The Bienville Parish Police Jury will have a public hearing on June 8, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. to discuss reapportioning the Police Jury districts. The hearing will be held int he Police Jury meeting room in the Bienville Parish Courthouse, 100 Courthouse Drive, Suite 2100, Arcadia, Louisiana. The proposed plan maps are available to the public for inspection at the Police Jury office, 100 Courthouse Drive, Suite 2100, Arcadia, Louisiana during regular business hours from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Bienville Parish Police Jury Rodney L. Warren Secretary/Treasurer
On Saturday, 2 Thumbs Up Learning Center held a groundbreaking ceremony in Arcadia for their new building. Ms. Pam People, owner of the learning center/daycare facility has been in business for nearly a decade and has outgrown her original building.
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Conway Twitty was regretfully low-growling to a woman about how she was standing on a bridge that just won’t burn.
Ronnie Milsap was having daydreams about night things in the middle of the afternoon, somebody with not much sense was making Crystal Gayle’s brown eyes blue, and Barbara Mandrell was singing about sleeping single in a double bed, a situation difficult for a boy like me to contemplate, especially if you’ve ever seen Barbara Mandrell in person, which I did several times in the 1980s.
Country musically, it was a simpler time, a time I thought was forgotten until last week’s effort about the mournful passing of the entertaining singer and keyboard wizard Mickey Gilley at 86 prompted grateful mail that I am still answering. I thought the last fan of the Urban Cowboy music era had been stored away in some dusty attic, like the unwanted steel guitar and dobro.
Wrong. There are apparently more out there like me who wonder what happened to “our” music and have a hard time listening to anything past 1985 billed as “country.” Oh, every now and then a Toby Keith has squeaked in an “I’m Just Talkin’ ’Bout Tonight.” Travis Tritt got “Bible Belt” and “10 Feet Tall And Bulletproof” past the guardians of what passes for today’s country.
And thank goodness the new-schoolers weren’t looking when Lee Ann Womack showed up singing about how she should be ashes by now and also that she was a little past Little Rock but a long way from over you, (something “you” should be ashamed of).
It’s like the Statler Brothers sang when they sensed the sands shifting those hard-to-believe 35ish years ago: “I’ll tell you friend/a mandolin/won’t get you on a TV show/…whoa no…”
But there was a magical time, a bit after the Glory Days of George Jones and Johnny Cash, Mighty Merle and Roger Miller and Tammy Whynot (oops; typo?), Loretta Lynn, Jeannie Seely and Marty Robbins, all the fastball pitchers of my pre-driving days. After them came Gilley and the Gang, Country Music’s last stand.
Gene Watson picked the wildwood flower. Rosanne Cash explained the way we make a broken heart, and Rodney Crowell said she was crazy for leaving, a No. 1 song written by the great Guy Clark.
The Judds had to explain to momma that he was crazy. Don Williams was livin’ on Tulsa time, Keith Whitley was no stranger to the rain, all George Strait’s exes lived in Texas, and Emmylou Harris, the female standard bearer in this bureau, said she’d walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham if she just had two more bottles of wine, and thank you Delbert McClinton for writing that.
Alabama. Wow. Nothing quite like old Alabama and old flames and Dixieland delights. The pre-Elvira Oak Ridge Boys in the Y’all Come Back Saloon. Janie Frickie was down to her last broken heart, and Con Hunley (“You Lay A Whole Lotta Love On Me”), Earl Thomas Conley (“Heavenly Bodies”) and John Conlee (“I Don’t Remember Lovin’ You”) had sound-alike names but sound-different-but-top-shelf hits.
The Bellamy Brothers. The dynamic Ricky Skaggs, who begged his girl not to cheat in their hometown or he’d tell Uncle Pen. Juice Newton, the queen of hearts. Vern Gosdin, who just wanted Joe to set ’em up and play “Walkin’ The Floor.” Not too much to ask, right?
Kenny gambling and Dolly warning me that it was going to be a hard candy Christmas unless I worked 9 to 5, and together they were islands in the stream.
