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, J u n e 10, 2026
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Football wraps; summer training gears up Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Father’s Day craft, vendor market set The Baton Rouge Father’s Day Craft and Vendor Market is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Tanger Outlets Gonzales.
Gonzales Jambalaya pageant Children can compete starting at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Gonzales Jambalaya Children’s Pageant at the Gonzales Civic Center. Contestants in the Miss Gonzales Jambalaya Festival Pageant compete starting at 6 p.m. Sunday. For information, visit jambalayafestival.net or email gonzalesjambalayafestpageant@ gmail.com.
Ascension Parish football teams went through spring training with their football teams with some playing games and others choosing to take the option of starting early in the fall. East Ascension, Donaldsonville and Prairieville participated in spring games while Dutchtown, St. Amant, Ascension Catholic and Ascension Christian choose to take advantage of starting a week earlier in the fall. The Spartans, led by coach Brock Matherne, scrimmaged with Thibodaux and ended their spring drills on a high note.
Troy LeBoeuf ASCENSION SPORTS
“Our goal going into spring was to practice fast and be physical. Developing the fundamentals of the game, catching, blocking, ball security and tackling make programs great,” Matherne said. The Spartans finished 8-4, losing in the second round of the playoffs
Watching the Spartans in the to Central. Matherne mentioned some standouts from spring train- spring game, the thing that stood out was the way they ran ing. to the ball, that is not by “Jeremyah Merriweathaccident. er impressed the coaches “The price of admission as always, just the way to play defense is to run to he carries himself in our the ball, if you don’t, you program,” Matherne will not get an opportunity. said. “Other offensive Our defensive coordinator, standouts were Ladeavon Dennis Skains, teaches Curry, Zion Delong and Matherne relentless effort and he Carson Lacombe. On kept it simple for the kids. This the defensive side, Micah Levy, group is moving in the right direcCarson Landry, Jordan Elder and Jakyle Poindexter. All of those tion, and we are pleased with their guys had a great start to spring ä See FOOTBALL, page 4G and lead by example.”
A LOOK INSIDE
Ascension Pride Ascension’s second Pride Festival kicks off at 10 a.m. June 20 with a sensory-friendly hour with a circus theme at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. The festival continues from noon to 7 p.m. Admission is free.
Council rezones part of Woodstock Plantation’s conservation designation removed
BY ANNAKATE FREELAND
Highway 621 Outdoor Market
Staff writer
The Highway 621 Outdoor Market, 39275 La. 621, in Gonzales opens at 8 a.m. every Saturday until the end of July. Shop vendors’ booths and purchase locally grown produce.
The Ascension Parish Council voted Thursday to rezone a section of the Woodstock Plantation from conservation to heavy industrial. The approximately 150-acre parcel sits west of La. 405, roughly 1,300 feet south of Noel Road near Donaldsonville. Two residents at the meeting expressed their opposition before the council’s decision. One turned in a written note saying he was opposed, but did not want to speak. The other, Harry Joseph of Donaldsonville, urged council members to consider the impact of continued industrial expansion on nearby communities. “I just feel that Stevens people cannot live with y’all just rezoning heavy industrial everywhere. We’re going to get to the point where we have nowhere to live,” Joseph said. “Donaldsonville is not a big place where we can go from one spot to another spot. It’s not like that. And I don’t know why we are trying to destroy the areas that we have in our community, and I just hope and pray that y’all decide and make the right decision on what y’all are doing on this side of the river, because people still live here.” MR Engineering and Surveying LLC applied for the rezoning in December 2024, according to parish documents. Chad Stevens, vice president of engineering at MR Engineering and Surveying, said the land would be used as a laydown area to support unloading from another facility about 2 miles away. He noted the property is in the West Bank Industrial Overlay Zone. The Woodstock Plantation was historically managed for sugar cane production. In the 1890s, the infrastructure was destroyed by a massive Mississippi River flood.
Auditions at Red Magnolia Red Magnolia Theatre is holding auditions June 20 for its production of “Men on Boats.” Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus turns history on its ear in this exhilarating, heart-warming and funny exploration into an unknown world of safety and adventure, gender and narrative. Roles include diverse women and gender-expansive actors age 16 and up. Show dates are Aug. 21-23 and Aug. 28-30 at 38138 Monticello Drive in Prairieville.
