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If you have any information for the Community Calendar, please email it to justin.schuver@bogalusadailynews.com.

District A Easter egg hunt

The seventh annual District A Easter Egg Hunt, a drive-thru event, will be on Thursday, April 14, at the Poplas Quarters Recreational Center, located at I-JJ Piper and Dobbs Street near the Coach Michael Harrington Baseball Field, from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. This event is for children who reside in District A; however, as always, no child from any district will be turned away. This event i drive-thru only, while the Easter give-aways last. Participants can not leave their cars and no walk ups will be allowed. Parents, please accompany your children; therefore, the child must be in the car to receive the Easter give-away. No exceptions. Masks are required.

Community Unity Day

ADAPT will be sponsoring a Community Unity Day on Saturday, April 30, at Cassidy Park in Bogalusa, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The purpose of this event is to bring the community together to share resources, educate citizens and have a good time with family and friends. There will be a variety of vendors at the event, including Prevention, Human Resource Services, Arts and Crafts, and Food Vendors. Washington Parish has a wealth of resources that many of our residents do not know are available. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about services that may benefit you or someone you know. Education is one of the keys to success in life. Vendors will be teaching about substance use, sexual assault precautions, domestic violence, and other things. Activities will be plentiful for youth and adults to learn about areas of interest in a fun, informal way. Many of the vendors will be providing free giveaways, and will be onsite to sell some of their products. Anyone interested in being a vendor should contact Rhonda Gunnell at 985-735-0160. Booths will be 10-by-10-feet and there is no charge for those who are promoting prevention, education, or services. Vendors who would like to sell arts and crafts or food will be required to make a $25 payment. Vendor fees for churches will be waived. Vendor registration must be submitted by Friday, April 15. For more information, contact the ADAPT office at 985-735-0160.

Franklinton Easter egg hunt

The Franklinton Social Planning Committee will be hosting an Easter egg hunt on Friday, April 15, from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the Washington Parish Fairgrounds in Franklinton. The event will also include face painting, a petting zoo and prizes for the egg hunters.

Bogalusa Easter egg hunt

The Bogalusa Easter egg hunt will be Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. until noon at the Cassidy Park main pavilion and stage.

Senior citizen picnic

The Washington Parish Council on Aging is having its annual senior citizen picnic on Friday, April 22, from 9:30 a.m. until noon at the Cassidy Park in Bogalusa. This event provides parish citizens with an opportunity to enjoy a day of food, fun and fellowship.

Reuben Adams Cemetery meeting

The annual meeting of the Reuben Adams Cemetery will be held Sunday, April 24, at 2 p.m. at the cemetery. Donations will be received at this time for the upkeep and maintenance of the cemetery. If you are unable to attend the meeting, a Reuben Adams Cemetery account is available at any Citizens Savings Bank location. For additional information, call 985-732-7401.

Franklinton Chamber meet and greet

The Franklinton Chamber of Commerce will return to activity Friday, April 29, at noon at Sugar Shack, located at 1223 Washington St. in Franklinton. This event will be a “meet and greet” for citizens to re-connect and network with business associates and others.

Drug take-back day

Nielsen’s Pharmacy, located at 1619 S. Columbia St. in Bogalusa, will have a drug take-back day on Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Accepted items will include expired prescription drugs, unwanted prescription drugs, over-the-counter pills, controlled and non-controlled substances. Non-accepted items will include liquid products, injectable drugs and syringes.

Thomas reunion

The Big Thomas Reunion will be Saturday, April 30, at noon. Bible Baptist Church of Thomas will host with seating of 120-plus. Please bring food at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served at noon. Bring all of your family and any pictures to display. Envelopes will be available for Thomas Cemetery donation; please include your name.

Recipes needed

The Mile Branch Settlement Cookbook Committee has begun collecting recipes for its newest fund-raiser project. You are invited to submit your favorite recipes, including those related to canning, freezing, and freeze-drying to preserve foods. Forms necessary for submitting recipes are available on the Mile Branch and Washington Parish Free Fair Facebook pages. You may also obtain email or hard copy forms by emailing MBSCookbook@gmail.com. Printed forms will be available through local civic organizations, businesses and churches in your area. Printed forms should be mailed to: “Mile Branch Cookbook c/o Washington Parish Free Fair, P. O. Box 574, Franklinton, LA 70438.” Deadline for submission of recipes is Saturday, April 30.

