Lagarde Laurent Legacy

 

Lagarde Laurent Legacy 

Just like our historical Pakenham Oaks and Jackson Avenue Oaks in Chalmette and the Docville Farm’s Oak Tree Tunnel in Meraux, so too the live oak trees along Judge Perez Drive are deeply rooted in our culture and worthy of preservation and protection. The majority of these particular trees are over 40 years of age, being planted when our parish laid ground for future residential growth in Meraux, Violet, Poydras and down, cutting through Good Children’s street, renamed Judge Perez Drive– and more recently renamed after Judge Melvyn Perez.

Each live oak tree gracing Judge Perez Drive was originally planted by residents who adopted a tree, even naming the young seedlings. The selfless work of the Laurent and Lagarde families initialized our neutral ground treasures. “Elenora Zamora Lagarde Laurent served as president of St Bernard Business & Professional Women's Club from 1978-79, choosing as her project the planting of 450 oak trees'' up and down the neutral ground from Arabi to Violet'; the seedlings were planted by Elenora and her husband, Roy, and many volunteers.

After the failure of the federal levees in 2005, several residents and neighborhood associations used donations and grants to replace lost trees and add new ones, planting over 120 live oak trees on the medians. In both projects, residents made a very personal commitment to the future of our parish, to adopt a tree and water and care for the trees.

Our understanding of Elenora and Roy’s Legacy is the Laurent and Lagarde families lovingly provided transplanted young trees and seedlings from their own private properties in eastern St Bernard. The Lagarde Laurent project included a book – listing the name given to each tree and the residents who adopted, named, and cared for the trees. These trees were not planted in vain. By the year 2030, the majority of the trees will be 50 years young and should be preserved and nurtured for at least another 150 years.

“Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”