Pictured left to right are Travis Sullivant, Trevor Ryder, Bentley Williams and Scott Phillips.
The third annual Safe School Conference was held June 20 – 22 in Marksville this year.
The Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office had four Deputy Sheriffs/School Resource Officers (SRO) attend the SRO Association Conference this year.
While they were there the SROs had multiple opportunites to receive extended training in various topics including school mapping, current juvenile law, gang issues, youth culture trends, active shooter training, recognizing PTSD and much more.
They received a refresher on their SRO duties and responsiblites taught by lecturers including agents from the U.S. Secret Service.
Deputies Darrell Spencer and Tony Toms were unable to attend due to prior assignments as SROs for Bienville Parish Summer School.
Three Ringgold High School baseball standouts made the 1-1A All District Louisiana Sports Team.
Jaxon Page – Utility
Jy’Shawn Marshall – Outfield
Jacksyn Moore – Pitcher
Baleigh Haulcy from Gibsland-Coleman High School made the All Northwest Louisiana Sports 1st team. Haulcy plays both pitcher and shortstop for the Lady Bulldogs. She had 99 strikeouts in 50 innings over the course of 16 games.
Ralph Robinson passed away in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday, June 25, 2023 at the age of 94. Mr. Ralph was a resident of Danville, Louisiana and retired as a school bus driver in Bienville Parish after 40 years. He started driving a school bus when he was 14 years old! Ralph was the owner of Danville Grocery/Exxon. He was a baseball coach and played for the Danville Deacons in his younger years. Mr. Ralph enjoyed gardening and loved babysitting his grandchildren. He was a Christian and was committed to the LORD and to his church, Friendship Baptist.
Ralph is survived by his son, Joe Robinson and former wife, Kathy Robinson; grandchildren, Harlie Robinson, Halie Robinson and fiancé, Robert Harper, Junior Williams and wife, Eva, Renee (Williams) McPhail; great grandchildren, Trey Williams, Journie Tannehill and husband, Josh, Bryce McPhail and Kimberly McPhail.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Frances Robinson; daughter, Deborah (Robinson) Williams; father, John Bunyon Robinson; mother, Willie Velma (Stinson) Robinson; siblings, Eugene Robinson, J.B. Robinson, Doris Robinson and Lorene Weeks.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, July 6, 2023 at First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Louisiana. Bro. Robert Leach will officiate.
The Bienville Parish Libraries begins Week Five of the 2023 “All Together Now!” Summer Reading Program with Sean Driscoll and the Story Ship!
ABOUT THE STORY SHIP
The Story Ship performances combine awesome animation, puppetry, comedy theater, magic, and music into an incredibly innovative performance. The sets include a large video projection system that brings the animation alive. A live actor and the audience interact with the animation as stories unfold. With a wonderful array of magic tricks and musical instruments, the audience is drawn away from the animation into live interactive comedy theater.
SNAG YOUR BRAG TAGS AND KEEP READING!
There are ten brag tags to snag! Preventing the “summer slide” continues to be the main objective of summer reading programs. This reading incentive motivates your reader to read and collect all ten tags. It will impress teachers with how many books/pages are read during the summer vacation!
But it doesn’t end with the brag tags – Children are encouraged to keep reading as much as they can because there will be certificates and prizes for the top reader in multiple categories, including the top reader at each branch, top reader in their age group, and top reader in the Bienville Parish Library system.
COME ONE COME ALL!
Everyone is welcome to attend the performances! Even if you’re not participating in the program, you can still enjoy the performances! If you’re visiting the library on the days of an SRP performance, come in and join us! Below are the program times for each library:
Wednesday, July 5
Gibsland Branch at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, July 6
Arcadia Main Library at 10:00 a.m. Ringgold Branch at 2:00 p.m.
Friday, July 7
Castor Events Center at 10:00 a.m.
Saline Branch at 2:00 p.m.
You and your children are welcome to take part in the Summer Reading Program performances – it’s a fun way to spend an hour and visit the library too! There’s always something going on at your Bienville Parish Library – visit www.bienvillelibrary.org to see the schedule of events.
The Bienville Parish School Board is accepting applications for an Educational Diagnostician position. They will be accepting applications until Thursday, July 6, at 4 p.m.
Minimum requirements include:
Valid Type A, B or Level 2 or 3 Louisiana teaching certificate with an Educational Diagnostician endorsement
At least one year experience teaching in a certified special education area
Sunday afternoon, Kay and I were driving home after a special Father’s Day lunch in town, and as I glanced toward the pasture across the road from our home, something caught my eye. It was a tiny fawn standing within a few yards of the pasture fence.
I stopped, lowered the window and snapped a few photos of the little fellow before it wandered off across the pasture. I posted a snapshot of the little deer on Facebook and within an hour, there were responses from others around the region who had also seen newborn fawns.
“We saw one about 20 minutes ago less than a few hours old”…”I saw one outside of Tullos in Winn Parish last Wednesday.”….”One was in my yard.”…”My husband saw two today here in the woods.”
What does this all mean? You don’t have to be a wildlife biologist to realize that this is the time of year when fawns are being born in our area.
Every year about this time, I receive a press release from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) reminding people who encounter what appear to be abandoned young deer alone in the outdoors, that those fawns should be left undisturbed.
Here’s how the press release reads…”Every year the department receives calls from concerned citizens who have found what they consider to be “abandoned” fawns. Well intentioned, concerned citizens sometimes bring fawns home and then call the department to retrieve and raise them.
“LDWF is alerting the public that it is against the law to capture young deer or any other wild animal. If caught transporting or possessing wild deer without a permit, well meaning individuals may be subject to citations and fines.
“Picking up fawns seriously diminishes their chance to live a normal and healthy life. When a fawn is born, it is weak, awkward and unable to move well enough to feed and escape predators. However, the newborn fawn has a coat of light brown hair liberally covered with white spots that provides excellent camouflage against predators. The mother doe will remain in the area to feed and nurture the fawn. When the young deer gets older and stronger it will be able to forage for food with its mother.
