Despite the weather, Minden Lions Club will still meet today (Thursday). Lunch will be chili with cornbread and side salad and the speaker will be Dr. Magdy Hanna, interventional cardiologist with Minden Medical Center.
Minden Lions meet Thursdays at noon at the American Legion Hall, 119 W. Pine Street, Minden.
The Saline SWCD will have their annual seedling sale on Friday, January 19, 2024 and Saturday, January 20, 2024 from 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM at the Saline SWCD Office, 2263 Hall Street, Ringgold, LA.
Seedlings sold will be:
$3.00 – Double Red Althea, Double White Althea, Baldcypress, White Fringetree, mayhaw, Live oak, Sawtooth oak, Chinese chestnut, native sweet pecan, persimmon, red maple, red mulberry, tulip tree, weeping willow, white dogwood, red crape myrtle and white crape myrtle.
$4.00 – Muscadine, weeping willow
$7.00 – Powder blue blueberry and premier blueberry and pink flowering dogwood.
$10.00 – Red delicious apple, Yellow delicious apple, Elberta peach, RedSkin peach, Burbank plum,
Santa Rosa plum, Moonglow pear and Ayers pear.
Trees are sold first come, first serve. No pre-orders, please. Cash or check only. We don’t take credit or debit cards. Trees are sold bareroot and do not come in pots.
Should you have any questions, please call 318-894-2174 Extension 5 or 318-553-6757.
I recently moved into a new house this month – new house, new part of town, new neighborhood, new neighbors.
It was quite an adjustment moving into this new place without really knowing who I was residing by. In my old neighborhood I knew almost every person/family that lived there.
While I was moving in, the wonderful lady that I am renting from stopped by to make sure we were settling in well. While she was there, I saw her speaking to an older lady that lived right behind me now. After a few minutes, my new landlord came back in and told me that this lady has no family or friends nearby. She said she keeps to herself for the most part, but she also said that this lady had no running water in her home.
I thought that was crazy. I absolutely could not go without functionable plumbing.
My landlord had said that she and her husband had even offered to get her water turned on and running at one point before, but the lady refused.
A few days later, I noticed that the older woman had large jugs of water out on her porch. I assumed that is what she used to go about her daily activities when water was needed.
But I did not think about the fact that it had been below freezing for a couple of days now and surely that water sitting outside was now frozen. I did not have this realization until lying in bed one evening, I heard my outside faucet turn on suddenly.
I peeked outside and saw the lady filling up a bucket of water. I never said anything and of course I did not mind, but she came back the next day, as well. With temperatures still not set to get above freezing for another day, I guess her water supply was still frozen.
I wanted to speak to her and let her know that I did not mind, and she could take as much as she needed, but I was too worried about startling her or possibly making her feel embarrassed, so I decided against it.
But I couldn’t help but to see the Samaritan woman at the well mentioned in the fourth chapter of John in the Bible, when I saw her at my outside faucet.
I am by no means saying that I am like Jesus providing Living Water to quench this lady’s thirst for the rest of her life. It was quite the opposite. I saw myself in the older woman – in the Samaritan woman.
I have been the Samaritan woman at the well myself and I may still make a visit or two here and there looking for things outside of Christ to fill the voids in my life.
I relate to her.
The woman had been married a handful of times and was living with her boyfriend in sin when she met Jesus at the well. She visited the well during the hottest part of the day when everyone else was resting because she felt ashamed to attend the well in the presence of other women. And yet, Jesus met this specific woman at this specific time.
The woman was considered inferior because of her sex, ethnicity, and relationship history/status, but none of that mattered to Jesus. He is not fazed by our sin. He knows the sin within us and sees our evil desires, but He still pursues us and loves us despite those things. He saw her need for salvation – not only for her physical needs, but her spiritual ones, as well. He knew her just as He knows us.
This served as a reminder for me that God can save us no matter what our circumstances are. “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.” I take this as meaning that if we follow Him, we can rest in His promise that whatever we are going through now is temporary. We do not need to attempt to overcome our sins on our own (we cannot), but through His sacrifice, our sins are atoned for, and we are given new life (eternal life) because of His love for us.
Also, like the Samaritan woman, we should remember to share that good news to our neighbors, even those that our town, our country or the world claims to be unfit or unworthy to receive it.
(Paige Nash is a mom of three girls, digital journalist for Webster Parish Journal and publisher of Bienville Parish Journal and Claiborne Parish Journal.)
By Jessica Gorman
“Snow, the Beautiful Snow” reported the Shreveport Times on 13 January 1892. Sleet and snow began to fall during the early morning hours of 12 January and continued until noon the following day resulting in 2 inches of accumulation at Shreveport. The weather report described it as “the heaviest fall of sleet and snow that Shreveport has witnessed for years.” On the same day, Monroe reported a “heavy snow storm,” the first in more than four years. In Simsboro, residents enjoyed ice skating and “a snowball party” of which “the ladies were victors.” Around noon, snow fell for about an hour in New Orleans and “snow-balling in Biloxi was indulged in to a considerable extent – the first time in ten years.” So far, I have found no reports from Minden. The accompanying photograph of Minden businessmen engaging in a snowball fight downtown is said to have been taken in 1892.
