Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Beautiful John W. Curtis Football Field at Many High School. Artificial turf is now complete and looking great. The project was done by GeoSurfaces of St. Gabriel. Two other ball fields were completed earlier. Total cost to the School Board – just over $1.5 million. The Tigers have already practiced on the field. Shown at lower left is John W. Curtis, a big supporter of the Many Tigers and their stadium’s namesake.

In a move that surprised many, Carroll Ellzey announced he will seek election as Sabine Parish Tax Assessor. He held the job for 16 years from 1997-2012. At least four others, maybe five, have also said they will run for Assessor.

A native of Sabine, Ellzey was graduated from Plainview High and Northwestern State University and is a veteran of the Air Force.

He is a Certified Louisiana Assessor having completed over 300 hours of education in property appraisal.

Married to the former Helen Thaxton, the couple recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. They are members of the Plainview Baptist Church, where he has been a deacon for 27 years.

“I pledge to be a good steward of the office and of your tax dollars and to be fair and honest in every way,” he stated. “The office will always be open to you, the public, to accommodate your needs.”

Qualifying to run for public office is not far away – Aug. 6, 7 and 8. It will take place in the Clerk of Court’s office.

The election will be held Oct. 12, with the second primary on Nov. 16.

On the ballot will be sheriff, clerk of court, tax assessor and members of the police jury.

A reminder that tax rolls will be open for public inspection at the Tax Assessor’s Office from Aug. 15-29.

At a recent meeting, the Natchitoches Parish Council finally voted to let the public vote on whether or not to return to the Police Jury form of government. There has been much dissatisfaction with the Parish Council, especially its inability to maintain parish roads.

Russell Rachal, who once said never, never, never, changed his mind and voted to allow the election. Russell represents a rural area where roads are terrible and until recently would not budge on his stand on the matter. I believe he might have had a spiritual experience.

As an added note, we hear a lot of good things about his brother, Steve Rachal, a former State Trooper who is running for Natchitoches Parish Sheriff.

We hear that folks in the City of Natchitoches are very much in favor of the Council form of government. Rumor has it that folks in the rural areas are getting organized and are saying “If the folks in Natchitoches plan to vote against us, we will take our business to Many, Winnfield, Coushatta or somewhere else.” The Town of Many can use the business. Come on over.

Steve Rachal, who is running for Natchitoches Parish Sheriff, was honored at a fundraiser Saturday evening at the Best Western Conference Center in Natchitoches. He has had a law enforcement career since 1985 when he was hired as a Civil Defense Deputy Sheriff.

A short time later he was hired as a Police Officer for the City of Natchitoches, where he worked one year. In 1986 he was hired as a Sheriff’s Deputy by the late Sheriff Norm Fletcher. He worked there four years and then was hired by the Louisiana State Police.

As a State Trooper, Rachal worked as a detective, was on the SWAT team for eight years, was promoted to Sergeant in the Bureau of Investigation where he worked until his retirement in 2011.

After a promotion in 2001, he worked in the Gaming Section in a supervisory role and then was assigned to the Special Crimes Unit overseeing troopers in the investigation and apprehension of child predators.

Rachal worked as a Detective Sergeant in the Bureau of Investigations Detective Division, then later the State Police Intelligence Unit. As a trooper, he was also a commissioned Deputy U.S. Marshal and assisted in the Fugitive Apprehension Task Force.

Our friends with the Marthaville Cemetery organization are having a gun raffle fundraiser and it’s a bargain for only $5 per ticket. The winner, to be drawn Oct. 5, 2019, will receive a beautiful Remington 308, Model 783 with a 22″ barrel. You need not be present to win.

To find out where you can purchase your tickets, call (903) 474-3338 or contact Renee Graves Rains via Facebook.

A good friend, Rodney Roy Self, a native of Many, was killed in a tragic hit-and-run in Shreveport shortly after 11 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9 in the South Highlands neighborhood. He was walking his dog when he met his death. He was 79.

