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

Narcotics Anonymous

A new Narcotics Anonymous meeting series, led by Bro. Ruben Watts, will be held Tuesdays and Fridays at 7 p.m. at Brown’s Soul Kitchen in Cassidy Park in Bogalusa. The New Life NA Group will meet from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. and will be led by Watts, a deacon at Westside Emmanuel Baptist Church.

Columbia Food and Music Festival

The Columbia Food and Music Festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 3, in downtown Columbia, Miss. Food trucks and musical acts from throughout the Southeast will be on hand from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m., and starting at 5 p.m., Main Street will be filled with cars and trucks from every generation until 8 p.m. Country, rock, gospel and more will be played throughout downtown.

Government closings

The Washington Parish Government and the Choctaw Road Landfill will be closed Monday, Sept. 5, for Labor Day.

Monthly prayer for Bogalusa

Join Tuesday, Sept. 6, at the Bogalusa YMCA at 9 a.m. for a monthly prayer for the city. Pastors, ministerial staff and the public are invited to attend.

Town hall meeting

The City of Bogalusa will have a town hall meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Bogalusa High School auditorium from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be an educational briefing on the proposed OTP (Opioid Treatment Program)/methadone clinic at 412 Ave. B in Bogalusa. The clinic owners will be present to answer questions.

Bogalusa Retired School Teachers Association

The Bogalusa Retired Teachers will meet Thursday, Sept. 8, at 11 a.m. at the St. Paul A.M.E. Church fellowship hall at 420 Church St. in Bogalusa. Those who would love to join can do so at that time. Door prizes and refreshments will be served. The president is Joann Frazier.

Movie night

The Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission and ADAPT, Inc., will present a Family Movie Night on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m. at Cassidy Park. The event will be a double feature, and the movies will be announced soon.

Red Hot Fire Trot

Franklinton’s Red Hot Fire Trot, a 5-K walk/run to remember, will be Saturday, Sept. 10, from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the Washington Parish Fairgrounds. There is a $25 pre-registration fee. You can register on Facebook at “Franklinton’s Red Hot Fire Trot” or at the Franklinton Fire Department, located at 415 11th Ave.

Crisis counseling program

Join your local library on Monday, Sept. 12, for a “Crisis Counseling Program.” The program will be offered at the Franklinton Branch Library at 10 a.m. and the Bogalusa Branch Library at 2 p.m. This program is designed to connect you to local community support systems. There will be a guest speaker to give a presentation on how to cope with feelings of stress and fear, depressive moods, grief and anxiety. For more information, call the Bogalusa library at 985-735-1961 or the Franklinton library at 985-839-7805.

Scrabble at the library

Join the Franklinton Branch Library for Scrabble and coffee on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 10 a.m. Bring a friend. Call to RSVP at 985-839-7805.

Clean up day and movie night

The Franklinton Chamber of Commerce, along with the Town of Franklinton and Amwaste Management, is excited to present the first annual “Team Up to Clean Up Day and Movie Night,” which will be held Saturday, Oct. 8, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., ending with the movie night at 6:45 p.m. All adults, children of all ages, families, businesses, organizations and churches are invited to form teams of two or more in efforts to rid the town of litter. To sign up, contact Penny Jones, Community Pride committee chair, at 334-301-4969. Sign up and receive a “Team Up to Clean Up” T-shirt. The T-shirt and coloring sheet will grant you access to the movie (Monsters, Inc.). Bring your chair, blanket and a picnic dinner to enjoy the movie, which will be shown behind the Washington Parish School Board, across the street from Franklinton Jr. High School (800 Main St.). For more information, visit the Facebook page of “Franklinton Chamber of Commerce/Events.”

Boo-galusa

The Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission will be presenting “Boo-galusa” on Saturday, Oct. 29. It is $10 to enter motorcycles, classic cars, golf carts, ATVs and trucks/trailers. This will be a lighted parade, either fall or Halloween themed.

Electrical box art contest

Design and paint an electrical box in the city of Bogalusa. There is a $100 cash prize once the painting is complete. Two winners are chosen, and the painters must be in grades seven through 12, and must have an address in the 70427 ZIP code. The theme is “Bogalusa: Past, Present and Future.” The design should include all four sides of the box. The boxes are located across from Butler Park on Eighth Street. Designs are due by Monday, Oct. 31.

Balloon Festival Queen pageant

The Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission and the Bogalusa Balloon Festival Queen’s Committee will present the Bogalusa Balloon Festival Queen’s Pageant on Saturday, Nov. 12, at George R. Carr Memorial Airfield (the Bogalusa airport). The pre-teen and teen pageant will be held at 2 p.m. and the Miss Pageant will be held at 4 p.m. Information and an application is available on the Bogalusa Balloon Festival’s Facebook page.

Bogalusa Open Market

The Bogalusa Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission will present the Bogalusa Open Market on Saturday, Nov. 19, from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Avenue B Ballpark/Bogalusa Sports Complex. Garage sale booths are $10, vendor and food booths are $25, and interactive map spots will be $5. There will be live entertainment. For more information, email BPRCC.bogopenmarket@gmail.com or visit “Bogalusa Open Market” on Facebook.

Christmas on Austin Street

The Bogalusa, Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission will present the fourth annual “Christmas on Austin Street” on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. There will be free activities, festival-style games and booths, Santa Claus, food and vendor booths and more.

Mark your calendar for 2nd balloon festival

The Bogalusa Balloon Festival has already announced its date for the second annual event. Mark your calendars now for June 2-4, 2023. Follow the festival on Facebook to stay updated.

American Legion bingo

Bingo is every Thursday at the American Legion. Doors open at 5 p.m. Great food. All jackpots pay out 100 percent, including the $1,000 blackout.

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.

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. BHC now distributes 35-40 pounds of food each month to over 400 families. For more information, BHC may be reached at 985-735-6404 every Wednesday.