“When encountering fawns in the wild, simply leave them untouched and depart quietly from the area. This action will provide the young deer its best chance to survive in the wild and prevent a possible citation for a well-intentioned outdoorsman.
“There have been too many cases of kind-hearted folks picking up what they believe to be an abandoned fawn and with the idea of keeping it as a cute little pet. There have been numerous reports of that sweet little creature becoming aggressive and dangerous once it reaches maturity.
“If it is confirmed that the mother has in fact died, such as seeing a fawn next to a road- killed doe, what you should do is call the LDWF and report what you find. There are facilities that are licensed to take in such baby animals.”
If you should chance to walk up on one in the weeds or next to a log, snap a photo if you would like and back away slowly. The doe is likely peaking through the brush somewhere nearby and is probably watching you to see if you are a threat to her baby. Once things settle down and you leave, she’ll return and the little one will follow her away.
It’s tempting I know to have compassion on what seems to be a helpless little baby deer and rescue it from harm when in fact, this is Mother Nature’s way of taking care of the situation. Mother doesn’t need your help.
Q: How can I make good decisions under pressure, or in a crisis? A: Train your brain.
Whether you’re a youngster with no life experience, or a highly trained, seasoned, steely-eyed dealer of death, you’re capable of making poor choices under pressure. We’d likely prefer the latter coming to our rescue if bullets start to fly, but everyone is fallible. The difference between the trained and the untrained is that trained people understand how decisions are made. Therefore, they can think faster under stress and are more likely to persevere under extreme circumstances.
In a 1976 essay titled “Destruction and Creation,” United States Air Force Colonel and military strategist, John Boyd – affectionately referred to as “Genghis John” by some of his cohorts – first presented his interpretation of the decision-making process, specifically as it pertained to arial combat.
The “O.O.D.A. Loop,” as he aptly named the decision-making cycle, is an acronym for Observe – Orient –Decide – Act, and is still widely taught to military, law enforcement, and other combat-ready entities. The cool thing is it applies to all of us.
We complete the O.O.D.A. Loop hundreds, if not thousands, of times each day. We aren’t always conscious of the decisions we make, but we make them, nonetheless. When we think about observation, we tend to think about what we see, but an observation can be anything our brains process from any of our five senses. The time between our sensing something and our brains processing the information is orientation. For example, by the time you realized the stove was hot, you were already burned. After orientation has occurred, a decision must be made, either consciously or subconsciously, and that decision must be put into physical action – like jerking your hand away from the hot stove.
Many things can determine how quickly we’re able to navigate the decision-making process, but training and life experiences rank among the top factors that can speed up or slow down one’s ability to react, especially in a crisis.
Imagine you’re driving on the interstate, and you come up on an 18-wheeler traveling 68 MPH, in the right-hand lane. You decide to pass on the left, and just as you get alongside the big truck, you OBSERVE that 80,000-pound vehicle begin to merge into the left lane, right toward you. Is the driver dodging a roadway hazard? Is he simply being careless? Is he snorting meth off a Milli Vanilli cassette case? It doesn’t really matter, does it? Now that you’re ORIENTED to what’s happening, you have a DECISION to make. Turn the wheel? Hit the brake? Punch the gas? Perform a combination of wheel turning and pedal pressing? Then you ACT and do whatever you decided in that instant would give you the highest probability of survival, and it all likely happened without conscious thought. That’s your O.O.D.A. Loop hard at work.
Now imagine a situation that’s probably foreign to you. You’re sitting in church and a man armed with an AK-47 enters the sanctuary and starts shooting parishioners. First, you’ll have to overcome a sense of denial. “This can’t be happening here. Not at my church.” You may also have emotional filters to deal with – especially if the person doing the killing is known to you or, God forbid, one of your own relatives. What options do you have for survival? Are there people with you that are your responsibility to protect? Are you even equipped to fight back?
See where I’m headed here? The deadly traffic crash was avoidable in an instant because you’ve been there before. At the very least, you were mentally prepared to react appropriately. The active shooter situation started just as quickly, but your response was slower because that isn’t something you’ve experienced and haven’t spent nearly as much time preparing to overcome.
We know from middle school science that action is always faster than reaction. So, it’s important to understand that bad guys have O.O.D.A. Loops too. Colonel Boyd believed that the orientation phase of the process was the most crucial because that’s where people would most often get bogged down, preventing them from completing the cycle and performing the necessary action. The point is to DO SOMETHING. Do something other than freeze. When we act, we can make an attacker react to us. That, in turn, gives us a tactical advantage, effectively allowing us to own the initiative. The right choice, whatever that may be, is obviously preferrable, but even if we do the wrong thing, and continue to act, we can effectively keep the bad guy bouncing between the observe and orient phases of his own O.O.D.A. Loop.
Join us next week when we cover what to expect from adrenaline and how to overcome its effects. Until then…
Avoid what you can. Defeat what you can’t.
-Ryan
(Ryan Barnette is not a licensed attorney or a medical provider, and no information provided in “Slicing the Pie,” or any other publication authored by Ryan Barnette should be construed, in any way, as official legal, or medical advice.)
I refer to my children as my “little ducks” all the time. Why? Because they follow me everywhere all day long. I mean everywhere. Going to the kitchen to get a drink of water? There they are. Going to the tiniest room in my house (also known as the laundry room)? Yep, they are coming, too. Need to use the bathroom? Well good thing I don’t mind an audience, I guess.
I am not just talking about the younger two either, all three of them follow me around in a line from youngest to oldest all day. It is absolutely maddening some days. Especially when I just want to run out to check the mail, which should only take about 55 seconds round-trip, but it turns into a 30-minute expedition by the time the little ducklings have strapped on their shoes, grabbed their drinks, followed me to the mailbox (after fighting about who gets to check it). The next thing I know, we are out in the front yard for half an hour because one of them found a lizard, wanted to pick flowers, learn how to ride a bike without training wheels or dig for buried treasure.
