June 5, 201402 Vol. 6 • No. 5

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June 6, 2014 • Volume 6 • Issue 5

715 Kirby St.Lake Charles, LA 70601Phone: 337-436-7800Fax: 337-990-0262www.louisianajam.com PublisherPhil de Albuquerquephil@louisianajam.com

Executive EditorLauren de Albuquerquelauren@louisianajam.com

ContributorsLisa AddisonNicole Shuff ArabieDan EllenderBraylin JenkinsMike McHughRoger MillerMary Louise RuehrKarla TullosCalvin TylerDavid Yantis

Salessales@louisianajam.com

New GuyCalvin Tyler

GraphicsArt/Production DirectorBurn Rourk

Associate PhotographerJohnny OwensCajun Pirate Photgraphy

BusinessOffi ce ManagerJeanie Taggart

Legal Disclaimer

The views expressed by Louisiana Jam columnists are their own and do not necessarily refl ect the position of Louisiana Jam, its editors or staff.

The Jambalaya News is solely owned, published by Jambalaya Media, LLC, 715 Kirby Street, Lake Charles Louisiana 70601. Phone (337) 436-7800. Whilst every effort was made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of going to press, the publishers cannot accept legal responsibility for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility of the standing of advertisers nor by the editorial contributions. The Jambalaya News cannot be held responsible for the return of un-solicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations, even if they are sent to us accompanied by a self-addressed envelope. The views expressed do not necessarily refl ect those of the publisher.Copyright 2014 The Jambalaya News all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior written permission is prohibited.

COVER STORY33 Billy Navarre: The Six Lessons I Taught My Children

REGULARS5 We Are SWLA!7 Hospital Roundup

8 The Dang Yankee

9 Adoption Corner

10 Fishin’ Tales

11 Stir Dat Pot

12 Soul Matters

13 This Functional Family

FEATURES4 Blue Dog Concert

14 Fish Bowl vs. Hurricane Ivan

18 Good Evening, This is Gary Tyler

30 Running Down the Dream

THE SPICE OF SWLA38 Event Guide

40 Family Fun Night at the Movies

41 Funbolaya

42 Red Hot Books

44 Nightlife Guide

47 Lake City Beat!

48 Society Spice

614

On cover: (L-R) Ryan, Jareth, Barrett, Grant, (front) Kaitlyn and Bryce Navarre

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June 5, 2014 03Vol. 6 • No. 5

My wife asked me to write five things I remember about my dad. I wonder what each of you reading this would say about your father. I would love to compile a list and share it sometime.

Now that my dad is gone, I have no reason to hope he will put the past aside and call me someday and ask me how I am. Ask me how life is in Louisiana or how my work is going. But I have some great memories of him that I will cherish until we meet again.

My father came home every night after working very hard as a project engineer for Gen-eral Motors. He was barely in the front door when all of us six kids jumped on him and got him on all fours as he let us all pile on top of him. We never imagined he was tired or stressed and he never let on. He always greeted us with a smile and played along.

Dad was a lector at our church and we always had to go to “his” mass, usually the

same one where mom played the organ. He felt religion was very important for all of us. Morning and night, we all got together as a family and prayed before a statue of Mother Mary that was on our stereo in the living room. He even taped it once and sent it to his mother in India so she could hear us thanking God for our “Grandma across the ocean.”

Dad was a math wizard. If we didn’t ace math class, it was our own fault. He made math fun and we enjoyed talking about it with him. He would give us fun math problems to figure out and we would have a contest to see who could get the right answer first. He’d let us leave our math homework on the kitchen table at night and he would check it in the morn-ing. We were encouraged to get up early with him so he could explain what was going on and what mistakes we were making. Dad made himself

available to us anytime…even during our college years.

When it came time for me to graduate from Michigan State University, he was there and so proud of me. He had visited me many times and would often treat my friends to dinner. He loved hear-ing what I was learning and what my dreams were for the future. He and my mom en-couraged all of us to find our passion and be the best we could be!

Dad also flew to Florida when I graduated from Clown College in Venice, represent-ing the state of Michigan. He wanted me to become an engineer and follow in his footsteps since I was his eldest son, but he also gave me the freedom to do as I pleased. He threw a huge party for all the graduates that year and they still talk about it! I had told him I knew I wouldn’t be cho-sen to travel with The Great-est Show On Earth and he told me not to say that. “You never know,” he said. “You’re my son and I’m so proud of

you no matter what the out-come.” That next morning I was the first student called to meet with the owner to sign a one-year contract to travel with the big show! He couldn’t have been happier for me.

Dad, I’ll never know why you stopped being my best friend or why you stopped caring about me. Was it really about religion? In any case, I love you and miss you and thank you very much for all you did to help me be the person I am today. I guess you can explain all this to me someday…when it’s time to meet again.

Happy Father’s Day Dad! I love you.

Your eldest son, Philip

A Note From Phil

Phil de Albuquerque

Remembering My Dad

June 5, 201404 Vol. 6 • No. 5

A fundraiser for Foundation for Fairplay (F3) and the George Rod-rigue Foundation for the Arts was held recently at the Governor’s Man-sion in Lake Charles. The event featured entertainment by Ken Peplowski and the Astral Project. Also performing was Leif Pedersen, former vocalist with the Tommy

Dorsey Orchestra. Just look at the magnificent Steinway piano painted by Rodrigue! His son, Jacques, was on hand to discuss the beautiful pieces of artwork from his late father’s estate, which were auctioned by Hal MacMillan. With food catered by the Blue Dog Café in Lafay-ette, great music and amazing art, it’s no wonder the evening was a great success!

The Foundation for Fairplay fund has been established in order to provide a more level playing field in the areas of preventable injury needs such as acquiring quality football helmets, placement of training room equipment needed for the rehabilita-tion of sports-related injuries, safe physical fitness surroundings, etc.

The Foundation for Fairplay [F3] is a fund established and coordi-nated by the Foundation at LCMH to assist schools in the acquisition of health-related athletic needs. It is the goal of the Foundation for Fair-play to see that all student athletes are protected against potential in-jury and, when injuries do occur in school athletic programs, that they receive appropriate medical care.

June 5, 2014 05Vol. 6 • No. 5

Community Foundation Elects Offi cers and Board Members

New board members have been elected to the Community Foundation of Southwest Loui-siana. The Foundation helps philanthropists make grants to nonprofits and conducts civic leadership initiatives. The new board members are Dinah Bradford, community volunteer and former principal of ICCS; Marshall Simien, a local attorney; and Rick Richard, president of

Empire of the Seed. New directors join Tom Shear-man, Susan Blake, Dan Donald, Mary Shaddock Jones, Brent Lumpkin, Jon Manns, Dr. Lehrue Ste-vens, Jonald Walker, Greg Webb and Mary Leach Werner on the board.

McNeese’s Leonard Smith to be Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

McNeese’s Leonard Smith has been announced as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2014 by the National Foot-ball Foundation & College Hall of Fame. Smith was two-time fi rst team All-Southland Conference defensive back, 1982 fi rst team Associate Press All-American, nine-year NFL veteran including a 1986 NFL All-Pro selec-tion, and the highest NFL Draft selec-tion in school and conference history (17th overall pick, 1st round in 1983). Smith played for the Cowboys from 1980-82 and earned fi rst team all-conference honors in 1981 and 1982. In 1982, he was named the Southland and Louisiana Defensive Player of the Year as well as picking up fi rst team Associated Press All-America honors.

Chick-fi l-A Founder Selects LC Team member to Receive Top Scholarship

Lake Charles resident and Chick-fi l-A team member Grace Dalton is one of only 25 students across the country to receive the 2014 S. Truett Cathy Scholar Award, the chain’s highest scholar recognition that continues Chick-fi l-A® founder S. Truett Cathy’s legacy of supporting higher education. Dalton received the award from her franchise operator and father Bob Dalton at the Chick-fi l-A restaurant located at Prien Lake Mall. Th e 25 winners are chosen annually from among the chain’s 1,600 Leadership Scholarship winners, all of whom are employed at Chick-fi l-A restaurants across the country.

Walnut Grove Welcomes First Federal Bank of La.Walnut Grove, the new premier Traditional Neighborhood Devel-

opment located on West Sallier Street in Lake Charles, has announced that First Federal Bank of Louisiana has opened a branch on the fi rst fl oor of the recently completed Post Offi ce Building, located at 2025 W. Walnut Street. Th e hours are 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday.

Local Insurance Agents Recognized

Sharilyn Fontenot and Pam Th ompson with First Federal Insurance Services, LLC, recently received the American Insurance Market-ing and Sales Society’s profes-sional designation of Certifi ed Professional Insurance Agent (CPIA). Both women success-fully completed three Insur-ance Success Seminars. Th e CPIA designation denotes professionalism, a commitment to sales training and results, and technical knowledge. Th e designation does require a bi-annual continuing education update.

Coushatta Donates Decorated Hats to Habitat for Humanity

Coushatta Casino Resort recently held its First Annual Easter Hat Decorating Contest. Associates who participated have donated their creations to Habitat for Humanity. Th e decorated and artistically em-bellished hats were on display for two weeks inside the casino. Resort guests voted for their favorites among the 32 contest entries. Casino associates Haikey Beaver, Kelley Jo Langley, and Wendy Langley: 1st

Sharilyn Fontenot Pam Thompson

Dinah Bradford

Marshall Simien Rick Richard

Bob Dalton and Grace Dalton

June 5, 201406 Vol. 6 • No. 5

place; Myrna Ogea, Tina O’Blanc, and Melanie Marceaux: 2nd place; Angela Hariford, Evelyn Bourque, and Sevetrice Combs: 3rd place. Haikey Beaver, Kelley Jo Langley, and Wendy Langley’s fi rst place entry went to Habitat homeowner Katrina Joubert, whose new home was built by Habitat staff with the help of hundreds of local church vol-unteers and residents.

Entergy Donates to On the Move CampaignAs part of Entergy’s ongoing support to the SWLA Alliance Foun-

dation, the company recently donated $62,000 to SWLA’s on the Move fi ve-year campaign. Th e donation will help the campaign address the critical issues facing our region: workforce development, business re-cruitment, business retention and expansion, regional marketing, and building a single voice for a true regional partnership.

Sam Hebert Financial Sponsors College Oaks Elementary

Sam Hebert Financial Group is a Partner in Edu-cation with College Oaks Elementary. The school has benefited in numerous areas due to the sponsorship, such as the May Day event, which was a huge success.

Family Foundation Receives Endowment

Th e Family Foun-dation of South-west Louisiana, the endowment arm of Family and Youth Counseling Agency Inc. received an endowment for $10,000 by the children of Sylvester Myers in her memo-ry. Th e endowment benefi ts Family & Youth’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), volunteers who speak in court for a child’s best interests.

L to R: George Swift, Chamber SWLA & Foundation President & CEO; Clair Hebert, Entergy; Greg Guilbeau, Entergy; Avon Knowlton, Alliance Executive VP;

and Chamber Board Chair Glen Bertrand

Kierra Walker and Amber Mize

L to R: Vicki Wicks and John Derby, children of Sylvester Myers, with Maria Alcantara Faul, VP Development, Family & Youth

June 5, 2014 07Vol. 6 • No. 5

Edward Jones Branch Team Recognized for Outstanding Client Service

John Guilbeaux, a fi nancial advisor with Edward Jones in Sul-phur, and Paula Saltz-man and Dru Stains, the branch offi ce admin-istrators, recently were

honored by the fi rm for their performance and client service excel-lence. Guilbeaux, Saltzman and Stains were selected to attend Edward Jones’ Drucker Conference at the fi rm’s headquarters in St. Louis. Th e three-day meeting, which will be held Oct. 13 - 15 in St. Louis, pools Edward Jones’ fi nancial advisors and branch offi ce administrators for discussions with the fi rm’s management about various issues.

Nutcracker Donation to the McNeese FoundationTh e Artistic Advisory Committee of Nutcracker 2013 has donated

$23,059.30 to the McNeese State University Department of Perform-

ing Arts through the McNeese Foundation. Th e Nutcracker returned to the Lake Area in December – for the fi rst time since Hurricane Rita - to celebrate its 50th anniversary and to raise funds to support the department.

Memorial’s Cancer Center Receives Achievement AwardThe Lake Charles Memorial Cancer Center was recently granted

the Commission on Cancer (CoC) Outstanding Achievement Award for 2013. Memorial is one of 74 cancer programs in the United States and the only cancer program in Louisiana to receive the award. The 74 award-winning, cancer-care programs represent approximately 14 percent of programs surveyed by the CoC in 2013. Established in 2004, the CoC’s Outstanding Achievement Award is designed to recognize cancer programs that strive for excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients. For more information on program standards, visit: www.facs.org/cancer/index.html

Kohl’s Donates to CHRISTUS St. Patrick HospitalThe Kohl’s Kids Club Healthy Living Fair event was a featured

event during the CHRISTUS St. Patrick Foundation 2014 Dragon Boat Race at the Lake Charles Civic Center Seawall this past April. The Kohl’s Kids Club Healthy Living Fair was the highlighted feature of the children’s activity area and included educational opportuni-ties for children as they interact with dietitians and fitness trainers in fun ways to learn about their health. The donation of over $11,000 from Kohl’s Department Stores supports children’s health education opportunities such as the Healthy Living Fair. Since 2010, Kohl’s has donated more than $55,126 to CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital. Kohl’s commitment to CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital is made pos-sible through the Kohl’s Cares® cause merchandise program..

Lake Area Medical Center Open House June 18Lake Area Medical Center will host a Volunteer Services and

Senior Circle OPEN HOUSE on June 18, from 1-3 p.m. at the Senior Circle Activity Center, located on the campus of Lake Area Medi-cal Center. The event is open to adult men and women interested

in learning more about the hospital volunteer program, as well as the many benefits of joining Senior Circle. To become a Lake Area Medical Center volunteer, a person must be at least 18 years old and be willing to volunteer at least four hours each week. Senior Circle membership is open to adult men and women age 50 and up. . Call (337) 475-4002 for more information or to RSVP. To learn more about the hospital volunteer and Senior Circle programs, visit www.lakeareamc.com/volunteers and www.lakeareamc.com/seniorcircle.

Free Educational Screenings June 18, July 24The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Human Services Department

is teaming up with Evangeline Home Health and the Medication Assistance Program to offer free educational health screenings covering a variety of topics once a month, accompanied by a speaker and literature covering that month’s topic. Screenings are open to anyone in Calcasieu Parish and will be held the fourth Thursday of each month from 8:30-10:30 a.m. at the Allen P. August Multi-Purpose Annex at 2000 Moeling Street in Lake Charles. The next few screenings are on June 26 (Blood Pressure, Pulse, Oxygen, Blood Sugar, Cholesterol) and July 24 (Vision and Hearing).

