Monday, April 27, 2015

Alfred J, Glapion aka Glap

                                                    Alfred J, Glapion aka Glap



Glap was my friend. I meet him when I was volunteering at E.J. Morris Senior Citizen Center. My mother had recently died and my father was living with me. I had to work, so I had him go to a senior citizen center during the day and I would pick him up when I left school. He was in his eighties and it was better for him to be there than home alone.



Eventually he would get a ride to and from the center, but for the first month, I would bring him and pick him up. Glap would walk him to the car for me. When I got a chance to talk with Glap, he said he remembered me and my sister as little girls on Andry Street where our Aunt lived. I remember going to Aunt Cecil as a child. He said he lived on the next street over, but his friends, Edmond and Arthur, lived  next door our aunt. I remember Edmond and Arthur, so we had a bond.



When my father died four years later, I decided to volunteer at the center, by that time I had retired from my career as a high school English teacher and I was working as a tutor. I was the instructor of the sewing class /humanities class. We sewed, but we talked about history as well. Glap was in this class and he became nicknamed, "Teacher's Pet" because he was my right hand man, my assistant. He would set up the classroom when I was running late, he would remind the students of the class times and assignments and he would start class if I was late. I appreciated all his help and it made the classroom so much fun. He and Al "Carnival Time" Johnson were the two men in the class; sometime we might have two more men wander in, but Al and Glap were always there.



We lost touch for a while after Hurricane Katrina destroyed our city, but we managed to get together and write a  short story on he and his wife's life in the Ninth Ward. But Glap became sick about two years ago and I promised to go see him. I talked with him on the phone in April, 2013 before I visited my daughter in Paris.  But when the call came that he had died, I felt like I didn't get  a chance to say goodbye to a dear friend.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Mrs. Wiletta Thibodeaux, Owner and Operator of Thibodeaux's Nursery and Pre-School , A Landmark in Pontchartrain Park



                      




Wiletta Thibodeaux was born Wiletta Jackson in Thibodaux, Louisiana on September 4, 1918. Her parents were Mary Peltier Jackson and Courtland Jackson. She had eight siblings, Evelyn, Courtland, Jr. Eunice, Myrtle, Kathleen, Bernard, Sylvester and Louis. She lived in Donaldsonville with her mother’s sister, Aunt Gertrude and her husband Uncle Nolan, who was Pullman Porter from age 10 to 14. After graduating from 8th grade at St. Catherine in Donaldsonville, she returned to Thibodaux for high school and to help her Mom with the younger siblings.



She left Thibodaux in 1948 to start a better life with more economic opportunities. She worked at Woolworth’s on Canal Street and later at the Carver House in Lincoln Beach before moving into Pontchartrain Park. Her husband, John Thibodeaux, was born and raised in Thibodaux, LA and was a close friend to Wiletta’s brother, Courtland; they were altar boys together at St. Luke’s Catholic Church. When he came to New Orleans , he worked as a chef at many restaurants in the city among them was Commander’s Palace. He later became the manager for the Carver House at Lincoln Beach.


Wiletta and John Thibodeaux brought the house at 5001 Columbia Street in 1957. It was the model home for Pontchartrain Park located on the corner of Congress and Columbia.  Wiletta and John moved in with their three children, Marielise, Wiletta and Tracey. The house was originally occupied by Edward Bocage, also known as, Eddie Bo, a local entertainer. He had a hit song, “Check your buckets”, in 1956 and he was going on a tour. John and Wiletta knew him because he performed regularly  at the Carver House. He sold the house to them.



