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Feliciana Explorer • Tuesday, March 3, 2015 • Vol. 5, No. 9 • Published Weekly • Circulation 17,000 • felicianaexplorer.com • © 2015
BRCC Millwright Class to Viking River Cruises Selects West Begin March 16 in Jackson Feliciana for Destination Port
By Johnny Arceneaux
The demand for millwrights in East and West Feliciana, as well as in the greater Baton Rouge area, continues to grow. In response to this demand, an entry-level millwright class will begin March 16 at the Baton Rouge Community College in Jackson, Louisiana. The class will meet on Monday and Tuesday nights, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., for 25 weeks. This instruction, which can provide an individual’s first step in becoming a millwright, will include the CORE Introductory Craft Skills and Millwright Level 1 training of the National Center for Construction Education and Research. The CORE training, a pre-requisite for all NCCER Level 1 classes, includes: basic safety, construction math, construction drawings, introduction to hand tools and power tools, as well as materials handling, basic rigging, basic communication and employability skills. The Millwright Level 1 training
includes an introduction to the millwright trade, hand tools, fasteners and anchors, basic layout and o-rings and oxyfuel cutting. BRCC—Jackson will offer a Millwright Level 2 class after the completion of the Level 1 class. What does a millwright do? Millwrights work in industrial settings such as paper mills, power generating stations, pump, valve, and electric motor shops, and in the petrochemical industry. Millwrights are responsible for installing, aligning, and troubleshooting machinery. Millwright work includes installing conveyor systems, connecting machinery and piping, hoisting and setting machines, and adjusting the moving and stationary parts of machines to specifications. Millwrights must be skilled in mathematics and interpreting blueprints and technical specifications. Contact Loretta Profit, 225-6342636, or profit@mybrcc.edu, to obtain tuition and registration information.
By Jennifer Rome
Parish President Kevin Couhig announced on February 24 that a new Viking River Cruise will feature West Feliciana Parish as an itinerary stop. Couhig said, "This is exciting news and a welcome tourism opportunity for the Parish. It will have a significant economic impact in West Feliciana.” He added, “Viking River Cruises is renowned for providing first-class experiences. Its presence and passengers will tremendously enhance tourism in West Feliciana." The project, which Governor Jindal and Viking River Cruises Chairman Torstein Hagen announced last week, will be the first North American line for the company. The project, which is expected to launch in March 2017, means that ships will depart from New Orleans and end each course, depending on the season,
West Feliciana Director of Public Works, Planning and Zoning Jim Ferguson, Tourism Director Laurie Walsh, Parish President Kevin Couhig, and Chamber of Commerce Director Bettsie Norton confer at the River. Photograph by Jennifer Rome.
in Memphis, Tennessee; St. Louis, Missouri; or St. Paul, Minnesota. Bienville Street Wharf at Woldenberg Park will serve as the primary terminal in the home port. In partnership with the City of New Orleans, the Port of New
See VIKING on page 2
This is the latest story in the Explorer's series of historical investigations into churches in the Felicianas.
Survivor of Many Trials and Tribulations: Rosedown Baptist Church of St. Francisville By Patricia Stallman
Part 2 of 2 Week series: Armstrong: Memories of the Highway 10 Wooden Church Church member Dorothy Armstrong, in an interview January 30, 2015, shared her memories of Rosedown Baptist Church, “the Little Wooden Church Out on the Hill,” which she began attending at age 5. Back then, Armstrong says, “Highway 10 was a dirt road, and we were living on Rosedown land. We walked to church—no rides then—so we brought along a cloth to wipe our shoes when we got there. Sometimes we went through the creek behind our house, crossing on a plank (now near the second bridge on Highway 10) because it was shorter. A different path went through the woods up the hill to the church.”
Among Dorothy Armstrong’s photographs is this one of an early baptism at the creek near the 1901 church.
When she was 14, her pastor baptized her in the same creek she had walked through on her way to church. “You wore a white gown to be baptized; your mama would make it, or you could just take a sheet. You stand in the water between a deacon and the pastor, one on each side, and they take you backward, ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’ Afterward, they call you Sister or Brother, and you can attend any Baptist church you want.” She recalls one year when “the old Pastor Veal baptized 16 people, all at one time, in a pond on Highway 10, because that’s how many had joined the church during a revival.” As for confirmation, “the pastor reads the church bi-laws to you,
See ROSEDOWN on page 4