Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Congratulations to our good friend Don Kelly of Natchitoches upon the Northwestern State University fieldhouse complex being named in his honor. The complex serves student athletes, coaches and other personnel in all 14 intercollegiate sports in which the university participates. It will now be known as the Donald G. Kelly Athletic Complex.
In addition, the basketball court at Prather Coliseum will be named for retired coach Mike McConathy.
NSU President Marcus Jones said the decision to name the fieldhouse “is appropriate and long overdue.” He continued, “Sen. Kelly was a driving force in obtaining funding for construction of the athletic fieldhouse and the major expansion of Turpin Stadium.”
Sen. Kelly, the founder of the Natchitoches law firm Kelly & Townsend, was one of the most respected and influential figures in state government from the 1970s into the ‘90s. He was a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention in 1973 and was elected five consecutive terms in the Senate. He was floor leader for Gov. Edwin Edwards and Gov. Buddy Roemer and served on the powerful budget and finance committees. At one time, there was strong speculation he might run for Governor.
He is a former NSU football player and a member of the University’s N Club Hall of Fame and the Long Purple Line Hall of Distinction, the highest honor for NSU alumni.
Coach McConathy retired last spring after compiling 330 victories at NSU and Bossier Parish Community College. In 23 seasons at NSU, he guided teams to the only three NCAA Tournament appearances in school history. There’s speculation that McConathy might toss his hat in the ring to run for State Senator.
In addition, a new $37.3 million state-of-the-art facility that will replace Kyser Hall as NSU’S primary academic center will be named for Dr. Robert Alost, former NSU President. And a $9.5 million annex to the fieldhouse will be named the David and Sherry Morgan Health Performance Center.
Come Monday we will celebrate Labor Day – a day dedicated to honor the working people who made America what it is today. And we tip our hat and say thanks to all the folks who still work.
It is sad to see what our federal government has done in the last couple of years to destroy the working class by vast giveaways. So many people don’t want to work now because the government has showed them that they can live without working. Our country can’t survive this. Pray for our country. We need it now more than ever.
There has been a lot of discussion after Observations carried a story about a family that saw quite a bit of Bigfoot in Fisher. There were those who believed it and had their own stories about sightings, and there were disbelievers.
Well, two Bigfoot sightings have been reported in Robeline. During discussions about the existing photos of Bigfoot, the prevalent thought is there has never been a good clear photo made of the man-beast. Some folks believe ole Bigfoot is really smart and knows how to avoid being photographed. But that was not true when Observations spotted the two recently in Robeline.
Word has it, the Village Administration informed the grown Bigfoot male, that if it planned to remain in Robeline it would have to write a few speeding tickets. We understand the creature was given a ticket book and a pen, and on Saturday and Sunday it wrote over $2,000 worth. They might want to put that boy on full-time.
Verity Gentry will take the oath of office as 11th Judicial District Judge on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 12:15 p.m. in the Sabine Parish Courtroom. Everyone is invited to attend. Retired Judge Stephen Beasley will perform the Ceremonial Swearing In. Verity will fill the unexpired term of Judge Beasley who left the bench on April 1.
A native of Many, Verity was graduated from high school here and got a degree in Business from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and a law degree from Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans. She has practiced law extensively, both in Orleans Parish as a Public Defender and in her own practices in Shreveport and Many.
Popular radio personality Tedd Dumas will serve as master of ceremonies for a short program. The invocation and pledge of allegiance will be given by the Rev. Tony Anthony, pastor of Siloam Baptist Church.
Speakers will include State Sen. Louie Bernard, Court of Appeal Judge Elizabeth Pickett, Sheriff Aaron Mitchell, Outstanding Police Juror William Ruffin and District Attorney Don Burkett.
A reception will follow immediately after with refreshments.
On Sept. 22, SAExploration (SAE) will be conducting a seismic activity survey in a 52-square mile area east of U.S. Hwy. 171 near Fisher and Florien in all portions of Townships 5 and 6 North, Ranges 10 and 11 West. The survey is expected to last until next January.
To provide the public with additional information, SAE and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a public meeting on Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. at Cypress Bend Resort.
Persons wishing additional details pertaining to the seismic survey prior to the meeting should contact Tanya Matcek at (713) 502-8161 or tmatcek@descoenv.com. An outline of the seismic project showing the potential area to be affected is located at wlf.louisiana.gov/page/seismic-exploration-permits under Current Public Notices.
The Living Word Church (LWC) Many Campus held their Grand Opening on Sunday, Aug. 28 in their new location at 645 San Antonio Ave. in downtown Many.