Marshall Tucker. Charlie Daniels. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and “An American Dream.” And Sir Edward Rabbitt, who loved him on a rainy night and some rocky mountain music.
Two heavyweights were 1) Willie and the geographically challenging, ever-moving whiskey river, and 2) Waylon warning mommas not to let their babies grow up to be cowboys.
But if they did, well, that was OK too. Because Hank “Bocephus” Jr. said country folk and cowboy folk can survive … back when they were playing our song.
I’ll go punch up the next five tunes. . .Anybody got a quarter? A solid? Anyone?
On the night of April 23, 2006, David Kotkin, Cathy Daly, and Mia Volmut went to dinner after work in West Palm Beach, Florida. David was a multimillionaire and Cathy and Mia were his assistants. At about 11:15 pm, after they had finished dinner, they left the restaurant and walked into the parking lot. They were unaware that they were being watched.
Four teenagers sat in a dark car and watched as David, Cathy and Mia exited the restaurant. When the trio was about halfway between the restaurant and their vehicle, far enough that they would be unable to run to the safety of either, the teenagers jumped from their parked car. Before the trio could react, pistols were pointing at their faces at close range. The teenagers told the trio to give them their money, cell phones, and whatever else of value they had on them. By stealing their phones, the robbers knew they would be long gone by the time the trio could alert police.
Cathy and Mia gave the teenage robbers a purse which contained about 200 euros, $100, a passport, and airline tickets. Cathy and Mia emptied their pockets of about $400. To the robbers, it was looking like it was going to be a good night. In David, however, they were attempting to rob the wrong man.
David, himself, had a habit of making things disappear and could escape pretty much any situation which presented itself. He had made his fortune by making things owned by other people disappear right before their own eyes. At his peak, David cleverly pulled in thousands of dollars per night.
David remained calm. He carefully studied the faces of the teenage hoodlums. At their insistence, David pulled his pockets inside out. He showed the robbers that his pockets contained nothing of value. The teenagers were surprised that he had no money, no wallet, and no cell phone, when they had made such a big score from his companions.
Finally satisfied that they had taken all there was to take from the trio, the teenage robbers ran to their car and sped away. David had outsmarted the four robbers. By using what he referred to as “reverse pickpocketing” aided by the shadows that the night provided, David hid his cell phone and wallet in the palms of his hands. As the robbers were fleeing, David, cell phone already in his hand, dialed 911 and gave the police the license plate number of the robbers’ car.
Within minutes, police arrested the four teenage robbers and recovered the stolen goods. At the police station, David, Cathy, and Mia easily identified the teenage robbers. Police charged the teenagers with armed robbery and held them without bond. Some of officers knew that David had a habit of cutting women into pieces, but none attempted to arrest him. Rather, several of them asked for his autograph. You know David Kotkin by his professional name. He is master illusionist David Copperfield.
On Saturday, May 14, classic, custom, and collectible car owners gathered in Historic Downtown Arcadia to show off their vehicles. It was a warm day, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Adults stood and starred at the gorgeous vehicles while kids played on the water slide and bounce house.
Amber Nicole Holman December 22, 1987 – May 13, 2022 Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 2:00 P.M. in Rockett Funeral Home Chapel in Ringgold. Burial will follow in Providence Cemetery in Ringgold. Visitation will be Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at Rockett Funeral Home in Ringgold from 5:00 – 8:00 P.M.
Congratulations to Track State Champion Melayah Rogers!!!
Melayah won the Class B Shot Put Championship last week at the State Meet held at LSU.
Melayah finished 4th at the state meet last year as a freshman, and this year as a sophomore, she threw her way to the top of the podium. She continues the strong tradition of Tiger track throws, with the Tigers having an individual throw champion in either shot, discus, or javelin every year since 2017.
You can tell by her smile on the podium, it was a great moment.
Way to go Melayah!
If a student has done something they should be recognized for, be it sports, academics, etc., please email the journal at BPJNewsLA@gmail.com.
On Wednesday, May 11, 2022, the Bienville Parish Police Jury held their regular monthly meeting.
