100 Years Ago This November 19, 2021

What was going on 100 years ago this week? CLICK HERE for a link to the St. Tammany Farmer Issue of  November 19, 1921. The link is provided by the Library of Congress and its Chronicling America service.

Click on the sample images below to see larger versions.

 

 

 

Society News

The Arts Awards for 2021

The St. Tammany Cultural Arts Commission, on behalf of Parish President Mike Cooper, presented me with a Lifetime Achievement award tonight at Northshore Technical Community College in Lacombe. I was among ten individuals who were selected for awards in various categories, art, music, culinary expertise and writing.

 

 

The group of award winners
From left to right, Ben Bensen III, Dr. Eva Semien Baham, Charles Dowdy of Lake Radio 94.7, Ricky Windhorst III, Greg Barnhill, Mary Monk, Kenya Lawrence Jackson, Ron Barthet, Stephen Cefalu, and Jeffrey Hansell.

 

 

 

The gala reception

 

 

 

The Northshore Technical Community College, Lacombe

 

 

Mike Cooper and Ben Bensen III, President's Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Charles Dowdy of The Lake 94.7
Patron of the Arts Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Dr. Eva Semien Baham, Literary Artist Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Greg Barnhill, Native Son Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Stephen B. Cefalu, Outstanding Service Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Jeffrey Hansell, Culinary Artist Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Kenya Lawrence Jackson, Performing Artist Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Mary Monk, Visual Artist Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Ricky Windhorst III, Musical Artist Award

 

 

Mike Cooper and Ron Barthet, Lifetime Achievement Award
 

I had written some things down I wanted to say, but I forgot most of them. After 30 years in the newspaper business, you would think I could remember a two minute speech. The  entire thank you speech I would have liked to have given went something like this:

"I'd like to thank Mike Cooper for this recognition, and congratulations to all of tonight's award winners. 

I'd like to mention three groups of people who helped me throughout my career.

The first group are the hundreds of people I interviewed over the years. I thank them for sharing with me their stories: their hopes, their dreams and their concerns.

The second group are the thousands of people I have photographed over the years. I thank them for sharing with me - their smiles.

The third group are the artists, writers, photographers, and all the creative people of St. Tammany parish, many of whom are community leaders like Pat Clanton, Mark Johnson and Carol Jahncke. They inspired me and many others to be creative everyday.

The scenic beauty, the peacefulness and livability of St. Tammany attracts artists of every kind. Every day creative photographers scour the parish capturing hundreds of spectacular images, photographers like John Snell and Anthony Leone. 

 

 

The two minute speech at the arts awards

Actually, St. Tammany Parish has a long history of attracting artists and poets and writers, people who over the past 200 years have been drawn here, painting on canvas, writing in  verse and sending letters back home telling about the great place they had found.

How do we know this? Because of the work and research of the historians of St. Tammany Parish, people like Steve Ellis, C. Howard Nichols, Bertha Neff, Paula Johnson, Tom Aicklen and my friend Don Sharp. They help us realize where we came from, how we got to where we are today, and perhaps how we move forward into the future. 

And speaking of history...

If you haven't yet visited my blog over at https://tammanyfamily.blogspot.com/, I would like to invite you to do so. You will probably find something of interest, maybe even, a photograph of yourself."

End of speech

At that point I aimed the camera at the audience and took a picture.

Here are some additional photographs of people attending the arts awards event:

 

 

 

I want to add this list of some of the individuals who have helped me with specific projects and various personal accomplishments.

Lou Major Sr. and Lou Major Jr., who gave me my first newspaper jobs
Lane Carson, attorney and advocate for veterans
A.G. Crowe, who published dozens of my cartoon maps
Bob Sander, house designer with Poole Lumber Company
Wallace Poole, owner of Poole Lumber Company and community supporter
Warren Salles, owner of Star Theater
Vera Hardman, Natalie Hebert and Brenda Willis with the St. Tammany Farmer
Walker Percy, who read a few of my short stories
Mark Johnson, mayor of Covington and storyteller extraordinaire
Jack Akers, artist who painted Louisiana environmental scenes
Lyn Hill Taylor, artist who wrote the Art Colony column for the Covington Daily News
Bertha Neff, courthouse archivist
Don Sharp and Pat Clanton, who shared with me their friendship and photo album scrapbooks
Carol Jahncke, community promoter, writer and puppeteer

See also:

 https://tammanyfamily.blogspot.com/2021/10/arts-awards-for-2021.html

 

Three Rivers Art Fest - 2021

 The 25th annual Three Rivers Art Festival graced the streets of Covington once again, bringing outstanding artists in a wide variety of media to the area for one of the South's finest juried art shows and sales. 

