In the beginning, Grantadams only had hand made Curly Qs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and homemade bbq sandwiches. Cokes were 10 cents and ice cream cones were 5 cents.

The Dairy Maid was taken over from The Bass family at 1202 East Lafayette Street at our first location then it was moved to 1601 East Lafayette Street (now our current location).

The Dairy Maid opened its doors Friday, August 13, 1957. Russell and Katherine Grantadams began the Diary Maid and then Russell’s brother Lee and his wife Lillian Grantadams came 3 months later to begin partnership years later their other brother Herman and his wife Mae came to help as well.

We offer freshly made hamburgers daily along with catfish, poboys, shakes and more. Call us at 318-628-3822 to place your order!

Address:

1601 East Lafayette St.

Winnfield, La 71483

 

Telephone: 318-628-3822

 

Hours of operation

Monday: CLOSED

Tuesday: 10AM – 2 PM | 4 PM – 8PM

Wednesday: 10AM – 2 PM | 4 PM – 8PM

Thursday: 10AM – 2 PM | 4 PM – 8PM

Friday: 10AM – 2 PM | 4 PM – 8PM

Saturday: CLOSED

Sunday: CLOSED

The WSHS Tigerettes will host a Skill Camp August 1 – 3 at the WSHS Main Game Gym from 9 AM – 12 PM.

The Camp is designed for campers ages 5 – 15. The cost of the camp is $60 per camper. Please have a check or money order payable to Winnfield Girls Basketball.

Mary Lou Blackley, Rotarian of the week for the Winnfield Rotary Club, introduced her special guest speakers, Lauren and Brent Gunter, both of whom are employed with Louisiana Adult and Teen Challenge. Louisiana Adult and Teen Challenge is a nonprofit faith-based organization that offers an addiction recovery program centered on God and leading people who are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol to freedom from addiction through a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Gunters, husband and wife, acquainted club members with LAATC, which has eight facilities across Louisiana, including their long term program facilities for men in Dodson and their long term program facilities for women in Winnfield. Other LAATC facilities are located in New Orleans, Shreveport, Lafayette, Ruston, Morgan City and Minden. In fact, Adult and Teen Challenge has facilities all over the world, including Canada and Russia.

Ms. Gunter, a graduate of the LAATC program and long term employee in the local admission and development office, says LAATC appreciates the support it receives from the Winn Parish community and wants to give back to and become more involved in the community. One way they are doing this is by volunteering to help local organizations with their events, and LAATC staff also participates in programs of our local church family.

This summer, LAATC is also organizing a Back to School Bash and Backpack drive to provide local children with backpacks, school supplies for children to use at home, and gently used school uniforms for families who need a little extra help getting their children ready for the 2022-2023 school year, which begins August 16, 2022. They have reached out to local churches for assistance with the drive, and have BIG plans for the day of the Back to School Bash. It will be held on Saturday, August 13, 2022 at Holden-Henderson Park on Moss Street in Winnfield. This park has a recently installed walking path, new playground equipment, and will have a large tent, a rap performance by a local artist, and fun and games for the children in addition to the backpacks and other items needed for school. The staff of LAATC wants to connect with the children in our community and show them the love of Jesus, and the freedom we can all have in Christ.

According to Ms. Gunter, LAATC will also host a Back to School party for children in Saline on July 30.
Other plans of LAATC in the coming months include their annual Recovery Month Walk-a-thon on September 17, part of Waging War Against Drugs, and a “Kings’ Banquet” in Shreveport, inviting in people who are homeless and treating them to loving and lavish food and service, to connect with people living on the streets, many of whom are addicted to drugs and alcohol. They will be making connections with other organizations to assist in helping people get off the streets.

Brent and Lauren describe the LAATC facilities as peaceful, open and without locks. They do not lock their residents in their premises, and do not force people to enter the program or stay in the program. They show people that there is joy and freedom in Jesus, and the freedom the accompanies Jesus means they don’t need anything else to comfort them or give them good feelings about themselves, their situations or other aspects of their lives. The followup research on LAATC graduates shows that 68% of the Adult and Teen Challenge graduates are still clean one year after graduating from the program.

