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 24, 2026
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LSU’s deal for ‘next-generation’ mill Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Independence celebration in Donaldsonville set for July 3 Celebrate the Fourth of July and America’s 250th birthday starting at 5 p.m. July 3 in Donaldsonville. The event, at the city’s Crescent Park, 314 Mississippi St., will include food, activities and fireworks. For information, call (225) 473-4814.
Gonzales plans America’s 250th birthday party
Partnership with Hyundai Steel largest industry agreement in school history
BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer
The $5.8 billion Hyundai steel mill in Ascension Parish will be, by all accounts, colossal. It will import 3.6 million tons of iron ore and produce 2.7 million tons of steel, according to a press release from Louisiana Economic Development. It will create 1,300 jobs on the site. It will rely on a STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS state-of-the-art electric arc fur- LSU Chancellor Jim Dalton, left, is given a stuffed animal Hyundai Steel nace to melt steel with electrical mascot donned in an LSU scarf by Soon-Jae Tae, Ph.D, with Hyundai currents at thousands of degrees Steel, following a news conference at LSU on June 17. Fahrenheit — a far cry from traditional steelmaking. And now, under a new research the mega project. the plant that promises to be one The university will share scien- of the first in the U.S. to integrate agreement announced this week, LSU is throwing its weight behind tific expertise and resources with a high-tech furnace with a lower
Free food, music and activities are planned for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 4 at Ascension Veterans Memorial Park, 612 S. Irma Blvd.
Highway 621 Outdoor Market 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.
Touch-a-Truck school supplies drive set for June 27 Volunteer Ascension’s School Tools Touch-a-Truck School Supplies Drive is from 9 a.m. to noon June 27 at the LamarDixon Expo Center. Donate school supplies and check out the big trucks and equipment on display.
Lunchbox Luau Comedy Show Stop by Fred’s Tiki Bar, Oak Plaza Avenue, Prairieville, June 25 for Lunchbox Comedy’s Lunchbox Luau show with Jeff Vance, Will Merrill, Brandon Bruffett and Jamie Lynn Spears. The show starts at 9:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/lunchbox-luau-at-t-freds-tiki-bar-itickets-1988124987356.
Louisiana Card Con coming to Gonzales Buy, sell or trade collector cards June 27-28 during the Louisiana Card Con June 27-28 at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. Vendor tables will include cards, comics, toys, coins and memorabilia.
Grunge, Swamp Pop at VFW Distorted Not Destroy: A Tribute to Grunge is coming to the VFW Hall at 6 p.m. June 27. The event will include more than 50 musicians from around the Gulf Coast performing music from bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Bline Melon and Stone Temple Pilots. Tickets are a $20 donation to VFW Post 3693. On June 28, the VFW Hall will be filled with the sounds of Swamp Pop music when the Mojoes Dance Band performs at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10. 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.
ä See DEAL, page 2G
Circus-themed Ascension Parish Pride grows with more vendors, entertainment
Celebrate at Conway Stars and Stripes: A Celebration at Conway is set for 5:30 p.m. June 25at the Conway Development, 7900 La. 44, Gonzales. This family-friendly, free event includes activities for children, music and a fireworks show. Fool and drinks will be on sale. For more information, or to take part as a vendor, email rmatamoros@rrcoa.com.
carbon footprint into all stages of steel production. And it will help train workers for the jobs the plant needs to run. “This does represent, I think, a new beginning for us in the research office to sign a master research agreement of this magnitude, of this importance, of this significance,” Robert Twilley, LSU vice president for research and economic development, said. “It matches our research enterprise, the entire research enterprise of LSU, with one of the largest industrial investments that’s been made in Louisiana.” LSU and Hyundai Steel signed an agreement Tuesday finalizing terms for sponsored research and jointly developed technology for the steel mill, set to begin operation in 2029. The dollar amount of Hyundai’s investment in the state’s flagship university remains to be deter-
BY DARLENE DENSTORFF Community News Editor
A steady stream of people, many clad in rainbow-colored clothing and accessories, on Saturday played circus-themed games, shopped and watched a drag show at Ascension Parish Pride’s second event. Some people stopped for free hugs, had glitter streamers added to their hair or enjoyed a reading. The Lamar-Dixon Expo Center Trademart building was lined with more than 50 vendor booths for the Rainbow Circus-themed event. Organizer Mark Belgard Jr. said they sold out all the available booths and have a list for next year. For organizers, the event was deSTAFF PHOTOS BY MICHAEL JOHNSON signed to be a safe space for people Drag queen Ladonna Weathers hugs a fan while performing at the 2026 Ascension Pride Rainbow Carnival on and the LGTBQ+ community and Saturday at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. families. “We will always be a familyDrag friendly event,” said organizer queen Alysha DeShaé Belgard. Several attendees called the fesOdessa tival “one of the funniest places Savage we’ve been in a while,” Alysha dances Belgard said. through Belgard stood behind several the crowd rows of chairs watching the event’s drag queen show. at the Fourteen drag queen danced 2026 around the stage and interacted Ascension with the crowd during their lipPride sync performances. Rainbow Photographers, artists, crafters, jewelers, an attorney, phone comCarnival. panies and the Red Stick Roller Derby stationed booths. The Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge,
ä See PRIDE, page 3G
Books for Boots helping service members by making bookmarks, donating books BY WENDY LOUP
Contributing writer
Books for Boots is hoping Ascension Parish will help military service members and their families this summer by creating handmade bookmarks. The organization’s Leave Your Mark campaign has a goal for 2,500 handmade bookmarks to accompany books distributed to service members, veterans, injured recruits, deployed troops, military families and military children. Books for Boots is a 100% volunteer-driven organization that provides new and gently used books,
movies, music CDs, puzzles and craft items to all members of the military and their families. Books for Boots began in 2023 when founder and director Melissa Singletary’s daughter, Mackayla, was injured at boot camp. The Singletarys became aware of injured service members’ needs for books and media items. Those needs also apply to other service members and their children. Since Books for Boots began, Singletary and volunteers have collected and shipped more than 18,000 items to military bases and families.
PHOTO BY WENDY LOUP
Prairieville Middle School librarian Andrea Sibille organizes donated books Friday at Almighty Storage. Sibille, whose husband is a military ä See BOOKS, page 4G veteran, is a volunteer for the Books for Boots organization.