After a day slap full of playing “follow the leader,” I was feeling a little overstimulated, so I loaded the girls up in the car to go grab a sno cone and head to the library. I do this often when they start driving me crazy at home, just to get a little bit of time where I am not being chased after. It is a good little break and reset for us all. We get a treat and some time for them to scatter about the library looking for a few good books.
As we were pulling back into our neighborhood feeling a bit refreshed, I suddenly had to slam on the brakes. We have two rather large ponds close by our house and they are always full of geese and here they were just taking a casual stroll across the street from one pond to the next. The girls and I just sat and watched them as they took their time, all of them walking in a straight line one after the other.
This goes back to the reasoning behind why I refer to the girls as my “little ducks” or I guess geese in this instance. This is what happens when a baby duck or goose is born, they imprint on the first thing they see, which almost all of the time will be their mother. You see a mother duck waddling or swimming around and she is sure to have a line of little ones following very closely behind her.
Although it can get overwhelming as parents and I am sure the mother ducks and geese, too, having constant shadows following you about, if I look on the bright side, I know they do this because they feel safe, comfortable and loved in my presence.
I know they will not always be my “little ducks.” One day they will fly the coop and I will be left wishing that I could get them lined up in a row behind me again. I feel the empty nest syndrome kicking in already just thinking about it.
(Paige Nash is a wife, mother of three little ducks, publisher of Bienville Parish Journal and Claiborne Parish Journal and a digital journalist for Webster Parish Journal.)
Texans are often recognized for the pride that they have in their home state. I get that. Not because I think Texas is that much better than other states in our country, but because I take great pride in my home state of Mississippi. Six years ago, I wrote an introduction to the book, “A Mississippi Palate.” In it I relayed a story of an epiphany I had a dozen or so years ago. It’s always struck me as odd that I had to travel halfway around the world to truly appreciate the entirety of my home state.
The state of Mississippi adopted the motto, “The birthplace of America’s music,” several years ago. It is catchy and clever. The PR department must have been working overtime when they came up with that phrase, I thought. Maybe it will help paint a positive light on our state in the eyes of the 21st Century the world. I get it.
It wasn’t until I was thousands of miles away from home that my love and appreciation for my home state grew into what it has become today. It happened one night in Italy working on An Italian Palate. Our Tuscan friends Annagloria and Enzo had just introduced us to a couple from Milan— Barbara and Alberto— who would eventually become great friends of ours, too. We were all having dinner in a small bed and breakfast in the Italian countryside. This was a special night because the B&B hired a live band. Live music is not as commonplace in the Italian countryside as it is in Mississippi.
You haven’t lived until you’ve heard a British cover band sing American rock and roll in Italian. I was seated across from my new friend Barbara. She was warm, sophisticated, and inquisitive. “Tell us about Mississippi,” she said, shouting over a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover.
“Well I come from a town called Hattiesburg,” I said. “It’s about an hour north of the Gulf of Mexico.” Her eyes lit up. She might not have been able to point out Mississippi on a map— The Weather Channel once referred to us as that “Land mass” between Louisiana and Alabama— but she knew where the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico were located. I began searching for more familiar landmarks to help her pinpoint my home state’s location.
“My hometown is just an hour and a half northeast of New Orleans,” I continued.
A brief glint of recognition hit her eyes. “Jazz!” she said.
“That’s right New Orleans is where jazz was invented. And in Mississippi, if you travel up Highway 49 which passes two blocks from my house, you’ll hit Highway 61 in the Delta, where blues music was invented.
“Ah the blues,” she said. “B.B. King.”
“Yep, he’s from Mississippi. And so is Muddy Waters, and if you believe Muddy Waters who said, ‘the blues had a baby and they named the baby rock and roll,’ and I do, then just an hour or two to the east of the Delta is Tupelo, Mississippi the birthplace of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.”
“Elvis Presley!” Barbara— a child of the Elvis era— squealed, as if I was talking about some far off, exotic land.
“And just two hours south of Tupelo is Meridian, Mississippi…” I was just about to go into my pitch for Jimmie Rogers, The Singing Brakeman, and “the inventor of country music,” when it hit me like a shot from a cannon— Mississippi, my home state, is truly the birthplace of America’s music, and ground zero for the most influential and popular art form of the 20th Century. It’s not just a PR slogan or marketing phrase, it’s true. Mississippi is the birthplace of the music that has changed the world for over 100 years. This IS an exotic land.
There is no question that we have scars and bruises from a rough, cruel, and many times inexcusable and unexplainable past, but those are the burdens of the entire country, too. All nations have scars. What defines us as a culture is how we move past those tragedies.
We are often cursed by the sins of our ancestors. It is unfortunate that almost every civilization in history was founded on the pain and conquest of others. Though what distinguishes civilizations, nations, and states within those nations, are the ones who rise above it. I believe Mississippi has risen above our past.
I believe I am a son of the new Mississippi.
When compiling the book “A Mississippi Palate,” I asked several friends and notable Mississippians to text me their feelings on our home state. I’ll let their words do the talking.