WCCH Employees Win honors in Statewide Geaux Lite Challenge

The Louisiana Hospital Association (LHA) recently recognized Samantha Bynum, RN, of West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital as the female state champion and grand prize winner of the statewide Geaux Lite Weight Loss Chal-lenge by percent of body weight lost. During the challenge, Samantha lost 60 pounds and nearly 30 percent of her body weight. Another WCCH employee recognized in the challenge was Sheryl Milanowski, who received the Achievement Award for having lost 40 pounds and 22 percent of her body weight. The Geaux Lite Louisiana Statewide Hospital Weight Loss Challenge was an initiative to address the state’s obesity epidemic.

Samantha Bynum

Sheryl Milanowski

L to R: John Guilbeaux, Dru Stains, Paula Saltzman and Jim Weddle

L to R: Kristin Draper, Amy Honeycutt Sonnier, Libby McCreedy Richards, Richard Reid, VP for university advancement; Dr. Michael Buckles, head of the

performing arts department; Libby Tete Looney and Colleen Cannon Benoit

June 5, 201408 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Here’s a question for you: who has more flavors than Baskin-Robbins? If you guessed Coke, it was a nice try. Sure Coke comes in lots of flavors. There’s New Coke, Classic Coke, Ancient Coke, Coke Zero, Coke Infin-ity, Vanilla Coke, Hot Blazin’ Coke…oh, sorry, now we’re get-ting into Buffalo wings, which is a whole other story. But you get the point.

Still, there’s one product out there that comes in more flavors than the offerings of all the soda

companies combined. I’m talk-ing, of course, about vodka.

When I first reached legal age, vodka came in only one flavor—none. That was fine with everybody, except, apparently, the vodka producers. All brands tasted exactly the same, which is to say, like lighter fluid. A producer had no way to distin-guish his product, except to put more hard consonants in the name, to the point where only Finnish-speaking people could pronounce it.

This put the vodka makers in desperate need of a new market-ing angle. And thus, the flavored varieties were spawned. It began innocently enough, with mod-est, unimaginative offerings like cherry and citrus. These, they figured, would gain easy accept-ance among the world’s hard-core vodka drinkers, and they were right.

But that was just the begin-ning. Once they got their foot in the door, the floodgates crashed open. Cherry and citrus were

quickly followed with every im-aginable fruit flavor, including pineapple, mango, guava (what-ever that is), and kumquat. Sud-denly, bar owners were forced to allocate more of their limited shelf space to all of these new, wildly popular vodka offerings, at the expense of other potables like Kentucky bourbon and rye. It was a stroke of genius.

As it turned out, they were not done. It’s become evident that there is no end to the amount of flavors that work in

Umpty-Nine Flavors and Counting

June 5, 2014 09Vol. 6 • No. 5

vodka, which is understandable given what the stuff tastes like in its natural form. In fact, the most popular flavor these days turns out to be pepper. Yes, that’s the same pepper that my mother used to put on my tongue when-ever she caught me saying a bad word.

So now, and this is no lie, you can buy vodka in flavors that run the gamut from bacon to bubble gum, from pickles to peanut butter and jelly. I have not personally sampled any of these; so I can’t vouch for their palatability. (Editor’s note: Lady Yankee has a special affinity for Fruit Loops-flavored vodka.) But I can say that if they’re anything like the king cake vodka, which I did have the misfortune of trying, there’s no need to bother. King cake vodka is one of those things that might sound good in theory but doesn’t work well in practice. It’s a similar idea to guzzling a bottle of Tabasco to get rid of nasal congestion.

My only good experience with flavored vodkas occurred when I

visited Russia. That would make sense, as the Russians drink so much vodka that you’d think the Volga River was flowing with the stuff. Where I visited, horserad-ish-infused vodka was the local specialty. I attended a dinner there one evening where we kept going round and round the table making toasts (apparently, this is what Russians do for fun). Waiters stood at the ready, flasks in hand, making sure your glass never ran dry.

I thought to myself, “If these guys fight like they drink, it’s no wonder they turned back the German blitzkrieg.” The Ger-mans have great beer, for sure, but that’s no match for horserad-ish vodka.

Mike McHugh’s column has appeared in “The Jambalaya News” for nearly five years. He also contributes stories to the “Not Your Mother’s Book” anthology series and makes public speaking appearances. To inquire about having him speak to your group, contact Mike at thedangyankee@mail.com.

Being returned after five years, Ellie, a Boxer/Ameri-can Bulldog mix, is hoping the second time is a charm. She does well with other dogs but, seemingly having “been on the road” alone for a while, she does not share her food. She has gained a bit of weight and is now nearly per-fect! She has not been “kid-tested” but certainly does well with everyone she meets. Perfectly crate-trained, she loves being outside but is happy to get back to her ken-

nel to sleep at night. Very affectionate, she is great at giving big kisses! For more information, call or email: (337) 478-7294; lapaw@bellsouth.net. Home visit, vet check, and commitment to heartworm prevention required prior to all adop-tions. You are welcome to meet and visit with our pets at PetsMart every Saturday from noon to 3:30 p.m.

Can’t adopt? Consider fostering. Can’t foster? Con-sider sponsoring! LAPAW dogs (and cats) can be seen at www.lapaw.org.

June 5, 201410 Vol. 6 • No. 5

For those of us who have been stranded afloat, sing along to my namesake’s Country and Western hit, Roger Miller’s “King of the Road.”

“Boats for sale or rent, marsh to let 50K, no phones, no knife, no gun, ain’t got no cigars yet, ah but wild hog trails loom, look out impending doom, I’m a man of sense with no sense, whoa King of the Marsh.”

Back when I was the self-proclaimed “King of the Marsh” there was a sign at Lacoste Lodge that stated “Remember Well, The Marsh ALWAYS Wins.” I know because I put it there. It went with the rule that said NEVER go into the marsh in just one boat. Lesson learned from being stranded in the Hackberry Salt Ditch, Big Pasture, Mud Lake, Black Lake, etc. I’d learned my lesson--or so I thought.

Victor Monsour, of photog-raphy fame if not fortune, had a fabulous mud boat. It flew, turned easily, and plowed the trails beautifully. The summer after its first hunting season, we headed to Cameron Par-ish’s Lacoste Lodge. It was time for marsh prep work. The three LaGrange High School foot-ball players I brought would do the work at duck blind #8. They would clean and put brush around the blind. We left them the big ice chest filled with Gatorade and water and took the small Igloo with us.

Victor and I merrily rode about the marsh in the vessel-generated breeze, letting the mud boat do the work and blow out the trails. Victor drove. I rode in

the bow and straightened trail markers or placed new ones. The young men slogged, cut Roseau cane and sweated in the late August swelter. Vic and I faux worked.

About noon, Vic and I broke for lunch. It was almost time to pick up the boys. With the cool-ing breeze off the Gulf where our wives and kids were frolick-ing, we dined on store-bought sandwiches. Sated and rested from our nonworking, Victor started his trusty, just-tuned up mud boat. Rather, he tried and tried and tried until the bat-tery weakened. Frustrated but undeterred, I told Vic to let it rest. Meanwhile, I’d walk out the five-plus miles down the levee, over the humpback bridge and the two miles back to the lodge. No biggie. I’d done it eight years before when Rayme’ Boudreaux was still running his cattle in the impoundment. If Vic could start the boat, he was to pick me up along the levee. It was already mid-afternoon.

Grabbing up the end of a broken push pole as a walking stick, down the levee I began my trek in what became known as “The 4-Mile-Square Death March.” I wasn’t a hundred yards down the levee when I reached the beginning of a Roseau cane, scrub brush, and briar jungle. With the cattle gone, the marsh had reclaimed its own. The easy-walking, cattle beaten back and down trail had been replaced by a near-impenetrable maze.

As a Cajun I’d grown up with the axiom “that if something’s not working, work harder.” So I

pushed, pulled, slid around the cane, stumbled through brush and crawled down wild pig trails in the briars. It took some six hours to go 3.5 miles. Turning back was not an op-tion. Stubbornness and a certain insanity run in the family. The fact that I hadn’t brought any wa-ter with me proves that premise. “Water. Water. The Marsh King Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Water.”

Resting at the turn, I pon-dered my plight in the fading light. I’d also had all I could take of the flies and mosquitoes. They would worsen as night was coming. I eased down the em-bankment. At the canal’s edge, I scooped mud and spread it over my hands, arms, neck, and face. Vic wasn’t coming. The boys were stranded. Our families were worried by now.

All I had in front of me was what I’d thrashed through for the last five hours. Once I covered the three miles to the hump back bridge, it was just open road for two miles back to the lodge. Bulling and crawling my way forward in the darkness, bug swarms became buggier than I already was. I stopped at a break in the cane and slid down chest-deep in the canal to escape, using my push-pole end to steady myself.

Welcoming me were two moonlit red eyes about two feet apart. Seems Mr. Gator was already a resident and I

was trespassing. Summoning up my dehydrated delusional insan-ity, I proceeded to smack him between the eyes with my pole. He rolled and swirled and I had a mo-

ment of lucidity. I was chest-deep in his home, so I exited in a world record, crawfished scram-ble up the levee.

Then, there was a light com-ing down the canal. I’d been to The Divine Light once. Seemed it was time to go back. The beam moved up and down the levee searching for this lost soul. Then it engulfed me sitting on the bank, a seeming mud-covered extra from Apocalypse Now.

Brad Hardestry was the delivering angel gripping the Q-Beam. The wives had called for our rescue and it had arrived. He and Donnie Lacoste car-ried me to the boat, plopped me on the middle seat and handed me the sweetest nectar of the Gods, Gatorade. I mumbled out our plight between gulps. They then rescued Victor. We located the LG students around ten o’clock. They were doing their own version of mud-splattered, bug repellent water ballet. Only their heads could be seen above the knee-deep pond, ice chest bobbing between them. They seemed pleased to see us.

Sing along now: “Third boat, Midnight trails, Destination Home Again, Old and Worn Out too, I’d Paid Those Dues, I’m No King of the Marsh.”

King of the Marsh

June 5, 2014 11Vol. 6 • No. 5

As most of you may or may not know, I work out at Grosse Savanne Lodge. We’re located about 20 miles south of Lake Charles in beautiful Cameron Parish where our guests can enjoy 25,000 acres of private marsh and a 484-acre bass pond named Miller’s Lake. It’s fun working in paradise.

Last week, our Eco-Tour manager, Bobby Jorden, was out fishing on the lake and caught some bass for me to play around with in the kitchen. Everyone was on me to fry

them up along with some shrimp and hushpuppies, but I had other plans. I decided that I needed to have a nice “go-to” dish for fresh fish that wasn’t fried and that really let you taste the fish. Now, I did this with bass, but I know it would work well with trout or flounder.

What You’ll NeedSix bass fillets1 jalapeno½ small onion1 tsp. minced garlic1 stick of salted butter

For Rub¼ cup olive oil½ teaspoon black pepper½ teaspoon kosher salt½ teaspoon granulated garlic ½ teaspoon Ancho chili powderJuice of half a lime

What You’ll DoMix rub ingredients together, rub on the

fish and set aside.Seed and dice the jalapeno and dice the

onion. Add one teaspoon of minced gar-lic and sauté them with half a stick of real, salted butter. Add the rest of the butter along with the lime juice. Let it melt but not

brown.Place the bass on a parchment paper-

lined sheet pan and spoon on the butter mixture. Make sure you get some of the jalapeno, onion and garlic on the fish.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 7-10 min-utes. I served it with some rice pilaf and yellow squash. Oh yeah--I poured the butter out of the sheet pan onto the cooked fish. There weren’t any leftovers

See ya’ll soon and don’t forget to STIR DAT POT!

Bad-Ass Bass

June 5, 201412 Vol. 6 • No. 5

but simply delayed it without good reason. In short, it is putting off despite expecting to be worse off . I’ve learned from my own personal experiences that this can become quite painful. Don’t linger in areas of your life just because you don’t want to cause others pain or dis-comfort.

Real procrastination isn’t op-tional -- it’s something we don’t know how not to do. It’s a bad habit, possibly bordering on com-pulsion at times. So, why would an otherwise capable person put forth such a pitiful eff ort again and again?

For the “Have-To-Do’s” in my life, I’ll end up waiting until the last minute, panicking, and then either doing less than my best work or shutting down and not doing anything at all. For the “Want-To-Do’s” in my life, let’s be honest—I’ll either start one and quit or more likely, I just won’t do it at all.

Procrastinators love planning, because planning does not involve doing, and doing is a procrastina-tor’s poison. Eff ective planning, on the other hand, sets you up for success. Planning must end with prioritizing and with the item you’re going to make your fi rst pri-ority. And that item should be the one that means the most to you—the item that’s most important for your happiness. If urgent items are involved, they will have to come fi rst and should be knocked out as quickly as possible to make way for the important items. Procras-tinators love to use unimportant but urgent items as an excuse to forever put off the important ones.

Procrastination runs deep, and it takes something more than “be-ing more self-disciplined” or just “changing bad habits” to change. Th e problem is deeply rooted and becomes your story, and this story is what must change.

Th is describes my story: I get started on the task, but can’t stay focused, and I keep taking long breaks to play on Facebook or the Internet. I don’t end up fi nishing the task. If this also describes you, then you might just be a procras-tinator. But how do you get on the right path?

You must stop whatever you’re doing when it’s time to begin the task. Put away all distractions and get started. It sounds simple, but

this is the hardest part. Clear your mind of all the clutter that gets in the way.

When you feel a little self-satis-faction, you’re fi nally on the right path. Th at urge to seek distractions is diminishing. Th en, if you con-tinue along, something amazing begins to happen. Before you know it, the end is in sight. You start to feel great. You are done. Time to celebrate your accomplishment.

Persistence is such an important component for success. Taking each new step is an inner strug-gle—and in the end, your ability to win this fi ght and take that step, day aft er day, is the root of the procrastinator’s struggle to gain control over the distracting world that surrounds them.

If you are like me, you are bright and creative with an amazing gift to work hard under pressure. And as such, you can be dependable in most situations that require last-minute changes or tight deadlines. Th e fl ip side is that you can be frus-trating to work with because you may appear to be stalling for long periods. It can be helpful to address friends, family members and co-workers of your natural work style so those around you can adjust their expectations accordingly.

Back to my question: Is pro-crastination a good thing? It can be, at times. I like to think of it as being still and quiet for a mo-ment, although I know that mo-ment can easily turn into an hour.

Th ere is a reason for every second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, road block, stop sign, or putting on the breaks, taking a deep breath, stopping to smell the roses, smiling at a stranger, lock-ing your keys in the car, getting lost. It’s all part of your journey. It’s all part of God’s plan for your life.

