DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
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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, d e c e m b e r 11, 2024
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White House Christmas memorabilia on display Darlene Denstorff AROUND LIVINGSTON
Christmas in the Village The Kiwanis Lighting of the Christmas Tree is at 6 p.m. Dec. 12, and the Kiwanis Christmas Parade is at 2 p.m. on Dec. 14. The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra will play in the historic district at 6 p.m. Dec. 19, and a Christmas Alive show is at 6 p.m. Dec. 22. For a complete schedule, visit www. cityofdensprings.com or www. denhamspringsantiquedistrict. com.
History of Ponchatoula Pick up a copy of “Ponchatoula, A Community History” by Jim Perrin at CJ’s Antiques, the Ponchatoula Country Market, Bayou Booksellers, The Turquoise Coyote and The Tangi Times News headquarters. This final printing, made with slight revisions of the 318-page history of Ponchatoula, is offered for a limited time. It is an illustrated volume, complete with maps and fully indexed.
ä See AROUND, page 3G
BY VIC COUVILLION Contributing writer
A Christmas card from then President George W. Bush and his family in 2002 received by Livingston Parish resident Richard Iverstine sparked an interest in these special holiday greetings from the White House; an interest that has spurred a remarkable collection of memorabilia that is being shared with others through a presentation at the Denham Springs-Walker Branch of the Livingston Parish Library System. Titled “Merry Christmas from the White House,” the Iverstine Collection, introduced to the public on Dec. 2, will be on display at the library through the end of the month. A special reception honoring Iverstine was held on Thursday, Dec. 5, at the library.
Starts with one card The display, billed as, “Featuring Holiday Cards and Ornaments Dating Back 65 Years from Presidents of the United States,” only
subject from Southeastern Louisiana University. Because of that interest, ultimately collecting White House memorabilia, especially material related to the Christmas holiday, became a natural pursuit. Over the past several years Iverstine has become a storehouse of knowledge about presidential greeting cards and related information about the White House. In pursuit of Christmas cards and ornaments, he searches online sources where cards and other materials can be purchased. Iverstine explained that collecting presidential holiday objects is pursued by many collectors. A wealth of knowledge about collecting is also available through several sources, he explained, and a major resource for information on the subject is a book, “Seasons Greetings from the White House,” other memorabilia is is on display by Mary Evans Sealey. Sealy is the History though memorabilia at the Denham Springs-Walker authoritative source on the subject Branch Library. Iverstine, a one-time resident of of presidential greeting cards. Iverstine explained that when Hammond, said he was always inbegins to tell the story of Iverst- terested in history, a pursuit that ä See COLLECTION, page 2G ine’s quest to become an expert led to his earning a degree in the on Christmas greeting cards from the home of the nation’s presidents and members of their families. Iverstine said he received the Bush holiday card because at the time he was serving on an executive committee in Livingston Parish that somehow merited the gift from the White House. “When I received the card, I thought, ‘that’s nice, receiving a big Christmas card from the president,’” he said. Iverstine said he was struck by the seemingly personal greetings that the card elicited in him. “The beautiful big card came from Crawford, Texas, the president’s home away from the White House. It got me thinking, what is the hisPROVIDED PHOTO tory behind these special Christmas cards? That interest led to Richard Iverstine’s collection of my staring the collection that has White House Christmas cards and grown over the years.”
Parade in the park
Charles Salzer SPORTS ROUNDUP
French Settlement coach does double duty on basketball court The life of any high school basketball coach can feel like it has slipped into overdrive at this time of year, and no one knows that better than French Settlement’s Jake Bourgeois. Now in his sixth season as head coach of the French Settlement boys team, Bourgeois took over as head coach of the Lions’ girls team after longtime coach Daniel Martin retired. Playing basketball is best left for young bodies, but coaching two teams at once? Double ditto for Bourgeois, a 2009 French Settlement graduate. “Luckily, I have a great principal in John Chewning, who helps me out with schedules and teaching, and I’ve got really good assistant coaches,” Bourgeois said last Saturday after the Lions girls improved to 8-3 with a 41-26 win over
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Jaxson Maguire, 3, gives the Grinch a high five during the City of Walker Children’s Parade and Christmas in the Park held in Sidney Hutchinson Park on Saturday.
PHOTOS BY DAVID NORMAND
Three-year-old Parish Alexander, and Boone Alexander, 2, ride a four wheeler as paradegoers line the route with bags ready for throws.
Nine-month-old Joshua Brown, left, Maela Brown, 3, Layla Bentley, 1, and Rowan Brown, 4, wait for the start of the parade.
Members of the Walker High School marching band play Christmas songs as they strolled through the park.
School librarian sues New Jersey ‘library watchdog’ for defamation BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
A Louisiana elementary school librarian is suing a New Jersey man for his allegedly defamatory comments on social media that range from calling the librarian a “domestic terrorist” to a “child groomer.” Amanda Jones, a Livingston Parish school librarian, filed one lawsuit in Louisiana and one in New Jersey against Dan Kleinman, a
New Jersey resident and self-proclaimed “library watchdog.” She filed them under counts of defamation and false light. The lawsuit details mainly online posts Kleinman has made about Jones and also an appearance he made in Louisiana. Kleinman has been a “library watchdog” for the past 25 years where he “has been chronicling cases of perverts protected by public libraries at the expense of the safety of children,” ac-
cording to his social media accounts. He runs the website SafeLibraries, where he writes about challenged books and libraries across the country, including comments about Jones. “These falsehoods are very dangerous. They make me feel unsafe. They make a lot of librarians feel unsafe,” Jones wrote on her website about filing the lawsuits against Kleinman. “The cavalry is not coming. Nobody will protect me or other
librarians, so I made the difficult decision to file this lawsuit and protect myself.” The lawsuit includes nearly 100 online posts Kleinman has made about Jones calling her a “groomer,” a “domestic terrorist” and someone that “preys” on children, believing she gives children inappropriate books. The lawsuit also states that Kleinman has said Jones gives sexually explicit books including “Spanking for Lovers” and “The Ultimate
Guide to Kink” to children, which the lawsuit says is a false and damaging statement. Kleinman said he has a feeling of déjà vu from these lawsuits. “I have expected this kind of thing; in fact it has already happened. I’ve already been sued twice for defamation,” he said. One example was in 2014, when an Illinois library district public information officer filed a civil defamation
lawsuit against Kleinman and others alleging that they used social media in ways to defame her. After a lot of back and forth, a judge dismissed the defamation case against him. Kleinman believes it is not defamation “to report on somebody using antigay hate” to prevent child pornography from being in libraries, he said. The lawsuit states that
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