The Winn Parish Police Jury will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Nov. 29, to consider placing a renewal of its half-cent sales tax dedicated to roads on the April ballot.  As that moves forward, official action on the tax call would be taken by the new Police Jury at its first meeting Jan. 8.  The current tax runs through June 2025.

Outgoing president Josh McAllister encouraged all present jurors as well as the newly elected members to attend the upcoming hearing in order to better understand the process, as the Budget Committee will also meet to look ahead to 2024.  He noted that the January meeting date (normally the third Monday) is changed because current juror terms continue through Jan. 7, with the new jury taking office Jan. 8.  At that time, all members will take their oath of office then elect a jury president for the year.

In other action, Ward 7 Constable Shirley Tubbs asked the jury to consider strengthening its existing Livestock Ordinance.  While prohibitions are in place to keep livestock off of roads and bridges, she complained there is nothing to protect homeowners from unfenced livestock damaging gardens, yards, fences and property.

Mrs. Tubbs described her fenced property as being “as far north as you can go in Winn” and emphasized that she has no livestock.  “But other farmers don’t have fences,” she said, adding she gets calls that “my cows are out.  I don’t have any cows.”  She cited numerous instances of property damage and disturbances from wandering cows and bulls.”  McAllister said he would get the issue back on the agenda for committee meeting.

Road superintendent Parry Holmes opened his monthly comments with praise for the recent rains which may help the road crew to cut gravel into the roads.  And speaking of gravel, he explained that road gravel is not been available from anywhere for a while but he just got confirmation of availability this week.  The parish truck is now hauling to restock the supply and Holmes said they can now resume work on parish roads, including some of the FEMA projects.

He also pointed to a bit of tourism that will be coming Winn’s way in December.  As president of the Louisiana Parish Engineers & Supervisors Association, he determined that their annual meeting ought to be held in the Louisiana Political Museum.  He said he’s also contacting local merchants in hopes of putting together some welcome bags “and encouraging our visitors to shop a little while they’re here.”

Outgoing juror Tammy Griffin thanked her fellow members for the time she’s been with them, saying “it’s been a pleasure and a joy.  No one understands the work and the pressure that happens around this table.  I love and appreciate you all.”

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A local veteran is pursuing his 35-year dream of establishing a Veterans Memorial in downtown Winnfield to honor Winn Parish vets, both fallen and returned, who fought and served to preserve the freedoms we enjoy today.

That dream could be within reach, Michael Durbin said during the Sheriff’s Office Veterans Day lunch and again at the November meeting of the City Council when he said Steve and Gail Shelton have offered a 20-year lease on the site of the old U.B. Carpenter building on Main Street for $100 annually.  A search through the years for other locations has been fruitless.

It’s a simple, open-air design, he says.  Anyone can walk off the sidewalk into a three-walled recess with no roof overhead “so God’s sunlight and fresh air can pour in,” the monument and flagpole at the center and benches against the walls.  “You can just sit, reflect and remember, thinking of what these men and women have given so that we can live in the safety we enjoy.  I’d like to imagine that teachers might bring their classes to the monument to better explain the role of our servicemen.  Our veterans deserve this.  They’ve earned it.  It’s the right thing to do.”

Durbin pointed out that when the Flag Park by the Farmers Market was created, initial plans were to expand its scope into becoming the Veterans Memorial he and fellow veterans had envisioned.  Fundraising efforts were launched but at some point that impetus was lost and the site remained just a Flag Park.  Efforts to recapture that initial plan have fallen short.

The Community Recreation Board on which Durbin serves has worked grants through the years to make improvements on parks throughout the community “as a priority to put kids first,” he said.  “Yet all this time I’ve been telling the members that we need this memorial.  Now that we’re nearing completion on these other projects, I feel the time to act is here.”

“When a man or woman becomes a soldier,” explains Durbin who himself served in the U.S. Army, then in the National Guard, “they don’t really understand what they’re becoming.  It’s when they begin their training that they start to understand what the American flag means.  They understand the people who came before them who have walked in their shoes and fought for this freedom we may actually take for granted.”

When brought before the City Council, member Teresa Phillips asked about earlier discussion of using the Mini-Park for the memorial site.  Durbin responded that sinkholes at the Mini-Park make it unsuitable and “we’re not looking for another park…this needs to be a memorial for the vets who did not get to come home and for those who did come back and also for those still out there putting their lives on the line so we can sit here having this conversation.”

Member Matt Miller raised questions on the plans and costs.  Durbin agreed that this is still a work in progress but asked that this site opportunity be taken.  Miller made a motion that the matter be tabled, awaiting additional information.  The Council agreed.

 

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Local volunteers at the Winn Food Pantry held a sendoff during their Nov. 16 food distribution for a Washington state couple who have been faithful in their service over the past two years here in this community.

