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St. Mary Parish public schools added a fourth site Thursday to the list of locations where parish children can receive free meals beginning Monday
Meals will now be distributed at Raintree Elementary in Baldwin as well as at the junior high schools in Morgan City, Patterson and Franklin as the system tries to provide nutrition for children during the suspension of classes because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Any St. Mary young person 18 and under is eligible to receive a free Grab ‘N’ Go breakfast and lunch, packaged together, at the curb at the four distribution sites.
The meals will be distributed 10:30 a.m.-noon each weekday beginning Monday and through April 9. Under current state restrictions, the last date schools will be closed is April 10, but that’s Good Friday, when school would have been out of session before the new rules went into effect.
Children do not have to be eligible for free or reduced-price lunches to receive meals. Children receiving meals have to be present at the distribution site.
The meals are being distributed to be eaten off the site, and, in order to comply with rules limiting public gatherings, no one will be allowed to stay at the sites after receiving meals.
The distribution at each site will be limited by the number of meals available.
The district is prepared to distribute 2,400 meals — 1,200 lunches and 1,200 breakfasts — each day, said Claire Guarisco, the St. Mary public schools food service director.
“We’re going to have meals available at every site,” Guarisco said. “I don’t know how many people will show up. We’re concerned about it.”
On Thursday, Guarisco, Mark Johnson and Eric Logerman pulled up to Patterson Junior High with a truckload of supplies to be used for preparing the meals.
The addition of Raintree to the feeding sites came after School Board members said at a Tuesday special meeting that they were concerned that meals would be distributed at only one site in the parish’s west end, making it hard for children whose families lack transportation.
Meals will be prepared at Franklin Junior High and taken to Raintree for distribution, Guarisco said.
Guarisco said the availability of food service workers limits the number of meals that can be offered and the number of distribution sites.
After Tuesday’s meeting, Guarisco said some of her cafeteria workers are older people or those with diabetes or other health conditions that make them vulnerable to COVID-19. Older people and those with chronic health conditions have been urged to avoid the risk of transmission.
Other workers have children of their own who are at home because schools are closed, she said.
Guarisco has been trying to order from a company that offers prepackaged breakfasts and lunches. But there’s a two-week waiting list.
“That doesn’t mean we’re going to get them in two weeks,” Guarisco said.
St. Martin Parish’s feeding program for students began distributing Grab ‘N’ Go meals Wednesday at Stephensville Elementary School. Meals are distributed there 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. weekdays. Meals are available at other sites in the upper parish.
Assumption Parish administrators say they’re working on a feeding program.
“We will keep the public informed of all developments in this area,” according to the school website. “We want to provide food for students and are working to make it happen.”
Nationally, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced this week that the USDA had entered a collaboration with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, PepsiCo and others to deliver nearly 1 million meals a week to students in a limited number of rural schools closed due to COVID-19.
The anti-hunger organization Feeding America found in 2017 that nearly 24% of St. Mary children live in homes experiencing food insecurity. The USDA defines food insecurity as “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.”

BATON ROUGE – With the country in lockdown, markets in freefall, and national retail sales off 36% year-over-year, LSU Economist Emeritus Dr. Loren Scott says Louisiana has another serious factor looming.
“Louisiana will be particularly hard hit because of the deep dive of oil thanks to the production war going on between Russia and Saudi Arabia,” Scott said.
“This scenario is one of the worst I’ve seen for Louisiana.”
This week, oil prices are collapsing below $20 per barrel as demand plummets with workers worldwide staying at home.
Scott, who formulates 10 economic studies and 70 presentations each year for clients such as ExxonMobil and British Petroleum, predicts Louisiana will become collateral damage.
“For every dollar drop in oil,” Scott says, “Louisiana loses $12 million. The state’s budget is based on $54 a barrel oil. That means as this legislative session starts, out of the clear blue Louisiana could sustain a $300 million-400 million loss in severance revenues on oil price alone if the Russians and Saudis let this fight go into the fall.
“If that happens, you’re going to see even more layoffs of good-paying jobs in Houma and Lafayette. And Houma’s already lost about 18,000 jobs. Investors in the oil patch were already starting to pull back because returns weren’t that good plus the Russians wanted to drive oil down to try to put Americans drilling in the Permian, Bakken and other shale plays out of business.”
