DONALDSONVILLE • DUTCHTOWN • GEISMAR • GONZALES • PRAIRIEVILLE • ST. AMANT
ADVOCATE THE ASCENSION
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, J u n e 18, 2025
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Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Ascension Pride Festival Saturday Ascension Parish Pride’s inaugural event is Saturday at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center’s Trademart building. Organizers say the event is “a family-friendly day of entertainment, empowerment, and community connection.” Attendees can expect drag performances, a dog fashion show, a dance party, local vendors, kids’ activities, and resource booths representing LGBTQ+ advocacy and support organizations. “We’re excited to host an inclusive and welcoming space where people from all walks of life can come together to celebrate identity, progress, and unity,” said Alysha Belgard, Ascension Parish Pride chair. “This is about visibility, community, and creating safe spaces for self-expression.”
Goat yoga was held May 24 at the Old Rusty Gate Farm in Livingston.
PHOTOS BY MOLLY BAHLINGER
GOOD NATURE
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From goat yoga to cow therapy, connect with animals at area farms PHOTO BY TROY LEBOEUF
Stephen Sullivan and football camp director Tyler Brown during a recent summer camp in Donaldsonville.
Sullivan hosts 3rd annual camp at Donaldsonville Donaldsonville, LSU and current NFL tight end Stephen Sullivan recently hosted his third annual camp at his alma mater. Troy Sullivan’s free LeBoeuf camp was for ASCENSION youth from DonSPORTS aldsonville and the surrounding area. Sullivan understands the importance of positive activity and role models. “As I have said before, this along with the local coaches, volunteers, area business partners and my camp director, Tyler Brown, feel like this is
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BY SERENA PUANG Staff writer
The tragedy of selling the family farm is a plot line so common that it’s become a trope. A family farm is loved, carefully tended to and passed down, but the next generation doesn’t want to or can’t be farmers. But selling the family farm isn’t the only option anymore. Maybe a rebrand is in order, which is what Sarah Allen did when she inherited her family’s farm in Livingston. When Allen’s grandparents died, their farm was passed down to her father and then eventually to her. When she moved to the house on the property, she did not want to be a farmer. She had just welcomed twins to the world. But after living in her grandparents’ old house and figuring out the daily routine, Allen and her husband started to accept farm life. They got chickens and started gardening. Today, she and her family operate Old Rusty Gate Farm in Livingston on that same property. They provide goat yoga, soap making classes and other events. Raising animals is hard work and involves a lot more than what people see on social media. Plus, there are aspects of it that are de-
Sarah Allen is the owner of Old Rusty Gate Farm, where she hosts goat yoga, parties and soap-making classes. cidedly not aesthetic: animals give birth, have bowel movements and die. But in recent years, whether it’s to justify a hobby or to carry on a family tradition, people are creating wellness experiences on farms around Baton Rouge.
Goat yoga Allen’s daughter, Rose Allen, 15, has worked on the farm since the beginning. She assists with soapmaking classes and helps participants interact with the goats during goat yoga. She thinks of life on the farm as a lifestyle that she’s
sharing with others. “This is something people love, and it’s not something that’s fake. It’s not something that we’ve propped and made it look a certain way,” Rose Allen said. “It’s just how we live.” The family started offering goat yoga almost a decade ago as a fundraiser for their church. There was so much interest that they had to turn people away. In the spring and fall, Old Rusty Gate Farm still offers classes and aims
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