My personal defi nitions for procrastination are protection and care: a place to be still and quiet, a place all my own within my soul to be still, to ponder, to pray and ask God to prepare the path and show favor in the hearts of oth-ers and the situations in the path before me.

To book a Soul Matters Ses-sion with Nicole Shuff Arabie, call (337) 540-6573. You can also go to her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Declutter-ingYourSoul

Pro-cras-ti-na-tion |prə’krastə’nāSHən, prō-| noun; the action of delaying or postpon-ing something that needs to be done.

Procrastination comes from a Latin verb meaning “to defer until tomorrow.” Anything that implies a tendency toward action right now is a good antonym. Th e antonym of action is inaction, which is not re-ally a synonym of procrastination.

For example, ice isn’t procras-tinating but it is inactive; it just isn’t fl owing like water out of your faucet. Although “urgency” isn’t

too bad, it tends to pertain to a circumstance rather than an indi-vidual. Th at is saying that urgency implies a need to act right now.

Other words that I have discov-ered that might defi ne procrasti-nation are putting off , indecision, deferring action, lingering, and simply resisting.

So, is procrastination a good thing? Only by accident. If you put off something purposefully because you think it’s a good idea to delay, you’re not procrastinating.

Procrastination is planning to have done something earlier, and

Is Procrastination A Good Thing?

June 5, 2014 13Vol. 6 • No. 5

Some parents might hate me for saying this, but my kids and I rarely get sick. And when I say rarely, I mean almost never. Yes, it’s bizarre. No, I have no idea how we avoid all of the crazy stuff that goes around or I would patent the solution, sell it to the world, and make a fortune. The flu? None of us get it. How about the latest virus? Nope, it passes us by. It’s as if my little family has been hermetically sealed.

Now, I wish I could tell you that we stay well because we only eat organic (we don’t). I can’t even tell you it’s because we always eat healthy foods. Of course I do my best to make healthy meals often and to en-sure that we get plenty of fruits and vegetables, but just like every family, we have days where we don’t eat as many fruits and vegetables as we should or we grab fast food. We do take vita-mins, but some days we forget to do that as well.

I think the main reason that we all have such healthy immune systems is because all of us have always experienced life with gusto and I’ve never sheltered my kids or gone overboard protect-ing them. Yes, that was my little family at Prien Lake Park this winter when it was snowing, the ground was frozen, the tempera-ture was in the 20s, and everyone else was at home making gumbo and sitting in front of their fireplaces. My two kids “skated” on the frozen playground, swung from the monkey bars, slid down the icy slides, made snowballs, had ice in their hair, and all of us laughed our heads off while hav-ing the best time.

Lots of parents keep their

kids from going out in public too much when they are babies, make sure that people don’t so much as breathe on them, jump up if they put their mouths on the equipment at playgrounds, and so on. I know they are simply doing their best to make sure their kids stay healthy. But I think that by letting my kids play in the dirt (heck, they even ate some), be exposed to lots of kids while in daycare, (unwittingly) cut their teeth on playground equipment and not miss out on the day-to-day business of living, they have become two of the healthiest kids I know. They both even had “perfect attendance” at their school last year.

Not too long ago, we ended up seated next to a family at a local restaurant with an attached play area. The couple had ador-able four-year-old twins. Dad was what I would call high-maintenance and Mom was higher-maintenance. Through-out the hour we were there, I heard Mom and Dad say, “No! We don’t drink soft drinks!” “No, no, no. We don’t have ketchup!” “Absolutely not! We don’t have sweets!” “You cannot take your shoes off !” “I’d better not see you put your mouth on that playground equipment!” and “Here are some wipes for your hands!”

I don’t know what those particular kids are allowed to do, but I sure got an earful of what they aren’t allowed to do. Yes, parents should set limits for their children and they should be the ones to decide what their kids should eat, etc. But de-priving your children of every possible thing, including the

chance to figure out some things for themselves is just asking for trouble. And in the rush to keep them healthy, some parents might actually be on the road to ensuring that their kids end up being sick all the time, because they haven’t had a chance to beef up their immune systems by be-ing exposed to everyday things.

My daughter is nearly six, and except for an occasional snif-fle, hasn’t been sick since she was a baby. If I ever get sick, it’s just a brief sinus flare-up and never slows me down. The last time that my son really got sick was when he was three and that was six years ago. He had a little virus and we both got it. It was before my daughter had come along so it was just the two of us and we ended up staying home for two days. We napped in my bed for the better part of those two days and when we felt well enough, we would sip on Sprite and nibble on saltine crackers. Then I would check his head for fever before my sweet boy would touch my forehead and tell me that I still had fever, too. Our sick days from nearly six years ago have become the stuff of legend in my little family. To hear my son tell it now, the two of us were sick for weeks and it was just horrible and we weren’t sure we would ever be able to get out of bed!

Yes, I do realize that by writ-ing this article, all three of us are going to come down with the flu. It’s all right. I think I’m ready for a break. We’ll stay home for a couple of days, take to our beds, drink Sprite, nibble on saltine crackers, check one another often for fever, and have

another great story to tell for years and years to come.

Lisa Addison writes for local, regional and national publica-tions. She has two school-aged children, never gets enough sleep, enjoys trying new recipes, is an avid reader, and loves going on adventures with her kids.

My Healthy Family

June 5, 201414 Vol. 6 • No. 5

There’s nothing like a home on the beach. But when the beach is on the Gulf Coast, it can spell disaster. You might as well say that you are look-ing for trouble.

We bought a home on Dau-phin Island, Alabama, as an investment property shortly after we moved to Louisiana. We were new to the South in general and the natural phenomenon of hurricanes in particular.

We were very concerned about owning property on this little barrier island in

Mobile Bay. But our Realtor assured us that there hadn’t been any hurricanes in a very long time; that the worst one had been Hurricane Frederic, and that was back in 1979. “And it’s not like a tornado,” he went on. “You get a three-day warning, at least. That’s plenty of time to secure the house. And your management company will do that for you.”

The house, named Fish Bowl, was a rambling five-bedroom that stood six feet off the ground. It was fairly old; a newer addition had

been added some years after it was built. We got it at a great price, a really great price. We later found out why: the owner had been arrested for murder and his wife was sell-ing off their assets to pay for his lawyers. We heard a lot of stories about this guy from people on the island once we bought it; luckily none of his “friends” (or worse, enemies) came by looking for him, at least while we were there.

Fish Bowl got its name from the three walls of win-dows in the huge living room overlooking the beach

that was filled with colorful couches and chairs uphol-stered in custom-made fish patterns. The room smelled of suntan lotion and summer. All you could see were sky and beach and sand. Sea grass swaying in the breezes. Crabs scuttling, waves breaking, sandpipers running on the shoreline. Paradise. I was very ill with fibromyalgia at this time, and the terrible pain would come and go. I remem-ber thinking, “This is a really nice place to die.” Only eight miles long, with one stoplight and private beaches, it was a place of serenity and content-ment, a place to contemplate

June 5, 2014 15Vol. 6 • No. 5

Hurricane season began on June 1, and with the storm activity that has impacted Southwest Louisiana over the past several years, residents are encouraged to get pre-pared.

The CalcaShout Emergency Alert System is a free service of the Police Jury that puts the latest emergency informa-tion in the palm of subscrib-ers hands wherever they may be. CalcaShout is a “reverse 911” system, which utilizes existing emergency commu-nication resources such as email, web, and phone-based alerts. The system will only be activated in an emergency situation when there is a serious risk of harm or threat

to life. When such a threat occurs, a very brief pre-re-corded message will be sent to those who subscribe to the system, instructing them to seek information and updates from

other existing university in-formation sources.

The CalcaShout Emergency Alert System is voluntary and

is a free service. The system is powered by FirstCall sys-tems. It allows residents in Calcasieu Parish to designate an alternate email address or telephone number where an email, voice or text mes-sage can be quickly sent in an emergency. The emergency contact information stored in the system is not displayed in a public directory, or used for any other purposes.

Residents may sign-up their contact information at: www.calcashout.com. If a resident cannot access the internet, or has trouble enter-ing their information, they may call the Office of Emer-gency Preparedness at (337) 721-3800.

CalcaShout Emergency Alert System

and just be.We went there a lot, that

first summer of 2004. Our Scottie dog Rhiannon loved to run on the beach and chase the crabs and bring enormous quantities of sand into the house. We would get up early in the morning, looking for shells. Once, I found a perfect sand dollar. I brought it back home and showed it to one of our bed and breakfast guests one morning and acciden-tally put a plate on top of it. I never found another whole one—just bits and pieces of many.

In early September, my cousins from Arizona came to visit and fell in love with the island and with Fish Bowl. As we walked along the beach, we notice an abundance of blue crabs in the water, very close to the shoreline. “I’ve lived here seven years and I’ve never seen them this close,” a neighbor observed. You could actually just walk into the wa-ter and scoop them up with a net. The people renting the house next to ours caught 120

in one day and invited us over for a crab boil that evening. They were absolutely deli-cious. All part of the Dauphin Island experience that we had come to love. What we didn’t know at the time was that the crabs heading for the shore was a sign that something was wrong with Mother Nature.

Less than two weeks after we returned home, a hur-ricane started rumbling and ended up heading for the Gulf. Two days before it actu-ally hit, the target appeared to be New Orleans. Our bed and breakfast was full, and we must have received 100 calls that day from people trying to leave the Crescent City, look-ing for a place to stay. But on the eve of the storm, it veered east, and instead, Hurricane Ivan came down on Gulf Shores, Alabama, a stone’s throw from Dauphin Island. Coincidentally, it was also my birthday, September 16.

At that stage of my life I was suffering from severe in-somnia anyway, so I basically stayed up all night watching

the Weather Channel and Jim Cantore, in his prime, almost getting blown to pieces. Phil slept through it all. I remem-ber waking him up and asking him what it means when you lose a house on your birthday. “You get a new house,” he mumbled groggily, visions of insurance claims dancing in his head.

He was right. We did get a new house—built up to code this time. But it can never

compare to Fish Bowl. We miss every wobbly, eccentric corner of it and every piece of mismatched furniture and plates. And our first visit after the hurricane was heartbreak-ing, as these photos indicate. The island was practically destroyed. We had never experienced anything like this before. Little did we know that it was only the begin-ning, and that Katrina and Rita were yet to come.

June 5, 201416 Vol. 6 • No. 5

In preparation for the upcoming hurricane season, hundreds of Entergy employees across the company’s utility service territory recently engaged in an intensive storm drill, which tracked a fi ctional hurricane and its potential impact on the Entergy service territory.

Following Hurricane Katrina, Entergy adopted the federal and state Incident Command Structure for disasters that clearly defi nes the roles and responsibili-ties of the entire storm team. Th e drill began with a message announcing that a Category 3 hurricane was expected to make landfall that week potentially im-pacting Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Participants immediately began responding to the message as if it were a real weather threat.

“We approach every drill as a real event,” said Greg Grillo, Entergy’s system storm incident commander. “We gather people at all command centers to practice our response to a hurricane even in those areas not in the storm’s path as they may serve as critical support to the event. We use this as an opportunity to strengthen restoration protocols and to improve communications with our customers. As always, even in a drill, safety is our top priority.”

Over the last few years, Entergy has been refi ning and testing new communication processes, particularly those designed to address demands of real-time digital and social media. Customer service teams work with fi eld crews and communications staff to get restoration information from the fi eld into the customer’s hands as quickly as possible.

Th e storm path outlined in the scenario also re-quired Entergy’s nuclear plants in Louisiana and Mis-sissippi to implement severe weather procedures that involve securing the site and making arrangements for staffi ng at the plant during and aft er the storm.

“Continually testing our emergency response and communication plans is a key component to our ‘pre-pare for the worst and hope for the best’ approach to storm restoration,” Grillo said. “Our customers can be assured we will be doing everything we can to restore their power as safely and quickly as possible. Entergy is recognized in the industry as having one of the best storm restoration teams in the country.”

Even with the swift est response, a major storm can cripple a community’s infrastructure, delaying ac-cess to basic needs such as food, water and electricity. Entergy strongly encourages customers to make their own plans.

Th ere are several things everyone can do to be storm ready:• Download the free Entergy app for your Smartphone at entergy.com/app.• Sign up for text alerts. Text R-E-G to 368374.• Visit the Entergy Storm Center website www.storm-center.entergy.com and view “Outages” page for the latest information.• Go to Twitter.com/Entergy or facebook.com/entergy.

Entergy Puts Response and Communication

to the Test with Hurricane Scenario

June 5, 2014 17Vol. 6 • No. 5

June 5, 201418 Vol. 6 • No. 5

The American dream is usually associated with stand-ing on your own two feet, working hard, and obtaining the kind of life you know you deserve. Some would say this is considered a dream because it’s just impossible; that these opportunities vanished along with black and white televi-sions and being able to work a job all summer to buy a car. But looking back on the fortu-nate lives of people who were born in an era where they could pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become the men they sought out to be, is quite fascinating.

Gender is relevant when talking about this time in history, as women generally weren’t allowed to start busi-nesses or become CEOs. One man’s story, in particular, strikes me as relevant because it’s one of glory and tragedy. His name was Gary Tyler. He was KPLC’s lead television

anchor, who, during the 1950s was considered by many to be responsible for the loss of life in Cameron during Hurricane Audrey.

Tyler was born in Selma, Louisiana, a town that no longer exists due to highway and interstate development. His family moved to Oakdale and it was there that he went to school and later joined the United States Navy. During his time with the Navy, Tyler found his passion for pub-lic performing. He was the drummer for a very popular band in the officer’s club, and would perform as a standup comedian during musical intermissions.

From what I’ve been able to gather on the man, not having ever known him personally, he was extremely charismatic. People were drawn in by the voice, the smile, and the warmth of his presence. But, whereas most people who

posses these same attributes usually stick to the life of a salesman, the one aspect of Tyler’s personality that would lead him to his destiny as a television personality was that he actually craved the atten-tion the same way a junkie craves a fix.

Leaving the Navy as a heli-copter mechanic, Tyler found employment with a local heli-copter company dealing in the private sector. A funny fact I

discovered was the main difference between the

helicopter operations of the military sector and private sector (during this time in history, anyway):

When aircraft had suffered even minor

structural damage, it was military protocol to avoid

risk by just dumping them into the ocean. The private sector would repair them to the best of their abilities, or

cannibalize them for parts because it was too expensive to simply replace them.

These were standard prac-tices at the time, and after Tyler was asked to make repairs to an aircraft he felt belonged at the bottom of sea collecting barnacles, he de-cided to leave the security of this well-paying, lifelong job--to the dismay of his young, pregnant wife--to pursue a career where he could use his natural talents.

