The Winn Parish School Board Committees will meet in a regular meeting Monday, August  29, 2022, at 5:00 PM in the meeting room of the Winn Parish School Board.

WINN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Committees Appointed 2022

President: Michelle Carpenter
Vice President: Joe Lynn Browning

Executive
Joe Lynn Browning
Todd Martin
Michelle Carpenter

Personnel and Salary
Christy Harrell, Chairman
Joe Lynn Browning
Carl Bryant
Todd Martin
Michael Riffe

Academics and Instruction
Joe Llaine Long, Chairman
Carl Bryant
Leah Clingan
Patrick Howell
Lacey McManus

WINN PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Committee Meeting Agenda
August 29, 2022

Academics and Instruction -Long, Bryant, Clingan, Howell, McManus
1. LEAP Data Review
2. Pupil Progression Plan 2022-23
3. COVID-19 CDC Guidelines
4. School Security Review

Finance and Budget – Long, Harrell, Howell, Martin, Scott
1. Insurance Renewals – General Liability, Auto, E/O Coverage and Crime Bond
2. Proposed Consolidated Budget 2022-23
3. Ad Valorem Tax Renewals 2022
4. School Food Service Update
5. 0GB Rates 2022-23

Executive- Carpenter, Browning, Martin
1. Set Agenda

SABINE:
Larry “Pat” Patrick Small
May 2, 1955 – August 26, 2022
Service: Wednesday, August 31 at 2 pm at Warren Meadows Funeral Home Chapel

NATCHITOCHES:
Carolyn Bedgood
April 5, 1941 – August 26, 2022
Service: Monday, August 29 at 11 am at Goldonna Assembly of God

Jessica Midkiff Avelis Fontenot
July 3, 1974 – August 16, 2022
Service: Sunday, September 4 at 3 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, located at 533 2nd Street in Natchitoches

Winn Parish, La. – Winn Parish integrates 21st century technology to modernize their police jury meetings.

Winn Parish police jury meetings are being  improved for both parish officials and citizens with the adoption of OpenMeeting Technologies’ electronic voting and meeting management software. They’ve joined other local legislative leaders across the country focused on efficiency and improving public experience.

We brought our meetings into the digital era with the adoption of OpenMeeting,” said Karen Tyler, Secretary/Treasurer of Winn Parish Police Jury, “and as a result, our meetings have significantly improved. Our meetings run more quickly and smoothly while eliminating undue influence by switching from verbal roll call voting to electronic voting. We can amend resolutions on the screen using the system, and everyone can see the adjustments. Since the system is digital and visual, it is beneficial for both our officials and our community to see meeting activity, like speaking requests, motions, and votes.”

Accessible from almost any device, the secure, touchscreen tablet app guides jury members through the meeting and prompts them for action as needed. This speeds up slow procedural processes and facilitates orderly discussion, saving time and increasing productivity.

When it comes to voting, votes are simultaneous, can be cast in-person in council chambers or in remote meetings, and are private until tallied, removing potential concerns about pressure or undue influence.

E-voting is replacing the decades-old practice of verbal roll-call voting, making the process more efficient and reducing confusion in the process. Board members are able to vote on legislation with the tap of a button on their touchscreen tablet.

As public interest in local government continues to grow, improving citizens’ experience in legislative meetings becomes increasingly important, but it can be difficult for citizens to hear and see everything in meetings. The OpenMeeting Technologies public display creates meeting visuals that are accessible in-person and remotely, making it much easier to understand the proceedings of a public meeting, allowing citizens to engage in their meeting, and it helps reduce any confusion and anxiety.

“We are thrilled that Winn Parish selected OpenMeeting Technologies for their meetings,” said Mark Netsch, Director at OpenMeeting Technologies. “Interest in our system has been high as public participation increases and citizens take greater interest in their local government processes. Our electronic voting app improves board member experience and the meeting itself but the most visible benefit to the public is the public display that provides a visual aid for anyone in the room or watching online. One mayor recently referred to it as the citizen display.”

Trusted by local governments across the country, OpenMeeting empowers city councils and county boards to conduct better legislative meetings. Easy meeting setup, agenda management, documentation and visualization of all procedures including roll call, discussion management, electronic voting, meeting logs, and so much more. For more information, visit http://www.openmeetingtech.com.

Learn How to Attract More Wildlife to Your Land at this Timely Workshop

A free Fall Wildlife Food Plot Workshop will be offered on September 8, 2022, at the Winn Parish Library Main Branch in Winnfield, Louisiana, to provide information on how to improve wildlife habitat by establishing or improving wildlife food plots.  This workshop is hosted by the Dugdemona Soil and Water Conservation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Trailblazer RC&D.

