Monthly Archives: July 2017

Holiday market

Its Christmas in July when the Jolly Jingles Market sets up this weekend at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Centers Trademart Building. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Admission to the semiannual gift and general merchandise market is $5 per person. Parking is free and strollers are welcome. Goody bags will be distributed to the first 500 shoppers.

St. Mark Catholic Church of Gonzales invites parishioners ages 55 and older to a senior citizen get-together after the 4 p.m. Mass on Saturday in the Father DeMaria Activity Center. Seniors will enjoy a meal, followed by bingo and fellowship.

Registration is required. Call Evelyn Rousseau at (225) 647-5731 to leave a name and phone number.

Ascension Parish Library's summer reading program offers a variety of events for youths of all ages.

BROWN BEAR: Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the childrens classic with fun and games, 10:30 a.m. Monday, Donaldsonville. For all ages.

BUILD A BIRDHOUSE: Construct and decorate a birdhouse out of fun foam, 2 p.m. Monday, Gonzales. For all ages.

SPACE EXPLORATION: Learn about planetary movement and make a model of the solar system, 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Donaldsonville. For all ages.

HARRY POTTER INTERACTIVE MOVIE NIGHT: The movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone comes to life with an assortment of fun props, with costumes encouraged: 6:30 p.m. July 20, Gonzales. For children, teens and adults.

FRIDA KAHLOS BIRTHDAY: Celebrate the Mexican artist by playing lotera and making floral headbands, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dutchtown. For teens entering grades six through 12.

HARRY POTTER YULE BALL: Celebrate the end of summer with a Harry Potter themed Yule Ball, with wizardly and formal attire welcome, 4 p.m. July 20, Donaldsonville. For teens entering grades six through 12.

Ascension Parish Librarys Kanji Klub meets at 6 p.m. Monday at the Gonzales Branch. Members will watch the French anim Time Jam: Valerian & Laureline and craft nebula jars.

Kanji Klub is open to ages 18 and older. Cosplay is welcome. Call (225) 647-3955 for details.

Learn about musculoskeletal disorders and how to prevent them at PB&J Protect Your Bones and Joints at 11 a.m. Wednesday in St. Elizabeth Hospitals Sister Linda conference room.

The free class for teens, led by certified orthopedic nurse Charla B. Johnson, is aimed at preventing injury and promoting bone and joint health. A light lunch will be served.

Registration is required; call (225) 621-2906.

The Class of 1977 of East Ascension High School will gather for its 40th class reunion at 6 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Clarion Conference Center in Gonzales.

All East Ascension High graduating classes are invited to the celebration, which includes food, a cash bar, dancing and music by Kenny Fife.

Cost is $50 per person in advance or $55 at the door. Registration forms will be emailed upon request. Email trudybates@yahoo.com or l.rhett.bourgeois@gmail.com for details.

Contact Darlene Denstorff by phone, (225) 388-0215 or (225) 603-1996; or email, ascension@theadvocate.com or ddenstorff@theadvocate.com. Deadline: noon Monday.

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Around Ascension for July 13, 2017 - The Advocate

Noah Fontenot strikes out 15 as Gauthier & Amedee win twice over weekend

The Gauthier & Amedee Wombats traveled to Westwego for their first-round game against Refuel, an Archbishop Shaw-based team from Marrero. Wombats starting pitcher Noah Fontenot actually was supposed to get a chance to pitch at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium where Delgado Community College plays. Its where he is scheduled to pitch for the next two years with the Dolphins.

Bad weather played a role in Fontenots opportunity to play at his future home field and moved Saturdays American Legion southeast regional to Segnette Field. Fontenot didnt let the move shake him at all and proceeded to pitch his best game to date in his young career.

Fontenots one-hitter, 5-1 victory moved his record to a perfect 5-0 for the Wombats, which is not terribly surprising as he finished his senior year at East Ascension compiling an 8-3 record on the mound for the Spartans in 2017.

My time at East Ascension playing for the Spartans will be a memory Ill never forget, Fontenot said. The people were great and treated me well; it was a lot of fun. Both of my parents went there and my dad, Andy, played baseball for the Spartans as well, so its sort of like keeping a family tradition alive.

