DONALDSONVILLE • DUTCHTOWN • GEISMAR • GONZALES • PRAIRIEVILLE • ST. AMANT
Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Health Fair at Geismar church Saturday
THE ASCENSION
AD DVOCA VOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, s e p t e m b e r 18, 2024
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NATURE WALK
The First Pilgrim Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, in collaboration with Southern University, is hosting a Health Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Geismar church. The health fair will conduct health screenings for hearing, vision, blood pressure, cholesterol and other free exams.
The circus is coming to town While Hurricane Francine canceled the planned Carden International Circus, the event has been rescheduled for Oct. 19-20 at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. Tickets purchased will be honored for the same day and times as originally scheduled. For additional information, visit spectacularcircus.com.
ä See AROUND, page 2G
STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
An Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. crew member repairs a line Friday in Ascension Parish.
A Viceroy butterfly flutters around the Amite River Wildlife Sanctuary. Butterflies are abundant at the 36-acre sanctuary. Visitors can hike along a half dozen trails shaded by large cypress and oak trees.
36-acre sanctuary offers shady haven Week 2 results Troy LeBoeuf ASCENSION SPORTS
… Hurricane and all
Week two of the high school football season is supposed to be when teams make major improvements from their jamborees and week one. But this season, teams were dealing with much more than that as Hurricane Francine made its presence in south Louisiana. Families were dealing with no school, no power and uncertainty. Being resilient is nothing new for the folks around here and so many acts of kindness were displayed throughout the storm and after. Ascension Catholic and St. Amant had their games canceled due to Hurricane Francine. The Gators were slated to play at Cecilia and the Bulldogs were traveling to Loreauville. Results from this week are mixed for the teams in our parish, but getting to play football brought some normalcy to these kids’ lives. Let’s hope this football season doesn’t have to deal with another weather event.
Week 2 East Ascension 38, Salmen 15 Coach Brock Matherne and the Spartans got the win on the road, his first victory as their head coach. The Spartans will be back on the road heading west to Sam Houston in the Lake Charles area. District play begins in week four at Denham Springs. Dutchtown 31, Ponchatoula 13 Coach Guy Mistretta and the Griffins are off to a 2-0 start. The Griffins have a complementary offense with a good balance of run and pass. The defense has been impressive, holding both opponents in
ä See LEBOEUF, page 2G
BY WENDY LOUP Contributing writer
Nestled in the trees surrounding the Amite River in Ascension Parish lies a 36-acre sanctuary offering hikers, birders and nature enthusiasts a fun, shady haven. The Amite River Wildlife Sanctuary, sponsored by the Baton Rouge Audubon Society, provides protection of the diminishing habitat of birds, butterflies and other wildlife, according to Jane Patterson, president of the society and sanctuary manager. The sanctuary, free for visitors, is near the Amite River between Prairieville and Port Vincent at 45141 Manny Guitreau Road in Prairieville. “There really aren’t many areas in the Ascension Parish area that would qualify as a sanctuary,” Patterson said. “There are wildlife management areas that are natural green spaces managed mostly for hunting, fishing and other recreational purposes. “Our sanctuary is a natural space set aside for people to explore, see and learn about our native plants and animals. There are trees on the property that are hundreds of years old, and we feature a couple of these to emphasize the culture of the area.” One of the many offerings for visitors of the sanctuary includes a legacy cypress tree. Dated by the Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy Organization, the cypress tree is estimated to be be-
BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
For nearly two days, 81-year-old Ascension Parish resident Redina Lee had been living without lights, air conditioning or running water and had a collapsed hall ceiling. The power went out Wednesday night at her home in a rural pocket of the Galvez area as Hurricane Francine tore through the state. Not only did the wallboard in her ceiling cave in, but a lack of power knocked out the well that feeds water to her family’s homes off La. 933. Since the widespread outages that cut power to almost all of Ascension, Lee, a retired housekeeper, had been living off big plastic jugs of water collected in a corner of a well-lived-in kitchen that had raised five children. Then, late in the morning Friday, something chimed in the living room. The overhead room lights flipped on. “It’s on. Look that,” said Evelyn Johnson, Redina Lee’s youngest daughter, now in her late 40s. “Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord,” Lee said,
ä See HURRICANE, page 3G PHOTOS BY WENDY LOUP
Trees and plants at the Amite River Wildlife Sanctuary feature signs with QR codes that link to the Baton Rouge Audubon Society’s webpage containing information including how people can grow the foliage in their own landscape.
The Amite River Wildlife Sanctuary, sponsored by the Baton Rouge Audubon Society, is a hidden gem in Ascension Parish. Located near the Amite River between Prairieville and Port Vincent at 45141 Manny Guitreau Road in Prairieville, the 36-acre sanctuary is a haven for hikers, birders and nature enthusiasts. tween 400 and 600 years old. The sanctuary also is home to a live oak that is approximately 23 feet in circumference and estimated to be at least 350 years old, according to the sanctuary. Across the river near the bridge in Port Vincent stands a marker placed in 2021 to designate the site as part of the William Bartram Trail.
Bartram was an explorer who documented the flora and people of the southeast United States from 177377. He traveled from Lake Pontchartrain through Lake Maurepas and up the Amite River to Baton Rouge, according to his own writings. The sanctuary also honors the Chitimacha Tribe and
ä See HAVEN, page 3G
HOME EQUITY RENOVATE
Ascension comes together after hurricane leaves downed trees, damaged homes
GENERATE
Deputies rescue woman pinned under tree during Francine BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT
Staff writer
The full force of Hurricane Francine was bearing down on Ascension Parish when sheriff’s deputies got the call: Someone was trapped under a tree. Buffeted by strong winds — parts of the parish were seeing 80 mph gusts — Capt. Jeff Griffin and Lt. Jason Kling went out with Donaldsonville firefighters around 7:43 p.m. to the 900 block of Elizabeth Street and found the woman pinned under a large tree that had fallen in the storm. The deputies used chain saws and jacks to extricate her. They freed her around 8:47 p.m., and Acadian Ambulance took her to Prevost Memorial Hospital for injuries to her arm and right knee. “The good Lord was with her,” said Griffin. “Six inches one way or the other and it would have crushed her.” Griffin said they didn’t know why the woman was out while there were fierce wind gusts and significant storm damage. “You had houses, trees down, rain, you know, flying metal, that type thing,” he said. “ … It was intense.”
LOAN -ORLINE OF CREDIT RECREATE
(225) 621-2800 | www.ascensioncu.org