l0
MIXED ADC
1667 00-00-00 107P 32T
SMALL TOWN PAPERS
217 W COTA ST ##
SHELTON WA 98584-2263
ll,q,lld,v,ll,l,ll,ll,I,iqi,q,qNiHqll,ll,I
An wonderful festival was had by all, more photos inside ! .
Times Photo by Amy Brennan
Strawberry Festival rocks the
streets of Ponchatoula
By BRIANNA ELLIOTT
Special to The Times
The traditionally quiet streets of Ponchatoula were filled with thousands 0f people,
vendors, and music. Ponchatoula no longer had the feel of a quaint little city, but of
a New Orleans-style party. People were dancing and singing in the streets as they
milled about.
It was Strawberry Fes-
tival 2019.
The event took over Me-
morial Park and much of
North Sixth Street, with
booths and food vendors
lining the streets all the
way up to Highway 22. Peo-
le
,p deoi ately searched
for parl in : as the streets
surrounding the lest were
full of cars Bands such as
Category Six and Mother-
ship had the crowds danc-
ing and singing along to a
wide variety of pop, rock,
and country music hits.
. Although the weather
deteriorated Saturday
evening and shut the fes-
tival down early, Sunday
was a sunny smash hit
the 48th Annual Straw-
berry fest was a smashing
hit: Thousands of people
visited the town to enjoy
strawberry themed treats/
drinks, games, rides, and
wonderful bands.
Many citizens of Pon-
chatoula decorated their
yards and cars in honor of
the Strawberry Festival.
Several of the rides even
(Times Photo
took on the strawberry
theme. The Ferris Wheel
on the fairgrounds even encore
sported a large image of a
strawberry. Another ride
consisted of large spinning
strawberries.
The Festival was closed
out on Sunday by the Hall
of Fame band Bag of Do-
nuts. 'Wiy favorite thing
about Bag of Donuts was
seeing Bobby Hoerner's
son playing with the band
and performing a song on
his own," said Amy Heath,
row. After their final num-
ber, the crowd was not
By KATHRYN J. MARTIN
Special to The Times
Sometimes life just doesn't seem to be fair.
by Brianna Elliott )
ready to go home, and the
band came back out for an
nomln;
As little children we use
the words "When I get big"
to tell how rich we're going
to be, all the things we are
going to own, all the places
we are going to go
At the time, a lot of our
dreams are unreasonable
but we are too young to
know it so we just keep on
dreaming happily.
We grow up and some-
. .
i
~m
where along the line we've
realized our limitations,
causing our dreams to be-
come more realistic.
But then, especially if
we are aiming to be good
people and do good things
for others, hindrances and
lessons from the school of
hard knocks come along.
We get the props knocked
out from under us
Sometimes it comes
from circumstancesbeyond
our control and sometimes
it's we ourselves getting in
the way. Maybe bad deci-
sions cause us to give up
hope, give up trying.
Last year I interviewed
Ponchatoula's successful
businessman Larry Terry
and was surprised to hear
how young he was when he
figured out what it would
take to realize his dream.
Usually when I ask high
school students in sports
what their plans are, I
get a simple answer: "I'm
gonna play for the NFL,"
PLEASE SEE PAGE 9
Special to The Times
Ponchatoula, "America's Antique City," downtown shopping district has
been nominated for the 2019 Small Towns USA TODAY 10 Best Readers'
Choice contests in the Best Small Town Shopping category.
Voting is open now,
runs for four weeks only,
and ends on Monday,
May 6.
You can rock the vote
at https://www. 10best.
com/awards/travel/
and of course we encour-
age : ou to shar.e the con-
test URL with your social
network.
Members of the pub-
lic can vote once per day,
per category.
The nominees were an-
nounced on April 8 and
Louisiana represents five
of the finalists competing
for a spot on the winners
list.
Other towns include:
Best Historic Small Town
, Natchitoches, Best
Food Scene
- Thibodaux, Best Small
Town Cultural Scene
Best Small Town Shop-
ping l- Breaux Bridge,
Best Small Town for Ad-
venture - Abita Springs.
Voting is open now,
runs for four weeks only
and ends on Monday, May
6. You can rock the vote at
"Everybody needs a friend" - Dylan Hill eight
grade Ponchatoula Junior High School Student
Ponchatoula Junior High "School's "Best Buddies
Club" is a new program, started this year at the school,
that pairs up students with disabilities to those without.