Mr. Gunter said that the heart of the addiction issue is the need for God, and without him one finds only sin and destruction of oneself and others, there is only hopelessness. Knowing God brings about a change of heart for the participants in LAATC’s program. That is why the main element of the program is to show the love of Jesus to others, and LAATC wants to hit the streets of Winnfield and Winn Parish and do that.

Pictured above: From Left Brent Gunter, Rotarian Mary Lou Blackley, Lauren Gunter

The Winn Parish Journal is searching for someone to cover Winn Parish high school sports. No experience is needed.

All Winn Parish high school sports teams deserve great and accurate coverage, so we need stories that cover Dodson High School, Winnfield Senior High School, Atlanta High School and Calvin High School sports.

Please join our team! WPJ pays per story. Email wpj@winnparishjournal.com if you want to be a part of the fastest growing online publication in the parish.

SaveCenla, a nonprofit organization focused on providing the public with information and events that will promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention, is hosting a two-day Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) interactive workshop on August 22-23, 2022 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM day 1 and 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM day 2 at CLTCC in Winnfield located at 5960 US-167, Winnfield, LA 71483. There is no cost to register. 

ASIST is a two-day interactive workshop in suicide first aid. ASIST teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan to support their immediate safety. Although healthcare providers widely use ASIST, participants don’t need formal training to attend the workshop—anyone 16 or older can learn and use the ASIST model.

​Since its development in 1983, ASIST has received regular updates to reflect improvements in knowledge and practice. As a result, over 2,000,000 people have taken the workshop. In addition, studies show that the ASIST method helps reduce suicidal feelings in those at risk and is a cost-effective way to help address the problem of suicide. 

Saving Lives from Suicide

Thoughts of suicide are surprisingly common. At any given time, around 1 in 25 people is thinking about suicide to some degree.

For most people, thinking about suicide isn’t about wanting to die. Instead, it’s the tension between their reasons for staying alive and their desire to escape from the pain that feels unbearable.

Within this tension lies the risk of death and the possibility of intervention, hope, and life. This is where someone with the right skills can help tip the balance and change a life forever. This is where LivingWorks training comes in.

For more information on the ASIST two-day training, click here.

Register for the two-day workshop in Winnfield, La here.

By: Dr. James Lee

William Beaumont was born in Lebanon, Connecticut in 1785. He came from humble means, his father a farmer, and left home in 1806 to teach. In 1810, he began studying medicine through an apprenticeship. In 1812, he was deemed a “judicious and safe practitioner” and went on to serve as an assistant surgeon in the Army from 1812-1815. After failing in private practice, he went back to the Army in 1820 and was stationed at Fort Mackinac.

Alexis St. Martin was born in 1802 in Berthierville, Quebec, Canada. He was a Canadian fur trapper working as an indentured servant for the American Fur Company. On June 6, 1822, he was at a fur trading post on Mackinac Island, located on Lake Huron, Michigan. There he was accidently shot with a shotgun less than three feet away. This entered in his back and exited upper abdomen. Fortunately for Alexis, William Beaumont was available and able to evaluate him quickly. This was the beginning of a strangely intimate and important relationship between Alexis and William Beaumont that provided a literal window into how the stomach works

Beaumont described the gunshot wound as entering in the back and exiting the front of the abdomen. It created an exit wound the size of a man’s hand and broke ribs, injured the lung and diaphragm, as well as creating a hole in the stomach. Beaumont did what he could but did not expect Alexis to survive. When he did, Beaumont was faced with another problem. Due to the large hole in his stomach, anything Alexis was fed came out the wound. Beaumont remedied this by giving him nutrient enemas, until he was able to take food by mouth and a bandage could be placed to allow the food to stay in his stomach. After 5 weeks, St. Martin was healed except the wound in his abdomen. Unfortunately, the wound would never fully heal, and Alexis was left with a gastric fistula, a literal window between his skin and his stomach.

While this was not the first gastric fistula in recorded history, it was the first exploited for scientific research. Beaumont began experimenting, siphoning gastric juices out of the stomach for analysis, tasting his stomach, spooning different foods into the stomach and making observations; even dangling meat on a string in the stomach and removing it at various intervals remarking on the extent of digestion. These were just some of the experiments that were performed. Ultimately, Beaumont’s experiments were able to confirm many questions about digestion, in particular the presence of hydrochloric acid produced by the stomach and its role in digestion. This effectively vaulted William Beaumont from obscurity to being considered The Father of Gastric Physiology and Father of American Physiology.