 

 At this time, with a new mortgage,  Wiletta started thinking about opening a nursery in her house. However, Pontchartrain Park was strictly residential. She had a good business sense because she felt with a new subdivision, many young families would need day care and with Southern University opening in the neighborhood, the staff would need daycare as well.   Keeping a few children grew so popular that she had to get a petition signed by the residents of Pontchartrain Park to start a licensed day care. She had to return to school at Delgado and take courses and workshops in early childhood education and in nutrition.  In 1963 she officially opened as a state certified day care. Her business flourished and Thibodeaux’s Nursery began a cornerstone in the community. However, this license day care center came with many restrictions. There were to be no signs or displays that indicated this was a business; no visible advertisement. The facade of the business must remain strictly residential. Off street parking was an issue also even though it was on a corner, another drive was necessary for the other side of the house. The Thibodeaux’s affectionately known as Teacher and Honey devoted all their time and energy to the success of the nursery.  Mother Dear, as her children affectionally called her, became the administrator and Honey because the cook. Several employees were hired and Mrs. Thibodeaux’s daughter, Marielise Payton, remained an employee the entire time the nursery was operating. There were also many part-time employees from the neighborhood. Several ‘stay-home ‘moms because part-time workers at the nursery; especially during the holidays the ladies would make their holiday money by working at the nursery. Some of the veteran workers at the nursery were Mrs. Delores Blue, Mrs. Valerie Ross, Mrs. Verna Brock, Mrs. Marie Roberts, Mrs. Dabon, Mrs. Sharon Lewis, and Ms. Wanda Washington.
The most memorable events at the nursery were the annual Christmas Parties for students and parents, the culminating play at St. Mary’s Academy every May and the buttered biscuits and buttered grits for morning breakfast
The nursery business provided a necessary service for the community and the business thrived. In 1970 the business had grown so much, the Thibodeaux’s turned the entire house into a nursery and brought another house on Mithra Street.

My mother worked hard to give her children the kind of lifestyle she felt they deserved. Marielise and Wiletta attended St. Mary’s Academy and Tracey attended St. Augustine High School.  Marielise attended Dillard University and became a housewife. Wiletta graduated from Xavier University in education and went to graduate school at Howard University. She is a retired high school English teacher. Tracey graduated from Dillard University and went on to become an administrator in the RSD school system. He married Ellen Schexnayder who also grew-up in Pontchartrain Park.

 The Thibodeaux’s social status had grown as well over the years. Some of the most influential people in the Pontchartrain Park community had their children attend the nursery and thus their appreciation showed in their embracing the Thibodeaux’s into their social circles.  Dr. Proctor introduced them as members of the Young Men of Illinois Club. The Thibodeaux’s also operated Shelter #4 on the lakefront for many years and a restaurant in the Park called Teacher’s Pet.
Some of the students who attended Thibodeaux’s Nursery and Pre-School were:
Jamal and Jacova Williams, Karen and Patricia Thomas, Donald and Denise Williams,  Linda and Louis Douglas, Kevin McClain, Vernon Haynes, Nicole Armour and later her daughter, Samantha Fleury, Kyle Fleury, Gina Brown, Dana and Kathy Le Beouf,  Ayanna Jahan, Jamell and Romell Patterson, Miranda and Garret Lewis, Margaret Ventress, Shandrika, Dawn and Kim Reed,  Jaida Blackwell,  Holly Francis,  Sybil and Derrick Humphrey, Gregory and Robert Hobbs, Jeffery Rubin, Ricky and Kevin Lewis , Gilbert and Donald Lainnez, Dana and Danielle Atkins ( and their mother, Michelle Atkins)… Kenneth Jones, Gerald Page, Gay and Guy Stephens, Derrick Dean, Ronnie Smith, Deanna Proctor… Carmelita and Tina Darensburg,   Ranata and Floyd Raphael, Mignon and Danny, The Gill’s,  Janey and Ambrose,  Desiree and her sister,  Christy and Tricia,  Addison and Michael Carey, Ronald and Laure Davenport, Malik and Malcolm Austin, Somesha, Khalil, Ponya and Kenya Ferdinand, Raymond and Barry Payton, John and Jamal  Williams, Ayanna and Tracey Thibodeaux, Anthony Thibodeaux, Jonas Laurent, Angela Brickham, John and Jamal Williams, Roger Dickerson, Veatrice and Ventrell Payton, and so many more.
Thibodeaux’s Nursery and Pre-School closed in 1993 and the Thibodeaux’s moved down the street at 5815 Congress Drive and lived the remainder of their years with their daughter, Wiletta Ferdinand. Mrs. Thibodeaux died in 1999 and Mr. Thibodeaux died in 2004