Optimistically, Dr. Scott says he believes the Russians will blink first, agree with the Saudis, and both will cut back production because both economies rely heavily on higher energy prices. That, he says, would save Louisiana’s budget.
“If not, will there be layoffs in Louisiana?”
“Absolutely,” replied Scott.
Dr. Scott, whose career spans a half century —30 years teaching in the Economics Department of Louisiana State University and another 20 years as economist emeritus — remains passionate about what makes Louisiana’s economy fluctuate amid strong outside forces. Coronavirus, he says, is a curveball Louisiana didn’t need.
“The ripple effect is not going to be good. The restaurant industry, hospitality, and air lines are already being hammered right now. Wells Fargo financial analysts are now saying that both the second and third quarters for the U.S. economy are going negative. They previously estimated only the second quarter to be down a negative .06% (-.06%). Now they have downgraded to a much steeper decline of three full percentage points (negative 3%) in Gross Domestic Product growth, negative now for the first time in over a decade. We’ve been in the longest boom time in United States history -129 straight months, or 11 years, of growth- and it looks like that’s going to come to a screeching halt.
“Two-thirds of the GDP pie is generated by personal consumption spending, people going out and buying. People spend based on income and wealth. Wealth has quickly taken a major hit in the over 30% drop in the stock market. When that happens, people start to hang on to their wallet and they don’t spend.”
“The second part,” added Scott, “is that uncertainty causes a reduction in business investment spending. That wasn’t growing very fast as it was. Now you’ll see that get squeezed down even further. The final part is net exports which have been reduced significantly to China and parts of Asia and Europe. These three parts will decline in real GDP in the second and third quarters. The only part that might grow is government which will be one helluva number that will add to the federal deficit and at some point the deficit is going to matter.”
Scott believes the economy will recover by late summer, but his brows furrow as he fishes for the right words to be accurate. In a half century of weighing Louisiana’s variables, he’s seen much of what keeps the Bayou State’s economy fragile and floundering. “Before all this happened, all the major forecasters were forecasting continued growth all the way out through 2021,” he laments. “They were saying the economy will continue to grow unless there’s some ‘exogenous factor.’ Well, here we are. The Coronavirus is the exogenous factor that came out of nowhere and ‘boom.’ You couldn’t have predicted it.”
With The New York Times quoting Chinese officials as trying to blame the United States for somehow planting the virus in China, Scott shakes his head over the timing of COVID-19 coinciding with America’s trade war with China. “I not sure where or why it all started because we were starting to come to agreements in trade,” Bottom line, Scott believes this economic downturn will lead to layoffs. “It’ll start immediately,” he says. “That’s why you have the second and third quarter forecasts going negative. It’ll happen almost simultaneously. Restaurants can’t keep paying staff if nobody shows up to eat. And if oil stays $30 below what Louisiana’s budget is based on, this legislative session could be a bloodbath.”

January 29, 1962 — March 18, 2020
Reed Daniel Armond Jr., 58, a resident of Morgan City, passed away peacefully Wednesday, March 18, 2020, surrounded by his wife and daughter Angel.
Reed was born January 29, 1962, in New Orleans, the son of Reed Daniel Armond Sr. and Audrey Ryan Phillips.
Reed proudly served the United States Navy for 11 years. He was a great husband, father and grandfather, and enjoyed spending time with all of them. Reed was an avid sports fan, enjoying the Saints and LSU, NASCAR, St. Louis Cardinals and the New Orleans Pelicans.
He will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by his wife, Tammy White Armond of Morgan City; two sons, Alfred White of Foley, Alabama, and PFC Ryan Armond of Ft. Bliss, Texas; two daughters, Cherie Armond-Hiatt of San Antonio, Texas, and Angel White of Morgan City; his mother, Audrey Ryan Phillips and husband George “Lee” Phillips of Picayune, Mississippi; four brothers, SSGT Ret. Charles Armond and wife Nancy of Picayune, Mississippi, Richard Armond and wife SPCO Ret. Christine of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, David Armond and spouse Billy Ryan Jr. of Gulfport, Mississippi, and Wesley Armond of Noblesville, Indiana; one sister, Belinda Armond and husband Davy Farmer of Picayune, Mississippi; six grandchildren, Love Ann Hiatt, Phaeton Hiatt, Havana Hiatt, Zephyr Hiatt, Drake White-Russell and Garen Hebert; his beloved godmother, Sandra Ryan; along with numerous nieces and nephews.