In general, the icy conditions brought great excitement. “The lovers of winter outdoor pastime readily improvised ‘snow wagons’” as “never, in the history of wintry visitations in this clime, has a better opportunity been afforded for elegant sleighing than will be presented this morning. It may be the rare chance of a lifetime, in the South’s sunny clime.” Residents were encouraged to “get out your sleighs!” Others were less enthusiastic stating that while beautiful “through the plate glass windows of a well-warmed comfortable mansion,” the cold was detrimental to the poor.
By 16 January, the snow had begun to melt resulting in slush in the streets of Shreveport and residents hoped for warmer weather. On the 18th, almost a week after the initial winter precipitation, it began to rain. The rain again turned to sleet and snow. This time, instead of excitement, opinion was that “this section has seen enough of ‘beautiful snow.’”
The effects of the winter weather were felt across the country. St. Louis had three inches of snow. Temperatures in Minnesota dipped to possibly as low as -50 degrees. Newspapers reported “the entire frontier of the Rio Grande covered with snow” for “the first time ever known.” U.S. Troops stationed in the area were “caught…in a wild and desolate country without any means of protection from the elements.” The temperature at Denison, Tx measured -7 degrees. In that same area, the Red River had frozen in places and hundreds of head of cattle were reported dead.
Despite warnings to “replenish your wood piles, for there is more to follow in the line of snow and blizzards,” the next week brought improved weather. The report at Shreveport being that the weather was “almost springlike.”
(Jessica Gorman is the Executive Director of the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, Webster Parish Historian, and an avid genealogist.)
By Tracy Campbell
Meriwether is proud to give back to our local communities. Over the past three years, we have infused more than $150,000 into our communities in the form of sponsorships and donations to schools and non-profit organizations.
Today, we take it one step further and introduce the Meriwether Scholarship. Two (2) one-time $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to eligible graduating high school seniors each year. To learn more, visit https://www.meriwether.com/resources .
(**Please share with area graduating seniors and parents**)
As the winter storm begins to let up, here is a list of healthy, high-energy easy-to-fix foods that will help you brave the next storm. Be sure to plan ahead, so you won’t get caught empty-handed when the grocery store shelves are empty.
Foods To Avoid During a Winter Storm
Shakera Williams, M.P.H., Assistant Extension Agent & Webster Parish Chair, Serving Webster & Claiborne Parishes, Office: (318) 371-1371.
Send non-profit calendar events to wpjnewsla@gmail.com .
Current
Registration open for Upwards Soccer, hosted by North Acres Baptist Church. Discounts available for multiple children. Scholarships also available. K5-5th grade boys and girls. Games will be Saturday mornings at North Acres Baptist Church, beginning March 16 through April 27. Contact church office at 377-4315 for more information. https://regisgtration.upward.org UPW85195 .
Jan. 22
5 until 7 p.m. Burger, chips and cake fund raiser for LaMa Animal Rescue. Frank Anthony RV Building, Springhill.
Jan. 26
5 until l8 p.m. Springhill Main St. Mardi Gras Parade. Click the link to sign up for the parade: https://form.jotform.com/240015970227046 .
Jan. 27
Mardi Gras Fasching Parade 2024, downtown Minden. More details coming soon. Click the link to sign up for the parade: https://www.mindenla.org/mainstreet-page/ .
10 a.m. until 2 p.m. LifeShare Blood Drive and Springhill Fire Department, Brookshires – Springhill location, 400 Butler Street.
Jan. 28
Deadline to register for the 8th Annual Caddo Classic for Webster 4-H Shooting Sports.
Jan. 31
11:50 p.m. nominations due for Woman of the Year. https://form.jotform.com/ywscofminden/2024WomanoftheYear
11:59 p.m., nominations due for Man of the Year. https://docs.google.com/…/1ebb7DFsd-TIb…/edit…
11:59 p.m. deadline for business awards’ nominates at https://greatermindenchamber.com/awardsgala/
Feb. 8-11
Minden St. Jude Auction.
Feb. 10
1 p.m. North Webster 13th Annual Black History Parade. Line up starts on Church Street. Deadline to sign up is Feb. 5. Grand Marshal: Edward Bankhead.
Feb. 27
6:30 p.m. Doors open for the 82nd Annual Greater Minden Chamber Awards Gala at Minden Civic Center. Program begins at 7 p.m.
March 2
Caney Puzzler Adventure Race, Caney Lakes
March 3
6:30 p.m. True Girl Crazy Hair Tour at First Baptist Minden for mothers and daughters ages 7-12. This live event will be full of games, worship, fashion show, solid biblical truth and will deepen the relationship between mothers and their daughters. Visit www.mytruegirl.com for tickets. For more information, call the church office at 318-377-4434.
March 16
9 a.m. until noon, District 2 Star of Hope O.E.S. 30th Annual Gala, “Star Struck” Welcome to Old Hollywood. 630 Factory Outlet Dr., Arcadia, La. Attire: Sunday’s best with “fascinators and fedoras. Entertainment, food, drawings. Public is welcome. $5 donation at the door.
