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 a r c h 18, 2026
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Fading hall hosted greats like Fats Domino
Darlene Denstorff AROUND ASCENSION
Hippity Hoppity Easter Market at Duplessis Park Everything Easter will be on display starting at 10 a.m. March 21 for the Hippity Hoppity Easter Market in Duplessis Park. Food, arts and crafts, egg hunts and music are on the schedule.
Farmers market at East Ascension Need some spring plants? Stop by East Ascension High’s greenhouse from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday for an event sponsored by the school’s FFA Plant Sale and Farmers Market. Flowers, vegetables, herbs, house plants, carpentry projects, jams, photos with the Easter bunny and other activities are on tap for the morning event.
Easter in the Oaks set Food trucks, music, crafts, photos with the Easter Bunny and other activities are on tap from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Food Trucks at Oak Grove, 17186 Old Jefferson Highway, Prairieville.
It’s getting a major upgrade BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
Every day in Donaldsonville, thousands of people drive along Marchand Drive, passing mere feet from a legendary music and social venue that hosted the likes of Fats Domino and King Oliver, the man who mentored Louis Armstrong. A two-story structure on Lessard Street, True Friends Hall was built in the early 1900s by the True Friends Benevolent Association, a fraternal society of Black men in the community. The building acted as a community hub until it closed in the 1980s, but it remains the oldest and largest existing benevolent society hall in Louisiana. For decades, it had been fading away. And Charles Peters, a renovation specialist who recently stabilized the building, said the structure was close to being lost completely. “It was getting ready to fall down; I’ll put it like that,” he said. “But I realized the material that the building was made out of was genuine. It was made out of lumber from trees that may have been 200 years old, 100 years old, before they were cut. So that’s why I said the building was worth putting back together. It was worth putting back together.” Now, a more than $2.2 million renovation project led by the River Road African American Museum is set to not only restore the build-
STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
True Friends Hall, a historic building which is undergoing a long-term renovation by River Road African American Museum ing but turn it into a community social hub. Designed by the New Orleans-based architecture firm EskewDumezRipple, the finished venue will have indoor and outdoor performance spaces, a concession booth and upstairs offices. Darryl Hambrick, executive
director of the museum, said the goal is to reopen the space by the end of 2027. Louisiana has allocated around $2.2 million to the project, he added, but it requires 25% of the funds to be matched. “We do have state allocations, but we need matching funds,” he
Troy LeBoeuf ASCENSION SPORTS
East Ascension head softball coach Toni Ricca has set standards for her team, and she believes that if they adhere, this team can be special. “Our preparation for this season began in September, and the girls have put in the work,” Ricca said. “We have a big senior class, and we agreed that the standards, expectations and culture had to be revamped when I took over. We are seeing some early success with our ranking, but we know it must be sustainable.” Ricca is in her third season leading the Spartans and they have started out 12-2 overall, 3-1 in district and currently sit at second in the Division I nonselect power rankings. The lineup is loaded with seniors, and most of them played early for Ricca when she took over. “The seniors have all led in their own way; most of them played as sophomores. The players put the work in the fall and their willingness to put in the work has provided us with some early success,” Ricca said. Leading the way is Southeastern signee, senior Cayden Tullier, who plays third base and leads the team with a .543 average. Fellow seniors Avery Stevens (.514), Madison Stevens (.400), Zakiah Jackson (.314), McKenzie Creel (.262) and Hartley Berthelot (Flex) make up the lineup.
ä See LEBOEUF, page 2G
ä See HALL, page 3G
From diving dogs to chicken coops, expo has it all for outdoor enthusiasts
ä See AROUND, page 2G
East Ascension softball shows up every day to compete
said. “So, we’re looking for some donors that really want to help us match the funds that we’re going to get from the state.” Aida Ayuk, an architect with EskewDumezRipple, told an
BY WENDY LOUP Contributing writer
The Louisiana Outdoor Expo welcomed hunting and fishing enthusiasts throughout the weekend at Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. Billed as Louisiana’s largest spring show for outdoor enthusiasts, the event ran from March 13-15 and featured more than 200 exhibitors. Fishing rods, boats, ATVs, outdoor gear and power equipment were all on display for attendees. DockDogs were also on site with a 40-foot dock and a pool for dock diving competitions. The national canineaquatic sport organization features competitive water sports for dogs. The agile canines jump from the dock into a waterfilled pool competing in distance, height and speed. Any breed over six months old can participate. Among the participants of the outdoor expo, were those who traveled specifically for the dock diving competitions. Pennie Mahon, of Magnolia, Texas, brought along her 4-year-old border collie and whippet mix named Golden Eagle. Golden Eagle participated both Saturday and Sunday with jumps ranging from 26 to 27 feet. Mahon, a full-time dog trainer, said the dock diving PHOTO BY WENDY LOUP is a sport loved both by huGolden Eagle, a 4-year-old dock diving competitor, tries to fetch a toy during Sunday’s Louisiana Outdoor Expo. mans and dogs.
Golden Eagle’s owner, Pennie Mahon, traveled from Magnolia, Texas, to participate in the canine water sports competition.
ä See EXPO, page 4G