Reed was preceded in death by his father, Reed Daniel Armond Sr.; one brother, Elliot Armond; and one sister, Palma Sporer.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to the family, c/o Twin City Funeral Home.
Due to the recent health concerns and the restrictions on limited gatherings, a celebration of life will be held at a future date. Friends are encouraged to view and leave a memory of Reed for the family on the website at www.twincityfh.com. The family thanks everyone for their understanding during this difficult time.

July 7, 1940 — March 19, 2020
Tracy Ann Verret Benoit Duval, 79, a lifelong resident of Amelia, passed away Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Ochsner St. Mary.
Tracy was born on July 7, 1940, in Amelia, the daughter of Sylvester Joseph Verret Sr. and Velma Mary Verret.
Tracy began her life of public service at the age of 15 by serving as Secretary of the Booster Club at J.S. Aucoin Elementary School in Amelia. She was faithfully dedicated to serving her community in numerous ways throughout her life. For over 40 years, Tracy worked as an election poll commissioner, often crocheting to pass the time during voting. In 1993, she was elected to serve on the board of the South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Association (SLECA), a position once held by her first husband, Noble Benoit. Tracy was elected by her community as the Justice of the Peace Ward 9 in 1996, serving until retirement in 2015. She was also a longtime advisor for the St. Mary Community Action Agency. Tracy was a faithful parishioner of St. Andrew Catholic Church where she served for many years in various capacities: as a first-grade catechism teacher, the creator of a preschool religion program in the late 1970s, as a member of the Ladies’ Altar Society, a lector, and Eucharistic Minister, often bringing Communion to the homebound. Tracy will always be remembered as someone who was kind and generous, enjoyed a good laugh and always had a good joke to tell. She made a lasting impression on everyone she met.
She will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by four children, Noble Benoit and wife Lisa of Destrehan, Trevor Benoit and companion Angie of Amelia, Vincent Benoit and companion Katie of Amelia, and Adele Benoit Gotham and husband Kevin of New Orleans; godson, Charles “Chuck” Walters and wife Brenda of Amelia; three step-children, Larry J. Duval Jr. and wife Penny of Stephensville, Melinda Duval McCurry and husband Hoyt Jr. of Long Beach, Mississippi, and Tammy Duval Albritton and husband Herman Jr. of Morgan City; five grandchildren, Jordan Benoit, Raleigh Poché (and husband Brian), Audrey Gotham, Alexandra “Alex” Gotham, and Krista Walters (and her daughter Myra); eight step-grandchildren, Nathaniel Duval, Cody Duval, Chelsea Blanchard, Anna Blanchard, Kristen Blanchard, Andrew Albritton, Ross Albritton and Madeline Albritton; one great-grandchild; and five step-great-grandchildren.
Tracy was preceded in death by her parents, Sylvester Sr. and Velma Mary Verret; her first husband, Noble Joseph Benoit; second husband, Larry J. Duval Sr.; one sister, Alice Mae Walters; and one brother, Sylvester “S.J.” Verret Jr.
The family would like to thank Denise Chaisson, Barbara Breaux and Cheryl Hebert, Tracy’s caregivers, for the loving care they gave to Tracy. They would also like to thank the doctors and staff of Ochsner St. Mary and Ochsner Foundation Hospital for all they did during Tracy’s illness.
Due to the recent health concerns and the restrictions in accordance with the limited gatherings, the funeral services for Ms. Tracy will be held privately by the immediate family. Friends are encouraged to view and leave a memory of Tracy for the family on our website. The family thanks everyone for their understanding during this difficult time. Once the restrictions have been lifted, a public memorial Mass will be held to celebrate Tracy’s life.