By Michelle Bates

The Arcadia Bienville Parish Chamber of Commerce will host its Annual Banquet and Fundraiser at 6:30 p.m., at the Arcadia Events Center on Monday, April 22. And before the banquet gets in full swing Monday, the chamber has named its Man of the Year Perry Carver of Gibsland, its Woman of the Year Donna Wiggins of Ringgold and Heritage Award Winner retired Coroner Don Smith of Arcadia. 

Perry Carver

Perry Carver, of Gibsland, has been named 2024 Man of the Year. Gibsland, LA is a long way from Perry Carver’s hometown of Norcross, Georgia but that is exactly where he found himself in February of 2015. Perry was no stranger to the area. He had been regularly visiting Bienville Parish since 1982 researching the lives and deaths of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The pair died in a police ambush eight miles south of Gibsland in 1934. Perry was also a regular attendee of the Authentic Bonnie and Clyde festival, which is held in Gibsland annually since 1993.

Perry came into Gibsland several times of the year to visit The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum and its curator L.J. “Boots” Hinton, whose father, Ted, was a member of the posse that killed Bonnie and Clyde. After 10 years of operation, the museum, which opened in 2005, was in danger of closing. When Boots contacted Perry about possibly purchasing the museum, Perry already knew that his answer would be yes. The sale was finalized in February 2015 and Perry immediately relocated to Gibsland. He put his nose to the grindstone and went to work keeping the museum open seven days a week. He added his own extensive collection of items to the museum. Perry also located and acquired new exhibits for the museum. Within a few years, he was able to purchase the building housing the museum as well as two adjoining buildings. This allowed him to enlarge the museum and gift shop and add Bonnie and Clyde’s Last Stop Cafe. In 2021, Perry purchased the historic Gibsland Lions Club building in which he plans to open as bed and breakfast.

Guests come from around the globe to visit the museum. In 2018, Kevin Costner visited the museum while in the area filming scenes for the film “The Highwaymen.” In 2023, the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum was placed on the Louisiana Film Trail. According to the Louisiana Office of Tourism, it is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the state.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday through Sunday. Stop in and say hi to Perry. We’d love to see you!

Donna Wiggins

Ringgold native Donna Wiggins has been named the chamber’s 2024 Woman of the Year.

Donna Sue Short Wiggins is a lifetime resident of Ringgold. She is the daughter of the late Mack and Sible Rockett Short. Donna graduated from Ringgold High School in 1982 and then went to LA Tech to further her education.

In 1986, she married her high school sweetheart, Joe Wiggins, and they have two children, Mallory Wiggins and Joedy Wiggins and his wife, Lauren and three grandchildren, Joedy Jr., Rey Olivia and Myles Wiggins. She also has two brothers, Steve Short and Larry Short.

In 1987, Donna took over the family businesses. She is an owner of Rockett Funeral Home in Ringgold, and Rockett-Nettles Funeral Home in Coushatta, as well as vice president of Rockett Life Insurance Company. Donna serves our community by helping families in need with a very compassionate heart and treating each family as if they were her own. She owned Donna’s Fashions in downtown Ringgold from 1994 until 2006.

She has not only been a business owner who has always supported Ringgold but a community leader. She was active in the Ringgold Recreation Club and Dixie Youth baseball from 1992 until 2003, where she served as president for nine of those 10 years. She was active with the Slabtown Festival from 1990 to 2003 where she served as treasurer in 1990 and as president for seven years.

Donna became a member of the Ringgold Women’s Club in 1992 where she served several offices including president for five of those years. While serving as president of the Women’s Club and Slabtown, she orchestrated getting all new Christmas lights for the Town of Ringgold, and had a town Christmas Celebration at city hall for three years. She was elected to the board of directors for Riverdale Academy for 12 years where she served as secretary for 10 years and was elected as the only woman to ever serve as president of the Riverdale Academy Board.

Donna was chosen to represent Ringgold on the Bienville Parish Tourism Committee several years ago to promote Ringgold and Bienville Parish. She has also served on the board of directors of Bienville Council on Aging and on the Bienville Chamber of Commerce, where she served one term each as vice president and president. Donna is a member of the Louisiana Funeral Directors Association and a one-time member of the board of directors of the Northwest Louisiana Funeral Directors.

In 2012, she was honored as the Ringgold Slabtown Festival Grand Marshal. Donna has the distinction of being the first female to serve on the Ringgold Town Council. In 2013, became the first female to be elected as mayor of the Town of Ringgold, where she served until 2018, electing not to run for re-election. She is currently the first female board member and chairman of the Bienville Parish Wards 4 & 5 Fire Protection.

Don Smith

Arcadia native Don Smith has been named the chamber’s 2024 Heritage Award winner.

Don was born April 5, 1946 in Jonesboro to Enid & OB Smith. His family settled in Gibsland not long after, where Don was raised from an early age with his two brothers and two sisters. He graduated from Gibsland High School in 1964. After high school, Don got married and moved away for a short time before returning to Bienville Parish.

After working a few years part-time, he went to work for the Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office full-time in 1980. During his time in the department, he held the position as a deputy sheriff and the communications supervisor. He retired after 22 years of service in 2002.

Don didn’t stay retired long before he was appointed as the Bienville Parish Coroner in July of 2004. A special election was held later that year to solidify the appointment. He retired in 2024 after 20 years in office. If you have a conversation with anyone who has found themselves in a position to need the Coroner you will hear praises for his kindness, compassion, patience, and professionalism when they needed it the most.

Another project he took on was the Emergency 911 and addressing system for Bienville Parish. Don was an integral part in the installation of the new system and continues to serve as the 911 coordinator for the parish.

Don has served in many community organizations including the Arcadia Jaycees, the Arcadia Lions Club, and the Arcadia/Bienville Parish Chamber of Commerce. He is a past president of both the Lions Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on or has served on several state boards including; NENA, APCO, and the State of Louisiana Coroner’s Association. He has held the position of President on the NENA board, and vice-president for the Coroner’s Association.

The most important thing to Don has always been his family. Don married the love of his life, Priscilla, in July of 1990 and they settled in Arcadia to make their life together. Between the two of them, they have three children, nine grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren. They are both members of First Baptist Church in Arcadia.

The most important lessons Don has passed on to his children are the importance of family, community, and hard work. Family dinners were always a priority even when it was difficult. Let everything you do be done to the best of your ability. Take pride in everything you do, no matter how big or small. Don still possesses the qualities and it shows in all that he does. Not only for his family, but for his community.

