Arts Awards for 2026 Announced

 According to the public relations office of St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper and the St. Tammany Commission on Cultural Affairs have announced ten talented honorees for the President's Arts Awards, celebrating its twentieth year honoring the artists and art patrons of St. Tammany Parish.

"The President's Arts Awards is a treasured celebration of the artists and patrons who brighten our communities with their culinary, literary, visual and performative skills," said President Cooper. "I am incredibly thankful to the St. Tammany Commission on Cultural Affairs for their continued commitment to fostering and promoting arts programs that brighten the parish we call home."

"Every year, The President's Arts Awards allows us to showcase a wide range of local talent, from beloved culinary institutions to masters of writing, music, dance and so much more," said Commission of Cultural Affairs Chair Kelly Elliott. "Now in its twentieth year, the President's Arts Awards has become a cherished tradition, giving artists and art patrons the proper recognition they deserve."

The honorees for the 20th Annual President's Arts Awards are as follows: The Culinary Award goes to The Pizza Man of Covington; the Musical Artist of the Year is 12 Stones; the Performing Artist of the Year is John Carambat; the Visual Artist of the Year is Suzanne King; the Literary Artist Award goes to John Ed Bradley; and the Outstanding Service Award goes to STARC.

Suzanne King

Pizza Man

The Patron of the Year was named as Ballard Brands; the President’s Award goes to Joshua Wichterich; the Native Son Award goes to Blake Nelson Boyd; and the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Tanya Firmin Dischler. 

According to the announcement the honorees will be celebrated in a special invitation-only ceremony held at the River Mill Center in Covington on Wednesday, November 18, 2026. Entertainment will include the Northshore Louisiana Chapter of the American Harp Society. Local artist Solange Ledwith of Swamp Girl Glass Blowing LLC will return to create this year's awards.

The St. Tammany President’s Arts Awards is held annually to recognize outstanding artists in St. Tammany Parish. The recipients are selected by the Parish President and the Commission on Cultural Affairs and is supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The early beginnings of STARC were organized in 1973.

Links:

Cultural Arts Commission

Annual Arts Awards Recipients Named for 2023

2019-2020 Parish President's Arts Awards

Arts Awards for 2021

2019-2020 Parish President's Arts Awards 

President's Arts Awards for 2017-2018

Newcomers Have Visited Throughout History

 In 1956 the Louisiana Municipal Review magazine gave this overview of how many newcomers visited St. Tammany Parish over the years. Click on the article image below to make it larger. 

The account was re-published in the Louisiana Historical Chronicles of the South in 1978.

Fair Parade 2026

 The 2026 St. Tammany Parish Fair Parade rolled at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 2, 2026, through downtown Covington on its way to the fairgrounds. It featured a number of youth marching groups, high school bands, pageant winners, local dignitaries and several candidates for political office. 

Here are some photographs from the event. Click on the images to make them larger. 

Click on the above video "Play Triangle"

Writer Revisits St. Tammany Name

     In 1967 Clare Leeper wrote this article about the name "St. Tammany" and its place in American history, both good and bad. Click on the article image to make it larger. 

For more information, click on the following link:

The Legend of St. Tammany's Name

Travel Hints For St. Tammany

 In the 1970's the Louisiana Travel Promotion Agency highlighted several attractions of interest across St. Tammany. Click on the article image to make it larger. 

For more information see the following link:

A Tour of West St. Tammany

The Fort Built For New Orleans

Fort Pike was a key defensive fortress for early New Orleans. 

For more information, click on the below link:

Fort Pike, Fort Macomb and Fort Petites Coquilles

Lacombe Art Guild Hears Illustrators

 Nearly 50 persons attended the August 18, 2026, meeting of the Lacombe Art Guild and heard professional illustrators Ben Bensen and John Noel Carambat tell of their experiences in breaking into the field, their insights on how the world of art operates, and how Artificial Intelligence may influence future art and artists. 

The presentation took place at the Lacombe VFW Meeting Hall

Bensen, at left, and Carambat told their personal stories of how they first became involved in creating artwork, and then discussed some of the newer developments in the field. 

Approximately 50 people attended and looked over the art samples brought by the two illustrators. 

Click on the images to make them larger. 

Video of Ben Bensen's Talk

Video of John Carambat's Talk

Sample artwork

Ben Bensen's illustrated storyboard for Spiderman movie

Video Explaining Bensen's Spiderman storyboard

The Sept./Oct. 2026 issue of Louisiana Country Magazine ran a feature story on Ben Bensen with a photo of him on the front cover. 

