Louisiana's Culture of Fishermen Ponder Future

A Son of the Bayou, Torn Over the Shrimping Life

Jennifer Zdon for The New York Times



Aron Greco took his new fishing boat for a test run in November. Only a few thousand Louisianians now make their living fishing, but Aaron had been drawn to it since childhood.

By AMY HARMON  New York Times

DELACROIX ISLAND, La. — “Hold up, Aaron,” Buddy Greco instructed his son as they bent over a sheet of fiberglass on the docked fishing boat. “You still cuttin’ it wrong.”
His tone on that hot afternoon last June was not unkind. But Aaron, 19, was tired of listening to his father, tired of fixing up the boat for a shrimp season that might never open, tired of wondering whether the future he had set his sights on was dissolving in front of him.
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East Houms's Famous Christmas Light Show of 200,000 lights

East Houma house awash with lights

Emily Schwarze/Staff    Buy photo

Earl and Julie McElroy pose in front of their home, which won first place in The Courier and Daily Comet’s holiday lights photo contest, Monday in Houma.

HOUMA — It started as a partnership between husband and wife nearly 30 years ago. Today, the home of Earl and Julie McElroy is known for coming alive with 200,000 lights each Christmas, delighting neighborhood kids and parents alike.

Their house at 142 Cleveland St., awash with multicolored lights on nearly every square inch of the walls, roof and yard, was voted by readers as the first-place winner of The Courier’s holiday lights contest.

Earl McElroy, 70, a native of Ashland and an operations manager for Gulf States Engineering in Houma, puts up the display each year. He often stands outside dressed as Santa to complement the display, greeting those who come by. But for him, the famous light show is about much more than glitz and glamor.

“It’s really not about the lights. It’s about the people,” McElroy said. “They just enjoy themselves.” Read Full Story           

By Kathrine Schmidt/Staff Writer  HoumaToday.com

Houma Bids Historic Church Farewell

Parishioners say goodbye to St. Matthew's 

Photo by: Jessica Wolff/Correspondent  Buy photo

The Rev. Craig Dalferes and his congregation gather for a prayer service Wednesday morning before demolition begins at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church.

HOUMA — As the construction equipment started knocking down the back of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church Wednesday, Dana Davis began to cry.

“Everything wonderful and everything sad happened here,” Davis said. Davis, like the rest of the church parishioners at the site, were there to take one last look at the building. St. Matthew's was destroyed in the early hours of Nov. 11 by a fire.

The Rev. Craig Dalferes led the group in a prayer, sprinkling the site with holy water. “We are here to honor the closing of one chapter and the opening of a new one,” Dalferes said. READ FULL STORY                                              
By: Eric Heisig /Staff Writer  HoumaToday.com

Santa leads a fleet of boats down the bayou.

Christmas Boat Parade

Santa leads a fleet of boats down the bayou.

Top aide to Gov. Bobby Jindal says,..."Oil-impact study may take 20 yrs"

Oil-impact study may take 20 years

But states plan to request money from BP in advance for several recovery projects.

Photo by: Emily Schwarze/Staff 

A brown pelican rests on a pier near the Louisiana Universities

Marine Consortium facility Saturday in Cocodrie. Buy Photo

HOUMA  —  An inventory of environmental impacts from the BP oil spill may take as long as two decades to complete, a top aide to Gov. Bobby Jindal said. But with Louisiana’s deteriorating coast on the line, the state is lining up emergency restoration projects it wants BP to pay for today. Read Full Story

By: Nikki Buskey Staff Writer - Houmatoday.com