In the meeting, the police jury unanimously voted in favor of setting the next regular meeting of June 8, 2022, as a public hearing to adopt Ordinance #1 of 2022, entitled “An Ordinance Establishing Voting Precincts and Defining the Territorial Limits of Each for Bienville Parish.”
Yesterday, Gibsland-Coleman’s Coach Roger Jones, who led the Bulldogs to the 2022 Class C State Championship, earned his master’s degree in Sports Administration from Grambling State University.
1373 – Julian of Norwich had visions of Jesus while suffering from a life-threatening illness, visions which were later described and interpreted in her book Revelations of Divine Love.
1501 – Amerigo Vespucci, this time under Portuguese flag, set sail for western lands.
1767 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s first opera “Apollo et Hyacinthus”, written when he was 11 years old, premiered in Salzburg.
1780 – The Cumberland Compact was signed by leaders of the settlers in the Cumberland River area of what became the U.S. state of Tennessee, which provided for democratic government and a formal system of justice.
1846 – Mexican–American War: The United States declared war on the Federal Republic of Mexico following a dispute over the American annexation of the Republic of Texas and a Mexican military incursion.
1861 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issued a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognized the Confederacy as having belligerent rights.
1861 – The Great Comet of 1861 was discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
1862 – The USS Planter, a steamer and gunship, stole through Confederate lines and was passed to the Union, by a southern slave, Robert Smalls, who later was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first black man to command a United States ship.
1912 – The Royal Flying Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Air Force, was established in the United Kingdom.
1940 – Winston Churchill said “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” in his first speech as Prime Minister to British House of Commons.
1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon’s car was attacked by anti-American demonstrators. Several of Nixon’s staff were injured.
1958 – Ben Carlin became the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 11,000 miles by sea and 39,000 miles by land during a ten-year journey.
1958 – The trade mark Velcro was registered.
1960 – Hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students congregated for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
1965 – The Rolling Stones recorded “Satisfaction”.
1966 – The Rolling Stones released “Paint it Black” in the UK.
1970 – The Beatles movie “Let it Be” premiered.
1980 – An F3 tornado hit Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declared it a federal disaster area.
1981 – Mehmet Ali Ağca attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The Pope was rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survived.
1985 – Police bombed MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia, killing six adults and five children, and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.
1995 – Alison Hargreaves, a 33-year-old British mother, became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas.
2012 – Forty-nine dismembered bodies were discovered by Mexican authorities on Mexican Federal Highway 40.
2013 – American physician Kermit Gosnell was found guilty in Pennsylvania of murdering three infants born alive during attempted abortions, involuntary manslaughter of a woman during an abortion procedure, and other charges.
On Monday, May 11, Antavious Roberson, who teaches fourth and fifth grade math at Crawford Elementary School in Arcadia, earned a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Northwestern State Univeristy.
Mr. Roberson received his Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Northwestern in 2018. During his undergraduate experience, he was elected Homecoming King in 2017, then Mr. Northwestern State University in 2018. Additionally, he served the Student Government Association in two capacities: Secretary, and Student Affairs Commissioner (undergrad).
Mr. Roberson said, “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also BELIEVE.”
(Weyerhaeuser’s Seth Carpenter stands beside the “Stack” to show its height)
By Brad Dison
A few weeks ago, a Journal subscriber sent me a picture of a concrete structure and asked if I knew what it was. (See image above). The man said he was driving on the straight stretch about a mile west of Friendship on Highway 4 cautiously watching for deer when he saw what he initially thought was a deer stand. For many years, locals traveling this stretch of road have known to be careful driving in this area because deer have often run into the path of oncoming vehicles. A timber company had recently clear-cut the trees in this area, which exposed the concrete structure. Always interested in local history, I agreed to help determine the origin and use of the concrete structure.
The next day, my family and I drove to the area to see if we could spot the curious object. I told my wife that I doubted we could spot it easily from the road since we both drive past the area on a daily basis and neither of us had ever seen it. There was no traffic behind us so I slowed the vehicle to get a better look. As the old expression goes, “it stuck out like a sore thumb.” Standing tall amongst several small saplings was the mysterious concrete object.
