Wednesday, November 13, 2019

It is interesting how things sometimes work out, how a simple act of kindness and compassion can make all the difference in the world in a person’s life. Sometimes those things stay with a person forever.

Here is a story about how a Deputy Sheriff’s kindness changed the life of Aaron Mitchell, now in the run-off for Sabine Parish Sheriff. Aaron was 13 years old at the time and lived with his parents out in the country. He was friends with a lad whose grandfather ran a little country store. The boy invited Aaron to go into the store with him and once inside they ate honey buns and drank chocolate milk. Aaron didn’t think there was anything wrong in doing this because the boy’s grandfather owned the business.

Well, to the boys’ dismay, grandfather was not happy when he caught on to what was happening after he found their empty bottles and wrappers in the store. He called the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Department. George R. Cook was Sheriff at the time and Travis Bennett was his Chief Deputy.

Travis answered the call. He could have hauled the boys off to jail and given them a good scare that way, but instead he handled the matter in a different, more effective way. He showed wisdom and compassion, especially when it came to Aaron’s part in the matter.

He talked to Aaron about how what he did was wrong, even though he didn’t intentionally steal the items. He told him that he could see potential in him, but that he would never reach that potential if he violated the law.

The message went to Aaron’s heart. “What Travis said to me made a huge difference in my life,” Mitchell said. “It changed me. Never again did I do anything that might be considered a violation of the law. His words to me helped me make my life as straight as an arrow. Travis could have taken me to jail, but he chose not to. Instead he talked to me and taught me the error of my ways, even though what I had done was not intentionally breaking the law.”

“Another lesson, Travis taught me was to have compassion and mercy,” he said.  “I have practiced that and that will certainly help guide my actions if I am elected Sheriff.”

We have known Travis during his many years in law enforcement. He has a sterling reputation as a law enforcement officer and has helped many people during his years of service.

Saturday is Election Day. Be sure to cast your ballot. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

A total of 2,478 persons voted early, according to Registrar of Voters Kristi McCormick. That is 206 more than the 2,272 who voted in the first election.

John Salter reports that he is running strong for the District 5 seat on the Natchitoches Parish Council. He served previously on the Natchitoches Police Jury and also the Council.

He ran second in October balloting. He is being supported by Larry Paige who ran third in the race.

On Monday morning Southern LaDeez opened in the old Many Pawn Shop building on San Antonio Ave. in downtown Many. It is good to see businesses come back downtown; banker J. J. Blake just opened an office on San Antonio for Community Bank of Louisiana.

Southern LaDeez is operated by Robbie Edwards and Laura Vines. They have cleaned up the old building and made a lot of improvements. 

Just in time for Christmas giving, the business features antiques, jewelry, homemade soaps, home décor, jams, jellies, homemade candy and much more. And they plan to open a snack shop soon.

Anyone wishing to have a booth in the business should go by or check them out on Facebook.

The business is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. They are closed on Sundays.

It is worth going to take a look and see what a wonderful job those hard-working folks have done for downtown Many.

Northwestern State University recently signed a cooperative agreement with the Town of Many to provide advisory services to the Many Cultural District Committee in selecting and exhibiting historic photographs, artwork and other items to exhibit at Many’s Sabine Parish Historical Museum, the former Kansas City Southern Depot.

Many Mayor Ken Freeman and City Councilwoman Mary Brocato represented the Committee in formalizing the agreement saying they hope NSU faculty and staff with expertise in regional history, culture and preservation will help organize, curate and exhibit the items to tell stories of the area and people who have lived there. 

“The immediate mission of the Cultural Committee on this endeavor is to select and obtain appropriate items to carry out the theme of No Man’s Land or the neutral strip which encompassed all of Sabine Parish,” said Brocato, who is president of the Cultural District. “We will also include exhibits on the significance of the railroad industry in Sabine Parish and exhibits on the history and culture of the parish.”

Many’s Cultural District Committee has previously renovated and restored the old Sabine Theatre and converted it to the Many Community Center where free movies, music concerts, plays, and other cultural events are hosted. They also organized Book Nooks, free mini-libraries for sharing books, around town.

NSU President Dr. Chris Maggio said the partnership is another example of how Northwestern State enhances the cultural fabric of northwest Louisiana by providing resources to rural communities in the area. 

