A St. Martinville native made a donation to the town’s African-American Museum at Monday’s St. Martinville City Council meeting after making a unique find.

Eldridge Etienne said he has had the hobby of collecting old magazines and newspapers for almost 30 years, and after submitting a bid on Ebay years ago acquired the first ever copy of Ebony Magazine in 1945.

After reading the magazine, Etienne said he found an article titled “Catholics and Color” that tied directly to St. Martinville and Notre Dame Catholic Church.

“When I looked at it I immediately recognized the face of the pastor of Notre Dame when I had my First Communion,” Etienne said. “This article caught my attention, and my guess is that it will catch a lot of people’s attention.”

Etienne said he is working on an agreement with the African-American Museum for the donation so that others in the community can catch a glimpse of the piece of St. Martinville history.

In other business, local resident Errol Greig Sr. addressed the council to discuss a dead water oak tree on a city right of way on Teche Drive at the meeting.

Greig said the tree was thoroughly dead and asked the council to remove the tree from the property due to the fact that it could be a safety hazard.

However, Mayor Jason Willis said that although the tree is located on a right-of-way, the responsibility of the tree still resides with the landowner.

“If something happens there, the city is going to be liable,” Greig said.

“It’s the homeowner that’s going to be liable,” Councilwoman Carol Frederick said. “This has come up before.”

Frederick said the city has the responsibility to trim the trees, but removing the tree is the responsibility of those that own the property.

Willis said that public works will review the site and if there are branches that can be trimmed, the city will do so.