Fontenot not only allowed just one hit but he struck out a career-high 15 batters going the distance, pitching a complete game in Gautier & Amedees victory over Refuel. Striking out for the opposing batters was not a unique item as the Delgado signee struck out everyone on the team at least one time and struck out the side in three different innings.

Fontenot retired the first two batters, then put two runners on base with a hit batter and a walk before ending the inning with a strikeout. But that was the end of the jitters. I got more and more confident with every inning, Fontenot said. I nailed the location on my fastball and I was able to throw my off-speed stuff for strikes.

Gauthier & Amadee started things off as they took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Dutchtowns Cameron Crawford stroked a bases-loaded single and drove in Larson Fontenot and EAs Preston Thrash. Another run was added by the Wombats on Brayden Caskeys groundout.

A single to left field by Devin Lansing in the third inning was Refuels (5-3) lone hit with one out and was left stranded at second base. Fontenot then retired 10 batters in a row after that single and a walk to pitcher Rene Brupbacher while fanning the side in the sixth.

For Gauthier & Amedee, Crawford went 2-4 on the game with 2 RBIs and a stolen base. Caskey was 1-3 with an RBI, while Larson Fontenot went 1-2, scored a run and had one stolen base. Preston Thrash went 1-2, scored 2 runs, had 2 walks and a pair of stolen bases.

On Sunday nights second round game at 6:30 p.m., the Wombats faced De La Salle-based Best Chevrolet at Kirsch-Rooney. Dutchtowns Jack Merrifield took the mound as the scheduled starter for G&A. The win moved the Ascension Parish based team one game away from reaching the American Legion state tournament as it hammered Best Chevrolet with an 11-1 mercy-rule victory in five innings.

G&As starter Jack Merrifield of Dutchtown took a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth inning and was replaced by Jacob Spell after allowing a lead-off single to Corey Cook to right field. Merrifield (2-1) walked two and struck out four before being lifted.

G&A registered 11 hits and scored in every inning but the second. The Wombats scored two runs in the first inning, then tacked on another run in the third and blew things wide open, scoring seven more in the fourth inning.

Merrifield picked up the win and fellow Griffin Crawford led the way on offense with three hits, including a double and triple and two RBIs. Ivan Prejean was 1 for 1 picking up four RBIs and Merrifield piled on a pair of hits including a double and 2 RBIs to aid his pitching effort.

By press time, G&A (20-4-1) will have faced the defending state champion Pedal Valves on Monday night. A win will have sent the Wombats into Wednesdays championship game and lock in a berth in next weeks state tournament.

The effects from Tropical Storm Cindy are long gone and the water levels finally have returned to normal. The temperatures are heating up to summertime levels and so is the fishing.

Our waterways in the Amite/Blind River Basin have gone a few years without a major hurricane, which usually decimates the fish population for two or three years. They have made quite a comeback since the last one.

The summertime patterns are coming into play as far as the bass are concerned. The shad populations are very strong and that is a good thing as they are loaded with protein and the bass love to eat them. The shad form giant schools, which tend to make the bass school up and find places to ambush those schools in feeding frenzies.

Points (where two waterways meet) are one of those good locations for bass to lay in wait for an easy meal. Top water baits are a good choice for early morning activity, but dont store the rod after the sun comes up. The fish will feed throughout the day and if you catch them busting a school of shad on the surface, that top water bait will catch them any time of the day.

A crank bait is another good choice because they emulate shad and can get a school of bass stirred up enough to get in the feeding mode as well. This is a bait that can be fished really fast and cover a lot of water you to fish plenty of places a little quicker than other baits.

The plastic worm about rounds out my top three selections for summertime fishing for bass and probably is my favorite. This bait is versatile in the ways one can use them to entice a bass into biting. Texas rigged is probably the favorite style to fish, but the drop shot and the Carolina rig work well also.

The time is right and the fishing is hot, but so is the weather. The temperatures are in the dangerous zone as far as hydration is concerned. Bring plenty of water and hydrating drinks along for the trip. Its quite easy to get caught up in the fishing and forget about drinking water. Start when itsstill not too hot because its not easy to catch up if heat-related issues take place. Be safe on the water.

