In May of 1942, the United States was in its first full year of World War II.  After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the date which President Franklin Roosevelt said would “live in infamy,” factories throughout America had retooled their machinery to manufacture a myriad of items necessary for the war effort.  Factories which had produced vehicles for the general public began building military vehicles, tire factories switched from producing tires for the consumer market to producing tires for the military.  The Office of Price Administration, which had the power to ration scarce supplies such as automobiles, tires, gasoline, fuel oil, shoes, coffee, etc., predicted that there would be a shortage of several items, including gasoline.  The Office of Defense Transportation, which was established to control domestic transportation, concluded that rationing gasoline would cause owners to drive less, which would extend the life of automobiles and their tires, and would conserve fuel and oil for military use.  For this reason, the government began rationing gasoline.

Car owners throughout the United States applied for ration cards.  Each ration card had the car owner’s name and address, along with the make, model and serial number of the car.  Along the bottom of the ration card were several tabs which would be punched with each purchase of gasoline (see example below).  In addition to the card, the ration board issued each automobile a windshield sticker with a specific letter on it.  The letter denoted how many gallons of gasoline the owner could purchase for that car per week.  The most common was an “A” sticker which allowed the owner to get just 4 gallons of gasoline per week.  Stanley’s car was assigned an “A” sticker.

On May 21, 1942, Stanley Stepno went to his local rationing office in Holyoke, Massachusetts to get a new gasoline ration card.  He had used his last stamp to put a gallon of gasoline in his car.  Stanley parked his car outside of his local rationing office and got in the long line.  Every few minutes, Stanley got a step or two closer to the front of the line.  Finally, after a long wait, it was Stanley’s turn.

Getting a new ration card was a long process.  To get a gasoline ration card, Stanley had to prove to the ration board that he had a need for gasoline.  Stanley needed the gasoline to get to and from work.  Due to the rubber shortage, Stanley had to persuade the board that he owned no more than five tires, four tires on the car and a spare.  After reviewing and verifying all of his information, Stanley received his new ration card.  After a sigh of relief, Stanley made his way outside and passed by the long line of people who were begrudgingly waiting their turn.  Stanley returned to the parking spot where he parked his car, but another car was in its place.  While Stanley was getting his gasoline rationing card…someone had stolen his car.

Sources:

1.  The Boston Globe, May 21, 1942, p.24.
2.  The Neosho Daily News, June 18, 1942, p.4.

3.  Lentenello, Richard. “How Gas Rationing Worked During World War II.” Hemmings.com. December 30, 2019. https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2019/12/30/how-gas-rationing-worked-during-world-war-ii

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Because cancer touches so many families in our parish, NRMC is taking a leadership role in the fight against this disease with the recent acquisition of the Northwestern Louisiana Cancer Center. NRMC’s goal is to create a seamless service in which cancer patients benefit from having access to the hospital’s full range of patient care services, physicians, and technology in addition to the outpatient care offered at the NRMC Cancer Center. 

From early diagnosis and treatment to state-of-the-art technology, our team of cancer experts offer an amazing continuum of lifesaving services to help patients in the fight against cancer. NRMC Cancer Center is committed to improving and saving lives. 

For more information, please call 318.214.5774. 

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The ever-encroaching tentacles of the federal government are on display again.  In this past week we have seen two of the most recent examples.

The first involves the National School Boards Association which, in a letter to President Biden, argued this week that parents are engaged in “domestic terrorism” when they heatedly oppose, among other things, the endless and burdensome coronavirus mask mandates, the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT, which essentially argues that America is historically racist), transgender confusion policies as well as materials containing graphic sexual content (i.e. open porn disguised as literature) being forced upon their children in public schools.

The Association requested the federal government to investigate cases where threats or violence could be “handled as violations of federal laws protecting civil rights.”  It also asked for the Justice Department, FBI, Homeland Security and Secret Service to help monitor threat levels and assess risks to students, educators, board members and school buildings.  In response, Attorney General, Merrick Garland, ominously stated that the Justice Department would use its authority and resources to discourage the “threats” posed by parents of grade school children and “prosecute them when appropriate” when they voice opinions that dare to differ from the received wisdom of a hostile and distant federal governmental bureaucracy.

