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Chamber's Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament Ponchatoula Knights of
Columbus Hall June 18, 6 p.m. - Midnight See ad on page 3
THE NEWSPAPER OF AMERICA'8 ANTIQUE CITY
www.ponchatoula.com/ptimes THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013 33rd YEAR
NUMBER 35
50 ¢
Student of the
Year tells his
inspiring story
By JONAH KYLE TRAYLOR
Ponchatoula Junior High
School Student of the
2012-2013 Year
I am Jonah Kyle Traylor, a
14 year-old country boy who
was born on October 9, 1998.
Family and friends call me, 'Jo-
nah Kyle.' I live in the middle
of ten acres in Pumpkin Cen-
ter in a rustic log home on the
top of a hill with my morn So-
nya Jenkins Traylor, my dad
Mark Traylor Sr., or as I call
him, 'Paw', and my 19 year-old
brother, Mark Everett Traylor
Jr. who I call, 'Brother'.
[ feel blesaec~ that I am grow-
ing up in such a cool place, on
land with a creek, a swamp, a
pond, that is walking distance
to the Natalbany River. Also,
several trails have been cut
deep into the woods, by me and
my brother, that lead to family,
such as a grandmother, aunts,
uncles, and cousins. Every year
that I get older, I realize how
my family and my roots have
shaped the person I am today.
The great-great-grandson of a
strawberry farmer and the first
president of the 5,000 member
Louisiana Farmers Protec-
tive Union. Ellis Jenkins, and
the great-grandson of a straw-
berry farmer, Henry Kinchen
Sr., I too have enjoyed farming
strawberries with my brother
on our home place which had
never been lived on before my
family because it was where the
strawberries were grown by my
great-grandfather during the
early to mid- 1900's.
The berries grow well in the
sandy soil which is where the
name, 'Sand Hill' comes from.
This is the hill that I call home.
I have also enjoyed raising
numerous pets there over the
years, such as dogs, cats, rab-
PLEASE SEE PAGE 5
ayor, councilperson"
By BRYAN T. McMAHON
Monday night's meeting of the Ponchatoula City Council had all
the makings for a boring evening at City Hall. City workers were
anticipating a five percent pay hike, Mayor Bob Zabbia had no
doubts his $6.2 million budget would sail through the council, and
he turned his attention to the current hurricane season.
All sounded rosy Monday
afternoon when the mayor
was briefing The Ponchatoula
Times by email on the dry but
important subject of the annual
budget, the highlight of an oth-
erwise uneventful agenda for
the night's meeting.
After all, members of the
council had been thoroughly
briefed on the city's financial
document for the fiscal year
starting July 1. They had been
specifically asked if they had
any questions or suggestions for
the budget, and receiving none,
Mayor Zabbia confidently shot
an email to The Times Monday
afternoon in answer to a funda-
mental question regarding the
budget, stating:
"I anticipate adoption of the
city's 2013 -2014 $6.2M budget.
I project increases in all city
revenues for this fiscal year, es-
pecially in the collection of sales
taxes."
Monday evening the wheels
came off.
Early on, those attuned to
the local political scene perked
up their ears when council gad-
fly Melvin Toomer of District D
nominated Jeannemarie Pier-
son of District C for the largely
ceremonial position of Mayor
Pro Tem. Mrs. Pierson, a Re-
publican, is said to have her
eyes on the mayor's gavel in
the next election. She won the
council vote and is now mayor
pro tem.
When the subject of the city
budget came up, it was soon ap-
parent that it was not quite the
done deal that it had appeared
to be just a couple of hours ear-
lier.
Mrs. Pierson was taking the
position that the council should
have the right to veto specific
line items in the fiscal document
instead of accepting or rejecting
the document in its entirety.
This was exercise in po-
litical power at its most basic
level, for under Louisiana law,
PLEASE SEE PAGE 3
I
"If you really want to make God laugh hard, tell him your plans. "
Mother Teresa
rem
By BRYAN T. McMAHON
Part Two in a Series
By the end of February, 1989 we had our core group
in place to launch "America's Antique City, Ponchatou-
la, LA."
Charlene Branch Daniels was
putting together the real estate
package of available buildings
in what was whispered to be
a new plan for Ponchatoula's
mostly empty downtown dis-
trict.
Doug Johnson had begun
assembling the Antique City
Property Owners Association,
a new group under the Cham-
ber, made up of the citizens who
owned downtown commercial
buildings.
Chamber official Jeanne
Branch Zaleski had been spear-
heading the drive to attract
PLEASE SEE PAGE 3
June Garden of the Month
The Gardenettes of Ponchatoula Garden Club awarded
the June Garden of the month to Alvin Gautreaux Jr. and
his wife Debbie of 14707 Cypress Hollow, Ponchatoula, LA.