“In Mississippi, Friday and Saturday nights are filled with football. Sunday mornings are reserved for church. Though, no matter what time of the day, day of the week, or activity on the schedule, life in Mississippi is always centered around family.” — Archie Manning
There is something about our Southern palette. Maybe it’s the fresh produce, the long growing season, the cross cultural influences, or the abundance of seasoning on everything that equips someone from down here to travel with a sense of curiosity. To be curious not only about people or place but the food of other cultures. We will eat anything and can, more often than not figure out what they are doing, and incorporate it into what we do.” – Bill Dunlap
No other state in the union has contributed more to American culture than Mississippi, specifically in the areas of music, literature, art, history, food, architecture, and sports – you’re welcome! – Malcolm White
“One of the things that I’ve noticed when I cross paths with a Mississippian out in the world, after you shake hands and ask each other, ‘Which town are you from?’ you just start visiting. Most Mississippi people are at home anywhere on the planet. Wherever they are it’s basically the same as being on the front porch of somebody’s cabin at the Neshoba County Fair— everyone’s welcome.” – Marty Stuart
“I grew up on field peas and corn bread, and still consider it a necessity at least once a week. Of course, Mom’s coconut cake perched on the dessert table is mandatory to complete the meal.” – Gary Grubbs
“Whenever I get questions about Mississippi from those who haven’t had the good fortune to visit us, I’m reminded that it’s…complicated. Though financially we may be the poorest state, we are undeniably rich in culture, and while tensions remain in politics and race relations the generosity and graciousness that are our shared heritage shines through in our daily interactions with each other.” – Cary Hudson
“People ask me all the time how Mississippi has produced so many of the world’s greatest writers. It’s because we tell stories. That’s what Mississippians have done – and have done well – for as long as there has been a Mississippi. Per capita, Mississippi produces more writers, musicians, chefs, and athletes than any other place on earth. We entertain, it’s what we do.” – Rick Cleveland
“In one short drive down US Hwy 49 South out of Jackson, Mississippi, one can get barbecue, homegrown tomatoes, fried pies, catfish, Elvis clocks, and a metal chicken bigger than a Volkswagen. You can get baptized at least 38 times at different churches before you get past Florence, you can have your fortune told and see a neon yellow statue of a raging bull in a handstand, with “JESUS SAVES” inexplicably written on its flanks. Talk to me about ‘diversity.’” – Jill Conner Browne
“I carry Mississippi all over the world, and that’s the least I can do. It has blessed and charmed and informed all my days. With a fire that can only be fueled by the sum of what is right and what is and has been wrong I go forward with a mission. I hope to see you somewhere on the high road. Cause that would mean we’re both on it.” – Mac McAnally
Morgan Freeman once said, “The big question was, ‘My Lord, you can live anywhere in the world you want, why did you choose Mississippi?’ My glib answer was, because I CAN live anywhere. But the true answer is that of any place I’ve ever been, this feels most like home. When I come here, when I hit Mississippi, everything is right.”
Amen.
I love my home state.
Onward.
Banana Pudding
1 cup Sugar
6 Tbl. Flour
pinch of salt
4 Egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
2 cups Milk
2 tsp. Vanilla
6 Tbl. Butter
4 Bananas, ripe, peeled and sliced
Vanilla wafers
4 Egg whites
1 /2 cup Sugar
1 /2 tsp. Cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine sugar, flour, salt, eggs, milk and vanilla in a small non-reactive saucepot. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the pudding thickens. Remove from heat and slowly add butter until incorporated.
Butter a two-quart baking dish. Arrange the vanilla wafers around the outside and across the bottom of the baking dish. Spread a layer of custard over the wafers. Place sliced bananas on top of custard and spoon the remaining custard over bananas, spreading evenly.
Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites until they are increase in volume. Add sugar and cream of tartar. Beat to stiff peaks. Spread meringue over pudding and bake 8-10 minutes. Yield: 8-10 servings
(Robert St. John is a chef, restaurateur and published cookbook author who lives in Hattiesburg, Miss.)
1097 – The Crusaders defeated the Turks at Dorylaeum.
1841 – The Erie Railroad rolled out its first passenger train.
1859 – Charles Blondin became the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1894 – Korea declared independence from China and asked for Japanese aid.
1908 – A meteor explosion in Siberia knocked down trees in a 40-mile radius and struck people unconscious some 40 miles away.
1912 – Belgian workers went on strike to demand universal suffrage.
1913 – Fighting broke out between Bulgaria and Greece and Serbia. It was the beginning of the Second Balkan War.
1915 – During World War I, the Second Battle Artois ended when the French failed to take Vimy Ridge.
1921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding appointed former President William Howard Taft chief justice of the United States.
1922 – Irish rebels in London assassinate Sir Henry Wilson, the British deputy for Northern Ireland.
1930 – France pulled its troops out of Germany’s Rhineland.
1934 – Adolf Hitler purged the Nazi Party by destroying the SA and bringing to power the SS in the “Night of the Long Knives.”
1935 – Fascists caused an uproar at the League of Nations when Haile Selassie of Ethiopia speaks.
1936 – Margaret Mitchell’s book, “Gone with the Wind,” was published.
1950 – U.S. President Harry Truman ordered U.S. troops into Korea and authorizes the draft.
1951 – On orders from Washington, General Matthew Ridgeway broadcasts that the United Nations was willing to discuss an armistice with North Korea.
1952 – CBS-TV debuted “The Guiding Light.”
1953 – The first Corvette rolled off the Chevrolet assembly line in Flint, MI. It sold for $3,250.
1955 – The U.S. began funding West Germany’s rearmament.
1957 – The American occupation headquarters in Japan was dissolved.
1958 – The U.S. Congress passed a law authorizing the admission of Alaska as the 49th state in the Union.
1960 – The Katanga province seceded from Congo (upon Congo’s independence from Belgium).
1962 – Los Angeles Dodger Sandy Koufax pitched his first no-hitter in a game with the New York Mets.
1964 – The last of U.N. troops left Congo after a four-year effort to bring stability to the country.
1970 – The Cincinnati Reds moved to their new home at Riverfront Stadium.
1971 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government could not prevent the Washington Post or the New York Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers.
1971 – The Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 11 returned to Earth. The three cosmonauts were found dead inside.
1971 – The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified when Ohio became the 38th state to approve it. The amendment lowered the minimum voting age to 18.
1974 – The July 4th scene from the Steven Spielberg movie “Jaws” was filmed.
1977 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced his opposition to the B-1 bomber.
1984 – The longest professional football game took place in the United States Football League (USFL). The Los Angeles Express beat the Michigan Panthers 27-21 after 93 minutes and 33 seconds.
1985 – Yul Brynner left his role as the King of Siam after 4,600 performances in “The King and I.”
1986 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states could outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults.