Landing a job on radio as a disc jockey before being ap-proached by KPLC News Ra-dio was the stepping stone to his career in television. When KPLC News launched their television broadcast division, the powers-that-be hired Tyler as their lead anchor. Shortly after the first airing, it was obvious Tyler had the charisma to carry the new show into success. He was instantly famous and beloved by his community.

He was also a deeply trou-bled man. The scars from an abusive childhood hid deep wounds that never healed. He was unfaithful to his wife and drank to excess, but his charm

June 5, 2014 19Vol. 6 • No. 5

always got him out of tight spots. It was Tyler’s World.

During his early years as a television personality, Tyler would supplement his income--which was not very high, even by today’s stand-ards--by trading his image for goods. He found that his celebrity could afford him the finer things in life so, as the story goes, he began selling himself. Eight commercials with Tyler telling the city of Lake Charles how honest and professional a local car dealer was got him a free car. Five commercials for a furniture store that sold “top brands” in the area equaled Tyler’s entire house being furnished. A small caption at the end of every broadcast that read “Gary Tyler’s wardrobe pro-vided by *insert store name here*” resulted in never having to pay for the finest clothes in town. While this is frowned upon in today’s broadcast field, back when televisions were a new com-modity, this was standard practice.

These were also the years when what a man said on tel-evision was the unquestioned truth. Keep in mind that not long before this, Orson Welles read The War of the Worlds over the radio (1938) and some listeners actually at-tempted suicide because of it. Tyler now had this prestigious power tightly in his hands, and this new broadcast for-mat was fresh from the mint for the growing city of Lake Charles.

In late June of 1957, a hurricane developed so quickly from a tropical wave that moved into the Bay of Campeche that it was never recorded at tropical depres-sion status. Situated within favorable conditions, Audrey became a hurricane just a few hours after being classified as a tropical cyclone. On June 27, it reached peak sustained winds of 145 mph, making

it a major hurricane. And it was heading for Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes. Given the task of informing the residents, Tyler received the storm’s trajectory and report-ed its progression as it drew nearer to making landfall.

The day before Audrey hit, the National Weather Bu-reau predicted that the storm wouldn’t reach land until later in the afternoon on June 27, which Tyler dutifully reported to his viewing audience. Based on this information, the residents of Cameron went to bed believing there was plenty of time for a good night’s rest and an early breakfast before evacuating.

But tragedy struck over-night. Audrey intensified rap-idly and more than doubled forward in speed. When the people of Cameron awoke on the morning of June 27, their escape routes were already flooded by the storm surge, and their small town was min-utes away from being face-to-face with a hurricane now packing winds of up to 150 miles per hour. The residents of Cameron who didn’t leave the day before were trapped, fighting for their lives as their small coastal town was de-stroyed.

After Audrey passed, the smell of death clogged the area. Bodies initially were left were they were found to insure that assistance could reach the living. The final death toll of Hurricane Audrey will never be known, but it is thought that nearly 550 people, including more than 100 children, perished.

Being the trusted man on the screen, Tyler received a lot of heat for what was considered “faulty” reporting. Many believed that he wasn’t just a voice for the National Weather Bureau, but that he was actually all-knowing—

which could not have been further from the truth. Tyler, a fundamental people-pleaser, was devastated by the accusa-tions. Over 100 families filed lawsuits against the Weather Bu-reau. The fun-damental ques-tion at issue was simple: Did the Weather Bureau use reasonable care in evaluat-ing the evidence upon which its forecasts were based?

The case of Whitney Bartie v. United States of America was filed in 1964, and was the first of its kind in the history of the United States Federal Court. The judge ruled in favor of the Weather Bureau, citing the weather expert’s testimony that the warnings issued were as accurate as could be expected at the time. He based his decision on the very specific, required duties of the Weather Bureau at that time. The appeal was lost as well, and as a result, all of the other suits were with-drawn.

Time went by, and wounds eventually healed. Tyler remained at the station until 1972. He later went into politics and on to run for State Senate, losing by only a few votes to Edwin Ed-wards. But

his career was suddenly halted when he suffered a debilitat-ing stroke, disabling him per-manently. He died at the age of 72, mostly separated from reality and living with his ex-wife who had divorced him after the stroke but continued caring for him—in spite of all that he had put her through.

The personal stories I’ve heard from his sons indicate that Tyler, in his prime, lived two lives. The life many would like to remember is the im-age he portrayed while on screen. His personal life was riddled with temptation and debauchery. But, as for the purposes of this article, I will keep it clean and neat. After all…he was my grandfather.

June 5, 201420 Vol. 6 • No. 5

As hurricane season begins, JD Bank Insurance recom-mends taking the following steps to ensure storm prepar-edness and ease of recovery:

• Secure property insur-ance coverage. Insurance providers cannot legally offer insurance coverage when an active storm has been report-ed. In addition, many policies require a waiting period be-fore accepting damage claims.

• Conduct a home inven-tory. Should you incur any storm damage, a written and photographic record of your valuables will assist your in-surance adjuster with process-ing your claims quickly and correctly. Include details such as model numbers and pur-chase price.

• Set up online banking and bill pay. Establish on-line banking accounts, direct deposit and online bill pay to receive remote access to funds and automate payments. Do-ing so in advance of a storm will reduce the risk of addi-tional fees caused by disrup-tions in paying bills or emer-gency purchases. All financial information and personal identification should be com-piled in a safe place.

• Prepare your property. Purchase materials to protect your home well in advance of a storm warning and tie down any outdoor items not secured to the ground before evacuat-ing to prevent liability of dam-age to a neighbor’s property.

• Review your current flood and hazard insurance policies. Contact your insur-ance provider to familiarize yourself with all aspects of your insurance policies to understand exactly what types of damages are covered and to avoid unexpected fees follow-ing home damage.

“The most important thing area residents can do right

now is verify the deductibles on their current policies,” JD Bank Insurance Provider Mur-ray Reed said. “One challenge we faced during Hurricanes Rita and Katrina was that a lot of people weren’t aware of the deductibles in their policies. Few companies today require a standard deductible, but rather 2 to 5 percent of the

covered value of the home which can be up to $15,000.”

In addition to financial preparation, families should take additional steps to pre-pare for a hurricane, including developing an evacuation plan and securing necessities in the event of a power outage. For more information, visit the Governor’s Office of Home-

land Security and Emergency Preparedness online.

JD Bank Insurance provid-ers have more than 100 years combined experience offering home, auto, life, health and commercial insurance. For more information, visit www.jdbank.com/jd-bank-insur-ance.html or call (337) 474-0720. Member FDIC.

JD Bank Insurance Off ers Financial Preparedness Tips for Hurricane Season

June 5, 2014 21Vol. 6 • No. 5

The Community Founda-tion of Southwest Louisiana announced a $75,000 dona-tion to the National Hurricane Museum & Science Center (NHMSC), dedicated to de-veloping a first-of-its-kind national education initiative focusing on weather, water, and wetlands. This educational initiative will fully utilize new learning and communication technologies to reach learners across the country.

The NHMSC is dedicated to understanding hurricanes, in-vestigating their scientific char-acter, and demonstrating their impact on the lives and living systems and coastal resources at risk in their path. In addition to being a world-class educa-tional facility located in Lake Charles, the NHMSC aspires to be a national educational force using severe weather and coastal restoration and protec-tion as powerful motivational themes to teach math and sci-ence. The relevance and func-tional, real-world applications of this science and education content will motivate students to want to learn.

Weather, water and wetlands are subjects that will dominate national headlines and impact every Gulf and East coast com-munity for decades to come. The themes of weather, water and wetlands have far-reaching relevance to scientific disci-plines ranging from biology, meteorology, engineering, physics, and geography to medicine and sociology, and therefore can provide wide-ranging content and learning experiences.

“The Board of the communi-ty Foundation is pleased to pro-vide this grant from the Fund for the Future of the Gulf,” said Sara Judson, President/CEO of the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana. “Hur-ricane education enables adults and children to make informed decisions about critical social, scientific, and economic issues

and set the groundwork for permanent, positive change,” she continued. “This certainly supports our mission of con-necting human and financial resources to effect permanent, positive culture change,” she added.

The NHMSC will be a hub in a national digital learning network, informing the public about the weather, water and wetlands issues that impact their lives every day. Through exhibitions, programs, sympo-sia, webinars, mobile device ap-plications, web sites, and social media, the NHMSC will be a forum bringing together scien-tists, technologists, and engi-neers with the public, creating a scientifically literate, engaged and activated citizenry.

“This gift from the Commu-nity Foundation of Southwest Louisiana is really an invest-ment in a new way of digital learning, and will enable the NHMSC to reach millions of students all across the nation even before the physical doors open to the center,” said Gray Stream, NHMSC Board Chair-man. “In addition, having the support of our local community foundation and their parent organization, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, underscores the value of the NHMSC to this region and the nation.”

The gift from the Communi-ty Foundation matches $75,000 awarded by the Pinnacle Enter-tainment Foundation in 2012, also earmarked for the national educational initiative.

The NHMSC is expected to attract 220,000 visitors to Southwest Louisiana each year and have a $63-million total annual economic impact. Visi-tors to www.nhmsc.com can learn more about the $68-mil-lion facility and preview exhib-its planned for the museum and science center. The website also features information on the origins and background of the project and videos of the iconic building design.

Community Foundation Donates to Hurricane Museum

June 5, 201422 Vol. 6 • No. 5

“The hurricane season begins June 1 and we en-courage everyone to begin their plans now regarding what they would do in the event of a tropical storm or hurricane. Planning should include stocking your home with non-perishable food, water and emergency sup-plies; a plan for evacuation (including pets) if called upon to evacuate by of-ficials; and an action plan for those individuals with special needs.

“In the event of a tropical storm or hurricane threat, the public should listen to local emergency officials and following their instruc-tions and listen to local media. They can visit the City of Lake Charles web-site www.cityoflakecharles.com and click the Emer-

gency Preparedness icon for links to related information, including the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Home-land Security and Emer-gency Preparedness and the National Weather Service Forecast Office (NOAA).

“The main message is be prepared!”

An Important Message From Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach

It’s that time of the year when we start realizing that spring is over and hot weather is around the corner and here to stay for the next four or five months. By the time the first heat wave hits, we start to remember last summer when it was hot outside and not so comfortable inside. And, you knew that sometime soon, the bill from the utility company would arrive and drain our banking account of money we would rather use for some-thing else.

Therefore, maintaining your air conditioning system is very important, says Randy Trouth of Trouth Air Conditioning in Sulphur. “The first and easi-est thing to do is replace the air filter regularly. The filter is your first line of defense when

trying to operate the system at its highest efficiency. Some filters say you can go longer than monthly, but remember that when it’s hot, your system is getting a lot of run time and you may want to accelerate your filter changing schedule to more than just monthly.”

In addition to replacing or cleaning the filter, you should get regular preventive mainte-nance by cleaning the outdoor coil, indoor coil and blower, as these are the parts that collect dust the fastest. “Make sure it’s a cleaning and not just an inspection,” he advises. “You want to do more than just kick the tires on the system. All of the air conditioning manufac-turers recommend preventive maintenance to make sure the warranty is intact.”

Trouth says this will help keep our homes more com-fortable, keep our utility bill as low as possible and can also help to avoid an unexpected and costly air conditioning system repairs.

With hurricane season com-ing up, you may have to evac-uate. If so, it is best to turn the system off. Fluctuations of the electrical service, spikes and low current can burn up electrical components in the system. “If your outdoor unit is flooded with fresh water, it can be allowed to dry out and still run for a long time depending on which compo-nents were wet and how long,” Trouth says. “If the outdoor condenser is subjected to salt or brackish water, that part of the system will have to be replaced. The air conditioning manufacturers will back that up when dealing with insur-ance adjusters.”

Trouth Air Conditioning & Sheet Metal Inc.,1212 Whitak-er Street, Sulphur. Office 527-8683, Cell 884-7810

Maintain YourA/C System!

June 5, 2014 23Vol. 6 • No. 5

Hurricane names are se-lected by the World Meteoro-logical Organization. Every six years, the list of names begins again. The names of especially destructive hur-ricanes are usually retired. Katrina, Rita and Ike are just three of the recently retired names.

ArthurBertha

CristobalDolly

EdouardFay

GonzaloHannaIsaias

JosephineKyle

LauraMarcoNanaOmar

PauletteReneSally

TeddyVicky

Wilfred

Hurricane Names for 2014

June 5, 201424 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Now that we have moved into hurricane season, it’s a good idea to have a basic emergency supply kit ready. Most of us here went through Rita, and we can still remember all the things we should and should not have done. Having an evacuation plan in place, and a basic emergency kit ready will ease your mind.

Your disaster kit could include the following items:• One gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation• At least a three-day supply of non-perishable food• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both• Flashlight and extra batteries• First aid kit• Whistle to signal for help• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities• Manual can opener for food• Local maps• Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger• Prescription medications and glasses• Infant formula and diapers• Pet food and extra water and anything else necessary for your pet (s). • Cash or traveler’s checks and change• Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container.• Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. • Complete change of clothing for each person. • Fire extinguisher• Matches in a waterproof container• Personal hygiene items• Mess kits, paper cups, plates, paper towels and plastic utensils• Paper and pencil• Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children

Basic Disaster Supplies Kit—Have It Ready! Road trip or hurricane evacu-

ation...in either event, vehicle preparation is virtually the same, says Ron Fogal of Pumpelly Tires in Lake Charles.

“If your auto needs major repairs, get them done a month ahead of time,” he advises. “Today’s autos are very complex machines and you want to give yourself time to remedy any problems that may arise.”

Check your oil change service sticker and if you are anywhere near the recommended interval, get it done at least week ahead of departure time so you can react to anything you discover in the process. “While performing an engine oil and fi lter change, most service facilities will check the important elements of your vehi-cle,” he says. “However, I would make my own checklist and get clear, written answers as to the conditions found.”

In addition to changing the oil, fi lter and lubricating applicable chassis parts, make sure you do the following:

• Check and fill all fluids• Check condition of belts and hoses• Load test battery• Check and replace (as need-ed), the engine air filter and cabin air filter.• Check tire condition and adjust air pressure to factory recommended specifications (usually found on placard in driver’s door jamb). Do not forget the spare tire in this process.• Check windshield wipers, and all lights, including the often-overlooked license plate light.• Inspect shocks, struts, steer-ing and chassis parts.• Inspect brake pad/shoe mate-rial for adequate thickness and the entire hydraulic brake system.

Keep in mind, anything you can do on your home turf and on your timeline is to your ad-vantage, and is a lot better than trying to get things done on the road and during vacation or hurricane evacuation.

Prepping Your Vehicle for Hurricane Evacuation

June 5, 2014 25Vol. 6 • No. 5

Th e 2014 hurricane season begins June 1 and continues through November 30. Un-fortunately, many of us don’t begin preparing for a hurri-cane until we know a storm is brewing, but now is the time to prepare yourself, your family and your community.