Les and Janine Michie of Moses Lake, WA, are the Mormon missionaries (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) who have been here since January 2022.  Unlike the younger missionaries Winn normally sees, the retired couple is Member Leadership Support (MLS) who have been assisting and guiding some 220 missionaries in Louisiana and Mississippi during their stay.

Active in Kiwanis, they have been a mainstay at the Food Pantry.  “They have been faithful, diligent and willing to do anything,” said Jan Beville.  “They always let you know when they can’t make it and often brought additional volunteers with them.  They made their mark as friends to everyone.”

Jane Purser added that Les and Janine “always filled in the gaps, no matter what.  They’d see a need and step in.  We don’t want to see them leave but realize that they will take their blessings wherever they go.  They didn’t prove their mission through preaching…they showed God’s love through their service.”

Janine told the Journal that they “loved the Winnfield experience.  The community is wonderful, right here in the middle of the Bible Belt.  The weather is perfect.”  Les clarified that observation by pointing out that temperatures in Moses Lake in a high desert of the Columbia Basin will range from 0 degrees in February to 110 degrees in July.  “But it’s a ‘dry heat’ and it cools every night.”

Their hands-on activity started shortly after they arrived.  “I remember exactly,” said Janine.  “We wanted to get involved with the community.  We attended the Community Feast at the Fairgrounds in February 2022 and Jane invited us to the Food Pantry.  And we were thinking about joining Kiwanis and our landlord Jerry Williams is a Kiwanian and invited us to come the next day as his guests.”

Sometimes it’s the little things that make impressions.  Les explained that when they arrived, they’d never seen a corn casserole.  “This year, we made one.”

The couple will soon head west on their four- or five-day drive across the country to home where they’ll have Louisiana tales to share with their family of 6 children and 19 grandchildren who now all live in the state of Washington.

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Churches and community groups across Winn Parish worked over recent months to assemble and provide 3,090 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes that will become part of a “Gospel Opportunity” for an expected 11 million children worldwide this Christmas season.  Locally numerous volunteers made this Winn outreach possible.

This, according to Jeanine Ford, area coordinator for west-central Louisiana which includes Winn, Natchitoches, Red River and Sabine, who said the total is made up of 28 churches and two community groups (Winn 4-H Junior Leaders and Six-C Fabrications).  The trail taken by the boxes began in homes, then moved into the churches, then to the parish central collection site at First Baptist Winnfield, on to the Natchitoches area center and then to the Dallas regional center.

Operation Christmas Child is a Samaritan’s Purse project that collects shoebox gifts filled with fun toys, school supplies, and personal care items—and delivers them to children in need around the world to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way.

Individuals pack and label each shoebox depending if it is packed for a boy or girl and the age category: 2–4, 5–9, or 10–14.

Samaritan’s Purse serves the church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The organization, headed by Franklin Graham, is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity and has been helping in Jesus’ Name since 1970. Charity Navigator gives them their highest rating of four-stars.

“Operation Christmas Child” began in the UK in 1990, after Dave Cooke, a local businessman in Wrexham, and his wife Jill felt called to do something in response to the plight of Romanian orphans at the end of the Cold War.  Samaritan’s Purse has taken on the project since 1993.

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By Charles Crain 

The Winn Parish School District had a reason to celebrate as they left for the Thanksgiving holidays on Nov. 17. The Louisiana Department of Education released school and district performance scores and Winn saw growth across the board.

Winn Parish Schools earned a “B” ranking on their 2022-2023 district performance scores, a growth of almost two points from 2021-2022.

Winnfield Primary School was top of the list of growth in the district. WPS grew 6.5 points and earned a “B” ranking for their school performance score. That’s not only impressive for Winn, but also for the state as a whole. The Louisiana Department of Education named WPS a top gains honoree, a distinction given to schools that demonstrate excellence in student progress from one year to the next. WPS’ growth also attracted the interest of Dr. Cade Brumley, the Louisiana State Superintendent of Schools, to visit last month.

“In conjunction with the release of school and district performance scores for 2022-2023,” said Winn Parish School Superintendent Al Simmons. “…it was announced that Winnfield Primary School has been recognized as a ‘Top Gains Honoree’ by the Louisiana Department of Education. This designation recognizes the tremendous growth in student performance at Winnfield Primary School during last year’s cycle. The administration and staff at WPS, led by Principal James King, have worked diligently to meet the diverse needs of their students as evidenced by this honor. I am certainly proud of their efforts and expect more good things in the future.”

Dodson High School also saw a jump in scores last year. DHS grew 4.9 points and earned a “B” ranking for their school performance score. Winnfield Senior High School continued the growth streak, jumping 4.5 points and earning a “B” ranking. Winnfield Middle School grew 1.3 points.

