Lifestyle

The NSU Music Academy is enrolling students for the spring semester. The academy was established in 2014 and is directed by Northwestern State music faculty Dr. John Price and Dr. Francis Yang. The academy offers piano, guitar, percussion and voice lessons for students from age six to adults. Lessons are taught face to face or online. Teachers at the academy are graduate and undergraduate music students studying at Northwestern State.

Last semester, students performed in a Monster Concert around Halloween and a Christmas Concert. This semester, they can perform in an end-of-semester Spring Recital in Magale Recital Hall. Many students will also perform in the NSU Music Festival. Students have also taken part in the National Federation of Music Clubs Festival, the Central Music Teachers’ Association Sonatina Festival and the Louisiana Music Teachers Association Upper Elementary Auditions.

Lessons begin the week of January 15.

Children all over Sabine Parish are preparing to begin kindergarten. One of the best ways to prepare a child is to read to him or her, and parents at the Sabine Parish Library are doing just that. The 1000 Books before Kindergarten program awards prizes to children for every 100 books read to them. The ultimate goal is to reach 1000 Books before Kindergarten. These children are progressing or reaching their goal. Completing 1000 books are Waylon and Wade Akers, sons of Justin and Caitlyn Akers of Many; and Kenzie Cureton, daughter of Jeffrey and Amber Leone of Zwolle. Completing 500 books were Leah and Liam Berry, the children of Joshua and Olivia Berry of Many; and Demi Sepulvado, daughter of Wesley and Courtney Sepulvado of Zwolle. Beginning their goal by completing 100 books were Jeryn Palmer, daughter of Jerry and Allie Palmer of Many; Fisher Loetsher, son of Matt and Sydney Loetsher of Many; Kylo Miner, son of Andy and Ashlyn Miner of Many; and Brody Parrie.

Like most agricultural crops in Louisiana, Christmas tree farms have been impacted by the state’s prolonged drought. Good management techniques on farms have kept mature trees from drying up, said Valerie West, an LSU Ag-Center forestry agent in northwest Louisiana.

She said consumers can still expect to see real trees this holiday season.

West serves as the LSU AgCenter extension representative to the Southern Christmas Tree Association Board of Directors. She said farms are reporting damage to approximately 10% of their crop. She has seen some panic on social media about the outlook for real trees this year after one farm announced it wouldn’t open this upcoming season.

“In spite of what you may have seen recently on social media, the majority of Christmas tree farms in Louisiana are planning to open as usual for the holiday season,” West said.

The Fort Jesup Children of the American Revolution are preparing for a Garage Sale to support their national, state, and local projects. The sale will take place on October 6th and 7th starting at 8:00 a.m. each day. The location is across the street from the historic site of Fort Jesup at the home of Mary Beth Tarver. Come do some Christmas shopping as you browse through the other items available. The group will have new Christmas decorations from Micheles as well as many other items—kitchen accessories, furniture, toys, etc. Items will be priced to sell. Hope to see you at the SALE!

Jennifer Martin from Shriner clinic in Shreveport at Sabine shrine club Blake Byles presented her a check of 2000 dollars we thank you Blake Byles

After many requests, an online option for ticketing the upcoming Zwolle Tamale Fiesta has become reality.

The Fiesta has partnered with Showpass, allowing online purchase of tickets for all Fiesta days. Tickets are also available for the 5K run and onemile fun run on the site as well. Registration forms must still be filled out separately.

Following purchase, all tickets will be sent to the buyer’s email or available on the showpass app for easy scanning at the gates.

The Fiesta Committee is hoping this will provide a convenience to attendees wishing to use this service while streamlining the amount of time people are left waiting at the gate.

Tickets are currently available for purchase at https://www.showpass. com/ztf/.

Parents in Sabine Parish are bonding with their children and preparing them for school by spending time reading to them. The 1000 Books before Kindergarten program at the Sabine Parish Library offers prizes for children just for listening to stories! To find out more about this program, available at all branches, call the library at 256-4150.

Completing 100 books were Alister Drake, son of Daniel and Raven Drake of Zwolle; Emmett Murray, son of Cole and Bret Ryder of Florien; Joseph Goff, son of Marshall and Kathryn Goff and grandson of Judge Elizabeth Pickett; Luke Andries, son of Thomas and Sarah Andries of Many; Necley Leone, daughter of Lance and Emily Leone of Many; Titus Cotten, son of Jake and Abby Cotten of Florien; and Wraylei Lewis, daughter of William and Ashley Lewis of Belmont. Completing 500 books was Levi Cotten, son of Jake and Abby Cotten of Florien.

A traditional crafts person and five musicians were inducted into the Louisiana Folklife Center’s Hall of Master Folk Artists during an induction ceremony held at Northwestern State University on Saturday, July 22 as part of the 43rd Annual Natchitoches- NSU Folk Festival. Inductees included cultural authority and traditional crafter Rhonda Gauthier, who also served as honorary Festival Chair; the Broussard Family Juré group and country musician Hugh Harris.

Dr. Shane Rasmussen, director of the Louisiana Folklife Center at NSU, led the induction ceremony, assisted by Cherry Perkins, Ms. 2023 Avoyelles Arts and Music Festival Queen, and Jace Jordan, Miss 2023 Avoyelles Arts and Music Festival Queen.

This year at the Southern Plant Trials, I fell in love with the herbaceous perennial agastache. This perennial stood out to me with its profuse blooms and delightful fragrance.

At each location I visited, the agastache was buzzing with pollinators. In the third week of June each year, Americans celebrate National Pollinator Week. So now is a perfect time to add a color splash of agastache to your garden.

Commonly known as giant hyssop or hummingbird mint, there are 22 species of agastache native to North America and some to China and Japan. This group of perennials is related to bee balm, salvias and coleus, and all belong to the mint family of plants. They all sport the typical square or angular stems of members of the Lamiaceae or mint family. Many are fragrant and have unique flower forms.

Northwestern State University has reorganized academic units within the College of Arts and Sciences to create the School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The School will include the Department of Biology and Microbiology, the Department of Engineering Technology, Division of Mathematics, Department of Physical Sciences and the Department of Veterinary Technology.

The new structure has several advantages for faculty, staff and students with streamlined administrative responsibilities, such as payroll, purchasing and academic advising, a single integrated system for personnel and budgetary decisions and better management of laboratories and classrooms in Bienvenu Hall, Fournet Hall, Kyser Hall and Williamson Hall.