The September 8th workshop will feature information on food plot site selection and development; what to plant and when to plant; soil fertility; weed management; and financial/technical assistance.  Wildlife biologist Terry Johnston will share advice on the best plant species, selecting seed, soil testing, and more, as well as share his personal experience with food plots—what worked and what didn’t work.

On-site registration begins at 5:30 p.m. on September 8, 2022, at the Winn Parish Library Main Branch, 200 North Saint John Street, Winnfield, Louisiana, with refreshments.  The workshop begins at 6:00 p.m. and concludes at 7:30 p.m.  To pre-register or for more information on the workshop, call or text (318) 237-8350 and provide your contact information and name of workshop. 

This workshop will be conducted in accordance with Louisiana Department of Health COVID-19 guidelines.  If you are not feeling well or you have been exposed to COVID-19, please stay home. 

Free registration and refreshments for this workshop are made possible by the support of these partners and sponsors:  Energy Transfer; Hunt Forest Products, LLC; Mudd & Holland Consulting Foresters, LLC; Weyerhaeuser; Allstate Land & Timber Company; National Wild Turkey Federation; Burnham Construction, Inc.; Canfor Southern Pine; Louisiana Forestry Association; LSU AgCenter; Dugdemona Soil and Water Conservation District; Winn Parish Library; USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; and Trailblazer RC&D.

Trailblazer RC&D is a nonprofit organization that provides leadership, coordination, partnership development, and technical assistance projects to encourage strong communities, sustainable agriculture, and a healthy environment.

The City of Winnfield Recreation Department will be conducting regular registration for its Flag Football League now until the deadline Friday, Sept 9th.

Regular registration fee for this league is $40.00. Boys and girls ages 4-12 are eligible for this exciting program.

Don’t let this deadline pass you by. Sign your child up today.

Late registration will begin on Monday, September 12th and conclude on Friday Sept. 16th. There will be a $10.00 late fee assessed on each application received during this period.

Tryouts will be held on Saturday Sept.10th at the Grove St. Rec. Center on Field #2. The times for each age group will be released in that weeks Winn Parish Enterprise.

More information concerning Flag Football, contact the Recreation Dept. at 628-3413. 

By: Dr. James Lee 

When asked to think of dangerous animals and predators, visions of lions and tigers and bears abound. We do not think of the mosquito, but it has been called the most dangerous animal in the world. Mosquitos are responsible for more than 700,000 deaths annually and hundreds of millions of illnesses annually worldwide. No other animal comes close to these numbers.

The term “Dog Days of Summer” is linked to mosquitos. Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, associated the rise in Malaria in late summer with the appearance of the Dog Star, Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major. This occurs in July and August in the Northern Hemisphere. In Greece and Rome, this corresponded with an increase in drought and disease. In Egypt, this corresponded to flooding on the Nile River. As anyone in Louisiana knows, Mosquitos thrive in areas with heat and stagnant water. Early travelers to the Southeastern United States described the area as, “in the spring a paradise, in the summer a hell, and in the autumn a hospital.”

Mosquito borne illness wiped out a Scottish colony that attempted to set up a trading center in Panama to link the world’s two great oceans. It was a desperate attempt by Scotland to maintain economic independence and this failure caused Scotland to finally accept unification with England and Great Britain was born.

On the other hand, Scotland was protected by a strain of malaria that thwarted the Romans from colonizing Scotland fifteen centuries before. Malaria has halted Hannibal in Italy, Genghis Khan in southern Europe, and European Crusaders from conquering Jerusalem. Closer to home it played a role and sided with North American colonists and Latin American revolutionaries that rebelled against European armies.

Mosquitos also had a role in the development of sickle cell disease. People with sickle cell trait (one normal gene and one sickle gene) are more resistant to severe malarial episodes and therefore are less likely to succumb to the disease. The opposite is true for those with sickle cell disease (carriers of both sickle genes). In areas with increased malaria due to mosquitos, the higher the rate of sickle cell trait. Those with sickle cell disease, do not survive to pass on both genes.

Other than malaria, mosquitos act as vectors for diseases including Yellow Fever, Dengue, West Nile Virus, St. Louis Encephalitis, Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), and Zika, among others. While any of these can be carried into the US by travelers, West Nile, Dengue, and Zika virus constitute the most common vector borne disease in the United States.

August 20, 2022, was World Mosquito Day. This honors Sir Ronald Ross, a British army surgeon working in India who proved that malaria was transmitted by mosquitos on this day in 1897. This led to a new understanding on how to track and prevent the spread of malaria. Ross won the Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1902.