“And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
So, today as I write this, the ice finally started to melt. It’s times like these and when we have hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and ice storms, that we are reminded how many of our everyday comforts we enjoy and completely take for granted. Take away our home power grid, keeping us cool and comfortable in the sweltering summers and nice and toasty in the winter and we feel like the world has come to an end. Take away our clean running water or hot water for bathing and we feel like we will not survive. I have lived most of my life in either south or central Louisiana where hurricanes and floods visit frequently. So, I usually keep 5-gallon cans of ethanol-free gas ready, my generator started and running regularly and cases of bottled water in the garage. Weather-wise, I am a prepper. But not this time for this cold front. Somehow my gas cans got lost in my move to Minden, I could not find my miles of extension cords and I was nearly out of water. So, Saturday I stood in long lines buying what was left in the stores, praying and hoping for some mercy.
Mercy was indeed shown. No power outage, no loss of water and no frozen pipes for us- this time. But I have lived well through those losses in the past, sometimes for weeks at a time. You learn to adapt and rely on God to get you through. Paul’s letter to the church in Phillipi, closes with the words above about the provision of God. Before that Paul writes, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
2024 will bring challenges and opportunities for all of us. For your peace of mind, prepare as best you can. However, there is no way to foresee every challenge. That is why we must learn to rely upon God, pray for what we need, thank God for his provisions and open our hearts to his healing peace. May God bless you and your family in the coming year.
(Steve Berger is pastor of First Methodist Church Minden, a Global Methodist Church. He is the husband of Dianne, his partner in ministry, they have two adult sons, a dachshund, and love living in Minden.)
The following civil suits were filed with the Webster Parish Clerk of Court the week of January 11 (Short week due to bad weather and closure of Courthouse). Civil Suits are a matter of public record.
Jan. 11
Kristi Sequiche vs. Justin Sequiche and Justin Alan Spears, establish paternity.
Jan. 12
Rock Creek Capital LLC vs. Dylan J. West and Lana M. West, monies due.
Royce Lane vs. Progressive Security Insurance, Safeway Insurance Co., Autium Dawn Sneed, damages.
Robert Ray Charles
Dec. 9, 1934 – Jan. 12, 2024
Taylor, Ark.,/Springhill, La.
Visitation: 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, Bailey Funeral Home, Springhill.
Funeral service: 2 p.m. immediately following visitation.
Reception: immediately following funeral service, Midway Baptist Church, Sarepta, La.
Rickey Lee Toms
Nov. 19, 1955 – Jan. 9, 2024
Taylor, Ark.,/Springhill, La.
Visitation: 5 until 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, Bailey Funeral Home, Springhill.
Funeral service: 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, Spring Branch Baptist Church, Taylor Ark.
Burial: Spring Branch Cemetery under the direction of Bailey Funeral Home, Springhill
Varnita Merrie Bartholmae Witcher
March 16, 1939 – Dec. 27, 2023
Minden, La.
Celebration of Life Memorial Service: 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024, North Acres Baptist Church, Minden.
Mary Rockett Tomlin Williamson
Oct. 24, 1936 – Dec. 27, 2023
Minden, La.
Visitation: 5 until 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, First Baptist Church of Minden.
Graveside service: 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, Springhill Cemetery, Springhill, La.
Webster Parish Journal publishes paid complete obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $80. Contact your funeral provider or wpjnewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Above death notices are no charge.)
Minden Mayor Nick Cox at 5:20 Wednesday, said this 6” water main broke and is now repaired at the corner of Lewisville Road and Pecanview.
“Water pressure was maintained so no boil advisory will be necessary,” Cox said.
To report water leaks, call 318-377-2144.
Superintendent of Schools Johnny Rowland announced this afternoon that public schools in Webster Parish will remain closed for at least one more day.
“Due to current road conditions, schools and offices will remain closed Thursday, January 18,” Rowland said.
Glenbrook School representatives announced earlier that it will be closed Thursday, as well.
Whether Webster Parish public schools will be open Thursday is still up in the (frigid) air.
Superintendent Johnny Rowland said he wants to wait to see if there are any changes in the forecast and roads.
“I plan to make the call by mid-afternoon (today),” Rowland said. “I don’t want to wait any longer than that … it can’t be a last-minute call.”
At this time (noon Wednesday) Glenbrook School decided to remain closed.
By Pat Culverhouse
A recent arrest of a Bossier City man for a “Deepfake” incident has local law enforcement agencies doing deep dive research into the potentially dangerous Internet activity.
Rafael Valentine Jordan of Bossier City is the first person arrested in Louisiana on charges relating to Deepfaking. He was arrested in late November for child porn and days later, police found evidence that Jordan used deepfake technology to create 436 images of child pornography
Deepfake is Artificial Intelligence (AI) created images that can be digitally manipulated to insert a person’s likeness to that of another where it becomes almost impossible to tell the image is fake.
According to MPD Sgt. Jason Smith, Deepfake is illegal only if it is used in the commission of a crime such as using an image to create child pornography or pornography of a person over the age of 18 without that person’s consent.
“We haven’t seen anything like this in our work here, but we’re learning as much as we can to be prepared,” Smith said. “Louisiana just passed legislation making improper use of Deepfakes a criminal offense, and the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office was the first in the state to enforce it in the matter of child porn.”
Persons convicted of using Deepfake pornographic imaging of minors could serve from 10 to 30 years in prison; penalty for using adult images is not less than 10 and up to 30 years.
Smith, who heads the MPD criminal investigation division and often turns to technology in solving crimes, said individuals who are going to commit crimes can easily turn tech-related advances to their own purposes.
