THE COLUMNS OF JERRY PIERCE
Reflections.
The archive.
Memories, familiar places, sports, and everyday life. 148 columns preserved from BDC Radio, 2018–2022.
Find it in Reflections.
Search names, places, or topics across Jerry Pierce’s 148 archived columns, or narrow your results by year.
These columns were reprinted from The Natchitoches Times. Dates are the column dates saved in BDC Radio’s archive. Their stories and references reflect the time they were written.
2022
Nicknames
The Washington, D.C., team in the National Football League has a new nickname. A lot of hullabaloo about the name change stirred up some interest, but…
Read column ↗Cokes and Peanuts
Even now, all these many years after I first tried it, I still like a real Coke with salted peanuts in it. That burst of sweet…
Read column ↗Dangerous Movies
Those Saturday morning, double feature movies at the Webster Theater in Springhill back in the forties and fifties were hazardous to kids’ health and safety. Not…
Read column ↗Playing Possum
Regina handles wildlife management at our house, and she let me down in that department not long ago. It all started one night about bedtime. When…
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2021
Packers, etc.
The Green Bay Packers were my first favorite pro football team back in high school and college. I remained a fan even though most of my…
Read column ↗Flight Problems
All these flight delays and cancellations across the country that are disrupting air travel reminded me of a few bad airline trips. Northwestern’s athletic conference offices…
Read column ↗Turkey Shortage
Turkey has never been one of my favorite foods, but I appreciate traditions and understand the importance of having a big roasted bird on the table…
Read column ↗More S'mores
Trick or treating with our granddaughters last week had sort of a Mardi Gras flavor to it. There were even a few things about the experience…
Read column ↗Greatest Songs
Rolling Stone magazine’s new list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time leaves little doubt that not many of the experts who voted in that…
Read column ↗Supply Chain
My bicycle was beginning to show its age. The brakes were making strange noises, and I had to start dragging my feet a little to help…
Read column ↗Getting Started
A lady who lived down the street from us when I was growing up was a famous artist. Well, she was famous in our Pinehill subdivision…
Read column ↗Bragg On Doggs
If you love dogs or just good southern writing, read Rick Bragg’s new book, The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People. Like many of the…
Read column ↗Car Show
We were on one of those rising, dipping rollercoaster roads in the Ozarks last week when this gleaming, flawless machine from another time appeared in front…
Read column ↗Watermelon Rinds
Rev. Dwight St. Andre was ahead of his time for a small-town preacher back in the 1970s when he was the pastor of Westside Baptist Church.…
Read column ↗Feels Like Home
When they started digging the new swimming pool at our house, one of my granddaughters asked how much it costs to build a pool. I told…
Read column ↗Quotes, Misquotes
Some of the best things ever said were never said. Or they might have been said but were attributed to someone who didn’t say them. Both…
Read column ↗Ray Strother
Ray Strother is unwinding these days at his mountainside retreat in Montana after decades of hubbub in Washington as one of the country’s leading political consultants.…
Read column ↗Trouble in Oklahoma
Northwestern had a great men’s gymnastics team in the 1960s. That’s why I was on a dark road in Oklahoma in the middle of the night…
Read column ↗Letter Jackets
Letter sweaters and jackets were the most impressive things guys could own back in my high school and college days in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Convertibles…
Read column ↗Shopping Trip
We have not spent as much time as usual with the three youngest granddaughters lately what with vacations, summer camps and such, but we had a…
Read column ↗Louisiana Governors
When Edwin Edwards died earlier this month after serving four terms as governor of Louisiana in his heyday, the state was left with only one living…
Read column ↗Edwin Edwards
Former Gov. Edwin Edwards, who died this week at age 93, had a genuine affinity for Natchitoches. He often called the town a “microcosm of Louisiana”…
Read column ↗Career Path
All those hours I spent caddying at the Springhill Country Club back in the 1950s could have been preparing me for a lucrative profession, but I…
Read column ↗Scattershooting
Blackie Sherrod, who was voted Texas Sportswriter of the Year 16 times when he worked for papers in Dallas and Fort Worth, had a column called…
Read column ↗Father's Day
As we were celebrating Father’s Day Sunday, I remembered a time when my dad became overwhelmed while briefly trying to handle our family’s parental duties by…
Read column ↗Tee Ball and More
We didn’t keep scorebooks, stats and all that for our seven-year-old granddaughter Charlee Ann’s Tee-Ball season, but I think she had a pretty good year. That’s…
Read column ↗Famous Folks
Ferriday over in Concordia Parish has gotten a lot of attention over the years for producing so many nationally known celebrities for such a small town.…
Read column ↗Physical Fitness
My great uncle Willie was ahead of his time even if everybody who knew him thought he was strange. The oldest brother of my dad’s father,…
Read column ↗Jimmie Davis, etc.
