Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Laura Walker, wife of Chief Sabine Deputy Brad Walker, won big in Stephenville, TX last Tuesday with her horse, “Karoozins on Fire,” in Barrel Racing.

She competed at the All In Barrel Race – the largest Divisional Barrel Race in the U.S. – at Stephenville’s Lonestar Arena, placing first in her division. She then competed against nearly 300 to win the Go Round on Tuesday night. Her win came with a $2,000 prize and placed her in the Finals with a chance to compete for the $15,000 prize.

“I had a good time,” Laura said later. “I wanted to see if I could still compete,” she said with a laugh, mentioning a milestone birthday. 

The Walkers own Karo’s mother and raised Karo from a colt.

“Laura has done the majority of the training herself,” Brad said.

At Wednesday’s Finals, unfortunately Walker hit the third barrel, “But winning the Go Round the night before, including a pretty good payout, made the trip home a little easier!” Brad said.

Many Mayor Ken Freeman called a special meeting of the Many City Council to introduce his choice for chief of police to fill the vacancy left by the untimely death of Chief Roger Freeman. The council approved his appointment.

The new interim chief of police for Many is Cheryl Wooley.

She was approved by a unanimous vote of the city council after Mayor Ken Freeman nominated her. She will be the first female chief of police in the town’s history and will serve until after a chief is elected in April and sworn in later.

Mayor Freeman said Wooley is well qualified, having served in Oklahoma for 11 years as an agent for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics where she worked state and federal narcotics investigations.  

Wooley graduated from East Central University in Ada, OK. She went straight to work for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.

In 1999, she left the agency and went to the Oklahoma Dept. of Human Services and stayed until 2012 working child abuse and sexual abuse investigations becoming a supervisor in 2008. Wooley currently serves as president of the Board of Directors of Project Celebration.

Freeman pointed out that she met two legal requirements. She has been a resident in Many for more than a year, and she has also been a registered voter in Many for more than a year.

“We are fortunate to have Mrs. Wooley agree to serve because she is so well qualified with lots of years of experience in the fields of narcotics and domestic abuse situations,” said Freeman.

Cheryl Wooley is the wife of Donnie Wooley of Many.

“Many’s Christmas Fireworks will be bigger and better this year,” said Many Mayor Ken Freeman.

The annual fireworks show will begin at 6 pm on Dec. 19 at the Sabine Parish Fairgrounds.

Mayor Freeman said the COVID virus caused the Christmas Parade to be postponed until Easter. Because of that he wanted the fireworks to be truly spectacular, so he ordered more fireworks from Benford Slay of Many, who always produces the Christmas show in honor of his father, the late Bucky Slay.

The spectacular fireworks show will start at 6 p.m. Viewers will drive through the main entrance and be directed to parking places.

Viewers are requested to wear their masks, remain in their cars and practice social distancing.

The mayor is excited about the greatly enhanced and enlarged fireworks show on Dec.19. “This is one thing that we can do for our citizens to celebrate the holidays without putting them in any danger from the pandemic,” Freeman said.

He invited everyone to come out early in order to get a good parking place and said, “This is Many’s way of celebrating Christmas. Merry Christmas, Everyone!”

More Beloved Sabine Residents Die

Last week this column paid tribute to three important Sabine residents who met their reward – Many Chief of Police Roger Freeman, Dr. Jack Corley and Roland Dees. During the past week, two more outstanding persons crossed the river.

James Alfice Brumley Jr. passed away Dec. 11 at the age of 86. He had a very distinguished law enforcement career. We first met Alfice at Northwestern where he was a member of the Campus Security. Sometime in the early 1960s, he began his Sabine law enforcement career when the late Sheriff T. M. “Pappy” Phillips hired him as a deputy. After Pappy retired, Harold Sandel was elected Sheriff and Alfice continued under him.

He took over as Chief of Police for the Town of Many in 1972 and served in this capacity until 1978. He was then elected Sheriff and served in that capacity for 18 years until 1996. It was under his administration that a tax was passed, and the Sabine Parish Detention Center was constructed.

Sheriff Aaron Mitchell commented, “Sheriff Brumley did not meet a stranger and he was respected throughout the community.”

We extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Lanell Walker Brumley and other members of the family.