This is both surprising and disconcerting.  Concerned parents are not, by any stretch, like the threat posed, for example, by Columbian drug lords or the scourge of human trafficking and traffickers or the forest fire of new coronavirus cases spreading rapidly from the southern border and all over the nation because of the Biden Administration’s refusal to comprehensively and methodically test all those entering our country illegally, all the while this same Administration supports a vax and mask mandate for every American.  (What ever happened to, “no one tells me what to do with my own body?” Oh yes, that only applies to abortion).  Nevertheless, at the president’s request, the Attorney General has sicced the FBI Dobermans onto local school boards.  This governmental attempt to chill and suppress fundamental constitutional rights is simply over the top.  

The U.S. Supreme Court has many times recognized the fundamental liberty interest of American parents in—and constitutional right to control and direct—the education of their own children.  Further, rowdy and heated local opposition to local government decisions and policies has been a hallmark of civic engagement and our constitutional form of government.  How is it not perfectly reasonable that parents would become exercised and perhaps even a touch inflamed that such inappropriate and poisonous topics are being taught to their children? Broadly speaking, such local (here, parental) activism is exactly what our Constitution sets up and requires and why many of us believe the purest and most effective form of government is that which is most local and closest to the people.  It’s also why we demand that more political decision-making and policy determinations devolve back down to the states, cities, and local governments where they belong.

The second recent example of federal government overreach by the Biden Administration—in the form of IRS law enforcement—comes in an announcement this week of an invasive new plan that will allow the federal government to audit virtually every financial transaction of the American people who have bank accounts with a balance of $600. 

This is insane and un-American.  This is not only another drastic form of government overreach, but also illegal and unconstitutional.  The 4^th Amendment protects every American against unreasonable searches and seizures—invasions of privacy—that are not supported by probable cause or a warrant.  This broad, generalized “mining” of private financial information using the pretext of “catching wealthy tax dodgers” is a major infringement of data privacy and grossly flouts the guarantees of the 4^th Amendment.

Illegal and burdensome overreaches and infringements such as these by the federal government must be detected, called out and defeated.  We simply must take to heart President Reagan’s chilling warning: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men and women were free.”

The views and opinions expressed in the My Opinion article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Winn Parish Journal. Any content provided by the authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.

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WINN:
Naylyn Geraldine Dill
February 14, 1949 – October 11, 2021
Service: Wednesday, October 13 at 10 am at Nolley United Methodist Church Cemetery

RED RIVER:
Tracy Glen Scott
July 15, 1965 – October 11, 2021
Service: Wednesday, October 13 at 2 pm at Rockett-Nettles Funeral Home Chapel

Stephanie Rose Corley
October 21, 1978 – October 09, 2021
Service: Wednesday, October 13 at 10 am at Bethany Cemetery

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The Pilot Club held the Winn Parish Fair Beauty Contest Sept. 25th, at the Leonard Allen Building in Winnfield. This year there were 28 contestants.

The winners were:

• Toddler Miss Hayslee Mathis
• Little Miss Ava Meadows
• Petite Miss McKenna Box
• Deb Miss Asytyn Cavazos
• Teen Miss Madelyn Cotton
• Baby Miss Audie McCartney
• Miss Winn Parish Fair Queen Natalie Callender
• Princess Miss Sienna Box

Pictured above: from left Front row: Toddler Miss Hayslee Mathis, daughter of Skylar and Colin Mathis, Little Miss Ava Meadows, daughter of Haley McClain and Cole Meadows, Petite Miss McKenna Box, daughter of Beth Box, Deb Miss Asytyn Cavazos, daughter of Dusty and Victoria Cavazos. Top row: Teen Miss Madelyn Cotton, daughter of Tommy and Christie Cotton, Baby Miss Audie McCartney, daughter of Cole and Holly McCartney, Miss Winn Parish Fair Queen Natalie Callender, daughter of Houston and Amber Callender, and Princess Miss Sienna Box, grand daughter of James and Sheila Box.

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“It has been said, ‘if you want to change the world, be a teacher.’ I would make that broader and say ‘if you want to change the world, love a teacher!” So says Tiffany Martin, principal of the Winnfield Primary School, who spoke to members of the Winnfield Rotary Club on October 6, 2021 at the invitation of Melissa Trammel, Rotarian of the week.

Either way, it is certainly true that teachers and those who love them do change the world. They provide knowledge, training, ideas and inspiration to those children in their paths, and not just in their classrooms, but in the school as a whole and the community as well. And principals always begin as classroom teachers themselves before moving into the administrative arena, where they continue to teach and contribute to the education of our future, the children in our communities.

