Wednesday, September 13, 2023
The Sabine Parish Rally to Celebrate Life will be held Saturday, Sept. 23, from 9:30 – 11 a.m. at the lot across the street from Many City Hall, according to Michele Smith, a Louisiana Awareness advocate, and the Abortion Survivors Network.
Smith is co-leader of the Sabine Parish Citizens for Life. Complete details will be carried in next week’s Observations but make your plans to attend now.
The 31st Anniversary Marthaville Good Ole Days Festival is upcoming the last weekend of this month, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 29 and 30. The festival will kick off in downtown Marthaville on Friday night at 6 p.m. with Gospel in the Park featuring areas Gospel bands and churches. Saturday morning events start at 9 a.m. with the Grand Opening, prayer and Posting of the Colors by Bethel Christian Academy.
The ATV Parade rolls at 9:30 a.m. and the “World Famous Good Ole Days Parade” rolls at 10 led by none other than my wife, Laurie Gentry, as Grand Marshal. She was very honored to be selected.
There will be entertainers on the park stage after the parade, then all the school performance groups will do their routines.
Saturday evening is the annual Nashville Country Music Show at 6 p.m. featuring sounds by Casey Martin and the Wild Crowd, as well as the local StereoDrive band.
Festival Organizer Fuzzy Hennigan and his crew tell us, “It’s going to be fun, food, crafts and great free entertainment!”
We are especially excited as two of our longtime friends plan to be at Good Ole Days this year. They are Don Winn, former coach, Marine and native of Marthaville, and Dr. Ronald Byrd of South Boston, VA, who has strong Marthaville roots and went on to teach for years in various university systems, among other great accomplishments. Both gentlemen inspire us greatly and we are honored to call them our friends.
Tributes to Don and Ronny follow.
Don Winn
Educator, Coach, Patriot
We have known and appreciated Don Winn for many years and were so proud to see KTBS-TV of Shreveport celebrate him as a “Hometown Patriot” earlier this year. And certainly, he is. He is a former principal and coach at Marthaville High School.
He decided to join the Marines in 1955 while playing basketball for Memphis State University. He recalled, “Memphis was a wonderful place back in the 1950s. Elvis was going strong. It was a good music place.” Don remembers meeting Elvis on campus one time. He recalled, “He came out to campus for a program one day when they were leaving, we got to shake hands with him and say a few words.”
While Don enjoyed his time in Memphis and playing college basketball, he was looking to the future. Before being drafted, he decided to join the Marine Corps and was shipped to Quantico, VA. He recalled it being much like Louisiana at the time – hot and muggy.
After about six months at Quantico, the Marines sent him to Base 29 in Palms, CA. He said California was nothing like Louisiana. “That was a big adjustment,” he remembered. “I’m used to a lot of trees around here and there was nothing but sand there.”
Soon he was commissioned an officer and was a platoon leader in an artillery unit in charge of a 155 Howitzer. “I enjoyed that,” he stated. “We’d go out in the desert, and you could pick out your target. You could see how close you were coming to it or how far you were missing it.”
Don said his Marine training served him during the rest of his life as a coach and school administrator. “I like the training that they give you and what they expect out of you,” he stated. “I think a lot of people need that more today than ever before. But I was just always proud to be a Marine.”
He completed his service to the Marines by the late 1950s. By then he was married to the love of his life, Fran, and they had two children.
Don got a job as basketball coach at Marthaville, and he eventually became principal before retiring. He is 90 years old and five years ago, at the age of 85, he played on a senior basketball team and won a national championship.
Hats off to Don Winn – a real American patriot.
Dr. Ronald Byrd
Age is Just a Number
A native of Marthaville, Ronald Byrd played basketball there in the 1950s, and remains in amazing health at age 90. Ronny, who now lives in South Boston, VA, sometimes stops by Many on his Louisiana trips to visit friends, and we are always amazed by his vitality and mental clarity. Not only has he had a great career in higher education, but he has used his doctorate in sports sciences to take practical steps to stay fit and age well. An article on Ronny written by Victoria Thompson for South Boston’s News & Record follows.
Age is Just a Number for Pickleball Competitor
After winning two national badminton championships and teaching at Louisiana State University for 40 years, he has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. At 90 years old, Byrd keeps up an active lifestyle with a variety of sports like pickleball at the South Boston [VA] Recreation Center.
“When I see Ron’s spin shot, I know I need to get the same t-shirt for him as I got for my dad. It read: ‘Old age and treachery will beat youth and skill every time.’ That’s definitely Ron,” said Ray Robertson of South Boston, a fellow pickleball player at the rec center.