This "Best Buddies Club" is very meaningful to all of the
students involved Pictured are students involved in the
2018 Ponchatoula Junior High School's "Best Buddies
Club" (Times Photo by Amy Brennan)
By AMY BRENNAN
Times Reporter
The transition to junior high school can be hard on
any student, but it can be especially isolating for a stu.
dent with disabilities.
To help with the adjust-
ment of attending junior
high school, Ponchatoula
Junior High created The
Best Buddies Club.
The new Best Buddies
Club program began this
year when Junior High
School Principal Mary
Beth Crovetto of Pon-
chat0ula was approached
by Maggie Merk, a student
at the school, about creat-
ing a buddy program.
Mrs. Crovotto told The
Times, "I was thrilled
by the idea and so proud
of my students for be-
ing so thoughtful, so
of course, I said yes!"
The programpartners
students with and without
disabilities and the mem-
bership requirements in-
cludeda willingness of stu.
dents to show an unbiased
attitude toward a person
with disabilities, positive
and caring personality.
The program is' spon-
sored by Ponchatoula Ju-
nior High School faculty
members, including Me-
lissa Smith, Jill Wilson,
Quadesha Stewart, and
Traci Giannobile. Spew
sot and teacher Quadesha
Stewart told The Times,
"This peer-to-peer mentor.
PLEASE SEE PAGE 3
https://www. 10best.com/
awards/travel/ and of most active campaigns
for award categories),
course we encourage you
to share the contest URL find us on Twitter, Fa-
with your social network, cebook, Instagram and
Pintrest,
The public can vote once
per day, per category. Please reach out if you
To follow live voting have any questions, con-
action (and discover the cerns or exciting news!
POHCttATOUI
By OLE HAI{DmDE
The Alligator
Mayor Zabbia's Clean Krewe was spot-on again
this festival parade, snatching candy wrappers mid-
air before they dared become litter on the street.
I suspect it was by order of the mayor that Mother
Nature waited in the wings until late afternoon Fes-
tival Saturday to give what "King PhiUip" Hextall
might call a "proper scrubbing" of the streets with
fresh rainwater. Then of course Sunday was devoted
to dryingout.
I do not believe any of this heavenly intervention
distracted from the efforts to fight the fiery devasta-
tion of Our Lady's own cathedral in Paris; the glow-
ing altar cross at Notre Dame seems to assure even-
tual restoration there.
Back in Ponchatoula, Pratt Fest inched closer to
becoming the second largest festival in the state,
drawn in large part by Purple Heart honoree combat
veteran Jason Pratt. Breaux Bridge look out!
Pratt Fest is growing larger in your rearview" mir-
ror as cd.
Times Travel Editor Le Lowry ducked offt of
town for a weekend trip to Edwin Edwards' home-
town, Cr0wley, La. Look in an upcoming edition for
her most recent on-the-road reports from must-visit
destinations within easy driving time (two hours) of
Tangipahoa.
Mothers of beadtiful young daughters, fair warn-
ing; handsome Michael ' Young Elvis" Brennan this
past week turned a head-spinning 15.
I hope you held out at least $5 from your fairs and
festivals money to purchase a chance on Mike Ful-
mer's generous donation of a new camper trailer, the
winning ticket to be drawn at the annual St. Joseph
Spring Fair the first weekend in May.
This same super daddy has been hosting in his
home a child-friendly Stations of the Cross to mark
the Lenten season
On the festival grounds poster artist Matthew
Moore was signing and personalizing his poster near
where Lauren Fannaly a nd Susan Johnson were at-
tracting the attention of Oktoberfest recruiters from
Munich, Germany's Oktoberfest, they were attract-
mg so many crowds to Rotary's beer taps.
How better to wash down the PJHS funnel cakes
that appeared to be best-sellers, equaled only perhaps
by the seafood-stuffed potatoes being sold briskly at
the nearby A Touch of Class festival booth:
Deep-fried guilty pleasure "were the specially-pre-
pared Oreos.
Those dashing Knights of Columbus served up an-
other festival favorite, their crawfish pasta, worth
its weight in gold, given what the crawfish barons
are asking for their mudbugs this year.
Congratulate the new Grand Champion Straw-
be ry Grower Trey Harris.
[]
