Parish Fair Events Back in 2012

 Here is a video that shows the St. Tammany Parish Fair parade and opening ceremonies in Covington back in 2012, some 12 years ago. Special guests included Mike Cooper, Pat Brister, Trey Folse, Roy Burns and Mike Dirmann.

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

SLU Alumni Meeting at TCC

 Several dozen St. Tammany Parish alumni of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond gathered for an informal meeting at Tchefuncta Country Club Wednesday night. Alumni re-connected with friends and classmates and reminisced about their time at the college years before. Here are some photographs from the occasion.

 

Alumni were able to meet the new president of Southeastern, William S. Wainwright 

See also this link:

Wainwright Southeastern's 15th president

https://www.southeastern.edu/alumni_donors/alumni_assoc/connected/news/120423investiture.html

Emile Navarre

Emile Navarre was an award-winning photographer, served on the Mandeville City Council, and worked on the Mandeville Banner newspaper before he opened his own photography studio in Mandeville in 1976. 

I worked with him on the Mandeville Banner newspaper, and after I left to become editor of the St. Tammany Farmer, he was named editor of the News Banner.  He was pleased when a picture he took of an accident on the causeway was printed on the front page of the New York Times. 

He went on to bigger and better things, however, as his photography skills prompted him to open his own studio and get into advertising and promotions. He also became very active in local and regional professional photography organizations. 

 

In 1991 Navarre was president of the Mandeville Chamber of Commerce, the  grand marshal of the Krewe of Orpheus, and President of the Professional Photographers of Louisiana association. 

Click on the above article to make it larger. 

In 1993 he won a national award from the Professional Photographers of Louisiana (PPA). He also earned the designation of "Master Photographer" and "Photographic Craftsman" from the organization. In 2003 he won the PPA Directors Award. 

Emile Navarre's portraits showed his studio lighting and darkroom skills 

Emile Navarre

 

Emile died on Thursday, October 10, 2002 at Ochsner Foundation Hospital. He was a native of New Orleans, LA and a resident of Mandeville, LA for 26 years. 

Abita Springs School Ceremony 2004

 Twenty years ago next week, May 25, the students and faculty at Abita Springs Middle School celebrated their Sixth Grade Promotion Ceremony. 

Here's some video from that occasion back in 2004. Click on the "Play Triangle" to view the video. 

ChefSoiree Early Promotionals

 In March of 1989, some thirty-five years ago, photographer Harriet Blum took these promotional pictures for the new event called the Chef Soiree to be held in Bogue Falaya Park, Covington. Click on the images to make them larger. 

Nichols Shares History with Book Club

 In 1972 Historian C. Howard Nichols shared the history of New Orleans with the local Lydia Frotscher Book Club in Covington. Here is the article that tells of his presentation. Click on the images below to make them larger. 

Dr. C. Howard Nichols

See also these links:

Writing St. Tammany Parish History - C.H. Nichols

Crowd Enjoys History of Columbia St. Businesses

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Small Farm (1874)

Dr. Nichols and his book about Covington

"Stories of a River Town"

Covington Community Center

 The Covington Community Center was built between 1957 and 1959, constructed in stages as the money became available. Donations came in from a wide variety of local civic organizations, and the building started off with a roof covering with a dirt floor. A few months later a concrete floor was poured, and a few months after that, side walls were put in place. 

The finished building in 1959

Click on the images to make them larger. 

An aerial view in 1975

The roof was first erected in 1957.

The concrete floor being poured in 1957

The community center hosted a multitude of events, everything from baby contests and beauty pageants to graduation parties, weddings, dances, and acrobatic fund-raising events. 

It had basketball goals, a ping pong table and a pool table, with two tennis courts in the back.

It hosted many community events and seminars

ChefSoiree Map from 2015

 Here's a short video of the production of the ChefSoiree cartoon map for 2015.