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Whitney Breaux promoted at M C Bank

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 10:21am

Whitney Breaux promoted at bank
Larry Callais, president and CEO at M C Bank, said Whitney Breaux has been promoted to assistant vice president and credit analyst at the Morgan City-based bank.
A graduate of Patterson High School, Breaux also earned her degree from Nicholls State University, where she is currently engaged in the graduate school program seeking a master's degree in business administration. She has been a part of M C Bank for seven years and is a member of Good Hope Baptist Church.
Travis Richard, senior vice president, said, “We are delighted to announced Whitney’s promotion. I am confident that our customers will be well-served by her work behind the scenes, so to speak. She is deserving of this new position.”

Patterson council sets salary for chief

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 10:19am

The next Patterson police chief’s city salary will be $53,000 a year, provided the new chief has passed state training.
The city council moved Tuesday to set the chief’s salary. A chief without certification will make $38,400 per year.
The $53,000 does not include $500 per month in state supplemental pay that goes to officers with certification from the Peace Officer Standard Training Council.
POST certification is administered by a council composed of state and local law enforcement officials. There are separate certifications for police officers, jailers and corrections officers.
Under the Patterson charter, the police chief is elected. Longtime Chief Patrick LaSalle resigned in March, setting up an election this fall to choose his successor.
Qualifying will be July 18-20. The primary will be Nov. 6, and the runoff, if needed, would be Dec. 8.
Janis Merritt was chosen by the council after LaSalle resigned to serve as interim chief. The charter prohibits the interim chief from running for the office.
Also Tuesday, the council moved to make driving a little smoother on some Patterson streets.
Last month, the council learned that it was getting $450,000 from the St. Mary Parish government for road work.
On Tuesday, the council agreed to seek bids for asphalt overlay on these streets: Kem, Leon, Jason, Wedell, Loveland, Callahan, Morey, Andrew, Burney and Hurst. The alternate streets, if the bids come in low enough to allow more work, are Railroad, Waveland and Hickory.

EULA JOHNSON

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 10:10am

Eula Johnson, 70, a native of Lafourche Parish and resident of Thibodaux, died Friday, June 29, 2018. Visitation will be Saturday from 9 a.m. until services at 11 a.m. at Morning Star Baptist Church in Thibodaux. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. She is survived by her husband, Willie Johnson of Thibodaux; three sons, Clarence Ward, Nathaniel Ward and Kevin Ward, all of Thibodaux; a daughter, ShaRotta Barrow of Thibodaux; seven grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and a sister, Audrey Brown of Morgan City. She was preceded in death by her parents. Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

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DOROTHY NOLAN

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 10:08am

Dorothy Nolan, 73, a resident of Thibodaux and native of Lafourche Parish, died Friday, June 29, 2018.
Visitation will be Saturday from 9 a.m. until services at 11 a.m. at Morning Star Baptist Church in Thibodaux. Burial will follow in Blue Lily Cemetery.
She is survived by three sons, Lloyd Nolan, Lynwood Nolan and Edwin Nolan, all of Thibodaux; five daughters, Eliza Duncan, Cynthia Nolan, Jennifer Nolan and Christine Every, all of Thibodaux, and Darlene Harris of Morgan City; 10 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; four sisters, Louise Foster, Lillie Green, Mildred Howard and Audrey Palmer, all of Thibodaux; and a host of other relatives.
She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and four brothers.
Jones Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Wheel House July 6

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 10:05am

UNITY PRAYER
Area pastors host a community/unity prayer service at 6 p.m. Tuesdays. July 10 meeting at Living in the Light Ministries, Bayou Vista. Public invited.

SENIOR DINNERS
Hosted by St. Mary Parish Council and St. Mary Community Action Agency at St. Mary Senior Citizens Center, Chennault Street, Morgan City, 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 10. Door prizes and bingo at 10 a.m. For info call Carla Dartez or Ruth Naverre, 985-384-7446.