Again, the banquet is at 6:30 p.m., at the Arcadia Events Center, on Monday, April 22.

All sponsors will be recognized at the banquet and will be listed in the event program as well as on the Chamber Facebook page.

By Michelle Bates

Saturday, April 20 will be a busy day in Arcadia with an improved farmer’s market, the first of 2024.

Historic Downtown Arcadia Association’s Farmer’s Market, set to be from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., will have a variety of vendors to choose from as well as live entertainment and an art show by the Bienville Parish Talented Art students.

HDAA President Melanie Colvin said while the event will be during the Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days and the Highway 80 sale weekend, the vendors coming will be well worth the trip to downtown Arcadia.

“It is so nice to have so many business owners coming together to support exciting events in our historic downtown,” Colvin said. “We would like to invite all of our Arcadia residents to support the Farmer’s Market and to come and see what our downtown has to offer.”

Set to be at the Henderson Jordan Memorial Park (between Calico Corner and Rolling Hills Thrift Store), items will include eggs, pickles, jellies, nuts and more. Richard Elkins, a new vendor, will be available to provide grain fed beef (steaks, burger, and roasts, all vacuum packed by Bellevue in Haughton).

Other vendors include Mid South Pecans and Nursery. They will have cinnamon pecans, chocolate and white chocolate covered pecans, sugar free chocolate covered pecans, Cajun Pecans, small pecan pies, pecan pie muffins and praline crunch. Also, Rachelle McQuinston, a homestead blogger, will have a variety of products, including fresh eggs.

Another booth will feature several North Louisiana farm products such as green onions, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, fresh eggs, freeze-dried candies, Amish popcorn, sweets, pickles, dip mixes, paper seeds and honey cubes. Singleton’s Creations will be on hand with planter boxes, soy candles and soaps.

The market is free to all vendors this month.

As for live entertainment, Bud Christian will be performing at the park from 10 a.m. until. Bring your favorite lawn chair to enjoy the great music. Water will also be provided for free, courtesy of HDAA, to guests as long as supplies last.

For vendor information, or more general information, contact Colvin at 318-245-1230, email mtnestmercantile@gmail.com or go the Historic Downtown Arcadia Association Facebook page.

My name is Madi Horne, and I have recently started with the LSU AgCenter as an extension agent specializing in Nutrition and Community Health. My formal appointment includes SNAP-Ed and Flavors of Health programming for Lincoln and Bienville Parishes. I am excited for this position and all the potential opportunities that await. Soon I plan to take the exam to become a Registered Dietitian and continue my education. My passion for community health attracted me to this position as my goal since I started studies in this field was “to make nutrition education more accessible to the general public.” I love working with the public and bringing something I am passionate about to so many people.

My love for food began at a very young age. My family opened a restaurant when I was 7 years old, so I have many years of service experience. One of my favorite things to do was spend time in the kitchen with my dad trying new recipes and making new menu items. I love food service because I think food is one of the very few things that gives us the ability to connect with all people. For a long time, I used to say there weren’t many things I loved more than seeing a restaurant full of people coming together over a service I got to help provide. I also worked in food service while completing my undergraduate degree as a server then manager at a pizzeria/brewery and after I completed my Master’s at a local café/store with dietary/herbal supplements, whole foods groceries, and natural home/health products.

Both of my grandfathers passed at relatively young ages due to health conditions heavily associated with nutrition, which sparked my interest in nutrition as a form of healthcare. After high school, I decided to follow that interest in Louisiana Tech where I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics. After completion, I moved to Texas where I studied at Stephen F. Austin State University to obtain my Master’s degree and complete my Dietetic Internship. My Master of Science is in Public Health with a focus on Integrative and Functional Nutrition. I love integrative and functional nutrition because it pushes us to look deeper than simply the foods we eat and their potential health outcomes. This combination with public health really sparked my interest in a career that combines wholistic nutrition and wellness with the ability to create and implement change in a community.

When I’m not studying for my Registered Dietitian exam or in the office, I love cooking and trying new recipes. I spent a large portion of my childhood in Louisiana and have loved learning recipes, cooking methods, and the culture behind foods. Recently, I have been on a Mediterranean-style kick and hope to bring some of my new-found recipes to North Louisiana! I also love being outside, fishing, and attempting to grow things. In the past couple years, I’ve been in apartments, so my growing has been limited to indoor plants. I’ve recently started some raised beds with my roommates at our house, so hopefully we’ll be having some tomatoes, squash, and peppers soon!

I look forward to the many opportunities that come with working with the LSU AgCenter and hope to be a useful resource for residents of Lincoln and Bienville Parishes. I have much to learn, many people to meet, and I can’t wait for it all! For more information about how I can serve you or groups in the community, please feel free to reach out to me at mhorne@agcenter.lsu.edu or at my Lincoln office phone (318) 251-5134.

The towns of Arcadia and Gibsland will be participating in “Love the Boot” Week on Saturday, April 20 and Saturday, April 27, respectively, as part of the larger, statewide effort to eradicate litter.

Arcadia

It’s countdown to the Louisiana Love the Boot Week: Keep Louisiana Beautiful. Our Mayor and Town Council are issuing the call to our citizens, churches, schools, fraternities, sororities, civic and community organizations to join us for this statewide initiative to clean up and beautify our beloved Town of Arcadia.

Meet us at Arcadia Town Hall at 8:30 a.m., Saturday, April 20, to receive your free t-shirt and assignment instructions. We will break into five groups representing our five districts. We will meet back at Town Hall at noon with all of our trash bags and enjoy a hotdog with music and good fellowship.

Whose districts will be the cleanest? District 1, Debbie Harris; District 2, Melanie Monroe; District 3, Joseph Pruitt Jr.; District 4, Edwin Mason; and District 5, Timothy Williams.

Gibsland

The Town of Gibsland’s cleanup week will coincide with the Louisiana Love the Book Week, from April 20 through April 28. We will do a community-wide cleanup on Saturday, April 27 at 9 a.m. Volunteers will meet at Gibsland Town Hall, with free t-shirts going to the first 20 volunteers contingent upon sizes. The plan is to have a dumpster in the lot behind Town Hall.

Mt. Lebanon Historical Society’s annual Stagecoach Trail Day fundraiser will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2024 from 11:00 – 3:00 at the Stagecoach Trail Museum south of Gibsland.

