St. Tammany Picayune 09-04-2024

Office’s team will be readyfor presidential elections, shesays

BY ANDREWCANULETTE Staff writer

Jessica Jenkins Brewster spent 18 years as an assistant district attorney in the 22nd Judicial District before deciding to try her hand in the political arena. She opted to run for St. Tammany Parish clerk of court, noting during the campaign that her legal chops would benefitthe office, which she

described at the time as “poorly managed.”

Jenkins won aclose election last October over two-term incumbent Melissa Henry,garnering 52 %of votes over the fellow Republican.

Approximately 36.6% of registered voters turned out for acrowded ballot, which also included races for governor,parish president and sheriff, among many others.

Though Jenkins knew as of the Oct.

14 election she would be the parish’s new clerk, she wasn’tallowed access to the office until she was sworn in on July 1. It was an eight-month continuation of one of the moretensely waged campaigns in recent memory Now,just more than two months into her term, Brewster met recently with St. Tammany Farmer Editor Andrew Canulette to discuss the state of

BY KADEE KRIEGER Contributing writer

From podcaststoposts andmurals to reels, St Tammany’sdestination marketing organization

Visit The Northshore has been saturating the region with imagesand descriptionsofthe parish’s beauty and charm since its rebranding in 2023.

“We’ve been focused on highlighting all the reasons to visit our beautiful area, from the outdoors to the food and music,” said Katie Guasco, chief marketing officer of Visit The Northshore. “Since rebrandingone year ago, there’sbeenapalpable increase in parish pride and greater regional recognition of Visit The Northshore’simpact.” Guasco shared some of the newest and most robust marketing efforts during the St. Tammany Parish Tourist and Convention Commission regular meeting Aug. 20 at the Harbor Center near Slidell. Thoseincludethe launch of anew Allthe

Playmakers Theater kicksoff 70th season with over-the-top comedy

BY SARAH G. BONNETTE Contributing writer

Derek Thrush and the cast he’sdirecting laugh during each rehearsal for the“‘TilBeth Do Us Part,” the comedy that will open Playmakers Theater’s70th season.

“It’sextremely funny,” Thrush said of the two-act production, which will appear on stage Sept. 7-22

Slidellputs regulations on donation boxes

Some think they’redumpsters, councilman says

BY BOBWARREN Staff writer

For the first time, the Slidell City Council has adopted new regulations for the largedonation boxes that have popped up in parking lots across the city, hopingthat the ruleswill help prevent some of the illegal trash dumping at the sites.

In unanimously adoptingthe regulations last week, council members noted constituent complaints that some of the donation boxes draw trash ranging from garbage bagstomattresses. Now, operators must obtain an annual permit and paya fee for each box.

Sean Garcia, acollectionbox operator who addressed the council, agreed that curbing litter and dumping is important but said the new regulations are heavy-handed.

Garcia saidsome officialsmay not like the bins, “but your citizensare using them.”

He saidhis companyexpects to collect more than 80 tons of donated clothing in Slidell this year,which generates money for charities.

The new process also restricts where the boxes can be placed and requires operators to provideinformation rangingfrom permission from whoever owns theproperty where theboxes will be located to aschedulefor when items in the boxes will be collected.

Some councilmembers said the boxes become adrawfor much morethan the donations of clothing or other items to be recycled.

“They were starting to become collection spots for trash —people think they’re dumpsters,” council member Kenny Tamborellasaid.

Council member Nick DiSanti, who introduced the ordinance the council ultimately adopted, said the city has seenaninflux of donation boxes in recent years, some of which attracted people who used them as dumping grounds. He saidthere are 27 boxes around the city

“Something we’re veryfocused oninthis city is the quality of our neighborhoods,”DiSanti said, adding that he thinks the regulations arereasonable andwillprovide thecitywith information about where the boxes are and who is responsible forthem. “We’re supportive of charities. This is not about charities.” But as the council mulled the new regulations thisweek, Garcia, of American Textile Recycling Service, which he said currently has 12 boxes across the city,urged them to pump thebrakes.Hesaidhedoesn’t seebig problems with his boxes. “Weconsistently see our donation bins being treated responsibly and filled withproper donations,” he told the council, addingthat he has received very few callsofcomplaint.

Garcia told the $500-per-box permit fee was “punitive” and asked formore time to work with council members on massagingsome of those regs.

