Daily Archives: April 14, 2017

Pilgrimage Way of the Cross

Holy Rosary Catholic Church's Pilgrimage Way of the Cross starts at 6 a.m. Friday at the church.

Pilgrimage organizers describe the 8-mile walk as "one of prayer, reflection, silence and mediation on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The day begins with breakfast at Holy Rosary and the walk starts at 7 a.m. Lunch will be served at St. Anne Catholic Church in Sorrento and the walk ends at Holy Rosary at 3 p.m.

Anyone taking part is invited to write prayer petitions to be carried with the cross. Prayer petitions are to be placed in the basket in the lobby of the church.

Anyone planning to attend is asked to call Time Lessard at (225) 715-5103, or email Donovan Scioneaux at doncno@eatel.net

Tweens can make butterfly decorations out of pasta and paint to display in clay pots at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Gonzales Branch of Ascension Parish Library.

The program is intended for grades four through eight. Call (225) 647-3955 for details.

The Rev. Allen Williams, pastor of Bethel AME Church in Dequincy, will be the guest preacher at Trinity AME Church, 1420 S. Darla Ave., in Gonzales, at 9 a.m. Easter Sunday.

Williams graduated from Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio, where he earned his master of divinity degree in 2012. He was ordained an itinerant deacon in 2010 and an itinerant elder in 2012.

The Edge Church at 3353 La. 44 is holding its annual Easter Eggstravaganza from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. All activities are free and open to the public.

The family-friendly day includes an Easter egg hunt for children, an adults vs. children softball game, inflatables and water slides for the kids, food and beverages.

Ascension Parish Librarys Kanji Klub meets at 6 p.m. Monday at the Gonzales Branch to paint Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired bandanas, learn a Japanese word and watch anime. This months feature is Haikyu!!

Kanji Klub is for adults ages 18 and older interested in expanding appreciation and cultural understanding through watching anime and cosplay-related crafting. Call (225) 647-3955 for details.

Find fellowship with others who are coping with someones drinking problems at Al-Anon meetings at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and April 25 at St. Elizabeth Hospitals Sister Linda conference room.

Ascension Parish Librarys Storybook STEAM program will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Dutchtown, April 20 in Gonzales and April 25 in Donaldsonville. Participation is limited to children ages 4 through 6 and their families.

The program combines classic fairy tales with interactive science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics activities for a fun learning experience.

Tweens in grades four through eight can learn to tie-dye with Sharpie markers at 4 p.m. April 20 at the Donaldsonville Branch of Ascension Parish Library.

Participants should bring a white or light-colored cotton T-shirt, pillowcase or socks. All other materials will be provided.

The 14th annual Alexis Angel Sale featuring plants, arts, crafts and jambalaya will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 22 at 14340 Villar Road, Gonzales. Jambalaya is $6 a plate and will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

A blood drive will be held during the event from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The sale is held yearly during National Donate Life Month on the Saturday after Easter in honor of Alexis Cole Porta, whose heart, kidneys, pancreas, liver, corneas and large bones were donated to more than seven people. Family and friends provide the plants and crafts sold during the event.

Proceeds benefit Donate Life Louisiana to support organ donor awareness.

Visit alexisangelsale.com or facebook/com/alexisangelsale for details.

The Donaldsonville Branch of Ascension Parish Library will offer a free practice ACT test courtesy of Princeton Review of Baton Rouge at 9 a.m. April 22.

The test takes approximately four hours. Students should bring a calculator.

Space is limited; call any Ascension Parish Library branch to register.

Community Sisterhood is sponsoring One Smart Cookie STEM Camp this summer at First Pilgrim Baptist Church, 11453 La. 73, Geismar. Camp will be held June 5-9 and June 12-16 for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Camp-goers can learn about science, technology, engineering and math through activities, robotics, programming and more.

Cost is $60 per child and includes breakfast, lunch and a snack. Register online at eventbrite.com/e/stem-camp-2017-tickets-32380855009 or email communitysisterhood@cox.net.

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 April 13, 2017 | Ascension | theadvocate.com - The Advocate

The Young Voices of Ascension Gavel Club became the first Gavel Club in Toastmasters District 68 when members met in March.

Toastmasters, a nonprofit organization that focuses on developing public speaking and leadership skills, recognized the Ascension Gavel Club as the first of its kind in southern Louisiana.

Mohammad Qayoom, the program quality director of Toastmasters District 68, congratulated club members for their hard work and progress during the March 26 club chartering ceremony held at the Ascension Parish Sheriffs Training Center in Gonzales.

Among the 10 most common fears, public speaking ranks above the fear of committing suicide, Qayoom said, commending club members for overcoming their fear of public speaking.

Skye Taylor, an eighth-grader at Gonzales Middle School, said being in the Ascension Gavel Club has helped her conquer her No. 1 fear: public speaking.

Im very shy, and this helps me get out there and say the things I want to say," Taylor said. "Its really brought me out of my shell."

Michelle Taylor, Skyes mother, said the club program is free, and they are working on building membership.

Members will do peer reviews of each others speeches and progress, said Michelle Taylor. They learn to give constructive criticism, and it also teaches them listening skills.

Im really noticing my daughters improvement, she added.

