Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

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

“True Crime Review”

Fascinated by the true crime stories of the past? Check out the “True Crime Review: The Menendez Brothers” at local libraries in September. Join this review of the facts behind this headline-making true crime story of the 1980s and 1990s. It will be offered at the Bogalusa Branch Library on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m., and at the Franklinton Branch Library on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 10 a.m. The event is free.

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 The Bad Guys and Dog.

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.

Art Association meeting

Nancy Smitherman of Baton Rouge will be the guest artist at the Tuesday, Sept. 13, meeting of the Washington Parish Art Association. It will begin at 6 p.m. in the art building at the parish fairgrounds in Franklinton. Hosts for the meeting are officers and board members. All members and others interested in promoting art and artists in the parish are encouraged to attend.

Blood drive at PRCC

Pearl River Community College students in the Iota Mu Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa are hosting a blood drive on the Poplarville, Miss., campus. The drive will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot by Marvin White Coliseum and the Wildcat Den. Mississippi Blood Services will be sending two “blood mobiles” to accommodate donors. All participants will receive a $10 pre-paid VISA card after their donation. Students, staff, and community members are invited to be a part of the blood drive.

Scrabble at the Franklinton 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.

Stanford family reunion

Relatives, descendants and friends are invited to celebrate the annual Stanford Family Reunion at the Southwest Events Center in Tylertown, Miss., on Sunday, Sept. 18. The reunion festivities will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the program will begin at 12:30 p.m. with lunch following at 1 p.m. Everyone is asked to bring a favorite covered dish and beverage, as well as any family pictures and memorabilia. The Stanford Family History Book will be available for purchase at the reunion and will cost $5. For information and directions, contact Loyd Stafford at 985-238-0133, Kenneth Gerald at 985-848-5347, Karen Varnado on Facebook, Sherry Sumrall at 601-810-6755, J.W. Stafford at 601-551-0042 or Alma Castleberry at 601-795-4214. Descendants of William Bill and Martha Rosana (Rose) Evans Stanford and daughters, Mary Adeline Stanford Parker Carroll, Laura Stanford Baughman, Marthey Stanford Gerald, Emmer Louise (Lou) Stanford Carroll Easman, Rhoda Stanford Gerald, Della (Sug) Sugar Stanford Stafford Holmes and Posey Stanford Miley invites all family members, friends and any others connected with the family to come and enjoy a day of fellowship, eating and renewing of friendships.

National Night Out

The Bogalusa Police Department and Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office is offering “National Night Out 2022” on Tuesday, Oct. 4, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Cassidy Park in Bogalusa. More information will be available soon.

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.

2nd annual 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.

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.

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.

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.

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. The public is invited to sit in the comfortable reading center to enjoy their favorites.
• 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.