“Someone using Deepfake can have me riding a rocket ship and that’s a freedom of speech thing,” he explained. “But the law comes into effect when sexual images are being created by using AI. They can go to Facebook, pull a picture and use AI to create these sexual images. And they don’t have to be technologically savvy to do this.”
Deepfake using Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) can even be used to write a code for creating explicit images of children, Smith said. New laws on the issue were created to help determine whether the fake was being used for real purposes.
Various platforms can also produce a person’s life story, or obtain a superior essay on just about any subject, if a user can provide a few pieces of information, Smith said.
“You can ask it questions on just about every book online and ask it to write an essay on ‘Of Mice and Men.’ It can bust out a 10-page college level essay that cannot be picked up by cheating services,” Smith said.
Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office Major Dustin Reynolds, like Smith, keeps abreast of computer-generated crimes and is studying the Bossier Parish case.
“This is a new state law and we want to know exactly how to apply it if we have a similar case,” Reynolds said. “I haven’t seen anything of this nature (Deepfake) here, but we certainly want to be alert.”
Reynolds said attention is naturally being focused on Deepfakes because of its potential use in forms of pornography and sexual abuse. But, he said, there are other areas where individuals should be aware that negative consequences could exist.
“Deepfakes can also be used in hoaxes and bullying and in spreading false information about someone,” he said. “It’s hard to prove to the average user that these things are fake and lives can be ruined.”
Smith and Reynolds agree that catching individuals who are illegally Deepfaking is a difficult task. Many in the online communities that create, exchange and view the images operate on sites that are difficult to track.
“They’re hard to crack,” Smith said. “They operate on the dark web and it takes a lot of dedicated dudes and lots of time and money to catch people like that.”
“We’re going to learn all we can about how this works and keep in touch with other agencies to share information,” Reynolds said. “The people involved in this sort of thing, especially those who create child porn images, need to be stopped.”
Law enforcement, first responders and towing companies were busy as Tuesday was a day filled with accidents, slip-and-slides, stalled vehicles and some stuck on the side of the roads.
“Today (Tuesday), we experienced a very high number of emergency calls,” said Minden Mayor Nick Cox. “We encountered vehicles struggling to climb hills, vehicles sliding off the roads, and the added traffic from the congested interstate made it an exceptionally busy day.”
Looking ahead, Wednesday’s travel may be even more challenging. As the ice on the roads melts, it will refreeze at night when the temperatures plunge again, making traveling dangerous for most of this week.
“The issue we’re currently facing is that although the roads may appear fine, they are actually not safe at all,” said the mayor. “We urge everyone to avoid traveling Wednesday.”
Additionally, he said, the city is gearing up to handle the inevitable reports of water leaks as the temperature rises above freezing this afternoon.
Schools remain closed today (Wednesday), however, Webster Parish Journal should have an update later in the day.
Forecasts show a light warming with sunshine before the clouds make another appearance.
Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 41. Wind chill values as low as 6. Light southeast wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Wednesday Night
Increasing clouds, with a low around 27. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday
Cloudy, with a high near 55. South wind 10 to 15 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Thursday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 28.
* Information from National Weather Service.
By Paige Nash
The Young Women’s Service Club (YWSC) of Minden is excited to announce they will be hosting their annual St. Jude Kids Day on Saturday, Feb. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They will be set up in the side parking lot of the Minden Civic Center.
For only $10, participants will be able to play various games, bounce houses, crafts, face painting and more.
YWSC members look forward to this event every year.
“Every Saturday morning during auction weekend our club members dedicate their morning to providing fun activities for the children at a small fee,” said YWSC Vice-President Jessica Haymon.
All proceeds raised that morning are donated to the Minden St. Jude’s Auction later that day.
Haymon said, “Thanks to the continuous support of our community we have been able to donate around $2,000 each year.”
The Minden St. Jude Auction will kick-off on Thursday, Feb. 8 and run until Sunday, Feb. 11.
They are still gathering raffle items if your business or organization would like to donate, please reach on the Minden St. Jude Auction Facebook page or at mindenstjudemerch@gmail.com
It was one of those NFL playoff weekends that suggested someone put another log on the sideline bonfire.
The National Frozen League.
Consider the piercing minus-4 degrees in Kansas City Saturday afternoon when the Chiefs beat Miami, 27-7, easily a record for the coldest game at Arrowhead Stadium. The hard part was the 25 miles-per-hour wind gusts that equated to a tear-inducing minus-27.
A day at the beach compared to Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, where the Wild Card Round matchup between the Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers was delayed until Monday because of high winds and blinding snow.
“When I heard they were delaying it I told somebody that sets a bad precedent,” said Bo Harris, who starred at Captain Shreve and LSU before playing eight years for Cincinnati, including a start in Super Bowl XVI in 1982, a 26-21 loss to San Francisco inside the Pontiac Silverdome (while outside, a blizzard semi-paralyzed Detroit).
“Hours later I saw what was happening in Buffalo and had to call the guy back and say, ‘Check that,’” Harris said with a laugh. “My mind wasn’t understanding what was happening.”
What was happening was you couldn’t see the field. Visibility near zero. The team even hired fans to shovel snow for $20 an hour Sunday to help clear the stadium. The online video of Buffalo crazies doing just that is as fun to watch as the game was, won by the Bills, 31-17, in a clear but cold Highmark Stadium.
