Wednesday, August 26, 2020
The Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office has taken all possible measures to be ready for Hurricane Laura, expected to hit Sabine early Thursday morning as the storm is now tracking.
“We have done everything we can think of to prepare,” said Chief Deputy Brad Walker.
Generators are now in place at the Sabine Parish Courthouse and Detention Center, and all deputies who were originally scheduled to be off, will now work Thursday until Sunday.
“We met with the Police Jury regarding providing parish prisoners to assist in cutting trees, etc. We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” Walker said.
It was last Friday mid-morning and I was sitting in my office. I felt my face and it was somewhat warm, so I went home to check my temperature. It was a couple of degrees above normal. Prior to that, for about two weeks, I had a bout with allergies, which I usually have two or three times a year.
With the Coronavirus still spreading, I decided to approach having a light fever with an abundance of caution and be tested for COVID-19. Immediately I went to Sabine Urgent Care of Many. They were quick and professional, and Dr. Jacobs was impressive in her knowledge. Just a little less than 24 hours later, on Saturday afternoon, they called me back with results. My test was positive. I have the Coronavirus.
All while the pandemic has unfolded I had been hearing about Hydroxychloroquine, first from Laura Ingraham on Fox News, host of the commentary show, “The Ingraham Angle.” She has had a number of experienced doctors on regularly who have treated hundreds of COVID patients, and in their experiences, they found that when a Coronavirus patient went on Hydroxychloroquine early, the person rarely ended up in serious enough condition to be placed on a ventilator. So that’s what I knew I wanted to use for treatment.
There have been many great testimonies about the use of this drug, including from my friend Barry Guillet of Natchitoches. I was able to locate a doctor who, after thorough checks of my heart and lungs, wrote me a prescription for it. I started taking it Monday afternoon. Before the prescription was ready, I had already started high doses of Vitamin C, Zinc, Vitamin D3 and Vitamin B1 to boost the immune system, along with some over the counter meds to treat the sinus-type symptoms and low-grade fever.
By the way, the check of my heart and lungs showed great health in both and for that I am thankful.
I am feeling fine, staying at home, taking care of myself and believe I will make it through okay. I am at peace about the situation and whatever way it goes, it’s in the hand of the Master Physician.
Thanks to everyone who has called, sent a message, brought food and, most of all, remembered me in their prayers. It all means so much to me. Thanks to all.
And for those who will wish to know, my wife Laurie has not had and continues not to have any viral symptoms. We are thankful for that. She feels fine and is quarantined at home with me, each in our own separate areas.
Ricky Sepulvado of District 7 has got to be the sharpest guy on the Sabine Parish Police Jury. At his request, the Police Jury at their Jan. 15 meeting voted to purchase the Dixie Youth Ballpark in Converse for $71,000. We reported the matter in our Jan. 22 Observations.
Juror Bo Stewart of Florien was the only one to question it and the only one to vote against it. “How much money are we going to make out of the deal?” he questioned. The answer was, “None.” While Stewart said he is in favor of helping the youth of the parish, he felt the foremost job of the Jury was to take care of the deplorable roads in the parish.
Florien did not get money for a ballpark – neither did Many, Zwolle, Negreet, Noble nor Pleasant Hill. So why did the other Jurors vote to buy a ball field in Converse when they got nothing for the districts they serve? Just does not make any sense to me.
Now the story continues and is just as good. At its July 2 meeting, the Jury passed a resolution to lease the ballpark to the Village of Converse for $1 per year. The Village agreed to maintain the property and assume all liability. Hats doffed to Juror Ricky Sepulvado. He brought home the bacon for his District.
Last week Observations carried a story about a Many business person being charged with theft of about $130,000. The information came from the Sabine Sheriff’s Office. Both the accused and the accused’s mother called and ask that the story be removed because they felt it contained erroneous information.
We told them we would remove it if they would supply us a written statement on any information in the article that was false. They chose not to do it, so we let the story stand.
One of them pointed out a woman was charged with stealing money from Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and said no media carried a story about it. This is not true. We did carry a story on it. We have posted a lot of articles about persons charged with crimes.
It never brings pleasure to have to report “bad news” stories – never in all the years I owned the Sabine Index and not now. A number of times we have been well-acquainted with those charged, and the last thing we wanted to do was share what had happened, but we did. It’s news.
We do the very best we can to be sure the information we publish is correct. We are eager to make corrections or pull anything posted in error if someone is kind enough to point out misinformation we may have received.
Brenda Lyddy, shown above, has a nice booth in Southern LaDeez on San Antonio Ave. in Many. And her booth is your headquarters for flags proclaiming your support of President Donald J. Trump. The flags are on sale for $14.50, and when you buy 10 or more, you will receive a discount.