Alexis, for his part, lost his job because of the accident. He was poor, homeless, unemployed, and would have been deported back to Canada because he had no community support. However, he was hired on as a house servant and laborer by Beaumont, at first because Beaumont was concerned that he would not survive the journey back to Canada. Alexis was given a modest salary, room and board, but very little freedom. In turn, he allowed Beaumont to conduct his experiments. Undoubtedly, Alexis was grateful that Beaumont had saved his life and likely felt indebted to him. However, this led to dubious ethical treatment of Alexis by Beaumont, who essentially made Alexis a guinea pig. The relationship was an oddity and certainly affected the trapper’s quality of life. It has been the source of ethical debate for a long time. In fact, Beaumont’s view and treatment of Alexis were suspect. He once wrote to others that Alexis had “absconded” back to Canada because he missed his wife and children. Beaumont tracked him down and brought him back to America with his wife and children, who were also hired on under contract. This did not last though, and Alexis eventually disappeared back into the Canadian woods. Even after his death, Alexis’ family was hounded by physicians for access to his body.
Next week we will learn more about gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Dr. James Lee serves as the Coroner of Winn Parish. He is a General Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist who has been practicing in Winnfield for over ten years. Dr. Lee attended the University of Colorado for his medical degree. He completed his residency in Surgery at the University of Oklahoma before completing a fellowship in Surgical Oncology and Endoscopy at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Lee and his wife Scarlett live in Winnfield with their son and are active in the community.

It was such an extraordinarily beautiful Friday. I was taking the entire day off and spending it with both of my daughters. We had big plans for this much anticipated work-free day. It included a slow and leisurely stroll down Front Street with stops for coffee, lunch, and a little bit of shopping. But before all of this could take place there were a few minor chores that had to be completed at home.

As fate would have it, those minor chores turned into sweat equity that took a lot longer than expected. We would still be able to enjoy all of our stops on Front Street, we just wouldn’t have the time to look adorable while we were doing it. We had to forego taking showers, finding matching clothes and makeup to hide the flaws that one accumulates while cleaning house and working in the yard.

My two daughters still looked presentable with their youthful glow and natural faces. The older I get, the harder it is to recover quickly from strenuous work. Going out in public with no makeup and dressed in my finest yard clothes does not bother me near as much as it used to. When I was younger I would have never left my home without a full face of beauty products, jewelry and all gussied up. I just assumed that the older we get, the more confident we are in who we are, with or without nice clothes and makeup.

(If I ever start complaining about being single you are more than welcome to refer me back to the above statement……)

Not too far into our downtown journey we ran into some old friends from Winnfield. It was so great to catch up and reminisce about days gone by and talk about how fast all of our children are growing up. I could not let them walk away without throwing in, “I normally don’t look like this, we have been doing house work all morning…” They laughed and went on about their shopping. But who am I kidding, I routinely look like this on the weekends.

As soon as I turned around I ran into another beautiful friend from Alexandria that I had not seen in person in many years. Of course you run into everyone you know while you are dressed in shoes with grass stains on the sides from mowing wet grass. We hugged and I immediately apologized for smelling like fresh cut grass. Being the lovely and authentic woman she is, she graciously began to compliment me on the “Blessed” articles in the Journal that she enjoys reading.

Before the compliment was completely out of her mouth I began to respond by brushing it off and downplaying any of the talent she was alluding to. I acted as if it were nothing. Being the strong and spirit filled woman that she is, she told me it was okay to accept a compliment because she knew God has blessed me so much.

I quickly realized on this very day that we truly are our own worst critics. I stood in this one store and completely roasted myself, not once but twice. I cannot explain why it is so hard to accept compliments or why I feel so comfortable pointing out my flaws before someone else notices them.

I say things about myself that I would never even think of saying about someone else. Though unconfirmed with proper research, I do feel confident this is a toxic trait because I am not acknowledging that all good and perfect gifts come from above. What kind of example was I setting for my impressionable daughters?

