The month of September will surely be one to remember for many years to come.  The effects of Hurricane Gustav were felt throughout Ascension Parish, but there is no doubt in my mind that those of us in Donaldsonville felt the worst of a storm that has been compared to Rita, Katrina, and Betsy.  Homes were damaged, businesses were damaged, and trees were uprooted, streets flooded, and the day-to-day routine of our normal lives was shaken from its very foundation.  Once the storm passed, it was time for the City of Donaldsonville and the Donaldsonville Downtown Development District to swing into action, working diligently to return our beloved community to a state of normalcy.
I would like to first commend Mayor Sullivan and the City Council for their actions before, during, and after the storm.  While most in the community were not able to physically see what was going on, I was at the meetings and saw the steps taken to prepare the city for the worst, and then to begin the recovery efforts as we were faced with an entire community left without power and with damaged properties.  Mayor Sullivan, the City Council, representatives from the Parish, Sheriff's Office, Fire department, myself, and Entergy met daily to discuss the current situations and brief each other on what was taking place throughout the community.  Outside of those meetings, all of us could be seen rushing from one location to another--delivering ice and water to the elderly and those without vehicles within the community, assessing property damages, checking in on business owners to see if there was anything they needed, distributing MRE's, water, ice, hot meals, and tarps at the Lemann Center and Dream Center, etc etc. For the majority of those involved in the recovery efforts, our days began
before 6am, and ended well past dark as we returned to our own power-less homes for a few hours of sleep.
 

I talked to Janice Burns who is the principal at Ascension Catholic Diocesan Elementary School. She was telling me about the extensive renovation at the Old Convent building. In this article, I would like to compare the history of the Convent to the changes of today.
The Convent is one of the oldest buildings in Donaldsonville. It has been an historic landmark for many years. At one time, the Convent was the living quarters for the Daughters of Charity. Now this historic building was renovated and developed into modern classrooms, while at the same time, managed to keep some of the original look of days gone by.
On January 1, 1845, the Sisters of Charity came to Donaldsonville. They became the Daughters of Charity in 1850. A small four-room cottage served as both a Convent and a school. Life was difficult for the nuns, but they soon enrolled 30 students. Some controversy arose because they insisted on teaching English instead of French, which was commonly taught in our area. Over the years, they proved themselves as educators because the school grew rapidly.
During the Civil War, the school was almost destroyed when Donaldsonville underwent an extensive bombardment by Union soldiers.
Over the years, the building was used as an orphanage, a hospital, a convent, a boarding school, and today it continues to serve the Catholic school system for all of the neighboring parishes.
The Brothers of the Sacred Heart opened St. Vincent Commercial Institute for boys in 1887; 42 years after the Sisters of Charity arrived. It was at that time that high school boys and girls were separated.
Now for the New
The Old Convent building went through a restoration and renovation. The old living quarters that were used by the Daughters of Charity are now refurbished classrooms. Those who are familiar with the Old Convent will be quite surprised when seeing the new look.
After much research and discussion by the Ascension Catholic School Board and administration, the merging of the campuses was seen as a means of making a more efficient school operation. The sharing of physical and personnel resources would add to this efficiency. These changes would enhance and has already started to enhance the overall learning experience of the students. Having the students placed on the two campuses instead of three has been very manageable and Ascension Catholic still has room for growth.
The Fifth and Sixth graders are now housed on the Primary school campus and the seventh and eight graders are housed on one wing of the high school campus. The move has resulted in the availability of the Middle School wing being used for middle and high school athletics. Another very positive result of this move has been the high school students' very welcoming attitude towards the seventh and eight graders. Our family-like environment has been enhanced even more with this merger. With that being said- The Tradition Continues at Ascension Catholic School.
 