Ms. Martin was reared and educated in our neighboring community of Quitman, Louisiana, and went on to obtain her higher education at Louisiana Tech and ULM. She taught in the classroom in other communities for six years before moving to the Winn Parish school district as a teacher. She married a native of Dodson, Quint Martin, and is the mother of a seventh grade son and a daughter in Pre-K.

Ms. Martin has been part of the Winn Parish school district for the last 11 years, first as a teacher, then assistant principal of Winnfield Middle School, and for the last two years, as principal of Winnfield Primary School. She loves this school district, and was eager to give Rotarians a report on the status of the children attending Winnfield Primary.

Only a few months into her first year as principal of Winnfield Primary, the schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and children’s education came to a halt here, as it did practically everywhere. As the next school year of 2019-20 ended, about 25% of the students at Primary—those who did not pass a core subject or were identified by the staff as requiring extra support to succeed—needed additional work to master the knowledge and skills required to advance to the next grade level. Those children attended a very successful 4-days-a-week summer school term, after which a very high percentage—Ms. Martin did not have specific numbers, but estimated 95-98%–were able to progress to the next grade.

As of the beginning of this 2021-22 school year, the school has new playground equipment obtained with a combination of grant money from Jonesboro State Bank and community fundraising. This includes some equipment which is accessible to children with disabilities, so all children at the school can experience the recreational fun of the playground.

One of the school’s goals is to reach 100% certification in the teaching staff. Eleven of the teachers needed to obtain certification at the beginning of school last year, and seven have now obtained certification. Ms. Martin had to replace only one teacher, who passed away this summer for reasons unrelated to COVID, for the 2021-22 school year. No staff was lost as a result of the COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

The entire staff is working hard to reach literacy goals at Primary, and several programs have been developed to accomplish these objectives. Student Push to Accelerate Reading Knowledge (SPARK) has been implemented. Three teachers are planning explicit programs to advance reading knowledge of the children who need extra help reaching the average reading level for their age and grade level, and spend time throughout each day working one-on-one with those children. When one child reaches his goals, another child takes that place in the program. Another of these programs, What I Need (WIN) Time, focuses individual instruction in math and reading on specific children throughout the school day.

The school’s curriculum coordinator directs standard testing, observes models, and works with teachers to improve their skills. The school’s literacy coach works with children individually to improve reading and comprehension.  

Ms. Martin reported that COVID was a significant factor in causing gaps in children’s learning due to the loss of face-to-face teaching for such a long time. Also, the isolation of children from March 2019 to the beginning of this school year affected their development of social as well as academic skills. The school has developed an individual prescription for each child to close the gaps between actual knowledge and skills and the level of knowledge and skill expected for that child’s age and grade level. Although the school had a lower enrollment last school year than the 2019-20 school year, this year’s enrollment is back to previous levels.

All in all, Ms. Martin is enthusiastic about the advances she expects her school to make this year in improving the children’s knowledge and skills to bring them up to their age and grade level and beyond.

The meeting was adjourned, as usual, with the Rotary motto, “Service above self!”

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-Special Episode of LOUISIANA LAW Premiered on Animal Planet and Streams on discovery+ Sunday, Oct. 10-

On Aug. 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, slamming Louisiana’s coastline with 150 mile per hour winds and catastrophic storm surge. One of the strongest storms in Louisiana’s history, Ida left a trail of devastation across the state and triggered a heroic response from emergency personnel, including the Wildlife Agents of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). An all-new special episode of Animal Planet’s Louisiana Law offers a stunning up-close look at the Wildlife Agents’ missions during Hurricane Ida, from the hours leading up to landfall through the aftermath and recovery.

LOUISIANA LAW: IN THE EYE OF HURRICANE IDA premieres on Animal Planet Sunday Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. central and streams on discovery+, the definitive non-fiction, real-life subscription streaming service, the same day.

LOUISIANA LAW: IN THE EYE OF HURRICANE IDA features Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Agents conducting search and rescue missions through the floodwaters and wrecked homes. With communications and utilities down, Agents bring their unique skillsets and equipment to the aid of their fellow Louisianans. In the aftermath of the hurricane, agents go door to door on humanitarian missions getting critical supplies to those who need them the most.

“Louisiana experienced one of the most destructive hurricanes in the state’s history and we felt a responsibility to bring these search and rescue stories to our audiences,” said Amy Introcaso-Davis, Executive Vice President, Development and Production, Factual Programming, Discovery.