He added that they arepopular withresidents and thathis boxes will collectmore than 80 tonsof donated clothing this year

“There is aglobal demandfor those clothes,” Garcia said in alater interview.“Obviously, we’rekeeping of lot of stuff out of their landfills.”

Garcia told the council that money generated from thecompany’sboxes in Slidell goes to a St. Tammany-based nonprofit, Grant’s Gift Foundation, that provides resources for people with disabilities.

Michael de la Houssaye, who helped start Grant’sGift,told the council he agrees with their efforts to attack litter and dumping but said the clothing collected in the boxesprovides aneeded streamofmoney for the foundation.

“Weall have thesame argument,” he toldthe council. “You don’twant it to become adump site. Neither do we.” Garcia, meanwhile, saidhehas worked hard to keepthe boxes ingood condition and free of trash.

“We’re going to continuetodo business in Slidell,” he said.

HOOPSFOR KIDS 3-ON-3

It was another successfulHoops for Kids3-on-3 tournament at Rev.Peter Atkins Park on Aug. 24. Inaddition to providing a lot of serious basketball, the event benefited the Boys &Girls Club of Covington, which provided some players for the competition. Hoops for Kids was open to teams of boys andgirls in fourth through 12th grades.

Tournament winners received cool prizes.

PLAYMAKERS

Continuedfrom page1A

“I wanted somethingover the top,” he added.“It’sthe 70th season. We’ve never had adarkseason in Playmakers’ history.Through all the floods, fires and hurricanes, we’ve always put on ashow hereinCovington somewhere underthe Playmakers’ name.”

The long-standing community theater has experienced itsfairshare of difficulties, including a1976 fire that destroyed the former dairy barn turned theater, flooding in 2016, canceled shows during the pandemic’sshutdowns, anda tree that hit the roofduring Hurricane Idain2021.

Anna Turner,Playmakers’ board president, credits its longevitytoadedicated core group of board membersand volunteers. “Everybody is so welcoming and friendly and helpful. It’s agood place to be,”she said. “Wehave hadsomechallenges, but we’ve had some good board members who determined what we neededtodoand didn’tgive up.”

Pastboard president Ros Pogue also credits thetheater’s staying power to the “grit and determination” of those involved, such as founders Pat Clanton, Judge Steve Ellis, and others.

“Like the (St. Tammany) Art Association, it was meant to open up doorsof the arts to small-town America. Some people likemydad hadnever even done theaterbefore,”Pogue said of hislate father,Roswell “Ronnie” Pogue. He first appeared on stage in thelast play of the first seasonin1955, and the younger Poguedebuted in “Guys and Dolls,” the first playstagedatSt. Joseph Abbey afterthe fire. He played anewsboy

After being involved withPlaymakers since 2013, Turner said she is excited to use herbachelor’sdegree in theaterand master’sintheater administration at its helm during ahistoric season when the theaterisemerging from challenges.

“We’re righting the ship,” she added.

The theater wanted to open this seasonwithanothercomedywritten by Jones Hope Wooten because of the2023 success of the writing team’scomedy

“Savannah Sipping Society.” “It really put usback on the map.That whole show was sold outatevery run, and we had to addshows. Andthey sold out as well,” Turner said.

Thehumor in TilBeth Do Us Part”

comesfrommanyone-liners, plottwists and high-energy scenes as Beth, aconniving assistant, insinuates herself into her boss’shigh-stress job at achocolate company and her stuck-in-a-rut marriage. There’salso “a lot of digs at the male ego and subtleties that if you’re paying attention, you’ll get them,” Thrush said, adding that he’sdirected pauses for laughter into the scenes.

“I couldn’tbemore pleased with the actors that Ihave, and thechemistry between them, Icouldn’task for anythingbetter,” Thrush said of thecast, which includes Joanna Parr,Shawn Patterson, Stephanie Styles, Jehna Patterson, Laura Hayes, DanielJenkins and Nada Elkassouf.

Some of them are new to the Playmakers’ stage. “Just to see the energy that’s coming out of them in rehearsal, it’sgoing to be funny.I can already feel it,” Thrush said, adding that there are some “fun things planned for opening night “I thinkitwillbeone of thosenights people in the community will want to see. And say,‘Hey,Iwas at the opening night of Playmakers’ 70th season and had areally good time,’”headded.

Theseasonwillrun through July 2025 and will include four other productions: “The Charitable SisterhoodChristmas Spectacular,” Dec. 6-15; “They Promised Her The Moon,” March15-30, “Corpse!,” May 3-18, and “Something Rotten,” July 12-27.