BERWICK
Housing Authority taking applications for all units from 8:15-11 a.m. and 1:15-3 p.m. Thursday, July 12 and Tuesday, July 17. Must bring birth certificates and Social Security cards for all members of the household, picture ID for all members over 18 and current proof of income. For info call 985-385-1546.

MEN’S DAY
Program at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, 113 Federal Ave., Morgan City, 3 p.m. Sunday, July 22. Guest speaker Deacon Barry Robinson, Star Light Baptist Church, Slidell.

MT. ERA
Baptist Church, 406 Lawrence St., Morgan City, celebrating the Rev. Norman Stovall and Katherine Stovall’s 12-year pastoral anniversary at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 22. Guest speaker the Rev. Derrick Shavers, St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, Baton Rouge.

COMMODITIES
Distributed by St. Mary Community Action Agency and Food for Families Program Friday, July 27. Given on a first come, first serve basis. If unable to go, send an authorized representative. Locations: 7-10 a.m., Berwick Civic Center and 8:30 a.m. to noon, Amelia Recreational Center. For info call 337-828-5703/5705.

AL-ANON
Family group meeting for people affected by family or friends who are alcoholic available at Bayou Vista Community Center, 1333 Bellview St., Bayou Vista, at 6 p.m. Tuesdays. Open to public.

Jim Bradshaw: Lowry's rice-growing dream got blown away

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 10:00am
By JIM BRADSHAW

Drought, dried up prices, surly neighbors and a bundle of dynamite made for hard times in the early days of rice farming in parts of southwest Louisiana.
One of the biggest losers was Charles Lowry who in 1893 bought 7,000 acres on the Mermentau River around the “Green House,” the historic residence (still standing) said to be one of the oldest houses west of the Atchafalaya Basin.
The house was built about 1836 for Alexander and Clarisse Hebert. It and thousands of acres around it were inherited by their son, Desire. He sold everything to Lowry, who, stirred by dreams of building an empire in Louisiana, gave up a lucrative wholesale drug business in Indiana.
Lowry probably heard about the Hebert land from J.B. Watkins, who in the late 1880s, as agent for the North American Land Company, bought 1.2 million acres in Cameron and Calcasieu parishes and began an intensive advertising campaign to bring Midwestern farmers to south Louisiana.
In one of his brochures, he called the Hebert land “one of the many beautiful and prolific plantations to be found in southwest Louisiana.”
An 1891 newspaper ad placed by Desire Hebert offered 8,000 acres “In One Solid Body” and a 1,200-acre stand of cypress timber “in its native state.” Lowry paid $12,000 for all of it, about $335,000 in today’s money.
Lowry, his wife Emma and their four children built a new home in an oak grove just upriver from the Green House. Over the next five years, he dug two irrigation canals with a combined length of 20 miles and converted 7,000 acres of prairie into rice fields.
His first canal irrigated his own Live Oak Plantation. Its pumps could lift 1.5 million gallons an hour from the Mermentau. The second canal could irrigate another 9,000 acres of land farmed mostly by families Lowry recruited from the Midwest. (He created the village of Lowry, which included a post office, general store, and schoolhouse, to help lure them south.)
But Mother Nature did not share his dream.
At first there was too much of a good thing; record crops flooded the market and drove prices down. But then a string of especially dry years also played havoc with the harvest.
By 1898 Lowry was short of cash. He’d spent a lot on his canals and, with poor crops one year or poor prices the next, he had not made the profit he needed. He had to sell part of his rice and canal operations to pay his mortgage.
Still, hopes were high that year; it looked like there would finally be a crop that was both big and profitable. But heavy rains just as the harvest began ruined crops and hopes.
1901 and 1902 were two of the driest years ever in southwest Louisiana. Water in the Mermentau dropped so low that there was barely enough to irrigate the fields. The 1903 crop was good, but the prices were poor. A cold snap wiped out most of the 1904 crop; another hot, dry summer steamed away irrigation water.
Making matters worse, salt water from the Gulf crept up the river during the droughts, making the little water that was available unusable for crops.
The farmers created the Rice Irrigation and Improvement Association and were able to raise enough money to build a temporary dam to block the salt water near Grand Chenier. But they could not raise enough for something permanent.
The association went to the Legislature for help. It created the Mermentau Levee Board and gave it authority to levy a property tax to build something better. A permanent dam was finished in August 1905.
The rice growers liked that, but farmers around Grand Chenier grew corn, cotton and cattle.
They thought the dam would cause their land to flood during a rainy period. The test came almost immediately
The skies opened in September 1905. One heavy rain followed another.
The Mermentau flooded, and, as feared, so did the Grand Chenier corn and cotton farms. When their protests went unheeded, the chenier farmers took matters into their own hands.
One dark October night, dynamiters blew out 30 feet of the dam. The levee board rebuilt it. The next blast did a more thorough job. That was the end; the dam was never rebuilt.
Lowry sold everything to the company that became the Lacassane Company, which still owns the property. (The Jeff Davis Parish town is spelled Lacassine, the company is Lacassane.)
A big reward was offered for the conviction of the men who blew up the dam and Lowry’s dream. Nobody talked.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

