On April 25, 1998, Bishop Jude Speyrer of the Diocese of Lake Charles gave the formal blessing of the Nature Walk at Saint Charles Center. This walkway is designed to offer yet another opportunity for guests who may be participating in spiritual retreats or days of recollection or reflection at the retreat center or other facilities. That opportunity may be to stop and reflect upon where that person is in his or her life at this time, or perhaps, to reflect upon the beauty of nature or the variety in nature.

The NATURE WALK, 755 feet in length includes two shake shingle roofed pavilions, a smaller one (eight feet square) with built-in seats about one third the distance to the river, and the larger one (twenty feet by thirty feet) at the riverside. With a grant from the A.J.M. Oustalet, Jr. Family, it was designed and built by Edward 'Buzzy' Ribbeck of Ribbeck Construction Company of Lake Charles. The NATURE WALK is equipped with electricity and running water and built of treated lumber on treated pilings which were driven a minimum of six feet into the ground.

The bridge, reached over a 275 foot concrete walk leading from the circular driveway in front of Oustalet Hall the Center's Administration building, took 1773 man-hours to construct.

Materials used included 2,736 linear feet of eight inch treated wood piling, 3,306 feet of 1x4 treated lumber, 1,600 feet of treated 2x4 lumber, 17,810 feet of treated 2x6 lumber, 5,680 feet of 2x8 treated lumber and 2,816 feet of 2xl2 lumber.

The WALK was fastened using 3500 galvanized wood screws, 300 1/2 - inch x 12 inch galvanized bolts, washers and nuts and 160 14 inch x 1/2 inch bolts, washers and nuts.

The Bishop, Clergy and People of the Diocese of Lake Charles and the A.J.M. Oustalet, Jr. Family are grateful to those whose contractual work, whose corporate and professional acts of generosity, and whose volunteer labor have contributed to the completion of this activity and to the celebration of its dedication.

To view a copy of the Prayer of Dedication, click here.

To send an e-mail to the Center with your immediate thoughts or to make an inquiry, click here.