Most of you know that I’ve been around since they poured the slab on My Old Kentucky Home, but until 1998 I’d never been to the Kentucky Derby. 

All that changed 10 years ago as several members of my family and I trekked to Churchill Downs for the 124th Run for the Roses.  It also was the last time I actually picked a winner in the race- a Bob Baffert-trained charger called Real Quiet.

But the race is only part of the Kentucky Derby Festival.  There are events leading up to “the most exciting two minutes in sports” that combine Mardi Gras, pop festivals, and fashion shows and feature characters from every part of the globe. If you’ve never been, then allow me to reminisce on my 10th anniversary of my Derby trip and remember how many brain cells I’ve destroyed in that period of time.

The Trip-A definite advantage is traveling with a singer-songwriter like Uncle Jim. That way, when you cross the Talahatchie Bridge in Northern Mississippi or the Green River in Kentucky, you can break into song without drawing any strange looks.

But just let me say this. If Billy Joe McCallister killed himself by jumping off that bridge, he must have broken his neck on a stump. There just ain’t much water down there. More

All of your favorite guitar players have one thing in common. Well, actually three things ,the three T's. That is: Tuning, Timing and Taste. If one of these elements are missing from the equation, your audience will know.

Tuning. Webster defines this as the act of adjusting a musical pitch. On guitars, this is achieved by manipulating the tuning keys. They are located on the headstock, and allow you to raise or lower the pitch of each string. It is important to learn how to tune “ by ear”. Listen to a string (usually the first string, E) along with a reference pitch from another instrument or pitch pipe. You can hear the wavering between the two pitches. Using the tuning keys, adjust the pitch of the string to match the reference pitch. When the pitches are alike, the wavering will stop and the two will sound as one. Once the first string is in tune, it can be used to tune the remaining five strings. Many guitarists use electronic tuners. This device detects what pitch the strings are and determines whether it is sharp or flat. This is a necessity in noisy environments, such as on stage during a live performance. A quality electronic tuner is one of the best investments a guitarist 
can make. You should become proficient at both methods. More

The first weekend of April found the historic town of Donaldsonville the cultural center of Ascension Parish as the 2nd Annual Art, Antiques, and Authors Festival took center stage in the downtown and surrounding areas. Presided over by Mayor Leroy Sullivan, this springtime event, still in its infancy, is fast becoming one of Ascension’s most anticipated and attended festivals.

Aptly described by its name, the Art, Antiques & Authors Festival features events, displays, and competitions to suit almost everyone’s taste. The youngsters were obviously overjoyed to participate in a real ‘Pirate Treasure Hunt’, and were entertained by authentic Cajun and Clog dancers as well as by the ‘Bark in the Park’ dog show. The party carried on well into the night spurred on by several of Ascension’s popular and talented musicians and pop groups. More

Over the last few months Ascension Parish residents have been staging protests and 
lodging complaints to the Engineering firm LM&CJ for their proposed Loops and highways that are geared to relieve traffic flow problems of Baton Rouge. This firm has now proposed an equal discrimination loop and have named it the “Triangle”. That’s right the triangle. 

After feeling the love from all of the communities of Ascension the firm decided to eliminate the problem of picking and choosing which community will get the Baton Rouge shaft. They decided to give it to all of us.

In honor of the former Galvez land mark, ‘The Tringle D’, LM&CJ engineers have proposed a plan that disrupts the peace and tranquility of every community equally.

This triangle is to pass directly through Dutchtown cutting down all of the remaining 200 year old live Oak trees. Then the monster structure is to angle toward Gonzales and East Ascension High School. While moving that direction they propose to fill in New River and pass directly over the former Gonzales Country Club now that the land is available for development. More

I am a loyal purchaser of Louisiana crawfish. I believe in my community, my state, and  our heritage. We are unique and that is what gives us an edge on the rest of the country. 

People secretly want to be like us. We are fun. We can dance and make music and no where in the world is the food better or more interesting than our crawfish industry.

Some years back the country discovered cajun-style food. They franchised it, packaged it, and exploited it to the point that it has affected our own local ability to purchase and receive good crawfish.

Like you, I love to cook crawfish dishes that include peeled crawfish. I always face the delimma. Should I buy Louisiana crawfish or Chinese crawfish. The LA crawfish are $12 a pound and the Chinese are $7 a pound. I buy Louisiana.

During crawfish season I like to boil sacks of crawfish for special events.

This past year I gave a party to boil crawfish for the Super Bowl weekend. More