ABITA SPRINGS • BARKER’S CORNER • BUSH • COVINGTON • FOLSOM • LACOMBE MADISONVILLE • MANDEVILLE • PEARL RIVER • SLIDELL
Farmer The St.Tammany
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S T TA M M A N Y FA R M E R.N E T
Longtime artist David Kelsey has designed and created the first permanent Abita Nature Center sign with a nod to the property’s history as a hummingbird banding station and sanctuary for birds and wildlife.
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Celebrating Independence Day, Page 4A
W e d n e s d ay, J u n e 25, 2025
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Birds, bees and trees FILE PHOTO
The Southern magnolia, like this one in Covington, is Louisiana’s state flower, known for its heady fragrance and large, milky white blossoms. An ordinance coming before the Mandeville City Council on July 10 would protect magnolias during construction in the city.
Mandeville council delays tree protection vote to July 10 BY KIM CHATELAIN Contributing writer
The regulations in place to protect Mandeville’s vaunted tree canopy appear to be a bit overrated, according to City Council member Scott Discon. Discon, former chairman and 10-year member of the city’s parks and parkways commission, said discussions he’s had with residents indicate a misconception that Mandeville has the strongest tree laws in the region. Not so, Discon says.
PHOTOS BY MATT DOBBINS
Is this blossom cluster hanging in the woods at the developing Abita Springs Nature Center a crossvine or a trumpet vine, both vigorous growing natives with look-alike blooms favored by hummingbirds often present on the site? But there are differences that visitors to the Nature Center can learn about during a class, a workshop, or a field trip, all of which will be offered regularly when the facility open in early 2026.
ä See MANDEVILLE, page 3A
Sheriff announces date for annual tax sale
New nature center will serve and conserve Abita Springs
BY SHEILA GRISSETT Staff writer
Something big is happening in this small town of almost 2,900 people that could cast a long, green shadow in Abita Springs for generations. The new Abita Springs Nature Center is coming to life on 8.84 acres of mostly wooded green space in the heart of town, just down Main Street from the post office, where some townspeople still pass by daily to swap news with friends and neighbors.
Abita Springs is still that kind of place, and it’s going to be that kind of Nature Center, say the civic volunteers, naturalists and green space proponents supporting it. No pilie driving. No high-rises or scaffolding. Just plenty of birds, bees and trees. “It’s smack in the middle of town, right at the corner of Main and Pine (streets), a place of natural beauty for the public to learn about and enjoy nature,” says Martha Gruning, president of both the nonprofit Abita Springs Nature Center Advisory Board that will operate the center on site,
Editor’s note: There was such a positive response to our “Where Are They Now?” stories last year that we’re bringing the series back to the pages of the St. Tammany Farmer this summer. We asked that question about some of the best athletes in local sports and then we went out and found them. This summer, we’ll reacquaint readers with some of these familiar faces. We’ll take a deep dive into stories that began in youth leagues, continued at local high schools and then colleges near and far. Many of these homegrown talents played professionally, too, reaching the pinnacle of athletic achievement. This week, we feature baseball standoutturned-coach Mike Federico.
as well as the Abita Springs Nature Center Foundation, the project’s fundraising arm. “It’s a treasure, a place where you can just wander and enjoy nature without running into a hundred other people,” she says. “You can see nature all around, and you can hear it.” The Nature Center property — about the size of 11 football fields — includes a cypress-ringed pond and woodlands backing up to the scenic Abita River. A bucolic
In anticipation of its annual ä List of tax sale on July 29, the St. properties. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s OfPAGE 8B fice has advertised the list of delinquent properties in this edition of The St. Tammany Farmer. The list also will be posted under “Public Notices” on the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s
ä See CENTER, page 2A
ä See SALE, page 2A
Staff report
CATCHING ON
Former PJP II baseball standout Mike Federico takes key job at La. Tech BY DARREN COOPER Contributing writer
Mike Federico was driving his son Hayden, a freshman at Ole Miss, up to Cape Cod to play in the famed Cape Cod summer baseball
Mike Federico
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league. He was also driving into the unknown. The former Pope John Paul II baseball star had, only weeks before, been dismissed after eight years as head baseball coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Leading a Division 1 baseball program was a dream come true, and Federico has nothing bad to say about his years in Monroe, repeatedly saying how blessed he was to have the opportunity.
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ä See FEDERICO, page 3A
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