The space houses a large lobby area, a worship space, a big youth and fellowship room and several classrooms.
Over 130 persons turned out for Sunday worship, where Pastor Paul Floyd delivered a strong sermon after the Praise Team led a time of singing. Afterward, everyone enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs with all the trimmings and lots of desserts.
The non-denominational church is based in Mansfield with additional campuses in Stonewall and Many. It has sort of an unusual setup: rather than one pastor on staff, the church has a pastoral team and music teams, who visit the different campuses on alternate Sundays. So, attendees do not necessarily listen to the same speaker or praise team every service. When we visited, regular Many keyboardist Carolyn Ricks was off and Sabine native Patrick Colston was on keyboards and vocals with the praise leaders. Turns out Patrick was in for a visit from California.
The LWC Many Campus Sunday worship starts at 10:30 a.m. and after praise, youth are dismissed to special young persons’ classes during sermon time in the sanctuary. Church Prayer Meetings are held Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m.
At Many’s Grand Opening Sunday, the church also celebrated the launch of six Connect Groups, which serve a variety of different needs including youth groups, activities, couples and more.
We are excited to see LWC bringing life to downtown Many and making great use of our town’s historic buildings. Congratulations to all who worked hard for a successful Grand Opening Sunday. Well done. Jesus was lifted up.
Dist. 1 Police Juror Bo Stewart continues to get accolades for his efforts. Krystal Parker wrote on Facebook: “Not long ago Plainview Rd., the unpaved side, was pretty rough and it took one call to Bob Stewart and he jumped on it and handled it fairly quickly. I know I constantly see Pilcher Rd. being discussed, but I also know there are some really bad roads within the parish. After reading a lot of the comments, I’m thankful for a good Jury man that takes care of us in my area.”
Then Allie Sparks wrote: “I actually texted Mr. Bo this morning about Cenchrea because I was tired of bottoming out. Then this evening I come home to a freshly graded road so I was very pleased.”
And from Kristi Harris Kor: “They are lucky to have Bo Stewart serving them. Have known him for about 10 years. He is a logical, get it done kinda guy.”
A Facebook page called Sabine Parish Citizens for Better Roads recently started and already has more than 1,000 members. Pat and Joy Scarborough started the group, and their goal is to see some improvements on the roads in Sabine Parish. They are trying to keep things on a positive note in hopes of making a difference. But, reading through all the posts, it looks like maintaining an optimistic attitude in spite of all the road troubles can be a challenge sometimes.
Look at this post from Pat: “Milling Pilcher Rd. cost $38,000. If that money had been stacked up at the end of the road and burned, the residents would be better off. Let that sink in.”
And this: “Mr. Police Juror: If you refuse to do anything to mitigate the damage done to our roads at your direction, you should do the right thing and resign.”
Rhonda Perry: “I’ve tried really hard to keep my mouth shut… but I’m done. They need to come in and grind Matthews Lodge Rd. Not bits and pieces like last time… THE WHOLE THING. Make it a whole dirt road, not just parts. People wanna drive on the parts that are still somewhat good which means we are back to people driving on [the] wrong side of road in curves. This is the second time in about a month’s time I have almost been hit head on. The day I get hit will be the day I have some people’s jobs.”
Randy Holcomb: “We been trying to get Shuteye Rd. resurfaced for over 45 years now. Three years ago, they finally paved the first section and within a year it was coming apart bad. Luckily when they ran the new pipeline through there, big trucks tore the road up worse. But the pipeline company did repair what they tore up. For the rest of the road, it has 50+ years of patch work. Recently someone complained [that] the big curve on the road needed repair so what did they do. They milled up the old asphalt and now we have a dusty, muddy rough section in our road. When I asked about this, they said there was no plans to put new asphalt in the curve. When did milling up asphalt become an acceptable repair job?”
Well, Phillip “Koolaid” Cutrer of Many is back in the news. Last week he posted on Facebook the “qualifications of elected chief of police.” Last time around, Koolaid was going to run for Many Chief of Police but was prevented from doing by a ruling from District Attorney Don Burkett about the requirement for living within the city limits.
Koolaid posted from Act 776 of the 2022 Legislature: “Except as otherwise provided in this section, an elected Chief of Police of a municipality shall be an elector of the municipality. At the time of qualifying as a candidate for the office of Chief of Police, he shall have been domiciled for at least the immediately preceding ear in the municipality….”
