DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
ADVOCATE THE LIVINGSTON-TANGIPAHOA
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
Darlene Denstorff
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W e d n e s d ay, J u ly 10, 2024
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Flags, fireworks and family
AROUND LIVINGSTON
Arts Council plans visual art class Art instructor Dena Olinde will teach children to create their own visual art, including clay building and drawing a pet. The classes are from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Arts Council gallery in downtown Denham Springs. No experience necessary. All supplies will be provided. The program, for ages 8-11, is set for July 23-25. Cost is $35 and registration can be completed www.artslivingston.org/ product-page/visual-art.
Paint, collage and stitch Retired art teacher Kathy Bourgeois will take 10 teens on a three-day art journey with paint, collage and hand stitching. You’ll begin with a stretched canvas, and using these three art techniques, you’ll create your own masterpiece. No prior skills needed and all supplies included. The art class is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. July 16-18 for teens ages 12-19. The fee is $50 and registration can be completed at tinyurl.com/3uxhuccf.
July art exhibit underway Visit the Arts Council of Livingston Parish Gallery’s July art show is on display through July 31.
ä See AROUND, page 2G
Charles Salzer SPORTS ROUNDUP
PHOTOS BY VIC COUVILLION
Participants in Hammond’s Fourth of July celebration in Zemurray Park could choose from a number of food items being sold by volunteers with the Hammond Knight Pathfinder organization. The group sponsors numerous activities for youth in the community.
Hammond celebrates Independence Day BY VIC COUVILLION Contributing writer
Hammond celebrated Independence Day starting with the ceremonial raising of a huge national flag early in the morning and ending with a community celebration in Zemurray Park. Games, activities, food booths and a fireworks display were part of the day’s salute to the nation’s birthday. Members of the Hammond Fire Department and veterans of the nation’s military services hoisted the flag early in the morning at the tall flagpole located near Hammond Square Mall. The flag raising ceremony was sponsored by the Hammond-Ponchatoula Sunrise Rotary Club. The club has sponsored the flag raising ceremony for the past eight years. A new American flag measuring 20 by 30 feet was raised up the 80-foot flagpole to the cheers and clapping of a large
Participants enjoy a ride on the miniature train in Hammond’s Zemurray Park. group gathered around the pole on a warm, muggy morning. The Rotary Club dedicated the flagpole on July 4, 2016, and it has been a landmark in the area since. Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller offered a tribute to the nation’s founders in remarks just before the flag was raised. Miller reminded his audience that despite challenges to the nation over its almost 250-year existence, the United States still stands as a beacon of hope to residents around the
Walker welcomes 4th volleyball coach in 4 years As the start of the high school volleyball season inches closer, Walker finds itself in the familiar, if unwanted, position of adjusting to a new head coach. The Wildcats will open the fall season with their fourth head coach in four years, five if you count Mina Williams’ stint as interim coach in 2022. The reasons for the coaching carousel are, for the most part, understandable, but there is no denying that Walker would like more stability. Which brings Walker to Jennifer Rivero, a former head coach at Springfield who comes to the Wildcats after a one-year stint of her own at Loranger. Rivero will teach as well as coach at Walker as will her daughter, Mollie Hebert, a recent SLU graduate who will serve as an assistant coach. “I’ve always treated my program as family and I think our outlook is good,” Rivero said last week. “I think both of us coming to Walker shows we’re not just coming here to make a quick stop. We’re coming to stay and make a difference.” From the 2020 season to 2022, Rivero guided Springfield to three consecutive playoff appearances. The best mark came in 2022, when the Bulldogs reached the regional round and finished with a record of 20-19. Before that 2022 season,
ä See SALZER, page 3G
world. “Because of the great nation that has been built over all these many years people from all over the world want to come here. As citizens of the United States we enjoy freedoms that so many others around the world do not enjoy. We are thankful today for all those who came before us starting with the signers of the Declaration of Independence and passing through the years since that historic day,” the mayor said. Lalcy Landrum, represent-
ing the Hammond-Ponchatoula Sunrise Rotary Club traced the history of the flag and what it has come to symbolize to the community. She introduced a group of Cub and Boy Scouts who led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. The day’s observance resumed at 6 p.m. when the party started in Zemurray Park. The most popular attraction in the park was the miniature train that has been chugging around
ä See FLAGS, page 3G
PLAY WITH PURPOSE PROVIDED IMAGE
A $4.7 million gym is being built for Live Oak Junior High in Watson, Livingston Parish. The new facility will replace the previous gym that was destroyed by fire in 2022.
Livingston schools working on $36.7M construction projects BY ELLYN COUVILLION
Staff writer
Construction of a new junior high school, as well as additions at two other school campuses, has begun this summer at a total cost of $36.7 million in Livingston Parish. The projects are expected to be completed by the start of the 2025-26 school year, the Livingston Parish School Board said in a news release. Located in the communities of Walker, Albany and Watson, the projects are: n A new $25 million South Fork Junior High School will share the
campus with South Fork Elementary at 23300 Walker South Road. The new junior high will share cafeteria and kitchen facilities with the elementary school, but all other facilities will be separate. n A new cafeteria and classroom wing will serve Albany Lower Elementary and Albany Upper Elementary, which share the same campus on South Montpelier Road in Albany. The new cafeteria, being built in a former classroom wing, will have more seating to allow the two schools to serve lunch at the same time in separate dining areas. The new
ä See SCHOOLS, page 2G
PHOTO BY DAVID NORMAND
French Settlement Elementary Principal Joshua Martin, left, and Assistant Principal Stacy Jemison use chalk to draw the outline of a sunflower on a stencil. ä More photos. PAGE 2G French Settlement Elementary Assistant Principal Stacy Jemison, teacher Laurie Martin, volunteer Jillian Martin and teacher Ovina Forque used stencils June 26 to create a play area to promote healthy living. LSU AgCenter Nutrition and Community Health programs are collaborating with different organizations (schools, churches, nonprofits, etc.) to build healthier communities.