I shared the picture with several lifelong residents of the area but none of them knew anything about the structure. Someone suggested that the structure could be related to Raborn’s Salt Works, something I knew almost nothing about although I have lived within five miles of it my entire life. On a couple of occasions during my childhood, my grandfather had mentioned Raborn’s Salt Works but I was unable to remember any of the details.
I wanted to take a closer look but I needed permission from the landowner. I searched the records held by the Bienville Parish Assessor’s Office and Clerk’s Office and tracked down the current landowner, the Weyerhaeuser Company. I contacted Deano Orr, Weyerhaeuser’s Gulf Region public affairs manager, explained what little details I knew about the mysterious object, and made arrangements for a local Weyerhaeuser representative to accompany me onto the property.
(The Blue Pin Shows the Location of the “Stack.”)
On April 30, 2022, Weyerhaeuser’s Seth Carpenter met up with Eddie Holmes and me near the object in question. (Eddie, the Bienville parish Clerk of Court, has worked closely with me on several historical investigations.) The timber on the land immediately south of Highway 4 was dotted with swamp palmetto and tree stumps left from the recent clear-cutting operation. About 100 yards from the highway stood the “stack.”
The concrete stack stands 134 ½ inches tall. The exposed portion of the hexagonal footing of the concrete stack measures 36 inches on each side and is tapered at an 80 degree angle. The concrete is 22 ½ inches thick at the opening at the base. Horizontal lines in the concrete show that the stack was built in multiple pours. The stack has an opening at the top. Large bolts are evidence that something was once mounted atop the stack. We located three more concrete footings near the stack. Large bolts protruding from the footings show that something was mounted to them as well. Small, brittle remnants of old iron pipes littered the ground.
The land 200 yards southwest of the stack is comprised of a shallow swampland which covers several acres. Unlike most swamplands which are characteristically murky, the water in this swampy area, at least on the day we visited it, was perfectly clear. The water averaged about three or four inches deep.
250 yards to the southeast is another pool of water which measures about 30 yards by 60 yards at its widest points. The whole area near the pool was covered with wildlife tracks. At a ravine leading from the highway to the property, the ground was covered with fresh deer tracks. As we neared the pool of water, a water moccasin slithered away from us in the water which, like the swampy area, was shallow and clear. Visiting the area left me with more questions than answers. I had to dig deeper.
The investigation led me to events that happened way back in 1837, eleven years before the Louisiana State Legislature created Bienville parish. On June 15, 1837, John M. Fouts purchased “seventy-nine acres and eighty hundredths of an acre” of government land, about half of which was marshy lowland, near Friendship in what was then Claiborne parish.
It must be mentioned that prior researchers habitually misspelled John Martin Fouts’s last name as Foust. A creek which passes through this property still bears his name on current maps although it is spelled Fouse Bayou. Locals refer to it as Fouse’s (rhymes with pouches) creek. Legal documents, genealogical research, and the headstones marking his family’s graves have shown his last name to be Fouts.
John M. Fouts was born in 1781 in Virginia. Sometime between 1800 and 1821, Fouts moved to Louisiana. In 1821, Fouts married Martha Ware Nelson in Ouachita parish, Louisiana. Together they had five children, the oldest of which was Maria Theresa Fouts. Maria Theresa will be discussed more as the investigation continues. Early on, Fouts recognized that the water on the land had an unusually high salt content. It is likely that he knew the land contained a high concentration of salt prior to the land purchase. The high salt content is one reason why deer are attracted to the area.