By Governor Bobby Jindal
 
On Monday, September 1st at 9:30 a.m., Hurricane Gustav crashed into the town of Cocodrie and marched its way north through Baton Rouge and Alexandria, uprooting trees, knocking out electricity, destroying homes, and flooding neighborhoods from Plaquemine Parish in the southeast all the way to Monroe in the north.  Ten days later Hurricane Ike traversed the Gulf headed for Texas.  It was a Category 2 storm but Ike's size was so immense, it drove a storm surge for two straight days onto our coast flooding homes from St. Bernard to Cameron.
Every storm brings wind and water but each storm also presents unique challenges.  Katrina broke our levees. Rita razed whole communities. Gustav ravaged our electrical power grid, knocking out electricity to over two-thirds of the state. And Ike flooded an entire coast, thousands of homes in towns like Houma, Lake Charles, Erath, and Franklin.  Each storm brought destruction and devastation, and each storm revealed the courage, compassion, and resiliency of our people.  Neighbors caring for neighbors, and strangers reaching out a hand to help those in need.
Although the national media praised Louisiana's preparation and unprecedented evacuation for Gustav, it did not happen without unexpected challenges. 
On Wednesday before Gustav's landfall, I executed a contract for 700 buses to evacuate those with critical needs.  Two days later the buses had not arrived. I ordered my staff to find school buses and I mobilized the National Guard to provide bus drivers.  Within 48 hours the critical needy were evacuated to safety.
By Saturday night, out-of-state ambulances still had not arrived.  After a sleepless night of phone calls and planning, Texas sent us six C130's at daybreak, and aircraft from around the country began airlifting medical patients to safety.  Sorties flew every 30 minutes, and before tropical winds could ground the operation that evening, every medical patient was safely evacuated, ending the largest medical evacuation in our nation's history.
Gustav's winds left power outages that stranded citizens with no gas, food or water.  When Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) and other commodities did not arrive to Louisiana in time, we organized the faith-based community, restaurants and some of Louisiana's world famous chefs to provide hundreds of thousands of hot meals to the hungry.
As power outages persisted, I authorized my Secretary of Natural Resources to buy generators for gas stations, pharmacies, and grocery stores, so communities without power could buy food, water, medication, and gas for their vehicles.
In the coming weeks, you will hear the stories of heroes who built levees while storm waters rose, evacuated patients in the middle of the night, and risked safety to rescue the stranded.  You will hear stories about first responders, members of the National Guard, pastors, and everyday Louisianans who saved lives and cared for the hurting.  
You will hear these stories and you will be proud of our state and proud of our people. 
These storms hit us hard but when the water subsides and the debris is cleared, we will come back.  Louisiana is a resilient state and we live in a generous country.  We will help each other heal, we will help each other rebuild, and we will come back stronger than ever, because that is who we are and that is what we do.
 
 

It's said that stressful events bring out either the best or the worst in people. It is fortunate fro my husband, Charlie, and me that we say only the best after Gustav. Charlie is total care, 24/7, due to late stage Alzheimer's and I was confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg. Because our caretakers have jobs with hospitals and nursing homes, they were on the emergency plans of those and unable to be with us. Our children are in other states far away and we have no siblings to help us.
We were without electricity from about 8 a.m. Monday and alone from Sunday night until Wednesday evening. Our house is total electric (BIG MISTAKE). At 7 a.m. Tuesday after the storm, a neighbor who has a gas stove brought over a drip pot of hot coffee and warm milk then cooked oatmeal for breakfast as she did everyday until we left a week later. She checked on us three or four times a day, heated food for meals or brought something she or her husband cooked.
By 9 a.m. another neighborhood and her family had cleaned our front yard-raked and picked up large branches. They too checked on us and sent hot food. How blessed I felt to be safe and dry, knowing these wonderful people-angels in disguise-were there if we needed them.
One of our mechanics and his wife brought ice and water. Another friend brought a large ice chest full of ice, food, and fresh fruit cut and ready to eat. Everyday until we left to stay with relatives in Metairie, someone magically appeared with something we needed.
Raymond Aucoin came by on Saturday to see if we needed anything. When he heard that we needed transportation in a handicap equipped van to move, he arranged that. God bless him and Jerome who drove us to Metairie in his van.
So many folks helped us. My prayers and thanks go out to all of them. It's hard to imagine that any other place has such a large percentage of caring, Christian citizens. God knew what we city people would need when he sent us to live in Donaldsonville 37 years ago! Though our town has its share of problems, for us it's a great place to live. I'm looking forward to returning as soon as I'm rehabilitated enough to walk again.