The Country Store will serve gourmet hot dogs, snacks, desserts, and soft drinks. Events include a cakewalk with music by DJ John Cole and a large silent auction.

This year’s raffle is for a 4- gallon fish fryer by R&V Works. Tickets are $5 each, and can be purchased at the festival or in advance from Gibsland Bank in Gibsland. Raffle tickets are $5.00 each, and the drawing will be held at 3:00. You do not need to be present to win. Make plans to attend! This is an important fundraiser for our local museum.

Bienville Pre-K 3 has announced their April Student of the Month – Kameron!

Kameron, 4, is described by his teachers as a bashful, handsome, little boy with a beautiful smile.He loves fruit snacks and chocolate Teddy Grahams. His favorite color is blue and he loves different fidgets. He loves to dance and play with his brother and mother. Kameron’s favorite thing to do outside is play in the dirt and roll the wheels on his truck.

Congratulations Kameron!

What does organic really mean? Something that was produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers or chemicals. Organic farmers utilize different methods to control pests and to fertilize with.

Let’s start the pest control. There are many natural predator plants to use.  Planting basil will help control flies and mosquitoes. Nasturiurtium plants deter squash bugs, aphids, whiteflies, and hornworms. 

You can also buy commercial products that are used in organic gardening.  Neem oil is widely used as an insecticide or fungicide. It is labeled for gardens and trees and shrubs. Another commercial product is BT. BT is a great spray for worms and caterpillars. If you need to use a dust there is always dipel dust.  Diatomaceous Earth is a great and effective insecticide for crawling insects. It has many uses including killing fleas and ants. It has a rough coating that scratches the insects. Some people us Diatomaceous Earth to worm pets. 

There are many organic fertilizers that are available for fertilizer. Manure, cottonseed meal, fish meal, blood and bone meal. These are kind to plants and will not burn as much as regular fertilizer. Fish Emulsion is a great source of fertilizer for ferns. When you plant bulbs most people use the bone and blood meal for fertilizer. 

If you prefer to use organics, just look at the label of the  product. OMRI listed products are always organic. There are new listings each year. Spinsoid is another great new one. It is derived from a soil organism. Spinsoid contains a bait that attracts foraging fire ants and is readily taken back to the nest, distributed throughout the colony , killing the ants including the queen. The more that you learn about using organics the more you will like using them.  

(Mitzi Thomas owns Minden Farm & Garden LLC. Watch for her column on Fridays in Bienville Parish Journal.)

Music has been a constant companion throughout my life. It has accompanied me in times of joy and sorrow and never let me down.

My earliest memories are of my bedroom on 22nd Ave in my hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I was probably four or five years old. I had a small, cheap, table-mounted open-top record player. A babysitter in my neighborhood gifted me two 45 singles, Herman’s Hermits “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” and The Beatles, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” I probably looked at the Herman’s Hermits song as novelty song even at that age. But that Beatles record opened a door. It was unlike everything else. It moved me. I became obsessed with it, and other songs like it. It would start the lifelong love affair I’ve had with that band, and with all music. 

I spent a lot of spare time in my youth hanging out in record stores. I didn’t have much money to purchase records, but I could spend hours flipping through bins, looking at album covers, and exhaustively studying the art and photographs on the front and back sleeves of the records. I was the annoying kid who asked tireless questions of the salesclerks who worked in the record stores. Back then the only way to see a band in Hattiesburg, MS was to catch them on a network variety show— typically lip-syncing— attend a concert at the coliseum on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, or study album art.

I learned about bands and music from the covers of their albums, reading Rolling Stone magazine, and mining knowledge from record store employees. A certain truth in life is 95% of the people who work in record stores are huge music fans, and if one is persistent enough, one can learn a lot from them. 

My mother forced me to take piano lessons at nine years old. The teacher, Mrs. Huthmaker, was the organist at our church. The only songs she would teach me were out of the Methodist Hymnal. I have nothing against the old traditional hymns at my church, but as a nine year old I wanted to learn the music I was hearing in record stores and on the radio. Though every time I would bring in sheet music of popular songs I was hearing on the radio Mrs. Huthmaker would pull out the Methodist Hymnal and make me practice, “Just As I Am,” over and over and over and over. I think she considered bands such as The Beatles, Stones, and Zeppelin as “Satan’s music.”

My brief piano career coincided with the release of George Harrison’s first solo album, “All Things Must Pass.” The hit single on that album was, “My Sweet Lord.” I can remember thinking to myself, “Mrs. Huthmaker will certainly like this. It’s a song I love— from a former Beatle no less— and it should fit in with her agenda.” At the time, it appeared her agenda was to crown me as pianist-in-waiting at Main Street United Methodist Church. I used all my allowance to buy the sheet music to “My Sweet Lord,” and brought it to the next lesson. “Mrs. Huthmaker I would like to learn this song.” 

She took one look at the title and beamed, “Robert, I would love to teach you this song.” Then she opened the sheet music and read lyrics to the background vocals— all Hare Krishna chants— “Hare Krishna, Hare Lama, Hare Hare, Hari Krishna.” She was not happy. Her pianist-in-waiting now appeared to be abandoning Wesleyanism. I guess in her mind, the obvious next move was shaving my head, and being the only nine year old hanging out in airports with a tambourine and an orange robe. 

All I wanted to do was learn piano music that I loved. George’s solo record marked the end of my piano career as Mrs. Huthmaker told my mother that I might want to try a different instrument. For the first time in my life, I was fired. There would be other times. At 10 years old I picked up the guitar and never looked back.

I started working as a disc jockey at a local radio station in 1977. Today, when I read the annual statement of my tax history from the internal Revenue Service, I laughed that I virtually made no money as a disc jockey, $2.35 per hour. The radio station didn’t know it, but— had I had any money— I would have paid them to let me sit in a room filled with records playing music for the masses. It was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. I mostly worked the 7:00 PM to midnight shift through high school. 

Other than my immediate family, food and music were my first two loves. They have always been intertwined in my life. I live with music. There is almost always a song in my head, not a full song, but a snippet of a chorus or verse playing over and over and over and over. I don’t know if that’s a symptom of my severe ADHD, or if everyone deals with that. But the song plays over and over until I listen to another song. Then when that song ends, a snippet of it is on constant repeat in my brain. 