Patterson 12s punch second straight ticket to Babe Ruth Softball World Series

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 9:53am
Staff Report

Harris DeHart has served as the Patterson 12U Softball All-Star head coach for the past two seasons, and in that time, he’s never seen anything like he saw in Saturday’s Babe Ruth 12U Southwest Region Tournament Championship in Mountain Home, Arkansas.
His squad fell behind 10-2 after two innings against powerhouse Jefferson Parish Recreation Department — East only to slowly climb out of the hole and eventually win the game 16-13 in nine innings.
With the win, Patterson, which finished the tournament undefeated at 4-0, will advance to its second straight Babe Ruth Softball World Series in Jensen Beach and its third overall in the last three years. Many members of this year’s squad advanced two years ago as a 10U squad.
In Saturday’s championship game, the teams combined for 31 hits, and each teams’ pitchers threw a combined 189 pitches.
There were eight doubles (six by Jefferson Parish), and Jefferson Parish had two triples.
Laila Dugar, who started the game before being replaced by Emily Lipari, came back late in the game to earn the win. In five total innings, she surrendered eight runs (six earned) on eight hits with two walks, two hit batters and four strikeouts.
Lipari pitched four innings of relief and surrendered five runs (five earned) on eight hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
Patterson took a 2-1 lead after an inning before Jefferson Parish exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the second inning for a 10-2 lead.
Undaunted, Patterson slowly rallied, scoring three runs in the third, two in the fourth and five in the fifth for a 12-10 lead.
Patterson tied the game at 10 when Hannah Domingue scored on a passed ball and took the lead when another run came home on a Jefferson Parish error.
Jefferson Parish Recreation Department tied the game at 12 in the bottom of the fifth when a run scored on the second of back-to-back doubles.
Patterson retook the lead at 13-12 in the top of the seventh when Amaya Williams drove in Bryleigh DeHart on a single, and Jefferson Parish tied the game at 13 in the bottom of the inning with a run-scoring triple.
Williams gave Patterson the lead for good in the top of the ninth when she scored on a passed ball.
Patterson scored two more runs via a Riley Chaisson groundout and Domingue’s single to right field.
Jefferson Parish got a batter on with one out in the bottom of the ninth via a hit batter before Patterson’s defense recorded consecutive outs to end the game.
Williams led Patterson with a 3-for-4 performance with a double, two RBIs, a stolen base and three runs. Other top Patterson offensive contributors were Domingue, 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs; Dugar, 2-for-5, a double and three RBIs; Kamille Lightfoot, 2-for-3, an RBI, a stolen base and two runs; Lipari, 2-for-4, an RBI, a stolen base and three runs; Charlotte Callais, 2-for-5, an RBI and two runs; Chaisson, 1-for-6, an RBI; and Maddi St. Blanc, an RBI and a run.
Earlier Saturday advanced to the finals after defeating Patterson ousting Jefferson Parish Recreation Department — East from the winner’s bracket with a 3-1 victory.
Patterson scored two runs in the top of the third, while Jefferson Parish Recreation Department scored a run in the bottom of the third.
Patterson scored another run in the top of the sixth.
Dugar earned the win. In three innings, she surrendered one unearned run on one hit with three walks and two strikeouts.
Offensively, Chaisson led Patterson with a 1-for-3 performance with a double and an RBI. Other top Patterson offensive contributors were DeHart, 1-for-2; Lightfoot, 1-for-3, a run; and Lipari and Williams, an RBI each.
Friday, Patterson defeated the Harrison, Arkansas, Diamond Divas 7-2 in seven innings.
While the game entered extra innings tied at 2, Patterson exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh, reeling off four straight singles for the win.
Patterson broke the tie via Lightfoot’s RBI-single to left field before DeHart followed with a triple with the bases loaded to give Patterson a 6-2 advantage.
DeHart scored the game’s final run via an error.
Chaisson earned the win in relief of Dugar. In one inning, Chaisson surrendered one hit and fanned two.
Dugar pitched the game’s first six innings and surrendered two runs (one earned) on five hits with five walks, one hit batter and three strikeouts.
Early on, Harrison took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but Patterson tied the game in the top of the third and took a 2-1 advantage in the top of the fifth.
Harrison tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the sixth on a groundout
Offensively, Domingue led Patterson with a 3-for-3 performance with two doubles, an RBI and two runs. Other top Patterson offensive contributors were DeHart, 1-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs and a run; Lightfoot, 2-for-3, two RBIs, a stolen base and a run; St. Blanc, 1-for-2, a stolen base and two runs; Chaisson, 1-for-3, a run; and Williams, 1-for-4, a stolen base.