Sincerely,

Carol Doescher
Donaldsonville
 

It is highly disturbing when any confused person with a piece of paper and a pencil can write an ugly letter about anyone and have it published in the local newspaper, regardless of whether the letter is true or false. We have been accused of being callous, coldhearted capitalists engaged in a venture that will only result in a cruel and poisonous death to the environment, and ultimately, the people. But alas, the real toxicity involved here has been a long term systematic poisoning of the minds of the people of Assumption Parish.

First of all, let me begin this letter by saying that over the past few years, my confidence in our society to be good neighbors has been shaken almost to a breaking point. Too often we hear people say things like, "Why don't they do something about that" or, "What is their problem". What's unfortunate though is, too often these people have major problems going on in their life and could use a hand up instead of a verbal beat down.

If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be traveling on, now,
Cause there's too many places I've got to see.
Ronnie Van Zant
 

The Probation and Parole Division within the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections has an unenviable task. Approximately 550 officers are responsible for supervising 63,000 offenders. The average caseload per officer is 125 offenders - individuals convicted of everything from theft to drug distribution to homicide. Community corrections play a crucial role in the overall public safety of our state, yet the public understands very little about the day to day operations of the Probation and Parole District in their area.

In reflection after the River Parishes Football Camp, I wanted to thank the following people;
Oliver Joseph, coach Rick Bolette, coach Bill Jones and my staff of coaches that helped with planning: Brian Richardson, Spencer Harvey, Herbert Washington and special thanks to Dio Bernard.

Donaldsonville is a city of memories for me. Those who grew up in the 1930s witnessed the hardships caused by the Great Depression.

A young person asked me recently if I grew up in "Frogmore." I said, "yes" and I told him that this area south of Donaldsonville was also known as Churchville. It was a large settlement of Italians.

As you probably know, on the weekend of June 14-15, the Juneteenth Celebration was held in Donaldsonville at Louisiana Square.

On that Saturday morning trip to the post office, I noticed several well-equipped people with sticks and sacks picking up trash. The area was spotless, so I asked who they were and commended them on a job well done. They replied that they were faith-based volunteers from a local church.

While over 200 years defines USA history, nearly 500 defines the history of the Acadians.  

It begins in 1497 with the Italian explorer, Giovanni Caboto, claiming the region north of the state of Maine for England.  Like Columbus, Caboto searched for Asia.  His discovery was settled a year later, but failed.  England however, laid claim to the territory.

Prevost Memorial Hospital celebrated it 26th annual health fair on Saturday, June 7, 2008.  There was an overwhelming response to the fair once again this year.  Our records indicate that 250 people registered on Saturday, 489 SMAC tests were performed, 192 participants received the carotid screen, 190 pulse oximetry tests were performed, and approximately 147 patients received skin cancer screens. Participants also received body fat testing, hearing screening, and blood pressure monitoring.

Upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport, my son-in-law handed me a copy of the Travel section of the Las Vegas Review Journal that featured an article on the African American Heritage Trail, telling me Donaldsonville was mentioned. Indeed, the River Road African American Museum in Donaldsonville is on the list of sites running from New Orleans to northern Louisiana. Also, included in the area are Laura Plantation in Vacherie and Evergreen Plantation in Wallace.

Thanks you,

We, the members of St. Augustine Court #37 would like to thank everyone who helped and supported us in making our 27th annual dinner a great success.

It was held at St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church's Parish Center June 7, 2008.