I associate food with songs and vice versa. Eating a dish can trigger a song in my head that takes me back to the first time I heard it. Conversely, hearing a song can take me back to an item I was eating when the song played. I can’t remember most people’s names or what I ate for breakfast two days ago, but I can remember the lyrics from an obscure song, from a long-forgotten band, that I listened to 50 years ago.

There are even foods to which I assign music labels. I have a list of Grateful Dead foods. Those are foods that everyone else seems to like that I don’t like at all. Most of my friends are fans of the Grateful Dead. I am not. 

Some of my Grateful Dead foods are coffee and Brussels sprouts. People love coffee, they are fanatical about it. They will wait in line for long stretches to pay exorbitant prices for a cup of coffee. People loved The Grateful Dead. They camped out overnight to see their shows, and when the band was active would travel great distances, over and over, to see them play, sometimes every day.

My list of Grateful Dead foods gets shorter as I get older. Tastes change and I add previously disliked food items to my lineup. My musical taste changes as well. I am a rock and roll guy. Most popular music that was recorded and released between 1965 and 1995 is in my wheelhouse. Though I have always loved legit, classic-country music and in my forties started to appreciate jazz and classical music. 

Though I sometimes wonder if life would have been different if Mrs. Huthmaker would have gotten her way. Or what I would be listening to, what I would be eating— or if I would even be in the restaurant business— had I never heard the Beatles’, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” I can’t remember that babysitter’s name. but I owe her a debt of gratitude for a lifetime of food and music.

Onward.

Spinach Flan with Roasted Tomato Coulis

2 cups Heavy cream
1 ea 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained well
4 ea Eggs
2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp Fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp Ground nutmeg
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano as needed for garnish
1 recipe Roasted Tomato Coulis

Preheat oven to 275. Combine heavy cream and spinach in a small sauce pot and warm over low heat, just to take the chill off. Remove from heat and puree until smooth. Strain through a chinois. Discard any solids that remain. Transfer to a bowl and combine remaining ingredients gently.  Coat 8 4-6 oz. oven safe ramekins with non-stick spray and divide mixture among them. Bake in a water bath for 30 minutes or until set. Allow to cool slightly. Using a paring knife, loosen the flan from around the edges and unmold onto desired plate. Garnish with fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Yield: 8 servings

Roasted Tomato Coulis

6 ea Roma tomatoes
1 TB Vegetable oil
½ tsp Kosher salt
¼ tsp Fresh ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350.

Coat tomatoes in oil and place on sheet pan in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until skins begin to wrinkle and begin browning. Rotate tomatoes every 10 minutes to avoid one side burning.

(Robert St. John is a chef, restaurateur and published cookbook author who lives in Hattiesburg, Miss.)

Please send all non-profit calendar events to bpjnewsla@gmail.com

April 20 (9 – 5 p.m.)

Bonnie & Clyde Autism Awareness Event

April 20

Year of the Iris Annual Spring Picnic – Briarwood Caroline Dorman Nature Preserve

April 20 (8 – 1 p.m.)

Historic Downtown Arcadia Association’s Farmer’s Market

Henderson Jordan Memorial Park 

April 22 

Bienville Chamber of Commerce Annual Membership Banquet – Arcadia Event Center

April 26 (9 a.m. – 2 p.m.)

Local Job Fair – Gibsland Branch Library

April 27 

Spring General Election Day 

May 2 (10- 12:30 p.m.)

The Circle of Bienville Medical Center – Spring Lunch & Learn 

The Arcadia Event Center

RSVP to Sharla at 318- 572 – 0274 

May 4 (11 – 3 p.m.)

Mt. Lebabon Historical Soceity’s Annual Stagecoach Trail Day 

Stagecoach Trail Museum 

May 25

The Authentic Bonnie & Clyde Festival – Downtown Gibsland

July 11 – 12

Saline Watermelon Festival Pageant – Saline High School Gymnasium

July 13 

Saline Watermelon Festival 

Notice of Death – April 18, 2024

Amanda Leigh Huish

July 12, 1990 – April 03, 2024

Ringgold, La. 

Graveside service: Friday, April 19, 2024, 11 a.m., Providence Cemetery, Ringgold, La. 

Euradell Shelmon Aubrey

Sept. 21, 1939 – April 15, 2024

Homer, La. 

Visitation: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 1 – 6 p.m., Memorial Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Funeral service: Friday, April 19, 2024, 1 p.m., New Hope Baptist Church, Homer, La. 

Rex Jarrell Young

Nov. 29, 1935 – April 10, 2024

Homer, La.

Visitation: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 5 – 7 p.m., Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Funeral service: Friday, April 19, 2024, 10 a.m., Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Homer, La.

Interment: Hurricane Cemetery, Athens, La. 

Baby Londyn Kidd

March 17, 2024 – April 11, 2024

Homer, La. 

Visitation: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 10 – 2 p.m., Memorial Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Graveside service: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 3 pm., White Oak Grove Cemetery, Homer, La. 

Lizzie Williams

Dec. 12, 1950 – April 12, 2024

Haynesville, La. 

Graveside service: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 11 a.m., Ward Chapel Cemetery, Haynesville, La. 

Deacon W.T. Johnson, Sr.

Feb. 09, 1936 – April 14, 2024

Homer, La. 

Visitation: Friday, April 19, 2024, 1 – 6 p.m., Memorial Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Funeral service: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 10:30 – 12:30 p.m., Mt. Superior Baptist Church, Homer, La. 

Interment: St. John Cemetery, Homer, La. 

Roy Franklin McClure

Nov. 01, 1947 – April 14, 2024

Homer, La. 

Memorial service: Friday, May 3, 2024, 10 a.m., St. Margaret Catholic Church, Homer, La. 

Interment: Lisbon Methodist Cemetery, Lisbon, La. 

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 no charge.)

By Paige Gurgainers

Early Tuesday morning, April 16, a man formerly in custody at the Bienville Parish Jail in Arcadia escaped on foot after jumping out of a Bienville Parish transport van following a court hearing where the judge revoked his bond on a previous charge.

The escapee, Jerry Gray, is described as a 6’3″ black male weighing approximately 220 pounds. He ran west on foot into a wooded area north of Corley Street and South of the railroad tracks in Arcadia. He was wearing a black hoodie with blue jeans and was handcuffed at the time of this escape. 