1994 – The U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of the 1994 national championship and banned her from the organization for life for an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan.
1998 – Officials confirmed that the remains of a Vietnam War serviceman buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery were identified as those of Air Force pilot Michael J. Blassie.
2000 – U.S. President Clinton signed the E-Signature bill to give the same legal validity to an electronic signature as a signature in pen and ink.
2004 – The international Cassini spacecraft entered Saturn’s orbit. The craft had been on a nearly seven-year journey.
Visitation: Friday, June 30 from 12- 6 p.m. at Memorial Funeral Home – Homer
Funeral: Saturday, July 02 at 2:30 p.m. at Homer High School
Interment: Following funeral at Willis Chapel Cemetery in Lisbon
Mildred Littleton
December 09, 1954 – June 24, 2023
Visitation: Friday, June 30 from 1 – 6 p.m. at Memorial Funeral Home in Arcadia
Funeral: Saturday, July 02 at 2:30 p.m. at New Living Word in Ruston
Ralph Robinson
February 03, 1929 – June 25, 2023
Memorial service: Thursday, July 6 at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Jonesboro
Billie L. Maxey
May 02, 1940 – June 25, 2023
Visitation: Monday, July 03 at from 10 – 12 p.m. at Evening Star CME Church in Cullen
Funeral: Following visitation
Bienville Parish Journal publishes paid complete obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $80. Contact your funeral provider or bpjnewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Above death notices are free of charge.)
Bienville Parish Sheriff jailer deputy, Randal Perritt, 58, of Arcadia, has landed himself on the other side of the jail cell.
Following an incident that occured on June 15, Perritt has been arrested for malfeasance of office and 6 counts of simple battery.
According to Bienville Parish Sheriff John Ballance, there was an inmate in a cell alone awaiting transfer to another facility when it occured.
“He (inmate) was tampering with the survelliance camera and Deputy Perritt asked him to stop doing it, when he didn’t comply Perritt entered the cell and shoved the inmate against the wall four times and slapped him with an open hand twice,” said Ballance.
Another deputy arrived to the scene following the alleged dispute between Perritt and the inmate. When Perritt was questioned by the Assistant Warden, he denied the accusations made against him.
Upon reviewing the survelliance cameras, Perritt could be seen shoving and slapping the inmate.
Perritt was off of work on Friday, June 16, but when he arrived back to the Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office that following Monday he was immediately put on leave.
Ballance said, “We obtained the warrants for his arrest the next day, on Tuesday, June 21, and he was arrested the same day.”
According to Ballance, deputies are trained not to enter a cell without another deputy to assist if needed.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Each July from 1931 to 1933, the Saline Truck Growers Association held a Watermelon Festival in Saline. It was always held on Fridays. For reasons that remain unclear, the festival was discontinued. In 1983, 50 years after the last Watermelon Festival was held, members of the community came together and decided to revive the festival. Like the 1933 festival, the 1983 festival featured a queen’s parade, continuous entertainment which featured local talent, a variety of contests, exhibits of arts and crafts, and exhibits of watermelons and other farm products.
In keeping with the golden anniversary theme, the 1983 festival featured members of the families of those who were on the program 50 years earlier. Speaker of the House, Lorris Wimberly Sr. spoke at the 1933 festival. Rev. Lorris Wimberly Jr. gave the invocation at the 1983 festival. In 1933, Mr. M.E. Dodd, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Shreveport, was on the program. In 1983, his granddaughter, Mrs. Hubert L. Joiner was recognized on the 1983 program. John Paul and David Fields, members of the family of F.B. Fields, who was president of the Saline Truck Growers Association in 1933, helped plan the 1983 festival.
The 1983 Saline Watermelon Festival was so successful that it became a yearly tradition which has lasted uninterrupted for the past 40 years. This year’s festival, to be held on July 8, marks the Ruby Jubilee of the revived Saline Watermelon Festival.
Wesley Boddie shared with me a program from the 1983 watermelon festival. The program included reprinted articles from the Bienville Democrat about the festival held in 1933, the history of Saline, and interesting advertisements from sponsors of the 1933 festival. Take a walk down memory lane and take a look at the program from the 1983 Golden Jubilee below.
Bienville Parish 4-H headed out the 4-H University in Baton Rouge on June 19 for a week of fun and friendly competition.
Madeline Coe from Ringgold placed 5th in Child Development.
Makenzie Waggoner from Castor placed 7th in Healthy Living Illustrated Talk.
Students from 8 – 12 grade who were eligible to attend 4-H University demonstrated their skills in 30 competitive events, workshops and education sessions. Events ranged from Automotive Care, Sports, Fishing, Healthy Living, Public Speaking, Robotics and Fashion.
These competitions give students the chance to demonstrate life skils through teamwork, decision making, problem solving, resiliency and much more.
4-H allows local youth an opportunity for personal growth, skill mastery and other valuable life skills that are vital to becoming functioning members of society.
If runners would like to receive a race shirt, you much pre-register.
Cost for pre-register is $30 and race day registration will be $25.
Awards will take place immediately following the race. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards will be awarded in the following age groups: 0-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70+. A special award will be given for male/female overall winner, Master (40-49), Grand Master (50-59), Senior Master (60-69), and Legend (70+).
McDuffie timing will be timing the race.
Proceeds will benefit The Storehouse of Saline Food Pantry.
For more information, contact Brandi Guin at 318-413-7714 or email thestorehouseofsaline@gmail.com
OMAHA, Nebraska — Paul Skenes didn’t take the mound Monday night. Not in the traditional sense.
LSU’s All-American ace never got the call to come out of the bullpen into the winner-take-all game against Florida. His immense talents were not needed, but Skenes still found himself heading toward the mound at Charles Schwab Field.
After the final out was recorded in LSU’s 18-4 annihilation of Florida, Skenes triumphantly hoisted his injured teammate Alex Milazzo, confined to crutches, onto his back for a jog out to the mound for the obligatory dogpile.