“This agreement has great potential for students and faculty interested in learning about and sharing knowledge in history, social sciences, cultural studies, art, anthropology and other disciplines,” said NSU President Dr. Chris Maggio.  “We look forward to working with the Many Cultural District Committee on this on-going project.” 

Information about Many’s Sabine Parish Historical Museum is available by contacting Brocato at (318) 617-5239 or emailing brocatomary@gmail.com.

It was a night to remember in Monroe, LA when President Donald J. Trump visited last Wednesday evening! The Monroe Civic Center was filled to overflowing with an enthusiastic crowd of 7,500 packed inside and another estimated couple of thousand outside who could not be accommodated within the venue.

Yours truly, my wife Laurie, and our friends Steve, Phyllis and Mark Birdwell were all lucky enough to get special passes to the event, which was held to promote Republican candidate Eddie Rispone’s campaign for Governor of Louisiana.

The president presented the usual rousing and highly-entertaining rally remarks he is known for, also sharing with the crowd that he and First Lady Melania would be attending the LSU–Alabama game over the weekend. And on a side note, way to go, Tigers!

In his speech, Pres. Trump noted, “Eddie Rispone is not a career politician. He’s a man of faith and a lifelong Louisiana patriot. He will cut your taxes and regulations, he will cut your car insurance in half.”

Next to the president, the events’ best speakers were Sen. John Kennedy and Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin. Each presented a stirring hurrah to the excited audience. The junior senator arguably had the line of the night when he said of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, “No offense, but it must suck to be that dumb.” The crowd roared.

Ardoin spoke passionately about Louisiana’s strengths and how our state can best build on those strengths as well as his commitment to keep Louisiana’s elections transparent, fair and untampered with. The Secretary visited with hundreds of people, shaking hands, taking pictures, making small talk and sporting his “Keep Kyle” campaign sticker with his usual exuberance.

President Trump is slated to appear in Bossier City tomorrow evening and, as of this writing, event tickets are still available at donaldjtrump.com. Two tickets per mobile number are allowed, subject to a first come, first serve basis.

At the Monroe event, we arrived about 3:30 p.m. and waited 45 minutes or so in a VIP line to get inside. They had advertised that doors would open at 4. As we were being escorted to the area to wait, our guide pointed out the first part of the line outside the Civic Center’s main entrance and said those people had camped out there the night before to assure entry and best seats.

Others who waited in line with us outside and who were seated nearby inside were “Duck Dynasty” royalty Phil Robertson and wife Kay, who were accompanied by several family members. Robertson visited with Observations after we went inside, sending his good wishes to longtime friend and Louisiana Tech college buddy John Curtis Sr.  Phil and son Willie also spoke on the program at the President’s request.

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy were on hand, as was Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and several of Louisiana’s elected officials from the Monroe area. Candidate for Governor of Louisiana Eddie Rispone spoke, of course, as did his former rival, U.S. Representative Ralph Abraham.

Other notables included Pres. Trump’s re-election campaign manager, Brad Parscale, and National Press Secretary for the campaign, Kayleigh McEnany. Louisiana conservative radio talk show host Moon Griffon, who is featured on BDC Radio, struck up conversation with Steve Birdwell while we were waiting, and we were also happy to see Ruth Wisher. She is owner/founder of Wisher Strategies, LLC, a former college mate of Laurie’s and a lifelong friend of the Birdwells. Ruth is working on Eddie Rispone’s campaign for governor at the moment.

In case you plan to attend Pres. Trump’s Bossier rally:  we were advised by some regular ticket-holders that they arrived to the Monroe rally at about 3 p.m. They said their wait was about three hours before getting inside the venue at 6 p.m. So plan accordingly. The earlier you arrive, the better.

We remind our readers that this Saturday, Nov. 16, is Election Day and Many voters will have a choice on whether to have the Chief of Police elected or appointed by the Mayor with approval of the Town Council. Over the last year, the Council has received a lot of complaints relative to Chief Roger Freeman and the Police Department.

So last month, KSA of Shreveport presented the Town with proposed repair work that needs to be done to the Town’s 50-year-old water and sewer systems. Last major improvements to the water system were done in 1999. Total cost to do the necessary work now comes to just over $12 million.