As Louisiana College was dedicating a marker on its campus a while back honoring the late Gov. Jimmie Davis, a birthday celebration I attended for the…
Read column ↗This and That
Back in the fall when New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was sidelined with broken ribs, there were questions about how many rib bones he had…
Read column ↗Mistaken Identity
Maybe it’s the gray hair that causes people to keep getting me mixed up with other older folks. The latest case of mistaken identity was at…
Read column ↗Saturday Haircuts
Corley’s Barber Shop in the middle of Main Street in Springhill was the busiest place in town on Saturday mornings. Mr. Al Corley, a stern man…
Read column ↗New Bracelet
Bracelets have never been among my personal accessories all these years, but I have been wearing a couple lately. They were not very expensive, so I…
Read column ↗More Dessert
I always tried to sit close to our football coach, Jack Clayton, at team meals. He loved desserts and would swap his T-bone or ribeye steak…
Read column ↗Daylight Saving Time
My little personal campaign to have Daylight Saving Time year-round is not off to a good start. My wife Regina is the first person I lobbied…
Read column ↗Winter Storm
The February winter storm that paralyzed a huge chunk of the country brought back memories of snow and ice events that were beautiful to kids but…
Read column ↗Political Differences
Political rancor has reached new heights in our country, but there have been traces of it around for a long time. My dad and Uncle Buddy,…
Read column ↗Security Issues
Our three youngest granddaughters all got fire engine red mini-safes a while back to assure the security of their cash and other valuable possessions small enough…
Read column ↗Planets and Spaceships
Many of us were out in our yards a few days before Christmas staring at the sky. We were searching for a bright star being created…
Read column ↗Hank Aaron
When baseball superstar Hank Aaron died last week, I remembered his 1985 visit to Natchitoches and Northwestern for a Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction. Aaron’s…
Read column ↗Driverless Cars
We keep hearing that there will be “driverless” vehicles on our nation’s roads in the future. They will be controlled by sensors and software instead of…
Read column ↗Paul Newman's Dog
Rep. Francis Thompson of Delhi is in his 45th year as a member of the Louisiana Legislature. He reminisced recently about one of the memorable moments…
Read column ↗Flunked Shopping
Another holiday season has come and gone, and I got a failing grade again in Creative Christmas Shopping. Calling it shopping is a stretch. I pick…
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2020
Cursive Problems
My cursive keeps getting worse, but our granddaughter in the fourth grade is trying to help me with it. Cursive is not a word that I…
Read column ↗Dave Treen
Dave Treen was a plain vanilla Republican governor in a multi-flavored, heavily Democratic state when he spoke at Northwestern in the 1980s. I was master of…
Read column ↗Turn Over in Grave
The first time I heard that old saying about somebody turning over in their grave was when one of my mother’s sisters showed up at our…
Read column ↗Garage Revivals
It is still my hope after all these years that kids who thought they were spiritually saved during our neighborhood revivals in somebody’s garage eventually experienced…
Read column ↗Top 10 Desserts
It’s harder for folks to find things to talk about since the pandemic curtailed social gatherings, sports events, travel and other normal activities. When we were…
Read column ↗State Fair
There won’t be a State Fair in Shreveport this year. Coronavirus has delayed it until next spring. The event started 114 years ago and was called…
Read column ↗Thoughts of Ghosts
In October, thoughts of ghosts flutter through my mind. I don’t believe in ghosts, but there is some sense of relief for me every year when…
Read column ↗Pandemic Attire
Not many things about our daily lives are easier now than they were before the pandemic. But dressing for the workplace is certainly less complicated and…
Read column ↗New Look In Golf
In this year when nothing is normal, it is fitting that the winner of the U.S. Open golf tournament looks like Tarzan, wears a saucer-shaped hat…
Read column ↗BC Powder
My old granddad, who was probably not nearly as ancient as he seemed to me back in the 1950s, always had some packets of BC headache…
Read column ↗Comfort in Nostalgia
There has been some comfort in nostalgia as we hunkered down during the coronavirus. A video a guy from Springhill did about life in his hometown…
Read column ↗25-Cent Gas
I went to fill up my car one day last week and paid my bill after the transaction with a quarter. That was just one more…
Read column ↗Demand for Tuna
The magnitude of this pandemic really sank in with me when I learned that the demand for canned tuna fish has soared in America during the…
Read column ↗Jobs-Work
I hope my former and current employers can’t get their money back if they read this, but none of the many jobs over my lifetime ever…
Read column ↗Drive-in Theaters
With apologies to the Walton family and the other nice folks at Walmart, I am not planning to patronize the drive-in movie theaters in their parking…
