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The Patterson High School Fishing Team fished its first tournament of the season last weekend at Doiron's Landing. Top Photo: Logan Martin and Dylan Verret caught their limit of five fish and weighed in at 6.58 pounds. They competed against 170 high school teams throughout Louisiana. Bottom Photo: Martin and Verret are shown with fishing captain and PHS alumnus Lee Bierhorst.

Vaccinations are some of the most valuable contributions to modern medicine. They have drastically reduced the prevalence of certain diseases, including polio, tetanus, measles and chicken pox.
One disease, smallpox, has even been eradicated completely, with no natural cases since 1977. Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the U.S., the race to develop a vaccine quickly — but with a high efficacy — is well underway. It’s likely that we could have a COVID-19 vaccine available to the public by next year.
Unfortunately, even if we develop an effective vaccine to combat the pandemic, it will have a reduced impact if people don’t choose to get it. According to Gallup, 35% of Americans would not get a COVID-19 vaccine, even if it were free.
The first step to getting the vast majority of Americans to take a coronavirus vaccine is to educate people on the importance of vaccines and how much good they have done for public health.
The World Health Organization estimates that vaccines prevented at least 10 million deaths worldwide just between the years of 2010 and 2015. A similar study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found vaccines prevented 732,000 deaths in the U.S. between 1994 and 2013, as well as eliminated $1.38 trillion in total societal costs that those diseases would have caused.
Vaccines are also very safe, and according to the WHO, “so few deaths can plausibly be attributed to vaccines that it is hard to assess the risk statistically.”
Some states are better than others when it comes to vaccinating. In order to see where people are most responsible about getting vaccines, WalletHub examined the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 18 key categories.
Our data set ranges from share of vaccinated children to share of people without health insurance to presence of reported measles outbreaks. Visit https://wallethub.com/edu/states-that-vaccinate-the-most/66237/ for the full ranking, additional insight from a panel of experts and a detailed explanation of our methodology.
States that vaccinated the most were, in first to 10th order, Massa-chusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Maryland, Washington, Iowa, Nebraska and Oregon.
Ranking the worst in vaccinations were, 42-51 order, Arizona, Hawaii, South Carolina, Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming, Texas, New Jersey, Georgia, Oregon and Mississippi.
Louisiana ranked 40th.
Massachusetts has the highest influenza vaccination coverage for children, 81.10%, which is 1.8 times higher than in Wyoming, the state with the lowest at 46%.
Minnesota has the highest share of adults with the tetanus vaccination, 74.80%, which is 1.6 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest at 48%.
Vermont has the highest share of adults aged 60 and older with the zoster vaccination (shingles), 51.80%, which is two times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest at 26%.
Minnesota has the highest share of children 19 to 35 months old living in poverty with the combined 7-vaccine series, 84.30%, which is 1.7 times higher than in California, the state with the lowest at 50.70%.

