Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Sheriff-Elect Aaron Mitchell started working for the Sabine Sheriff’s Department on Thursday. In an interview with Observations, he said things thus far have been going great. He has met with Sheriff Ronny Richardson, who let Mitchell come aboard early, and Chief Criminal Deputy John Adair. He will not be sworn in as Sheriff until July.
Mitchell said he has been meeting the employees and other people, including a visit to the Courthouse. With Sheriff Richardson and Adair, he said they talked about how things are running in the Sheriff’s Office and about personnel. Concerning employees, he said a few are retiring, a few are moving to other jobs and a few will be casualties.
“I’m telling everyone their job is temporary, just like mine,” Mitchell said. “No position is permanent. If you help me, I’ll help you.”
Mitchell has a lot of passion to do a great job as Sheriff and we believe he will. He is a “people person” and intends to become acquainted with everyone in Sabine Parish. He will be attending functions throughout the parish as time allows and goes on. We wish him the best and feel he will go down as one of the best Sheriffs Sabine Parish has ever had.
Three men were arrested Jan. 1 and charged in connection with the shooting death of Joshua Graves, 32, in Pleasant Hill on the night of Dec. 31. They are Dereginald L. King, 30, of Zwolle; Aaron J. Holmes, 25, of Pleasant Hill; and Jaydon J. Sepulvado, 19, of Zwolle. King was booked for second-degree murder, Holmes for principal to second-degree murder; and Sepulvado for accessory after the fact for second-degree murder. No bond had been set as of late last week.
Sabine Parish Coroner Ron Rivers said Graves died of a single gunshot wound to the head. He appeared to have been shot from the passenger side of his vehicle. Pleasant Hill Chief Ray Williams first reported around 10:30 p.m. Dec. 31 that he found a man unresponsive in a car. Rivers pronounced him dead at the scene.
John Richmond will be sworn in as Natchitoches Parish President on Monday, Jan. 13, at 5 p.m. at the President’s Room at Northwestern State University’s Friedman Student Union. The public is invited to attend. The Parish Commission has been a mess under the tenure of Rick Nowlin and Natchitoches Parish residents are looking forward to better days ahead.
Among My Favorite Pictures
As a journalist of many years, I have literally snapped thousands of photos in my life. In doing so, I have kept prints of some of my favorites. I am a proud American who dearly loves his country and the opportunity it has afforded me during my life. The eagle, to me, represents the greatness of our country. On Oct. 6, 2016, my wife and other members of our family were visiting the zoo in Alexandria and I snapped this picture of the majestic and beautiful Bald Eagle. The Alexandria Zoo is a wonderful place to bring your children and grandchildren.
Sales Tax collections in Sabine Parish totaled $2,457,781.30 during December, according to a report from Sales Tax Collector Nolan Rivers. This represents an increase of $859,637.25 over the amount collected in December 2018.
A Sabine Parish native, Dr. Heather Havener, delivered the firstborn of the New Year and the new decade in North Texas. The baby was born in Methodist Hospital in Mansfield, TX at one minute after midnight on Wednesday, Jan. 1. Emma Leigh Petermeier was the first child of Emily and Auston Petermeir of Arlington, TX.
Dr. Havener is the daughter of Terri Acklin of Zwolle and the step-daughter of Ansel Acklin and her very proud grandmother is Betty Oxley of Negreet.
Dr. Havener was graduated from Negreet High School. She received her doctor’s degree from Tulane University in New Orleans and served in the U.S. Navy. She is married to Sam Havener and they have two children, Isabella and Henry.
Havener’s grandmother, Mrs. Oxley, is also a very interesting lady. She taught school in Sabine Parish for 42 years, having retired seven years ago. She currently has some health problems and we are pulling for her to get better soon. It is our intention to write a story about her in a future Observations.