Shreveport police have not made an arrest and a cash reward is being offered for information on the person or persons responsible.

Rodney was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Self, who sold Watkins Products in the area and also had a furniture store on Middle Creek Road. His brother was the late Wayne Self, who was a law enforcement officer in Sabine.

I first met Rodney when we were students at Northwestern together in 1959. He had an old 1937 blue Chevrolet coupe and I had a hole in both shoes. We both loved Country music and would go together to the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport as often as we could. Rodney also played the steel guitar.

One time when we went to Shreveport to see the Hayride, which was over about midnight, I found out after the show that Rodney did not have any headlights on his coupe. By the light of street lamps, we drove to the Shreveport city limits on Highway 1 South, hoping Police would not see us. They didn’t.

In those days, there was a cotton field just beyond the intersection of Hwy. 1 (now Youree Dr.) and 70^th St. We pulled over at the edge of the field and spent the night.

Rodney was laid to rest beside a son in a cemetery in Newellton, the home of his wife. We extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Dorothy Self and members of the family. He was a good man.

More on the Robeline speed trap town:  Regular readers of Observations are aware of Rep. Frankie Howard’s attempts to get a sign erected in Robeline informing motorists to slow down. He wanted a “Speed Trap Town” billboard, but in an agreement apparently worked out by Sen. Gerald Long, Mayor Bobby Behan agreed to a sign worded something like “Speed Limit Strictly Enforced” and Robeline would pay for and have the sign erected.

In a recent letter, Robeline Police Officer Brad Raynes reported that an official with the Department of Transportation and Development was in Robeline and told the Mayor that “no additional signage [Speed strictly enforced] would be erected because there was none of that type or design or wording that was authorized by DOTD.”

Rep. Howard asked Observations to contact Sen. Jim Fannin who worked out the deal with the Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee of the Senate.

Sen. Fannin of Jonesboro confirmed that the agreement as presented by
Rep. Howard was what Mayor Behan agreed to. He said a representative of DOTD was present at the meeting, and he thought if there was a problem in putting up the sign it would have been objected to at the time.

Sen. Fannin agreed to look into the matter and get back to Observations. We will keep the public informed.

Since Sen. Long reportedly brokered the deal, we bet he’ll jump in and get the matter, as agreed to, carried forward.

Many Assistant Chief of Police Dewayne Brumley had his say, and what a say, prior to being fired upon the recommendation of Chief Roger Freeman. The special meeting, called at Chief Freeman’s request, lasted 30 minutes. Brumley was fired for “conduct unbecoming a gentleman,” which was the recommendation from Chief Freeman.

In opening the meeting, Councilwoman Gay Corley prayed “…let all anger, animosity and hatred in this town cease.”

The charge grew out of a confrontation between Brumley and Councilwomen Mary Key Brocato and Bobbie Jackson following the June 27 Council meeting, at which Mayor Ken Freeman was arrested by the Police Department.

According to reports, Brumley called Ms. Brocato “a bitch,” not once, but twice and told Ms. Jackson she wasn’t worth “a s….”  In addition, it is reported that he dared Ms. Jackson to slap him.

Brumley asked Ms. Brocato, “What made you get so angry with me?” He said she shook her finger in his face and called him “a fool.” Ms. Brocato said she did this “only after you called me a bitch.”

Ms. Jackson said Brumley asked her twice to slap him and she told him she wouldn’t do it “…because I am a lady.” Brumley said they were “standing there talking” and she said, “You’re no good.” Brumley said if Ms. Jackson had slapped him she would be “…putting yourself in a man’s shoes.”

After the arrest of Mayor Freeman, Brocato and Jackson went to the Detention Center to see if they could assist him. It is reported that a deputy sheriff told them they needed to make a statement and said he was floored by Brumley’s reported actions. The ladies went back the following day and each recorded video statements for the record. They chose not to file charges against Brumley.

