Southeastern Channel visits Maritime Museum, state park


Contact: Tonya Lowentritt
July 17, 2012 Handmade boat

HANDMADE BOAT – A.J. Burmaster of Mandeville works on crafting his own handmade wooden boat at the Wooden Boat Workshop at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum. The museum as well as Tickfaw State Park are featured in the latest episode of "Northshore Gems," which debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 25, on the Southeastern Channel.

 



     HAMMOND – The Southeastern Channel, Southeastern Louisiana University's educational cable station, will feature local maritime history and state park recreation in the newest episode of a series about North Shore tourist attractions.

     The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville and Tickfaw State Park near Springfield are featured in the latest edition of the Telly Award-winning "Northshore Gems," which will debut on the Southeastern Channel at 8 p.m., July 25.

     "Some local residents have never been to either the Maritime Museum or Tickfaw State Park," said Rick Settoon, General Manager of the Southeastern Channel. "These are true treasures that celebrate the maritime and natural history of our area and provide rich educational and recreational opportunities for young and old alike."

     "Northshore Gems" is hosted by Rob Moreau, a member of the Southeastern biology faculty and director of the Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station. Moreau also hosts the Southeastern Channel's nature series, "Backyard Wonders."

     The show's first stop is the Maritime Museum, which displays models of ships and boats that traversed Lake Pontchartrain and the Tchefuncte River for centuries.

     Moreau follows a museum field trip of third graders from Mary, Queen of Peace Elementary School in Mandeville, where the students play a game about the earth's water cycle and visit with Mrs. Thurston, wife of the old lighthouse keeper from 1847. Moreau then joins the students and crawls inside a Civil War era submarine.

     The program also looks at the museum's summer day camps for both youth and adults. Teenagers focus on the robotics of water vessels, building their own remotely-operated vessels, or ROVs, for competition held in the swimming pool at Southeastern's Kinesiology Building. In the Wooden Boat Camp, adults build their own full-length wooden boats by hand under the guidance of museum staff and volunteers. The segment also showcases the Maritime Museum's largest annual event, the Wooden Boat Festival, held in Madisonville each October.

     The second half of "Northshore Gems" is devoted to a tour of Tickfaw State Park, exploring not only its natural and scenic beauty, but also its educational and recreational offerings.

     Moreau joins fourth grade students from the LaSalle Elementary School in Baton Rouge, who take a guided boardwalk tour of a genuine Louisiana Cypress Tupelo Gum swamp. They also observe the Tickfaw River, a bottomland hardwood forest, and a mixed pine and hardwood forest.

     In the Nature Center, the students learn about the animals, history and culture of the area and play a game of camouflage to learn how animals protect themselves. Finally, the show takes viewers through the recreational aspects of the park as Moreau joins family and friends for camping, hiking, biking, and canoeing.

     The "Northshore Gems" episode was produced, videotaped and edited by Southeastern Channel staff member Byron Caplan.

     The Southeastern Channel can be seen on Charter Cable 18 in Tangipahoa, Livingston and St. Tammany parishes and on Channel 17 in Washington Parish. It can also be seen on its 24-7 live webcast at www.selu.edu/tv and also on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.



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