Strawberry Jam'n Toast To The Arts Festival

The Strawberry Jam'n Toast To The Arts Festival is a music and arts festival that is held each year in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Organized by The Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts, this is an organization that was formed in June 2001 by Ted J. Hudspeth, Sr., MD, a family practice physician at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in Hammond, Louisiana. Having grown up in Tangipahoa Parish and having once been a music teacher in the area, he felt that the children of the area could use more music and art exposure and a chance to learn those as talents. He also believed that young aspiring musicians and artists of the region should have more support for their talents in the way of fostering refinement and promotion.

With this as his base, an opportunity was afforded him in May 2001. Working closely with The Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce, he was able to form the region’s newest and most exciting festivals. Called "The Strawberry Jam’n Toast To The Arts", it hosted 40 bands and performers on 6 different stages and 26 artists on the streets of Historic Downtown Ponchatoula. As a festival, it was a wonderful venue that provided regional musicians and artists an opportunity to be seen and heard. As an offshoot of his yet-to-be-formed Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts, he saw it as a potential financial supporter to accomplish the goals of what he dreamed The Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts could do.

After having a successful event on May 26, 2001, he worked with childhood friend and fellow musician, Douglas Brown, who is now an attorney in Hammond, LA. Together, they worked to register the organization with the State of Louisiana and later assembled a very strong board. These people include the head of the Music & Arts Dept at Southeastern Louisiana University, Dr. David Evenson, an art professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, Don Marshall, a grant writer for Tulane College, Crystal Rock, an LSU graduate of music, Becky Eymard, O.T., then assistant Hammond City Attorney, Douglas Brown, a local musician who knew many of the local groups in the Northshore music scene, Diana Buras, LPN, and the founder of the organization, Ted J. Hudspeth, Sr., MD. After the first year, two other members have been added which include Mrs. Mary Scanduro who has been very influential in the success of each of the festivals and Mrs. Mary Hudspeth, RPh who has assisted with the entire concept of the Endowment and the Festival since its inception. Since then, others have served on the board including Patty Hubert and Deborah Anderson.

As an organization, it has three written purposes. First, the Endowment will promote music and art education for the children of the Northshore Region. Secondly, musicians and artists will be promoted in the Region. Thirdly, the Endowment will raise the level of awareness of music and art amongst the residents of the region. This will be accomplished by sponsoring children in music and art programs in this area. The Endowment has sponsored the teaching of music to students from the Ponchatoula and Hammond area. This has been done at the Community Music School at Southeastern Louisiana University under the direction of Dr. Thais Perkins. In 2004, the Endowment sponsored three a direct teaching project in which a music educator went to 3 different parish schools and educated 100's of students on the differences between all of the stringed instruments. This included teaching the differences between various musical styles that the stringed instruments can be used in. The was capped off by performances in the schools by string musicians. The highlight of the year was the enrollment of every 5th grader in the Ponchatoula school district into the Recorder Music Program at Ponchatoula Jr. High School. In this program, the Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts purchased recorders, CD's and the music for all of these students to take a semester of music with the music educator, Mrs. Claudia Landry. This has been continued every year since that time. The Endowment also funded the purchase of a computer for the talented and gifted art program here in the parish and we paid for all of the art supplies that are used in the program for the entire year. This program services 10 different public schools in Tangipahoa Parish.

List of educational programs that have been supported by the Northshore Regional Endowment For The Arts

Provided funding for Recorder Music Classes to be taught to every 5th grader in the Ponchatoula School District at Martha Vineyard for the last 4 years (This now totals about 1450 children in the Ponchatoula School District that we have provided instruments and teaching materials for in those years-This allows for every 5th grader in the Ponchatoula school district to have music instruction as opposed to just those who think that they want to go into band each year)

Financed recording of and production of multiple compilation CD’s to feature local musicians to publicize them (This has helped publicize about 60 different bands from this region over the years)

Send multiple students with financial needs to the SLU young musician’s summer camp each summer

Provided funding of the art supplies and the purchase of a computer for the Talented and Gifted Visual Arts Program for Tangipahoa Parish (which supported arts programs in 10 different public schools in this parish)

Financed Art Competition Awards at the annual Strawberry Jam Festival (this goes to local artists who participated)

Financed Art Competition for the annual Poster Contest and then printed the posters (Multiple local art students have competed and won monies for the competition)

Financed Songwriter/Song Publishing Educational Workshop for local musicians with a Nashville Songwriter/Publisher

Financed SLU Community Music School Grade School Outreach Programs in the region (this program put music teaching programs in Hammond Westside school for 2 years)

Financed Student with financial need to attend Talented and Gifted Algoma Music Camp in Canada

Donated to Loranger HS Band for needed band supplies

Donated to the Special Olympics Art Workshop to provide art supplies for those with special needs

Organized and Taught Stringed Music Appreciation at Hammond West Side and Independence Schools

Provided funding for Ponchatoula Junior High Band for Flip Folders

Provided funding for Ponchatoula's Tucker Elementary School to purchase musical instruments and teaching supplies to teach classroom music.

Provide Web site for local musicians/artists to put their information on the web

Financed Hammond Junior High with Band miscellaneous band supplies

Financed the Lifetime Achievement Award given to honor local musicians and artists that have done big things with their art (Hank Jones, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Irma Thomas, Julia Sims, Carmel Foret, Reginald Sanders, Bill Hemmerling, Kim Howes Zabbia.

Funded the seed money for the Kim Howes Zabbia Art Education Endowment which will be invested in the art education classes in the Ponchatoula School District at the High School and Junior High School Levels

Increasing the venues where musicians and artists can be seen and heard will be the main way that the endowment will help musicians and by pooling marketing and promotional energies, more can be recognized for what they do. The endowment has sponsored and completed various compilation CD's of the regions most popular bands and plans to use this as a tool to promote these musicians with promoters and marketers. Providing free web pages for all of these musicians and artists is also a way for these guys to be seen by folks who may never have seen them before.