Nia Comery said that joining the club has jump started her future. She is working on getting an associates degree along with her high school diploma.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy acknowledged the program in a letter read during the chartering, and Gonzales Mayor Barney Arceneaux spoke to students encouraging them and designating Sunday as Ascension Gavel Club Date.

State Rep. Tony Bacala also made an appearance, congratulating club members in his speech.

I applaud you guys, not for wanting to learn to speak, said Bacala, but for wanting to learn to be leaders.

I only wish I had this opportunity when I was growing up, said Qayoom, who has volunteered for the program for four years.

You are going to make a difference in your life, the life of your parents, the community and the world, Qayoom told club members in his final remarks.

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Talking the talk: South Louisiana gains first Gavel Club for Youth - The Advocate

BATON ROUGE A Livingston Parish grand jury has indicted a contractor on 51 counts of charges including contractor fraud after investigators say he scammed 11 victims after the flood.

The indictment in Livingston Parish comes two days after a grand jury in Ascension Parish indicted Matthew Morris on 84 counts of charges for 18 different victims. Morris was arraigned at an Ascension Parish courthouse Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to those charges.

This indictment is only the beginning, District Attorney Scott Perrilloux said. We will continue our commitment to the victims in these cases for recovery of their losses and appropriate justice for Mr. Morris.

Morris, the owner of Complete Construction Contractors, LLC, was indicted on the following charges:

The 39-year-old was accused of charging his victims for services he either had not started or completed. Whenever a victim tried to terminate a contract, Morris would allegedlymail bills for thousands of dollars for "claim assistance" fees in addition to 50 percent of the total estimate of the job.

Multiple agencies, including Baton Rouge Police, Walker Police, Denham Springs Police and Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office had filed charges against Morris over the past several months.

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Matthew Morris pleads not guilty to 84 charges in Ascension Parish - WBRZ

GONZALES Not more than an hour after being sworn into office, newly appointed Ascension Parish Planning Commissioners Wade Schexnaydre and Ken Firmin on Wednesday rejecteda 32-home subdivision in a part of Galvez that flooded heavily in August.

The new commissioners, appointed last month by the Parish Council, were confronted in their first meeting with the hard choices their predecessors have struggled with: approve a subdivision that meets all the parish design, drainage and traffic requirements or deny such projects that neighbors say will worsen flooding and traffic.

GONZALES The Ascension Parish Planning Commission rejected subdivision plans three times i

Firmin and Schexnaydre, who replaced two first-term commissioners who also rejected such projects, formed the majority in a 2-1 vote afterhearing from residents who would live near the Hudson Cove subdivision proposed along the south side of La. 42 just west of Joe Sevario Road.

Commissioner Morrie Bishop voted against denial while Commissioner Tony Christy, serving as interim chairman, did not vote. The chairman does not vote unless to break a tie, not to create one. Commissioners Matthew Pryor, Aaron Chaisson and Julio Dumas were absent.

With the denial, the developer has the option to appeal to the Parish Council under a change enacted last month.

GONZALES A controversial three-person panel appointed by the parish president that has ser

Before the vote, residents described the level of water the August flood brought to nearby La. 42 and to the land surrounding their raised homes and worried the new project would push water on them and they would flood in the future. They also aired traffic concerns for already congested La. 42, though a traffic study found no impact.

Duane Simpson, 47, said his family has owned property in the area since the 1800s, and in the old days, people could count on the oldest homes not flooding because the early settlers would not build in low areas. But growth has changed so much that it's hard to know what areas won't flood now.

"The reason why people are flooding, we keep doing the same things again and again expecting different results, and sadly, people keep flooding, and it's unfortunate," said Simpson, who said his grandfather's house got 2 feet of water.

Proposed by developer Home South Communities, Hudson Cove would be built on land 95 percent of which is in the area defined by the National Flood Insurance Program as being at the highest risk for flooding.

But the developer had proposed turning two acres, fully one-sixth of the entire site, into a large detention pond that would account for rainfall and flooding from a 100-year inundation. The term 100-year flood describes a flood probability of a 1 percent chance happening in any given year.

Under parish policy, the dirt dug from the pond would also provide the earth to lift home sites above the elevation of the 100-year flood so the homes are no longer deemed at high risk of flooding.

Deric Murphy, the developer's engineering representative, said the parish traffic study and drainage ordinances are designed to ensure developments won't cause added impact on traffic and drainage.

"We have a plan that meets the parish code. We sympathize with everything. This project is not going to make it worse," said Murphy, who noted that most of the buildings for his business in nearby Port Vincent flooded in August.

Once everyone had their say, Schexnaydre was told by the commission attorney that deferral would amount to approval because of legal deadlines. Schexnaydrethen said he understood what the parish drainage ordinance is trying to accomplish but could not support the project at an elevation people knew had flooded.

"It still concerns me now that we're putting another 30-something houses that would still be in even further danger to flooding," he said.

Then after a long pause, in which he looked down and collected his thoughts, Schexnaydre blurted out, "Mr. Christy, I'm going to make a motion to deny."

Firmin backed him. The men later formally cited flooding concerns and the low elevation of the property as the reason for the denial, as they were required to do by law.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

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Citing flooding concerns, Ascension Parish Planning Commission rejects proposed subdivision in Galvez - The Advocate