E
7
r
] Thursday, February 24, 1983- 2nd Year, Number 22
/
t00NCH00:00'FOL00A TIMES 25
00cal school
00ildren in danger
bus drivers
by W.F. "Bill" CI-IPMAN
Special Correspondent
reporter personally witnessed
,a. Dept. of Public Safety's
uay Safety Commission Pro-
toordinator Buddy B. Jones
ing in front of Greater Poncha-
and other areas' school bus
is and learning from them that
percent of them had recently,
!enced close calls that threat-
!he lives of schoolchildren.
l said they had stopped their
:live buses, with lights flashing
lop arms out, while loading or
ding children, and have had
obiles refuse to stop.
lher words, it is a daily occur-
that a driver refuses to stop
:a school bus is loading or
ding: the driver refuses to stop
purposely (or unpurposely)
pts to kill a kid. While such an
is merely ticketed if the driver
ht, this columnis calls it like
ttempted Murder. of
else can one call the act
"I three or more 'ons of auto-
past a stop arm directly at the
Iken by innocent children?
lave learned that state and
legislation and funding is
Considered that will possibly
e Simply turning in the license
r of the vehicle used in the
', Sttempt; even if the owner
,urvmo that nerson would be
prosecuted for allowing the vehicle to
be used by another in the attempted
kid killing. Parents who don't want
kds killed can contact their state and
federal officials regarding the pro-
gress (or lack thereof) concerning
such legislation and funding.
HOW TO OVERTURN
LOADED SCHOOL BUS
We also learned that a normal
passenger car doing only 25 mph can
overturn a fully loaded 66-passenger
school bus by hitting it from the side:
a car's failing to stop at just one stop
sgn inside a quiet subdivision could
easily result in serious injury or death
for an entire load of school children.
Though there are fine rescue units
here. no one seriously believes that
all 60. or even only 30, seriously
injured children could all be trans-
ported from a school bus accident to
a hospital and be receiving care
under a medical doctor within one
hour of the moment the accident
took place (unless it happened direct-
ly, on the hospital grounds).
SUPT. NIX'S
LIFE SAVING PROGRAM
The bottom line of this morbid
SEE PAGE NINE
"[.st Mardi Gras
00lloyed by one and all
Ponchatoula area's first Mardi
lebration hosted by the new
rnival krewe was a whacky
"Onderful success.
,rew,:, of Koon invited the
I public to its first grand ball
pay of celebrating the first year
rdi Gras here and approxi-
2,000 maskers and spec-
attended the gala held on
- |o Creek.
[any revelers attended that
.eer chef Jackie Kupper.
[ler with his customary crew of
e Miller and Phil Alexander,
ornpletely out of food after
erved full free suppers to
"i the request of the krewe,
ce's Marina (where the
flies were held) provided the
ll°nsisting of nutria and coon
aya, sausage and chicken
laya and venison, were
Ir lO0'Strohs beer T-shirts
away free. over I00 of the beer
company's fancy key chains thrown
as keepsakes, all gifts ffom'Noel
Poirier and his Jack Core Dis-
tributers Co. after their beer was
named the official beverage of the
day.
Untold numbers of beer kegs were
emptied as the guests made their
way into the ballroom for a Marcli
Gras dance with music provided by
the legendary Ponchatoula
Swingsters, with a surprise jam
session breaking out at one point
when the parade's Grand Marshal,
the Duke of Ponchatoula, Stanley
Cowen. uncased his trumpet and let
fly with some memorable numbers
with the Swingsters, Iongtime
performing friends.
Despite the high turnout, the guests
of the krewe simply enjoyed them-
selves and not a single untoward
incident was reported.
