Club News for Oct.19, 2012

Magnolia Mound topic for Altrusa

John Sykes, director of Magnolia Mound Plantation, spoke to the Altrusa Club of Baton Rouge on Sept. 17 at Drusilla Seafood Restaurant.

Sykes said the plantation has 16 acres of the original 900, and that the Overseer’s House was found in the surrounding residential area and moved to its present site. He invited members and guests to tour the home and encouraged them to become active in the volunteer opportunities offered there. The home, now run by the Baton Rouge Recreation and Parks Commission, is a French Creole plantation built in 1791. For information on Magnolia Mound Plantation, call [phone].

Membership Chairman Amy Drago initiated Janie Starks, sponsored by Mary Eleanor Cole, into Altrusa membership.

Drago asked members to bring nonperishable food items to the Oct. 15 meeting for donation to Hope Ministries. President Marti Didier challenged members to top the recent donation of more than 220 pounds of canned goods by Altrusa. Giving reports were Carol Davis, Diane Bezdek, Jan Holmes, Lynn Nettles and Jo Ann Morgan.

Members voted to place an Altrusan bookcase at the St. Vincent de Paul dining room. Members and guests will donate books that St. Vincent de Paul clients can keep. The goal is to place a book in the possession of children and adults who may not be able financially to obtain such items. Laura Rhorer read correspondence.

Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer spoke to the club at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 15, at Drusilla Seafood Restaurant. For information on Altrusa, call Didier, [phone], or Nettles, [phone].

Zachary club donates money to CODOFIL

The Zachary Area French Preservation Club presented a donation of $1,111.59 to William Arceneaux, head of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, on Sept. 5 at Cajun Catch.

Arceneaux said that the money will be used to help send a Louisiana French college student to summer school at LSU or Centenary College then to study French in Paris for one year. He said that CODOFIL appreciates the money, especially since Gov. Bobby Jindal recently vetoed the $100,000 usually funded for CODOFIL by the Legislature.

Feliciana members attend UDC meeting

Members of the Feliciana Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy attended the 112th annual UDC Division Convention Sept. 20-22 in Baton Rouge.

The Feliciana Chapter was in charge of the Saturday luncheon and provided table favors. Nancy Bickham arranged for all who attended the luncheon to receive a door prize.

Division President Rachel Grace presented Beth Dawson with the Winnie Davis Medal for outstanding service.

Seven UDC Military Service Awards were bestowed to: Philip Haley, William Heroman and Wiley Raborn, World War II; Robert Raborn, Korean War; Charles Raborn, Vietnam National Defense Medal; and Lawrence Bell and James Johnson, Vietnam Armed Forces Expeditionary Service Medal. The Feliciana Chapter sponsored Haley, Heroman and Johnson. This award is presented to a veteran who can prove lineal blood descendants of Confederate military personnel.

During the weekend, Bickham received the Martha Washington Medal from the Gen. Philemon Thomas Chapter of Sons of the American Revolution at its Constitution Week Dinner. Bickham was honored for her outstanding service as DAR state librarian. She is in charge of the Annie Laurie Moody Library located at the East Baton Rouge Parish Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library in Baton Rouge and has updated the library catalog both online and in print.

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