According to Captain John M. Crawford with the Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office, the agency set up a perimeter in that area and began the search. Multiple agencies came in to assist including, David Wade with tracking dogs, Desoto Parish Sheriff’s Office with a helicopter, U.S. Marshall’s Fugitive Recovery Division. The Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office, North Bienville Fire Department and Fire District 4&5 provided drones. 

“We set up a perimeter, but he is now outside of that perimeter,” said Crawford. “We are following leads and will continue to search on foot and with the drones.”

On April 13, Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter DAR and Claiborne Chapter DAR toured the restored Moreland House in Homer. The family home has been restored by Sara McDaniel of Simply Southern Cottage, and Dr. John Moreland whose family has resided in the home since 1854.

The renovation began two years ago, and is now almost complete. Moreland House has undergone many changes since it was originally built. It began as a dogtrot, a type of house with a long open hallway down the center and rooms on each side. This type of design circulates cool air through a house during the summertime. Later, the hallway was closed and a small front porch with a central dormer was added. The long front porch and additional dormers were added in the 1930s. During the recent renovation, a large beautiful sunporch was added to the back of the house to give additional space to the kitchen and dining room. The house is being furnished with items from the late 1800s as well as items original to the house.

Sara McDaniel gave DAR members a guided tour of the house, and John Moreland gave a PowerPoint presentation about the history of Moreland family who traveled from Georgia to Louisiana in the early 1850s. Several members of Dorcheat-Bistineau and Claiborne chapters are descendants of this Moreland family. More information about Moreland House and the Moreland family history can be found on the Simply Southern Cottage blog. Hostesses for this month’s meeting were: Cindy Madden, Judy Reese, and Sue Kinsey, descendants of Joseph Benson Moreland and Mary Amanda Phillips.

Next month, our chapter will welcome the Louisiana DAR State Regent, Cheryl Gott, to our Spring Luncheon and awards ceremony. She will talk to us about Gerstner’s Field, a World War I pilot training field near Lake Charles. It was one of 32 World War I pilot training fields in the U.S. The training field no longer exists, and she plans to ensure that its history and memory are preserved.

We are excited to welcome Maggie Salter as a new member of our chapter! Her installation ceremony took place at Moreland house. Maggie is a descendant of Revolutionary War patriot Robert Corey who was born in 1752 in Belfast, Ireland. Robert moved to Ninety-Six District in South Carolina, where he served as a Private in Col. Thomas Sumpter’s Brigade. Thomas Sumpter was living a life of retirement until the British burned down his home. He immediately organized the local militiamen into an army. In the summer of 1780, Sumter’s Brigade was the only organized opposition to the British in South Carolina.

Dorcheat-Bistineau DAR is a vibrant, growing service organization which meets in Minden. Any woman age 18 years or older who can prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) is eligible to join DAR. For more information, contact Cindy Madden, Regent of Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter at darcindymadden@gmail.com Please like our Facebook page: Daughters of the American Revolution – Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter.

The Saline Varsity Bobcats fell to North Webster in a double header on Monday night, April 15.

In the first game, North Webster took the win 6-3. They opened the scoring in the second after a single scored one run.

Braydon Hardaway evened the score with a single in the bottom of the second.

A sacrifice bunt gave North Webster the lead again, 2-1 in the top of the third.

Connor Roberts stepped on the mount first for the Bobcats giving up 11 hits and six runs over seven innings, striking out three and walking two. No. 9 opened the game for North Webster. The starting pitcher allowed two hits and one run over two innings, striking out one and walking one.

North Webster accumulated 11 hits in the game. The leadoff hitter led North Webster with three hits in four at bats and there were four stolen bases in the game.

In the second game, the Bobcats could not keep pace with North Webster, losing 6-1.

The Bobcats got on the board first in the first inning after Conner Roberts lined out, scoring one run.

North Webster jumped into the lead in the bottom of the first inning and added to their early lead in the bottom of the third after a single and a triple, each scoring one run.

Braydon Robinson opened the game for Saline allowing 10 hits and six runs (five earned) over six innings, striking out three and walking one. No. 15 led things off on the hill for North Webster. He allowed two hits and one run (zero earned) over seven innings, striking out seven and walking four.

Roberts led the Bobcats with one run batted in. The first baseman went 1-for-3 on the day. Bray Corley and Roberts each collected one hit.

North Webster collected 10 hits in the game with four stolen bases.

The Mill Creek Cemetery Memorial will be held this year on Saturday, May 04, located on Highway 9 in Saline, La. 

They are asking for assistance in maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery in remembrance of your loved ones. Perpetual care donations can be made at the cemetery on Memorial Day or mailed to Sabine Bank & Trust in Saline, La. 

For more information, please contact perpetual caretakers:

Rebecca Watts at 318-393-9642 or rwatts4760@yahoo.com

Quent Watts at 318-536-9450

Season Keiffer at 318-259-6800 

A public meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on May 4 at the cemetery. All are welcome to attend. 

The Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF) is calling upon residents and businesses throughout the state to join others in turning off bright or excess lighting from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. each day between April 15 and May 31 to help protect the billions of migratory birds that fly through Louisiana at night during this period.

Louisiana sits within the Mississippi Flyway migratory path, with the state’s vast wetlands, forests, and coastline serving as critical stops along the birds’ migration routes. Twice a year, 325 bird species travel the Mississippi Flyway, including 40% of shorebirds.  During the 2023 spring migration, an estimated 450 million birds migrated through the state of Louisiana. The majority of those birds migrate at night and typically start their nightly migration about 30 to 45 minutes post-sunset, with peak flights between 10 and 11 p.m.

While the dark skies allow the migratory birds to avoid predators, take advantage of calmer air and utilize the moon and stars for navigation, it also brings with it other dangers such as bright artificial lights and the skyglow from larger cities that can confuse the birds, often causing them to fatally collide into buildings or windows.

“Our city lights can misguide birds, diverting them off course with often dire consequences. This initiative is an easy yet impactful step in helping these birds continue their incredible journey,” said Rebecca Triche, executive director of LWF. “Louisiana is well-known for the populations of migratory birds we see here at different times of the year and people care about keeping wildlife sustainable. By supporting the Lights Out initiative, businesses and individuals can take a practical step to protect the birds that briefly call Louisiana home.”

According to the National Audubon Society, which started the first Lights Out program in Chicago in 1999, just one building in a community with bright lights can cause major problems, citing a week in 2017 when nearly 400 birds were killed when they flew into windows of a 32-story Texas skyscraper because of its floodlights.