We hear a great time was had by all at the Social Distance Social in downtown Many on Friday evening.
The Turn-Ups had some special musical guests stop by, including one of our longtime favorites, Henry Reggans, who sat in for the entire set.
“It was a gas, and we had a ball!” James Wagley of the Turn-Ups reported afterward. As the group covered their repertoire, some couples hit the street to dance up a storm, which was much enjoyed by the audience.
Before the music got underway, a short demonstration was given by members of Sabine Martial Arts and everyone was impressed with their various skills. It was a big hit.
Adam Lehr of Rigs & Racks Fitness (RRF) on Hwy. 171 Bypass headed up a well-attended Cornhole Tournament, which had over a dozen two-man teams competing to win the entire cash pot. Congratulations to Ms. Cherry Williams and her daughter, Anna Cate Williams Wright, who took home First Place honors and all the dough!
Hard Kor Café had loaded teas for the occasion, and we hear that they will be back next month with not only their delicious teas, but a full food item menu of customer favorites as well.
The Brushy Creek BBQ food truck failed to appear, but Bayou Crawfish was thrilled to socially distance serve a capacity flow of customers all evening long. They also had a fun table with free kazoos on the street.
Southern Ladeez was open and had street vendors who brought out things to sell. They all appeared to be having a great time, and we heard reports that customers enjoyed going into their large store to browse throughout the evening.
Nichols provided three beautiful gifts to be given away free at the event, and Ms. Gail Thomas enjoyed making sure all attendees received a free ticket to be included in the drawings.
Perhaps the most amazing success of the evening belonged to the Pink Sisters of Sabine breast cancer patient support group, who held their first official membership kickoff at the Social.
Thanks to the generosity of Judge Elizabeth Pickett, the event was able to offer a Grand Prize $300 Gift Card from Nichols. During the two-hour event, Pink Sisters sold raffle tickets at $2 apiece or three for $5 and accepted donations, raising over $1,000. In addition, they recognized Mrs. Linda Dockens, who had undergone successful breast cancer surgery earlier in the day, as well as all breast cancer patients and survivors.
“I am so very thankful for this organization and the very useful things they brought to me before my surgery,” Dockens posted on social media afterward. “My doctor said she wants to meet the Pink Sisters of Sabine because she was so impressed with how prepared they had me with drain bags and a mastectomy pillow [they provided] for the ride home. Thank you, my sisters,” Dockens shared.
Laurie Gentry Designs reports that at the free cloth mask and hand sanitizer table, almost one hundred free, washable face masks were picked up by passersby at the event as well as dozens of personal hand sanitizers. As always, Attorney Verity Gentry provided free bottled waters outside her office door.
Dates for the remaining 2020 events in the Social Distance Social series are Sept. 25, Oct. 23 and Nov. 20. Each will be headquartered on the sidewalk in front of Many Community Center [Sabine Theater] and will start at 6:30 p.m.
Every upcoming Social will benefit a local, Sabine Parish organization just as this one did. It is hoped the Sabine Humane Society may be the next non-profit to coordinate a fundraiser with this series.
Core sponsors for the series are Mayor and Mrs. Ken Freeman, Attorney Verity Gentry, Vanguard Behavioral Health Consultants, Wagley Companies LLC, John and Betsy Godfrey and Laurie Gentry Designs.
Kudos to Mayor Ken Freeman and the Town of Many, James Wagley and the Turn-Ups, Cultural District Advisory Committee Chairperson Mary Brocato, Adam Lehr and my wife Laurie, who all worked hard to make this event of great benefit to the community.
Mark it down, mark it down, mark it down!
If you enjoyed the Social Distance Social, be sure to attend “A Night with Mike Morris & Uptown Jazz” presented by Community Bank of Louisiana Many Branch and its Senior Vice Pres. J. J. Blake.
The big do is Saturday, Sept. 12, and will be very similar to the Social series – great music, fabulous prizes, a cornhole tournament, free masks, water and popcorn and more.
It all starts at 6:30 p.m. in the exact same location – on the sidewalk in front of Sabine Theater. Going to be a great night.
Well, this month is almost gone. Hard to believe we’re about to start winding down the year of 2020. For most, it can’t come soon enough. This sure has been a year for the record books. I welcome your ideas for future columns, so give me a call at (318) 332-8653 or send an email to robertrgentry@gmail.com. To save, send or print today’s column, click on the appropriate link below. To see Observations of the past few years, scroll through the pages below. To see older ones, visit our Facebook page. As always, thanks for reading.
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