Until the Industrial Revolution when it began to be produced on a massive scale, salt was a much sought after and expensive commodity. For thousands of years, humans have used salt to preserve food, tan animal hides, heal wounds, and for other medicinal purposes. As civilizations spread throughout the world, salt became one of the primary trading commodities. At one point, Egyptians used salted fish as a form of currency. In Ancient Rome, having salt on a dinner table was a sign of wealth. People who sat nearest their host or head of the dinner table were said to be “above the salt.” Those who were less favored by their host were said to be “below the salt.” Someone who was well-respected or something which was desirable was said to be “worth their [or its] weight in salt.” In the Roman Empire, the word for payment to soldiers was Salarium (sala rye um), the Latin word for salt. Over time, the soldiers adopted a shortened version of the word which we still use to denote a worker’s wagers — Salary. Other words derived from salt include salami, savage, sauce, salsa, sausage, and salvation. In some religions salt is considered a symbol of purity. One of the principal factors behind the Lewis and Clark expedition was the search for new supplies of salt. During the American Revolution, British ships captured cargos of salt bound for the colonies to disrupt the colonists’ ability to preserve food. During the War of 1812, when the U.S. government was unable to pay some soldiers with money, it paid them in salt brine.
Soon after purchasing the land, Fouts began to use the salty water to produce salt for his family. According to A.C. Veatch, Assistant Geologist for the state of Louisiana who performed a geological survey of the site in the 1890s, Fouts was likely the first human to utilize the resources of the salt dome because he found no evidence of Native Americans on the land. In 1840, Fouts began a “modest operation” and produced enough salt for his family and neighbors. Four years later, on May 11, 1844, John Fouts’s wife, Martha, died and was buried on the Fouts property. On February 19 of the following year, John Fouts died and was also buried on the Fouts property. Following their deaths, their daughter, Marie Theresa Fouts, and her husband, Chriswell Whitlow, continued to produce salt on a modest scale.
The investigation continues next week in “Raborn’s Salt Works: Part 2, the Raborn Era.”
If you have any information about Raborn’s Salt Works, please email the Journal at BPJNewsLA@gmail.com.
Special thanks to: The Weyerhaeuser Company’s Deano Orr and Seth Carpenter, Kenny Price, Elizabeth Morgan, and Eddie Holmes.
The Bienville Parish Police Jury will have a public hearing on June 8, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. to discuss reapportioning the Police Jury districts. The hearing will be held int he Police Jury meeting room in the Bienville Parish Courthouse, 100 Courthouse Drive, Suite 2100, Arcadia, Louisiana. The proposed plan maps are available to the public for inspection at the Police Jury office, 100 Courthouse Drive, Suite 2100, Arcadia, Louisiana during regular business hours from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Bienville Parish Police Jury Rodney L. Warren Secretary/Treasurer
The organizers of the Natchitoches Jazz/R&B Festival, which is going to be presented on the downtown riverbank stage on May 20th and 21st always like to spotlight the diversity of the music at the event and love to set a “If you can’t find some music at this festival that you like, then you just don’t like music.” This statement is clearly illustrated when you break down the various genres of music presented at the festival and the bands that will be performing music of that genre:
JAZZ:
Dave Duplissey’s Sax in the Corner Band
The Nakatosh Rhythm Chiefs
The Dan Sumner Band – Featuring Coco York
The Forsyth Jazz Collective
Note: All Jazz bands will be performing on the Jazz Stage which will now be located at venue on Front Street.
RHYTHM & BLUES/SOUL:
The Commodores
Klockwork Band
Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs
Deshawn Washington
The Kelli Roberts Band
Josh Hyde and the Lost Parish
The Turn-Ups
Cane River Soul
ROCK & ROLL/CLASSIC ROCK:
The Commodores
L.A. Roxx
Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs
James Burton
Resurrection
The Kelli Roberts Band
The Sundown Band
Jesse Cole
The Turn-Ups
The Comeback Kids
Cane River Soul
ZYDECO:
Gerard Delafose and the Zydeco Gators
B Cam and the Zydeco Young Bucks
BLUES:
Josh Hyde and the Lost Parish
Klockwork Band
Cane River Soul
The Snake Doctors
COUNTRY:
Marty Haggard
The Chase Tyler Band
Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs
The Sundown Band
Armadillo Jackal Band
The Comeback Kids
FUNK:
The Commodores
Klockwork Band
Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs
Cane River Soul
AMERICANA/FOLK:
L.A. Sweet T
Armadillo Jackal Band
Snake Doctors
50 Man Machine
LATIN:
L.A. Sweet T
CELTIC/SCOTTISH
50 Man Machine
The festival begins on Friday, May 20th at 7 p.m. with Gerard Delafose and the Zydeco Gators followed by L. A. Roxx, then continues all day Saturday, May 21st with over 20 bands on four different stages with The Commodores closing the show.