Dr. Dan Scheiman, Plants for Birds Program Manager for Audubon Delta, said, “Following that incident, the skyscraper in question joined many other buildings in Houston Audubon’s Lights Out for Birds Program, saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of birds. Each year in the United States an estimated 1 billion birds die by colliding with windows. This number is not sustainable. Every building, every Lights Out program helps reduce this threat to ensure the long-term health of our bird populations.”

Dr. Phil Stouffer, the Lee F. Mason Professor at the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources, has been studying the problem on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge and leads the LSU Bird Window Collision Monitoring Project, which has been in place for five years. The group has recorded 569 dead birds of 75 species on the LSU campus.

“This is a problem that can be overcome,” Stouffer said. “Reducing illumination is one of the easiest approaches that we can all take. Dark skies also benefit other wildlife, and we humans might see a few more stars.”

At LWF’s February 2023 Board of Directors meeting, the organization passed a resolution requesting that “all public buildings observe ‘lights out’ as official policy of the State of Louisiana, City of Baton Rouge and other governmental entities.” The full resolution can be found at https://lawildlifefed.org/resolution/lights-out-to-save-migrating-birds/

Individuals and organizations wanting to join others in the Lights Out Initiative should follow these guidelines:

• Turn off non-essential lights nightly from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. during the migration period.
• Avoid using landscape lighting on trees or gardens where birds may be resting.
• For essential security and safety lighting, use these dark skies-friendly lighting adjustments:

o   Aim lights downwards.

o   Use light shields to direct light downwards and prevent an upward glare.

o   Use motion detectors and sensors so lights turn on when needed.

o   Close blinds at night to limit the amount of light seen through windows.

• For building owners/managers:

o   Adjust custodial schedules to be completed by 11:00 p.m.

o   Ensure lights are turned off after custodial cleaning.

Additional Guidelines for Buildings Over 3 Stories:

• Dim or turn off:

o   Exterior/decorative lighting.

o   Lobby/atrium lights.

o   Perimeter room lights on all levels.

o   Floodlights.

o   Lighting on interior plants/fountains.

o   Lights on vacant floors.

o   Lights with blue-rich white light emissions (over 3000 K in color temperature.)

• Instead use:

o   Desk lamps or task lights instead of overhead lights.

o   “warm-white” or filtered LEDs outdoors (less than 3000 K in color temperature.)

Migration routes, along with the timing of the flight, can vary from day to day due to a number of factors such as the weather conditions.

Individuals can monitor the bird migration in their area by using BirdCast, a migration dashboard provided by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Dashboards for Louisiana and selected cities are:

Louisiana – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA

Alexandria – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA-079

Baton Rouge – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA-033

Houma – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA-109

Lake Charles – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA-019

Lafayette – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA-055

Monroe – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA-073

New Orleans – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA-071

Shreveport – https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-LA-017

As a child, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, called Charlie by everyone who knew him, was a shy boy.  He was often ridiculed in school and was usually the last student chosen to play team sports during recess.  A large part of his shyness came from a speech impediment which he shared to some extent with at least six members of his large family.  Conversation was hard for little Charlie.  His speech was filled with awkward hesitation.  He could form his thoughts perfectly, but he struggled to project his words orally.  Little Charlie loved to read because the words flowed so easily.  When asked to read aloud, the hesitation often returned.  His speech impediment was unpredictable.  Little Charlie never knew which words or phrases would cause him trouble.  A word that he had spoken thousands of times without incident could suddenly become a problem.  Every spoken word was a potential pitfall.  The other students teased and mocked little Charlie until his speech impediment manifested into an occasional blockage.  Their taunts were often answered non-verbally by little Charlie’s fists.  When little Charlie was faced with a blockage, which was normally mid-sentence, he had no choice but to abruptly end the conversation without explanation. 

During the Victorian era, many middle-class children created their own homemade magazines as a form of entertainment.  These magazines usually contained local gossip, hand-drawn pictures, stories, and riddles thrown together seemingly at random.  Through this medium, little Charlie learned that he could communicate more effectively through writing than he could verbally.  Biographer Robert Douglas-Fairhurst said that for little Charlie, “The blank page released his tongue.”  Whereas most of the Victorian children’s homemade magazines had no rhyme or reason, little Charlie’s magazines were thematic and normally contained a table of contents and a detailed index.  For example, one of his homemade magazines pertained to things that began with the letter “M.”  His magazines were usually bound with string between a cover made from a recycled school notebook. 

Little Charlie never wanted to grow up.  He became somewhat obsessed with all things little.  For him, it appeared that once a person accepted that they had reached adulthood, the paradise of childhood was lost forever.  In his own mind, little Charlie envisioned the bullies of his childhood as little people.  He envisioned elephants the size of mice.  He often wrote letters to friends in words that were so small that reading them required a magnifying glass.  

Little Charlie’s magazines became popular with his family and friends.  In them, little Charlie created whimsical worlds as well as nonsensical words.  He escaped from the real world into his own creations.  As a teenager, little Charlie became a published author of poems and articles.  By the age of 24, everything Charlie had published had been anonymous or under assumed initials.  Several of his early stories and poems were published under the initials B.B. which had a meaning that Charlie never revealed.  In 1856, when Charlie submitted a story for the Comic Times, editor Edmund Yates refused to publish it under his pseudonym B.B. and insisted on an alternative.  Charlie submitted a list of potential pen names which were elaborate variations on his real name such as Edgar Cuthwellis and Edgar U.C. Westhall.  All but one on the list was rejected by the editor.  On March 1, 1856, Charlie wrote in his diary that he and the editor had chosen a name, one which was a derivative of his first and middle names in reverse order in schoolboy Latin.  He converted Ludwidge to Ludovicus then to Lewis, and Charles to Carolus then to Carroll.  Nine years after adopting his pen name, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson published his most notable story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” under the pen name Lewis Carroll.

Source: Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and the Secret History of Wonderland (Cambridge, Massachusetts, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2015). 

I am upping the game of your plain-o sausage ball with this Red Lobster Sausage Ball Recipe.  So so SO good.  These are great to go along with your supper or to make for a crowd, no matter the occasion.  They are 100% sure to please!
 