Kyle Williams watched that game from the comfort of his couch in Lincoln Parish, six seasons removed from a 13-year career playing defensive tackle in Buffalo after four years starting for Ruston High (he was a hard-to-bring-down running back as a freshman!) and after helping the Tigers win a national championship at LSU. Grew up hot, but figured out quickly that life in the National Football League can be a cold business.
“In Cleveland my rookie year, during warmups it looked like just a normal winter day game,” said Williams, a father of five who helped coach Ruston High to a state football championship this fall in his semi-retirement. “Field was green … perfect. Twenty minutes later we come back and the whole field is snow.”
Then there was December 23, 2007, “the coldest I’ve ever been,” he said. Final regular season game, the Giants needing to win to get into the playoffs, New York at Buffalo, and it’s a first-half downpour, a storm front off Lake Erie. “After halftime, it drops down to 19 degrees and the wind starts blowing. It got colder the more we kept trying to hang on to (Ahmad) Bradshaw (151 yards rushing) and (Brandon) Jacobs (143 yards). We never got going.”
The Giants won, 38-21, and went on to upset New England in the ‘Helmet Catch’ Super Bowl. Good news?: Williams, a Class of 2022 Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer, lived to play another day.
“You can never really prepare, gear-wise, for the cold,” said the sneaky funny Williams, a master of understatement. “You’ve got Spandex pants, a Spandex jersey, cotton socks, and athletic shoes. Your attire’s not covering all your parts that need covering.”
There’s chicken broth on the sidelines, and those welcoming and lush heated benches thank the good Lord, but it’s a “never ending tango,” Williams testifies, of what to keep warm and just how warm to keep it, like managing your helmet’s insides so the plastic pads will stay warm and loose instead of getting too cold so they’re brittle or too hot so holes are burned in them.
“All kinds of issues,” said Williams, recalling from the warmth of his den a time of ice and mud, a calm man with a security blanket, a man who can now go to bed at halftime if he wants. “Easy for guys in those conditions to make a mistake doing what they’re needing to do to stay warm.”
This weekend when he heard about the delay in Buffalo, he knew how bad it must be. A decade-plus of living there coached him up on how prepared Erie County is for the worst. “The world does not stop,” he said, not for any ol’ storm; businesses and road crews are ready to counteract just about anything.
“In all my years up there, only one time did the weather affect us where we had to postpone or cancel,” he said, recalling a “wall of snow” halfway up the house he and wife Jill shared with their very young, very cold family.
Once the county got 80 inches of snow in a 48-hour period. The Bills Emergency Alarm went off — picture the Bat Signal above Gotham — and players were hiking to the interstate to get rides on snowmobiles to the airport so the team could fly to Detroit, practice a couple of days, and play a “home game” against the New York Jets in Ford Field. Weather won, the Bills won, the Jets lost.
If you’re in the mood to shiver, you can Google “Freezer Bowl” and watch Bo Harris and his Bengals teammates beat San Diego, 27-7, in Riverfront Stadium in January 1982 to win the AFC Championship. The temperature was between minus-8 and plus-5, but it was the wind chill — a mind-numbing minus-57 during gusts — that made it the coldest NFL game ever.
“San Diego came out during warmups with ski masks on under their helmets and defensive backs were backpedaling with their hands in their pants,” Harris said. “I looked at one of my guys and said, ‘Oh yeah. We’re winning today.’”
Dan Fouts. Gary Johnson. Louie Kelcher. Kellen Winslow. Wes Chandler. Charlie Joiner. Chuck Muncie. San Diego had a very good team. That Sunday in Cincinnati, they had a very cold team. And the Bengals had a secret weapon.
“Vaseline and panty hose saved the day,” said Bo, who coated himself in the stuff to protect his skin, then layered up with the hose. Any port in a storm; dude had one of Cincinnati’s two sacks in the win.
Also now retired in Lincoln Parish, Petey Perot is a Natchitoches Favorite Son and former Northwestern State Demon and Philadelphia Eagle. And like Bo, he played in a chillier-than-chilly Conference Championship game.
“1980 against Dallas in the Vet,” Perot said. “Minus-17. Santa Claus had gotten beat up in the stadium the week before,” (a true story illustrating that it’s cold in Philly in more ways than one; you can look it up).
“I don’t think it ever really bothered me,” said Perot, who was 23 at the time, an age of blissful unawareness. “I didn’t think about how cold it was. I didn’t even know how cold it was when we went out there. We wore fishnet jerseys and a half shirt and didn’t even try to do anything to keep from being cold. Our deal was, we were just focused on trying to get to the Super Bowl: who cares how cold it is?”
And if he had free tickets and great seats to the same kind of game today?
“I wouldn’t go,” he said with zero hesitation, almost offended at the suggestion, a man warm and wise.
At left guard, Petey and the gang sprang Wilbert Montgomery for a 42-yard touchdown run on the Eagles’ second play from scrimmage that icy day as Philadelphia beat the Cowboys, 20-7, and made it to Super Bowl XV. The bad news? They lost to Oakland. The good news? It was in the Superdome and 72 degrees with no wind.