Take action today. Ask yourself the following questions:• Do you have a plan in place to survive a disaster?• Do you have an emergency supply kit for your home and car?• Are your homeowner’s & fl ood insurance policies in order?• Have you planned your evacuation?• Do you have a plan for turn-ing off your utilities?• Do you have a plan to secure the house/outdoor items/boat?• Do you have copies of your insurance policies, important documents and other valuables in a safe place?• Do you have an inventory

and detailed description of your property?• Has your roof been inspected within the last six months?• Have you had routine main-tenance on your trees and shrubs around the house?• Have you had routine main-tenance on your car and are the tires, including the spare, in good condition?• Is your emergency phone list up-to-date?• Have you made arrange-ments for your out-of-state communication contact?• Do you have a plan to ad-dress the “special needs” fam-ily members?• Have you decided what you will do with your animals?• Do you have a recovery plan?• Are you involved with com-munity preparedness planning and education?• Have you budgeted for the additional expenses to prepare your home, buy supplies, and evacuate?

Be prepared for the 2013 hurricane season!

HURRICANE SEASON 2014

Take Action

Federal forecasters are expecting a slower-than-usual Atlantic hurricane season, with eight to 13 tropical storms and three to six hurricanes predicted. Of course, there’s no way to tell whether any of these potential storms will strike the U.S. coastline during

the six-month season. Scientists believe that

the weather phenomenon known as El Nino, which warms part of the Pa-cific every few years and changes rain and tempera-ture patterns around the world, is on its way. If so, it is expected to suppress

the number and intensity of tropical storms and hur-ricanes this year. Cooler temperatures on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean com-pared with recent years will also lower the probability of hurricane formation, which is great news for all of us.

If a storm does hit, me-teorologists warn that the strongest storms typically occur during the months of August, September and Oc-tober. That’s because condi-tions are ripe for budding storms forming offshore of Africa, near the Cape Verde Islands.

Slow Hurricane Season Expected for 2014

June 5, 201426 Vol. 6 • No. 5

We never realize how important the things we take for granted are. Think what would happen if we were without water for an extended period of time. That’s why we need to make sure that we have plenty in caste of an emergency. The following information will help:

Allow people to drink ac-cording to their needs. Many people need even more than the average of one gallon per day. The individual amount needed depends on age, physi-cal activity, physical condition and time of year.

Never ration drinking water unless ordered to do so by authorities. Drink the amount you need today and try to find more for tomorrow. Under no circumstances should a per-son drink less than one quart

(four cups) of water each day. You can minimize the amount of water your body needs by reducing activity and staying cool.

Drink water that you know is not contaminated first.

If necessary, suspicious wa-ter, such as cloudy water from regular faucets or water from streams or ponds, can be used after it has been treated. If wa-ter treatment is not possible, put off drinking suspicious water as long as possible, but do not become dehydrated.

Do not drink carbonated beverages instead of drinking water.

Carbonated beverages do not meet drinking-water requirements. Caffeinated drinks and alcohol dehydrate the body, which increases the need for drinking water.

You will need to protect the water sources already in your home from contamination if you hear reports of broken water or sewage lines or if local officials advise you of a problem. To close the incom-ing water source, locate the incoming valve and turn it to the closed position. Be sure you and your family members know how to perform this important procedure.

Safe Sources of Drinking Water• Melted ice cubes.• Liquids from canned goods such as fruit or vegetables.• Water drained from pipes. To use the water in your pipes, let air into the plumbing by turning on the faucet in your home at the highest level. A small amount of water will trickle out. Then obtain water from the lowest faucet in the home.• Water drained from the water heater. To use water in your hot-water tank, be sure the electricity or gas is off and open the drain at the bottom of the tank. Start the water flowing by turning off the water intake valve at the tank and turning on the hot-water faucet. After you are notified that clean water has been re-stored, you will need to refill the tank before turning the gas or electricity back on. If the gas is turned off, a profes-sional will be needed to turn it back on.

Unsafe Sources• Radiators or Hot water boil-ers (home heating systems).• Water from the toilet bowl or flush tank.• Water beds. Fungicides added to the water or chemi-cals in the vinyl may make

water unsafe to use.• Swimming pools and spas. Chemicals used to kill germs are too concentrated for safe drinking but can be used for personal hygiene, cleaning and related uses.

Water TreatmentIf you have used all of your

stored water and there are no other reliable clean water sources, it may become neces-sary in an emergency situation to treat suspicious water. Treat all water of uncertain quality before using it for drinking, food washing or preparation, washing dishes, brushing teeth or making ice. In ad-dition to having a bad odor and taste, contaminated water can contain microorganisms (germs) that cause diseases such as dysentery, cholera, typhoid and hepatitis.

There are many ways to treat water. None is perfect. Often the best solution is a combination of methods. Before treating, let any sus-pended particles settle to the bottom or strain them through coffee filters or layers of clean cloth. Make sure you have the necessary materials in your disaster supplies kit for the chosen water treat-ment method.

BoilingBoiling is the safest method

of treating water. In a large pot or kettle, bring water to a rolling boil for one full minute, keeping in mind that some water will evaporate. Let the water cool before drink-ing. Boiled water will taste better if you put oxygen back into it by pouring the wa-ter back and forth between two clean containers. This also will improve the taste of stored water.

Essentials of Managing Water in an Emergency

June 5, 2014 27Vol. 6 • No. 5

ChlorinationYou can use household liquid

bleach to kill microorganisms. Use only regular household liquid bleach that contains 5.25 to 6.0 percent sodium hy-pochlorite. Do not use scented bleaches, color safe bleaches or bleaches with added cleaners. Because the potency of bleach diminishes with time, use bleach from a newly opened or unopened bottle.

Add 16 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of bleach per gallon of water, stir and let stand for 30 min-utes. Th e water should have a slight bleach odor. If it doesn’t, then repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes. If it still does not smell of chlorine, discard it and fi nd another source of water.

Other chemicals, such as iodine or water treatment products sold in camping or surplus stores that do not contain 5.25 or 6.0 percent sodium hypochlorite as the only active ingredient, are not recommended and should not be used.

DistillationWhile boiling and chlorina-

tion will kill most microbes in water, distillation will remove microbes (germs) that resist these methods, as well as heavy metals, salts and most other chemicals. Distillation involves boiling water and then col-lection of only the vapor that condenses. Th e condensed vapor will not include salt or most other impurities.

To distill, fi ll a pot halfway with water. Tie a cup to the handle on the pot’s lid so that the cup will hang right side up when the lid is upside-down (make sure the cup is not dan-gling into the water) and boil the water for 20 minutes. Th e water that drips from the lid into the cup is distilled.

If you are like millions of animal owners nationwide, your pet is an important member of your household. Unfortunately, animals are also affected by disaster.

The likelihood that you and your animals will survive an emergency such as a hurricane depends largely on emergency planning done today. Some of the things you can do to prepare for the unexpected, such as as-sembling an animal emergency supply kit and developing a pet care buddy system, are the same for any emergency. Whether you decide to stay put in an emergency or evacuate to a safer location, you will need to make plans in advance for your pets. Keep in mind that what’s best for you is typically what’s best for your animals.

If you evacuate your home,

DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PETS BEHIND! Pets most likely can-not survive on their own and if by some remote chance they do, you may not be able to find them when you return.

If you are going to a public shelter, it is important to under-stand that animals may not be allowed inside. Plan in advance for shelter alternatives that will work for both you and your pets; consider loved ones or friends outside of your immediate area who would be willing to host you and your pets in an emergency.

Make a back-up emergency

plan in case you can’t care for your animals yourself. Develop a buddy system with neighbors, friends and relatives to make sure that someone is available to care for or evacuate your pets if you are unable to do so. Be pre-pared to improvise and use what you have on hand to make it on your own for at least three days, maybe longer.

Make sure you have enough food for your pets, along with bedding, leashes, toys, litter and litter boxes, necessary medicine, etc. Rabies tags and immuniza-tion history are also important.

Preparing Makes Sense

for Pet Owners

June 5, 201428 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Standard homeowners insurance doesn’t cover flooding. It’s impor-tant to have protection from the floods associated with hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rains and other conditions that can impact us.

The Homeowner Flood Insur-ance Affordability Act was signed into law by the President March 21. It amends some provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance

Reform Act of 2012.Typically, there’s a 30-day waiting

period from the date of purchase before your policy goes into ef-fect. So, you’d better look into this quickly if you feel you may need it and you haven’t already.

For more information on flood insurance, please visit the National Flood Insurance Program Web site at www.FloodSmart.gov.

Do You Need Flood Insurance?

June 5, 2014 29Vol. 6 • No. 5

CenterPoint Energy strong-ly advises customers not to turn off their gas at the meter before a storm. The gas meter should be left on to maintain proper pressure in the gas piping within the house and to prevent water from enter-ing the lines should flooding occur.

If a customer wishes to discontinue gas service, the gas can be turned off at each appliance. Later, to restore gas service to an appliance, it is only necessary to fol-low the written instructions located on the appliance for re-lighting. If unable to locate instructions, call a qualified plumber.

After the StormAs you return to your

home or business, be alert for leaking gas. If you smell gas, leave the area immedi-ately, and tell others to leave. Do not turn the lights on or off, smoke, strike a match, use a cell phone or operate anything that might cause a spark, including a flash-light or a generator. Also, do not attempt to turn natural gas valves on or off. Once safely away from the area, call CenterPoint Energy, who will send a trained service techni-cian immediately.

Know where their natural gas meter is located. As you are putting out debris for heavy trash pick-up, make sure it is placed away from the meter. In some areas, the meter may be located near the curb. Trash collectors are using mechanized equipment to pick up heavy debris, and if the debris is near a gas meter, the equipment could pull up the meter, damaging it and causing a potentially hazard-ous situation. If this does

happen, leave the area imme-diately and call CenterPoint Energy.

If your home was flooded, call a licensed plumber or a gas appliance technician to inspect your appliances prior to requesting a service recon-nection. Don’t forget to check outdoor appliances, such as pool heaters and gas grills. And while conducting clean-up, call 811 to locate utility lines prior to digging on your property.

Emergency NumbersCenterPoint Energy Customer ServiceELECTRIC (800) 332-7143NATURAL GAS (800) 752-8036

For more information, visit www.centerpointenergy.com/stormcenter

Pre- and Post-storm Tips from CenterPoint Energy

June 5, 201430 Vol. 6 • No. 5

We often see our fictional heroes depicted as men who are prone to destructive be-havior, rebel against author-ity, and drive fast, cool cars. There has to be something to this archetype that drives the mass public to care for such a character when, in real life, somebody with these ten-dencies is often avoided and considered a troublemaker. But, life is boring enough living and playing it safe all of the time, and it’s a breath of fresh air to find someone who, without even know-ing it, lived the kind of life that lends itself to cinematic qualities. The man I met last week has lived his life in the fast lane, openly claiming to have won his wife in a card game (it’s actually a very romantic story), and never letting his passion for thrill-seeking ever die. His name is Van Rembert. He is 70 years old. He was a street racer during the times of greasers and pre-muscle cars.

It was a weird week for me. I originally set off to write a piece on antique automobiles for this is-sue. I was raised by a single mother who had absolutely no interest in being an auto mechanic, so I grew up with

very little exposure to the manly arts of geardom. But, as my week on, I felt that fathers out there might want something cooler. Consider-ing that most dads, myself included, currently drive mpg-efficient emascula-tion mobiles, why not slam this issue into the 6th gear that our cars don’t have, and launch into the quarter mile with a little gusto!

After making what felt like a hundred phone calls (really just three), I finally stumbled across a fellow who hap-pened to have a bit of history with a car that is almost as American as the American flag itself: the classic Chev-rolet Corvette. Just thinking about that car makes me also think about the Bon-neville Salt Flats. Keying the ignition, revving the engine twice, and staring down a barren stretch of land made perfect by the gods for test-ing this almighty steel roar-ing confidently beneath my feet. Not many things can drive an adult male to the intense exhilaration of child-hood excitement like the sound and feel of a classic hot rod.

Rembert was a young man with a car during the ‘50s.

By young, I mean 5th grade, which is approximately 10-11 years old. By this age Rembert already owned his first car, a King Midget. This form of transportation was considered a microcar, but with a powerful rear motor, this little car was impressive. Rembert recalls fondly driv-ing around town, picking up his friends, and cruising the streets. After asking how the police felt about him do-ing this, he said, “It wasn’t a problem. Times were dif-ferent back then. It wasn’t until the next year, when me and all my friends picked up motorscooters that the cops started having a problem.” He laughs. “We were playing tag on our scooters at night. I guess they thought that was a bit too dangerous.”

By his senior year in high school, Rembert had no money and no tools. But he discovered that he could attend high school the first half of the day, and continue the rest of the day at SOW-ELA Tech. By doing this, he had SOWELA’s machine shop at his disposal, giving him access to all the tools needed to begin his dream of building the fastest car in town and cementing his legacy as a street racer. “It was a dangerous life, and I’ve seen friends die doing it, but street-racing was the most excitement a thrill-seeker like myself could find,” he remembers.

Rembert proudly walks me through his workshop filled with a lifetime of projects and memories.

June 5, 2014 31Vol. 6 • No. 5

Model airplanes he flew as a small child drape the walls, recalling a time in his adoles-cence before cars. A contrap-tion he built for the purpose of mounting a “shaker” (a can of spray paint) to a recipro-cating saw sits atop his work-bench. “I got tired of shakin’ ‘em by hand,” Rembert says.

If all of this wasn’t proof to me that this is a man of pas-sion, he walks me over to his second workspace. “My back got bad on me and I couldn’t climb under my cars anymore, so I built this area and in-stalled a professional lift bay,” he says. Here resides a yellow 1972 Chevrolet Corvette--the last of the chrome bumper models--and it is in the mid-dle of a full restoration.

I notice a covered travel trailer adjacent to this project car. “Wanna see what’s in there?” he asks. He opens the door, revealing one of the most beautiful things I have been blessed enough to see with my own two eyes. A black 1962 Corvette…in mint condition. I ask to see more of the car, as it resides in such a tight enclosure. “Go ahead,” he tells me. “Just keep your belt buckle off my car.” The red interior shines just like it did the day it rolled onto the showroom. Know-ing absolutely nothing about engines, I can neither con-firm nor deny its condition or performance. But it was so shiny!