Ingredients:
– 1 box Red Lobster biscuit mix
– 1 pound Jimmie Dean sausage, cooked
– 16 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
– Butter as directed on the biscuit mix box

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cooked sausage with the biscuit mix and cheese in a stand mixer.  Use a large cookie scoop to drop scoops onto baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes. Mix butter and the seasoning packet from the box.  Brush onto each baked sausage ball when removed from the oven.

(Ashley Madden Rowton is a wife, mom and published cookbook author who lives in Minden, La.)

For every athlete the day comes when you’re no longer able to compete either due to age or a career ending injury. Well, for today’s senior bass pros, or what most call the legends of the sport, that day might be approaching a lot sooner than many of them had planned. Today, let’s look at why so many of these elderly pros are looking to load their boats and go home….for good.

Just like any other sport, athletes come to a point in their careers in which they start to contemplate retirement. There comes a day for all athletes where you just can’t compete anymore. So many of today’s bass fishing pros are at that point, mainly due to a technological advancement called forward-facing sonar (FFS). Nothing has impacted the bass fishing world like this latest form of technology.

So, why is this technology having such an impact on the older anglers? Well, I guess it’s the fact that FFS has played right into the hands of the younger generation of anglers moving up into professional bass fishing. They have embraced this technology and taken it to another level which has cut their learning curve and their ability to find fish by 75%. Today’s young anglers all grew up playing video games and FFS for these young anglers is nothing more than just that… a video game.

The old school anglers have not embraced this technology nearly as well as the younger guys and it shows in the tournament results. For  proof, look at the Angler of the Year (AOY) standings and you’ll see names like Matt Herren, Lee Livesay, John Cox, Greg Hackney, Jason Christie, Michael Iaconelli, and the 4-time World champion…. Rick Clunn. As of this writing, all are in the bottom 50 of the AOY standings.  

So why are the older anglers not accepting FFS? Some feel that FFS is not good for the sport in the long run and would like to see some restrictions or rule changes made to help level the playing field and protect the fisheries. But most will tell you that this technology is here to stay as some of the older anglers are now starting to question if they are going to try and get better with FFS or just get out of the sport all together. Most of these anglers will wait and see if B.A.S.S. or MLF make any major rule adjustments to their circuits regarding FFS before they decide to leave the sport they love so much.

My conversations with several professional anglers have revealed there is some resentment to these new young anglers taking over the sport. The legends of the sport don’t like the fact that these young up-and-coming anglers haven’t paid their dues and are not just winning but dominating events immediately. The techniques that used to work for the older guys and how they have fished their whole career is now no longer allowing them to be as competitive as they once were. This has been a shock and blow to their egos.

For the older anglers, it took years of time on the water to obtain the knowledge they possess while these young guns are doing a better job of adapting to the new technology that’s available. No longer do young anglers have to go through the painful task of fishing daylight till dark in order to compete with the legendary pros.

For the young anglers on the rise, the game has changed as the word scouting today means something totally different than it did 10 years ago. The anglers who are proficient with FFS will spend their day idling, scanning, and marking school of bass that they can come back to on tournament day. Some are not even having to wet a hook in practice in order to save their fish for the tournament. A recent example is 33-year-old pro angler, Jason Hamner, who spent 14 days on Grand Lake prior to the Bassmaster Classic doing nothing but idling and marking brush tops without ever wetting a hook.

With all this being said, will this force many of the older anglers to retire and idle off into the sunset? Several have told me that it’s something they are considering as they are frustrated with both B.A.S.S. and MLF officials for not doing more to address the (FFS) technology issue. They feel that this new technology will ruin the sport over the next 5 years, as fish today no longer have a safe haven due to FFS.

Fact is, all of our lakes are under assault as more anglers across the country are purchasing these high dollar forward-facing sonar units. It’s not just bass that are being affected, it’s crappie as well. So many crappie guides have told me they are concerned as well, since these FFS units are targeting the bigger breeding population.

To put a bow on this topic and from my perspective, it appears that the senior anglers of both B.A.S.S. and MLF have a choice to make. Either get on board with FFS and get better with it or take their tackle boxes and go home because I don’t see anything changing with regards to this new technology. I truly believe it’s here to stay.

Steve Graf               

Angler’s Perspective

Didn’t recognize him behind the beard and the years so said my name and he looked up from his lunchtime burger and wiped his mouth and his handshake hand, smiled and said, “Dale Shields.” 

Good lord. Dale Shields. (Not the same person, but in the same ballpark.)

One day we were talking about how to pass Mr. Jones’ senior physics class at West Monroe High School or what to do the night of our Class of 1977 graduation, and the next time we talked it was about Medicare and grandchildren in a grill on an overcast Monday.

“So, what have YOU been up to for the past 45 years?”

Some people you dodge or they dodge you by design or by destiny.

And some people you want to see but you just don’t because life happens that way.

We don’t always get to decide. 

But life’s a funny dog, so it drops dessert on your plate now and then and serves up an old friend who, if you’re lucky, is either Dale Shields or something close.

He’d driven over from his home in West Monroe for some early morning turkey hunting around Downsville. Still had on his high-water rubber boots. Quietly eating. Available but not obvious. Which has always been 100 percent The Dale Shields Way.

Absolutely one of the best we’ve got in your whole Human Race Department. 

Been since the 1987 class reunion since I’d seen him, so he caught me up on the most recent one, just a few years ago. Some classmates had died since the 2017 reunion “so we decided we weren’t going to wait for the 50^th one,” he said, and told me about the one just a couple years ago, who was there and all.

Dale Shields. In high school, you could have asked anyone and they’d have trusted Dale with anything from a secret to your wallet or purse. Offensive tackle. FCA. Baseball. Y-Teen Beau. National Honor Society. The “A” in America. 

Every single time I’ve thought of him over the past near-half century I’ve thought, for at least a nano-second, of the one-bathroom house he grew up in. One of six boys and two girls fathered by Mr. Hugh, who captained the morning bathroom and somehow got all those kids grown and off to school every day of the world. Funny what you remember. Some mornings before first period: “Hey Dale, how’d it go with the bathroom thing this morning?” Daybreak after daybreak must have instilled in him the patience of Job, an outlook optimistic, a colon of iron. Each morning an adventure. 

Major tip of the ballcap to his whole wonderful family.

