
A member of the Baton Rouge Audubon Society will lead a bird walk from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday at Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center. Beginners are welcome, as are people of all ages. Field guides and binoculars are optional but recommended. Registration is not required. General admission fees apply; pass holders get in free. Call (225) 757-8905 for information.
Teen girl shines in horse competitions BY C.J. FUTCH
cfutch@theadvocate.com Fifteen-year-old Ellen Fargason has been horseback riding since she was a young child, and working with horses has always been a part of her family life, in more ways than one. Ellen’s mother, Donna, is a psychiatrist and uses horses in therapeutic sessions called equine facilitated learning, helping clients deal with issues ranging from anxiety and impulse control to relationshipbuilding and confidence. But that, Donna said, is another story. As a general rule, Ellen Fargason said, she’s been learning the same lessons by working with horses since she was 5
years old. “I love working with them. Each horse has his own personality, and you have to take that into account to figure out how they think, and how to get the message (of what is needed) across (without words),” she said. It’s not a far stretch to see how this improves ones’ people skills, she said. In fact, people may be easier, because they involve less detective work — sometimes. Fargason has been riding an English style of competition called walk/trot/cantor for about the past two years, with Slim Shady, her American Saddle horse. “Most of the English-style competitions around here are
jumping,” Donna said, which is more technically difficult, and also more dangerous. Walk/trot is a good fit for Ellen right now, she said, and both Ellen and another student at the Marjorie Judd Stables, Elizabeth Sessums, have been competing under Judd’s coaching for the past year. The pair earned enough points to win the overall performance championship in their age categories at last year’s Texas American Saddle Horse Association, according to the association’s website. Ellen was named champion in the Academy Walk/Trot Performance 14 and younger, and Sessums won the same honor for
Advocate staff photo by PATRICK DENNIS
Ellen Fargason grooms her saddlebred horse while practicing äSee HORSE, page 4G walking, trotting and cantering at Marjorie Judd Stables.
SANTA’S WET RIDE
Science Academy
Highland Road Park Observatory will host its Science Academy for children from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. Children can take part in visual presentations and hands-on demonstrations related to astronomy, physics and space science, a news release said. Kids can rise through the ranks and earn higher Cadet Certificates throughout the year. Registration is required. Cost is $5 for East Baton Rouge residents or $6 for nonresidents. Call (225) 7689948 or email observatory@ brec.org.
ABOVE: Lucy Unglesby, 6, manages her throws and an umbrella after the wet parade.
Teen Advisory Group
Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library’s Teen Advisory Group will meet at 3 p.m. Monday in meeting room 1. Teens are welcome to meet new friends and share program and book ideas and whatever else is on their minds.
BREC New Year’s hours
BREC’s administrative offices at 6201 Florida Blvd. will be closed Friday for the New Year’s Day holiday. Normal operating hours will resume at all BREC facilities on Monday. All BREC golf courses will remain open for the New Year’s holiday. All recreation and tennis centers will close at noon on New Year’s Eve. Both will remain closed on New Year’s Day. Baton Rouge Zoo, Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center, Cohn Arboretum and Magnolia Mound Plantation will close on Friday. Independence Park Theatre and Highland Road Park Observatory will close on Thursday and Friday. Farr Park Equestrian Center will close on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day but will hold lessons from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on New Year’s Day. Perkins Road Extreme Park’s BMX track and rock climbing wall will close on Thursday and Friday; the skate park will remain open. Baton Rouge Gallery is closed through Jan. 4. Call (225) 272-9200 or visit brec.org. äSee AROUND, page 4G
Advocate staff photos by TRAVIS SPRADLING
LEFT: Santa salutes paradegoers just before the start of the Jefferson Place-Bocage Christmas Eve Day parade.
RIGHT: ‘Krewe de Lew’ members enjoy a wet ride during the Jefferson Place-Bocage parade. FAR RIGHT: Kids get an old-school ride during the parade.
St. George Fire Department, Santa brighten neighborhood it is one that the firefighters and the public have embraced St. George Fire Department and look forward to.” The Fire Department partcontinued its long-standing tradition in December of giv- ners with the Greater Baton ing Santa a ride atop a fire Rouge Food Bank and Christengine through the neighbor- mas for Challenged Children hoods around the district. to conduct the three-truck Since the district has grown processions collecting food Photo provided ELDON LEDOUX to have more than 200 subdi- and toys. Santa rides atop a St. George Fire Department truck during visions, it is quite a task, said The miniparades originate the department’s annual Santa parades. While making his Eldon Ledoux, public informa- from St. George’s eight fire rounds, Santa and a group of Fire Department volunteers pick tion officer for St. George Fire stations during the first two Protection District. “However, weekends of December. up food and toys for area families in need. Advocate staff report
This year, graced with beautiful weather, the St. George Fire Department neighborhood Santa parades yielded 19,667 pounds of food and 1,284 toys to brighten the holidays of some of our less fortunate neighbors, he said. St. George Fire Department, the Baton Rouge Food Bank and Christmas for Challenged Children thanked the residents of the fire district for their generosity.