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John Andrus has served the Vermilion Parish 4-H Program for 29 years as a dedicated volunteer.
John serves on the Parish 4-H Advisory Committee and on the Livestock Committee. He is a Master Cattleman Graduate; Master Horseman Graduate; and Master Farmer Graduate. In the early 90’s, John was instrumental in working with Dr. John Sullivan and staff at LSU in implementing the first commercial heifer program and later implemented the F-1 Braford classes into the LSU livestock program.
John has helped organize and conduct numerous hoof trimming, grooming and showmanship clinics for 4-H members. John is the first person members see when they enter the livestock show ring. He has served as Ringman for Parish, District and festival shows for 19 years, as well as Ringman for sale of market animals at Parish livestock shows. He is a dependable and trusted Ringman and is fondly greeted as “Mr. John” by the exhibitors as they enter the ring. His kind and compassionate nature puts nervous exhibitors at ease and he goes "above and beyond" when it comes to helping young people with their animals. He is a 22-year board member and 3 term President of the Vermilion Parish Cattlemen’s Association. He was instrumental in organizing multiple state Jr. Livestock Shows for Jr. Braford and Jr. Brahman Associations.
John considers being a cattleman to be one of his greatest accomplishments. Through the 4-H program, he has been able to secure show animals for numerous 4-H exhibitors from 5 parishes. He was a critical leader when it came to evacuating livestock for Hurricanes Rita and Ike. Because of his efforts, he was appointed to the National Resiliency Board for Hurricane Preparedness on the parish level.
John is a steady and stabilizing force in the Vermilion Parish 4-H Program. His dedication, support and physical help with the livestock project has not waivered, even after his sons graduated from high school. He continues to pour into young people with his knowledge of the beef project and his consistent willingness to help at parish livestock events. 

By David Jacobs | The Center Square

BATON ROUGE – Louisiana teachers, school support staff, day care workers, pregnant women and residents age 55-64 with certain health conditions will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination starting Monday, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday.
Qualifying health conditions are listed on the Louisiana Department of Health’s website and include cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Down syndrome, several heart conditions, obesity, sickle cell disease, smoking and Type 2 diabetes. Residents in the new age range will be required to fill out a form attesting they have at least one of the conditions before getting vaccinated.
Vaccination is available by appointment only. State officials announce on Mondays the locations and contact information for providers getting some of the state’s vaccine supply each week.
Currently eligible groups include residents age 65 and older; dialysis providers and patients; health care and dental clinic workers; home care providers and recipients; sign language interpreters and clients who are deaf and blind; lab, mortuary and pharmacy staff; allied health school students, residents and staff; some election workers and emergency response personnel; and the state’s Unified Command Group, which includes the governor.
Almost 1.65 million Louisiana residents now are eligible, according to the governor’s office.
The eligibility expansion reflects an expected increase in the number of vaccine doses the federal government said it will supply, Edwards said. Vaccine shipments this week were delayed because of the extreme winter weather affecting much of the country, officials said.
“This signifies the value of our essential employees and will enable even more Louisiana centers and schools to be fully open to serve students, families and communities,” State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said. “Although not perfect, Louisiana has managed to maintain an early child care system and a K-12 educational program throughout this pandemic.”
About 67% of Louisiana students are attending in-person classes, the governor’s office said. Decisions about whether classes should meet in person, online or a mix of the two largely are left to local system leaders.
Almost 813,000 Louisiana residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and almost 542,000 have gotten both an initial dose and the follow-up shot needed to receive the full benefit, according to the state health department.
State health officials reported 832 new COVID-19 cases Thursday and 15 new deaths, bringing the number of fatalities to at least 8,753 and 9,406 when probable cases are included. There are 823 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, officials reported, which is the state’s lowest hospitalization count since before Thanksgiving.
Forty-six of Louisiana’s 64 parishes are rated at the highest risk of COVID-19 transmission according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“That’s an improvement, but it’s not great,” said Dr. Joseph Kanter with the Louisiana Department of Health. “There is still a lot of risk out there.”