Earlier in the day the krewe had
assembled, finished maskinq, and
SEE PAGE NINI
he Ponchatoula View
i Local Mardi Gras
By TERRENCE McMAHON
9eQQIQeee eleOeeoe jee ee oeo oe met e e e Q eeelol • ee eoeeesoeeooelol
*ooeoe oo ee ooo
light of last weeks big you like to see Ponchatoula host
t for the first annual local its own rade in town next
d I" "" pa
[-" ras parade and ball put year?
the Krewe of Koon, would
- We should have a local
de like Covington and
.ond. Some of the floats
t11 ld be used for the Strawberry
a ival, which would save a lot
prk and money.
T. Douglas
s, it would be good for
ess in town here and local
Wouldnt have to drive
0t town to enjoy Mardi Gras.
T.E. Benette
not! instead of traveling to
onville or Hammond for a
,e, why not have it in
""atoula?
Lawrence Knight
I think Ponchatoula has
!h going for it with the
i uerry Festival and the
Parades around the area.
"L L#JI arm
that I talked to
the ball enioyed it
much. If the turnout was
a thousand" people with
short notice then think
a year of planning would
Eddie Morgan
It sounds like a good idea.
Afterall. Madisonville has a very
successful parade, we could
also, if the whole community
got involved.
Ralph Dunington
No. Everybody goes accross
the lake to see the big parades
so why waste time on one here?
Beth Williams
Yes. I've been coming to Mardi
Gras for the past eight years
from out of state. This is the first
time I stayed on this side of the
lake and I don't regret it. There
was a very friendly crowd on
hand and there were no
problems to my knowledge,
until the next morning that is.
Mike Sova
Sure, I came down for Mardi
Gras all the way from Michigan
and I had no desire to go to New
.Orleans. The Krewe of Keen
looks like it's off to an annual
tradition. 1'11 see you next year
on the road to Ponchatoula
instead of Madisonville.
David Parish
Her Majest00 Queen Gale
Gale Davis named
1983 Strawberry Queen
Staff Report
The 1983 Louisiana Strawberry
Queen is Gale Davis of Ponchatoula.
The pretty 21-year-old SLU co-ed
was crowned by outgoing queen
Rhonda Gainey following the
announcement of her selection
Thursday by Mrs. Beverly Penn, the
Ponchatoula Jayne co-chairman of
this year's annual pageant.
Susan Parker, 18, an LSU student,
was named 1st Runnerup. Jean
Erickson was chosen Princess of the
1983 Strawberry Festival.
The young ladies were chosen from
a field of ten talented and beautiful
contestants.
In her official essay submitted to the
judges, Queen Gale Davis had this to
say about Ponchatoula and her view
of the role of queen:
workers. The whole festival has an
air of friendliness and togetherness.
This is what has impressed me about
the festivals of the past, and this is
why I can't imagine an honor that
would be closer to my heart than that
of La. Strawberry Queen. To be a
representative of all the dedicated
farmers involved in the Strawberry
Industry would be an honor, and a
priveleged involvement in a city very
dear to me.
QUEEN
Being a resident of Ponchatoula
since the age of five has enabled me
to develop a respect for the citizens
and the culture of our city. Straw-
berries have always played an
important role in this culture. I can't
think of a better way to be involved in
the heart of our city's activities than
to participate in the Strawberry
Festival. Ponchatoula's economy,
incentive, drive and love lie in these
anual festivities, and the emotions
are evident in the organizers and
King
W.A. "Billy" Polllion
Lose title bid
Lady Waves
make state playoffs
Times Sports Report
LUTCHER---Despite some ex-
tremely tough playing by Poncha-
toula High School's Lady Green
Wave, the local team lost its first
game in the state playoffs Monday,
falling to Lutcher 40-32.
High scorer for the game was
Patricia Hebert, who has racked up
an amazing high school scoring
career, topping 1000 points during
this season's play.
The daughter of State Representa-
live Dennis Hebert will be recognized
for her achievements on the Wave
court at an awards presentation set
for April.
It was Hebert who turned her point
guard position into an artillery
battery for the Wave, popping off
point after point from her position
and laying down a steady stream of
fire from the foul line.
