Zachary Plainsman-Advocate 10-29-2025

Leila Pitchford AROUND ZACHARY

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.

Church festival set for Nov. 1

Novemberfest at St. Patrick’s is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Nov

1. Food, games, a bake sale, classic cars, an obstacle course, crafters and vendors as well as community entertainment will be on had.

The church and school are at 1322 Church St., Zachary Pack the pantry Schools in the Zachary Community School District will be competing in Pack the Pantry Nov 3-20. Students will try to collect the most food for the food pantry

Louisiana School to hold meeting in Baton Rouge

Representatives from the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts in Natchitoches will host an informational session for prospective students and their families at 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov 1, at the Louisiana Culinary Institute, 10550 Airline Highway, Baton Rouge.

CAMARADERIE IN STITCHES

Zachary police launching program for sharing security footage

BY OLIVIA MCCLURE

Contributing writer

rity camera footage with officers. Police Chief Darryl Lawrence announced the program, called Connect Zachary, at Mayor David McDavid’s annual prayer luncheon Oct 24. People who sign up will be able to send officers videos that capture suspicious activity or offer clues that could help crack crimes.

“Anyone who has a camera that’s registered with us at the police department, we’ll have the ability to — if there’s a crime that’s committed in your neighborhood — we can go back and we can send out a mass text to people in that area, that particular time, date, whatever we’re looking for,” Lawrence said. “If you can see anything that’s suspicious at all on your camera, we’re going to ask you to send that footage to us so that we can start our investigation.”

He said privacy will be protected.

Warren Brady ZACHARY SPORTS

The Zachary High boys crosscountry team finished first and the girls finished second in the Zachary Broncos Cross-Country Stampede at Port Hudson on Oct. 18. Over 780 athletes competed with 222 adult coaches/volunteers assisting with the event and many spectators.

Top finishers for the boys were Tyson Franklin, fifth at 17:47.75; Vincent Bodine, eighth at 17:54.75, and Carson Southall, 10th at 18:11.99. Blair Smith, fourth, was the top runner and top 10 finisher for the girls with a time of 21:14.96.

Twenty-one boys and 18 girls teams competed in the threemile course at the park. Crosscountry coach Julie Fink commented that “running off with a first-place varsity boys team champion trophy, a girls varsity team runner-up plaque and for top 10 finishes is what I call a great cross-country day.”

The Broncos will compete in the EBR Metro Championship Oct. 29, followed by regionals Catch up on the Zachary Stampede results

“People are always concerned that we’re going to be logging into your cameras at home and all of this, and that’s not what we’ll do,” he said. “The only time we can do anything with your camera is if you send us a link.” Between cellphones and security systems, cameras are everywhere nowadays, Lawrence said Connect Zachary will allow business owners and residents to join forces with police to leverage that technology to keep the city safe.

“A lot of the crime that is solved by law enforcement is solved by the help of the community,” Lawrence said.

BY OLIVIA MCCLURE Contributing writer

BY LEILA PITCHFORD Staff writer

AROUND

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LSMSA is a tuition-free, public high school for highachieving sophomores, juniors, and seniors Learn more online at LSMSA.edu

The sessions are free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to register online before the day of the session at lsmsa. edu/info-sessions.

“Information sessions are such a great opportunity for families across the state to get a closer look at the LSMSA experience,” said Emily Shumate, LSMSA’s director of Enrollment and Student Success. “It’s always inspiring to see

students and their families discover the opportunities that await them here.”

Trick-or-Treat

n Trick-or-treating hours in Zachary are 6 p.m to 8 p.m., Friday, Oct 31 — reversing an earlier decision to hold the festivities earlier n City and police department of Baker are hosting Treat Street from 6 to 8 p.m Oct. 31 at Baker City Park, next to City Hall, 3325 Groom Road.

Prepare for the Zachary Christmas Parade

The 2025 Zachary Christmas Parade will be themed “Christmas Movie Spectacular.”

It will roll at 10 a.m Dec.

6 from Rouses on Church Street to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Entry fee is $100, and the deadline to apply for a spot in the parade is Nov 17. Sign up at forms.office.com/r/ b8qkhsEujS. Donations sought for St. Vincent de Paul

A Fill-a-Truck event to help St. Vincent de Paul will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Nov 1 in the St. John the Baptist Church parking lot.

Donations accepted include furniture, working appliances, lamps, pots and pans, household items, gently used clothing, baby clothes and items, shoes, coats, bedspreads, and

sheets. All items need to be in boxes or plastic bags. Mattresses and box springs will not be accepted. Veterans Parade coming

A Salute to Veterans Parade will be held Nov 11 in Zachary Veterans are invited to ride in the parade. Local antique car owners will drive them in the parade.

Antique cars will line up at the Regional Veterans Park immediately following the Veterans Day Ceremony Departure the Lane Hospital parking lot with a police escort at 9 a.m. The route begins at the Bank of Zachary at 9:15 a.m. and ends at Zachary High School. Veterans should sign up at forms.office.com/r/TTJN-

W8ntu5.Car owners should sign up at forms.office. com/r/TLWs1mxdw0.

Reach out to ashleigh mchugh@cityofzachary.org or darren.spears@zacharyschools.org with questions.

Zoo to host car show

The inaugural Rumble in the Jungle will roll into town from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov 1, bringing together car lovers, families and animal enthusiasts.