It was a touching storybook moment to end a remarkable championship season — the program’s seventh College World Series title and first since 2009. LSU opened 2023 as the consensus No. 1 team in every poll, and not without abundant drama, ended it as the national champ.
The Skenes piggyback wasn’t the only marquee moment that stands out from the Tigers’ championship victory.
After spotting Florida a two-run lead in the first, LSU got things going in the second and it was courtesy of an unlikely hero, Jordan Thompson.
The shortstop entered Monday’s game having gone 1-for-30 in the CWS, including 0-for-9 in the first two games of the title series. Compounding his struggles, Thompson was seriously shaky with the glove in Sunday’s 24-4 drubbing and in the aftermath, many LSU fans called for his benching. Apparently none of those were in Omaha.
Greeted by a rousing ovation and cheers as he stepped in for his first plate appearance, Thompson drove a single to left field that scored the Tigers’ initial run, ignited the massive fan base in the stadium, and launched a massive six-run second inning that floored Florida. In the field, he looked worthy of a Gold Glove Monday night.
Starting pitcher Thatcher Hurd had gotten off to a scary first frame by giving up a two-run home run and throwing a wild pitch. Yet Hurd, who weathered a rough patch of the season to become one of Jay Johnson’s most trusted arms, quickly settled down and subsequently silenced the Gators.
After the first-inning homer, Hurd retired the next eight hitters, didn’t surrender another hit in five innings, struck out seven and earned the victory.
Of course, one can’t discuss Monday’s championship win without mentioning Dylan Crews, who went 4-for-6 with three runs scored in his final game in purple and gold. The 2023 Golden Spikes winner finished the season with a .426 batting average and the CWS crown that he coveted when he skipped last summer’s MLB Draft.
The soon-to-be Top 3 MLB draft pick also continued LSU’s developing tradition of cementing legendary status with a hand gesture.
After leading off the eight with a standup triple, Crews took a moment to point to his ring finger — the same sign of impending victory flashed previously by fellow Tiger national champions Angel Reese and Joe Burrow.
Of course, the title run wasn’t just what happened on Monday night.
There wouldn’t have been that dogpile without Ty Floyd’s 17-strikeout performance propelling LSU over No. 1 Wake Forest and into the CWS finals. Or Tre’ Morgan’s game-saving defense at first base or Tommy White’s clutch home runs or Josh Pearson making catches in leftfield in the shadows when it mattered most.
From start to finish this season, everyone contributed to the Tigers’ title run, which made watching Skenes carrying his injured teammate to the dogpile just so perfect.
John and his wife, Mary, were expecting a child. Like his father, also named John, John was a clergyman in the 13 colonies. He was pastor of the United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. Finally, on January 23, 1737, the child was born. As you might expect, John and Mary named the boy John. This made him John III.
When John III was just seven years old, his father died and Mary sent John III to live with his aunt Lydia and uncle Thomas, who had no children of their own. Thomas owned a successful shipping company which imported manufactured goods from England and exported goods such as rum and whale oil. After graduating from Boston Latin School, John III enrolled in Harvard College, his father’s alma mater. In 1754, John III earned a bachelor’s degree and began working for his uncle Thomas.
In the same year John III graduated from Harvard, the North American colonies, then part of the British Empire, entered into a conflict against the French in what is known as the French and Indian War. Thomas’s business thrived during the war as he was able to secure numerous government contracts for shipping supplies to support the war effort. All the while, Thomas was training John III to become a partner in the business, but in 1762, Thomas’s health began to fail. In the following year, John III became a full partner in the shipping company. In August 1764, Thomas died. John III inherited his uncle’s business and became one of the wealthiest men in the colonies.
The British Empire won the French and Indian War, but the victory put the country deep in debt. The British Empire enacted several acts or taxes, such as the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp of 1765, to raise much-needed revenue. John III ignored the Stamp Act. In May 1766, John III’s ship Boston Packet “was the first ship that cleared out at this port [Boston], without stamped papers… and we hear was entered at the custom house in London without any the least difficulty.” Once officials in London began giving John III’s ships difficulty, he boycotted their goods altogether. Word spread quickly of John III’s snubbing the mother country and he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
In the following year, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts which was another tax on various imported goods and John III became a target for customs officials. In 1768, customs officials boarded a ship owned by John III without a search warrant. John III refused to allow the customs officials below decks to search the ship. Customs officials wanted to file charges against John III for smuggling, but the case was dropped for lack of evidence. John III’s supporters contended that John III’s refusal was the first act of resistance against Parliament and was the act which initiated the American Revolution.
In May 1775, John III was unanimously elected President of the Continental Congress. He was presiding when a fellow Massachusetts delegate nominated George Washington as commander-in-chief of the continental army. In the following year, the colonies declared independence and John III was one of the main financiers of the American Revolution. If the series of events had not taken place which enabled John III to inherit his uncle’s fortune and shipping company, the American Revolution might never have taken place and we might have remained British subjects.
John III also snubbed the mother country when he signed the Declaration of Independence. By signing this document, all 56 signers knew that they would certainly be executed if America lost the war. Of all the 56 signatures, John III’s is the largest, the most flamboyant, and the most prominent on the page. John III’s signature became a part of popular culture. Even today, nearly two and a half centuries later, when someone asks for a signature, they sometimes ask for John III’s signature. They ask you for your John Hancock.
Sources:
1. The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 8, 1766, p.2.
2. The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 29, 1766, p.2.
3. Maryland Gazette, June 12, 1766, p.1.
4. Thomas Jefferson, et al, July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence.
A long time ago I wrote a romance story about an American soldier and a young Cherokee girl set against the backdrop of the Trail of Tears. The opening line was “the sky glowed amber in the west.” It was evening and the day was done. It was dusk, and the world was settling after labors under the sun. Nature was voicing its presence as little creatures of all kinds came out from under their daytime hiding spots to stretch their legs and get some grub.