Brumley asked Councilman James Kennedy if he told Chief Freeman to fire him and the Council Member said he did not.

Brumley was very passionate in his remarks which covered a wide range of subjects during his 20-minute session. He had questions and remarks written on paper which he followed. His wife Wilma was there to videotape the whole event.

One of the matters addressed at earlier Council meetings was a lack of patrol units on duty at night. Brumley said he offered to come in and work from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m., but Chief Freeman never asked him to do that. “We should all sit down and try to work this out,” Brumley commented and Mayor Freeman replied, “I tried.”

Brumley told the Council, “The men in the department is not the problem. The problem is right there,” he said as he pointed to Chief Freeman.

He then asked Mayor Freeman why he didn’t want Brumley to attend sessions of City Court. The Mayor replied that his temper would flare, he was rude and he presented information that was not true. Brumley told him, “You got a bad habit of talking down to people in your courtroom.”

Brumley asked the Council if it knew what was going on in the Police Department and the Mayor replied, “We kind of know,” explaining that he and the Council have been talking to the Chief for a year and a half, telling him, “If you’ve got a problem, you need to take care of it.”

In a wide-ranging series of questions, Brumley asked Ms. Corley, “Do you still reside in the city limits?” She responded she did and after the meeting presented Observations with a copy of her driver’s license, AARP card, ADT invoice, State Farm Insurance statement and Town of Many General Fund Statement. All showed an address on Ponder St. in Many.

Upon being questioned, Chief Freeman said Brumley had worked for him for five years and no disciplinary action had ever been taken against him.

Brumley asked Chief Freeman something like, “Did you state to me yesterday that the Council called you and said if you did not get rid of me, that they would cut your funding?” The Chief replied, “I took up for you ever time it came up.” Mayor Freeman asked the Chief, “Did anyone at this table ask you to call this meeting?” and Chief Freeman responded, “No.”

“Are you going to work for the Sheriff’s Department?” Brumley asked Chief Freeman. The Chief said he was going to work there part-time because “this job doesn’t pay enough.” The Chief accused Brumley of “taping me for the last two days.”

Ms. Brocato asked the Chief, “Were you aware he was taping your conversations over the phone?” Brumley responded he never taped him on the phone. There is a video taken with a body cam showing Officer Stanley Cook calling the Chief and recording it from Brumley’s office.

Cook was called before the Council, and Mayor Freeman said in earlier conversations Cook had said he was recording on Brumley’s orders since he was the Assistant Chief. Kennedy asked Cook, “Why were you recording him?”

“I was directed to tape it by Dewayne,” Cook replied. The Mayor asked, “Why?”  Brumley responded, “Because you can’t believe anything that comes out of his [Chief Freeman’s] mouth.” The Chief replied, “It goes both ways.”

“Under what grounds are you firing me/” Brumley asked and the Chief responded, “Your attitude.”

The motion to accept Chief Freeman’s recommendation and fire Brumley was made by Kennedy and seconded by Ms. Brocato. All voted in favor, with the exception of Ms. Brocato and Ms. Jackson, who both abstained because they were involved in the matter.

In closing, Ms. Brocato said things have been heated and have gotten out of hand.  She said the person who carries a grudge is the one who hurts himself. She told Brumley that she did not carry a grudge, has no ill will and wanted to put this “behind us.”

Brumley told Ms. Brocato he accepted her apology and she told him it was not an apology “it was forgiveness.” He then told her he accepted “her forgiveness.”

There was a call for everyone to work together and make our town safe.

Mayor Freeman said that two weeks ago, he got a call on a Saturday night that someone needed a police officer and couldn’t get one. He said he learned that only one person was on duty and that officer was on a medical emergency at the time.  The Mayor said he called the Sheriff’s Office and they had an officer on the job in just a matter of minutes.

Brumley told the Council that right now there is only one patrol on duty at night.

According to the Mayor, the Council is looking into hiring a mediation service to try to work out the problems between it and the Police Department.