Rembert takes me to yet another shop area on his

property dedicated to what he refers to as his toys. I get to see way more than I ever expected, included a silver 2001 Corvette he bought for his wife as an anniversary present. She laughed and told me, “For me? Sure it is.” Something draped under a cloak catches my eye. He uncovers a beast never meant to coexist alongside such cars as the Prius. I’ll go as far as to say that this road demon sits in its garage asking itself, what’s wrong with cars today? This 1934 Chevrolet is coated in a rose-colored paint and armed with a 3.8 Buick V-6. Rembert refers to her as his “cruisin’ car”.

When I interview, there is less formal questioning than you would expect. I believe in creating conversations and getting to know a per-son as a person and not as a subject. During the course of this interview, I opened up about never having worked on engines before, but how I’d love to do it with my sons someday. Rembert smiled and told me to swing by any-time, bring the kids along, and that he would show us how the master does it. Fol-lowing Rembert around his property and coveting his ‘62 Corvette made me real-ize that it wasn’t too late to work on a classic car of my own. This old man taught me, without ever saying it, that having a passion for something is as timeless as a classic car.

June 5, 201432 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Competitive camp! First class facilities! CERTI-FIED officials! Come ONE day ($160, 3 games), TWO days ($275, 5 games) or THREE days ($420, 8 games)! Fees do not in-clude housing and meals. Varsity and JV teams are separate entries. Call 475-5473 for more informa-tion.

McNeese Cowgirl Kicker Kutie Summer Dance Camp July 28-Aug.1

Registration is now underway for the McNeese Cowgirl Kicker Kutie Summer Dance Camp to be held July 28-Aug. 1 for girls in grades K-6 grade at McNeese State University. Th e dance camp will be off ered from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

in the McNeese Recreational Com-plex. Participants will learn about jazz, hip-hop and pom dance as well as instruction in tumbling, fashion and pageant mod-eling, cheerlead-ing and etiquette. Camp cost is $175.

For more information, call Paige Harkins-Caldwell, Cowgirl Kicker ad-viser, at 540-6392. To register, go online to https://campscui.active.com/orgs/CowgirlKick-ers#/selectSessions/661901.

Cowboy Camp Aug. 23-24

Incoming freshmen and trans-fer students at McNeese State University have an opportunity to receive a crash course on what it means to be a Cowboy at the seventh annual Cowboy Camp Aug. 23-24. This new two-day format will be held the weekend prior to the beginning of fall classes, with students learning all about McNeese history and Cowboy traditions before enter-ing a classroom.

“We expanded the format to include so much more,” said Kedrick Nicholas, director of Holbrook Student Union and Activities. This includes provid-ing students information about different resources available to them on campus, a pep rally in the Quad, a pop culture game show with a chance to win over $1,000 in scholarships and cash prizes, a meeting with Greek organizations and Watermania. Also, participants get to move in early to the residence halls. The cost is $40 per student, which includes the two-day Cowboy Camp experience, four meals, two T-shirts and entry into drawings for McNeese gear and scholarships.

For more information, con-tact the Student Union and Ac-tivities Office at 475-5609 or by email at studentlife@mcneese.edu.

McNeese State Cowgirls Basketball Camp June 19, 20, 21

June 5, 2014 33Vol. 6 • No. 5

At times as young parents, we may often feel that raising children can be the hardest and most thankless job on earth, but in a short time, we’ve come to realize what a huge blessing our chil-dren are and that they are truly God’s greatest gift to us.

Most people in Southwest Louisiana are familiar with the successful busi-nessman, but they may not know Mr. Billy Navarre is the proud father of six children; Ryan, 41; Jareth, 36; Barrett, 32; Grant, 24 and his 8-year-old twins Bryce and Kaitlyn. Plus, Navarre has nine amazing grandchildren with two additional grandchildren arriving within the next several months. Navarre’s five sons and four grandsons are all named after him. “I am so proud that their moms and dads wanted my grandsons to be named with my first name,” he said. “What an honor.”

Navarre said it was very difficult figuring out how to raise children. “I’m still working on it daily. Especially when I was raised by a single mom from age 5 to 12 after my father had passed, and then I had a stepfather come in who taught me a lot about work ethic and success.”

In almost 40 years in business, Navarre said he learned by

watching very suc-

cessful people. “They all have these six amazing qualities: number one, a huge faith in God; two, an outstanding work ethic; three, unwavering integrity; four, smart with self-discipline; five, total accountability; and six, they are good learners. These are the qualities and skills that I had learned from my amaz-ing mother and stepfather, and I wanted my children to have these six qualities and skills to so that they would have the best chance for success in life.

“Even though in my young years, at times, like many young parents, I was totally unconsciously incompetent and made many mistakes, I can honestly say I am very proud of how my children turned out (in spite of their dad’s short-comings and many mistakes.)”

The Six LessonsNumber 1: The Lesson of Having Faith in God

Not long ago, a friend of mine in his mid-40s shared with me that he didn’t find God till he was in his 30s, and he wanted his children to find God much sooner than he did. As he told me that, I thought how blessed I was that I had such an amazing mother that introduced me to my Lord and Savior at the age of 5.

After losing my dad, she was so scared of all the burdens laid upon her and knew the only way she could survive was

by turning to our God. By doing this, she allowed me to follow in her footsteps and have an amazing relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In my testimonial at Profit and Loss Club, or when I speak with my employees, they have no doubt in their minds that with-out God as my partner, Billy Navarre Automotive would have never survived or maybe even ever have started. I have really been blessed.

I have tried to instill this faith into my children. We never start a Little League game without prayer. Every Sunday, we give thanks and praise to our Lord, and that example has paid off. In June of 2012, I was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer in my left kidney. My children prayed with me and for me often, and they still do today. Jareth, my second son, showed up at the house one night after work around 8:30 p.m. and asked me to ride with him. He drove me to the adoration chapel at Our Lady Queen of Heaven where we knelt together and prayed. Barrett would come over many times and pray with me and read Scrip-ture. I can’t tell you how happy I was to know that all six of my children knew my health was in the hands of our Lord.

Thank God for all those prayers from my children, my 300 business children, and thousands of friends. My cancer went into remission with the help of MD Anderson giving me 30 days of chemo-therapy and 20 days of radiation. I am two years cancer free! Thank you, Jesus.

June 5, 201434 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Number 2: The Lesson of Good Work Ethic

My stepfather taught me my work ethic. He would give me a small fee to do yard work, paint the house, wash and wax the car, clean the house, wash the dishes, whatever needed to be done. Seemed like every day he would find more things for me to do. I’d wash and wax the car that I didn’t feel needed washing or waxing, and he expected it to be done with excellence or I got to do it all over again. Those habits and that work ethic that he taught me helped me become the man I am today. I am so thankful to have had Sidney Broussard in my life for all of those years and I miss him every single day.

I started my oldest son Ryan with a plan for good work ethic and tried to teach him the value of a dollar. When he was 12 years old, I bought him a small push mower and would pay him $20 to cut the grass. He occasionally asked me about a self-propelled riding mower like many of his friends had. I told him I had to give him the cash for mowing the grass, and if I put that into a lawn mower, he wouldn’t have any spending money.

Many times I have thought back and asked myself, “Was that too much?” But about a month ago, Ryan gave me the answer. He said, “Hey Dad, last Saturday, Gage (Ryan’s oldest son, who is an Eagle Scout and honor student) was supposed to be cutting the grass, but he had to pitch at a St. Louis game.” So Ryan volunteered to cut the grass for him. Ryan said, “Dad I can’t tell you how much harder it is to push a little mower at the age 41 years old versus

when you are 12 years old.” It gave my heart a little excitement

and peace to know

that he bought into the same concept, and it helped him so much that he was willing to share that little lesson with his son.

Ryan’s work ethic is amazing! He graduated from McNeese with a degree in business and with honors. He was one of our best salespeople in our com-pany while working his way through school. He was a top finance manager, sales manager and then I promoted him to general manager of our Sulphur dealership. He was one of the youngest men to ever earn a general manager’s position and was named one of the Up and Coming Young Men Under 40 in Lagniappe magazine.

And last year, in an 80-year-old facility, at the old location, Ryan won General Motors Mark of Excellence award, ranking him as one of the best general managers in America. Ryan is an amazing Christian father, coach, and husband. He donates his free time to six different community civic boards that he serves on to help our community. No man could ask for a better number one son to set the example for his younger siblings and grandchildren.

Number 3: The Lesson of Integrity

When I think of integrity, I think of how I was working with teaching my fourth son about honesty and how important it is that when we make a mistake, to stand up and tell the truth and take the consequences for those actions, versus being weak and hiding under a lie. I often wondered if he was getting it.

Well, when Grant was 12, I bought him the same type of push mower his older brothers had. On his first day cut-ting grass, I heard the lawn mower quit running. I didn’t run out for about 20 minutes, but when I did finally come outside, I found Grant laying on his back on the grass in the hot sun. I said

“Hey! Why aren’t you

cutting the grass?” He said “Dad, the lawn mower won’t start.” I asked him if he had put gas in it. He said, “Gas?” So he put gas in the lawn mower and finished the yard.

I wanted to show him how to take care of the lawn mower investment by cleaning it. When we began washing it together, I found that the air breather was broken. I asked Grant what hap-pened. “Did you hit something?” He dropped his little head and said “No, sir.” I said, “Did you put your foot on it when trying to crank it and it broke?” He said, “No, sir.” I said, “Grant, you didn’t kick the lawn mower because it didn’t start, did you?” And with a very sad face, not knowing the consequenc-es, he said “Yes, sir.” I said, “Well, that part probably cost close to 20 dollars, so you are going to have to use your grass-cutting money so we can get it fixed.”

Then I dropped to one knee and put my arms around him, hugged him and told him how proud I was of him. I said, “I gave you two chances to lie but you told the truth not knowing the con-sequences.” I told him I was so proud of him, and I would pay for half of the part so he could still get the 10 dollar reward for his integrity.

Grant was salesman of the month and of the quarter, working only half a day while going to school and was one of our top performers. Only the top 20 of our sales staff reach top performer, and he did it with only working half a day. As a finance manager, he broke a 31-year company record his second month as a manager and he has broken that record again three additional times. Grant has turned out to be an amazing young man.

Number 4: The Lesson of Self-Discipline

When I think of smart people with self-discipline, I think of my second son, Jareth. He is such a hardwork-

June 5, 2014 35Vol. 6 • No. 5

ing, self-disciplined, smart young man. In fact, in junior high he won the Leo Key award, which is given to the student who has the high-est grade point average and is the best athlete in school. I was so thrilled for him. Over the years, he won many high school district awards for his academic and athletic skills.

Jareth is an amazing Christian and works hard in the Catholic Church. He also has an amazing family, and has worked his way through college like his brother, Ryan. In the company, he has become one of our top salespeople, fi-nance manager and now sales manager in our Lake Charles Chevy store, and he’s soon to be general manager. He is a great coach and helps kids in baseball, basketball and other activities. Jareth tries to teach young athletes the secret about life that he has learned. Even if the odds are against you, but if you are willing to outwork others, you can do amazing things.

Number 5: The Lesson of Accountability

When I think of the lesson of ac-countability, I think of Barrett. He was my smallest son, and when he was a young athlete, he wasn’t always happy because sometimes, he got less playing time in basketball. I came home from work one day and heard him whin-ing about his coach not playing him enough. I turned to him and said “Hey, before you start blaming this coach, have you done everything in your power to prevent the pain that you are having in your heart today?” He said, “Dad, I have outworked the other guys.” I said, “I didn’t ask you that. All those other guys are much larger than you. I asked you if you have done everything in your power because those other boys are bigger and faster, and if all you do is outwork those other guys a little, you better put some padding in your shorts, because you are going to be on

the bench a lot the next up and coming years. How many hours after practice have you shot in the driveway on Satur-days and Sundays?”

I put the burden of accountability on him so he couldn’t blame the out-side world, but instead, had to blame himself. I read a smart quote that says “Don’t wish for things to be easy, be-cause it won’t happen. Wish you to be better because that can happen.”

By the time Barrett was a freshman in high school, the number one complaint in the neighborhood was, “Can you get the boy to stop dribbling his basketball at least by 11 o’clock at night? We are trying to sleep!”

In Barrett’s senior year, in one of the largest 5A high schools in the parish, he was awarded the Most Valuable Player Award on the Sulphur High basketball team. I was so proud of him because I knew how hard he had to work because of his smaller size. I can’t tell you how my heart felt watching him leave with a trophy almost as big as he was. Barrett’s faith, integrity and accountability have really paid off for him.

He has the unique title of being the absolute very best sales manager ever in the Billy Navarre Automotive company history. Even though he is the young-est sales manager and has only been manager for 7 years, 5 of those 7 years, he has been the number one team with the most sales in our company. But even more important, in 2011, Barrett broke the all-time company record for sales for any team. In March of 2013, he broke his own record again and in March of 2014 he broke it again.

What an incredible young man! He has an amazing wife and a baby on the way and he is going to be one super dad. He is also a man of faith. Barrett has an associate’s degree in Biblical studies from Life Christian University, a bachelor’s degree from Wisdom Minis-tries University and has been ordained. I am so proud of Barrett.

Number 6: The Lesson of Learning

When my boys went to college I gave them a scholarship program. I gave them a minimum-wage job, or commis-sion, a company car, and they had to sell to pay their books, tuition, and clothes and gas. If they moved out of the house ,they had to pay their own rent and expenses. When they finished college and brought me a diploma, I would give them a $50,000 check and a Rolex to reimburse them for their expenses. As they finished school, none of them had a huge student loan debt. As a matter of fact, all of them had a nice savings ac-count.

My twins, Bryce and Kaitlyn are truly amazing. Both of them are Banner Roll students at EDS. Kaitlyn loves to dance, play basketball, softball and soccer. Bryce is the same. His true love is base-ball. They are just like their brothers, they pray with me every day for healing and for God to continuously bless our family and business. They have both experienced God’s amazing love.

BlessingsIn closing, I want to thank my amaz-

ing God for my wonderful six children and for allowing me to survive these last two years and be cancer free. I’m so blessed to be here so I can watch my six children continue to grow. And when the time comes and the Lord decides to call me, I assure all our customers that your business will be left in great hands. My boys are great Christians, honest, hard workers and as good as you will find anywhere. In closing, I want to wish all the dads and grandfathers a very Happy Father’s Day!

June 5, 201436 Vol. 6 • No. 5

June 5, 201438 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Party By the PoolJune 5, 12, 19

It’s time to Party By the Pool at L’Auberge Casino Resort! On June 5, it’s local favorites Ashes of Babylon. On June 12, it’s cover band Velcro Pygmies. And don’t miss Counting Crows and Toad the Wet Sprocket on June 19! Purchase your tickets at www.ticketmaster.com, the L’Auberge Business Center, or Legends at L’Auberge the night of the show. Must be 21 to attend.

