UPDATED WITH STORY: Ribbon-cutting opens new Centerville dock

By BILL DECKER
bdecker@daily-review.com
CENTERVILLE — Schwan Park is officially on the trail.
Local officials and members of the Teche Project cut a ribbon Tuesday to mark the completion of a new dock at the Centerville park, making it the fifth St. Mary Parish trailhead on the Bayou Teche Water Trail, which runs down the bayou from north St. Landry Parish. The other St. Mary trailheads are in Patterson, Franklin, Baldwin and Charenton.
“We want it to be a first-class paddle trail from Morgan City to Port Barre,” said Patti Holland, a council member with the Teche Project, the nonprofit that manages the trail.
Paddle sports — including canoeing, kayaking and pedal-boats — are a growing segment of St. Mary tourism. Holland and Parish President David Hanagriff, the great-grandson of the park’s namesake, spoke with hope about attracting a business catering to paddle-sport enthusiasts or offering watercraft rentals.
“It’s something we can build on,” Hanagriff said. “It’s fantastic. ...
“Tourism is big in Louisiana. We need to build on that.”
The Bayou Teche Water Trail is one of 33 such nationally designated trails in the country and the only one in Louisiana. The trail parallels the Bayou Teche National Scenic Byway and is part of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, also a federally designated zone.
The water trail offers views of tree-lined banks along the northern portion of the bayou as well as the antebellum homes on the Teche in Franklin.
There are plans for a “dog paddle” that invites boaters to bring their pets on paddle journeys as a fundraiser for area animal shelters.
The $35,000 dock by Wahoo Docks, a Georgia company with an outlet in Marksville, was paid by a grant from the Federal Highway Admin-istration’s Recreational Trails Program. The Louisiana coordinator for the program, Michael W. Domingue, is a former St. Mary Parish Council member who represented the Centerville area.
The St. Mary Parish government put in another $8,200 worth of in-kind work, mostly filling in a low spot near the dock to make access and grass-cutting easier.
Also Tuesday, the group unveiled a kiosk with information about the Centerville area and the Bayou Teche Water Trail. The kiosk was made possible by a grant from the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area Commission.