This Sunday at 7:15 p.m., Kansas City will visit Buffalo in one of four Division Round weekend playoff games. The expected forecast is like Houston at Baltimore at 3:30 p.m. Saturday: 16 degrees with a 15 percent chance of snow and light winds.
Like taking a candy football from a warm baby.
Contact a very toasty Teddy at teddy@latech.edu
It’s king cake season. Those four words don’t carry a lot of weight across 90% of this country. Though in most of Louisiana and the majority of South Mississippi things reach a fever pitch in and around bakeries during this time of year.
There are readers of this weekly column from almost all the 50 states. For those who aren’t familiar with the Mardi Gras staple known as a king cake, here’s a quick primer. The king cake is believed to have first come to Louisiana around 1870. It’s a ring of bread— sometimes braided, many times filled with fruit and/or cream cheese and sometimes spiced with only cinnamon— that is covered with icing or frosting and decorated with the three colors of Mardi Gras, purple, green, and gold. The season runs from January 6th (Epiphany/Twelfth Night signifying the event when the three wisemen/kings brought gifts to the baby Jesus) through Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent).
To an outsider the king cake is a puzzling pastry. “What’s up with all the styles and versions?” “Why is there a small baby sitting on top of my cake?” “Why purple, green, and gold?” “What’s up with the knife staying in the box?” “Why are people standing in long lines to get a colored cake?” Most of those questions are answered once one has tried a well-prepared king cake.
Here are some— mostly accurate— explanations.
The answer to the plastic baby is simple— it represents the baby Jesus and is usually on top of the cake these days. For most of king cake history a bean or nice trinket was baked inside the cake for good luck. In the 1950s a New Orleans bakery started putting a small porcelain baby inside of their king cakes. That tradition caught on and most use a baby these days, though the baby is now on top because people were accidentally eating the baby and bakeries didn’t want the hassle of a lawsuit. The baby— agnostics say it’s for luck— is no longer porcelain and made of plastic in some far off factory that must be making millions of them.
There’s also the tradition of whomever gets the baby must buy the next king cake, but now that the baby is on top and not inside, some say it’s there for good luck.
The interwebs are filled with conflicting reasons why the official Mardi Gras colors are purple, green, and gold. You can research it and choose which version you like best. I’m going with purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. No emails, please.
For most of my life, I wasn’t a fan of king cake. Most of them are dry, overly sweet, excessively sugared, and often made with fruit fillings from a can. Though for the past several years I have been working on developing and opening a bakery. In this part of the world any respectable bakery should offer king cakes during the Mardi Gras season, therefore my attitudes have changed.
I knew what I liked in a king cake: Soft, eggy, buttery bread, a light fruit and cream cheese filling, very minimal sugar on top, and frosting that is just sweet enough. The problem is that most king cakes don’t fit that description. Most commercial king cakes are the exact opposite— dry, hard bread, overly sweet fillings, and overly sugared toppings with way too much food coloring. Last year I went on a quest to find the perfect king cake. One that we could take inspiration from while developing our version at Loblolly Bakery in Hattiesburg. I spent a day scouring New Orleans for examples. I came home with 32 king cakes from bakeries and stores all over the city.
Evaluating 32 king cakes for specific pros and cons ended up being a lot like judging a chili cookoff. Typically, in chili cookoffs there are two dozen entries with people trying all sorts of crazy ideas with a chili recipe, and one sole entry that actually tastes like chili. Out of the 32 king cakes there were only a few that appealed to my tastes and only one that absolutely nailed it— the celebrated Vietnamese bakehouse on Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans— Dong Phoung Bakery.
The Dong Phoung king cake is— to this columnist’s taste, along with a majority of the New Orleans contingent— the gold standard when it comes to that particular pastry. Initially, the hype was so overblown I was skeptical. To be honest, during the Great King Cake Quest of 2023, I was hoping I would find a diamond in the rough and a king cake that bested the highly acclaimed and overly lionized cakes that come from Dong Phoung. Though in the end, the clear winner, and the clear winner by far, was the Dong Phoung king cake. It made most all the others pedestrian in texture and taste.
Granted, there were a few that were good, but only one that was exceptional. I traveled down to New Orleans on a follow-up and waited in line at one of the outposts that is lucky enough to receive a small order of Dong Phoung cakes a few times a week to make sure the initial cake wasn’t a fluke. I learned quickly that there is a reason Dong Phoung sells out of king cakes before the season starts and why devotees stand in line for an hour or more to score one. It’s that good.
So, when pastry chef Martha Foose and her husband, head baker, Donald Bender, and I— the Loblolly brain trust such as it is— began discussing what our king cake would be, there was one clear example we chose to follow.
Last year during Mardi Gras our bakery hadn’t opened yet and Martha and Donald baked king cakes in the kitchen at The Midtowner in a basic convection oven. We brought them to Crescent City Grill to sell and they usually sold out within 10-15 minutes.
This year the bakery is open and firing on all cylinders. We have the proper equipment and the proper space to bake our version of the perfect king cake. After a couple of trial runs and false starts, the baking team nailed it a few days into the season. The king cakes we are baking in the Loblolly kitchen these days are— to my taste— perfect.