I do need them to understand that God created us and all of the complexities that accompany us. He never critiques us. He knew what he was doing, he didn’t make mistakes while creating us and it is perfectly okay to accept a compliment on behalf of his workmanship. Anything less than this is contradictory to the Word of God. Countless scriptures and passages remind us how much he loves us and how perfect he thinks we are. No where in the Bible does it mention that he only loves the people who never smell like fresh cut grass and look perfect every time they leave their house.

“For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” – Psalm 139:13-16

I was on the lake fishing for bass once when scenes from the movie, “National Lampoon’s Vacation” entered my mind. Remember when Clark Griswold (played by Chevy Chase) was intent on providing a wonderful vacation for his family when his obnoxious cousin, Eddie (played by Randy Quaid) showed up with his family to totally disrupt Griswold’s plans?

What brought the movie to my memory? When I felt the thump and vicious fight of a bass that started me thinking about a state record. The fish was stripping line from my reel as it bored for the depths. I was already considering bribing my wife into allowing me to hang the mount of this monster on the wall in our bedroom when the huge fish came to the surface. It wasn’t a bass. It was a bowfin, aka choupique aka cypress trout, aka grinnel. Just like Cousin Eddie, this rascal of a fish had totally disrupted my plans.

The grinnel is one of what I call the “G” fish that can mess up a day on the lake:

Grinnel

Gaspergou

Gar.

On another occasion when fishing with a group of outdoor writers on a media trip to Caddo Lake, channel catfish were biting and my colleagues were catching them hand over fist. Early on, they were beating the socks off me when my line tightened and a struggle ensued as a catfish I felt was larger than any of my friends had landed, took the bait and bored for the depths.

After a spirited battle, I was finally able to bring the brute to the boat and was already feeling smug about landing the lunker of the day. My heart shrank a bit when I realized the big fish I had caught was no catfish; it was a big gaspergou, or “gou” for short.

I agree that these rascals, just like grinnels, can put up a fine fight but as table fare, they’re as far down the list as mud cats. I remembered once while in college a group of us spent the night on the lake intent on frying up and eating the fish we caught. The only thing biting, other than mosquitoes that night, were gou; we caught a bunch of them so we fileted and fried them up. I remember chewing on a hunk of gou that night and the longer I chewed the bigger it got — like I was chewing on a wad of cotton — so we ended up eating hush puppies and fries and dumping the remains in the lake to be eaten by the other “G” fish, gar.

More than once I have had a fishing trip disrupted by having a gar attack my bait, a lure that I said goodbye to because the toothy gar easily severed my line and swam away with what he thought was a tasty morsel.

I know people who convert the flesh of gar into something like salmon patties. Removing filets and grinding them up, adding onion and seasoning, they swear the gar patties are as good as those made with salmon. As for me, I’ll just open a can of salmon, and follow the directions to make patties. I can’t bring myself to eating patties made out of something that disrupted my fishing and swam away with my favorite lure. Not only that, they’re ugly as sin.

There is one other dastardly piscatorial species that would qualify as a “G” fish — if I converted the spelling to “Ghackfish”. Too bony to eat with teeth just waiting to relieve me of a favorite lure, the jackfish (chain pickerel for the high-browed) has always been my sworn enemy when I’m fishing for bass.

So there you have it. When you head for the lake on your next outing, be on the lookout for those dreaded “G”fish.

Contact Glynn at GlynnHarris37@gmail.com

By: Steve Graf

Bass fishing is a funny sport that can and will test a person’s mental stability. It’s comparable to golf in that there’s no one else to blame for your failure or success more than yourself. YOU determine your own fate with skill, determination, and effort, with effort being in the form of spending hours on the water. There’s no substitute for time on the water and the anglers who fish daylight till dark will be the guys who are hard to beat on tournament day. Today, we’ll look at what really makes an angler great and why.

Bass fishing is just like any other sport; it requires great skills. Needed are skills like casting and being able to put a bait in places the average angler would not even attempt. You also need to understand how certain baits should be worked in order to the get the most action out of that particular bait. You need an understanding of fish behavior during the different seasons of the year. One more skill, that not all anglers have, is the ability to read water. Knowing how to read the water and what baits will work best under certain water conditions is essential to an angler’s success.