Read column ↗In a Nice Place
Charlee Ann is the youngest of our four granddaughters who live in town, but she’s an “only child” for a week every year. When her three…
Read column ↗Fewer Choices
Variety is the spice of life and all that, but a lasting fallout from the pandemic will be fewer choices in food, cars, apparel and other…
Read column ↗Al Hirt
Al Hirt was in the twilight of his career when he performed in Natchitoches in 1991. But he was still brilliant, colorful and New Orleans to…
Read column ↗Country Song Titles
Willie Nelson must be thinking more than usual lately about meeting his maker. That thread runs through the lyrics in several of his songs. It is…
Read column ↗Hanging Out
Allie and I have been hanging out together a few days a month for several years. She’s nine and has been my frequent sidekick since she…
Read column ↗Singing With Don Ho
Steve Wiggins, an old friend who left us a while back, loved to recall this story. As eight of us from Natchitoches were being seated at…
Read column ↗Word Limits
Starting now, these columns will not be over 550 words long. It is a self-imposed limit to conform with the shrinking attention span that most of…
Read column ↗When Old Men Die
When word came not long ago that my long-time friend Bobby Alost died, a piercing African proverb and the pensive words of an old song ran…
Read column ↗Other Folks' Shoes
The thought popped into my mind not long ago that I had some good times over the years wearing other people’s shoes. That offbeat reflection came…
Read column ↗Checking the Lake
There was a man in white coveralls who used to check Lake Pontchartrain for bacteria and contamination. I wish we could find him to help with…
Read column ↗Live Concerts
Country music star Keith Urban and other performers are trying to fill the void created by the lack of live concerts in recent months. That’s a…
Read column ↗Looking Forward
This crisis has taken a toll on our joy of anticipation. All the uncertainty makes it hard to look forward to good times, and one of…
Read column ↗Yogi Berra
A new book on Yogi Berra came out just in time to give those of us who grew up loving baseball and the Yankees a little…
Read column ↗Newspaper Days
The Times-Picayune in New Orleans was a powerful, prominent newspaper in the 1960s. I didn’t realize then what a great experience it was to work there.…
Read column ↗Family Reunions
When the pandemic passes, I’m planning a family reunion. Regina and I spend a lot of time with kids, grandchildren and other close kin, but we…
Read column ↗Tupperware Parties
Tupperware is in financial trouble. My mother and the other ladies who had all those parties at their homes to sell the plastic containers are gone…
Read column ↗Getting Educated
Staying at home more than usual lately has been educational. I learned that history books didn’t tell the whole story of the invention of airplanes and…
Read column ↗Being Afraid
I was nearing school age the first time I remember being afraid. World War II was raging, and I had picked up bits and pieces about…
Read column ↗Recreation Center
Working at the Springhill Recreation Center in high school was an education in itself. We should have gotten diplomas in chemical engineering, economics, health and safety,…
Read column ↗Burrow Hands
Singer and television personality Andy Williams unintentionally startled me one night. It was the size of his head that was alarming. Late in his career, Williams…
Read column ↗Steve Wiggins
Johnny Aaron has been sipping some fine Scotch lately thanks to his long-time friend Steve Wiggins. Wiggins, the free-wheeling, flamboyant local beer distributor who died last…
Read column ↗Mail and Newspapers
When our youngest granddaughter went with us to pick up the newspapers in the front yard not long ago, she asked why the mailman left the…
Read column ↗Rodeos and Flowers
My memories of spending time with an aunt and uncle in Grand Saline, Tex., are of boutonnieres and bull riders. I recall the scents of white…
Read column ↗Chinaberry Trees
I wonder what ever happened to chinaberry trees that were so rampant where I was raised. They grew in nearly every yard with limbs crawling onto…
Read column ↗Halftime Shows
Football is mostly like it was back when guys in my generation were playing in high school and college, but halftime shows have changed a lot.…
Read column ↗Census Matters
When the media reported last week that the governor had named a Northwestern professor to the state’s census committee, I got to thinking about this process…
Read column ↗Expiration Dates
When I was growing up, parents and teachers thought it was more important for kids to learn respect for authority than how to diagram sentences and…
Read column ↗You Are My Sunshine
Regina and I gave our four youngest granddaughters enough musical instruments and gadgets for Christmas to start a band. Their parents are still not speaking to…
Read column ↗Frying Turkeys
My old homemade, heavy duty outdoor burner finally died of rust and wear and tear a while back, and it made me think of northerners frying…
Read column ↗Missing Knife
Mr. Polk’s imitation pearl pocket knife went missing, and that set off the biggest criminal investigation our neighborhood had ever seen. Mothers who often rebuked us…
