DONALDSONVILLE • DUTCHTOWN • GEISMAR • GONZALES • PRAIRIEVILLE • ST. AMANT
THE ASCENSION
ADVOCATE 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, N ov e m b e r 5, 2025
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Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Veterans Day ceremonies planned A Veterans Day ceremony is set for 10 a.m. Nov. 8 at the Lemann Memorial Center in Donaldsonville. The event will include a pop-up shop from noon to 4 p.m. A Gonzales veteran parade will start at 2 p.m., Nov. 9, sponsored by the Ascension Veterans Memorial Park Foundation. The route is Irma Boulevard to Worthy Road to Burnside Avenue and ends on Cornerview Street. In Gonzales, veterans will be honored during an 11 a.m. ceremony Nov. 11 at Ascension Veterans Memorial Park, 612-S. Irma Blvd. The Donaldsonville VFW Post 3766 and American Legion Post 98 are sponsoring the day. For more information, call (225) 223-3641.
Family Fest in Donaldsonville A Community Fall Fest for Families with children is planned from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at the River Road African American Museum, Donaldsonville. Food, health screening and activities are planned for the day, which is sponsored by the museum and Aetna Better Health of Louisiana.
Needs pecans cracked The Arc of East Ascension is offering pecan-cracking for 50 cents a pound. Drop of your pecans Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1122 S. East Ascension Complex Blvd., Gonzales. For more information, call (225) 621-2000.
Splash pads closed The Ascension Parish splash pads at Oak Grove and South Louisiana Fairground are closed for the season.
Ascension GOP Roundtable announces November speaker Retired Brigadier Gen. Paul Warfield Tibbets IV will be the featured speaker at the November Ascension GOP Roundtable, sponsored by Ascension Republican Women. The Roundtable is set for 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Clarion Inn, 1500 W. La. 30 in Gonzales. Tibbets is Tibbets the grandson of Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in human factors engineering, Tibbets was inspired to join the United States Air Force, not by his famous grandfather but by his father, Paul W. Tibbets III, a pharmacist and hospital administrator who served in the United States Army Reserve, retiring as a colonel. Tibbets IV served as deputy director for nuclear operations in the Global Operations Directorate of the United States Strategic Command, where he was responsible for the nuclear mission of the nation’s ballistic missile submarines, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers. In June 2015, he assumed command of the 509th Bomb Wing. In July 2017, he became Deputy Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command,
ä See AROUND, page 2G
PHOTOS BY WENDY LOUP
Sherrie Jenkins, of 5th Ward Volunteer Fire Department, left, passes out candy to Avery Lanoux, 8, of St. Amant. Lanoux and her mother, Jessica, right, attended the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office’s annual Boo with the Badge on Thursday at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. ä More photos. PAGE 2G
BOO with the Badge Children, Sheriff’s Office celebrate Halloween
BY WENDY LOUP Contributing writer
The first of two Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office’s annual Boo with the Badge kicked off Thursday night at Holy Rosary Catholic Church’s La Fete de Bayou Festival. Hundreds of children dressed in Halloween costumes and their fami-
lies collected candy and goodies from two dozen Ascension Parish businesses and organizations. Children with special needs were able to trick or treat for an hour before the event began. On Halloween night, Donaldsonville’s WAG Center and Study Commons hosted the second Boo with the Badge.
Four-year-old Gracelyn Aime, bottom center, and sisters Addison, 7, and Vivian, 5, far left, collect goodies from Kelsie Laiche, of Laiche’s Woodwork. The Aimes, who live in Maurepas, attended Boo with the Badge at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in St. Amant.
‘Extremely rare’ cabins torn down in area planned industrial plants BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
For more than 130 years, four sharecropper cabins have stood in a line along Great River Road in the upper west bank of Ascension Parish. Recently, ahead of planned industrial development in the rural area, crews demolished two in a move that sparked grief and outrage from some residents. The cabins sit beside the Mulberry Grove Plantation house, which was constructed in 1836 in the Greek Revival style, and all are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A 1993 form about the site estimated that the cabins were built around 1890. Ashley Gaignard, founder of the Donaldsonville-based Rural Roots Louisiana advocacy group, and other locals expressed grief over the destruction of the cabins. Her uncle, Cloveste Joseph, was born in one of them, and she said they served as a living reminder of where her family came from. “It’s the little things that you can bring your kids to and say, ‘Hey, this is where your foreparents came from,’ ” she said. “‘This is the way they lived. These were the houses that they gave them to work the land.’ ” The site is set to be sold to Hyundai for its proposed $5.8 billion steel mill, according to a news release by the consulting firm the TJC Group. The release stated that Hyundai asked the property owner to halt further demolition, with Hyundai Steel Louisiana President Charles Jang stating that the company takes “historical and cultural preservation seriously.” “Hyundai Steel will develop and implement a mitigation plan that appropriately addresses any identified cultural or histori-
STAFF PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT
The rubble of a sharecropper cabin built around 1890 sits in the shade near the the Mulberry Grove Plantation in Ascension Parish on Oct. 28.
cal resources,” he added. “We appreciate the landowner agreeing to help protect this site in the best way possible.”
‘It’s devastating’ The rural community of Modeste sits at the center of a debate over Ascension Parish’s future. Multiple companies — including CF Industries, Ascension Clean Energy and Hyundai — hope to build industrial plants in the RiverPlex MegaPark, an industrial overlay area larger than Manhattan. The area was created by the parish council in 2015, and the Ascension Economic Development Corporation says it is the largest
ä See CABINS, page 2G
Dutchtown and Ascension Catholic volleyball repeat as district champs Dutchtown and Ascension Catholic volleyball wrapped up the 2025 regular season with district championships. Dutchtown beat Live Oak in straight sets to go undefeated in District I-5. The Griffins did not lose a set in district play. Standouts for the Griffins include setter Olivia Songy, setter Kinsley Phillips, outside hitter Anna White and middle Hayden Herring. The Griffins Troy lost in the quarters last season to LeBoeuf Mount Carmel. ASCENSION Ascension Catholic went unSPORTS defeated in District V-5 and did not lose a set. The Bulldogs are led by hitters Ava Landry, Ava Gauthe, Kate Templet and Ansley Bright. Other key contributors include setter Caroline Martinez, libero Celia Gordon, outside hitter Karson Chaney, setter Emerson Lemann and defensive specialist Emma Nizzo. The Bulldogs lost to Westminster Christian in the semifinals last season.
PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS (AS OF PRESS TIME) District 1
n No. 9 Dutchtown (26-12) hosts No. 24 Chalmette n No. 13 St. Amant (27-13) hosts No. 20 Parkway n No. 29 East Ascension (17-21) travels to No. 4 St.
Joseph’s Academy
ä See LEBOEUF, page 3G