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The Centerville Park beautification project, also known as the Wildflower Walk, has offered some stunning shows of color during the summer.
The donated trees are adapting to the soil and getting better established, and most are thriving, according to Centerville High Ag teacher and park volunteer Steve Nugent.
The crepe myrtle trees seem to have done very well, Nugent said, and they are growing rather quickly, and although the bloom season is drawing to a close, some are still putting out blooms. The varieties that bloom first, such as Arapaho, a dark redish-pink, and Natchez, white bloom, are now seeding out and preparing themselves for the next show of color, which will be leaves turning the reds, yellows, and oranges of fall.
“That fall foliage can be expected in October, as the days grow shorter to trigger the change,” Nugent said. “There are a few trees that seem to be struggling. The redbuds, camellias and a cherry tree are not growing as prolifically as the crepe myrtles, and seem to be having a tougher time adapting to the clay soil of the park. Although fertilizer helps, the intense heat, rainfall and pH of the soil are issues that each tree must overcome on its own, and often trees struggle for a year or two before they adjust and respond with prolific growth and blooms.”
Nugent said that many of the park’s visitors have enjoyed the thousands of blooming wildflowers that line certain sections of the pathway. The walk was initially seeded with several varieties of flowers, but only about half have taken and established themselves, now that the summer proved to be rainy enough to help the perennials gain footing. The wildflowers are past their bloom show, and are seeding out. They will be cut back in a few days to force them to send growth to underground roots and prepare for overwintering.
“Those that bloomed will be back in the early spring 2021, but in the meantime, I have to try and get a handle on the foxtail grass and some yellow nutsedge that are out-competing some of the seeds we planted,”
Nugent explained. “You must be very careful when applying selective herbicides that target specific pest grasses. I don’t spray anything that is harmful to people or pets, of course, and I certainly don’t spray when the bees and other pollinators are visiting the park. Honeybee populations are only a fraction of what they used to be a few decades ago, and we humans really need those honeybees, they do a lot more than pollinate flowers for us, so nothing is applied to the flowers that will harm bees or the honey they make.”
He said he plans to re-adjust the seeding program the park is re-seeded this fall. “I see now what seeds can out-compete the grasses and sedges, and I will focus on those when the time comes,” he said. “Although all of the park’s sections were seeded with wildflowers back in February and March, most of the seeds germinated, but about half did not grow to maturity. We experienced an eight-week long drought after the seeding, and that was too much for some of the young plants. The red and orange poppy plants didn’t make it, neither did some of the low growing purple flowers, so we still keep our fingers crossed as we re-seed this upcoming season.
Local volunteers and students will be checking the tried-and-true Farmer’s Almanac for long-term forecasts for rain in 2021.
“Maybe we can get more flowers to bloom this second year,” Nugent said. “The pandemic threw a kink in everyone’s plans, and I had hoped to maintain some of the park beds with volunteer and student help, even involving the FFA club, but I guess the Covid-19 virus had other plans! The flowers that did take hold did put on a spectacular show, the white daisies and yellows of the black-eyed-susans, and the combination beds with annuals were wonderful to see.
“Next season should be better,” he concluded, “but we have to hope for good weather in the meantime. A huge thanks does out to those people that have helped and continue to do so with the park. It means a lot to see that some volunteers have done a little weed-trimming or helped with a tree tie-down, and these little favors are noticed by visitors and much appreciated. After the flower beds are cut, the trees will be mulched and fertilized for over-wintering, and the beds will be re-seeded during the winter and early fall … so we hope to have a prettier walk next year!”

Carol Christine Verdine Johnson, 73, a resident of Los Angeles, CA and a native of Morgan City, La., passed away on July 24, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA.
Visitation will be ob-served from 12 noon until dismissal services at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 15, 2020 at Jones Funeral Home 715 Sixth Street Morgan City, La. Pastor Ron Bias will officiate. All visitors are asked to adhere to the CDC-local regulations by wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
Carol will be laid to rest in the Morgan City Cemetery following dis-missal services. Services will be accessible by viewing the Jones Funeral Home, Inc. Facebook Page at 2 p.m. on Saturday August 15, 2020.
Carol leaves to cherish her memory: one daughter, Bridgette Johnson; two brothers, Gerald Verdine (Carole Sue) and Russell Peter Verdine; two sisters, Mary Ann Wade (Donald) and Jennifer LeBlanc as well as a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends.
Carol was preceded in death by her mother, and father; one sister, two brothers (and sisters-in-law).
Jones Funeral Home of Morgan City-Franklin-Jeanerette-Houma in charge of ar-rangements. Visit www.jones-funeral-home.com to send condolences to family.

