A brush with art at Habitat for Humanity fundraiser; more in Tammany Tracker ä 2G
THE ST.TAMMANY
ADVOCATE
1G
COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE • MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • SLIDELL
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2015 H
THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
Surfer’s reply to message in a bottle a high-water mark for science class BY ANDREW CANULETTE Special to the Advocate
Many kids have stuck a message in a bottle and tossed it into the water, hoping to get a note back from some far away land. Most never get a response. Josh Bearden did. As part of a science experiment at Cedarwood School in Mandeville, Bearden’s fourthgrade class placed notes inside of glass bottles to learn
about the currents of the Gulf Stream and the Gulf Loop. About 30 students took part in the project during the fall of 2014, and science teacher Melissa Hardesty had her husband (a boat captain out of Venice) place half of the bottles in the Gulf Loop. The other half were dropped into the Gulf Stream last Thanksgiving — about 50 miles offshore of Hatteras Island, North Carolina, where Hardesty’s family lives. Bearden’s bottle floated near-
ly 3,000 miles to the Azores, off the western coast of Portugal, where it was found by Cesar Lorenco. Lorenco discovered the bottle while surfing off the coast of Terceria Island. Lorenco found the note inside, which asked that whoever found the message contact the school and let them know it had been located. Lorenco contacted the school via social media a couple of weeks ago, meaning that the message in a bottle took near-
ly a year to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Lorenco also sent a photo of himself holding the bottle while posing next to his surfboard “This was just incredible to get the message from Cesar,” Hardesty said. “Relationships have happened over it. I’ve done this project with the kids since I moved from North Carolina, and we plead with people (in the notes) to contact us if äSee MESSAGE, page 3G
Photo by ANDREW CANULETTE
A message in a bottle launched by Cedarwood science teacher Melissa Hardesty and student Josh Bearden floated nearly 3,000 miles to the Azores, off the western coast of Portugal, where it was found by surfer Cesar Lorenco.
Sharon Edwards TAMMANY TIMES
‘Soldier’s Story’ has updated twist In time for Veterans Day, the Covington-based Prodigal Players premiered their musical drama, “The Soldier’s Story,” at Tulane University, then took the show to Slidell Little Theatre and Christ Episcopal’s Third Sunday concert series. But there’s still time to catch two more performances on the North Shore at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Greater Covington Center, 317 N. Jefferson Ave. The retelling of Igor Stravinsky’s 1918 musical drama “L’Histoire du soldat” was created by the Prodigal Players’ founder Terrance Mahady in collaboration with Robert Jahncke. Stravinsky’s story is about a soldier who returns home on leave and encounters the devil, who makes him an offer he can’t refuse. In the Prodigal Players’ contemporary remake, the soldier is a young fiddler from Thibodaux who has joined the Marines to pay off his debt from attending music school. Jahncke, who rewrote the narration, moves the drama from post-World War I Russia to today’s Afghanistan. Mahady, a drummer, arranger and composer, brings in zydeco and funk, rap and more, all performed by live musicians on stage as the drama unfolds. Even the devil has updated tactics and uses a drone to track the soldier. Bill Larsen-Ruffin plays the devil, Luke Halpern plays the soldier, and Ashley Krieger plays the soldier’s girlfriend. Julie Generes directs the drama and choreography with assistance from Melany Graham. Jahncke narrates the story. It’s a role he played almost 50 years ago in a production of the original for the Alliance Francaise of New Orleans. “I learned French, phonetically” for the role, he said. Jahncke has a long history in North Shore theater circles, as does Mahady. He calls Mahady “a genius musician.” äSee TIMES, page 3G
Advocate staff photos by SCOTT THRELKELD
Recess is a busy time for the students at St. Margaret Mary School.
50 and fantastic
St. Margaret Mary celebrates a half-century of community BY ANDREW CANULETTE Special to the Advocate
When Slidell experienced one of its largest growth spurts in the early 1960s, it quickly became evident that there would be a need for more infrastructure — roads, schools, shopping outlets and the like. It also was a clarion call for more churches in the area. Thus, St. Margaret Mary Parish was born. What began as a small church community on Robert Road in north Slidell has swelled to include more than 1,200 families, according to latest estimates. The parish is celebrating its 50th anniversary beginning this year. A Mass was held Aug. 16 to commemorate the anniversary, and numerous other events are planned well into 2016.
The original footprint of St. Margaret Mary Parish included 14 acres, which was purchased by the Archdiocese of New Orleans for just more than $87,000. The heavily-treed property was cleared, in large part, and school began in 1966. The campus at the time was composed of 12 classrooms, a library and an administrative area, which all were built for just under $350,000. Now, there’s a much larger school, church, rectory and evangelical center, as well as outreach programs for the entire community. Masses were held in the school cafeteria until the church building and chapel were completed on Christmas Day in 1976, said pastoral secretary Renee Lemoine. Archbishop Gregory Aymond celebrated the anniversary Mass in August, which was attended by numerous religious faithful, several Slidell mayors (past and present) who are parishioners, as well as hundreds of people who go to St. Margaret Mary each Sunday. äSee FANTASTIC, page 8G
Masses were first held in St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Slidell on Christmas Day 1976, almost a decade after the school was up and running.
Holidays provide time for running, baseball camp REC & LEISURE ANDREW CANULETTE
Road racing and baseball don’t have much in common, but there are upcoming events in each sport that should be of great interest to local athletes. The St. Paul’s Cross Country
Christmas Run will be held Dec. 5 in Covington. There will be a 5-kilometer race, as well as a 1-mile fun run (led by Santa Claus, himself, no doubt.) The 1-miler will begin at 8 a.m. with the 5K following at 8:30 a.m. The races are fundraisers for the excellent St. Paul’s School prep cross country team. Local running club The
15th Street Flyers produces the annual event. The races start and finish at Hunter Stadium on St. Paul’s campus, 917 S. Jahncke Ave. The courses wend through scenic old Covington — a great neighborhood for running. Awards will be presented in numerous age groups, and a Spirit Award will go to the school that has the most race
participants. There also is an award for the person with the best holiday costume, and all entrants 16 or younger are eligible to win a bicycle. Cash awards of $100 will be given to the top man and woman in the 5K, with $50 prizes for those who finish second. If you register before Nov. 28, $25 registration also gets you a long-sleeved race
shirt. Cost is $15 with a shortsleeved T-shirt. On race day, cost with long-sleeve shirt is $30, $20 short sleeves. If you’d rather pass on the shirt, you can register to run (on race day only) for $15. Race-day registration will begin at 7 a.m. To register by mail, download a form online at äSee CANULETTE, page 4G