The Loblolly king cake is a soft, eggy, buttery brioche-like bread with a very subtle Ermine frosting that is just sweet enough. We decided to focus on four flavors instead of offering dozens of alternatives. We committed our team to focus only on those four varieties and do them perfectly— Classic French Quarter Spice (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, etc), Hometown Blueberry-Cream Cheese, Praline-Pecan (with dolce de leche and cream cheese) and Traditional Cream Cheese.
So far, a little over a week into the season, demand is far outpacing supply. Our small team is baking all night and pumping out as many as they can. Our focus is on quality, not quantity. That’s just not some PR mantra that we say to paint a pretty picture. It’s how we truly feel. I would rather miss out on thousands of dollars of sales serving a handmade product I am proud of— and I am very, very proud of our king cakes— than to pump out a large volume of overly sweet, dry, institutional cakes that are lesser products.
When I first got into this business, I never would have seen myself owning and operating a business that baked and sold king cakes. As I stated earlier, I wasn’t even a fan of king cakes. But 90% of what I have done over the last 37 years hasn’t been planned. My original goal was to own one restaurant so I could wear shorts and t-shirts to work every day. I had no ambition greater than that. It just goes to show when we open ourselves to opportunities magic can happen.
Are king cakes magical? No. But the buzz around them is sweet (pun intended). In the end it’s about doing the work one loves and of which he or she can be proud.
Onward.
KING CAKE BREAD PUDDING
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar, divided
4 egg yolks
8 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 8-10” round cream cheese filled King Cake
Place the milk, cream and half of the sugar in a small sauce pot and place over medium heat. Bring this mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent the sugar from burning. While the milk mixture is heating, place the remaining sugar, egg yolks, whole eggs, vanilla and salt into a stainless-steel mixing bowl. Using a wire whisk, beat the egg mixture until it become light yellow in color. Slowly begin adding the hot milk to the beaten eggs, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.
Cut the King Cake into two-inch thick slices.
Pour half of the custard into a two-quart round Pyrex baking dish (nine-inch diameter).
Submerge the King cake slices into the custard. Pour the remaining custard over the top and cover the baking dish. Cover and refrigerate over night.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Remove the covering from the refrigerated bread pudding and gently press down the King Cake so that the custard completely covers the surface. Cover the bread pudding with a piece of parchment paper, and then cover the paper with a piece of aluminum foil.
In a roasting pan large enough to hold the Pyrex dish, place two inches of hot water. Place the Pyrex dish in the water and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and parchment paper and bake for 10 additional minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow the pudding to rest for one hour before serving.
Serve with Brandy Crème Anglaise
Yields 8-10 servings
Brandy Crème Anglaise
1 cup cream
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup brandy
3/4 cup sugar, divided
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a stainless steel pot bring the cream, half and half, brandy, half of the sugar and to vanilla a simmer. While it is heating, combine the yolks and remaining sugar in a mixing bowl and whip until pale yellow in color.
Slowly begin adding the cream mixture into to yolks, stirring constantly until all the milk has cream mixture has been added. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pot and cook over a low-medium flame stirring constantly. Cook until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat a spoon or spatula.
Remove from the heat and cool down in an ice bath.
This sauce may be made two-three days in advance.
Yields : 8-10 servings
(Robert St. John is a chef, restaurateur and published cookbook author who lives in Hattiesburg, Miss.)
Don’t let service and dedication to our community go unrecognized. Nominate an outstanding man for the Man of the Year Award, sponsored by the Minden Lions Club. The winner will be announced during the Chamber Awards Gala on Tuesday, February 27, 2024.
Click the link below.
Deadline for nominations is January 31, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.
https://docs.google.com/…/1ebb7DFsd-TIb…/edit…
“Arabian Nights,” the 82nd annual Greater Minden Chamber gala event draws 400 to 500 prominent business professionals for an evening of food, fun and awards. The event will be held from 7 until 9 p.m.Tuesday, February 27 at the Minden Civic Center. Doors open at 6:30.
Event tickets, sponsorships and award nominations are due before midnight January 31.
A flagship event for the Greater Minden Chamber, the Annual Membership Gala is scheduled each year in the first quarter. This event draws more top business professionals than any other event. It is the annual dinner where the chamber honors Small Business of the Year, Business of the Year, Businessperson of the Year, Community Partner and Man and Woman of the Year.
By Kayla Osbon
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee administers more than 160 scholarship funds through an open-application process. The scholarship program makes funds available that help support individuals from various backgrounds and communities. One of the scholarships is the George E. French III Scholarship Fund, established in 2018 and offered in Webster Parish, LA.
George French, III served as the Chief Executive Officer of Minden Medical Center from 1982 until his retirement in 2016. George is a servant leader for all those around him, both at work and in the community. He defers accolades to his team and seeks to lift others up. He is an encourager and champion of looking beyond oneself in order to make a difference with others. He has impacted countless lives as he‘s helped others to achieve their dreams. His leadership and guidance has been invaluable at Minden Medical and to the people in and around Minden, LA.
The George E. French, III Scholarship Fund was established to honor George’s service to Minden Medical Center, the community, and his pursuit of learning and will provide financial assistance and be awarded to a graduating high school senior, who is a resident of Webster Parish, LA who is pursuing a career as a registered nurse.
Applications must be submitted by February 1, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. Apply online at https://www.cfmt.org/giving-and-investing/become-a-donor/give-to-a-fund/george-e-french-iii-scholarship-fund/. The recipient will be notified April 15, 2024.