We talked of his recent retirement after 40 years of work with a local company, and he told me about signing up for Medicare; he’s had his Official Card for two weeks now. When 65 knocks, you and the guys talk not so much about turkey hunting and ball scores as you do about how to successfully sign up for Medicare, which to me seems about as difficult as carving Thomas Jefferson’s face into the side of Mount Rushmore. 

I’m about to find out for my ownself, being just a few months younger than Dale…Time is the great mystery. 

We traded phone numbers and grandchildren stories. We have one. He has No. 12 on the way, and the parents have decided not to find out the flavor yet since they already have one of each. I told him “Teddy” would work for a boy or girl; he smiled and promised to pass that along.

Dale Shields. Day made. 

About an hour later I missed a call from him. Made my heart feel good to see his name on my phone. Probably going to say it was good to see me, talk again soon, that kind of deal. I called him back quickly as I could.

In his humble and sincere Dale Shields voice — I could see him smiling — he said, “Butt dial. Sorry. The ol’ butt dial.”

How old are we, right?

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

The following arrests were made by local law enforcement agencies.

04/07/24

Thorman Burns, Jr. of Arcadia was arrested for aggravated assault upon a dating partner. 

Kenneth Wright of Ruston was arrested for exceeding the maximum speed limit and operating a vehicle with a suspended license; no license issued. 

Sakari Ward of Cotton, La. was arrested for operating a vehicle with a suspended license; no license issued.

04/10/24

Tanganekia Fields of Arcadia was arrested for failure to appear warrant on 2 misdemeanor charges.

04/12/24

Allan Garlington, Jr. of Ruston was arrested for entering/remaining after being forbidden of an immovable structure, simple criminal damage to property and unauthorized use of a movable. 

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.

Please send all non-profit calendar events to bpjnewsla@gmail.com

April 17 (11 to noon)

CASA – Light of Hope at Arcadia Town Hall 

April 18 (11 – 1:30 p.m.)

Arcadia Lions Club’s Chicken Plate Fundraiser to benefit Lions Club Children’s Camp 

Arcadia Fire Department, 2nd Street

April 20 (9 – 5 p.m.)

Bonnie & Clyde Autism Awareness Event

April 20

Year of the Iris Annual Spring Picnic – Briarwood Caroline Dorman Nature Preserve

April 20 (8 – 1 p.m.)

Historic Downtown Arcadia Association’s Farmer’s Market

Henderson Jordan Memorial Park 

April 22 

Bienville Chamber of Commerce Annual Membership Banquet – Arcadia Event Center

April 27 

Spring General Election Day 

May 2 (10- 12:30 p.m.)

The Circle of Bienville Medical Center – Spring Lunch & Learn 

The Arcadia Event Center

RSVP to Sharla at 318- 572 – 0274 

May 4 (11 – 3 p.m.)

Mt. Lebabon Historical Soceity’s Annual Stagecoach Trail Day 

Stagecoach Trail Museum 

May 25

The Authentic Bonnie & Clyde Festival – Downtown Gibsland

July 11 – 12

Saline Watermelon Festival Pageant – Saline High School Gymnasium

July 13 

Saline Watermelon Festival 

Notice of Death – April 16, 2024

Rex Jarrell Young

Nov. 29, 1935 – April 10, 2024

Homer, La.

Visitation: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 5 – 7 p.m., Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Funeral service: Friday, April 19, 2024, 10 a.m., Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Homer, La.

Interment: Hurricane Cemetery, Athens, La. 

Baby Londyn Kidd

March 17, 2024 – April 11, 2024

Homer, La. 

Visitation: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 10 – 2 p.m., Memorial Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Graveside service: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 3 pm., White Oak Grove Cemetery, Homer, La. 

Lizzie Williams

Dec. 12, 1950 – April 12, 2024

Haynesville, La. 

Graveside service: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 11 a.m., Ward Chapel Cemetery, Haynesville, La. 

Deacon W.T. Johnson, Sr.

Feb. 09, 1936 – April 14, 2024

Homer, La. 

Visitation: Friday, April 19, 2024, 1 – 6 p.m., Memorial Funeral Home, Homer, La. 

Funeral service: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 10:30 – 12:30 p.m., Mt. Superior Baptist Church, Homer, La. 

Interment: St. John Cemetery, Homer, La. 

Roy Franklin McClure

Nov. 01, 1947 – April 14, 2024

Homer, La. 

Memorial service: Friday, May 3, 2024, 10 a.m., St. Margaret Catholic Church, Homer, La. 

Interment: Lisbon Methodist Cemetery, Lisbon, La. 

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 no charge.)

By Michelle Bates

The 10th annual Wiggin’ Out Gala was held at Louisiana Tech University last Thursday, raising more than $20,000 for the organization that assists men, women and children who are battling cancer.

After four years of not hosting a gala, the fundraising efforts continued through the COVID-19 pandemic. Vicki Caskey, board member and founder, said during that time, 131 patients received wigs, mustaches, lymphatic garments and gift cards.

“Without the support of the many donors, businesses and individuals, Wiggin’ Out would not be possible,” Caskey said. “It is what has carried us since 2011, through the pandemic and allows us to continue serving those fighting cancer across North Louisiana. We are 13 years strong because of that, and because of the selfless board members and people who volunteer their time, expecting nothing in return.

“A mere thank you will never be enough to express our gratitude on behalf of all cancer patients we have served and will serve because of everyone’s generosity. Everyone who makes Wiggin’ Out possible is greatly appreciated,” she continued.

Board members include: Caskey, president; Matthew Nelson, vice president; Elisha James, secretary; Kim Kavanaugh, board member; and Jamie Dendy, treasurer.

Three women spoke of their journeys and how Wiggin’ Out helped them through their struggles and triumphs during their cancer diagnoses and treatments.

Speakers included Morgan Preaus of Ruston, Cayla Cox of Minden and Melisa Rudd of Arcadia.

“I just hope that you understand the impact that you have on people you don’t even know,” Rudd, a breast cancer survivor, said. “You will touch their lives. Everyone appreciates it, even if they’re not here to personally tell you. You have definitely made an impact on them and us.”

The night included a silent auction, food, live entertainment and a night of fun. Emcees included Kyle and Judith Roberts, and No Good Horses provided live entertainment.

2024 marks the 13th year of service to cancer patients in North Louisiana. Wiggin’ Out serves the north Louisiana region, providing assistance to cancer patients, no matter the type of cancer, no matter the person.

Applying for assistance is simple. Go to http://www.wigginout.org and click on Apply for Help.