Maria “Mary” Elisa Hariel, 98, passed away Dec. 6. She was born in Kapellen, Belgium, which was occupied by the Germans during World War II. Her life became a struggle for survival at an early age, and this led to fear, hostility and suffering each day simply to survive. 

She married a young soldier boy named John Hariel. After retiring from the U.S. Army, John, Mary and their adopted son Benny moved to Many. Mary worked in various restaurants and she and John operated the old Starlite Restaurant for many years.

It was she and John who had much compassion for the less fortunate and started the Sabine Association for Retarded Citizens. They were also responsible for a like organization in Vernon Parish.

They made a great impact in many ways for the good in this area. We extend sympathy to her family and friends.

Well, Brandon James Corley, 21, of Florien is back in the Sabine Parish Detention Center. He is accumulating quite a record. He was arrested recently for failure to appear for Florien Mayors Court, careless operation of a vehicle, failure to obey traffic lights and flight from an officer.

Last July 20, he was arrested but jumped out of the patrol car and escaped. He was captured in August in Sabine County Texas and extradited to Louisiana where he faced seven felony charges.

That’s not the end of the story. In September he escaped from the Sabine Parish Detention Center. His escape was made possible by structural damage done to the building by Hurricane Laura, which passed through Sabine. By the end of the month, he had been found in Florien and was back in jail. 

Santa Claus is coming to town!

The Many Christmas Parade was postponed until 2021, and for a while it was doubtful as to whether Santa Claus could visit Many’s children.

But he is! Santa is paying a pre-Christmas Day visit to Many’s children on Dec. 21, 22 and 23. 

This year he will visit the children in their neighborhoods. The Town of Many is lending him a firetruck and driver so that he can ride around town, see where the children live, and talk to them a bit to find out what they want for Christmas and to wish them and their families a Merry Christmas.

Here’s Santa’s schedule:

Monday, Dec. 21 from 3 to 5 p.m. – East side of Many, beginning at Church Street and following Fisher Road to Anne Street. Santa will go to all neighborhoods in this area.

Tuesday, Dec.22 from 3 to 5 p.m. – West side of Many, beginning at the Shreveport Highway and going to Sycamore Street. Santa will visit all neighborhoods in this area.

Wednesday, Dec. 23 from 3 to 5 p.m. – North side of Many, beginning at Hwy. 171 and going to the city limits. Santa is going to visit all the neighborhoods in this area, too.

Many Mayor Ken Freeman said he had been concerned that Santa couldn’t come because the annual Christmas parade was postponed. But the mayor was delighted when Santa contacted him and said he looked forward to coming to Many each year and would come anyway and ride around town until he saw all the children in Many.

 “I want to wish every boy and girl in Many a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and this is how I’ll do it in 2020,” Santa told the mayor. He also thanked Mayor Freeman for lending him a firetruck so he could make his visits around town. 

The Gypsy Boutique formerly located on San Antonio Ave. and now at 206 Elizabeth St., held its Grand Opening along with a Sabine Parish Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting on Friday, Dec. 11 at 12:30 p.m.

When the boutique opened at 10 a.m., owner Shelly Haigh found a line of people waiting outside her new location (formerly the Sears store in Wright’s Shopping Center), ready to come inside and shop.

The first 50 shoppers received a goodie bag, and the first 20 sales over $75 received a gift during the Grand Opening. Those who purchased items were entered into a drawing for giveaways, which were held throughout the day.

Haigh operated the Gypsy Boutique out of the old Hitchin’ Post location on San Antonio quite a while, then decided to move to the 8,000-square-foot shopping center location for room to grow and better customer parking.

“We want to welcome everyone to Gypsy Boutique today to celebrate Shelly and her business, and we’re so excited for the turnout today,” Sabine Chamber Director Shanna Gaspard said. “She’s going to stock the store again before Christmas and we’re excited about that, too! Thank you, Shelly, for allowing us to participate and help you open.”

Shelly’s delicious homemade chili was served to everyone attending the ribbon-cutting, and Cheat Treats, Kresha Matkin’s popular high-protein, low-carb dessert business, was also on hand to help celebrate and offer healthy alternatives for those who wished to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Gypsy Boutique may be reached at (318) 508-0705. Their hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

I welcome your ideas and suggestions for future articles. Call me at (318) 332-8653 or send an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com. It’s great to hear from you. As always, thanks for faithfully reading.

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