Old Friends, Old Photographs

Old friends looking over old photographs. Photo taken in1974. Click on the image to make it larger.

Ella Paine          Bertha Neff 

National Bicentennial Celebration 1976

In 1976 the Bicentennial Celebration for the United States was held across the land, and St. Tammany Parish put together one of the most festive events. The planned activities to observe the 200th Anniversary of the nation included parades, costumes, and cannons.

 

 

Click above for a WARB radio broadcast of the Bicentennial Events live from the fairgrounds in Covington.

 

A July 1976 re-enactment of a 1779 event on the Mandeville lakefront.

American Legion Auxiliary

Representatives of the American Legion Auxiliary, Robert H. Burns Unit 16, were distributing informational pamphlets at the Covington Block Party & Car Show Friday night. The auxiliary has played a large part in encouraging freedom education and instruction in governmental structure and processes through its Girls State and Girls Nation programs.

The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary have been active for decades across St. Tammany Parish, holding special ceremonies at the courthouse for Memorial Day and Veterans Day, providing services to veterans, and taking part in a variety of community events to promote patriotism. 

See also:

https://tammanyfamily.blogspot.com/2018/06/girl-state-attendees-1970s.html

https://tammanyfamily.blogspot.com/2017/11/veterans-day-ceremonies-in-front-of-old.html

Teachers Group Officers - 1935

In 1935, these educators were chosen as officers and delegates for the St. Tammany Teachers Association. Click on the image to enlarge the view.

Final Friday Block Party

Friday night was Covington's Final Friday Block Party & Car Show for September, taking place on Columbia Street. Here are some photos. Click on the images to make them larger. 

 

 

Mandeville Historic Survey 2009

In 2009 Sally Reeves conducted a survey of historic architecture in the City of Mandeville. To view the document that she produced, click on the link below. 

http://www.cityofmandeville.com/Images/Interior/sally%20reeves.historic%20survey.020409.pdf

100 years ago this week

What was going on 100 years ago this week?

CLICK HERE for a link to the St. Tammany Farmer of September 28, 1918. The link is provided by the Library of Congress and its Chronicling America service.

Click on the sample images below to see larger versions.

 

Bill Brady

Bill Brady was born in St. Louis, Missouri during the final year of WWII.  After spending several early years in South America, Bill’s family, which included Mom, Dad and four boys, moved to St. Tammany Parish. 

Bill graduated from Covington High School and then went on to become Student Government President at Southeastern Louisiana College, earning a degree in government.  After toying with the idea of going to law school like his brother Jim, Bill, like his brother Colin, decided to become a teacher. 

Bill Brady

Bill taught in numerous schools in St. Tammany, including Slidell Junior, Bayou Lacombe Junior, and Chahta-Ima Junior, where he soon became the assistant principal.  When this school burned down in 1976, Bill became the principal of Bayou Lacombe Junior High, where platooning had to be implemented.  Bill remembers fondly some of his co-workers at this school, including Kay Fortenberry, Ray Sibley, Peter Jabbia, Carl Benoit and Willie Jeeter.  

He was active in the Covington Jaycees and Covington Community Center organization. 

From 1980-1995, Bill served as principal of Covington Elementary, where he became famous for knowing every student by name and able to recall funny events about every child’s former family members. 

His compassion for ALL children and their right to a strong education was  compelling.  He made sure that Covington Elementary was on the forefront of technology as computers were just beginning to be used in the classroom.

During a school fundraiser, Brady offered to kiss a pig if the goal was met. 

Several years after the above incident, I asked Bill if he remembered kissing the pig, and he frowned and said, "She never calls, she never writes..."

In 1995, Bill moved to central office as a supervisor and eventually an assistant superintendent in charge of administration, working closely through the years with Richard Tanner, Lenny Monteleone, Gayle Sloan, Mike Cosse, Peter Jabbia and Trey Folse.   

Bill finally retired after 46 years of dedicated service to every student, parent and educator in St. Tammany Parish, leaving an unparalleled legacy of compassion and knowledge.

On the home front, Bill married Angela Howes, and they raised two children, a son Kelly and a daughter Maura. Now, Bill and Angela are grandparents to three precious granddaughters, McKinley, Evyn and Kate, ages 14, 11 and 9 who live in Humble, Texas.  

Click on the images to make them larger. 

Always an early riser, Bill continues that habit in retirement where he can be found cutting grass before it gets too hot, accompanying Angela to church, or meeting some buddies for breakfast.  After retirement, he would met regularly for lunch with Brandon Clanton, Simmie Fairley, and Ron Caruso to name a few. 

When asked if he had any hobbies, such as fishing, Bill replied the only thing he ever caught the one time he tried to fish was a game warden!  He does have a strong passion for the St. Louis Cardinals stemming from his very early days in Missouri and tries to catch them on TV when he can.  

Instead of hobbies, Bill is still committed to service projects dear to his heart.  He continues to work with the United Way, an organization which he championed tirelessly throughout his educational career.  And he serves on the board and is chaplain for the St. Tammany Retired School Employees Association.

Bill recalled one incident that happened when he was principal at Covington Elementary.  A little boy was choking on a hot dog and Bill had to quickly perform the Heimlich maneuver on him to dislodge the piece of meat.  The next day Bill received a little handwritten note that said, “Thank you for saving my life, Mr. Brady.”

(Some of the information above was found on the St. Tammany Retired School Employees website)

Bill Brady

Brady was chosen as the Grand Marshal for the 2026 Covington Lions Club Parade.