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Ascension Athletics for July 13, 2017 - The Advocate

Stephen S. Gaines / Staff Intern

It would appear that the summer of 2017 has been a booming time for Ascension Parish. For the second time since 2016, Ascension has ranked second in the SmartAssets most income investments in Louisiana.

SmartAsset is a company based in New York, that estimates area around the country that have the most incoming investments in business, real estate, government, and the local economies. With people starting their businesses here, Ascensions business growth has grown to 6.0%. Ascension shows the second highest percent of growth next to Calcasieu Parishs 6.1%. West Baton Rouge was ranked first in most income investments in Louisiana, yet has 3.8% in business growth.

In Gross Domestic product or GDP growth in millions, Ascension Parish has a decrease of -$23 million dollars. West Baton Rouge has a decrease of -$6 million dollars in their GDP, with Lafayette having a decrease of -$90 million dollars the lowest of any parish. This generally means that the local and state economies are beginning to slow down. Last year our GDP growth was $53 million dollars, while other parishes were between 5 and 200. Lafayette had the highest at $204 million dollars. Market value grosses maybe decreasing, but these numbers could begin to rise again.

In new building permits, Ascension parish ranked second with 19.8 (per 1,000 homes). West Baton Rouge ranks first at 26.6 (per 1,000 homes). Lafayette is the lowest on the chart at 12.3 (per 1,000 homes). These numbers represent the growth of subdivisions and housing within the parishes. Subdivisions like Bayou View Estates on Boudreaux Road and Lake Summerset on Duplessis Road are just two of many fast growing subdivisions in Ascension. Developing subdivisions, like New River Oaks and Dutchtown Meadows may raise Ascensions ranking.

When it comes to Federal Funding per capita, Ascension Parish has around $20 dollars per capita. This score however, is the 4th lowest, with De Soto parish being the lowest at $0 per capita. West Baton Rouge ranks first again at $3,924 per capita. This federal funding is in the form of contracts awarded to businesses in each parish, which is divided by the population.

Lastly, there is the Incoming Investment Index. This is an assessment of each chart place in an overall number. Ascension Parish ranks second with 47.77 in incoming investments. West Baton Rouge ranks first with an income investment of 54.10. Cameron parish ranks last with an income investment of 34.92. These ratings show that Ascension is still as strong as it has been in the previous two years. Ascension was ranked the strongest parish for incoming investments in Louisiana in 2015, and the second strongest in Louisiana in 2016.

Now in 2017, Ascension is still ranked the second strongest parish in the Louisiana and the 155th strongest county in the United States.

"SmartAsset does research like this to get people to think and talk about their personal finances, community finances and what matters to them in the future," Managing Editor AJ Smith of SmartAsset said.

Ascension Parish is one of the strongest places to be for investors, and surely Ascension will achieve new highs in the future.

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Parish income investments rank second in La. - Donaldsonville Chief

Dr. Louis Lefebvre III's jive/freestyle took the top prize at Saturday's Dancing for a Cause.

Lefebvre, who danced with partner Alyssa Babin, raised $14,990 for the Arc of East Ascension, the agency that holds the annual fundraiser.

Lefebvre, owner of Main Street Dental Care, shined in a gold jacket for his upbeat presentation at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center.

Gonzales' chief engineer Jackie Baumann won second place and raised $7,440 with her samba/freestyle number.

Jackie Tisdell, public information officer for Ascension Parish schools, won third place, raised $6,650 and took the Fan's Choice award for her high energy jazz/funk number.

The event exceeded its $100,000 goal, raising $118,000, said event coordinator Sharon Morris.

Also dancing were Cheryl Mercedes, Terri Kaaihue, Craig Stevens, Tasheba York-LeBlanc, Malcolm Carter and Trevor Gautreaux.

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Dancers light up stage to raise money for Arc of East Ascension - The Advocate

Ascension exec: Wisconsin faces $2.8B Medicaid-funding cut under Senate bill Milwaukee Business Journal Wisconsin's Medicaid program would be slammed with a $2.8 billion federal funding cut under the proposed U.S. Senate health care bill, according to an analysis Ascension Wisconsin cites as reasons the bill could put health coverage at risk for seniors, ...

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Ascension exec: Wisconsin faces $2.8B Medicaid-funding cut under Senate bill - Milwaukee Business Journal