You can reduce your risk of mosquito bites by following a few simple tips. Eliminate standing water on your property including trash cans, buckets, or birdbaths. Mosquitos can breed in 14 days in minute amounts of water. Change the water in your birdbaths weekly or add a fountain. Maintain the screens on windows and doors. Use mosquito repellent anytime you are outside, concentrating on your ankles, feet, lower legs, and wrists. Light colored clothing and thick looser fits offer more protection from mosquitos. Avoid the outdoors at dusk and dawn as these are prime feeding times for mosquitos. Interestingly, drinking a beer, having more bacteria on your skin, and having blood type O have all been shown to increase the number of mosquito bites.

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.

By: Glynn Harris

We gathered last weekend in Thibodaux for the annual conference of the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Association (LOWA). On Saturday night during the dinner and awards ceremony, I sat at a table with good friends Terry and Carol Jones from W. Monroe.

The last event that night was the popular raffle where we purchase tickets hoping to win prizes of merchandise provided by sponsors. I felt a slight tingle of excitement when one of my numbers was called. There were fishing rods and reels and all sorts of neat stuff. My enthusiasm dropped a bit when I was handed my prize. I got a cap and coffee mug.

As the number of prizes dwindled down to the last one, I heard a little squeal from Carol as one of Terry’s numbers was called. What did he win? More on that later.

It was a cold December day in 2015 when Terry was hunting ducks and squirrels along his favorite waterway, Dugdemona bayou. Growing up in northern Winn Parish, Dugdemona was his favorite place to hunt and fish.

As he paddled his way along the bayou in his pirogue, he encountered a tree that had fallen across the waterway. As the struggled to remove enough limbs to make his way along the bayou, one of the limbs caught the barrel of his shotgun, a Mossberg Model 500 pump, and flipped it into the water.
“When I looked back and saw my shotgun was gone, I carry a magnet with me just in case I lose something like that but the magnet got hung and broke off so I gave up and came home,” Jones said.

Six months later the following summer, Jones was back fishing on Dugdemona when he recognized the same fallen tree that had robbed him of his shotgun.

“I realized this was where my gun had fallen into the water. The water level was down and I looked down and to my surprise I saw my gun lying on the bottom in the mud all rusted, corroded and covered in silt. It was in really bad shape so I knew there was no way it could be salvaged.

“It was loaded when it went overboard so I had to be careful and I stuck the barrel in the mud and left it there as a sacrifice to the Creek gods,” he laughed. “Telling friends about my mishap, several told me that they had also lost guns to the overhanging limbs on Dugdemona.”

Back to last weekend’s LOWA conference…

As ticket numbers were being called, I watched several friends winning rods, reels, tackle boxes and all sorts of neat prizes. I kept watching my skein of tickets hoping for something a bit more valuable than my cap and coffee mug but alas, that never happened.

The table of prizes dwindled down to the very last one and when the number was called, the usually quiet and easy-going retired history professor, Dr. Terry Jones, showed a measure of excitement when his number matched the one being called out.

The final item is always the most coveted prize of the drawing and this time was no different; in fact in his case, it was extra-special. My friend, Terry Jones, had the ticket that matched the prize; it was a shotgun but not just any shotgun.

It was a Mossberg Model 500 pump, just like the one rusting away along the margin of Dugdemona Bayou.

Oh, and by the way, he also won a padded gun case. It floats.

You can’t make stuff like this up.

Picking up where I left off last week on the “good ole days” of my generation, I’ve always felt that I grew up during the best time a kid could ever ask for. The Vietnam War was ending in the early ’70s and the crazy 60s were behind us. Life was simple, people had jobs and worked hard. Being labeled “middle class” was not a bad thing. It meant you worked hard for a living and took pride in what you did and who you were. You weren’t necessarily judged by how much money you had. You were judged by the kind of person you were and your character. You did not want to do anything to disgrace your family name or embarrass your parents.

My generation respected our teachers and coaches, as these were some of the most influential people in my life. They gave homework (which I hated,) but they pushed you and challenged you to learn. My coaches taught us what hard work and determination could lead to. They taught us to never quit or give up, and to fight through adversity, not to transfer to another school because the competition got a little tough or things didn’t go our way. My coaches made me feel proud to be a Mt. Pleasant Tiger. This made me play harder because as a player you represented your town, school, coaches, and parents, but most importantly….yourself. Yes, we won, and won a lot, including a State Championship, but you had a sense of pride if you were an MP Tiger and you never wanted to let the community down.

