DONALDSONVILLE • DUTCHTOWN • GEISMAR • GONZALES • PRAIRIEVILLE • ST. AMANT
THE ASCENSION
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
W e d n e s d ay, O c t o b e r 29, 2025
1GN
Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Halloween hours set Watch out for ghosts, ghouls and goblins from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday as children take to the streets for Halloween.
Don’t forget to set your clocks Daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 2. Be sure to adjust your clocks back an hour. Daylight saving time will begin March 8.
Trunk-or-Treat Stop by All Star Ford/Lincoln in Prairieville from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, for a trunk-or-treat event with prizes and costume contest.
Boots on the Bayou Boots on the Bayou Music Festival is coming to LamarDixon Expo Center Oct. 31 – Nov. 1 with an all-star country music lineup including Keith Urban and Chris Stapleton. For a complete lineup and ticket information, visit https:// botbmusic.com.
Boo and the Badge Visit the Wag Center, 1221 Maginnis St., Donaldsonville from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday for Boo and The Badge. The event features a haunted house, candy, food and music.
Farmers market Donaldsonville’s Farmers Market is from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in Louisiana Square, 300 Block of Railroad Ave.
New Song Community’s Fall Festival Food, artisan market, inflatables, and music are planned for New Song Community Church’s Fall Festival. The festival is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 1 at the church, 18465 Old Perkins Road, Prairieville.
Leadership Ascension seeking applications The Ascension Chamber of Commerce has announced that applications are open for the 2026 Leadership Ascension Program, a communitycentered experience that has shaped the parish’s most influential leaders for 30 years, organizers said.
ä See AR OUND, page 2G
PHOTO BY WENDY LOUP
Dressed as mayonnaise, pickle relish and a hot dog, Tatum Dugas, right, hands out candy while Christi Fontenot and her dog, Parcel, help during the Arc of East Ascension Trunk-or-Treat Drive Thru in Gonzales. Hundreds of cars lined up along Worthy Street for the event.
EASY TREAT
Arc of East Ascension provides safe, comfortable trick-or-treat experience for families BY WENDY LOUP Contributing writer
Cars carrying hundreds of children dressed in costume received candy and goodie bags from local Ascension businesses during the fifth annual Arc of East Ascension Trunk-or-Treat drive thru. Families patiently waited in cars along Worthey Street in Gonzales to receive goodies Oct. 15. To help treaters feel comfortable, families remained in vehicles while vendors passed out the treats. Ascension Parish government, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Gonzales Jambalaya Festival Association helped provide volunteers, traffic control and jambalaya.
‘Ghoul Scouts’ Brit Caro, left, passes out goodie bags along with Kaitlyn Motichek from Church Funeral Services & Crematory. ä More photos. PAGE 2G
Kick-boxing, jump-roping, line-dancing in first Donaldsonville Family Fit Fest BY WENDY LOUP Contributing writer
PHOTO BY WENDY LOUP
Boo at the Barn
Bailey McGown, a sixth grader at Prairieville Middle School, right, and Michael Nethken, a St. Amant High School graduate, help 5-year-old Lillian Law, of St. Amant, ride a horse during St. Amant High School’s Boo at the Barn. ä More photos. PAGE 4G
Donaldsonville residents, both young and old, linedanced, jump-roped, and kick-boxed Saturday during the Family Fit Fest at Crescent Park. While temperatures were cooler than they have been, scattered showers moved activities to the covered archway of the Crescent Park square. Family Fit Fest was hosted by Healthy Ascension, which is a partnership between Our Lady of the Lake Health and Ascension Parish Government. Attendees gathered nutritional and health information from tents featuring businesses and organiPHOTO BY WENDY LOUP zations in Ascension Parish including West Ascension Hospital, Ascension Parish Library and Ascen- A jump roping contest was one of the many physical sion Credit Union. fitness activities for attendees of Saturday’s Family The first-year event in Donaldsonville marked a Fit Fest in Donaldsonville. The event was hosted by continuing effort to help Donaldsonville, as well as all of Ascension Parish, become healthier as a com- Healthy Ascension, Our Lady of the Lake Health and Ascension Parish government. munity. “We really wanted to bring health and fitness to everyone,” said Chabry Marks, senior director of The event attracted mostly older participants who operations at OLOL Health. “Along with Ascension enjoyed line dancing in the park. Parish Government, we want to help citizens have “I wanted to introduce new things to our older equal opportunity access and care whether that’s on ä See FIT, page 2G the east or west sides of the river.”