SARS-CoV-2 can affect people in a number of different ways, from an absence of symptoms to major complications, even death, according to a Tulane University news release.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently awarded $700,000 to a Tulane University team of researchers who are studying how the virus works and where and when it is shed.
What they find could help explain why COVID-19 is causing higher death rates among Black and Hispanic residents of New Orleans.
In Orleans Parish, more than 540 people have died of COVID-19 complications since the state began tracking cases in March. Of the patients who died, 410 were Black, representing more than 75 percent of fatal cases. Tulane Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr. Dahlene Fusco says researchers want to learn whether specific factors related to the virus or something within the host contribute to the higher fatality rate.
Fusco and her team are tracking patients from hospitals and clinics around the Greater New Orleans area.
They are collecting clinical, virus and serologic (antibody and cytokine) data from people diagnosed with COVID-19, which will allow a real-time comparison of the course of the illness and how the patient’s immune system responds. The researchers plan to follow patients for a year after their treatment for the virus.
Fusco says the data gathered in this study will help researchers identify whether variants in the patients or the virus have contributed to the high mortality rate seen in Louisiana, and will be useful for broader predictions of COVID-19 response moving forward.
“We need to study the host-virus interaction systematically to identify effective countermeasures quickly,” Fusco said.
“The more support we can get from the community to study how they’re being impacted, the better.”

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are in our 60s and have a swimming pool that our kids and grandkids like to visit. Our issue is that our granddaughter wears a bathing suit that shows her bum. It isn’t a thong, but close to it.
She’s 16 and starting her junior year of high school this year. It makes my husband and me uncomfortable, and we have told my daughter as much. Is this one of those situations where we either accept it or don’t allow her to swim with such a suit?
I love my granddaughter and will put up with the way it makes us feel if that is where the line is drawn, but it is hard for us to understand. When she brings her friends, they dress the same way. What do you advise?
UNCOMFORTABLE GRANDPARENTS

DEAR GRANDPARENTS: Because you and your spouse are uncomfortable with the amount of exposure your granddaughter and her friends display when they come to swim, you have the right to tell them to wear something less revealing. It’s your pool, and the bottom line is it’s your privilege to set the rules. Be prepared, however, for your granddaughter to not want to use your pool as often in the future.

DEAR ABBY: My father is 87 and has stage 4 cancer. For years he has lied about being a hospital corpsman in the Navy during the Korean War. My parents live in a retirement community, and he talks about being in the war while wearing a Navy baseball cap. Dad was in the Naval Reserve (that we know of) but never saw combat.
Veterans’ groups are always bringing him quilts, food, etc. My mom is horrified and doesn’t know what to say when he goes on a rant about having been hit by shrapnel while pulling a fellow naval guy out of a burning building. He will pass away soon, and the veterans’ groups will be giving Mom a flag he doesn’t deserve. Mom doesn’t know what to do. Should we just ignore the antics or say something? Please help.
UNCERTAIN IN FLORIDA

DEAR UNCERTAIN: What your father has been doing is called “stolen valor” or “stolen honor,” and it is seriously frowned upon by people who have actually earned it. It is a form of fraud. However, anyone who has served in the military and been honorably discharged is entitled to be given a flag when he or she is buried. It will be folded and presented to your mother.
As to the gifts he is receiving from the veterans’ groups, suggest that because your father is now so close to the end, they be given to other vets who can use them.

DEAR ABBY: I’ve been dating a very sweet girl for the last four months, and I’m starting to have serious feelings for her. My children really like her, but she sat me down the other night and told me she’s transgender. I’m crushed, and I don’t know what to do. This blows my mind; please give me any guidance. I care a lot about this person, and I just want to cry.
CRUSHED IN THE SOUTH

DEAR CRUSHED: You say you are starting to have serious feelings for this girl, who is not only sweet, but also HONEST.
If you are worried what others might think if they find out she wasn’t assigned female at birth, then she’s not the girl for you. Because she has laid all her cards on the table, take this as an opportunity to have a series of frank conversations with her about what challenges might lie ahead for the both of you if this romance progresses.
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Good advice for everyone — teens to seniors — is in “The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It.” To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.