There will be lots of food and activities for the kids at this family friendly event.
In May of 1922, Reverend J.C. Cox of Mt. Lebanon was in Arcadia working on the “legal preliminaries in connection with the organization of a country club to be located about two miles west of Mt. Lebanon.” Cox and other organizers planned to call it the Mt. Lebanon Country Club. It was expected to be a place for outdoor sports and recreation for the Camp Fire Girls, Boy Scouts, and for the families of club members.
The selected location was said to be ideal in that with minimal labor and expense, workers could have constructed a dam. Water fed from three big springs would have kept the several-acre lake filled to a depth of up to 25 feet. A gravel road was planned to be within two miles of the lake. The final two miles were to consist of a “model dirt road.” Asphalt roads were not yet in the vicinity.
The Sutton brothers of Mt. Lebanon, who owned the local sawmill, agreed to lease the proposed property to the organization at no cost as long as it was used to be as a country club. The Sutton brothers also agreed to provide labor for building the dam and for construction materials for the club house at their cost.
The club house was intended to be a two story structure with at least 10 rooms surrounded by a wide gallery or atrium on both floors.
The country club was to have been an ideal place for picnics, fishing, swimming, boating, and bathing. Indoor plumbing was not available in Mt. Lebanon at this time. The organizers hoped to eventually add basketball and tennis courts.
The organization advertised for charter membership, which was limited to 100 members at $25.00 each. After the first hundred memberships were sold, the price would be raised to $50 each. By the second week of May, 1922, a large number of people had already applied for membership.
Despite Reverend Cox’s hard work and best intentions, the Mt. Lebanon Country Club never came to fruition.
The International Space Station will be visible to the naked eye tonight, weather permitting. The station orbits the Earth at a height of 254 miles and travels at a mind-blowing 17,500 miles per hour, or 4.76 miles per second.
Tonight, it will become visible at 8:50 PM in the southwestern sky and will travel to the northeast. It will be visible for about 6 minutes. It will move at a maximum height of about 33° above the horizon.
The space station will look like a bright star, like the North Star, and will be moving quickly across the evening sky.
The space station passes overhead many times a day but lighting conditions usually make it difficult or impossible to see. All sightings will occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset. This is the optimum viewing period as the sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky.
Print this page to work the puzzle. If you are unable to print this page you can download it by clicking “Download” below.
Instructions: ZCIRPZCI is EINSTEIN In Cryptoquotes, one letter stands for another. In the example above, Z is used for two E’s, I for the two N’s, etc. Single letters, double letters, apostrophes, the length and formation of the words are all hints. The code letters change with each puzzle.
TODAY’S CRYPTOQUOTE:
“S LXOODLLUXM HSC EL JCD PWJ OSC MSF S UEYH UJXCKSREJC PERW RWD ZYEOBL JRWDYL WSAD RWYJPC SR WEH.” ~ KSAEK ZYECBMDF
Previous Cryptoquote solution: “If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.” ~ James Cameron
For years, bass fishermen have heard the phrase, “The wind is your friend.” Well, this is not always true, and today I’ll explain why. Mother Nature can be very unpredictable, and she has an unforgivable temper. Some days she’s awesome with bluebird skies and rays of sunshine streaming down. Other days, she can unleash a rage of fury that will have you taking cover and counting your blessings.
But with regards to the quote of “The wind is your friend,” wind is a very important factor when it comes to the bass biting. Windy shores can be an awesome place to catch a few bass. The science says that the reason bass are present on windy shores is because of the food chain. Wind forces the plankton towards the bank which in turn brings in the smaller fish like shad and bream. When these guys show up, a feeding frenzy is about to begin as the bass will always follow the bait fish. A windy chop on the water’s surface allows anglers to get in close without spooking the fish. So this is why anglers like a little wind, but you must be careful what you wish for.
