Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The long-awaited Curtis Family Pharmacy will hold its Official Grand Opening this Tuesday, Nov. 26 with lots of holiday cheer!

Owners Moses and Leslie Curtis, along with business partner John Curtis, welcome everyone to stop by on Tuesday to enjoy their all-day giveaways, door prizes, refreshments and more.

The Sabine Parish Chamber of Commerce will also hold an official ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m.

“We have a large, friendly staff,” Leslie said, “And we are eager to meet everyone!” she shared.

Leslie Curtis and Rhonny Valentine are the Curtis Family pharmacists assisted by a large crew of Pharmacy Techs and store clerks.

Every member of the Moses Curtis family is as involved as possible with store operations, from oldest son Gunner, who greets customers and promptly takes care of their needs in the mold of his grandfather John Curtis, to brother Carson, who helps out occasionally, and even younger siblings Tackett and Lola, when they are not busy with football, cheerleading and school.

When the Curtis Family Pharmacy opened its doors recently, they were immediately rewarded with hundreds of prescription transfers and new prescription customers. The store also has a full line of over-the-counter medications and offers a wide, unique selection of boutique gifts for men and women, home décor, toys, specialty food items and more.

Curtis Family Pharmacy is located at 536 Hwy. 171 Bypass in Many.

Our friend Shoji Tabuchi has a new CD out just in time for Christmas buying and giving. It is entitled “Shoji Lights Up Christmas” and contains 15 great songs of the season. Some of the tunes include “Christmas Time’s A-Comin’,” “Silent Night,” “Blue Christmas,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

“Christmas is a time for family, spending time with loved ones and creating memories that will last a lifetime,” Shoji said in dedicating the CD to his wife Dorothy, daughter Christina and granddaughter Bailey Jae.

To order the CD, go to shoji.com. In addition, the Shoji Tabuchi Christmas Show is now being performed at the Clay Walker Theater in Branson. Regarded as Branson’s top showman, Shoji has been pulling them in for many years. We wish him the best.

An Observation of the Governor’s Race

Our good friend Dr. Ted Mims sent Observations the above chart, which we found very interesting in analyzing Saturday’s vote in the Governor’s race. It shows there were four parishes that put Gov. John Bel Edwards over the top. In those four parishes, voters gave Edwards a 182,771-vote victory over Republican Eddie Rispone. On a statewide basis, Edwards beat Rispone by only 40,340 votes.

Dr. Mims, or “Bussy” as he is known here, is a native of Many, being the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Mims. He is the retired head of the Computer Science Department at the University of Illinois at Springfield. He was graduated from Many High School and Northwestern State University.

Last year he was recipient of the Achievement Award from the Sabine Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to Aaron Mitchell who was elected Sabine Parish Sheriff in Saturday’s voting and to Chris Tidwell who won the Assessor’s run-off.

Mitchell carried 31 of the parish’s 38 precincts, and tied with incumbent Ronny Richardson at one. Mitchell received 4,862 votes for 62.32 per cent. Richardson got 2,940 votes for 37.68 per cent.

In the Assessor’s race, Tidwell walked away with 31 precincts, Carroll Ellzey led at 6 and they tied at one. Tidwell received 4,842 votes for 61.94 per cent. Ellzey got 2,975 votes representing 38.06 per cent.

Two towns voted on making the Chief of Police position appointive by the Mayor with the consent of the Town Council and both failed. In the Town of Many,456 voted against, representing 80.71 per cent, with 109 voting in favor, at 19.29 per cent. In the Village of Noble, 51 persons voted against and 41 voted in favor. The winning no vote represented 55.43 per cent.

Charlie Brown was re-elected District 3 Police Jury with 535 votes, to 447 for James Murphy. In District 5, Jeff “Gilligan” Davidson took that race with 548 votes to 434 for Matthew Murdock Adams.

Stoney Cotton of Zwolle took this huge 11-point buck that measured 150 inches on Nov. 3. The buck had a 17 ¼-inch spread. Cotton, 56, killed the buck at 140 yards with his Remington 7600 rifle, chambered in .30.06.

“Home for the Holidays” (PG-13) is the Thanksgiving movie playing this Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Many Community Center (Sabine Theater.) It’s free, of course, a gift from Mayor Ken Freeman and the Many City Council.

Thanksgiving usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to holiday movies. Sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas – both of which overflow with themed cinematic treats – America’s premier celebration of gluttony (and/or gratitude) rarely pops up on the big screen. But “Home for the Holidays” fills in the gap and provides a Thanksgiving movie that the whole family can enjoy. 

“Home for the Holidays” is a warm, feel-good comedy about how warm and messy family can be. It doesn’t really tell a story so much as chronicle a sequence of events, but it captures something  about how going back home to squabble with relatives and eat lots of food can add a nostalgic glow to the chill of late November. Or, as Claudia, played by Holly Hunter, puts it when talking with her sister, Joanne, “We don’t have to like each other, Jo. We’re family.”