Most anglers fall into two categories…guys who like to fish deep or shallow. If you’re a deep-water angler, you’ll need to have the ability to read your electronics, interpret topo maps and know what you’re looking at. Deep water anglers need to learn how to find brush tops and look for good structure. Structure is not the same thing as a brush pile; it’s about the contours, humps, and undulations of the bottom.

There’s one tool that has really leveled the playing field and helped an average angler to become a great angler. It’s forward-facing sonar, that both Hummingbird and Lowrance offer. Today’s forward-facing sonars come in handy when fishing in water eight feet or more by giving you the ability to target bass in schools or suspended over a brush top. Ok, yes…it’s like playing a video game, and the anglers that can do this well have a distinct advantage over those that can’t.

But the one thing that separates the great anglers from the average ones is decision making. THIS is the key ingredient that not all anglers possess. Knowing when to stay in an area and knowing when to leave can be the difference between making a top 10 or finishing out of the money. Knowing what time of day fish will bite in certain areas is huge. There’s a saying among anglers, “Somewhere on any given body of water, fish are biting.” That’s why scouting is so important! If you caught fish in a specific area at 10:00 AM the day before, you need to be back in that same area the next day around that same time or a little after.

As you can see, bass fishing is like any other sport. It requires skill, determination, effort, and the ability to make good decisions. But the advancements in electronics have also helped speed up the learning curve for today’s young anglers.

Steve Graf – Owner Co-Host
Hook’N Up & Track’N Down
Show & Tackle Talk Live

AS A TEAM LEADER, YOU WILL: 

• Supervise utilizing strong interpersonal skills 
• Use technical knowledge of manufacturing processes, as applies to such supervision 
• Utilize computer skills to facilitate processes and software used 
• Pursue objectives with organizational skills to meet goals 
• Work with personnel at all levels of the organization 

REQUIRED EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE & SKILLS: 

• Two (2) year Associates Degree, plus one year of related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience 
• Excellent communication skills; both oral and written 
• Great computer skills (Excel and Word 

Benefits 

We offer medical insurance plans, dental and vision coverage, 401(k), tuition reimbursement and more. We also provide flexible time-off plans, including parental leave, vacation, and holiday leave.  

Shift is 4:30 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.  Overtime requirements are based on customer needs to meet business objectives. 

If qualified and interested, please apply online at www.emerson.com 

Equal Opportunity Employer 

Emerson is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.  

AS A PRODUCTION ENGINEER, YOU WILL: 

• Conceptualize, develop, and initiate process improvements and cost reductions 
• Use Lean principles to reduce cycle times and reduce waste  
• Manage problem solving teams from inception to corrective actions.  Will often involve leading a team through the process. 
• Self-initiate improvement and / or corrective actions for safety, quality, cost and productivity concerns using formal six sigma problem solving tools 
• Develop documentation for operators and maintenance on proper equipment operation and care 
• Effectively communicate changes to all levels of the organization and at all stages of implementation 

REQUIRED EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE & SKILLS: 

• BS degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering or equivalent engineering technology degree 
• Excellent interpersonal skills  
• Strong computer skills (Microsoft Excel and Word) 
• Self-starter able to work independently 

If qualified and interested, please apply online at www.emerson.com 

Benefits 

We offer medical insurance plans, dental and vision coverage, 401(k), tuition reimbursement and more. We also provide you flexible time-off plans, including parental leave, vacation, and holiday leave.  

Equal Opportunity Employer 

Emerson is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.  

WINN:
Jo Ann Chatelain
September 16, 1943 – July 20, 2022
Service: Saturday, July 30 at 11 am at Southern Funeral Home, 202 E. Lafayette Street in Winnfield

Charles Price Tomlinson
February 27, 1933 – July 25, 2022
Service: Saturday, July 30 at 2 pm at the Southern Funeral Home in Winnfield

NATCHITOCHES:
Daniel (Dan) William Poole, Jr.
February 24, 1931 – July 21, 2022
Service: Sunday, July 31 at 4 pm at the First United Methodist Church in Natchitoches

