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, M ay 20, 2026
MOVING ON
FROM HIGH SCHOOL
A Prairieville High mortarboard let everyone know at commencement that she is headed to Southern University.
Adyson Naquin, Prairieville High’s senior class president, May 8 at the school’s commencement..
Contributing writer
PROVIDED PHOTOS BY KOURTNEY TURNER
INSIDE ä Ascension Christian graduates. Page 4G ä Dutchtown graduates. Page 4A ä Donaldsonville graduates. Page 5G ä Prairieville graduates. Page 5G ä St. Amant graduates. Page 6G
Prairieville High’s Riley Bonvillian walks to his chair during a May 8 commencement in Gonzales. Rain forced the school to move the ceremony to Lamar-Dixon Expo Center.
Everything Pokèmon is planned for May 23 at the Price LeBlanc PACE Center in Gonzales. Entry is $5 and kids 12 and under are admitted free.
until the end of July. Shop vendors’ booths and purchase locally grown produce.
Darlene Denstorff
Food distributions set
Ascension Parish’s commodity distribution is set Lunchbox Comedy Festival AROUND for the second Tuesday ASCENSION of each month in DonaldListen to comedians from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the sonville and the second Cabin and Courtyards Events, Wednesday of the month in Gon5405 La. 44, Gonzales. zales. Distributions are from 8 to Memorial Day Parade in 11 a.m. at the Frank Sotile Jr. Pavilion in Donaldsonville and Donaldsonville the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. Donaldsonville is celebrating All recipients must be prequaliMemorial Day beginning at 9 a.m. May 25 with a parade from city fied by visiting the Ascension Parhall to Louisiana Square. A proish Health Unit, 1024 E. Ascension Complex Blvd., in Gonzales gram honoring veterans follows. or the Donaldsonville courthouse, Gonzales honors veterans 300 Houmas St. Contact Layne Melancon at (225) 450-1006 or A Memorial Day ceremony layne.melancon@fmolhs.org. starts at 10 a.m. May 25 at Veterans Memorial Park, 612 S. Irma Blvd., Gonzales. Contact Darlene Denstorff by phone, (225) 388-0215 or (225) Highway 621 Outdoor Market 603-1998; or email, ascension@ theadvocate.com or ddenstorff@ The Highway 621 Outdoor theadvocate.com. Deadline: Market, 39275 La. 621, Gonzales, 5 p.m. Friday. opens at 8 a.m. every Saturday
COA brings new wellness center to Prairieville
BY WENDY LOUP
Prairieville High graduates used their creativity to express themselves by decorating their mortorboards.
Pokè Bash at PACE Center
1GN
The Ascension Council on Aging’s reach will be expanded to senior residents in the Prairieville and Geismar communities with a new wellness center. The groundbreaking for the new senior wellness center is Wednesday, May 20, at 37272 Enterprise Ave. in Prairieville. The COA is hoping to have the building construction completed by the summer of 2027, according “Services will be the to Executive Director Darlene same as the other Schexnayder. Ascension Parish COA “Our goals for centers, but we will the wellness cencombine our senior ter are to provide center and wellness services closer to the Prairieville center into one facility and Geismar in Prairieville.” communities,” DARLENE SCHEXHAYDER, Schexnayder said. “We currently Council on Aging transport many executive director of those clients to our Gonzales Center.” The new Prairieville location should help relieve the overcrowding at the Gonzales senior center and the Gonzales wellness center, Schexnayder said. “Both centers are at capacity most days for meals and wellness classes,” she added. “Services will be the same as the other Ascension Parish COA centers, but we will combine our senior center and wellness center into one facility in Prairieville. “We offer congregate meals, transportation, education, recreation, socialization and wellness classes along with a cardio exercise room.” Schexnayder originally proposed the idea for a Prairieville location around four years ago. “After seniors started to return to the centers after the pandemic, we realized our participation was increasing,” Schexnayder said. “We now have 100-115 people eating lunch at the Gonzales Senior Center most days. Our Wellness Center group classes are at capacity, and we have to turn people away some days. “We also had been asked on numerous occasions if we would ever expand into the Prairieville area by seniors who wanted to drive to a senior center but felt that Gonzales was too far.” The Ascension COA served over 2,400 clients last year, Schexnayder said. More than 173,200 meals were served and over 31,400 transportation trips were provided to senior citizens, she added. Ascension Parish Government is partnering with the COA to help the goal of a Prairieville center become a reality. “Ascension Parish is loaning the COA $2,000,000 to help cover construction costs,”
ä See WELLNESS, page 2G
Jambalaya Festival returns to Lamar-Dixon for food, rides, music BY DARLENE DENSTORFF Community News Editor
After last year’s Jambalaya Festival, organizer Mike Gonzales knew he needed to address two complaints from those attending the festival at its new location — the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. “I heard over and over again that the festival was too spread out at Lamar-Dixon and that the bands sounded terrible in the Trade Mart Building, Gonzales, president of the Jambalaya Festival Association,” he said. The festival, which kicks off Thursday, will feature one outside stage for bands situated close to the cooking stations, hopefully taking care of both frequent complaints. PROVIDED PHOTO BY RHETT BOURGEOIS Gonzales is expecting at least 90 cooks in this year’s World The husband and wife cooking team of Brittany and Jared White lift the Champion Jambalaya cook-off. World Jambalaya Champion trophy at the Gonzales Jambalaya Festival. To win the title, cooks must prepare the rice concoction in large, black cast iron vessels in several are usually the difference in the plate of jambalaya. The most imrounds. They all use the same final winner. portant thing experienced cooks ingredients supplied by the assoHeat, conditions and timing also ä See FESTIVAL, page 2G ciation. Technique and experience play a role in cooking the perfect