“What the public sees in this segment of Louisiana Law is the best example of how our agents immediately answer the call to help the great people of our state during times of disaster, while in some instances, those agents are leaving their own homes and families at risk,” said LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet. “It is gratifying to see the resilience of the people our agents interacted with. They are the best examples of Louisianans who get stronger and battle back, both emotionally and physically, after catastrophes.”

Colonel Chad Hebert, head of the LDWF Enforcement Division said, “We are super proud of the job our agents did in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. From search and rescue to humanitarian and security patrols, our agents stepped up and performed their duties to the best of their abilities. This Hurricane Ida special of Louisiana Law showcases the job our agents did and also the spirit of the Louisiana people for the rest of the nation to see.

LOUISIANA LAW: IN THE EYE OF HURRICANE IDA is produced for Animal Planet by Warm Springs Productions in Association with Watson Pond Productions where Christopher Voos, Marc Pierce, Chris Richardson and Brad Johnson serve as executive producers. For Animal Planet, Lisa Lucas is executive producer with Katie Meloy as production coordinator.

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City of Winnfield Police Department

Name: Christopher F. Myles
Date: 10-7-2021
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 50
Charge: Driving Under Suspension, Security Required

Name: Jzemon Wyatt
Date: 10-7-2021
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 31
Charge: Criminal Damage to Property X 2

Name: Jackie L. Johnson
Date: 12-8-2021
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 56
Charge: Failure to Appear to Trial in 8th JDC

Name: Adrianna M. Taylor
Date: 10-8-2021
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 43
Charge: Theft

Name: Da’Mariae C. Pleasant
Date: 10-9-2021
Address: Alexandria, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 20
Charge: Driving Under Suspension

Name: Adrianna M. Taylor
Date: 10-9-2021
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 43
Charge: Driving Under Suspension, Security Required, Expired Moving Vehicle Inspection, Failure to Register, Unauthorized Use of Food Stamps

Name: Ramil Lalisan
Date: 10-9-2021
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Asian
Sex: Male
Age: 47
Charge: Prohibited Acts

Name: Christopher Gordon
Date: 10-10-2021
Address: Natchitoches, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age:52
Charge: Domestic Abuse Battery

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Recently, I flew out to see my daughter who was completing her internship in the Wyoming/Idaho area. Otherwise known as “Wydaho”. The purpose of the trip was two-fold. This recovering helicopter mom was more than a tad anxious about my care-free daughter making the two day drive home alone. I flew one way and rode back with her. The other purpose of the trip was to catch some views of God’s creation that we were not able to see when we moved her there earlier this summer.

We agreed to check a few places off of the old bucket list.

Once I arrived we quickly began planning the natural attractions that we would take in during our mother-daughter tour. We both agreed that we should see the Rocky Mountains, Garden of the Gods and Great Sand Dunes. Since my daughter has been living “up North” she has become an avid hiker. A real avid hiker… the kind of hiker that hikes for fifteen miles just to eat a granola bar at an elevation of 10,000 feet or higher.

So, of course she wanted to include hiking and lots of it.

I always called myself having a bucket list that included places to go and things to do. But, I can guarantee you that hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park was not on that list. There is too much “drive-by” beauty to be totally committed to hiking. We spent a few hours in intense negotiations because I have not spent the last few months hiking at high altitudes and eating gluten-free grass like she had been. I have been living in the deep south, barely surviving a triple digit summer with three hundred percent humidity.

We finally agreed to a short hike to a water fall with the understanding that when I ask to “stop and take a picture”…. it was a mutually understood code for, “I cannot breathe and will probably die if I take another step”.

Off we went down this very deceiving trail. It started off as a downhill hike so I was feeling very confident before I realized the trail was becoming extremely elevated. It was not long before I enacted our mutually agreed upon code.

“Hey Meredith, this looks like an amazing place to take a picture.”

The trails were lined with aspen trees. They were breathtakingly (pun intended) beautiful as they were taking on their fall hues. I am quite certain that we took a photograph near each and every one of them. The trails were packed with hikers and you could tell they were all at different levels of expertise. Some carried backpacks full of supplies and some carried trekking poles.

As I was using one of these beautiful aspen trees as a leaning and breathing spot, a group of hikers walked by us and told us that the waterfall was just over the next hill. It gave me the second-wind that I needed to complete this journey of my bucket list. Off we went.

Lucky for me and my lungs, the hikers were correct. We topped a small hill and you could hear the glorious sound of water falling. It was music to my popping ears. Truly, words could not describe the beauty that was before our eyes. As I walked closer to the waterfall I noticed there was an elderly lady who had crawled down the rocky path towards the water just to get a better picture of God’s glory.

