I wonder if I’m the only one who is happy to see election season behind us?
Don’t get me wrong, I have stated many times that I enjoy politics quite a lot and enjoy writing about the local races. When I started in the newspaper business I was in sports, and once the day came that I stepped into the newsroom, I wasn’t sure how well I would transition.
For that matter, I will admit to knowing virtually nothing about the local news scene in Slidell when I took over the Slidell Sentry-News editorial operation in the late 80s. But as years went by, and suddenly I was writing news stories, I found a growing interest in it. Then when I added politics to the scene I found that even more interesting.
The past election season for St. Tammany Parish has been a long one, starting all the way back in January when Randy Smith surprised most folks by announcing he would take on Jack Strain in the race for sheriff. When it all ended on the night of Nov. 21, I was happy to see it finally come to an end since it creates a tremendous amount of extra work and pressure for those of us who publish our two St. Tammany papers—The Slidell Independent and Tammany West.
So I enjoyed the Thanksgiving week when I took a few days off, not only to catch my breath from the election season run, but also to settle back into a normal routine that did not include campaigns.
We can all enjoy the break, but it won’t be for long. The next big elections in St. Tammany Parish are already getting warmed up—Mandeville city elections on March 5, and get this—qualifying is this week!
Yes, more elections will be on tap and I can already see that the election for mayor in Mandeville will be a hot one with incumbent Donald Villere already announcing he plans to seek re-election, while City Councilman Rick Danielson announced several months ago that he will take him on.
Don’t worry, I won’t start stirring the pot on that one just yet, but I know it will be interesting to follow since the two candidates have already taken a few shots at each other, and that was just when the initial announcement stories were run in our papers months ago.
At least for now, check out next week’s paper to see who is in the race for Mandeville City Council and mayor—who knows, there might be others jumping in—and there is one election in Madisonville for the City Council there also.
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Danny Blackburn sent me a reminder that the 2nd annual Bayou Christmas will be held at Heritage Park again as a major fundraiser for the Slidell Boys & Girls Club. It will be open for the public to view from Thursday, Dec. 17 through Saturday, Dec. 26.
Danny and his friends with the Boys & Girls Club put this project together a year ago as a way to earn a substantial amount of support for the local club each year, something that group desperately needed as it has struggled in the past to keep the doors open.
Bayou Christmas is a fantastic event, offering a free Christmas light and music display with over 60,000 lights built on sheets of plywood that offer different holiday scenes and stories to tell. The entire thing was built by Boys & Girls Club members, with adult supervision of course, and it proved to be a big hit in its debut last year with thousands of locals visiting Heritage Park to see it.
This year the project will bring in more money than the first year since they have now covered their initial construction costs and will have the sponsorship money and other funds from the event to all benefit the Slidell Boys & Girls Club.
I have to give Danny and his supporters big props for coming up with this idea as a way to hold a successful annual fundraiser for the local club, and also give the Slidell community one more great Christmas show to go see—and this one is free!
Of course they will raise money through sponsors of the night, as well as concessions offered at the event, so I hope many of you will go again. Danny said the show will be added to, and improved each year, to keep it fresh and make it bigger and better.
Along with the light show there will be children’s amusement rides, a children’s train, photo booth and lots of great food to enjoy.
On Saturday, Dec. 19 and Dec. 26, “Slidell Movie Nights” will present a free Christmas movie for all to enjoy in the park.
If you would like to be a sponsor of this event, contact Danny at 640-7112 or go online to their Facebook page. It’s an event worthy of your support.
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Speaking of Christmas, can I suggest a great idea for a gift?
The Community Christian Concern of Slidell and the Pregnancy Help Center of Slidell are two of my favorite charities and I’ll bet they would greatly appreciate you remembering them this Christmas.
How about sending a donation to them as a gift to the people there who do so much for our community, or even sending it to them in the name of a friend or loved one as a gift?
You can mail checks to: CCC, 2515 Carey St., Slidell, La., 70458, or to Pregnancy Help Center, 550 Gause Blvd., St. 2, Slidell, La., 70458.
They would great appreciate the support.
Kevin Chiri can be reached by e-mail at kevinchiri@gmail.com.