St. Tammany Parish Children’s Museum Opens at Koop Drive

A plan 15 years in the making came to fruition the weekend of January 20-21, 2018.  The Children’s Museum of St. Tammany opened its doors to great fanfare that weekend.  The Children’s Museum which is located near the St. Tammany Trace Trailhead at Koop Drive, will begin to have regular business hours on Tuesday, January 23rd.  The museum has exhibits which are focused on toddler-age children to elementry-age children.

The idea for the Children’s Museum originally began with the Junior League of Greater Covington in 2003.  A non-profit was formed in 2011 called The Children’s Museum of St. Tammany to begin on

fundraising activities to raise money for the new facility. Partners in the endeavor include the St. Tammany Parish government and the St. Tammany Parish school district.

In fact, the St. Tammany Parish school district held its 8th fundraising event on December 1, 2017, which was led by the students to raise money for the museum.  A check in the amount of $19,377 was then donated to the Children’s Museum by school superintendent Trey Folse during a school board meeting on January 11, 2018. A total of $160,000 has been raised using similar fundraising efforts during the last 8 years.

The facility at the Tammany Trace Trailhead at Koop Drive is only an interim location for the museum. The final facility will be built on St. Tammany Parish’ planned cultural arts district on land adjacent to the Colonial/Pinnacle property at Louisiana 21 / I-12 and the Tchefuncte River.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.  

Residents of St. Tammany Parish to Miss Holiday of Lights

In the Greater New Orleans area, holiday celebrations abound and are also a very popular tourist attraction.  However, here locally in St. Tammany Parish, there are a few events that always draw a huge crowd and are anticipated by the residents of St. Tammany Parish every holiday season.
For those who call St. Tammany Parish home, they have always looked forward to the Holiday of

Lights celebration at the Tammany Trace Trailhead on Koop Drive in the city of Mandeville.  Unfortunately, this will not be the case come holiday season this year.  Pat Brister, President of St. Tammany Parish government, informed residents that the two-weekend holiday celebration will be cancelled due to the lack of funds.

This free annual event was enjoyed by residents for 17 years and featured entertainment by local schools, musical and theater performances, caroling, carnival rides, pictures with Santa and a tour of the holiday lights display in the Koop Drive campus. The St. Tammany Parish government was one of two sponsors which funded

the annual event that reportedly cost the parish $75,000 each season.

While this sad news might come as a surprise to the community, parish officials anticipated it as a cut to the St. Tammany Parish operating budget for 2018 which forecasts an $18 million-dollar revenue shortfall. The parish feels there is no way around the budget cut which stems from the failed attempt to renew sales taxes linked to the jail and courthouse.
Click Here and Here for the Sources of Information.