This event will showcase an array of vehicles — from classic cruisers to custom builds — set against the backdrop of the zoo grounds. Attendees can enjoy a full day of animal encounters, family-friendly activities and cars, included with the price of admission.

QUILTING

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The guild meets two times a month at the Zachary Branch of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library It meets from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the second Tuesday and the fourth Thursday of each month. People who would like to join should come to a meeting, Elaine Stewart said. Members said they enjoy the camaraderie and learning from each other Pam Flotte said she is a newer member and “I learn stuff every project.”

Meeting at the library allows the group to access large tables to spread quilts on to trim to size. Members also help each other At the recent meeting, Stewart helped finish a quilt Mary Quebedeaux needed for a Christmas present by binding it. Quebedeaux recently injured her dominant arm. While members do bring quilts to work on, often they bring other fiber projects, including crochet and types of embroidery The group accepts donations of fabric and scraps. Email Leila Pitchford at lpitchford@theadvocate.com.

Vehicle registration is open through Oct. 10. Visit brzoo.org/rumble for registration details and event updates.

Walk your neighborhood in Baker District 3 District 3 Community Walks will continue at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30. The events are hosted by Desiree Odell-Collins, District 3 supporters and resource partners. People should meet at Redemption Life Fellowship, 2400 Debra Drive, Baker Text (225) 954-3360 to receive updates on future walks.

Email Leila Pitchford at lpitchford@theadvocate. com.

the World Series.

“At one point in time within the last 10 years, it was the fourth-most exciting play in Major League Baseball history,” Bream recalled to a lunchtime audience in Zachary Oct. 24.

These days, however, it’s speaking to groups like those gathered for Mayor David McDavid’s annual prayer luncheon that Bream is best known for Since he retired from professional baseball in 1995, Bream has spent his time doing motivational speaking and sharing his journey as a Christian.

He brought a message centered on faith to Zachary for the event, which was held at First Baptist Church.

On his way into town earlier in the day, Bream said, he found inspiration for his talk in a contemporary Christian song called “Basics of Life.” Bream quoted some of the lyrics, which describe a world drifting from truth and needing to return to a foundation built on faith and virtues such as love.

“What is truth?” he asked the audience. “Where do you get your truth?”

For Bream, it comes from the Bible — and he encouraged the audience to read it regularly especially when they face struggles. He urged them to avoid turning to alcohol and drug abuse, anger and even suicide to cope with life’s problems.

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said.

Bream also implored audience members to “break the chain” of societal trends.

“When we see one out of two marriages going down in our churches to divorce, we know something’s wrong,” he said. “When we see 80% to 85% of people that are in jail coming from fatherless homes, we know something’s wrong.”

Mc Davi d pr ese nt e d Bream a souvenir baseball bat and thanked everyone who participated in the event. They included: n Zachary High School JROTC members, who pre-

sented the colors; student Tyson Kimble, who led the Pledge of Allegiance; student Cullen Howard, who introduced Bream as the guest speaker; and choir

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and band

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Northwestern loses to Community School for Apprenticeship Learning

Northwestern Middle football team lost to Community School for Apprenticeship Learning 16 to 38 on Oct 7.

SPORTS

BRADY

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Nov 6 and the state championship at Northwestern State in Natchitoches on Nov 17.

Coach Fink thanked the volunteers, sponsors, Zachary Community School District and DEMCO She also provided effusive praise for the Port Hudson Site Manager Daniel Goyer and the rest of the park personnel who “have been so supportive of the fifth through 12th grade Zachary crosscountry program.”

Later in the day, the Northwestern Braves hosted the “Battlefield Run,” also at Port Hudson. The Northwestern Middle School girls team finished fifth and the Copper Mill Elementary girls finished seventh overall in the 2-mile run. On the boy’s side Copper Mill finished fifth and Northwestern finished ninth overall in a competitive field of over 20 teams. The boys top finisher was Gerrett Anthony, 11th at

13:10.39, from Northwestern and Hudson Broussard, 19th at 13:27.88 from Copper Mill. Maci Septs, 13th at 16:03.89, was the top finisher for the Northwestern girls and Zoe Raper, 20th at 16:56.72, was the top finisher for Copper Mill.

Crunch time as Zachary sports closes out October

For many middle and high school fall sports the last week of October is “crunch time” or, if performance meets expectations, “title time.”

The Northwestern Braves closed out the 2025 season on Oct. 28 with the district championship on the line against Central at Central. Coach Aaron Odom’s Braves defeated Brusly 42-6 on Oct 21 to raise their record to 6-3.

On the same day, the ZHS volleyball team closed out the regular season at home against Woodlawn.

At the time of writing, the Broncos (17-10) have a 19th power ranking, which would put them on the road for the playoffs.

Coach Cheri Perry and the Broncos will learn playoffs pairings and brackets on Nov 3.

On Oct. 29, the ZHS cross-country team will host the East Baton Rouge Metro championship at Highland Road. The next day, the ZHS swim team will take their turn at competing for championship glory in the CCSL City meet at Crawfish aquatics.

In addition to looking for wins, Coach Julie Peveto will be looking for times to come down to qualify as many swimmers in as many events as possible for the state championship Nov 1.

Speaking of championships, next month coaches Tami McClure and Jon McClinton will begin their girls and boys 5A basketball title defenses. McClinton coached his third state championship team (2020, 2021, and 2025) and McClure won her first in 2025.

Warren Brady covers sports for The Plainsman. He can be contacted at zachary@theadvocate. com.