Downtown at Sundown June 6

Downtown at Sundown will take place within the 700-800 blocks of Ryan Street (between Division and Pujo Streets) from 6-9 p.m. on June 6. There will be food and beverages, tabletop galleries, merchan-dise vendors, and activities for kids as well as a variety of entertainment and music. Main Stage headliners will be Boomerang. Beverage sales benefi t the Literacy Council of SWLA. For more information, call 494-9159.

Hairspray June 6, 7, 8

The 1950s are over and change is in the air. It’s 1962 Baltimore and Tracy Turnblad has only one desire, to dance on the Corny Collins show! Hairspray, ACTS’ fi nal show of the season, is a family friendly musical and winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Performances are June 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. and June 8 at 3 p.m. at LaGrange High School, 3420 Louisiana

Avenue. Visit www.actsthea-tre.com to purchase tickets.

Youth Fishing DerbyJune 7

The Calcasieu Parish Sher-iff’s Offi ce Youth/D.A.R.E. Division will be holding their Annual Youth Fishing Derby Saturday, June 7, from 6-9 a.m. at the CPSO Farm Pond behind the Calcasieu Correc-tional Center at 5400 E. Broad Street. Participants (15 years of age or younger), are asked to bring their own fi shing gear (only one per person), bait, and a cooler to bring their fi sh home. Refreshments will be furnished. Event is free. Youth groups are welcome. Call 491-3621 or 491-3851.

Calcasieu Kennel Club Dog Shows June 7-8

The Kennel Club will host two conformation dog shows June 7-8 at the Lake Charles Civic Center. For more information, go to ckcevents@calcasieukc.com.

Catch-A-ConcertJune 9, 16, 23, 30

Head over to the Lake Charles Civic Center (front lawn) every Monday in June! Bring your blanket, lawn chair and friends and enjoy a free concert as the sun sets over shimmering Lake Charles. Composed of volunteers, the Community Band will take the stage from 7–8:30 p.m. Every week, the line-up has a new theme, so you won’t see the same show twice. For informa-tion on the Community Band, visit www.lakecharlescommu-nityband.teamr.com.

Lake Arthur RegattaJune 13-14

Louisiana’s newest festival is the Lake Arthur Regatta! Cast your sails and fi nd a shady seat under the majestic oak trees in our beautiful park for the week-end! Tempt your taste buds with some good ole’ Cajun favorites and see some of the hottest regional bands play-ing your favorite music. Will be held June 13-14 at 102 Arthur Ave. Come have a toe tapping, wind-sailing good time with us! info@lakearthurfestivals.com

LC Men’s City GolfChampionshipJune 20-22

Mallard Cove Golf Course will host the 37th Annual Lake Charles Men’s City Golf Cham-pionship sponsored by IBER-IABANK June 20-22. Entry fee is $125 and entry forms can be picked up at all IBERIABANK branch locations in Calcasieu Parish and at Mallard Cove Golf Course. The entry deadline is June 13 or after the fi rst 160 paid entries have been received. For more information, contact Derek Smith at 491-1204.

Wounded Warrior Battle of the BayouJune 20-21

The Wounded Warrior Am-putee Softball Team, a nation-ally recognized team comprised of amputee active duty military personnel and veterans, will return to Southwest Louisiana and play against Olympic Gold medalist Jennie Finch-Daigle and a team of all-stars June 20-21 in the “Battle on the Bayou II” softball tournament. The tournament will be held

June 5, 2014 39Vol. 6 • No. 5

at McMurry Park in Sulphur, with game events beginning each night at 5 p.m. For more information, please call (337) 528-4735.

Juneteenth Celebration June 21

Celebrate Juneteenth at the Lake Charles Civic Center! There will be live music on the Center Stage with the best sounds at Zydeco, R&B and Southern soul. Enjoy contests, domino championships and the Celebrity Bar-B-Q Cook-Off! Music and fun for the entire family in a day-long celebration, which commemorates the an-niversary of the emancipation of the Southern slaves. For more information, call 491-9955.

BayouCon June 20-22

BayouCon is a celebration

of all things fandom, combin-ing the very best in anime, sci-fi , comics, and gaming jam-packed in a fan-produced event. This three-day event will be held at the Lake Charles Civic Center. See BayouCon.net for admission prices and advance purchase discounts. Call 513-8927 for more information.

Big Trout Bonanza Tournament June 21

Chick-fi l-A of Lake Charles will host the fi rst annual Big Trout Bonanza fi shing tour-nament on Sat., June 21 at Calcasieu Point Landing, 3955 Henry Pugh Rd. Proceeds from this tournament will be do-nated to the Wounded Warrior Project. Registration is $150 until June 19 at Cajun Tackle, 2640 Country Club Road. Late registration is $165 and will

be at Calcasieu Point Landing on the day before and the day of the event. Contestants must have a valid Louisiana fi shing license. For more informa-tion, email bigtroutbonanza@gmail.com or like the event on Facebook.

Celebrity Charity Golf Event June 28

The Nate Livings Founda-tion/SWLA Junior Golf As-sociation is holding a celeb-rity charity golf tournament Saturday, June 28 at Mallard Cove Golf Course. Their mis-sion is to expose every youth in the community to the game of golf. Registration is $500 for a four person team and $100 for a single sponsor. All entries and payments must be dropped off or mailed to Mal-lard Cove Golf Course, PO Box 900, Lake Charles, La. 70602.

The deadline is June 13. For more information, contact Chase White at 274-2127.

SWLA Patriot’s BallJune 28

The City of Lake Charles Mayor’s Armed Forces Com-mission will host the Eighth Annual Southwest Louisiana Patriot’s Ball on Sat., June 28, at the Lake Charles Civic Center Contraband Room. A social half-hour will kick off the event at 5:30 p.m. fol-lowed by dinner at 6 p.m. The ball will honor three indi-viduals and one corporation with the annual Patriot of the Year award, followed by DJ and dancing. Tickets can be purchased at the Civic Center or at the USS Orleck Museum, 604 N. Enterprise Blvd., 214-7447. For more information, call 491-1256.

June 5, 201440 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Disney’s new movie, Million Dol-lar Arm, sometimes seems more like a true-life documentary than the offbeat comedy it tries to be. But as long as you accept that, you’re in for a good time.

J.B. Bernstein (John Hamm) is a Ma-jor League sports agent with a mission: to stay in business. When his one big contract with football superstar “Popo” goes sour, J.B. and his business partner Ash are desperate to find a new talent to stay alive. Ash, who is Indian, com-ments on a Cricket game on TV and J.B. gets an inspiration: to recruit a Cricket player from India to play baseball and become the next superstar.

The idea seems ridiculous, but when you’re at the end of your rope, try any-thing, right? Ash is leery of the project, but, J.B. gets a backer and travels to Mumbai to begin a contest for the Mil-lion Dollar Arm.

This is a great story and well-directed. Its flaw is the way it’s been marketed. In fact, if you plan on seeing the movie, don’t expect a hilarious comedy. Don’t even see the preview trailer if you can help it, because it might spoil the movie for you, and it’s a good movie. The trouble is,

the story has a few comical moments, but basically it’s the story of a guy with a dream and two guys (well, three) who place their hopes in him.

J.B., who prefers the rich bachelor life, has a tenant in his pool house, Brenda Fenwick, who is a medical student. When he goes on the road to India, she watches his house and they develop a friendship over the phone. Meanwhile, the hunt for the Million Dollar Arm takes the form of a con-test, with J.B. and scout Ray Pointevent (Alan Arkin) going from Indian village to town to village with a pitcher’s cage

and a radar gun. Trouble is, most of the en-

trants clock a fast ball around 35 miles an hour, and they need someone who can pitch in the 80’s.

Filmed on location, Million Dollar Arm succeeds in showing us the under-side of India, where poverty is rampant and families stick together for support. As soon as he gets to his hotel, J.B. hap-pens upon an enthusiastic baseball fan, Amit. He’s so excited to meet J.B. that he offers to work for him as an inter-preter, for free.

Amit is probably the most likeable character in the movie, typically clue-less but always willing to do whatever is asked. J.B. has him video the project so that he can market it later to other backers. But first, he has to find a pitcher.

Million Dollar Arm strikes me as a movie that was crafted with a mission. Though it moves slowly, it builds on the point that history is being made. And I’m not talking about baseball; I’m talk-ing about national pride for the coun-try of India as it attempts to break into Major League baseball.

To keep the movie moving, J.B. goes through challenges and emerges a bet-ter man, but the international scope of this movie is what makes it fascinating to watch. We tend to forget that movies are big business overseas, with Ameri-can films finding significant audiences in other countries. Million Dollar Arm plays to that audience as well as our own.

Million Dollar Arm is rated PG for romance. Smaller children may find it too slow, but everyone else should have no problem with it. Stay for the cred-its to see some of the video shot by the real-life Amit. Enjoy!

Million Dollar Arm(Disney, 2014)

June 5, 2014 41Vol. 6 • No. 5

DadDisciplineJune FifteenFathers DayGrandfather

HeroHonorLoveMemoriesPaw Paw

Role ModelSecuritySpecial DayStrengthWisdom

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Players take turns connecting two dots. When you make a square, put your initials in the box and take another turn. When all dots are connected,

the player with the most boxes wins.

June 5, 201442 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Beloved Irish author Maeve Binchy died in 2012. But she had squirreled away quite a few sto-ries, written at different times, and 36 of them are gathered in Chestnut Street. The title indi-cates a street in Dublin. Though some of the characters show up more than once, each story is a standalone.

A “dumpy” girl’s popular mother makes plans for the girl’s 16th birthday party, but the girl tells her “It will be a disappoint-ment, mother. Everything is.” Three teen girls speculate about the future and we follow them into adulthood. Tired of be-ing everyone’s problem-solver, a young teacher tries to get herself in trouble and can’t even

do that. A single, self-confident aunt gives advice to an impres-sionable young girl. A window cleaner helps his delinquent son. Two women set out to avenge the wrongs committed against them.

The tales are really character-driven, with realistic relation-ships and consequences. Some stories are set in one day, some flash through nearly a whole lifetime. Some are poignant (“He thought about how life never turns out like you think and hope it will”), others funny. All have that wonderful Binchy stamp on them.

Let’s check out some other current short story collections.

Snow in May by Kseniya Melnik has nine stories, many set in Magadan (the author’s hometown) in Siberia, with its dreary landscape, biting cold, and earthquakes.

There are few supplies in the town. People must go to Mos-cow for provisions, “where the grocery stores weren’t empty but also had no variety,” “and maybe something exotic and a little magical to jolt their life, if only for a moment, out of its bread-and-potatoes doldrums.”

Reading this is like entering another world, a world of long lines for groceries with noth-ing left at the end to buy, and

Short but Sweetcollective farms and communal kitchens. The reader even gets brief glimpses of Soviet/Rus-sian history.

In one story, a mother takes her daughter to a witch to heal the girl’s headaches: “It was a disap-pointingly ordinary home for a witch.” In another, a young woman spurned by the man she loves decides to marry another man she doesn’t love at all and moves with him to the uncom-fortable existence in Magadan.

The writing is often lovely: “Some romantic es-sence of her separat-ed and floated above her tired body like those happy lovers in Chagall’s paint-ings.”

Most of the 10 stories in Acts of God by Ellen Gil-christ are about the South. The author lives in Fayet-teville, Ark., and sets several of her characters there (with some home-

made scruppernong jelly), or in New Orleans or along the bayou in Mississippi. Her acts of God include tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, illness and terrorist activity. A couple stories are about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. “I could not tell it all if I wrote all night,” says

one character about the hor-ror in the city.

Several sto-ries are about people helping people after natural disas-ters. In one, old friends and strangers are stranded in an airport lounge. “I’m not inter-esting. I’m a cliché inside a self-fulfilling

June 5, 2014 43Vol. 6 • No. 5

prophecy inside a stereotype,” says one. In another, a family takes in a boy whose family was drowned in a flood, and we follow him through his long life with that family. The characters wax philosophical: “There is much we know that we forget ... so much goodness we must strive to remember.” Adult situ-ations and language.

Can’t and Won’t by Lydia Davis is very different. Some of its 122 stories are a standard length, but a few are miniature — only one sentence, even. For example: “Now that I have been here for a little while, I can say with confidence that I have never been here before.” That’s it! Most are not really stories, but observations. There are even letters of complaint.

Some are funny; some are heartbreaking; some didn’t af-fect me; others are like poetry. Several are labeled as dreams; about a dozen are taken from letters written by Gustave Flau-bert. (The author has translat-ed Flaubert and Proust, among other French authors). In fact, some of her writing has the ring of being a translation, even if it isn’t.

One might call this collec-tion odd. She gives a whole discourse on fish dishes and another on the behavior of cows. A couple of my favorites: “Under all this dirt the floor is really very clean.”

“Judgment: Into how small a space the word judgment can be compressed: it must fit inside the brain of a ladybug

as she, before my eyes, makes a decision.” She makes the reader think, and often, laugh. I’m treating these like bonbons, taking out just one or two at a time to savor.

Black Vodka by Deborah Levy will be published June 10. There are 10 tales in this slim book of 125 pages, and they are of a high literary quality, often with beautiful phrasing: “The moon is oily, the trees swollen with black blossom against the chemical sky.”

Here’s one interesting ex-change: “She said she wants a sex change. ‘What, into a man?’ ‘No, into a woman.’ ‘But you are a woman.’ ‘I want to be another kind of woman.’ ”

For me, it isn’t so much the plots or the characters, but the ideas Levy gives us that shine: “It is usual for people attracted to each other to pretend they have full and busy lives but I have an incredible facility to wade through human shame with no shoes on.” “I have always thought of myself as lost property, someone waiting to be claimed.”

Reading it is a little like be-ing in a foreign country. I was often quite unsure of what was happening. Very much like po-etry, you can read them again and again to scrape out a new meaning from her words each time.

Copyright © 2014 by Mary Louise Ruehr.

