Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Toledo Bend Lake filled up over 50 years ago and through the years, we have seen many failed attempts to get the most out of its creation. Last week our good friend Jean Rains brought in one of the several past ideas that was promised to spark great interest in the area.

It was a character called “Sabine Sam.” Jean found a picture of the guy who was going to make Sabine Parish famous as a tourist attraction in the possessions of the late Bernard B. Miller. The interesting color art piece of a bucktooth beaver tourist was drawn by Sabine resident artist, the late Frank Brown.

If I recall correctly, Sabine Sam was going to be an international figure that would draw fishermen to Toledo Bend and tourists to Sabine. Somehow, like a lot of other things, Sabine Sam ended up by the wayside.

We want to wish Pete Abington a belated Happy 83^rd Birthday! That’s a lot of trips around the sun, and we’re awfully glad Pete has made the ride. His special day was Sunday, April 25.

His long career has included success in the auto industry and banking, as well as plenty of other productive ventures. He was inducted into the Sabine Hall of Fame about ten years ago for his many contributions to life in Sabine.

Pete is the husband of Ellen Stone Abington, father to Clay, Valerie, Julie and Doug, and proud grandfather of two.

Happy Birthday, Pete. We wish you many more!

Congratulations to Stephen Steinke on his win Saturday as Police Jury Member from Sabine Dist. 3 in the April 24 Election. Steinke is very articulate, very smart, very honest, very sincere, very conservative and very apt to do an outstanding job. We wish him the best.

Children and adults alike are now able to enjoy the professional basketball goals which were recently installed at Leon James Park located on Martin Luther King Drive in Many.

The equipment, which is the highest grade, was made possible by generous donations from the private sector. Local businesses, politicians, elected officials and many other citizens donated to the cause. 

A man who grew up in Many, but now lives in Houston, TX, gave one of the largest donations. Luckily, he remembers his hometown community and the people who live there with great fondness.

Jaret J. Barrett contacted Many Alderman at Large Mary Brocato, who had started the fundraiser to obtain donations to purchase and install the basketball equipment. He asked Brocato how much money it would take to purchase two goals so the park could be equipped with a full basketball court. She told Barrett the amount, which was significant. He drove to Many that same weekend and brought the Councilwoman a check for the remainder of the substantial sum.

Born in 1978 to Sandra Barrett and Jerry Smith, Jaret developed a love for people, sports and his hometown of Many, the place of his roots and early upbringing. Later when his mom moved, he transferred to Spring Woods High School where he excelled in football and basketball. While there, he honed his gift for athletics and teamwork. At Spring Woods, Barrett caught the attention of a coach at Mayde Creek High School. He transferred to that school, and finished his high school sports career when he graduated in 2003.

After high school graduation, Barrett began his college education at Texas Southern University. He was told that the college’s basketball team would not be taking on any walk-on players. However, he remained persistent and an opportunity came up for one walk-on player. Out of 65 students who tried out, Barrett was the only one selected. The rest is history. While at Texas Southern, he led his team to the SWAC Championship where they won their division and became state champions. 

He later graduated from Texas Southern University with a Bachelor of Science degree, becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college. After he graduated, Barrett played professional basketball overseas. He played for China 2007 to 2009. He then played for the Central American country of Panama in 2009. Barrett returned to the United States where he worked hard and shifted his love and energy for sports to his family and to establishing a business. Today, he is the successful owner of a pest control and power wash business in Houston. 

Jaret Barrett has never forgotten his love for the Town of Many where his life started, and he remains dedicated to Many and those people who gave him the dream to succeed. Because of his donation and the generous donations of many others, Leon James Park now has a full basketball court for its citizens to enjoy. But Barrett isn’t stopping there. He hopes to invite two or three of his friends who had careers as professional basketball players to come to Many and conduct a basketball workshop for kids in the summer if his plans unfold as he would like.

Many Chief of Police Cheryl Wooley has also said that the Many Police Department will be organizing a basketball tournament to be held at the Leon James Park this summer. She and police officers want to set up this fun activity for kids once school is out. But that’s another story.

A special Thank You to Mary Brocato for the story above.

MOVIES IN MANY

Parents and their children will especially enjoy seeing “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” the free movie playing at the Many Community Center [Sabine Theater] on Saturday, May 8 at 7 p.m. The theater will open at 6:30 p.m.

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” starts off with a young Dora enjoying life with her parents and cousin Diego in the jungle until Diego and his parents move “to the City.” Young Dora looks directly at the film camera, asking viewers to repeat words in Spanish, and believes that her monkey Boots talks to her – just like on her TV show. But in the movie, her parents consider it a quirk of her being homeschooled.

A decade later, a now-teen Dora makes a breakthrough discovery that leads her parents on a mission to Peru to unearth a legendary Incan city. While they’re gone, they send her to live with Diego (played by Jeff Wahlberg) and his family in Los Angeles. For the first time in her life, Dora has to attend public school with kids who are decidedly uninterested in her earnest curiosity and friendliness. During a field trip to a museum, Dora and her friends are kidnapped and taken to Peru, but they escape with the help of Alejandro, a friend of her parents. Together they try to find her parents and the city of gold.