The 2020-21 Area 7 Deer Season will open Saturday for St. Mary Parish archers. In early October, archery season will be followed by primitive weapon and regular firearm seasons.
Though small portions of Area 5 and 9 hunt zones can be found in St. Mary Parish, Area 7 makes up the lion’s share and vast majority of huntable property, both private and public, around these parts. So, what do coastal deer hunters have to look forward to this season?
Often considered marginal habitat, the low-lying areas along St. Mary’s coastline are lush with nutritional plants that rival some of the better known upland regions of the state.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Deer Study Leader Johnathan Bordelon, said, “There are differences in plant composition and the amount of freshwater influence across Louisiana’s marshes. Marshes in portions of Iberia and St. Mary parishes have shown a greater abundance and diversity of herbaceous browse plants utilized by deer. There are DMAP clubs within St. Mary and Iberia (Area 7) that have sustained harvest rates that rival bottomland hardwood habitats.”
Bordelon went on to say that, in general, these marshes are producing a higher percentage of herbaceous plants than upland sites. Additionally, he points out the growing season is almost year-round. However, if there is an exception food-wise in the marsh it is with mast crops or acorns. Deer just don’t have as much access to hard mast in the marsh as they do in other regions of the state.
Acorns are high in carbohydrates and fats. They are also easily digested by deer, making them an important food source. Unlike the vast tracks of timber-filled land such as those found in the Kisatchie National Forest, Tensas National Wildlife Refuge, and many of the wildlife management areas along the Red, Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers with abundant varieties of oak trees, the coastal marshes are limited to the few trees along canal banks and levees.
In spite of all the good nutrition along the coastline here in St. Mary Parish, high water and flooding is always an issue, particularly over the course of the past year dating back to 2019. Starting with high water that lasted through early July, it was followed by Hurricane Barry, a category 1 (75 mph) that made landfall on Marsh Island. Essentially, the coast has been inundated with flood waters off and on for over a year.
In 2020 we subsequently had more high water this past spring and four tropical events with named storms Cristobal, Marco, Laura and Sally that have impacted our region.
Bordelon said, “The habitat is extremely vulnerable to storms and inland flooding from surge, which can temporarily knock out available resources. Upland sites are much more forgiving in comparison to such storms.”
A number of years ago, Hurricane Lili made landfall near Intracoastal City, placing all of St. Mary Parish on the worst side of the storm. Tidal surge in Vermillion Bay was 12 feet high.
At the time, I was a member of a lease near Burns Point, south of Centerville. While surveying the damage to the marsh, everything was flattened. Flag grass, cut grass, elephant ear and roseau cane looked like a mangled flat carpet. Moreover, from what I could tell, the deer feed was gone.
Somehow deer survived. In the following weeks, we noticed bare limbs where deer had stripped the few remaining willow tree leaves as high as they could reach, while standing on their hind legs. They also ate the leaves of the invasive tallow trees.
A year later, the prolific and nutritious food deer were accustomed to, returned. There was abundant marsh cow peas, alligator weed, and plenty of briars and other woody forbs important to their diet.
Sadly, the full weight of the impact of storms isn’t noticed until pretty much the following year, where recruitment is concerned. Quite often, poor nutrition leads to low lactation rates leading to lower fawn production.
Centerville resident James Aucoin has land he manages and hunts deer on around Point Marone. Just days after Laura made landfall, Aucoin went down to the property to fill his alligator tags. The first thing he noticed was how flat the marsh was from tidal surge. The second thing he noticed was how easy it was to spot a few deer.
Aucoin said, “While fishing gators I passed by one of my stands and climbed up in it just to look around. I saw two deer about 400 yards away. They were easy to spot with no tall grass to hide them. I guess we saw about 50 deer all total. We saw some fawns too. I don’t know how they made it, but they were all up on that floating marsh.”
The fact is, marsh deer are pretty resilient when it comes to survival. They are very capable swimmers. Moreover, have no qualms about swimming across bayous and canals.
Area 7 has one of the earliest ruts that usually peaks the third week in October. Subsequently, this hunt region has one of the earliest season start dates. Biologists theorize the early breeding period is possibly nature’s way of averting high mortality from flooding and tropical storms. Whether or not that is the case, in spite of these severe weather events, deer numbers have remained fairly stable for years along St. Mary’s coastline.
Once things settle down and the weather transitions to a fall pattern where we have regular cool fronts, the upcoming season should be another good one for Area 7 deer hunters.

Much of South Louisiana is still trying to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Laura three weeks ago. A large portion of Lake Charles and other areas remain without electricity and water. Other parishes, many in North Louisiana, are also still recovering power outages, downed trees, and flooding.
St. Mary Parish was spared the brunt of the storm. We here at St. Mary Community Action Agency feel obligated to show our compassion for the residents of our sister parishes, who are suffering. Several local churches have already brought tons of food and supplies to Lake Charles and surrounding areas to assist families and individuals. St. Mary CAA, in partnership with local churches, continues its fundraising efforts for Hurricane victims in Calcasieu, Cameron, and Allen Parishes, which are all a part of our service area. Community Action Agencies in those areas will be our points of contact. We are collecting:
--Water
--Cleaning Supplies, including Clorox, Lysol, gloves, mops, etc.
--Toiletries, including toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer, lip balm, etc.
--Nonperishable food items
--Gift Cards and monetary donations,
Items may be dropped off from 8 a.ml to 3 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at our Central Office, 1407 Barrow St., Franklin, or Morgan City Neighborhood Service Center – AARP Building, 4410 Chennault St., Morgan City. We will collect items through the end of the month. We are coordinating with local churches for collection and transportation of all items received. If you have any questions regarding “Hurricane Laura Relief Effort” please contact St. Mary Community Action Agency’s CEO, Almetra, J. Franklin, at 337-828-5703.
Almetra J. Franklin
CEO