Wednesday, January 6, 2021

“The 2020 season is in the books, but there is one last order of business,” LaMar Gafford wrote in the Alexandria Town Talk.  “Who is No. 1 in Central Louisiana football?” he asks.

And the winner is the Many High School Tigers with a record of 12-0, LW:1.  

He writes:  “The Tigers’ unfinished business was officially finished after a 16-13 victory in the Class 2A title game – ending a six-year title drought. All season long, Many dominated foes whether by scoring over 60 points against Loyola and General Trass or stopping teams like the Yellow Jackets on defense. Seniors such as Zequarrius ‘Cadillac’ Rhone and Terrence Williams go out as champions, but London Williams, Tackett Curtis and Class 2A title game Most Outstanding Player Tylen Singleton showed that the Tigers are not going away any time soon.”

Qualifying for the District 3 Sabine Police Jury seat will take place Jan. 20, 21 and 22. A special election will be held to fill the unexpired term of Juror Charlie Brown. Interested persons may qualify at the Sabine Clerk of Court’s office. We already hear rumblings of persons who may run.

We much appreciate the great shots of the Many Christmas Fireworks above provided by Donna Ammons. The spectacular display, an annual memorial to the late Bucky Slay, was a great celebration of the holidays on Saturday, Dec. 26 at the Sabine Parish Fairgrounds.

December Sales tax collections in Sabine Parish were down by $633,780.89 compared to December of 2019, according to a report issued by Nolan H. Rivers, Sales and Use Tax Administrator. The Sabine Parish School Board was down by $265,801.88, School District 2 down by $66,375.57, Police Jury down by $132,936.46 and the Law District was down by $99,795.64.

This chart shows a summary of sales taxes collected from January to December 2020 compared to 2019. Total taxes for the year amounted to $26,973,767.95. This came to $1,573,854.95 more in collections over 2019.

Thanks to Donna Ammons for sending us this photo. She saw it on the back window of a Many Police Department unit. This honors recently departed Chief of Police Roger Freeman.

Today is Epiphany, the Twelfth Day of Christmas. It’s a Christian holiday that celebrates the visit of the Magi (wise men or kings) to the Christ child, some two years or so after his birth. The celebration centers around the Magi’s realization that Christ was God incarnate.

Epiphany kicks off Mardi Gras season and we are already seeing King Cakes available in local groceries. The colors of Mardi Gras, its crowns and, of course, the baby Jesus hidden inside each cake all point to Epiphany.

The unique colors of Mardi Gras – purple, green and gold – are traced back to the first Rex Parade in New Orleans in 1872 and were celebrated 20 years later in the Rex “Symbolism of Colors” themed parade of 1892. At that event, it was explained that green represents faith, purple represents justice, and gold represents power.

In Christianity, green also represents living faith, purple usually designates royalty, and gold represents blessing or wealth.

We hope you get some good King Cake this season from Antoine’s, Manny Randazzo or Haydel’s in New Orleans, Lilah’s Bakery or Lowder Baking Company in Shreveport, or one of the other wonderful makers of this tasty treat. When you’re King Cake hungry, the local grocery variety will also go a long way to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Happy Epiphany and Happy Mardi Gras!

We get letters. This one from our good friend, Ronald Byrd, a reader in South Boston, VA. It is always good to hear from him.

“Robert, I was happy for the MHS football state champs, loved the fireworks pictures, and enjoyed the historical article by Francis Freeman. The dark side is always there, though, and the car thief and death of a good citizen were saddening. I really ‘come home’ when I read your Observations and hope this next year’s will be about more good stuff than what we saw in 2020. But you have to ‘call them like you see them,’ as the baseball umpires say. I hope you and yours have a wonderful year in 2021 and I get to bum that cup of coffee off of you soon. Regards to all. Ron”

My wife Laurie and I often visit cemeteries during our travels, sometimes to remember and pay tribute and sometimes just to see what’s there.

Sunday we visited the Gorum Cemetery in South Natchitoches Parish and found this interesting and unusual poem on the shared tombstone at the graves of William Normand McDaniel and Clara Francis Basco McDaniel.

It is an adaptation from the poem “So We’ll Go No More A-Roving” written by Lord George Gordon Byron on Feb. 28, 1817. It was included in a letter to Thomas Moore. Lord Byron was 29 when he wrote it.

The adaptation on the tombstone reads:

So, we’ll go no more a roving

So late into the night

Though the hearts be just as willing

And the moon be still as bright

For the sheath outwears its sword

As time outwears the breast

Oh, sweet and wayward lovers

Even love must have its rest.

Mr. McDaniel died at age 54 on Jan. 1, 1985. He was a native of Florien and worked as an automotive mechanic. Services were held Jan. 3 of that year at the Gorum Baptist Church.

