Baja St. Martin

It seems I might have some apologizing to do. Mr. Jessie Boudreaux, president and owner of Cajun Mosquito Control, was nice enough – and so very polite – to send me an email assuring me his company was spraying for mosquitoes here (and elsewhere in the parish) on a regular basis, but to be aware that October was a busy month. Lots of mosquitoes, I guess. The driver and truck are passing here twice a week, sometimes early, sometimes late, and I obviously don’t always see them, but they are passing and spraying.
So, Mr. Boudreaux, I really appreciate your letter and info for me and I do apologize if I doubted your activity in Belle River and hope I didn’t cause you any bad press, etc. I am, Mr. Jessie, very impressed by your professionalism. I won’t lie and say the mosquitoes are not here because they are and they’re really wicked, but I certainly do understand that nobody can kill them all. It’s better now with the cooler weather and we haven’t had any rain for quite a while to stir up the critters.
Now to school: I subscribe to the Stephensville News and the month of October is packed with things. I’ve missed a bunch of events already. APT met on Sept. 28. Officers are Liza Legleu, president; Elizabeth Murrin, vice-president; Ashley Gros, secretary; and Pamela Verrett, treasurer. The next APT will be Oct. 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the school cafeteria. The Lady Gators have been playing their little Gator hearts out. The TeleMed equipment is being installed soon and they’re looking for a nurse for a few hours per day.
Character week is Oct. 19 through Oct. 23. Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship were all stressed. There will be a pumpkin-decorating contest on Oct. 30 for carved and uncarved pumpkins. Also on Oct. 30, for the little ones, there will be a Halloween Coloring Contest. Red Ribbon Week is Oct. 25 through Oct. 31 in honor of Drug Free America. The Social Studies Fair will be Oct. 28 and projects are due to Mrs. Rome by Oct. 27. The Science Fair will be in November, date TBA.
And here’s a new one – Shoparoo! It’s a fund-raiser where you download the free Shoparoo app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store on your smart phone, take pictures of your shopping receipts and earn Roo points for the school. I confess that I don’t have a smart phone so much of this makes my head spin, but if you need details, explanations, just call the school although all you guys out there probably would have this thing figured out in a snap! (I can remember when my 18-month-old granddaughter climbed up on a chair and tapped computer keys to make colored balloons dance around on the monitor.)
Beginning Nov. 17, the second bingo of the month of November in the Belle River center, we will celebrate birthdays with a Birthday Bash cake brought by a Humana representative. We’ll take an intermission between bingo games on that Tuesday to “nosh” a little and probably sing “Happy Birthday” to November babies and likely those we missed up to now. Anyway, we’ll all eat cake! Come join us and you can have your cake and eat it too!
I was fortunate enough to help host a dinner for Dr. Mary Manheim, the recently retired “Bone Lady,” director of the LSU F.A.C.E.S (Forensic Anthropology Computer Enhancement Services) lab. She was really a terrific speaker – very vibrant, knowledgeable obviously. I got a kick out of her giggle now and then when she mentioned something like blowflies or digging up bones as the guests were eating. She helped identify Columbia Shuttle astronaut remains and some of the Derek Todd Lee victims. Along with lots of others.

Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be e-mailed at lindacooke1939@gmail.com.