On January 27, the Northlake Mandeville Rotary Club met at the conference center at Fountainbleu State Park. Fouad Harb, Manager at Fountainbleu, gave the club a very interesting history of the State Park, including that the Indigenous people inhabited the park as early as 200 BC. At the end of his presentation, Fouad and Bob Matthews, club member, discussed how Rotary can help build a much needed hike and bicycle trail within the park connecting the popular Tammany Trace Trail to Lake Pontchartrain. Currently families visiting the park must bike or hike on the narrow, heavily travelled main road. This route is very unsafe, especially for young bikers.
Also participating in the discussion were potential community partners in the effort - Jeanne Marino, Director of Grants for St Tammany Parish and also the President of the Mandeville Master Gardeners.