If there’s one thing that makes me very nervous, it’s an approaching thunderstorm. Over my years of tournament fishing, I’ve had a few rough encounters of the worst kind. Two years ago on Lake Sam Rayburn, a storm came over the lake from the southwest. The sky literally turned black as it approached, and I could tell this was not going to be a small storm. I had a co-angler fishing with me in this particular tournament, who I could tell was getting a little nervous as the lightning got really bad. The biggest problem was that the storm was coming from the same direction as the boat ramp we were trying to reach for the weigh-in. So we had a choice, either try and outrun the storm before it cut us off from the ramp or go east across the lake and seek cover in a cove as the storm hopefully passed over the west side of the lake.
Realizing that we were not going to beat the storm back to the ramp, I decided to head east across the lake and take cover in the nearest cove. As we were running across the lake at 70 mph, I noticed the waves were really starting to get bad with 3-foot rollers. Then out of the corner of my right eye, I noticed the water was swirling as the wind was now blowing what seemed like 40 plus mph. It was obvious we were not going to outrun this storm. As the wind continued to get stronger, it hit the side of boat while we were running at full speed, and it lifted the boat off the water! I thought we were about to flip over, so I let off the gas and the boat sat back down on the water. It was raining so hard that you could not see 20 feet in front of the boat, but we kept moving toward the cove to seek safety.
Next, I had one of those incidents that you have nightmares about… during the downpour I saw another boat coming in my direction from my left. In a matter of seconds, I knew immediately we were on a collision course. As he passed in front of me by a few inches at 60 mph, my heart jumped out of my chest as I shut the boat down. It was an absolute miracle that we did not hit. I could not believe the other boater never shut down, instead he just kept going which I thought was strange since we just avoided a deadly crash. With my co-angler trembling, we finally reach the cove and waited the storm out before heading for the weigh-in.
As I was in the weigh-in line, I saw the angler who I had the near collision with and approached him to apologize for what happened. Turns out, HE NEVER SAW ME ….and that there was divine intervention to save both of us. It explained why he never stopped or slowed down after he passed in front of me. HE NEVER SAW ME! This is why you need to get off the water as soon as you see an approaching storm. Because in a matter of minutes, things can go from bad to worse. Till next time be safe, good luck, good fishing and don’t forget to set the hook!
Steve Graf – Co-host Hook’N Up & Track’N Down Show & Tackle Talk Live
The Gibsland-Coleman Lady Bulldogs have won the 2022 Class C State Track & Field Championship.
The Lady Bulldogs also claimed both Co-MVPs, Senior Ke’Honesty Williams and Freshman Samora Sampson. Williams and Sampson won all four of their events. Williams was also MVP last year. She clinched the title again with individual state championships in the 100 m dash (13.09 sec), 200 m dash (27.14 sec), and long jump approx. (17ft 0.6 in). Sampson won individual competitions in the 100 m hurdles (16.97 sec), 300 hurdles (50.28), and triple jump (35 ft., 3 in). Each MVP was part of the champion 4 x 100 relay team along with Shamaria Durham and Baleigh Haulcy. Haulcy also was state runner-up in the triple jump behind Sampson. Jordan Allen also finished third behind Sampson in 54.09 seconds. Allen grabbed a state runner-up in the high jump with 4-08.
The Gibsland-Coleman boys are the Class C State Runner-Ups with 67 points. Family Christian won with 108. The Bulldogs were silver crazy. Jakobe Stevens claimed three silver medals. Stevens won individually in the 400 dash (54.16 sec) and high jump (6-0). Stevens also can claim as part of the 4 x 100 team (46.77) including Joshua Adams, Demarquis Durham, and Dadrail Chatman. Durham also took second place in the 100 m dash (11.28 sec). Malik Loud was runner-up in the discus (99-1). Michael Woodford finished second in the triple jump (40 ft 3.5 in).
Yesterday morning, the Town of Arcadia hosted their annual Senior’s Breakfast in honor of the Arcadia High School Class of 2022. Pastor Quincy Knox served as the guest speaker.
Congratulations to Arcadia High School’s Class of 2022!