Debbie takes great pride in her garden and works tire-
lessly to maintain its beauty. She is especially proud of the
yellow daylilies, from her grandmother's garden that are
over 100 years old, and the pink and white hydrangea from
her great-grandmother's garden. Her grandmother, Alma
Tate, and her great-grandmother, Kate Bankston were
both life-long residents of Hammond. The garden is edged
in variegated lariope, flanking the front door are two large
pots of yellow hibiscus. Other plants in Debbie's garden
are: red oleander, peach azalaes, camelia, yew and holly
bushes, sweet olive, and Hines purple leaf. The lawn is el-
egantly landscaped with two elm trees, a crepe myrtle tree,
Ebbing's silverberry, palm trees, and a variety of shrubs,
Pictured are Debbie's two great-nieces Halley and Ka-
tie Whitney. Gardenettes are a Ponchatoula garden club,
members of District VI Louisiana Garden Club Federation
Inc. (LGCF) and members of the Deep South Region of the
National Garden Clubs Inc. (NGC). (Gardenette Photo)
At the 2013 Educational
Summit of the American College
for Advancement in Medicine
(ACAM), in Hollywood, Florida,
Prof: Randolph M. Howes MD,
PhD was the first internation-
al recipient of the Dr. Charles
Farr Award for achieving excel-
lence in oxidation medicine. The
inter.national attendees were
inspired by Dr. Howes' presen-
tation regarding "Antioxidant
Snake Oil." Because of his in-
novative theories, which expose
common antioxidant myths, Dr.
Howes is becoming a sought-
after speaker in the area of free
radicals, antioxidants and over-
all health. For many years he
has been the featured medical
columnist for The Ponchatoula
Times. (File Photo)
Mayor Zabbia
advises caution,
vigilance
Times Report
"I want to remind our resi-
dents to be prepared for hur-
ricane season. The National
Weather Service predicts an
active season. State, parish and
city officials have been meet-
ing during the last 30 days and
I feel we are well poised and
ready for whatever comes our
way," said Mayor Bob Zabbia.
He added, "By the end of
June, ten additional city sewer
lift stations will have auxiliary
power sources."
Eat well while
you help feed
the hungry
Special to The Times
A benefit dinner to help fund
Ponchatoula's Apotheca Food
Bank, will be held 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Friday, June 14 at 164 S.
Eighth Street.
Cost for the meal is $8.
The meal includes jambalaya,
chicken strips, green salad,
corn, bread and a dessert, and a
choice of sweetened or unsweet-
ened tea. Where there are five
or more at one location, free de-
livery is included.
The phone number for the
Apotheca Food Bank is: (985)
467-1500, should you have any
questions.
Street scene
Kite festival in the desert
By JEANNE BRANCH ZALESKI
Chapter Six
Great gobs of goose grease! Tanna, Bradley, Lauree and I pic-
nicked on the Museum of Islamic Art grounds as the Afghanistan
Kite Festival kicked off to commemorate the opening of the Afghan
Embassy here. PLEASE SEE PAGE 7
By OLE HARDHIDE
The Alligator
Is it just this alligator, or does it seem to you like an un-
seen hand cradling a starter pistol just pulled the trigger on
the next election race?
While I am absolutely reveling in our weather this week,
I would have thought you humans would have thought it
just too hot to indulge in slap-jaw politics this early in the
season. Throw in the more than somewhat macabre game of
musical chairs that finds, when the music abruptly stops, the
most unlikely politicians in bed with each other, politically,
of course, and regardless what that red headed TV weather
hotty Margaret Orr says, I'm telling you we are in for a very
hot summertime.
And if our ship of state is more like the S.S. Minnow that
Gilligan favored, can you believe the number of hands grab-
bing for the wheel at S.S. City Hall?
American Legion baseball is up and running, and that's
plenty hot for me.
,. Irish birthday girl Lou Fitzmorris had a wang-dang-do of a
birthday party, and why not?
If Ole Pinchpenny doesn't print the photos from the joint
Krewe of Erin-Country Market Chamber After Hours fling,
Ruth Berner is going to be throwing a summer publisher
roast.
Pretty Whitney Cooper is turning formerly-cool Hardy
Richardson incandescent! I notice Hardy gets those tough
photo assignments from The Times, illustrated by last week's
collection of yoga girls in skimpy exercise tights.
Hardy's brother Steve hosted an AARP event on the beach
in front of his Tangipahoa River home Sunday. Where did he
PLEASE SEE PAGE2
+
The Ponchatoula Times - Call 985-386-2877 - P.O. Box 743 - Ponchatoula, LA 70454-0743 - editor@ )onchatoula.com