Felterman family is subject of blog entry

Patterson is getting some play on the internet.
Last week, we told you about the Small Town Podcast, in which Rodney Grogan was interviewed about his experience as the first African American Mayor of Patterson. That podcast is a joint project of the Louisiana Municipal Association and Louisiana Economic Development.
Now Patterson has a starring role in a blog.
The blog has the somewhat unlikely name Pinballs & Preachers and describes itself as the short stories and writing of author Steve Achord. The most prominent post at present is called “Humble Beginnings, Generational Impact: The Felterman Family and the Shaping of a Small Town in Louisiana.”
The blog tells the story of the things we associate with the city, from the end of the cypress logging industry in the 1920s to the arrival of shrimping and aviation. And it tells the story through the eyes of the Felterman family, starting with F.C. “Dub” Felterman and his family at the F.B. Williams Lumber Camp.
The Feltermans always seemed to be there when some new development unfolded.
After aviation took hold in the area thanks to Mayor Harry Williams and Jimmy Wedell, Fulton Felterman went to work building parts for racing aircraft.
In the 1930s, Felice Golino of St. Augustine, Florida, arrived in Patterson with a small fleet of shrimp trawlers. As a boy, Fulton “Butch” Felterman Jr. was fascinated with the growing shrimp industry and would grow up to have a fleet of his own.
And when the oil industry arrived, Felterman’s company began work on vessels serving the offshore oil industry.
It’s an interesting read, and not just because of what came before. It makes the reader think about what St. Mary Parish will be like after the next generational change comes along.
Rain and more rain
Tucked away in the packet that Berwick Town Council members get before meetings is a monthly rainfall report.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the report said 19.25 inches of rain fell on Berwick in May alone. That’s nearly a third of an average year’s rainfall total in a month.
At least 2.48 inches of rain fell in a single day four times last month. The largest one-day total was 4.11 inches May 18. Another 3.35 inches fell May 12.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, council members heard from Fire Chief Allen Rink that the Berwick department responded to 22 calls in May. Three of the calls were for actual fires, while eight were for motor vehicle accidents. Three of the crashes were rated as major.
Rink and council members noted the large number of recent calls resulting from crashes atop the U.S. 90 bridge.
That led Rink to make the ironic suggestion that if Berwick builds a new fire station, the bridge should be considered as the site.
Speaking of crashes
The region’s crash problem isn’t limited to the bridge.
Vessel strikes have complicated the work at two new major flood control projects.
The St. Mary Levee District heard Thursday that insurers and a vessel’s owner are still trying to sort out a collision involving a barge and one of the structures associated with the Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure near Baldwin earlier this spring.
To the east, meanwhile, structures surrounding the Bayou Teche Flood Control Structure have sustained a series of strikes, including one on the same day the Levee District board met last week.
Aside from the navigational challenges posed by the structure itself, lock work in the area has resulted in more water traffic in the Bayou Chene area.
Even so, that’s an $80 million piece of work the vessels are striking.
The Levee District board heard that stricter remedies are being discussed, including stricter length limits on vessels moving through the area and clearer lines of command between commercial vessels and the guide boats that must accompany larger tows.
Bill Decker is managing editor of The Daily Review.