The cost to operate the Many Police Department is about $1 million per year. That’s in addition to the $1.5 million that Many taxpayers shell out to the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The proposal has been made that the Police Department could be abolished and the Sabine Sheriff’s Department handle the job of law enforcement in the town. It would take a Legislative act to abolish the Police Department.

Mayor Ken Freeman said Sheriff Ronny Richardson said his department could take over law enforcement in the town if the Police Department is abolished. Candidate Aaron Mitchell also said he would do it if elected Sheriff. The cost to do so would be about $400,000 per year, thus saving the Town of Many about $600,000 per year.

The suggestion is that the resulting surplus be applied to pay for the necessary work to the town’s water and sewer system, which would prevent the taxpayers from having to pay any extra taxes to get the needed work done.

In a related matter, voters in the Village of Noble will also vote on the proposition of whether the Mayor, with the approval of the Council, will be able to appoint a Marshal who will act as the Chief of Police.

Observations is proud to endorse Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin in his campaign to continue serving as Secretary.

Kyle Ardoin served as First Assistant Secretary of State for eight years before becoming Secretary in May 2018. He knows the inner workings of the office from business services, to notarizing and certifications, to election services and more. He is the most qualified candidate in Saturday’s election to lead this office into the future.

As Secretary of State, his number one priority is protecting the data on file. Said he, “I am proud of the work we’ve done to safeguard the people of Louisiana’s private information and I will continue to work hard to guarantee that nobody can get access to it.”

Future plans are to introduce new voting machines across the state. Of course, with the great promise of new technology comes new challenges. Sec. Ardoin said, “My nine years in the Secretary of State’s office make me uniquely qualified to guide Louisiana through this new era.”

And finally, today we hear all the stories in the news about those both inside and outside our country who work to hack into our elections. Kyle has the experience and knowledge to stop any attempts to compromise our democratic process.

We are happy to recommend to our many readers that they cast their vote Saturday to re-elect Kyle Ardoin as Secretary of State. And by the way, our own Joe R. Salter of Florien is his First Assistant Secretary of State. That alone is a good reason to vote for Kyle.

Nov. 5 was the 59^th anniversary of the death of Country Music great Johnny Horton.  He died as the result of a drunk college student running into his Cadillac on an overpass in the little town of Milano, TX. At the time, the Shreveport singer was top of the line on the Country music charts. His biggest hit was “The Battle of New Orleans.” In addition he had “When It’s Springtime in Alaska It’s 40 Below,” “North to Alaska,”  which was the title song in the John Wayne movie by the same name, “Honky Tonk Man,” “Whispering Pines” and many others.

Horton’s lead guitar player was a man named Tommy Tomlinson, also of Shreveport. He was seriously injured in the wreck, but survived. Because of the wreck, he lost one of his legs a couple of years later. On Nov. 5, I had the pleasure of having Tommy’s son, Tom of Uncertain, TX come by for a visit. He and I have been friends for many years and it is always a pleasure to see him. And I especially loved all those packages of white perch he brought me. 

Signs Along Life’s Highway

Last weekend someone attempted to break into the new Southern LaDeez business in the old Many Pawn Shop Building in downtown Many. It appears they took an axe or crowbar to try to get through a metal door on the second floor in back of the building. Turns out, there was someone in the building who heard all the noise and called the police. To our knowledge, no one has been arrested. BUT, the guilty party (who I hope will be arrested) should pay attention to the sign and not try it again.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…” – from Matthew 25:35-40

Sunday morning the First United Methodist Church of Many had a special prayer by Pastor Gloria Youngblood to bless its new food pantry. A nice, weatherproof cabinet built by Mike Hill was placed at the front door of the church. In it is non-perishable food items, and anyone in need is invited to come by and take enough for a meal. In addition, interested persons are invited to bring food and put in the pantry. The pantry is available at all times.

The ink well is all out for this week. Thanks for your faithful readership. To share your thoughts and ideas for future articles, please call me at (318) 332-8653 or send an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com. To see older Observations, visit our Facebook page where they are archived by date under Photo Albums. To read columns of the past year, follow the pages below. If you wish to send, save or print this week’s Observations, please click on the appropriate icon below.

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