Community Contributors

Businesses and Residents Do Their Part To Make Zachary Better Place

Most Zachary residents feel a strong sense of community, but do they know just who has done what to contribute to their city?

If the answer is no, then here’s a chance to meet some of Zachary’s great citizens and businesses who have given back to their community and what they have done to make this city a better place to live.

Patty Prats-Swanson, Georgia-Pacific

As Public Affairs Manager, it is Patty Prats-Swanson’s job to make sure her company is a vital part of the community, especially since one third of Georgia-Pacific’s employees live in Zachary. “We can’t be an effective company if we’re not a good neighbor,” she said.

Swanson said Georgia-Pacific strives to fulfill its civic responsibility by giving back as much as possible. Georgia-Pacific has made donations to several organizations such as St. Jude and the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. Swanson said Georgia-Pacific regularly contributes to the ALS Association for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The Port-Hudson Operations for Georgia-Pacific decided to participate in fundraisers for the association after a young employee was diagnosed with the disease. Swanson said Georgia-Pacific organized a team last year to collect donations and made a contribution of more than $20,000.

Swanson said Georgia-Pacific has also made a $10,000 donation to the local fire and police departments for equipment upgrades and often donates money to the United Way too. The company gives two four-year scholarships to Zachary High School students, to a boy and a girl, who want to study engineering at LSU. “Education is key,” Swanson said. “We like to promote education because it also benefits us to get employees after they graduate.”

Georgia-Pacific also advocates societal enrichment among Zachary’s youth through the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Behind the Port Hudson mill is a historic site where the longest siege during the Civil War took place. The company opens the well-preserved trail twice a year to allow Boy Scouts to camp out. Swanson said the boys usually find old Civil War bullets, cannon ball scraps and belt buckles and lets them keep the souvenirs.

Environmental conservation is one of the most important contributions the company makes is to Zachary. Although they are a paper mill and do have to cut down trees, Swanson said that no part of the tree goes to waste. “We don’t believe in waste,” Swanson said. “We use every bit of the tree until the core falls apart.” She said the company works with surrounding landowners to properly harvest trees and replant them. She also said they have spent millions of dollars on odor control.

Though Georgia-Pacific tries to stay low-key in their community work, Swanson said the company’s donations and work within the community are part of its responsibility. “We try to help as much as we can, it’s something we look at all the time.”

James Castello, Rotarian of the Year

Twelve years ago, James Castello was a new member of Rotary trying to think of new ideas to raise money. He had experience cooking small jambayla dinners, but he was asked to cook for more than 100 people as part of a fundraiser. When the tickets for the dinner were printed up, the club sold more than 400.

Castello never cooked for that many people before and had trouble finding someone who was available to help. “I just multiplied the recipe and kept my fingers crossed,” he said. Rotary raised $2,000 at that first dinner, which became an annual event ever since.

His community work such as creating the annual jambayla dinner is one of the reasons Castello was named Rotarian of the Year for 2007. “I’m humbled at receiving it,” he said. “It started off as ‘Hey, I can cook something’ without the intention of it to grow as fast as it did.” The jambayla dinners have accumulated a gross sum of more than $100,000 for various charities in Zachary. Now his son, Andy, has taken over the dinners.

Castello has done more than just community cooking. When he was president of Rotary in 2000, he raised money to send soup to a small village in Central America. He also helped raise money for computer equipment in Zachary’s schools, in addition to participating in various fundraisers within the Rotary organization such as scholarships for Zachary High students and sending Christmas baskets to needy families in Zachary.

Although Castello is the Rotarian of the Year, he modestly admits he couldn’t do the work alone. “Everybody contributed as much as I did,” he said. “We’re all civic-minded people with a sense of obligation to help our community. I just happened to be chosen this year.”

Randy Olson, Lane Regional Medical Center

According to Randall Olson, Zachary is one of the neatest places to live, which is why the Minnesota native enjoys participating in events and programs that benefit his community. He is an active contributor to Zachary as CEO of Lane Regional Medical Center and a member of Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce.

As a hospital, Olson said it is Lane’s duty to promote health and wellness in the community, especially with their employees. “When you have a better lifestyle, you’re less sick and more productive and able to enjoy life more.”

Lane has a lengthy list of events and organizations they are involved with such as Relay For Life; March of Dimes; American Heart Association; the Christmas parades in Zachary, Baker and Central; Heart Health Fair; and sponsorships for Z-Fest, golf tournaments, school signs and the United Way.

Since Lane has so many employees and many of them have children, Olson said the hospital participates in many programs that promote education. Lane is part of AHEC, Area Health Education Centers, an organization that gives middle and high school students a taste of potential healthcare careers. A similar program, ZMed works with Zachary High School students who also have interests in healthcare to assist them in becoming CNAs, or Certified Nursing Assistants. Lane also gives sports free physicals to ZHS students.