The plot involves Claudia flying home to Baltimore after being fired from her Chicago art restoration job, all the while fretting about how her teenage daughter plans to spend an unsupervised Thanksgiving sleeping with her boyfriend. Her daughter refuses to go home with her mother and announces this as her intention while dropping off her mom at the airport.

Along the way, Claudia and her family navigate a fleet of hot-button issues, particularly involving Claudia’s younger brother, Tommy, played by Robert Downey Jr., at his nerviest, whom Joanne outs as gay to the rest of the family when she gets angry at him. But the film’s of-its-era concerns are also reflected in Claudia’s mother’s frustration that Claudia is still a single mom, who won’t just settle down with a nice furnace repairman. Even the one-scene characters in this movie are played by somebody you’ll recognize.

Fortunately, Tommy has traveled home with a friend, Leo, and there are sparks between Claudia and Leo that might turn into something more, if the two had more time to spend together than the 24 hours of Thanksgiving Day.

“Home for the Holidays” may not be an all-time classic, but like Thanksgiving itself, there’s comfort to be had in settling around its very big table. When the film closes with footage of Claudia watching her family disperse on a snowy, post-Thanksgiving morning, it has earned the melancholy the characters feel in that moment.

Movies in Many is sponsored by Mayor Ken Freeman, the Many Town Council and the Many Cultural District Advisory Committee.

Sabine Parish School Superintendent Dr. Sara P. Ebarb was recently selected as the Region VII Louisiana Superintendent of the Year nominee. She was one of six nominees across the state.

Sabine School Board President Terrell Snelling said, “Dr. Ebarb is leading our school district to the top. We are proud of her success and appreciate her dedication to not only the students in Sabine Parish, but to the parents, teachers, staff and administrators. Working together under the guidance of her leadership, we know we will continue to see our District move forward.”

Dr. Ebarb is a native of Sabine Parish. She began her career in education in Caddo Parish where she served as a teacher, counselor, assistant principal, principal and director. In 2011, she was selected to bring her varied experience and leadership skills home to Sabine Parish as Superintendent.

Candidates for Superintendent of the Year are chosen for their strong leadership skills, dedication to improving educational quality, ability to build employee relationships, student performance, and commitment to public education.

Dr. Ebarb was the 1997 Louisiana State Assistant Principal of the Year, the 2002 Region VII Principal of the Year and State Finalist, the 2003 State PTA Educator of Distinction, and was inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Educators at Northwestern State University in 2014.

At publication time, Observations learned Dr. T. Lamar Goree, Superintendent of Caddo Schools, was named Louisiana Superintendent of the Year on Monday during the joint conference of the Louisiana Association of School Executives/Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, which was held Sunday – Tuesday of this week.

Dr. Ebarb shared that she felt extremely honored to be nominated by her peers in Region VII as one of only six throughout the state. “(I am) …proud to serve in and represent the great schools and communities of Sabine Parish,” Dr. Ebarb said.

Los Adaes State Commemorative Area in Robeline hosted an interesting Birds of Prey event on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 16. About four dozen persons attended the outdoor lecture.

Rusty Scarborough, Senior Naturalist/Manager from the Walter Jacobs Nature Park in Shreveport spoke about the history of falconry and the ancient and modern uses of birds of prey to hunt.

By definition, falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small and larger animals are hunted – most often squirrels and rabbits.

These birds of prey can also be trained to hunt larger animals, such as very small deer, because they have learned that when they commence an attack, their human counterpart will quickly arrive to assist.

Scarborough shared about how birds of prey successfully dominate their kills and also demonstrated hunting techniques with one of his red-tailed hawks. The lesson used an artificial squirrel and also showed how falconers now use electronic signal location devices to find the bird and its prey in wooded or brushy areas with low visibility.

Falconry is thought to have originated in the Far East as early as 1700 BC, with evidence of the use of birds of prey represented in ancient art. It is believed falconry reached the British Isles by 860 AD.

It takes a minimum of five years of training to become a Master Falconer. It is a complex art requiring a complete understanding of the feeding and care of falcons, as well as their dietary and hunting habits.  

Come out and check out the new location of Southern LaDeez Crafts & Gifts in the old Many Pawn Shop building at 865 San Antonio Ave. in downtown Many. We are so pleased to see Robbie Edwards and her daughter Laura Vines taking steps to keep old downtown Many alive. It is amazing what they have done.

They are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

“Please take time to visit our shops and buy local,” Ms. Edwards said. “Please buy local and keep your money here in Many. Thanks to all who help keep our business growing.”

Southern LaDeez has a store full of booths just in time for Christmas. The folks have worked hard and it shows. They carry antiques, jewelry, homemade soaps, home décor, jams, jellies, homemade candy and much more. Also, watch for a snack shop coming soon.

For more information visit Southern LaDeez on Facebook.

The holidays are almost here, and that’s hard to believe. Thanks for reading this week, as always. I welcome your thoughts and suggestions for future articles. Call me at (318)332-8653 or send an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com. To see older, archived Observations, visit our Facebook page where they are listed by date under Photo Albums. To see columns of the past year, follow the pages below. To print, send or save this week’s Observations, click on the appropriate icon below.

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