She was laying down, over the edge, and barely hanging on, just for the perfect photo. I was mesmerized by this adventurous woman. She was all smiles, no trouble breathing and she was staring death straight in the face while her husband stood on higher ground with the rest of us scaredy cats. When she finally decided to climb back up the rocks, I noticed her husband did not offer her a hand to help. She was crawling on her hands and knees. Her hands looked fragile but her face was beaming with confidence.

Another hiker walked up to offer his assistance and he was met with a scowl from the woman and a polite “no thank you” from her husband. The crowd grew curious and continued to stare. She refused help and pulled herself up with no assistance. When she made it we all breathed a sigh of relief but she just dusted off her hands and greeted the crowd.

Being the nosey traveler that I am, I needed to know more. I made my way to her and her husband and introduced myself. My daughter followed. It didn’t take long for us to find out they were a retired couple from New York that moved to Florida and they were taking their “fall bucket list trip”. The precious couple shared story after story of their adventures and how they are the “fun grandparents” that will skydive with their grandchildren and do all of the crazy things that the prudent parents refuse to do.

I was even more impressed that they have an active bucket list and enjoy one thing at a time. Like them, I too have a bucket list but mine has changed over the years. The items I use to have on my bucket list don’t seem so important any more. So, I add new things. Some have been achieved and some will have to wait until another season of life.

It so much fun to make plans and bucket lists. Making plans is all part of human nature and we can set all of the goals we want but if God has other ideas he does not check with us first. He doesn’t ask for permission to rearrange our bucket list. The most amazing thing about his plans is that they will always bless us and prosper us. We just have to trust in him and not our own understanding. His ways are not our ways, they are much better.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

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WINN:
Jesse Ray Brown
September 02, 1936 – October 06, 2021
Service: Monday, October 11 at 2 pm in the Chapel of Kinner & Stevens Funeral Home

SABINE:
Dedrah Annette Parker
September 10, 1963 – October 8, 2021
Service: Monday, October 11 at 10 am at Rocky Mount Congregational Methodist Church

Denise Gardner
November 25, 1963 – October 7, 2021
Service: Monday, October 11 at 2 pm at Siloam Baptist Church

Nadine Ellen Wooley
June 23, 1936 – October 8, 2021
Service: Tuesday, October 12 at 11 am at Pendleton Assembly of God Church

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As the beginning of Fall can be felt in the air, the changing of the season is a great time to make changes in our community. 

A small group of Winnfield citizens has come together to better our community and parish with volunteer and donation-based beautification projects.

The first project will be to clean up and decorate the Welcome to Winnfield signs around the parish. Volunteers will remove overgrowth and debris, repaint the wooden signs and decorate with Fall decors such as hay, scarecrow, flowers and pumpkins. 

The project will kick off Saturday, October 9, 2021, at 9 AM. Volunteers will meet at the Farmer’s Market, and teams will head out to work on the signs.

If you would like to make a monetary contribution to the project, contact Kelley Skains at 318-332-9488 or message Winn Parish Beautification Project on Facebook. Any amount is appreciated and will go a long way to help our effort.

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Come join the Calvin High School PTO for a night of Fall family fun!

Friday, October 8th from 6 PM – 9PM at Calvin High School.

Toy Walk

Games

Silent Auction

Cake Walk

Dunking Booth

Nachos

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Hamburgers

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Congratulations to 39 people who dedicated 2 days of their time to learn a life-long, life-saving skill!

We are so proud of Winn Parish School System for coming together to become pro-active against suicide.

On October 5-6, 2021, 34 members of WPSB (faculty of Atlanta HS, Calvin HS, Dodson HS, VAMC, Winnfield Elementary, Winnfield Middle School, Winnfield Senior High, Winnfield School Board, and 1 student), and 5 other participants: including CASA, LSU AgCenter, parent, State-Trooper, and U.S. Forest Service became ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) certified.

Our sponsors deserve a huge thank you, because without them, this workshop would not have been possible: Huey P. Long CLTCC Winnfield (facility); CLHSD (materials and trainer fees), Sheriff C. L. Jordan of Winn Parish (lunches), First Baptist Church of Winnfield (snacks and refreshments), VA (trainer), and all the sponsors listed on the banner below. #sucidesafercommunities #ASIST #sucideprevention #SaveCenla

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