I love the evening. I love dusk because it’s a magical time when the sky is painted with hues of orange, pink, and purple. It’s a stunning natural phenomenon that deserves our admiration. As the day fades into night, the world seems to slow, and a sense of calmness and tranquility sets in. One poet says: The sable veil of the night is drawn, and the stars rush out in their myriads.
The beauty of dusk lies not only in the way it transforms the world around us but also in the way it brings a sense of calm and completion. Of finality. As the day comes to a close, I feel the transition from the weariness and negotiations of the day to the oneness of the night. It’s hard to hear my Father’s call when the braying of man is in your ear. Dusk is a time when we can slow down, take a deep breath, and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.
In our grim world, it’s easy to overlook the beauty. We’re often too busy rushing from one thing to the next to take the time to appreciate the world the Son gave us. Mr. McGraw said: Six lanes. Taillights. Red ants marchin’ into the night. They disappear to the left and right again. Another supper from a sack. A ninety-nine cent heart attack. I got a poundin’ head and an achin’ back. And the camel’s buried in a big straw stack.
Meanly like ants our life it frittered away. The poet William Wordsworth wrote, “the world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.” But if we can slow down and take a moment to enjoy the magnificence of dusk, we’ll be rewarded with a sense of peace and tranquility that we can carry with us into the night and beyond.
And I write:
As the sun sets, and the sky turns to dusk
The world around us slows, no longer a rush
The sable veil of night is drawn, stars shine bright
As the day is done, and darkness takes flight
The sky is painted, with hues so divine
A sight to behold, it’s truly divine
The heavens declare God’s glory, the sky proclaims
And the beauty of dusk, is nature’s sweet refrain
In this moment, we can slow down and breathe
Appreciate the beauty, our hearts to relieve
Nature’s balm, for our weary souls
As dusk sets in, and the day unfolds
So let us take a moment, to cherish dusk’s beauty
To reflect, and renew our sense of duty
For in this moment, we can find peace
And let the worries of the day, finally cease
(Josh Beavers is an award winning writer and author. He has earned more than 40 individual writing awards and is syndicated in 12 North Louisiana news journals. The Louisiana Press Association has recognized him five times for excellence in opinion writing, and he has earned numerous Best Investigative Reporting Awards and Freedom of Information Awards for exposure of governmental corruption in Webster Parish.)
You can definitely never go wrong with the combo of brown sugar and cinnamon in my book. I have so many variations for “honey bun” recipessssssss that I could probably make a mini cookbook of them! These cookies are scooped, pressed with a tablespoon and filled to overflowing with honey bun goodness. Then drizzle with extra icing to send them right over the top! Enjoy.
Cookies: 1 cup butter, room temperature 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping: 1/2 cup flour 1/3 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/4 cup butter, melted
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Pour dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix until combined. Use a medium or large cookie scoop to place on baking sheets. Make the topping by whisking the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add in melted butter and mix until combined. It will be crumbly. Use a tablespoon to press a well into the center of each cookie. Fill the well with the crumbly topping. Overflowing is ok! Bake for 12 minutes.
No one in real life ever wears what models in big city fashion shows wear.
You’ve seen clips of these things on television or, in a weak moment, clicked to see the newest styles, all the rave, “the newest line” by (Made Up Designer Names Alert!) Melik Boovoir or Salome deNeuve or Pepe Duboir.
The model looks like he or she is wearing either a pastel Hefty bag — how to you take a bathroom break with this thing on? — or something they stole off a scarecrow. Everything is really tight or really slouchy. Sometimes they have hats on their heads that look like things we used to make in Vacation Bible School.
Who wears this stuff?
Even at awards shows, most of the Who Looked Best On The Red Carpet gang appear to have lost a bet. Tip of the cap for the man or woman who bought something off the rack pulled the standard tux out of the back of the closet, shined their shoes, and showed up looking like a person you wouldn’t be scared to share either a cab ride or a hymn book with.
For the past 10 days or so, between thunderstorms and power outages and picking up limbs, most of us north Louisiana common folk were too busy looking for air conditioning and cable to watch LSU scrap its way to a seventh College World Series championship to notice that the Berlin Fashion Show was underway in Germany which, conveniently, is where Berlin still is.
Dapper dressers were all up in the Neue Natoinalgalerie to become one with the highlight of the week, the Saint Laurent show, quite a spectacle with fans taking phone videos of, as GQ reported, “the latest evolution of Anthony Vaccarello’s seductive menswear collection.”
The fashion writer continued, something along the lines of how “all eyes” would be on “nonstop action on and off runways elsewhere, too.” Yes: after the “hyper-exclusive” affair in Berlin, we are off to places like Florence and Milan, which precedes a “whirlwind blitz through a jam-packed Paris Fashion Week.”
Again, the only real people you ever see in these runway clothes are the people on the runways. And as soon as they’re off the runways, they put on jeans and T-shirts and look much, much sharper than they did wearing clothes that look like balloons.
Granted, when I was growing up my dad told me my idea of being “dressed up” was having my shoes tied. And God love him, he was right. I can tie a tie now and keep my oxfords shined, but the only sense I have of fashion I have is, “Does this look normal? Would this embarrass my grandmother?” It’s about one step ahead of Granimals.
My personal mechanic, old-school country music supplier, and fashion assistant is Shine Broussard, who is from Morgan City. (He goes by “Francois” during Fashion Season; his signature color is brown.) He has assured me that although he can’t “travel abroad” to the Big Shows this summer and fall, he is making the local circuit, which includes stops in Dubach (August 7-11, Denim Week), Greater Sibley (September 18-22, Burlap), Gibsland (October 2-6, Gingham), and Lower Summerfield (November 27-December 1, Dealer’s Choice).
“My main fashion advice,” said Shine, “is to remember that no one pays nearly as much attention to you as you think they do. Save your money and be comfortable and presentable and non-offensive. Good taste never goes out of style.”
Shine, who is a fashionista only during the fall shows, told me this on a break from changing out the transmission on a GTO his uncle willed him. This is a man you can trust.
