DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
ADVOCATE THE LIVINGSTON -TANGIPAHOA
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
Darlene Denstorff AROUND LIVINGSTON
Stroll through downtown Denham Springs Fall Festival Experience the charm of downtown Denham Springs on Saturday at the Fall Festival. Stroll along Range Avenue through over 150 vendor booths featuring antiques, art, crafts, greenery and more. Enjoy food favorites like jambalaya, burgers and funnel cakes. Take a walk down Mattie Street to explore local creativity and listen to music at Train Station Park. Also step into antique stores, browse seasonal sales, visit the Old City Hall exhibits and soak in the fall atmosphere while people watching from cozy rest areas.
Parish Fair kicks off with parade The Livingston Parish Fair, Oct. 7-12, kicks off Saturday with a parade. Departing from Doyle Elementary School near Will Hughes Road, the parade advances north on La. 63 and wraps up at the fairgrounds via U.S. 190. Fire trucks, police vehicles, floats, marching bands, dance teams and costumed groups makes its way alongside horseback riders and covered wagons. Participants are judged in different age divisions upon returning to the fairgrounds. Organized by volunteers Rip Jones, Nancy Stewart and Derek Gardner, this parade celebrates both modern charm and longheld traditions. Find the Livingston Parish Fair schedule at livingstonparishfair. com.
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W e d n e s d ay, O c t o b e r 1, 2025
Livingston improves federal flood rating Rating System of Class media post. proactive approach to reducing Residents should munity 7 from the Federal Emergency Improving the class rating has flood risk aligns with the Louisiana Agency. required the parish to work with Department of Insurance’s broadsee discount on Management The rating system is a volun- FEMA on a community audit, in- er goal of creating a more resilient FEMA program that recog- spections and fixing any potential Louisiana to make insurance afinsurance premiums tary nizes and encourages community violations, he said. fordable in our great state.”
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
Livingston Parish residents will soon see their flood insurance premiums drop by 15% after the parish successfully improved its federal flood rating. Beginning in April, Livingston residents will get a discount that will come to more than $1 million annually, said Parish President Randy Delatte. After working at it for years, the parish announced in late August that it had achieved a Com-
flood plain management practices such as local mitigation. A lower CRS class rating means a higher discount on flood insurance for a parish or county. Livingston Parish has been on a long journey to improve its rating class. The parish had a Class 9 rating in the early 2000s, which gave a 5% discount on insurance premiums. After the 2016 flood, however, the parish went up to a Class 10 rating and lost the discount. “This isn’t just a rating. It’s proof that when we work together, we do more than fix roads and bridges,” Delatte said in a social
“When we took office, we made a promise we would not forget. We would fight to protect families from ever facing that kind of loss again,” Delatte said. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple applauded Livingston, along with Jefferson Parish. In a news release Wednesday, he said the parish leaders deserve recognition for their work to reduce flood insurance costs. “These achievements are a direct result of their dedicated efforts to build stronger and more resilient communities,” Temple said in the release. “Their
Live Oak winning with potent offense
Chamber golf tourney The Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce is planning its 30th annual Golf Outing on Oct. 17 at Carter Plantation in Springfield. Registration is underway for sponsors and teams. Visit business.livingstonparishchamber.org for information.
At the library Check out these programs at branches of the Livingston Parish Library. Bright Star Theatre sets productions: Bright Star Theatre is coming to two Livingston Parish Library branches Saturday. The troupe will preform at the Albany-Springfield branch “Franken-Bully,” at 10:30 a.m.; and at the Denham Springs-Walker branch, “The Legend of Sleep Hollow” at 1:30 p.m. and “A Tell-Tale Tale: The Stories & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe” at 2:45 p.m.
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Delatte said there’s another FEMA discount available to Livingston residents. Starting Wednesday, if an air conditioner, furnace, hot water heater or solar battery system is elevated above the first floor or built at a base flood elevation, homeowners can qualify for a 5% discount on flood insurance. “These combined changes mean your insurance bill can go down even more,” Delatte said. Email Claire Grunewald at claire.grunewald@theadvocate. com.
‘One of a kind’
Inclusive camp finding permanent home BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
Tangipahoa Parish Fair Oct. 1-5 Visit the Florida Parishes Arena on Wednesday through Sunday for the Tangipahoa Fair. To register as a vendor or to find information, visit tangifair.org/ forms.
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STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
Live Oak quarterback Cayden Jones looks to throw from the pocket against Dunham in the second quarter Sept. 11 at BREC’s Olympia Stadium in Baton Rouge. Is it too early to say that the Live Oak football team has one of the most potent offensive attacks it has ever fielded? The Eagles have been flying high in recent weeks thanks to an offense that has given opponents fits. After scoring 13 points in a season-opening loss to St. Paul’s, Live Oak has averaged 33.6 points in its past three games. Those kinds of numbers will get your attention. Last week, Live Oak posted a 38-31 win at Walker as it improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in District 5-5A. To put that into context, it was the Eagles first win over the Wildcats since 2020 and their fourth since 2015. Regardless, whether winning or losing, Live Oak’s 38 points was the most it scored against Walker in any of those games. There are several key factors for the offensive outburst, the foremost being the emergence of senior quarterback Cayden Jones, who completed 25 of 32
Charles Salzer SPORTS ROUNDUP
passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns against Walker. That came on the heels of back-to-back 400-yard games against Dunham and Ponchatoula. If Jones’ production seems like it has come from out of nowhere, its because he wasn’t the Eagles full-time quarterback last season. “Last year, they had me doing a little bit of everything — running back, receiver, some quarterback,” Jones said after the Walker game. “I wasn’t really throwing the ball as much. I was just
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When Leslie Wascom and Jessica Bonura founded Camp United in 2015, they wanted to create a space that was inclusive, where students of all abilities could build self-confidence and foster friendships during the summer break. Fast-forward 15 years, and that’s exactly what they’ve built — and then some. After hosting sessions at various facilities throughout the parish, Camp United, also known as Camp UP, is finally getting a permanent home in Livingston Parish. “I want our community and the whole state of Louisiana, not just Livingston Parish, to be able to come to a property that all kids can enjoy,” Wascom said. The two women have 40 years of combined experience. Wascom has taught adapted physical education for 20 years, and Bonura is a special education teacher who has taught in the area of disabilities/ autism for 20 years. In the beginning of Camp Up, Bonura and Wascom only offered summer camp sessions. Today, they offer several camps throughout the year and have increased in the number of participants. Each session can accommodate 45 to 60 campers for ages 3 and up of any ability for four hours. Parents have the option to enroll their children in just one day at camp, or up to one week. Every camp is different with varying themes, such as “Theatre Camp” or “Jurassic Camp.” Each camper is assigned a counselor, or “buddy,” and the camp also has a paraprofessional on site. Mary Ballard, of Denham Springs, originally thought the camp, like the majority of inclusive camps, was only for children. That was not the case, though, with Bonura and Wascom’s model. Ballard’s 29-year-old son, Christopher, who has Down syndrome, first attended Camp UP as a guest speaker in his early 20s. He has been going to the camp ever since in various roles, such as a camper, speaker and peer role model.
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