Food distributions set Ascension Parish’s commodity distribution is set for the second Tuesday of each month in Donaldsonville and the second Wednesday of the month in Gonzales. Distributions are from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Frank Sotile Jr. Pavilion in Donaldsonville and the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. All recipients must be prequalified by visiting the Ascension Parish Health Unit, 1024 E. Ascension Complex Blvd., in Gonzales or the Donaldsonville courthouse, 300 Houmas St. Contact Layne Melancon at (225) 450-1006 or layne. melancon@fmolhs.org. Contact Darlene Denstorff by phone, (225) 388-0215 or (225) 603-1998; or email, ascension@theadvocate.com or ddenstorff@theadvocate. com. Deadline: 5 p.m. Friday.
PHOTOS BY WENDY LOUP
Bob Blanchard, of Tiger Trimlight, set up a booth at this weekend’s Baton Rouge Home Show at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales to provide information about the company’s permanent programmable holiday and year-round lighting.
Show puts home improvement trends on display BY WENDY LOUP Contributing writer
More than two dozen home improvement vendors provided information and demonstrations this weekend during the Baton Rouge Home Show at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. The event, organized by American Consumer Shows, attracts homeowners in various stages of remodeling, decorating and landscaping. Vendors included local small businesses, as well as national chains, such as Home Depot. The two-day show also gave businesses the chance to meet potential customers and clients face-to-face. Connie Nola, owner of Academy Painting, discussed her services, which include interior and exterior painting and pressure washing. Academy Painting, located in Baton Rouge and serving multiple parishes, has been open since 1996 and uses uppergrade paints. “I love the people, and the people that attend the shows are really interesting,” Nola said. “I’ve participated in this show every year since 2005.” Nola has seen trends in home paints change many times over the years.
ABOVE: More than two dozen home improvement and landscaping vendors were on hand over the weekend. LEFT: Connie Nola, owner of Academy Painting, stands at her booth, ready to answer questions. “Different colors and styles come and go,” Nola said. “For years, the ‘faux finish’ was popular and now people say, ‘I’m over it.’ “We’ve seen colors like hunter green become popular and then leave. Gray was popular for years and now we have switched to soft white colors.” Curb appeal has also seen many trends over the years. The latest is the growing popularity in LED-trimmed outdoor
lights. Bob Blanchard, of Tiger Trimlight, was on hand to discuss the company’s permanent programmable holiday and year-round lighting. Tiger Trimlight opened in 2022 in Salt Lake City and now has more than 100 locations across the country. The company offers homeowners the convenience of per-
ä See HOME, page 3G
Donaldsonville to celebrate 31st Juneteenth celebration of freedom Community news report For the 31st year, Donaldsonville residents will host a Juneteenth celebration June 10 and June 12-13. The city, Ascension Parish, CF Industries and the Juneteenth Committee boast a three-day family-oriented celebration to commemorate Juneteenth, the day enslaved people in the last geographic area in America where slavery existed learned of their freedom. It was June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3,
announcing that “all slaves are free” by Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed on Sept. 22, 1862, and issued on Jan. 1, 1863. It took over 21/2 years for the news to travel to southwest Texas. Donaldsonville and the festival committee have carried on the Juneteenth Festival tradition locally since its inception in 1995. Started by the late former Donaldsonville Mayor Bernard “BJ” Francis Sr. and his late wife, Janet Gaines Francis, it was continued through the efforts of Kathe Hambrick, the River Road
African American Museum and many volunteers from the community until 2010. From 2011-23, Mayor Leroy J. Sullivan Sr.; Tamiko Francis Garrison, daughter of Janet and Bernard Francis; Allison B. Hudson; and the city assumed the planning of the festival. In 2023, the city announced the addition of new committee members Tamiko Stroud, the daughter of Tamiko Garrison and granddaughter of the Francises, Wayne Hamilton and Jason Worley. “Juneteenth is a landmark in history and a celebration of freedom
in America,” Sullivan said. “It takes a significant amount of personal time and effort to put together an event such as this. I would also like to thank our city council members, sponsors, partners, vendors, artists, volunteers, and anyone who had a hand in making this year’s 31st Annual Juneteenth Celebration a success.” Donaldsonville’s Juneteenth celebration starts on Wednesday with an author’s talk. Ascension Parish Library will host Angela A. Allen Bell, author of “Under Indictment: Race, Juries & Justice in Louisiana,” and
Kim Jones, author of “Nouveaux Renaissance.” For information and to register, visit eventbrite.com. On Friday, the committee is partnering with BASF and the Greater Baton Rouge Area Food Bank to host a food distribution for the residents of Donaldsonville. This is BASF’s fifth year and they will provide protein and a healthy food box to the residents of the Donaldsonville community. Finally, on Saturday, Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish and CF
ä See JUNETEENTH, page 4G