June 5, 201444 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Thursday, June 5Thursday Dollar Night@ Cowboys Night Club$1 Beer and Bar all nightFree cover until 10 p.m. w/College ID5329 Common St., Lake Charles

George Poe6 p.m. @ Ember Grille & Wine Bar777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Jim Hoehn6 p.m. @ Cooler’s Ice House3622 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Street Side Jazz Band7 p.m. @ Luna Bar & Grill719 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Louisiana Crossroads7 p.m. “Block Party” @ Mikko LiveCoushatta Casino Resort, Kinder

Ashes of Babylon7 p.m. @ Party by the Pool’s Liquid SocietyL’Auberge Casino Resort Pool777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

The Will Wesley Band8 p.m.-midnight @Caribbean CoveIsle of Capri Casino100 Westlake Ave.,Westlake

Karaoke Night9 p.m. – 2 a.m. @ Crystals112 Broad St., Lake Charles

Korey FontenotNo cover8 p.m. @ Micci’s Piano Bar3606 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Hazy Ray10 p.m. @ Luna Live719 Ryan St, Lake Charles

Eric Scott11 p.m. @ Jack After Dark L’Auberge Casino Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Friday, June 6Kenny Spears7 p.m. @ Loggerhead’s3748 Louisiana 3059 (Old Town Rd.), Lake Charles

John Guidroz @ Kevin LambertNo cover, 10 p.m. @ Micci’s Piano Bar, 3606 Ryan St., Lake Charles

George Poe7 p.m. @ Ember Grille & Wine Bar777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Horace Trahan & Ossun Express7 p.m. @ Mikko LiveCoushatta Casino Resort, Kinder

The Kadillacs8 p.m. - Midnight @ Caribbean CoveIsle of Capri Casino100 Westlake Ave, Westlake

The Chee-Weez9 p.m. @ Yesterdays5313 Common St., Lake Charles

Louisiana Express9 p.m. @ The Gator LoungeDelta Downs2717 Delta Downs Dr., Vinton

Karaoke with $3 Cover9 p.m. @ Frosty Factory4688 Common St., Lake Charles

Paul Gonsoulin9 p.m. - Midnight @ The Cigar Club1700 E Prien Lake Rd, Lake Charles

Slim Harper9 p.m. – 1 a.m. @ Linda’s Lounge4338 Lake St., Lake Charles

Stoop Kids10 p.m. @ Luna Live719 Ryan St, Lake Charles

Eric Scott11 p.m. @ Jack After Dark L’Auberge Casino Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Saturday, June 7David Locklear7 p.m. @ Luna Bar & Grill719 Ryan St., Lake Charles

The RKW Acoustic Show7 p.m. @ Loggerhead’s3748 Louisiana 3059, Lake Charles

George Poe7 p.m. @ Ember Grille & Wine Bar777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Street Side Jazz Band$3 cover, 10 p.m. @ Micci’s Piano Bar, 3606 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Joe Harmon and the Harmonics8 p.m. - Midnight @ Caribbean CoveIsle of Capri Casino100 Westlake Ave, Westlake

Brad Brinkley, Comfort Zone, and Greg Blanchard8:30 p.m. @ Cooler’s Ice House3622 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Todd O’Neill Band9 p.m. @ Yesterdays5313 Common St., Lake Charles

Leroy Thomas & Zydeco Roadrunners9 p.m. @ Mikko LiveCoushatta Casino Resort, Kinder

Flashback & Eric Scott9 p.m. @ Jack After Dark NightclubL’Auberge Casino Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Saturday Night Party Time9 p.m. @ Cowboys Night Club$1 Beer and Bar until MidnightFree Cowboys Kool-aid5329 Common St., Lake Charles

Karaoke with $3 Cover9 p.m. @ Frosty Factory4688 Common St., Lake Charles

June 5, 2014 45Vol. 6 • No. 5

Luke Cooper Band9 p.m. - Midnight @ The Cigar Club1700 E Prien Lake Rd, Lake Charles

Choctaw Wildfi re10 p.m. @ Luna Live719 Ryan St, Lake Charles

Sunday, June 8Street Side Jazz Band 11 a.m. @ Luna Bar & Grill719 Ryan St., Lake Charles

LA Bayou Band5 - 8 p.m. @ Loggerhead’s3748 Louisiana 3059, Lake Charles

SWLA Health Education Center Benefi t Drag Show11:30 p.m. @ Crystals112 Broad St., Lake Charles

Monday, June 9Karaoke Night10 p.m. - 2 a.m. @ My Place630 W Prien Lake Rd # GLake Charles

Tuesday, June 10Kevin LambertNo cover, 8 p.m. @ Micci’s Piano Bar, 3606 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Street Side Jazz Band6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. @ Loggerhead’s3748 Louisiana 3059, Lake Charles

Karaoke Night7 p.m. - Midnight @ Bourbonz3436 Ryan St., Lake Charles

DJ Verrett8 p.m. @ Jack After Dark NightclubL’Auberge Casino Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Wednesday, June 11Ladies Night5 p.m. - Midnight @ Caribbean CoveIsle of Capri Casino100 Westlake Ave, Westlake

Kris HarperNo cover, 8 p.m. @ Micci’s Piano Bar, 3606 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Mic Night8 p.m. @ Jack After Dark NightclubL’Auberge Casino Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

The Southern Goods Band8 p.m. - Midnight @ Caribbean CoveIsle of Capri Casino100 Westlake Ave, Westlake

Joe Ecker8 p.m. - 11 p.m. @ The Cigar Club1700 E Prien Lake Rd, Lake CharlesKaraoke Night9 p.m. @ Cooler’s Ice House3622 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Thursday, June 12Thursday Dollar Night@ Cowboys Night Club$1 Beer and Bar all nightFree cover until 10 p.m. w/College ID5329 Common St., Lake Charles

John Autin6 p.m. @ Jack After Dark L’Auberge Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

John Guidroz & Kevin Lambert6 p.m. @ Ember Grille & Wine Bar777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Velcro Pygmies7 p.m. @ Party by the Pool’s Liquid SocietyL’Auberge Casino Resort Pool777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake CharlesAdmission: $10

Willie Tee, Warren Storm & Cypress7 p.m. @ Mikko LiveCoushatta Casino Resort, Kinder

The Prime Time Band8 p.m. - Midnight @ Caribbean CoveIsle of Capri Casino100 Westlake Ave, Westlake

Karaoke Night9 p.m. - 2 p.m. @ Crystals112 Broad St., Lake Charles

DJ CaGe11 p.m. @ Jack After DarkL’Auberge Casino Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

June 5, 201446 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Friday, June 13Live Music6 p.m. @ Cooler’s Ice House3622 Ryan St., Lake Charles

John Autin6 p.m. @ Jack After Dark L’Auberge Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

John Guidroz & Kevin Lambert7 p.m. @ Ember Grille & Wine Bar777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Paul Gonsoulin7 p.m. @ Loggerhead’s3748 Louisiana 3059, Lake Charles

The Pookie Marceaux Band8 p.m. - Midnight @ Caribbean CoveIsle of Capri Casino100 Westlake Ave, Westlake

Karaoke Night8 p.m. @ Cooler’s Ice House

3622 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Perfectly Good Airplanes9 p.m. – 1 a.m. @ Linda’s Lounge4338 Lake St., Lake Charles

Area Code9 p.m. @ Mikko LiveCoushatta Casino Resort, Kinder

The Todd O’Neill Band9 p.m. @ Yesterdays5313 Common St., Lake Charles

Horrace Trahan & The Ossun Express9 p.m. @ The Gator LoungeDelta Downs2717 Delta Downs Dr, Vinton

Karaoke with $3 Cover9 p.m. @ Frosty Factory4688 Common St., Lake Charles

Ryan Bunch9 p.m. - Midnight @ The Cigar Club1700 E Prien Lake Rd, Lake Charles

Josh Garrett Band10 p.m. @ Luna Live719 Ryan St, Lake Charles

DJ San-D11 p.m. @ Jack After DarkL’Auberge Casino Resort777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Athena Campbell Benefi t11:30 p.m. @ Crystals112 Broad St., Lake Charles

Saturday, June 14Live Music6 p.m. @ Cooler’s Ice House3622 Ryan St., Lake Charles

Paul Gonsoulin7 p.m. @ Luna Live719 Ryan St, Lake Charles

John Guidroz & Kevin Lambert7 p.m. @ Ember Grille & Wine Bar777 Ave. L’Auberge, Lake Charles

Geoff Baker7 p.m. @ Stellar Beans Coffee319 Broad St, Lake Charles

Ryan Harris & the Killin Time Band8 p.m. - Midnight @ Caribbean CoveIsle of Capri Casino100 Westlake Ave, Westlake

Sean Ardoin-N-Zydekool9 p.m. @ The Gator LoungeDelta Downs2717 Delta Downs Dr, Vinton

Karaoke with $3 Cover9 p.m. @ Frosty Factory4688 Common St., Lake Charles

Area Code9 p.m. @ Mikko LiveCoushatta Casino Resort, Kinder

Kory Fontenot9 p.m. - Midnight @ The Cigar Club1700 E Prien Lake Rd, Lake Charles

BB&CO9 p.m. @ Yesterdays5313 Common St., Lake Charles

June 5, 2014 47Vol. 6 • No. 5

Downtown and Midtown

It’s been a while since I highlighted downtown specifically, so I thought I would begin with this area first. If you have not attended one of the “Downtown at Sundown” concerts, then you have missed out on an incredible time. The music alone has been great and as far as the crowds go, this has to be a record-setting year! Louisiana Express kicked off the first week, followed by City Heat and Roddie Romero & the Hub City All Stars. Boomerang is set to top off the se-ries on June 6. The food, arts and other vendors were excellent additions.

The City of Lake Charles puts on this event and in June, they will present the “Catch a Concert” series, which features the Lake Charles Community Band. In July, the City will sponsor the main event of the summer, “Red, White, Blue and You.” I’m looking forward to these exciting, free events and the many other awesome festivals throughout Southwest Louisiana.

Let me introduce you to what will be the newest establishment opening downtown. Say it with me: Pint-House Pizzeria. That’s correct, pizza is return-ing downtown, and if you’ve followed the local eatery scene, you might be able to guess where it will be located. The spacious building at 329 Broad Street will once again be home to pizza, but this time, it will be different than Syl-via’s, Happy Hippie Pizza and Dharma. The owners of MacFarlane’s Celtic Pub are expanding their entrepreneurial base with a pizzeria that will create specialty pizzas made in-house. There will also be

19 beers on tap, along with

wine. In addition, the piz-

zeria will offer approxi-mately 50 desserts such as banana splits, sundaes and many other old-fashioned sweets. What I’m most excited about is the Ital-

ian ice cream known as gelato, which they will make

onsite. The space will also host a 1940s-style soda fountain and

they will re-introduce some soda flavors from the past that have disap-

peared. Beginning June 9, you can apply for work there by submitting your ap-plication from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information on the jobs available, call 433-3108.

MidtownAnother area of Lake Charles that I

have my eye on is midtown. I am sure that you’re wondering what I’m referring to. I pulled out a map to outline what I believe should be considered midtown and referencing only Ryan Street to keep this brief, it begins just south of 12th Street/Sallier Street all the way past McNeese State University. I believe this part of Lake Charles deserves special attention and I hope we begin to see a true district develop that would mean a better atmosphere overall and more of the banners, greenery and attractive ad-ditions that make an area pop.

Midtown is slowly beginning to fill out more. Max Fit, DarQest Tan and Planet Nutrition have moved in one strip together. During most of the week, venues like Micci’s and The Center Stage proudly host local music, and the others have great DJs who are becoming well-known.

If you like ka-raoke, there are options, such as Cornbread aka Ryan Domingue and William Lynch, who have been doing well throughout the Midtown area with Front Row LC Productions,

along with our bud Jerrett Overmyer aka MRDJ. Cajun’s Wharf, Bourbonz and Dakota’s each hold their own. The Center Stage has an ongoing karaoke competition called “Spotlight” which occurs each Thursday. Visit them on Facebook for more details and a look at all the prizes.

Speaking of music, if you have not listened to KBYS 88.3 FM, check it out. The station will soon be open to volun-teers and eventually visitors.

The growth in our area is undoubt-edly a great thing, but we must continue to support the businesses that have been with us for years. Let’s not forget what they have done for our community. It seems that once a new eatery or shop opens there is sometimes a mass shift and patrons abandon or unintentionally forget about the older established busi-nesses.

The importance of shopping local and supporting what we have is truly the core of economics. If you still travel to our neighboring cities or states to shop and rarely buy local, don’t complain when businesses are forced to close their doors.

As a side note, I would like to thank everyone who celebrated my birthday with me. Phil and Lauren de Albu-querque always bring the fun and humor and I greatly appreciate them for at-tending. Special thanks to Coyote Blues, The Center Stage, DJ TySki and Christi Dronet.

If you have a new trendy business or big event you think I should know about, e-mail me at laonairwithbrayj@gmail.com.

June 5, 201448 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Lowen and Lorelai Hodges with Waymond Jones

Tallulah and Creek Morley with AJ Burnham

Caroline and Ryan Hooks with Meredith McCall

Michael, Micaela, Malachi and John Michael Carroll

Clifford with Lilly and Kerri Rabalais

SUMMER READING CELEBRATIONThe Calcasieu Parish Library kicked off its Annual

Summer Reading Program with entertainment for the whole family at Prien Park Harbor’s Edge Pavilion. Outdoor and indoor activities included

face painting, cookie decorating, dress-up, games, crafts and more. And everyone signed up to

get some good reading in this summer! A perfect combination!

Heather Ryan Kelley and Greg Stratton Justin Coreil and Meghan Penn

Delillah Goodly, Angela Cole, Danita Steve and Roconda Hilstock Haki Vincent and Demario Bailey

Teressa Sosa with Kristina, Kendra, William Housden and Milo

DOWNTOWN AT SUNDOWNRyan Street between Division and Pujo was the place to be for another fabulous Downtown at

Sundown concert! Main stage headliners this week were Grammy-nominated Roddie Romero & the

Hub City All Stars. It was an energetic and soulful show that had everyone tapping their toes and

dancing in the streets! There’s one more concert on June 6—don’t miss it!

June 5, 2014 49Vol. 6 • No. 5

Kayli Meaux, Cassie Bellard and Raeleigh Witfield

Mark, Ashley and Julie Austin Kim Medicis and Alli Murphy

Keri and Jason Granger Macie Montie with Jeanalee, Halle

and Lani Martin

LOUISIANA JUNIOR HIGH & HIGH SCHOOL RODEO FINALSOver 250 contestants from across the state in

grades 6-12 competed in team roping, calf tying, goat tying, breakaway and more, all striving to be named champion and qualify for the national fi nals at the LA Jr. High and High School Rodeo Finals at the Burton Coliseum Complex. The event included a crawfi sh boil, cowboy church and fashion show.

Ride ‘em cowboys and cowgirls!

June 5, 201450 Vol. 6 • No. 5

Corey Doucet, Zanie Spikes and Angela Thomas

Joseph Boyette and Shauna Temple Hailey Coburns and Kristen Harrell

Evan Seago and Lillian Broussard

Abrahm Conner, Shane Harris, Bailey George and Lilly Guilbeau

HAIRSPRAY DRESS REHEARSALReady, set, action! Judging by this evening’s dress rehearsal, you won’t want to miss Hairspray, this

fabulous ACTS fi nal show of the season set for the weekend of June 6-8 at the LaGrange High School

Auditorium. Lots of local talent will take to the stage to bring you this family-friendly

musical fi lled with toe-tapping music, laughter and romance galore! Don’t miss it!

June 5, 2014 51Vol. 6 • No. 5