Read column ↗New Year, 2020
New Year’s Day is right around the corner, and I have to start thinking again about resolutions to help me eliminate bad habits like playing cards…
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2019
Christmas Laughter
The sweetest sound of my childhood Christmases was my mother’s laughter. It still echoes in my mind and warms my heart after all these years. Life…
Read column ↗Coke Bottles
Allowances for kids were not part of the culture when I was growing up. My mother and dad never bestowed any systematic financial benefits on me,…
Read column ↗Losing Sugar
She came to us in a late autumn when it was cold and the trees were nearly bare. She didn’t know how to play at first,…
Read column ↗Unique State
There is no other place as colorful and interesting as Louisiana, and nobody describes the state’s flavor and uniqueness better than Jay Dardenne, its Commissioner of…
Read column ↗Billy Nungesser
Billy Nungesser has politics in his blood, hospitality in his soul and a deep love for Louisiana and its people in his heart. Those passions have…
Read column ↗Fixing Potholes
Natchitoches Parish is not the only place with pothole problems. Some people on the other side of the world who have bad roads like we do…
Read column ↗Pressbox Chaos
A column I did in 1988 reflects the many unusual experiences of a long journalism career. Here’s a boiled down version of it: Norm Fletcher broadcast…
Read column ↗Pool Hall
Nobody was ever sure what the age limit was for the pool hall in Springhill, but every boy in town looked forward to the time when…
Read column ↗Divinity Candy
It is still a good while until Christmas, so I might learn to make my mother’s divinity candy in time for the holidays. That has been…
Read column ↗Family Time
My new favorite picture is the wallpaper on my phone now. It was made at a get-together of assorted kinfolks a few weeks ago and reflects…
Read column ↗Circle Café
People my age can get offended by social media. Like when somebody asks on Facebook if anybody is ancient enough to remember the Circle Café in…
Read column ↗Levi Thompson
Levi Thompson was an outstanding tennis player, but he always had a dinky serve. That’s how he described it himself, and those of us who played…
Read column ↗Claustrophobia
The rows of stained glass windows in our church are pretty and meaningful, but they pose problems for folks in the congregation like me who struggle…
Read column ↗Out of Ice Cream
Regina and I have a hard time deciding on places to have lunch in Baton Rouge. There are too many good choices. When we were there…
Read column ↗Lost AirPods
It was comforting to learn from a story in one of the country’s most prestigious newspapers that I’m not the only guy out there who has…
Read column ↗Chicken Sandwich
This big ruckus swirling around fried chicken sandwiches has me a little nervous. They are running out of the sandwiches in some places, and there are…
Read column ↗About Snakes
Those nuclear missiles the crazy dictator in North Korea keeps firing off don’t scare me nearly as much as snakes do. Just thinking about snakes runs…
Read column ↗College Football
College football is starting its 150th anniversary season, and I never played in a single game during all that time. That is one of the big…
Read column ↗Ted Jones
Ted Jones was as proud of being in the guitar Thumb Pickers Hall of Fame as he was of his reputation as one of the country’s…
Read column ↗Reading Materials
Teachers back in my school days must have taken into account the fact that most families in our little town couldn’t afford new encyclopedias very often.…
Read column ↗Dragging Again
Riding up and down Main Street on Friday nights honking horns and flashing lights was almost mandatory for teenagers in Springhill in the 1950s and 1960s.…
Read column ↗Bird Attacks
Alfred Hitchcock movies and television shows use to scare the daylights out of me. Some of the fears I felt watching The Birds, a movie he…
Read column ↗Summer Camps
Folks my age might have been born too early. We missed out on all the fun and benefits of these numerous and varied summer camps that…
Read column ↗Peter Drucker
Northwestern was floundering some back in the 1980s when Bobby Alost became president of the university. He wanted advice on how to run the place from…
Read column ↗Jell-O Salad
When we were growing up, my mother and other ladies in our neighborhood were big on Jell-O, big on salads and really big on Jell-O salads.…
Read column ↗Phone Bags
New cell phones are getting bigger. That makes it harder for men to carry them in our pocket or clipped to our belt, so we might…
Read column ↗Things of Value
The Rolex watch folks gave golf legend Jack Nicklaus one of their glitzy timepieces more than a half-century ago, and he’s about to put it up…
Read column ↗Youth Sports
One of the laws our state legislature passed this year makes it a crime to harass or threaten referees and umpires at T-ball games and things…
Read column ↗Merle Kilgore
Merle Kilgore was just a disc jockey at the little radio station in Springhill where I grew up, but he was about the biggest star any…
Read column ↗Beach and Seafood