This season, the theater made some changes to help it bounceback from past challenges. That includesgoing fromsix productions to five. But there are more chances to see shows, with the addition of Friday evening curtain times during each production’ssecond and thirdweekends.Evening curtain times will be 7:30 p.m. instead of 7p.m. to help patrons navigate traffic from the Covington bridge construction. The theater also has returned to offering reserved seating.

“It’sanew season,anew year.We’ve got anew board. We’re putting the energy and the enthusiasm back intothe theater,” Thrush said.

To markthe 70th season,Playmakers has placed many archived itemsonits Seasons pages at https://playmakerstheater-05.webself.net/seasons. Each decadealso hasits owndedicated Seasons page, and there is ashort history page at https://playmakers-theater-05. webself.net/history

St.Tammany public schools seek advisory councilapplicants

Staff report

The St. Tammany ParishPublicSchool Systemis accepting applications for membership of the 20242025 STPPS Students with Exceptionalities Advisory Council.

The Students with Exceptionalities Advisory Council is an opportunity for parents, district staff, and special education stakeholders to provide advice and feedbackregarding SWE policies, proceduresand resources. This council will work to increase the level of SWE knowledge,support and collaboration by means of community outreach activities. Membership will be made up of eight members total, with four being parents or legal guardians of children with exceptionalities (other than gifted or talents), two will be principals, teachers or paraprofessionals, and 2will be specialeducationstakeholders.

Members will be appointed to the council by the St. Tammany Parish superintendent of schools for the 2024-2025 school year and will meet three times throughoutthe school year,with awritten report being submitted to the superintendent in March of 2025 regarding its activities. The superintendent will also designate the chair of the council and all meetings shall be conducted in accordance with board policy and state law

Questionsmay be directed to Kerri Soo, director of Students with Exceptionalities at (985) 898-3311.

People interested in servingonthe STPPSSpecial Education Advisory Council must submit the attached application to St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, 321 North Theard Street, Covington, LA 70433, Attn: Kerri Soo, or by email to Kerri. Soo@stpsb.org.

Complete applications must be received no later than 4:30 p.m.onSept. 13. Applications can be found on the STPPS website at: www.stpsb.org/SWEAdvisoryCouncil.

Accessible playgrounds coming to twostate parks

Construction is underway on playground projects at Bogue Chitto and Fontainebleau state parks. Thespecialized playgrounds provide multisensory play experiences enabling children of varying ages and abilities to play and interact together

“While there is still much work to be done, we areone step closer to completion of the new playgrounds that address avariety of needs now that the concrete has been poured at both sites,” Lt. Gov.Billy Nungesser

said. “We’re excited to bring these special playgrounds to reality for children of all abilities to enjoy and explore. We also hope to add projects such as these to our other 19 state parks.” Both playgrounds will measure approximately 7,200-7,300-square-feet. They willnot only have special play equipment, but shaded areas, benches and picnic tables.

Constructionisexpected to be complete in October The playgrounds were funded througha Landand Water Conservation Fund 50% cost-share grant.

Formoreinformation about Louisiana State Parks, go online to visit LaStateParks.com. The Louisiana Office of State Parks also seeks public input that would enhance the state park system.Email ideas to billy@lastateparks. com.

Back to Work 50+ programming planned

Tri-Parish Works, the workforce development agency serving St. Tammany,St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, is accepting registration for its next Back to Work 50+ programs. Back to Work 50+ at Tri-Parish Works provides coachingfor unemployed workers 50 and older so they can build the skills and confidence to compete for high-quality jobs in a fast-changing job market. Available either in-person in Slidell or online, the free program consists of aonehour introductory coaching session, as wellasfourtwohour coaching sessions held over atwo-week period that teach a“roadmap” on how to conduct ajob search.Coaching will culminate with employer networking events in Slidell that will enable participants to meet directly with employers from their targeted business sectors. The next Back to Work 50+ program starts on Sept. 11 for both the Slidell and online workshops. Spots are limited. Reserve aspace by calling (855) 8502525 or go online to aarpfoundation.org/register Whenregistrationiscomplete, entrantswillreceive aconfirmation email with a “Back to Work 7Step Checklist” attached. The checklist outlines the proven steps that thousands of older workers have used in the Back to Work 50+ program to get new jobs. Persons attending the Back to Work 50+ intro session will receive afree copy of the Back to Work in 7Steps Guide. For more information, call Andrea Gazaway at Tri-Parish Works at (985) 646-3940.

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