So …
If you’re like Shine and grease is a common opponent, consider a Dickies jumpsuit. Otherwise, an iron, a white button down, shined shoes, an A-line, a Godet or flare dress, a business suit, jeans that fit, and a clean T-shirt, those are always in style. It doesn’t have to match: it just has to “go.”
1635 – The French colony of Guadeloupe was established in the Caribbean.
1675 – Frederick William of Brandenburg crushed the Swedes.
1709 – The Russians defeated the Swedes and Cossacks at the Battle of Poltava.
1776 – American Colonists repulsed a British sea attack on Charleston, SC.
1778 – Mary “Molly Pitcher” Hays McCauley, wife of an American artilleryman, carried water to the soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth and, supposedly, took her husband’s place at his gun after he was overcome with heat.
1869 – R. W. Wood was appointed as the first Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy.
1894 – The U.S. Congress made Labor Day a U.S. national holiday.
1902 – The U.S. Congress passed the Spooner bill, it authorized a canal to be built across the isthmus of Panama.
1911 – Samuel J. Battle became the first African-American policeman in New York City.
1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo along with his wife, Duchess Sophie.
1919 – The Treaty of Versailles was signed ending World War I exactly five years after it began. The treaty also established the League of Nations.
1921 – A coal strike in Great Britain was settled after three months.
1930 – More than 1,000 communists were routed during an assault on the British consulate in London.
1939 – Pan American Airways began the first transatlantic passenger service.
1938 – The U.S. Congress created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure construction loans.
1940 – The “Quiz Kids” was heard on NBC radio for the first time.
1942 – German troops launched an offensive to seize Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus and the city of Stalingrad.
1943 – “The Dreft Star Playhouse” debuted on NBC radio.
1944 – “The Alan Young Show” debuted on NBC radio.
1945 – U.S. General Douglas MacArthur announced the end of Japanese resistance in the Philippines.
1949 – The last U.S. combat troops were called home from Korea, leaving only 500 advisers.
1950 – North Korean forces captured Seoul, South Korea.
1951 – “Amos ’n’ Andy” moved to CBS-TV from radio.
1954 – French troops began to pull out of Vietnam’s Tonkin Province.
1960 – In Cuba, Fidel Castro confiscated American-owned oil refineries without compensation.
1964 – Malcolm X founded the Organization for Afro American Unity to seek independence for black people in the Western Hemisphere.
1965 – The first commercial satellite began communications service. It was Early Bird (Intelsat I).
1967 – Israel formally declared Jerusalem reunified under its sovereignty following its capture of the Arab sector in the June 1967 war.
1971 – The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the draft evasion conviction of Muhammad Ali.
1972 – U.S. President Nixon announced that no new draftees would be sent to Vietnam.
1976 – The first women entered the U.S. Air Force Academy.
1978 – The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the medical school at the University of California at Davis to admit Allan Bakke. Bakke, a white man, argued he had been a victim of reverse racial discrimination.
1996 – The Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old men-only policy at the South Carolina military school.
1996 – Charles M. Schulz got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1997 – Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear after three rounds of their WBA heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas, NV.
1998 – Poland, due to shortage of funds, is allowed to lease, U.S. aircraft to bring military force up to NATO standards.
1998 – The Cincinnati Enquirer apologized to Chiquita banana company and retracted their stories that questioned company’s business practices. They also agreed to pay more than $10 million to settle legal claims.
2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court declared that a Nebraska law that outlawed “partial birth abortions” was unconstitutional. About 30 U.S. states had similar laws at the time of the ruling.
2000 – Darva Conger announced that she had done a layout for Playboy magazine. Conger had married Rick Rockwell on Fox-TV’s “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire.”
2000 – The European Commission announced that they had blocked the planned merger between the U.S. companies WorldCom Inc. and Sprint due to competition concerns.
2000 – Six-year-old Elián González returned to Cuba from the U.S. with his father. The child had been the center of an international custody dispute.
2001 – Slobodan Milosevic was taken into custody and was handed over to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. The indictment charged Milosevic and four other senior officials, with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war in Kosovo.
2001 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit set aside an order that would break up Microsoft for antitrust violations. However, the judges did agree that the company was in violation of antitrust laws.
2004 – The U.S. turned over official sovereignty to Iraq’s interim leadership. The event took place two days earlier than previously announced to thwart insurgents’ attempts at undermining the transfer.
2004 – The U.S. resumed diplomatic ties with Libya after a 24-year break.
2004 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that enemy combatants could challenge their detention in U.S. Courts.
2005 – The final design for the “Freedom Tower” (One World Trade Center) was formally unveiled.
2007 – The American bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list.
2010 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live.
The following arrests were made by local law enforcement agencies.
06/18/23
Ronald Clark of Pittsboro, Ms., was arrested as a fugitive for operating a vehicle while under suspension for certain prior offenses and possession of methamphetamine.
06/20/23
LaMarcus Palmer of Ringgold was arrested for battery of a police officer, domestic abuse battery, possession of marijuana, resisting an officer, resisting an officer with force or violence and violation of probation/parole.
06/21/23
Jaylon Dew was arrested for operating a vehicle with a suspended license/no license issued.
William Terry of Heflin was arrested for resisting an officer and 3 counts of simple battery of the infirm.
Randal Perritt of Arcadia was arrested for malfeasance in office and 6 counts of simple battery.
06/22/23
Justin Kent of Elm Grove was arrested for simple criminal damager to property and aggravated second degree battery.
Keric Jackson of Bienville was arrested for disturbing the peace – appearing in an intoxicated condition.
Neketorry Mitchell of Arcadia was arrested for improper supervision of a minor by a parent or legal custodian.
Dustin Smith of Gibsland was arrested for failure to appear warrant.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Funeral service: 2 p.m., immediately following visitation.
Bienville Parish Journal publishes paid complete obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $80. Contact your funeral provider or bpjnewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Above death notices are free of charge.)