Bogalusa Balloon Festival

The Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission will be presenting the “Bogalusa Balloon Festival” from May 20-22 at George R. Carr Memorial Airfield, located at 401 Walker St. in Bogalusa. More information will be released in the future.

Open Road Cruisers

The Open Road Cruisers monthly “Cruise-In” will be held the second Thursday night of each month, from March through August, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. in the parking lot of Zesto’s Drive-In, located at 100 Richmond St. in Bogalusa. There is a $1,000 cash giveaway each month. For more information, call Jeff at 985-516-0643 or Robert at 985-750-2112.

YouthBuild Bogalusa

YouthBuild Bogalusa (YBB) is enrolling students for its program. To gain entry in the program, a student will need to be between the ages of 16-24, and have not graduated from high school or earned his or her HISET. The new applicant will take the TABE placement test, in order to gain entry in the program. There will be testing for placement, Monday through Thursday every week from 9 a.m. until noon. YBB offers opportunities in educational aid in passing the HISET, Carpentry Skills (NCCER Certification/OSHA 30), mentoring, AmeriCorps (educational stipend/award), CNA, and welding, along with life skills (community involvement/leadership skills). YBB provides monetary incentives to learn — up to $500 every two weeks. YBB also has a full-time Case Manager and Counselor on staff. If you have any interest in the program or know of any one that will benefit from the program, visit YBB at 1242 Austin St. in Bogalusa, or call 985-545-1622.

American Legion bingo returns

Bingo is back at the American Legion building every Thursday. Doors open at 5 p.m. and outstanding food will be served also. There is an ATM for your convenience.

Washington Parish alert system

Stay alert by enrolling in the Washington Parish Emergency Notification System. This alert system provides rapid notification of emergencies, critical events and urgent situations. The alert system can send notifications through the following methods: phone call, text, email or TTY/TTD service for the hearing impaired. Landline phones are automatically entered for the alert system. To receive alerts through a mobile phone or email, a citizen must register through one of the following options: call 985-282-2620, text “Alert” to 985-282-2620, or sign up online at www.hyper-reach.com/lawashingtonsignup.html. Citizens can also download the Hyper Reach Anywhere app to any smartphone. This alert system is completely free.

Bogalusa Help Center

It’s easy to smile when someone cares, and Bogalusa Help Center, our local food bank, cares. It is now a drive-through operation, located at 350 Martin Luther King Drive in Bogalusa. It is open from 8 a.m. until noon every Wednesday (except the fifth Wednesday of the month) providing food to those in need in our community. Since partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank/USDA, and along with generous donations from our community, BHC now distributes 35-40 pounds of food each month to over 400 families. These distributions include canned goods, meat, dry beans, peanut butter, fresh fruit and vegetables, etc. New clients can apply each week. They must provide: Name of head of the household; driver’s license or ID; address; number of persons in the household and ages; and SNAP or SSI printout, or proof of income of all in the household. Donations are always very much needed and appreciated. For more information, BHC may be reached at 985-735-6404 every Wednesday.

Ongoing services at the library

• The Bogalusa branch of the Washington Parish Library offers a variety of services throughout the year. Faxing is available for $1 per 20 pages, and copies can be made for 20 cents each (black and white) or 50 cents each for color. There is also free computers for use — the first five copies are free, and it is 10 cents a copy after the first five.
• If you are an E-book reader, check out the selections offered by the Washington Parish Library in partnership with four other library systems.
• Patrons have free access to ancestry.com at any Washington Parish Library, and free access to heritagequest.com from any home or personal device, as well as a large selection of genealogy materials at the Bogalusa and Franklinton branches.
• The Bogalusa branch receives current copies of local and national newspapers, as well as popular magazine publications.
• For students, the Homework Louisiana website offers a variety of assistance methods, including a live online tutor, “Skills Builder,” homework help and tutoring for kindergarten through basic college level, a writing center, a career center and an adult education center.