Mrs. Basco McDaniel lived on until Nov. 25, 2011, when she died at age 78. She was a native of Gorum and a veteran of the Korean War. She was graduated from Northwestern with a Liberal Arts degree in Social Welfare. Later she obtained her Masters of History degree. She worked at Fort Polk. She was an educational scholar and an avid world traveler.

We were drawn to this monument because it reads “Basco / McDaniel” with no mention of a marriage and for its inscription of the poem, which seems a rather unusual choice for a memorial piece. We doubt the term “wayward lovers” is on too many tombstones around the country.

The front of the monument holds an oval ceramic photo of each in uniform, and the back of the stone has a ceramic photo of the couple smiling happily in front of a leafy green background with leis around their necks, no doubt a memorable night out celebrating together somewhere, perhaps Hawaii.

LOCAL COVID VACCINES

We heard a local COVID vaccine was available and almost as quick as we heard about it, availability was gone. The slots were filled immediately. Most folks who were lucky enough to snag a shot seem to be scheduled to receive it on Thursday or Friday of this week.

The Louisiana Dept. of Health reports that “Limited amounts of COVID vaccines will be available beginning Jan. 4, 2021 at some local pharmacies.” They reported that very limited doses of the Moderna vaccine would be made available at about 100 pharmacies across the state.

Apparently, the key words are “very limited.” We heard the Many Walgreens location got a whopping 100 doses, reserved for people age 70 and above, ambulatory/outpatient care personnel, people on dialysis, schools of allied health students/residents/staff, and home agency care patients and personnel. If the one hundred doses number is accurate, that is a woefully inadequate start to cover all those categories in a parish of 25,000 persons. We trust more will be arriving soon.

To see where vaccines are now or will be available, visit ldh.la.gov and follow the COVID Vaccines information prompts, which offer Vaccine Locations info. From there, you can see the list of vaccine locations and follow instructions to make an appointment to receive the first shot of the two that are required. The Moderna vaccine requires a follow-up second shot to be effective. When you get the first one, you’ll get a return appointment to get the next one.

We’ll keep you posted.

The Town of Many is being highlighted this week on KTBS-TV’s “Community Caravan” series, which shares stories from the heart to capture the special feeling in small towns throughout their viewing area.

Observations noticed KTBS 3’s Patrick Dennis taking video around town Sunday. He’s been using it for secondary footage to air with each broadcast.

The series started at Bayou Crawfish on San Antonio Ave. in downtown Many Monday morning. The restaurant opened early and fixed a delicious breakfast and several of their specialty items as a part of the 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. KTBS morning show live broadcast.

On the first feature, Dennis interviewed Many Mayor Ken Freeman, Chamber President Mike Mancil, Chief of Police Cheryl Wooley, Bayou Crawfish owner Jennifer Anderson and others.

Tuesday, Dennis and his crew were set to visit Southern Ladeez downtown and Country Boy Restaurant on Fisher Rd.  

“Wednesday, they will visit Linda Curtis-Sparks at the Sabine Tourist Commission,” Janice Randow with the Town of Many said. “On Thursday, they will be at Martone’s for lunch, and they will do stories from the heart featuring young ‘Mayor’ Axel McCullough, Jess Curtis, his dad John Curtis, and cover the Many Tigers win,” she said.

Readers may remember young Axel is the little guy, who already at age 6, wants to serve as Many’s mayor some day. Mayor Ken Freeman officially recognized the youngster’s civic spirit and presented him a key to the city sometime back.

When asked about what makes Many special, the mayor said, “It’s the people and the surroundings. The people are very kind and open and friendly, and there’s so much to do in Sabine Parish. We’ve often said Sabine Parish is the best-kept tourist secret in Louisiana. We’re trying to get the word out that this is the place to come.”

Mayor Freeman mentioned the many reasons guests come to this area, including Toledo Bend Lake, the festivals, hunting, fishing, biking, and all kinds of other activities.

“We wanted the Town of Many to be a place where people could come for entertainment,” Freeman shared. “We formed, several years ago, the Cultural District, and they have been very instrumental in getting the Many Community Center open, which is the old theater where we have movies, we have live music and it’s free.”

After touching on the fact that Sabine Parish has become a retirement destination, Mayor Freeman mentioned its central location to major metropolitan areas and major healthcare centers.

“Come see us,” Freeman encouraged. “We make fun year ‘round!”

Visit the KTBS web site to see complete segments on each feature in Many this week.

This year will begin our 64th year of writing Observations. That’s a whole lot of news, views, facts and opinions. Thank you for faithfully reading and please keep on reading because “I ain’t finished yet.” Send your ideas for future articles to robertrgentry@gmail.com or call me at (318) 332-8653. I always love to hear from you.

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