He adds, “Just so it’s crystal clear…”
The last go-round when he was prevented from running, he told Observations that next election he was coming back with a vengeance.
He worked for the Sabine Sheriff’s Department and lost his job because he took some juveniles to a church in DeSoto Parish and they ended up writing on the wall. Trouble is, the Church had a camera which captured the scene and it was reported to the DeSoto Sheriff’s Dept, which reported it to Sabine. Just recently, Koolaid made amends for the incident and was hired again as a Deputy for the Sabine Sheriff. They believe in forgiveness.
Then just a few days ago, Kool Aid posted: “And just like that the nightmares are back… the fear of loss… I struggled with this for a longtime without anyone’s knowledge… I hid it because I was prideful but this time I am handling it differently… Sometimes it’s best to let it out and just simply talk about it.”
Good luck, Koolaid.
We had a good visit with Sabine native Lawrence Brandon and his wife Carolyn on Saturday evening. They are now running the Rusty Spur Restaurant located on Hwy. 171 between Stonewall and Keithville. Lawrence has been in the restaurant business many times in many places, and the food is always good. They took an old building and remodeled it and it is a fine restaurant with an atmosphere all its own. Lawrence and Carolyn have been married five years. If you are ever up that way and want a good meal, drop by the Rusty Spur.
James Wagley, Sabine Prevention Alliance Coalition Coordinator, reminds all who attended the July 23 Community Forum and those who expressed interest, that a follow-up Community Forum will take place on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Many.
“We will meet from 9 a.m. until noon,” Wagley said. “In our second Community Forum, we will follow up on our plans to increase protective factors and decrease risk factors for our children and youth in Sabine. If you were not able to attend the first forum, this will be a good time to jump on the train. Drew Brooks will be there to facilitate our process. Please put this date and time in your phone or old school calendar,” he requested.
Another notice will be sent out closer to the date. Interested persons are encouraged to reach out to any youth they know or are working with and to help those young people attend the Forum.
“We need their leadership,” Wagley stated.
The Town of Many and the Many Police Department now have four trained and certified animal control officers to help capture or assist with stray, lost, missing, aggressive and feral animals within the city limits of Many.
City workers Cecil Jordan, David Smith, Jesse Butler, and Many Police Officer Gregory Young all received extensive training through classes and workshops in Alexandria at the Louisiana Animal Care and Control annual conference this summer.
The men studied topics such as animal restraint and muzzling, officer safety and body language, equine investigations, animal cruelty investigations, animal blood sport, animal sickness and disease signs. They also learned about animal first aid and CPR, breed identification, compassion, fatigue and distress.
The conference also provided the men the opportunity to attend specialized “Tools of the Trade” sessions that included modules like Use of the Collapsible Baton, Use of the Control Pole, Use of OC (Pepper) Spray, Types of Dog behavior and Aggression, and the Proper Use of Force, as well as Chemical Capture.
“We are indeed fortunate to now have four highly trained and skilled certified animal control officers right here in Many to assist the Sabine Animal Shelter with any animal-related problems that may arise,” said Many Mayor Robert Hable. “This is an important first for our town and I am so grateful these men are now certified,” the mayor shared.
Sabine Animal Shelter Manager Lisa Butler was thrilled about the men taking time out from their regular work to attend the conference. She said, “When I need them, they are always so quick to respond. To have these animal control officers is a real plus in some of the difficult situations we sometimes have occur with animals.”
“As far as I know, we have never had this many certified animal control officers in Many. I’m pleased that the Many City Police could send one of our officers, and we always want to help the Sabine Animal Shelter however we can,” said Many Chief of Police Cheryl Wooley.
“This is a win-win for the Town of Many, The Many City Police, and the Sabine Animal Shelter,” concluded Mayor Hable.
(Special thanks to Mary Brocato for the above article.)
FALL ART SALE
The Depot Art Gallery, located in Many’s historic train depot, is having a Fall Sale this Saturday, Sept. 3 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
“You will not want to miss this! It’s time for our Fall Sale,” the Gallery shared. “[We have] many new items to decorate your home or office for the season!”
The Depot Art Gallery is located at 750 Hwy. 171 Bypass in Many, in the east end of the old depot.
Observations heard reports that it was a fun, well-attended Craft Class last Saturday at the Many Train Depot. The group made pumpkin crafts under the direction of local artist and Chamber of Commerce Director Shanna Gaspard. A dozen or so turned out to paint white, orange or green pumpkin home decor and a good time was had by all. Watch this column for news of future classes. It’s a great opportunity for fellowship and fun right here at home.
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