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” is a live-action adventure based on the beloved animated series “Dora, the Explorer.” Since this Dora is a teen rather than a very young girl, the movie is geared toward slightly older viewers than the television show. The story is a mix of fish-out-of-water high school comedy and a true-to-Dora adventure and rescue mission. Parents can expect their children to see some peril in the film, including a kidnapping, an armed hostage situation, and several close calls with danger, injury and drowning. Kids are also chased and gassed, but there’s also lots of humor and slapstick, and everyone’s favorite explorer ends up completing her mission safely. Characters use a bit of insult language (“shut up,” “stupid,” “weirdo,” etc.), and there’s some flirting and a quick kiss between teens. The major themes are teamwork, communication, compassion, courage, curiosity and perseverance.

It’s a great movie for children; older children – 10 years old and above, and especially teenagers – will especially enjoy “Dora and the Lost City of Gold.”  Rated PG, it teaches young people some good lessons about role models. Parents do not have to be concerned about violence, drinking or drugs or sex scenes in this movie. 

The historic theater will open at 6:30 p.m. to give families time to purchase popcorn and soft drinks for only $1 each. The movie starts at 7.  Attendees are asked to please wear masks and practice social distancing.

Thank you to Mary Brocato for the above article on Movies in Many.

Last weekend Laurie and I attended the Bluegrass Heritage Festival in Dallas. There I renewed friendship with Byron Berline, a fiddling genius that I had not seen in 54 years. I first met Byron when he was stationed at Ft. Polk. He had done a stint with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, but got called to service.

The late Don Lyons of KWLA radio and I booked a Country music show at Many High School on March 10, 1968, and Byron came up from Ft. Polk to play twin fiddles on the show with Kenny Baker, who had taken Byron’s place with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. On June 8, 1968, I again booked Bill at Many High and at Rebel Park on June 9, and Byron was a part of both programs. By that time, he had joined the Southern Bluegrass Boys with Travis Stewart, Gene Alford, Dennis Lucas, Joe Spence and H. P. Salard, who sometimes played with them.

On Nov. 24, 1968, Bill and the Bluegrass Boys came down to spend a week with us. Byron booked them for two shows at Ft. Polk that day as he had started only the second Bluegrass Festival in Louisiana at that time. They worked a third show at the Alexandria Coliseum that same afternoon.

Also during the week, Bill joined the late Rev. Wilmer Birdwell on Monday for supper and a singing at a hunters hide-away on Berry Brake, sang to the Many Lions Club for lunch on Tuesday, at Fairview Alpha for the now-late Dickie Alexander that night, at Blue’s Red Devil Bar and Lounge in Shreveport on Wednesday, and at the Lake Club near Campti on Thursday. He played an all-Gospel concert at the old Mt. Carmel High School on Friday.

Byron now lives in Guthrie, OK where he opened Byron’s Double Stop Fiddle Shop and Music Hall in April 1995. He has the largest collection of fiddles and bows in Oklahoma. The store was completely destroyed by fire Feb. 23, 2019, but he has since re-built across the street, and it’s become a landmark destination as was the earlier location.

Also at the Bluegrass Festival, I had the chance to say hello to friend Dale Morris Jr. of Dallas. Also a championship fiddler, I first met Dale when he worked with the late Ray Price about 20 years ago. At the time, David Stallings of Nacogdoches, better known as “Willie P. Richardson,” and I were booking Ray Price and his Cherokee Cowboys across Texas.

Dale will be inducted into the National Fiddlers Hall of Fame in Tulsa on Oct. 23. The great Shoji Tabuchi, the Japanese fiddling champion and Branson legend, will also be inducted at that time.

A tip of the hat to Mayor-elect Robert Hable and daughter Allison for assisting Councilwoman-elect Cherry Williams in picking up trash this past Saturday in Williams’ future District D.

“Roadside trash really is an issue in our community, and I want to thank all those who participated in Sabine’s Trash Bash this month!” Hable shared.

Josh Jenkins wrote of Hable’s willingness to do this much-needed work, “If serving is below you, leading is beyond you.” We agree, and the Mayor-elect is making great strides to show his heart for service, regardless of whether it’s grand or humble, and whether it earns recognition or not.

Recently Laurie and I were in Hohenwald, TN and visited with friends Mike and Samantha Webb and their son Carter. During the visit, Mike noted that I had a hole in my shoe and brought out a pair he thought might fit. I tried them on and we all had a good laugh. I guess that they were at least two feet or more long. The shoes once belonged to Grand Ole Opry comedic sideman Bashful Brother Oswald, who for many years was a member of Roy Acuff’s Smoky Mountain Boys.

Mike has a huge collection of Country music memorabilia. He has Oswald’s Dobro and banjo. He has two rhinestone-studded Nudie suits belonging to Little Jimmy Dickens, and he has Wilma Lee Cooper’s guitar. Mike used to be in Wilma Lee’s band. He also has some items from Hank Snow, including what is purported to be an old toupee of Hank’s. Again, we had quite a laugh looking at that piece. Also in his collection is a show poster from when Roy Acuff appeared in Shepard, TX, in 1976, I believe. I sold Mike that poster many years ago.

Mike is an elected Trustee in Lewis County, TN where he handles the collection of taxes. Samantha is an Assistant Principal at the local school and Carter is a budding musician. We enjoyed hearing Mike and Carter play and sing some tunes during our visit. It wouldn’t surprise us if Mike ran for County Mayor. He’d make a good one.

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