Hard work was expected at my house as I grew up on a ranch where there was always something to do. I hauled hay, doctored cattle, built barns, fixed fences, and cleared land for pasture or for hay meadows. There was no sleeping in at my house! Sleeping in meant you got to sleep till 7:00 AM. Many mornings, especially on weekends, my bedroom light came on at 5:00 AM as dad would inform me as to what work had to be done that day at the ranch. But one thing that dad did every single day of his life, and even for me on the days I worked with him, was cook breakfast…two eggs over easy, two pieces of bacon, and two pieces of toast. This was as automatic as the sun coming up!

Looking back, I wouldn’t trade my days growing up for anything or any other time. The freedoms we had as kids was nothing short of incredible. Growing up in a small town in Texas was great. Everyone knew everyone and their business. You learned a lot at the local barber shop, everything from who was having affairs to if a coach was going to get fired. Nothing was off limits at the barber shop!

People helped each other in times of need, whether a storm had come through or a family member passed away. People cared about each other and would help in any way possible when someone needed it. You were friends with all your neighbors and never worried about locking doors. You slept with windows open at night to let the cool breeze flow through the house. When was the last time you heard of anyone doing this? Moms cooked dinner every night and you ate as a family while discussing how your day went. This is when communication took place, as dad would break the news as to what chores needed to be done the next day. Family dinners back then were the equivalent of a zoom call today…it was when you asked for permission to borrow the car, go on a date, or maybe go camping with your buds. But at my house, you better make sure you had your ducks in a row before you asked for permission on anything, because the answer you got was not negotiable. You had better state your case right the first time because there were no second chances after the answer was given. I learned, “Don’t shoot from the hip because you will get shot down.”

As you can see, I had a great childhood and upbringing. I would not change a single thing about it. For those reading this, I hoped it reminded you of some great times and the good ole days! Till next time, good luck, good fishing, and don’t forget your sunscreen!

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

WINN:
Jerry “Twinkie” Lynn Johnson
April 3, 1964 – August 22, 2022
Service: Friday, August 26 at 3 pm at Southern Funeral Home

Steve Gregory Sharbono
February 10, 1964 – August 22, 2022
Service: Friday, August 26 at 11 am at Southern Funeral Home

NATCHITOCHES:
Claude Nichols
August 2, 1940 – August 22, 2022
Service: Saturday, August 27 at 12 pm at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home

Dorothy “Dot” Mae Tullos Robertson
May 16, 1929 – August 10, 2022
Service: Sunday, August 28 at 2 pm at First Baptist Church of Natchitoches

SABINE:
Robert Lance Arthur
September 5, 1944 – August 24, 2022
Service: Saturday, August 27 at 2 pm at Word of Truth Church

Paul L. Rivers
October 11, 1943 – August 21, 2022
Service: Saturday, August 27 at 11 am at Bayou Scie Cemetery

RED RIVER:
Harvay Duke Williams
January 9, 1974 – August 24, 2022
Service: Saturday, August 27 at 10 am at Rockett-Nettles Funeral Home Chapel

In this Window to Winn Podcast episode, we bring you part four of a four-part series with Winn Parish School Board Superintendent, Al Simmons.

The Meet the Tigers and Pep Rally event scheduled for August 25 has been postponed until Tuesday, August 30th.

Come out and meet your 2022 Tiger Football team, hear the band, and watch your favorite spirit group perform!! Weather permitting, Max the Tiger will also be there to meet and greet all the kids!!!

Dr. Jerry Williams spoke to Kiwanis telling some of his life story to the group. He joined the National Guard at age 16. He went to college at what was then known as Southwestern in Pre-Med. Then he went to Memphis to Optometry school. His dad took care of his college expenses so he had no debt when he graduated. He also met and married Guen in Memphis. Two months after graduation he was drafted and ended up at Walter Reed Hospital. He worked with the development of the contact lens. These lens were used for soldiers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Some of the notables he saw at Walter Reed included the Shah of Iran, President Eisenhower, and George Marshall. He had a six year obligation to the military.

He came to Winnfield by way of Ruston, La. He worked for an optometrist in Ruston who sent him to a satellite office in Winnfield a few days a week. Business was good in Winnfield and Dr. Williams asked to buy the Winnfield office. The first office in Winnfield was where the First Baptist gym is located.

Dr. Jack Evans was a dentist in town who office was located in the Martin Hospital. He needed to move because the hospital needed more room. Dr. Evans asked Dr. Williams if he would go in with him to build an office. Dr. Williams had the lot and Dr. Evans put up the money and they built the building where Dr. Gaddis and Dr. Williams (before retirement) are now located. Dr. Williams retired a few months ago being the longest practicing optometrist in the country.