Originally from Louisiana, Byrd moved with his wife to Albuquerque, NM after they both retired in 2009. They moved to South Boston, VA around three years ago to be closer to their daughter and granddaughter who live in Clarksville. “We loved it out [West], but we missed our daughter and granddaughter. Flying once a year was not enough,” he said.
Shortly after moving, he saw a sign advertising pickleball outside the South Boston Recreation Center and decided to check it out.
“I took [pickleball] up because there was no badminton in the area. I loved to play badminton. I was an avid badminton player,” he said.
Pickleball combines elements of tennis, badminton and racquetball. While all ages can play, many elements of the game appeal to older players, with many joining in at the rec center.
For example, the court is smaller than a tennis court, and the plastic ball has holes like a whiffle ball which slows down speed compared to tennis or racquetball. The racquets are also lighter and smaller than a tennis racquet, making it a more suitable game for the elderly.
Over time, Byrd found that pickleball isn’t as physically demanding as badminton and racquetball, and today he plays twice a week.
His love of sports dates back to his college years. He started college on a basketball scholarship before making the shift to track and field. “I wasn’t big enough or tall enough [for basketball],” Byrd recalled.
Looking back, Byrd compares his lifestyle to that of his two younger brothers, one of whom uses a walker, the other who lives with congestive heart failure. “Genes are important, but if you don’t live right, you’re in trouble. I just think it’s critical for people to stay active,” Byrd said.
He earned his doctorate in sports sciences from Florida State University. Over the span of his academic career and his time at LSU, he wrote about 200 published research articles on topics related to sports sciences, like muscular systems and cardiovascular systems.
“I practice what I preach,” Byrd said. “[Sports sciences] used to be [about] professional and college football and other sports, conditions handed down from coach to coach, and it’s really about the physiology of it. I got in on the ground floor of that kind of research and it gave me grounds [to] apply it to my life.
“I’ve done what you should do with your body my whole life, and it’s paid off. I’m five pounds over what I was in college. Most people gain weight, put stress on their joints, and overwork them; my joints are in great shape,” he continued.
His favorite part of playing pickleball is the camaraderie among the players at the recreational center. He often helps by dispensing advice on how to serve: “Put a spin on it.” He is quick to praise the skills of his fellow pickleball players.
Robertson described how he met Byrd. “I arrived early my first day at the gym, and Ron soon came in. He immediately gave me a tutorial about how to play the game with some excellent tips.”
A couple weeks ago, Robertson said, Byrd amazed the other players by hitting a behind-the-back shot to win the point.
“I think we all hope we can be as active and fit as Ron is at 90. He does remind me of my father, a lifelong racquetball player, who would have been 92 this year,” Robertson said. “I was never able to beat Dad until he was over 60 and had a bad knee.”
Staying active is very important to Byrd. Aside from playing pickleball, Byrd walks four miles a day and eats fast food only once in a while. He also lifts free weights in his basement at home and performs exercises like squats as warmups. Every so often, he’ll play in disc golf competitions too.
“What I’m trying to do with [exercise is] from a scientific point of view,” he said. “I’m beyond a point of building up a little muscle, but all older people should really do some resistance work to prevent the natural loss of muscle. I’m trying to prevent that loss with weights and aerobic work, playing games, and whatever else active I can find to do.”
Byrd even prefers using a push mower to cut the grass over a riding mower, specifically for the fitness benefits.
“I have a better quality of life than most 90-year-olds,” he said. “If you stop and think about it, you’re not going to find many out playing games, but it’s a quality-of-life thing. The length of life isn’t that important to me. It’s the quality of it that’s important; you stay active.”
When he’s not playing sports, Byrd likes to spend his time playing chess and reading. He visits the South Boston library a couple times a week.
(We thank Bussey Mims for bringing the above article to our attention.)
This year Marthaville Good Ole Days is going PINK!
“We’re ending September, throwing the best festival in Louisiana on Sept. 29 and 30, and our theme this year is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, beginning in October!” Good Ole Days t-shirt coordinator Hayley Kilgore reports.
T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE NOW
Youth Small-Large – $15
Adult Small-XL – $15
Adult 2X – $20
Adult 3X-4X – $25
To reserve your shirt, contact Hayley Kilgore at (318) 315-3339.
Payment may be made by the following methods:
PayPal – haleykilgore24@icloud.com
Cash app – $haleykilgore3
Venmo – @haleykilgore3
or by Cash.
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