And the beat goes on!

We are happy to report that Happy Hours classes have now resumed at the Many Depot. Thanks to the Many Depot Art Guild, artists will be teaching classes on three Saturday afternoons each month starting now and continuing through December.

Shanna Dees Gaspard said classes will be taught in jewelry-making, painting, and crafts from 1 to 4 p.m. on the first three Saturday afternoons of each month.

Students can make jewelry, create paintings, and enjoy craft sessions with experienced talented teachers and take home their creations when class is over.

The talented, experienced jewelry maker Cheryl Pearsall will teach jewelry design classes on the first Saturday of each month. Students will design and make paper and fabric bead necklaces, fringe earrings, double wrap necklaces and more when they meet with Pearsall’s jewelry design class. Cost of the class is $25 and that includes all materials for the class. The next class is August 3 when students will make fabric beads and then turn them into necklaces. 

Interested persons should call Pearsall at (727) 534-1057 to register for the class. In the Sept. 7 class, Pearsall will create a long double wrap necklace. On Oct. 5, they will create Bo-ho Hippie earrings. Pearsall stresses that this is one-of-a-kind original jewelry that can’t be purchased in stores.

Talented artist JoAnn Cason will teach painting on the third Saturday of each month. Cason has won many awards for her artwork and has been featured in many art shows. Her painting recently was selected by the Toledo Bend Lake Association for its yearly poster featuring the Toledo Bend Lake area. 

She and her students painted a firecracker box last Saturday, July 13. The next painting class will meet on August 10 and will feature a bouquet of flowers in a window or wall box. The September class on Sept.14 will feature paintings of sunflowers. Students will paint orange pumpkins at the Oct. 12 class.

The $20 class fee covers all materials and supplies. Potential students should call Ms. Cason at (318) 228-7767 to reserve a spot in the 1 to 4:00 p.m. Saturday classes beginning with the August 10 class.

The third Happy Hours class will be arts and craft classes offered on the third Saturday of every month through December. Shanna Dees Gaspard teaches her first class on July 20 when she and the students will make individual soap bars. An old folk custom dating back to the days when farm families made their own soap, this class will bring soap-making to a new level. The August 17 class will feature stamped tea towel sets and the September 21 class will feature fabric pumpkins. Students will make acorn door hangers on October 19. 

Gaspard said the craft classes are very popular because they’re a great way to make very personalized birthday or Christmas gifts. Once again, the crafts classes cost $20 to cover supplies and materials. Call (318) 602-1614 to reserve a spot for each class.   

All Happy Hours classes are taught by Art Guild artists at the historic Many Depot on Hwy. 171 Bypass in Many.

Schedules for the Happy Hours classes can be picked up at Many City Hall and at the Many Community Center on movie nights. The schedules can also be found on the Town of Many Facebook page and the local Save the Date Facebook page.

“We’re delighted that Happy Hours classes are now able to start up again,” Many Mayor Ken Freeman said. “Unfortunately we had to cancel them for a few months while renovation work was being done throughout the depot. But all that work is now complete, and our talented Art Guild members are back for summer and fall. I think both students and teachers will once again spend many Happy Hours at the Depot on Saturday afternoons. “

“Welcome back, Art Guild members and teachers,” Mary Brocato, chairperson of the Many Cultural District Advisory Committee, said. “You’ve all been so patient during these extensive renovations, and we are so happy that you’re finally back at the Depot and the classes are cranking up again. Thank you for bearing with us during the renovations and we’re so glad you’re back once again.”

That is all for this mid-month publication of Observations. Thanks for reading. We appreciate you. To share your thoughts and suggestions for future columns, please call or write to me at (318) 332-8653 or robertrgentry@gmail.com. To see older Observations, please visit our Facebook page, where they are listed under Photos and Albums by date. For more recent editions, follow the pages below. To print, send or save this week’s column, click on the appropriate icon.

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