SERVING THE PARISHES OF EAST FELICIANA AND WEST FELICIANA
The
W atchman
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
East Feliciana needs registrar of voters after Ross retires
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W e d n e s d ay, D e c e m b e r 10, 2025
Dancing
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like Jane Austen at Audubon BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL Contributing writer
BY JAMES MINTON
Contributing writer
The dances with the men leading and the women following included circling, weaving, whirling, twirling, sashaying and the clapping or patting of gloved hands. Some were in Regency period attire while others were in modern garb joining in for the audience participation. The dancers enjoyed themselves with steps that were stately, smooth and lovely alternating with quick, lively and confusingly fun. The dances usually ended with laughing and applause from both the participants and audience members. The period dancing was part of the Dec. 6 annual Jane Austen Christmas festivities in the auditorium of the visitor center at Audubon State Historic Site near St. Francisville. Author Jane Austen, whose 250th birthday is Dec. 16, could have performed some of the same dances, according to dance mistress Roxanne Struppeck. Just as today, “ladies loved to dance” but there weren’t always enough men “to go around,” said Struppeck, who especially thanked all the men present — both troupe members and volunteers from the audience. But unlike today, Struppeck added, dancing in the Regency was a more important social event. In Austen’s time, members of society were expected to dance with multiple partners. This style of dancing wasn’t “romantic” the way we think of more modern dancing — up close with the same partner all evening — she explained. But she acknowledged that romance did happen. In Austen’s words, “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.” It was the true gentleman who took lessons/learned to dance as it was his chivalrous duty to ensure PHOTO BY MELINDA RAWLS HOWELL that all the ladies danced, she said.
The East Feliciana Parish Police Jury will be evaluating applicants to replace parish Registrar of Voters Bobbie Gayle Ross, who is retiring Dec. 31 after a lengthy career. The jury accepted Ross’s retirement notice at its Dec. 1 meeting, and Jury President Louis Kent said jurors have 90 days to name her replacement. The discussion indicated several people have inquired about applying for the post. Ross, 75, said she has been working in the Registrar of Voters Office since 1982, first as chief deputy registrar under Registrar Edwin Lea McGehee, and as registrar since 2011. “I prayed about it,” Ross said of her decision to retire. “I decided it’s my time to leave … to pass the torch on,” she said. The registrar maintains an office to register parish residents to vote, maintains a computerized list of eligible voters and conducts early voting for each election. A registrar must be a resident and registered voter in the parish in which he or she is appointed, and state law requires that registrars without a bachelor’s or associate degree must have seven years of “professional work experience,” which the statue also defines. State law requires the police jury to take “all reasonable steps to make as many people aware of the upcoming appointment of a registrar.” The base pay for the job is set by state law and is based on the parish’s population.
Troupe members from the Louisiane Vintage Dancers, mom Laura Rainier, left, chats with her two sons, Howard and Noah, at the Austen Christmas festivities at Audubon Historic Site.
Leila Pitchford AROUND THE FELICIANAS
Holiday deadlines set Submissions for the Christmas Eve editions of The Watchman, The Democrat and The Plainsman are due by Dec. 18. Submissions for the New Year’s Eve editions is due Dec. 26. Please share your holiday lights, party and celebration photos with us at extra@theadvocate.com.
Live Nativity planned Jackson United Methodist Church will have its annual Live Nativity Pageant at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, on the church lawn. Also, at 6 p.m., Dec. 24, Jackson UMC will have a Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion Service. The public is invited to attend both events.
Hospital lights available Through New Year’s Eve, West Feliciana Hospital will have its Magical Lights Display available. Drive through the hospital grounds to see the exhibit.
Breast scans available Woman’s Hospital mobile mammography coach 3D mammogram technology to the area.
ä See AROUND, page 2G
ä See DANCING, page 2G
Christmas charm binds community in Clinton BY FRANCES Y. SPENCER Contributing writer
The miracle on St. Helena Street grants the wishes of fairly new and lifelong residents: usher in enough Christmas spirit to ignite lasting vitalization and unity throughout a small East Feliciana Parish community. Those ambitious goals were front and center when the business community and residents celebrated the fourth annual Southern Christmas in Clinton. Business owners like Heather Holbrooke provided a setting for the celebration Dec. 5, but she was quick to applaud the people who were the real stars. “I have the best girls and the best community, because I’ve got a lot of people that volunteered to come help us,” Holbrooke said. “People showed up and just helped — ‘What can I do? Show me where the boxes are, I’ll start decorating a tree.’ ” Holbrooke owns H Mercantile and the adjacent Green Door at H Mercantile. When asked what sparked the success, she said the businesses are blessed by the residents. “I’ll put community spirit,” she said. “Yes, definitely, we have a great little town.” The evening started with the tree-lighting on the courthouse grounds by the East Feliciana Parish Police Jury. Visitors and residents strolled the closed main street and shopped, dined and listened to live music by Southland Band. Youngsters took pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus or posed behind the wheel of a festive fire truck.
ä See CLINTON, page 3G
PHOTOS BY FRANCES Y. SPENCER
Parish officials lit the courthouse Christmas tree and signaled the lighting of the grounds Dec. 5 at the start of a Southern Christmas in Clinton. Lifelong Clinton resident and community advocate Marsha Kemp shares her visions for a revitalization of Clinton’s cultural and historic significance.