Diannia Lynn Coleman
May 19, 1967 – July 25, 2022
Service: Saturday, July 30 at 10 am at Fairview Baptist Church in Coushatta

Richard Gerald Martin
March 8, 1949 – July 25, 2022
Service: Friday, July 29 at 10 am in the chapel of Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home

SABINE:
Codi Renee Petit
September 30, 1989 – July 27, 2022
Service: Saturday, July 30 at 4 pm at Beulah Baptist Church

Nellie Hopkins Cook
May 18, 1931 – July 27, 2022
Service: Saturday, July 30 at 11 am at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Florien

Date: 7-19-22
Name: Steven A Dunn
Address: N/A
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 48
Charge: Self mutilation by prisoner

Date: 7-19-22
Name: Ethan Cole Boone
Address: Winnfield, La
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age:19
Charge: Warrant (Flight from officers, minor in possession of alcoholic beverage)

Date: 7-21-22
Name: David L Ayers
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 35
Charge: Simple battery, Battery of a police officer

Date: 7-21-22
Name: Tiffany N Malone
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female
Age: 33
Charge: Criminal trespassing, Burglary

Date: 7-23-22
Name: William H Kramarczyk
Address: Dodson, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 62
Charge: Driving while intoxicated

Date: 7-24-22
Name: Jason Allen Crain
Address: Sikes, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: 52
Charge: Simple assault, Attempt to commit battery

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

A New York television show was due to begin broadcasting in two weeks. In the 1950s, television was broadcast live before a studio audience. There was no editing. The production had one serious problem; they were having trouble casting an actress to play the lead character’s wife. They had considered numerous actresses but could not find one who fit the role. The lead character had the final say in who played his wife. Actresses were either too tall, too short, too big, too small, too loud, or too quiet.

Audrey Cotter was performing in the Broadway production of Top Banana and had appeared on several television shows including The Amazing Mr. Malone (1951), The Bob & Ray Show (1951-1952), and Lux Video Theatre (1952). She agreed to help the production find the right actress. She suggested just about every actress she knew, but the leading man always had a reason why none of them would fit the part. Finally, Ms. Cotter said she knew the perfect actress for the part, herself.

Ms. Cotter, an experienced professional actress was immaculately dressed in the current style, her makeup and hair were flawless, her movements were graceful – the leading man knew she was all wrong for the part. He quickly pointed out that the character was supposed to be a blue-collar housewife who, along with her husband, portrayed their daily struggle for survival in New York City. He explained that she was “all wrong.” She was too young, too pretty, and, above all, too glamours for the part. No one would believe she could be married to him. Ms. Cotter left the meeting feeling rejected, although being rejected for being too young, too pretty, and too glamorous must have softened the blow somewhat.

Ms. Cotter was not too serious about getting the part until she was turned down. She became a determined woman. On the walk back to her apartment, she told her agent to return to her apartment the following morning with a photographer. Ms. Cotter stayed in bed until the agent and photographer rang her bell. She let the men into her apartment. Her hair was mussed up, she wore no makeup, she wore a blouse—she had torn one of the sleeves for the occasion—and donned an apron. She walked into her cluttered kitchen and the photographer took several pictures. They developed the photographs and sent them back to the casting person with no name attached.

The lead man looked at the pictures. Her shoulders were slumped, one hand rested on the countertop as if to keep her from collapsing from utter exhaustion. Rather than a smile, Ms. Cotter’s expression was one of disdain as if she were about to ask, “What can happen next?” The lead man said in rapid succession, “Oh, My God. That’s [her]. Who is she? Where is she? Can we get her?”

Ms. Cotter got the part. The lead man was unaware until sometime later that he had already rejected her for the part. Although the television sitcom lasted just a single year, Ms. Cotter’s character became one of the most beloved in television history, Alice Kramden.

Few people know the actress as Audrey Cotter. The world knows Alice Kramden by her stage name, Audrey Meadows. The man who rejected her for the part played her husband in the show. His name was Jackie Gleason. She, along with her husband, Ralph, and upstairs neighbors Ed and Trixie Norton, were… The Honeymooners.

Source: “Honeymooners Stars Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph on the Joan Rivers Show.” YouTube. Last modified August 4, 2020. Accessed July 17, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zpcywEQHxQ.