DENHAM SPRINGS • LIVINGSTON • WALKER • WATSON • AMITE • HAMMOND
Darlene Denstorff
AROUND LIVINGSTON
Celebrate America: Wreath Edition
ADVOCATE THE LIVINGSTON -TANGIPAHOA
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, M ay 13, 2026
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Celebrate America’s 200th anniversary from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 19 at the Southeastern Life Long Learning Center in Walker. Get ready to celebrate our nation’a birthday in style with an 18-inch patriotic wreath. In this hands-on class, you’ll design and craft your own festive wreath using red, white and blue burlap ribbon. Perfect for beginners and seasoned crafters alike, this class will guide you step-by-step to create a piece that’s perfect for your front door. Patriotic burlap wreath can be used for 4th of July, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The cost is $45 and for more information, visit southeastern.nbsstore.net/ life-long-learning-livingston-center.
Blue Ducky 5K Waddle coming to Springfield The second annual Blue Ducky 5K Waddle, an event honoring an organ donor who saved eight lives, is May 16 at Tickfaw State Park. The event honors the memory of Stephany Nicolosi, a woman who donated her organs. She loved rubber duckies and her favorite color was blue. The event donates the proceeds to the Chris Klug Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of organ donation. To register, visit ultrasignup.com/register. aspx?did=117645.
Blessing of the Fleet at Kat’s on May 16 The Kat’s Warsaw Bar and Grill is having a Blessing of the Fleet at 11 a.m. May 16 at the Springfield bar. The event is a fundraiser for Livingston District 2 Fire Department. There will be food for sale, an in-house poker run, raffles and other activities. A Blessing certificate and champagne is $30. Music will be provided by Wesley Creppel. Interested vendors can call (225) 2098079 or (985) 351-3100.
Class of ’76 plans 50th reunion It’s almost time to celebrate for the Denham Springs Class of 1976 — my class. The event is planned for June 13 at Forrest Grove in Denham Springs. Reunion organizers are asking classmates to send photos from 1976 and now for a booklet. To volunteer or share your information with the organizers, email daleh76DS@gmail.com. Send news and events for Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes to livingston@ theadvocate.com by 4 p.m. Friday or call (225) 6031998.
BIG IDEAS
PHOTO BY RICHARD MEEK
Local artists have been creative in the works they have put in a community, miniature art gallery in downtown Hammond.
Tiny art gallery displays miniature art in downtown Hammond BY RICHARD MEEK Contributing writer
Perched on Hammond’s busiest corner, steps away from where the roar of rumblings of trains are heard daily, sits perhaps the smallest art galleries in the area. Using a repurposed newspaper box, the Hammond Regionals Art Center has created a miniature community art gallery, one where budding and established artists can display their tiniest of works and art
lovers can pick up those pieces at no cost. The box has been placed near the entrance to Railroad Park, at the intersection of West Thomas Street and SW Railroad Avenue. Borrowed from an idea that HRAC executive director Melissa Griffin first saw in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the mini art gallery has become a fixture in downtown Hammond since October 2024. “It has been very successful,” Griffin said. “We have several
people in the community who bring their work to display there. “It is just this cycle of artwork in and out.” Perhaps even more unique than its diminutive size, the mini art gallery, where the majority of pieces are three to four inches in size, also allows people to keep whatever art they might find appealing, creating a constant ebb and flow of miniature pieces. And if the gallery is low in art, local artists will put their own pieces in the
Live Oak comes up short in state championship game Preparation was the key for Live Oak softball this season, and it was on display last week in the Division I nonselect playoffs. The Eagles stretched out their season as far as it Charles could possibly go Salzer before ending last SPORTS week in the state ROUNDUP championship game at the North Frasch Softball Complex in Sulphur. The 10th-seeded Eagles had caught fire in the playoffs, and
“gallery.” “This is just like the free little libraries (that are gaining popularity) except this is for art,” Griffin said. “You keep the art; if you take something it’s yours, however you feel moved.” She has been impressed with the creativity of the artists, saying their work is not limited to just paintings or small sculptures. She said people are having their children paint on small canvasses or even rock.
ä See ART, page 4G
Petition calls for lower speed limit on road where crossing guard was killed BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
Live Oak left fielder Taylor Mattingly dives for a Hahnville fly ball in the seventh inning to win the LHSAA Division I nonselect state ä See SALZER, page 4G championship on May 3 at North Frasch Park in Sulphur.
After a longtime Livingston Parish elementary school crossing guard was fatally hit by a vehicle while she was on the job, some residents in the area are calling for a change to the speed limit around the school. Katy Wells, a crossing guard for Seventh Ward Elementary and Gray’s Creek Elementary schools in Denham Springs, died at 74 while working as a crossing guard at Gray’s Creek on
ä See ROAD, page 4G