Lifestyle

The world of video games and esports is moving at a blistering pace across the country. The same can be said for the newly launched Northwestern State University Esports program offering students of all skill levels the chance to play and compete in some of the most popular games in the country.

At its core esports is the world of organized, competitive games. Players from around the world compete in various leagues, on teams or individually, and face off against one another. Games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Madden are played in front of millions of fans in both live events and through online streaming services like Twitch.

The industry has exploded over the past several years, and NSU has taken the lead in esports in the state with its new state-of-the-art facility.

Linda Dupree of Goldonna got the surprise of her life when she was asked at the last minute to play the piano at a funeral last week. She plays the piano regularly, but it wasn’t the impromptu ask to play that caught her off guard; it was who she was accompanying. It was none other than recording artist Lauren Daigle.

Daigle, of Lake Charles, is best known for her hit “You Say.” Dupree said her former teaching colleague was Daigle’s aunt, who has Calvin roots. We were at the funeral. “Todd Martin asked me to accompany him as he sang. No rehearsal except for something whispered a few minutes before the service. He’s a former student. We’ve performed together many, many times over the years,” Dupree said.

“Then he said, ‘Oh by the way, would you play “When the Saints Go Marching In” at the end for Lauren?’” That big grin of Daigle’s popped around his shoulder.

Students in Northwestern State University’s President’s Leadership Program and staff in the Office of the First Year Experience participated in a service project for the NSU Food Pantry on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day They spent the morning organizing, stocking the shelves, and sanitizing so that the food pantry could open for the spring semester. Participants in the project included Kilee Pickett, Kat Haymon, Sha’Ron Brown, Chancy Daigle, Mariah Kado, Zoe Nelson, Mikalee Sawyer, Ashlynn LaCombe, Anna McMillon, Ebenezer Aggrey and Reatha Cox.

The NSU Food Pantry is located on the south side of Trisler Power Plant on NSU’s Central Avenue. The Food Pantry also stocks personal hygiene items, toiletries and cleaning supplies and is open to all NSU students and BPCC@NSU students.

Many children look forward to the time they get time off from school for holidays.

For some, however, these breaks can be a difficult time. During holidays, children who rely on their school cafeterias for regular meals may find themselves at home with little to eat.

To help make sure these kids have something to eat during the Christmas break, 4-H members and volunteers in Vernon Parish recently collected food items and delivered them to more than 300 students in need at local schools. The 4- H’ers do the same thing three times a year: before the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter holidays.

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“We grew up in poverty. At times it was so bad I can remember eating at our local soup kitchen with homeless people sitting beside me,” said Louisiana State University of Alexandria Fall 2020 graduate, Fayla Brown.

Brown, a Marksville native, had a tumultuous childhood. From dealing with her parent’s divorce, being separated from her siblings, growing up in poverty, and getting in trouble with the law, Fayla ultimately dropped out of high school at the age of 16.

“I felt like I had already failed and was too far gone,” she said. “I had so many negative influences and dropping out seemed to become my only option.”

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The Toys For Kids Program started letting families pick-up their gifts on Monday, Dec. 14 and last until Wednesday Dec. 16.

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Sunday December 6. We appreciate Sophee and Siblee Evans helping with our music today. We still had several out due to Covidl9 exposure. We are thankful for all those that came for the inside service and those outside in their vehicles listening to the service. Bro. Joe Evans read from Isaiah 9-Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace. For the worship service Bro Joe spoke from John 1:1-4 on “Jesus is the Light” a message we all needed to hear during these trying times. For the evening service the “Lord’s Supper” was observed closing with the Hymn ‘Bless Be the Tie That Binds.’

Our prayers continue for Janice Hand, Gwen Jones, Jimmy and Karen Brazzell, Marie Jordan,

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We pray for everyone.

We pray for Rev. Eric and Pameka Peoples, Rev. John Griffin, Sister Markyn, Mrs Minnie and her mom and dad, Etsy Ashley, Betty Ashley, Michelle Ashley, Michael Ashley and their son, who is graduating from University of Louisiana in Lafayette, Roland Lynch, Howard Clark, Police Chief Johnny Ray Carpenter, Jessie Phillips.

We thank the city inmates who have helped with their labor.

We Pray Billy Limmerman, and Troy Hanson, Billy Moore, Virginia Smith, Bobbie Mitchell, Ruby Farris, Debra Williams, Tasha Powell, Dorothy Hicksm William and his daughter Amy, Willie Mac, Joyce McElroy, Jennifer Higgs, Kerri Clark, Will King, Gail Glover, Ramona Dobbis, and the new young man who is helping seniors, The Winn Council of the Aged Staff and the seniors, Martha Chatman, the Autumn Leaves Nursing Home, the director, the staff, Alyssa, Airiyat, LaTonvya, Martise, Kaitlyn, Jamie, and Alisa, and the residents.

For the second Sunday of Advent, the Church gives us the example of St. John the Baptist as how we should prepare for the Lord. Advent focuses on preparing for the coming of the Lord at Christmas, but, also, on the return of the Lord on Judgment Day. St. John the Baptist is a perfect example for both.

The community of St Paul’s continues in Sunday Eucharist with the special caution that an increasing rate of virus spread requires. We shall, both in church and in many homes, light three candles of the Advent wreath and joyously continue our celebration of this season.

Joyfully, but with the restraint that consideration of our neighbors requires. Sometimes, that’s difficult, for celebration is so much a part of Christmas, just as it is essential to every human heart. The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete, a Latin word meaning Celebrate! or Rejoice!, both in the imperative: You Rejoice! The word has come to contemporary use in the word gaudy, though the meaning has changed. The Dorothy Sayers novel Gaudy Night carries the original meaning.