“Academics and the work environment is not well connected,” Olson said. “These are our future employees. Healthcare is demanding, and they should know what they’re getting into.”

Olson said since Lane is the largest employer within the Zachary city limits, it is important for residents to see the hospital as a viable member of the community. “We want to show what Lane is all about and show that we’re involved,” he said.

Olson also participates in the community personally as a member of the Zachary Chamber of Commerce and Rotary. He is a foundation chairman for Rotary and has helped with the public cemetery fence project, funding the STARLAB portable mini planetarium, Rotary’s international fundraiser to combat polio, and scholarships for Zachary students.

As a member of the community, Olson said that it’s important to volunteer and chip in. “I think we’re better off for it,” he said. “Working together to make things better is what makes a community.”

Jesse Spears, The Men’s Club of Zachary

For nearly 50 years the Men’s Club of Zachary has actively contributed to the community. The club has sponsored little league baseball teams, helped needy families pay bills, conduct a city-wide Easter egg hunt fundraiser and hold cook-outs among the many activities they do.

Jesse Spears, one of the charter members of the Men’s Club when it was founded in 1959, said the group started as a means of social interaction among black men. He said during breaks, soldiers who went to G.I. night school would shoot craps, but after a while decided to do something more productive with their free time by doing something for the community.

Currently, the group’s main goal is to get funding for a multipurpose building with a gym, conference room and office space that will be open to the public. Spears said Rep. Bodie White helped the Men’s Club receive $150,000 toward the infrastructure. They are also participating in the Zachary public cemetery fence project. The men rent out their club for people in the community to have birthday parties and weddings, and also offer the use of their building to families for wakes and funerals at no charge.

Spears said the reason he has been involved with the Men’s Club for so many years is that he believes the key to having a good community is participation. “It’s great what a group can do,” he said. “I believe that one can hope, but 20 can get things done.”

John Taylor, Zachary Chamber of CommerceAnd Zachary Community School System

Although he was not the one teaching in the classroom, John Taylor is partly responsible for Zachary’s schools being No. 1 in the state. Without him there would be no community schools. He is one of the people who helped pass legislation for Zachary to break off from East Baton Rouge Parish and form its own school district.

Taylor has been a proponent of the Zachary community school system since 1971 when his family moved to the area. He worked as treasurer with a political action group, Zack Pack to help run a statewide campaign for the school system and got people to donate money or auction items to raise money for the schools.

Since then, the Zachary Community School System has become No. 1 in the state for testing, but Taylor said it is No.1 in community involvement and parent participation too. “An objective we’ve had in the Chamber was to form our own school system because community schools was what it was all about,” Taylor said. “Students go to school together from first grade through high school, and East Baton Rouge Parish wasn’t like that. We feel like community schools are where it’s at.”

Taylor has also been involved with the Zachary Chamber of Commerce and was one of the chief organizers for this year’s first Z-Fest, a family-oriented festival sponsored by the Chamber. When he was president of the Chamber in 1988, Taylor said he helped manage a sausage festival the organization held annually. His experience with the sausage festival led the Chamber to pull him out of retirement to help plan Z-Fest. “I put in more than 600 hours, but it was fun,” Taylor said. “It’s a good chance to promote the city and Chamber.”

Z-Fest helped raise money for the Chamber and local civic organizations, and although he said he probably won’t spend as much time on it, Taylor said for next year’s event he would be glad to help with it again.

Taylor said the participation within the community is what makes events such as Z-Fest successful. “More and more folks are coming to Zachary because of our school system and community and civic activities,” he said. “We call it the All-American city.”

Lynn Millet, Neighbors FCU

Neighbors Federal became a community-chartered credit union more than three years ago. The name and charter may have changed from East Baton Rouge Parish Teachers FCU, but their commitment to the community and to education has remained their top priority, according to Lynn Millet, branch manager at the Zachary location.

Millet said Neighbors FCU has grown to over $300 million in assets and seven locations as a result of their members. “What better way to show our support and our appreciation than to participate in community activities in areas where we serve our members,” she said.

Neighbors FCU has been a fixture in the Zachary community for several different organizations and events. They participated in Zachary’s Relay For Life by helping to count the cash donations, delivered cakes to schools on Teacher Appreciation Day, served ZHS football players before away games, and served jambalaya and gave Reindeer Food to children during the Christmas in the City events. Neighbors FCU has also been a sponsor for events such as Z-Fest, March of Dimes, Ladies Night Out Chamber Event and many more.

Millet said she feels blessed to be working within the Zachary community. “We are proud to serve the Zachary community and be a part of its growth and heritage. I am privileged to be a part of the community and am blessed to have a staff willing to assist at a moment’s notice.”