Seth Freeman, son of Many Mayor and Mrs. Ken Freeman, was recently assisted with a fund raiser in his fight against Stage 3 Melanoma cancer. A big College Football National weekend package raffle was arranged to help Seth and his family as he undergoes a new clinical trial drug treatment at M.D. Anderson in Houston.
The raffle included two tickets to the College Football Championship game, in which the LSU Tigers will play, and two nights at the InterContinential Hotel in New Orleans.
The winner, Ann Moreland of Lafayette, LA, was announced in a live drawing on Amber Freeman’s Facebook page on New Year’s Day. Amber is Seth’s wife.
“Y’all are so amazing! We are so thankful and blessed!” Amber shared.
The Freemans and their daughter Charlotte live in Natchitoches and monies raised from the recent fund raiser will help them bear the expenses of lost work time, travel to Houston and other medically-related expenses.
We wish Seth and his family the very best as he continues his treatment. And we look forward to celebrating a good result.
In response to the overwhelming support and love shown during the raffle sale, Amber commented, “We are truly humbled and beyond thankful for the tremendous support you all have shown!”
It’s that time of the year again. King Cake time. Just when we’ve had a chance to recover somewhat from all the overeating of Thanksgiving and Christmas, Louisianans start to enjoy one of the year’s most delicious treats.
King cake is traditionally enjoyed on Jan. 6 in honor of Epiphany, or the “Twelfth Night” of Christmas, which historically marks the arrival of the three wise men to Bethlehem to deliver gifts to the baby Jesus. And if anyone’s been under a rock and doesn’t know, that’s what the plastic baby hidden inside each cake represents.
The yummy treat is enjoyed until Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent), at which time Catholics and other Christians abstain from all manner of “treats” until Easter to focus on the meaning of the season.
It is thought King Cake began in Old World France and Spain, and started to be related to Epiphany during the Middle Ages. So, it goes way, way back. The traditional delicacy then came to this country with Catholicism and Christianity.
Sweet dough is twisted into a round, ring shape and often embellished with colored sugar doughs, and then baked. Many cakes are then split and filled with creams or fruit, and most are iced with colored sugars in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of green, gold and purple, representing faith, power and justice.
The King Cakes supplied by local grocers are plenty good and usually moist.
If you wish to go beyond what’s found locally, wonderfully well-made King Cakes may be had from Lowder Baking Company at 4019 Fern Ave. Suite 500 in Shreveport (voted “#1 King Cake in Louisiana” by Louisiana Cookin’ magazine), Lilah’s Bakery at 1718 Centenary Blvd. and Julie Anne’s Bakery at 825 Kings Hwy., both in Shreveport.
These bakeries’ web sites are lowderbakingcompany.com, lilahsdeli.com and julieannesbakery.com.
Happy eating and happy King Cake season!
MOVIES in MANY
Movies in Many has selected their upcoming free movie line-up for January–June 2020. We’re in for some good ones! The schedule is as follows:
Jan. 25 – Lady and the Tramp 1
Feb. 8 – Valentines Movie: Message in a Bottle
Feb. 22 – Downton Abbey
March 14 – Aladdin
March 28 – Spider Man: Far From Home
April 11 – Easter Movie: Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo
April 25 – Maleficent 2
May 16 – Sabine Humane Society Animal Shelter fundraiser: The Art of Racing in the Rain
May 30 – Memorial Day Movie: Memorial Day
June 13 – Harriet
June 27 – Dora and the Lost City of Gold
Movies in Many is provided completely free of charge by the Town of Many and Mayor Ken Freeman, the Many City Council and Many Cultural District. Popcorn and soft drink concessions are always available for only $1 each.
A special thanks to Mary Brocato for providing the above schedule.
That’s all, folks! Appreciate your reading. Call or email me with your ideas for future articles. Call (318) 332-8653 or email robertrgentry@gmail.com. Observations of the past year may be found on the pages following; older ones are archived on our Facebook page under Photo Albums by date. To send, save or print this week’s column, click on the appropriate icon below.
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