Some of Carambat's Magazine Covers

The art guild has approximately 80 members and has a standing exhibit in a hallway at Lakeview Regional Medical Center. 

Click here for Lacombe Art Guild Website

Click on the link below to go the group's fall art show information. 

https://lacombeartguild.com/2026-fall-art-show

Sisters Sing Star Spangled Banner

 Around 2014 the Putnam sisters sang the national anthem at a school board event in Covington. 

Click on the "Play Triangle" below to view the video. 

Abita Football In 1974

 The football team at Abita Springs Junior High posed for a group photograph fifty-two years ago in 1974. Here it is. Click on the image to make it larger. 

See also:

The History of Abita Springs Middle School

School Showcases New Computer Classroom 1989

Bryan Gowland and the Opry

Life On A Farm- Mid-1800's

 Published in 1922, this article in the St. Tammany Farmer newspaper detailed life on a farm in the 1800's with a trip into Covington every three months for supplies. 

Click on the above article to make it larger and more readable. 

Here is the text from the above article. 

LIFE ON A FARM IN THE DAY OF MY GRANDMOTHER

Ox Teams In Olden Days Only Mode of Locomotion

By Winnie D. Reid St. Tammany Farmer Newspaper March 11, 1922

It is a trite but true saying that we do not fully realize the value of our dearest possessions until we have lost them. Certainly I never realized, until the clear voice was hushed forever and the stories and recollections recounted by her were only a memory, the wealth of experience and human sympathy expressed in the tales which my great grandmother used to tell as we sat around the hearth on cold winter  nights.

Born in 1830, she was ninety years of :age when she died. The experience of her long life had their beginning in the country neighborhood surrounding the town in Mississippi now known as Tylertown. In the busy life that she led, there were few interests which would be considered worth while by a girl of day. 

The girls of the family not only managed the affairs of the household, doing the cleaning, cooking, and sewing, but worked in the fields, helping to cultivate the crops which supplied food and clothing for the family.

Much of the time of the girls and women was spent in making cloth. After the cotton had been harvested, the fibers were separated from the seeds by hand. This was a laborious process, requiring many hours of painstaking labor. When the cotton fiber was free from seeds, it was prepared for spinning by a process called "carding," which consisted of placing the • cotton between two boards covered with bristling wires and pulling the boards or "cards" across each other by handles. 

The fibers were then spun into thread on the familiar old-fashioned spinning wheels and woven on' band looms into strong, coarse fabrics from which of the clothing of the

family was made. Grandmother said that she never had a dress which was made from machine-made cloth until she was grown.

Another interesting occupation of the women folk was soap making. In some country districts, soap is still made at home by using lye and fat, but lye being unknown in grandmother's day, a solution made from the ashes of oak wood was used. This solution was cooked with fat and allowed to harden into soap, except in time of such a scarcity of fat that none was to be had for soap-making. In that event, the clothes were boiled in the ash solution to remove the dirt. By. this process, my grandmother said, they were made as clean as they are-in the modern laundry.

Since the railroad was in my grandmother's day a thing unheard of, the securing of provisions would have been a great problem except for the fact that most of the provisions were produced on the farms. Flour, coffee, and sugar were practically the only products bought, and these were considered as luxuries. 

Among the very first things that grandmother could remember was the two weeks' journey to Covington, La., for provisions. The supplies, which had been: brought on barges to Covington were carried on ox wagons to the homes in the surrounding country. The oxen, usually from two to four yokes, or pairs, of them, would travel at their leisurely pace until night fell, when a camp would be made by the roadside. Enough supplies would be purchased at one time to suffice for three months, and during all that time the family, to whom the trips to Covington furnished almost the sole contact with the outside world, would be practically isolated.

The Civil War was one of the mile-stones in grandmother's life, and many of her most thrilling stories were of those stirring times. After the death of her husband, who was killed in battle, she cared for her children, provided their food and clothing, and often rode many miles alone on horseback transacting business affairs which she alone was left to manage.

Hers was a wide ,and varied experience, and her life and character such as her descendants would do well to emulate. Indeed, I hope that if I ever come to a time when I shall tell stories of my life to my great grandchildren, my own experiences, which at present lie mostly in the future, will have given me one-half the strength of -character, the understanding of life and the nobility of spirit that made of my great grandmother the • beloved woman of my childhood's memories.

End of article