All students interested in expanding their education are encouraged to visit The Community Foundation’s website at www.cfmt.org for a complete list of scholarships. Complete one application for infinite possibilities.
(Kayla Osbon is marketing coordinator at Minden Medical Center.)
The church near Victor’s home was badly in need of repair, but no one seemed to care. Generations of worshipers had passed through its doors, but, with each passing year, the building got dirtier, darker, and more damp. It needed a new roof. Its rafters needed repairs. It needed a little of everything, but nothing was offered. Unless something drastic happened, Victor feared that the old church would be torn down and a more modern building, maybe not even a church, would be put in its place. Victor was horrified by the thought. He saw something in the old church building that most others failed to see. Maybe they had seen it at one time, but most people in town largely ignored the old church. To Victor, the building was much more than merely walls and a roof. To him, the church was important.
What could Victor do? He was not an architect or carpenter. He held no political office. He had no authority to do anything towards preserving the church that he loved so dearly. Victor was a writer, mostly of poetry. Oh, dear. He published a paper entitled War [declared] on the Demolishers in which he argued for the preservation of old buildings such as his beloved church. Most of the people who read his paper were the ones who wanted to demolish buildings to make room to erect more modern structures. Victor was distraught.
Victor decided to write a book about the church in his spare time. For three years, Victor struggled to find the time to work on the book as his other literary projects, ones that earned money, took precedence. Rather than a clever title which would draw interest to the story, Victor simply used the name of the church as the title of the book. The church, an inanimate object, became almost a living, breathing character in itself. Finally, Victor finished the book, sent it to his publisher, and waited. Would anyone read a book about an almost forgotten church?
To Victor’s surprise, his book about the church became a hit. Readers flocked to see the old church which was featured so prominently in the book. They flocked to the same church they had previously ignored. The church had not changed, but their perception of it had. Victor’s book brought new interest in the church. With each passing year, Victor’s book became more popular. Thirteen years after Victor published his book, the king of the country ordered the restoration of the church, a project which lasted twenty years. With the success of Victor’s book, the church became much more than a building of worship. It became a national icon.
In the years since Victor’s book was first published, millions of visitors, myself included, have flocked to see the church because of the book. The church is currently undergoing another restoration following a disastrous fire. You and I know the story and the church well because of the book’s many stage, television, and film adaptations. Had Victor not written his book, the church which had stood for over 700 years would not have been saved, and you and I would never have heard of the church Notre-Dame de Paris. The original French title of Victor’s book was Notre-Dame de Paris, but English speaking countries know Victor Hugo’s 1831 book by its adapted title, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is just one example of the positive power of words.
Source: Daniel Christian, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, July 22, 2019, https://notredamecathedralparis.com/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame/.
Have you ever seen the movie Dr. Doolittle starring Eddie Murphy? In this movie Eddie plays the role of a doctor who discovers he can communicate with animals. Now we’ve all had a conversation with our own pets, but the difference is they can’t talk back. But deep in our hearts we know, or at least we think, they truly understand what we’re saying. I’ve often wondered what a bass would say to an angler if they could talk. As an experienced angler who has engaged in several conversations with bass, I’ll give you an idea as to what they really think.
Bass are like people; they all have different personalities. Some are quiet and shy, some are aggressive, and some like to be a part of a gang or school (as we call them). The bigger fish called trophies, six pounds or larger, like to isolate themselves and tend to be loners. That’s why you’ll catch larger fish out of brush tops or isolated clumps of hydrilla and stumps.
As an angler growing up, I’ve always heard other anglers say that if you’ll listen, bass will tell you what they want. What anglers are referring to is how to catch them. The first fish you catch can be a clue on what, how and where you need to be fishing that day. For example, if you catch a bass off the very end of a boat dock in 10 feet of water, near a creek channel, you might want to find other boat docks with the same characteristics. This is what we would call a pattern.
So far over my many years of fishing and listening, not a single bass has verbally conveyed anything to me that would help me solve the fishing puzzle….or have they? The key is you have to listen and pay attention. Now it may require some interpretation, but if you’re focused and observant, it will all come together.
One professional angler who is known for his ability to talk to the fish is the legendary pro Rick Clunn. Considered by many as the greatest angler of all time, Rick has won 4 Bassmaster Classics (the Super Bowl of bass fishing). Now Rick is a unique kind of bird as he tends to do things a little different. He’s a guy who likes to stay away from other anglers at an event by camping out and getting as close to nature as he can. In his words, he wants to become one with nature.
Not all anglers take this approach, but it has served Rick Clunn well as he has amassed over $2.6 million in winnings. That means after 496 tournaments fished, he has earned over $5000 per event! Rick has even written articles about what he calls “zenning” which is a form of meditation and mental state of mind. It’s his way of getting what athletes call “in the zone.”
Whether you take Rick’s meditation approach or come up with one of your own, it is important for a tournament angler to be focused. Bass fishing is as much a mental game as it is physical. A lot of anglers are good at many different techniques and can catch fish. But the anglers who are strong mentally are usually the ones who are the most successful.
Till next time, good luck, good fishing and always remember, that if you’re not sure it’s a bite, set the hook anyway. Because it just might be the fish of a lifetime!
Steve Graf
Anglers Perspective