Here are some photographs of the this year's event and its offerings. Click on the images to make them larger. 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Boase of ReAcoustic was back with his I-Phone holders, external speakers made from retired brass musical instruments.  

 

 

Artist Juli Juneau

 

 

Kaleidoscopes, hand made

 

 

The festival included a "Children's Area" where youngsters tried their hand at being artists

 

  

The parish library was helping kids make their own bookmarks

 

 

Grayhawk Perkins was on hand to talk about Native American culture. 

Some of Columbia Street's existing arts-oriented businesses remained accessible to festival goers through gaps in the tents lining the street.

 

In 2017, Cliff Bergeron with the Three Rivers Art Festival told an interviewer that when the event first started it had a couple of hundred artists apply, mostly local.

"Now we are up to 500 artists applying every year. It's a juried event so only 200 get in," he explained.

It has become nationally known and nationally recognized, something that people look forward to each year. "They put this event on their calendar as soon as we announce next  year's dates," he said.

 For St. Tammany Parish and particularly Covington, the festival brings in from 50,000 to 60,000 people over the weekend so the tax revenues derived from it are tremendous, Bergeron went on to say.

Now in its 25th year, this has been an ongoing project that continues to grow every year, according to Bergeron. "If you want to invest in a very high quality piece of art you can do it there. We have everything from ten dollar pieces of jewelry to $50,000 pieces of art," he noted.

It's also a great family event. "So you bring out your kids. It's a wonderful place to go and there's something for everybody," Bergeron concluded. 

 

According to the Three Rivers Art Festival website:

 

Since 1997, the Three Rivers Art Festival has bombarded the streets of downtown Covington, Louisiana, with fun, music, color and, most importantly, art. It has grown from 49 to 200 exhibiting artists. The festival attracts a sophisticated buying public and a talented group of artists and fine craftsmen, with upwards of 60,000 visitors attending each year.

This event has three purposes, all of which are connected to the festival’s home parish, St. Tammany, and all that this community has to offer. First, the festival serves to expand and enhance St. Tammany’s reputation as an arts-oriented community and mecca for artists and art lovers. Columbia Street, along which the artists’ booths run and the music plays, is filled with art throughout the year from multiple galleries to art supplies. Essentially, this one street is any art enthusiast’s heaven. The festival also adds to the many other attractions and events that make St. Tammany a wonderful tourist destination.

Lastly, the festival supports art education for St. Tammany Parish school students. By hosting a student art competition that is displayed during the festival, the event inspires and encourages children of all ages to experiment with and create art.

At the festival itself, the Children’s Area offers hands-on activities, and the Arts Alive! program provides live demonstrations by exhibiting artists during the day so kids can either watch or participate in artistic creation.

The Covington Three Rivers Art Festival is promoted through an extensive media campaign that targets sophisticated, knowledgeable buyers in the Greater New Orleans area, South Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.

This festival is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is run by a volunteer board and part-time coordinator, supplemented by more than 150 additional volunteers committee members and workers. Funding is generated by event sponsorships, donations, grants and exhibited booth fees.

Mission Statement:

"The purpose of the Covington Three Rivers Art Festival is to expand and enhance the reputation of St. Tammany Parish as an arts oriented community and mecca for artists and art lovers to serve as an attraction for cultural tourists to St. Tammany Parish; to support artists in St. Tammany Parish and outside of St. Tammany Parish; and to support art education for students living in St. Tammany Parish or attending a St. Tammany Parish school."

See also:

Three Rivers Art Festival This Weekend  

Three Rivers Art Festival - 2016

Three Rivers Art Festival Flows Into Covington 

Three Rivers Art Fest Draws Thousands