On another great beach trip a couple of weeks ago, Regina and I learned that Louisiana is not the only place where folks like to talk…
Read column ↗Energy Drinks
Most of us run out of energy before dark these days. There is just more to keep up with than there used to be. Maybe it’s…
Read column ↗Driver’s Licenses
Sociologists and other folks like that who assign names to all the different generations and study their similarities and contrasts have shared some stunning statistics about…
Read column ↗Drying Clothes
A few gas and electric clothes dryers were starting to show up in rich folks’ homes around the country when I was growing up, but they…
Read column ↗Old Photographs
The old black and white photos in the storage closet that I have seen countless times still captivate me. They are a reminder of people, places…
Read column ↗Attention Span
Our attention span is getting shorter according to extensive research on that subject. Based on those findings, I wonder how folks doing the studies were able…
Read column ↗Unanswered Prayers
Country music star Garth Brooks wrote and recorded a big hit in the 1990s called Unanswered Prayers. The words remind us to be thankful for some…
Read column ↗In A Rut
Our eight-year-old granddaughter spent the night with us not long ago, and her breakfast request made me realize that I’m in the same kind of rut…
Read column ↗Marshmallow Test
Some Stanford University professors developed years ago what became known as the “marshmallow test” to gauge children’s self-control and willpower. A lot of us would flunk…
Read column ↗Too Busy
There are moves afoot in high places to change rules in golf tournaments, baseball games and other sports events to save time. That is more proof…
Read column ↗Unusual Kinfolks
One of Regina’s distant cousins died a few weeks ago, and we discovered more things at the funeral about her expansive family than we really needed…
Read column ↗Phone Calls
Our clunky black rotary dial phone was mounted on the kitchen wall when I was growing up. It was loud and rang so seldom that the…
Read column ↗Signs of Spring
Spring has not officially arrived, but there are signs that the season is not far off. There are sounds of bats cracking baseballs and softballs, and…
Read column ↗Toiletry Bag
We didn’t go out of town much when I was growing up, but when we did my dad never failed to pack what he called his…
Read column ↗Concealed Carry
Regina and I took a concealed carry class together, and the instructor went to work in another state right after we completed the course. I’m not…
Read column ↗Packing Lunches
I thought packing lunches for school and work went out of vogue a long time ago. Come to think of it, the term “went out of…
Read column ↗Instant Pot
Regina has been busy modernizing and upgrading the cooking devices at our house. I have enjoyed cooking for years, but culinary advancements are about to leave…
Read column ↗Old Classmates
Mike Haynes, a high school classmate who had a long career in movies and television, called a while back to chat. He lives in Washington state,…
Read column ↗Paying Cash
A growing number of businesses across the country are refusing to accept cash for goods and services. That will create problems for me and our four-year-old…
Read column ↗Being Alone
When our daughter Natalie requested that I be put on the prayer list at her church not long ago, some of her friends wanted to know…
Read column ↗Hymns and Rook
My sister-in-law Pat Bruce plays great old hymns on the upright piano in her living room when we have family gatherings, and it lifts my spirits…
Read column ↗Canasta Craze
The word canasta has not popped up in my circles in a long time, but continual conversations about that card game craze of the 1950s are…
Read column ↗Microwave Recipe
One of Regina’s friends asked for her microwave praline recipe during the holidays. Regina gave it to her from memory instead of checking her recipe files,…
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2018
Teacher Appreciation
Our dog Sugar is indebted to my third grade teacher Mrs. Bearden for all the affection she receives and the many comforts that make her so…
Read column ↗Help With Christmas
It was nearly Christmas and my dad was laid up in a Shreveport hospital recovering from kidney stone surgery. That was a major ordeal back then.…
Read column ↗Making Things Fit
Somebody needs to be in charge of making sure things fit right in this country. Sizes that manufacturers put on clothes, shoes and things like that…
Read column ↗Cullen Visits
We just got accustomed over the years to telling people who asked that we were from Springhill. That was easier than trying to explain to them…
Read column ↗Green Stamps
A lot of things got my mother flustered when I was growing up. She didn’t like it when we scuffed up her wood floors or slammed…
Read column ↗Visits to Dentist
Our little granddaughters enjoy going to the dentist. That, as much as anything I can think of, illustrates the colossal differences in our generations. When the…
Read column ↗Thanksgiving Meal
It should be a matter of concern for all of us this Thanksgiving season that the lady who invented the green bean casserole has died and…
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