Wednesday, December 26, 2018
To all our faithful readers and friends we wish a Happy New Year! May 2019 bring you good health, much happiness, peace of mind and all the prosperity you can stand.
Just Thinking: There is a difference between intelligence and stupidity. Intelligence has a limit.
Work has started to put AstroTurf on the Many High School football, baseball and softball fields. The project should be completed in about six months.
Cost for the projects is around $1.4 million.
It was a great event, by all accounts – that afternoon, Dec. 14, when three Sabine veterans of World War II were honored at a reception at Bayou Crawfish in Many.
The veterans are Charles Davis, age 93; Douglas Curtis, age 92; and Alton Mahaffey, 96.
It all started when Mr. Davis was on “Open Line” with Tedd Dumas, who found the program so interesting that he extended it from 30 minutes to one hour. Folks started talking about how much they enjoyed it.
Then Tedd came up with a wonderful idea. “Let’s have a birthday party to honor Mr. Davis,” he suggested and I replied, “That sounds great to me. Let’s do it.” He had mentioned he’d turn 93 on Dec. 15.
The next day we were drinking coffee with John Curtis and he told us his father was a World War II veteran and had turned 92 on Oct 30.
As we started making plans, we wanted to honor them and show our appreciation for the sacrifices they made. Tedd and I started getting everyone we could think of to arrange to give the birthday honorees some sort of commendation, award, accolade, etc. And we found folks to be more than glad to join in.
Just a few days before the event, we learned of another veteran, Alton Mahaffey, who turned 96 on Nov. 23. We called and invited him to join the party and he did.
More than 60 persons turned out for the event. Tedd and I served as Masters of Ceremonies for the event.
District Attorney Don Burkett opened the program with prayer, followed by Larry Alford, Area Ride Captain of the Patriotic Guard Riders, who led the Pledge to the Flag. The National Anthem was presented by Debbie Hillman, Steve Birdwell and Laurie Gentry.
Mr. Mahaffey was presented a spoke. He was on the USS Arizona which was sunk by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor.
Tedd next introduced a series of wonderful guests who made presentations. They included Former Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court and Candidate for State Senate Louie Bernard and DA Burkett who presented certificates from Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and Assistant Secretary Joe R. Salter of Florien.
John W. Curtis presented beautiful Medal of Honor Silver Coins to all three of the veterans. Larry Alford presented beautiful plaques. Many Mayor Ken Freeman gave each a certificate. State Rep. Frankie Howard, who is a candidate for Sabine Sheriff in next year’s election, presented commendations from the House of Representatives.
Pete Abington, a member of Northwestern State University Foundation Board and the Mary Gillespie Trust Fund, presented Nth degrees from NSU President Chris Maggio. Pam Russell, Area Veterans Service Office, spoke briefly.
One of the highlights was the presentation by Tedd of personal letters and commemorative coins from State Attorney General Jeff Landry. Tedd also introduced Betsy O. Barnes, Director of Public Relations for Lt. Governor Billy Nunguesser. She spoke and presented items from the Lt. Governor.
Laurie Gentry presented a very touching and moving rendition of a patriotic gospel song she had written entitled, “I Gave My Son.” She wrote it on the occasion of 9-11.
One of the highlights of the event was the presentation of the U.S. Flags that have flown over the nation’s capital from Sen. Bill Cassidy. In addition, Sen. Cassidy sent certificates for each honoree. Sen. Cassidy made a speech about the two veterans on the Senate floor the prior day, and a video of his speech was played at the reception.
Items were also presented on behalf of State Sen. Gerald Long, Rep. Ralph Abraham, Rep. Mike Johnson and Sen. John Kennedy.
Special guest at the function was Alejandra “Alex” Juan, Communications Director and State Women Veterans Outreach Coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs in Baton Rouge. She spoke and then presented certificates and medals.
Following her remarks, candles on the birthday cake were lit and everyone sang “Happy Birthday.”
The program ended with a few remarks and memories shared by Mr. Davis.
Special thanks to Mike Morris who provided the sound equipment, to Larry Alford who provided flags for the ceremony, to Ashley Isgitt who made the birthday cake, and to Laurie Gentry Designs for the party invitations, printed programs, and event décor.
That will close out the year of 2018! Thanks again for your faithful readership of “Observations.” I love to hear your ideas and thoughts for future articles, so call me at (318) 332-8653 or write an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com. Recently archived “Observations” are shown below. Older ones are archived on our Facebook page, where they are listed by date under Photos. To print this week’s column, simply right-click anywhere on the content and select Print.
-30-
