09/18/2026
Over 200 people gathered at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church this week to celebrate the launch of Scotlandville’s first Community Lighthouse – and the 20th in Louisiana. Ten years after the 2016 floods, the church has a new strategy to serve its neighbors when disaster strikes.
Powered by solar panels and batteries, the Lighthouse keeps critical power available during prolonged outages. But the heart of the Lighthouse is the people: Immaculate Conception’s trained Lighthouse Keepers were formally vested and committed themselves to operating the site and caring for their community when it’s needed most.
Thank you to the many partners who helped make this possible: Jason Dedon of IBEW Local 995, Bishop Michael Duca, Southern University Chancellor John K. Pierre, Metro Councilman Anthony Kenney, Mayor-President Sid Edwards, State Senate President Pro Tempore Regina Barrow, State Reps. Barbara Carpenter and C. Denise Marcelle, Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, the Southern University Human Jukebox band, and more.
And a massive congratulations to Father Tom Clark, Andrea Toles, John Edwards and the entire Immaculate Conception Lighthouse Keeper team. Scotlandville’s Community Lighthouse is officially ready to serve!
