A Look at the 22nd Judicial District in 1972

There were three judges serving the 22nd Judicial District back in 1972. It has grown in size a little since then. Here is a 1972 article about the District and its Judges. Click on the images below to see a larger version. 

There are now 12 judges serving the District. For current information about the 22nd Judicial District, CLICK HERE.

100 Years Ago This Week

What was going on 100 years ago this week? The following link is provided by the Library of Congress and its Chronicling America service. CLICK HERE for a link to the St. Tammany Farmer newspaper edition of December 30, 1916. 

Some of the headlines are "Big Ship To Be Launched At Slidell Yards Today, 30 Fine Chickens Stolen From St. Joseph's Abbey, and New Camelia Returns to Service After Undergoing Repairs."

Abita Brewery Tour

Being a tourist in your own home town is sometimes a challenge, but in the Covington/Abita Springs area, it is relatively easy. Just go over to the Abita Brewery and take their tour. It's fun, educational, and thirst-quenching. 

There are a lot of facts and interesting statistics shared during the tour, such as how to make beer, how to make different kinds of and flavors of beer, and how to bottle, can, and keg enough beer to satisfy the world's demand for Abita Beer (which is growing daily). You can find many of those statistics on their website if you need details. 

The French Quarter design for the new building

Of course, the beer is made with Abita Springs water, which makes it special right from the beginning. Many of their other ingredients come from around the world, and they use highly specialized microbrewery equipment that's state-of-the-art. Not only do they make a pretty fine bunch of beers, they are also experts at the fine art of marketing those beers, complete with great graphics, advertisement themes, and T-shirts, not to mention coming up with the most favored flavors and naming the different beers to appeal to different tastes.

If you are a fan of stainless steel, you'll be impressed by the tour of their newly-expanded facility, since it features many stainless steel vats, tanks, and pipes. Here are some pictures. Click on them for a larger size.

A French Quarter style patio

Just a few T-shirts for your consideration

101 Things To Do With Bottle Caps

Pipes

More Pipes

Hot Pipes

Gauges

Tanks

Vats

Even more pipes

More tanks

Even more tanks. 

Frank Davis, Chef, Fisherman, TV/Radio Broadcaster

I first met Frank Davis when he was reporting sports for the Slidell Times newspaper in 1972, the same year I  was editor of the Slidell Sentry. Later that year he started his own television outdoors program, and over the years he enjoyed a long and successful career with WWL-TV, first as an outdoor fishing reporter, and then as an expert chef in preparing Louisiana foods. 

A good friend of St. Tammany Parish and especially the Youth Service Bureau's Chef Soiree fund raising event for many years, he died in 2013. CLICK HERE to read  a NOLA.com article about him and his many community interests.

Frank Davis reading a ChefSoiree Map

In 1972 Frank Davis wrote an article called "Crawfish Culture." It contained everything you wanted to know about crawfish catching, crawfish boiling, and crawfish eating. Click on the images below to see a larger version. 

 

CLICK HERE for more information about Frank Davis. 

Here is a list of his YouTube videos.

Davis was a popular celebrity at area events. He even had a bridge named after him.

Long Branch Hotel in Abita Springs

Here are some old photos of some of the Long Branch Hotel buildings in Abita Springs. These were taken in the 1970's, except for the last one, which was from a post card in the early 1900's.

Bob Fitzmorris, Clerk of Court

Bob Fitzmorris was Clerk of Court for St. Tammany Parish for many years. Here is some information about him from a 1972 Pathways Magazine article.Click on the image below for larger version. 

 

A 1972 Photograph of Pete, Jimmy and Bob Fitzmorris

Madisonville Area Growth - 1998 to 2016

Here is a video featuring a sequence of aerial photographs of the Madisonville area between 1998 and 2016, courtesy of the Google Earth historical photo slideshow. Click on the image below to start the video. For full screen view, click on the [  ] symbol next to the YouTube logo when it appears in the lower right corner. 

The area in the upper right showing the Interstate 12/La. 21 intersection and all of its shopping centers coming in is particularly interesting. 

Hose Down The Barrel

If you've ever wondered what firefighters do for fun, here are some pictures of a barrel hosing competition. The other team was waiting for the barrel to be sent over their way so they could hose it back. That was one clean barrel by the end of the event. I think these were taken in the Lacombe area. 

Houses That Talk! Smith Hardware

Here is another article by Carol Harrison published in Pathways Magazine in 1972. It continues her series of imaginary conversations among the old buildings in downtown Covington. This episode features Carol's Corner building (C.C.) talking to Smith Hardware (S.H.), the building at 228 N. Columbia Street.

Click on the images below to enlarge them for easier reading. 

 

An interior photo of Smith Hardware in the late 1970's

River Forest Academy

The article below was published in 1972 and spotlighted River Forest Academy in Covington. Click on the images to make them larger and more readable. 

 

River Forest Academy Homecoming Queen and Court

A student at River Forest Academy

The River Forest Academy Brownie Troop 280 in the mid-1970's 

 

1982-83