ABBEVILLE — A Home-going Celebration will be held for Mr. Floyd Sterling Brailey, 71, at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, February 20, 2021, at Mt. Triumph Baptist Church. Pastor Willie Williams Jr. will officiate.
He will await the resurrection in St. Paul Cemetery in Abbeville, LA.
A gathering of family and friends will be held at the church on Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 9:00 A.M. until the time of the service.
For the safety and well-being of all, attendees are asked to adhere to the CDC/local regulations by practicing 6 feet social distancing and required to wear masks at the church and cemetery.
Floyd Sterling Brailey (71) was born to the union of the late Lawrence and Mable Brailey on May 30, 1949. He departed his earthly journey in peace in the comfort of his home at 2:21 A.M. on Sunday, February 14, 2021.
Humbly, Floyd served his country in the United States Army and received an honorable discharge.
He leaves to cherish his memories, his loving and devoted wife of 48 years: Gloria Ann Wilson-Brailey of Abbeville, LA; two daughters: Petrina Faye Brailey of Crowley, LA and Tanessa Green of Abbeville, LA; two sons: Garland Bolden (Marchetta) of Abbeville, LA and Morris Wilson (June) of Maurice, LA; two sisters: Lola Brailey-Taylor and Penny Brailey-Coleman; six brothers: Roland Brailey Sr., Nolan Brailey, Sr. (Sandra), Dalton Brailey, Sr., Argis Brailey, Sr. (Leona), Darson Brailey, Sr. and Ryneal Brailey, Sr.; one godchild: Genieve Colemon; one very special nephew whom he viewed as a son: Billy Dalton Comeaux, Jr., thirteen grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends.
Mr. Brailey was preceded in death by his parents: Lawrence and Mable Brailey; father-in-law: Voris Wilson; son: Sidney Brailey; two grandchildren: Jordan Russell Bolden and Jasmine Green; three sisters: Orgene Brailey-Polk, Patricia Lee Brailey and Martha Brailey-Rideaux and one brother: Alton Brailey Sr.
Active Pallbearers are Garland Bolden, Morris Wilson, Kelly Coleman, Sr., Roland Brailey, Jr., Joshua Citizen and Billy Dalton Comeaux, Jr.
Honorary Pallbearers are Dalton Brailey, Sr., Darson Brailey, Sr., Nolan Brailey, Sr., Ryneal Brailey, Sr., Roland Brailey, Sr., Argis Brailey, Sr., Wallace Wilson and Lawerence Wilson.
Condolences may be expressed at www.fletcherfuneralhomes.org
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Fletcher Funeral Home (337-369-3341) 1116 Greene Street, Abbeville, LA 70510.

We’ve blamed unseasonable weather on all sorts of things over the years. When I was growing up in the Cold War years of the 1950s there was a persistent rumor that the Soviets were manipulating the weather. Before and since then we’ve pointed fingers at all sorts of other things, sometimes with science to back the claim, sometimes not. It’s been that way for a long time.
When a rare snow storm struck in St. Mary Parish in 1852 at least one senior citizen who had seen much weather blamed the telegraph wires that were beginning to span the continent. Cold weather latched onto the wires in the frigid North and followed them to the balmy South, according to that theory.
If the telegraph companies kept stringing wire, the man feared, Louisiana would get so cold that the bayous would stay frozen and sugar planters would have to move to South America to make a crop.
The report in the Planters’ Banner of January 18, 1852, said that on the Saturday before the snowfall, “the weather was warm, and seemed to indicate the approach of rain,” but that the wind started to blow from the north.
“On Sunday night … considerable cold was experienced, which continued to increase and the following morning ushered in one of the rawest and most disagreeable days ever witnessed in the South,” in the newspaper’s opinion. “The sun had his cheerful face all day, but the atmosphere exhibited a murky appearance very unusual in this latitude, and the whole face of Nature portended that something more than common was about to transpire.”
The snow began to fall in the early afternoon, and “the flakes continuing to fall thick and fast throughout the afternoon and night, exhibited to the waking eyes of the citizens on the following morning a sight that would have done credit to the North — snow to the depth of several inches covered every spot of ground and every roof!”
The “oldest inhabitant,” which newspapers always sought out when unusual things happened, “rubbed his eyes with astonishment and for a time appeared unwilling to admit that even such a body of snow could possibly have fallen in Louisiana.”
At length he exclaimed, according to the newspaper, “Well this beats all! Snow in Louisiana — and such snow! It is all owing to their new-fangled notions — them telegraph wires and their railroad schemes. It is no wonder that we have such weather, when we’ve got up so close to the North, as to speak to them quick as lightning!”
“After a while,” the old-timer speculated, “we’ll have our Mississippi and our bayous so frozen over that our summer heat won’t thaw them before they’re frozen again. And we’ll have to go to South America or some other out-of-the-way place to make our sugar.”
It is entirely possible that the Banner made up the old inhabitant’s remarks and offered them tongue-in-cheek, but maybe not. Sometimes things like that catch on.
It was only a few years later, for instance, that the Donaldsonville Chief reported that people were moving out of low parts of New Orleans and coastal Louisiana because of the prediction that an unusual alignment of the planets was about to cause a huge tidal wave that “would extend some distance inland, carrying destruction and desolation in … vast proportions.”
That forecast was reputedly made by “the celebrated Professor Agassiz,” and persisted even after another professor, Caleb G. Forshey of New Orleans, told newspapers that “no ‘conjunction of the planets’ or combination of causes known to science, can give the remotest guess when an earthquake will occur, or a volcano discharge its lava, at any place on the globe; and nothing short of a considerable upheaval beneath the sea, or a disturbance of its bed, can produce any such wave as is fancied in this absurd prediction.”
“OK.” the fearful said, “maybe you can’t say for sure that it will happen, but neither can you say that it won’t.”
That does sound a bit like some of our modern forecasts of a “fifty percent chance” that it might rain or snow, or that it might not. But at least we’ve moved past blaming the telegraph lines, I think.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, Cajuns and Other Characters, is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.