It was Hebert who propelled the
tram into the state limelight Friday,
spearheading the Green Wave drive
against Amite, pumping in 29 points,
including 15 free throws.
SEE PAGE NINE
MY PONCHATOULA
By aLE HARDHIDE
The Alligator
Ah, it was a fantastic Mardi
Gras!
Thanks to the swampy theme'
of last Sunday's big Carnival
bash (and a little help from my
cage key holding Flower Lady
Violet Collier), your favorite
great green alligator was able to
attend, and everyone just
assumed this 100 percent
alligator hide was just an expen-
sive costume.
It's no sense naming the names
of the ones who attended the
area's first Mardi Gras, mainly
because apart from Major Black
and the City Council everyone in
town was on Bedico Creek
Sunday.
1 got a chance to sit with
Ponchatoula Blueberry King
Hollis Poche and Tangipahoa
River's Lucian Ordoyne on the
krewe float that during one
memorable roadside stop was
nearly turned into the krewe
boat. That was about the time.
a certain politician in the group
noticed a herd of roadside cows
and something snapped in his
mind and all he saw was the
crowd. "No More Leather," he
proclaimed to his enthusi-
astically mooing newfound
supporters, "No More Steak."
Later during the rural route of
the parade he had the opportun-
ity to promise a barnyard full of
chickens that roast chicken on
Sunday would be outlawed
under his administration, add-
ing to a flock of sheep his
heartfelt disapproval of the
eating of mutton.
! saw Ann and Billy all dressed
up so fancy in their gator garb
that ! at first mistook them for
ale under Shoefate and his
pretty wife Pursehide.
i'm glad they had a good time,
but if ale Billy and his friendly
competition Sam Relan don't
get over their exotic illnesses by
week's end, then there's going to
be an awful lot of strawberry
'preserves put up locally this
year, with both major berry
exporters down and ailing.
Pat the Rat was the belle of the
ball, needless to say. And J.R.
was a fantastic King to poor
unsuspecting" Queen Mary of
Zatarain fame. It's a shame to
name the names, so many did
so much to make the bash
anything but bashful.
ale Jackie Kupper and his
crew figured a few hundred
pounds of this and few dozen
gross of that, and about half the
available critters in the swamps
would be enough to feed every-
one and boy were they sur-
prised! Somewhere between 500
and 750 folks got a taste of the
great "Louisiana Roadside
Jambalaya."
They had there own news
camera ready for Grocery Betty,
but she slipped off somewhere,
probably with Prince Andrew
and Koo Stark.
AI Spiller came as a young
Louisiana lawyer, and all his
hobo costume needed was a tin
cup.
Resplendent in his
arraignment was the Duke of
Millville, and Buddy's efforts
were better by far than a lot of
the Crescent City costumers.
Anyway, it was a wonderful,
happy time; but l still insist that
next year they move the parade
at least downtown so [ can view
it from the safety of my still-
roofless cage. Bring Poncha-
toula's parade to Ponchatoula
please!
And you pretty Jaynes, is it
true you'll send one of your very
nicest ladies by my cage with a
full meal of red beans and rice
for only three dollars on Monday
February 28 if ! only call
386-9558, and that my money
will go to the Ronaid McDonald
House for kid with serious
illnesses, or I can just belly drag
myself over to the Jaycee Hall
from 11 to 2 Monday noontime
.to eat there? Right May Stilley?
Not only is ale Pinchpenny
and The Ponchatoula Times/
Cuchulain Press handling the
.strawberry booklet locally this
year, when i put my spyglass to
my eye on Tuesday I was able to
catch my jeweler Ray Allen
working at his shop across the
street designing a brand new
jewelled crown for our pretty
queen. Hurray for local
business!
Want to know who the
sweetest ladies (outside the
berry court) are in this whole
entire area? Listen. Nancy
Schltegelmeyer is about as
SEE PAGE NINE