Morgan City 11-year-old All-Stars finish 1-2 at state tourney

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 9:44am

The Morgan City 11-year-old All-Stars finished 1-2 at the Dixie Youth Majors State Tournament in Monroe this weekend. After falling Friday to Monroe 4-1 and Saturday morning to Alexandria 7-4, Morgan City ended the tournament with a walk-off 3-2 victory against Haughton Saturday afternoon. In Morgan City’s victory, Thomas Mancuso connected on a two-out single on the first pitch he saw to bring home a run for the 3-2 victory in seven innings. The walk-off capped a two-run rally for Morgan City in the bottom of the seventh. The squad entered its at bat trailing 2-1 after Haughton scored a run in the ...

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St. Mary AARP holds July meeting

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 9:42am

St. Mary Parish AARP Chapter 4435 held its monthly meeting on July 2 at the St. Mary Senior Citizens Center, home of St. Mary AARP, in Morgan City.
Prior to the meeting, members and guests were entertained with dance music at 4 p.m. followed by bingo until 6:15 p.m.
The meeting and meal sponsor for July was Jakob Dworaczyk, a financial advisor with Edward Jones. Attendees were served a meal of red beans and rice, sausage and salad. The meal was prepared by the cooking team of Lonnie and Kathy LaBouve, Lance Devillier and Rhonda Daniels.
Dworaczyk explained various financial strategies available through Edward Jones. He also furnished hand-outs.
Following the meal, a special Fourth of July tribute to St. Mary AARP’s military veterans was presented by Gordon Smith, who closed the tribute by singing a verse of “America the Beautiful.”
Birthday and anniversary celebrants for July were recognized at the meeting. The cake was donated by M C Bank.
The next St. Mary AARP meeting will be held on Aug. 6.

Mom wants to ban alcoholic daughter from son’s reception

Mon, 07/09/2018 - 9:37am

DEAR ABBY: Our son and his fiancée are having a destination wedding. My husband and I are hosting a local reception here where we live because we would like our close family and friends to be able to celebrate their wedding. Our problem is, our 24-year-old daughter is an alcoholic who doesn’t see her drinking as a problem. She says she can handle it. Well, she can’t! She got so drunk at the last family wedding that the police and paramedics had to be called. She’s currently on probation because she assaulted a paramedic. The only way she could go ...

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