Despite the great reception to the news about growth, school administrators are focusing on maintaining this trend. Next year, the grading scales for schools will increase. Maintaining these scores across the district is very important with an updated grading scale.

If the 2022-2023 school year is any indication, Winn is up to the challenge.

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The public is invited to the Winn Parish Community Thanksgiving dinner at Winnfield First Assembly on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 23, according to Pastor Shaun Garner.

Time for the dinner feast is noon.  The church is located on Hwy 167 north, just opposite the Calvin Road turnoff.

“This isn’t just for those in need,” emphasized the pastor.  “There are a lot of folks out there without family around with whom to celebrate this holiday.  It would be nice to be in a social setting with others to enjoy.  And there may be others who would just like to join with us.  Why not come to Winnfield First where we’ll be set up in the gym?”

Volunteers wishing to assist would be appreciated.

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The Rotary Club of Winnfield got a 30-minute tour of South African animals on November 1 when Rotarian Bob Holeman had the program assignment and gave a presentation on his family’s August safari adventure.

With a series of projected slides, he began by showing images of the open vehicles in Botswana and South Africa to give Rotarians a glimpse of how near the wild animals were to the safari tourists.  Included in that sequence were close-up lions, leopards, elephants and a hyena.

The next series showed a number of the many antelope species seen there.  While Holeman knows of only one North American antelope (pronghorn), Africa has a variety.  Slides showed the bushbuck, impala, kudu, nyala, sable, steenbok, waterbuck and the least sightly wildebeest.  (Sizes from spotted white tail fawn to elk).

Journal readers may have seen prior columns on lions and leopards and elephants as well as an overview of the trip itself so we’ll stop here and use this opportunity simply to show some of the vehicle/animal proximity shots and a selection of antelope.

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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.

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No current reports as of 11/21/23, please check back next week on 11/29/23. Thank you and have a Happy Thanksgiving. 

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.

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Candidates have only a few days before learning the effectiveness of their campaigns. Election Day is this Saturday, Nov. 18, with polls opening here in Winn Parish at 6 a.m. and closing at 8 p.m. 

Meanwhile, 2,130 voters have already logged in their opinions during the 7-day Early Voting period that ended Saturday, Nov. 11. This total (including 1,927 walk-in votes and 203 mail-ins) was up 194 or 10% compared to Early Voting period for the Oct. 14 Primary Election. The one-day voting record was topped when the Sept. 30 record of 407 was bettered Nov. 3 with 492 in-person voters.

The strong early turnout is not an all-time record for Winn, reports the Registrar of Voters Bryan Kelley. That record goes to the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential race when a total of 2,438 early votes plus 385 mail-in absentee ballots were cast for a tally of 2,823. But it was also noted that 2020 offered a 10-day Early Voting period for a rate of 243.8 votes per day compared to 275.3 for this round.

At the forefront of ballot interest is the race for Winn Parish Sheriff. In the Oct. 14 count, challenger Josh McAllister edged incumbent Cranford Jordan by just 42 by a margin of 36% to 35%. The third candidate Dylan Womack garnered 1,352 votes for 29% of the 4,590 total turnout.

Two other local men looking ahead to Saturday night are Kevin Pharr and Darrell Franks who are contending for the District 3 Police Jury seat left vacant by McAllister. That was also a close October race, with a slim 9-vote difference. Pharr tallied 41% while Franks had 40%. Bryan Price received the remaining 19% of the turnout.

Statewide races that were not decided in the first round include Secretary of State between Gwen Collin-Greenup (D) and Nancy Landry (R); Attorney General between Lindsey Cheek (D) and Liz Murrill (R); Treasurer between John Fleming (R) and Dustin Granger (D); and District 4 BESE Board member between Stacey Melerine (R) and Emma Stepard (D).

Additionally there will be four more Constitutional Amendment proposals on the ballot.

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Veterans Day allowed young Winn students the opportunity to interact with men and women who served this country through the military.  Friday, Nov. 10, saw three salutes to veterans, beginning with a breakfast at Winnfield Middle School, moving on to a veterans parade through Winnfield Primary School and ending up for lunch sponsored by the Sheriff’s Office at the Huey P. Long Campus, Central Louisiana Technical Community College.  Dodson High School also got a preview when U.S. Navy veteran Charles Carroll spoke to students in 4th through 8th grade classes on “The Importance of Veterans Day,” a presentation that was appreciated.

Winnfield Middle School hosted a breakfast to honor the Veterans in our community on Friday, Nov. 10.  As the special guests arrived, they were greeted by 8th grade students with a warm welcome and a parade of flags. The honored guests were served a delicious breakfast made by the WMS lunchroom staff.

Before breakfast was served, 8th grade student Joseph Bourgoyne said a prayer and Brendan Green, Ja’seona Sapp, and Zai’riel Walker led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Braylen Vines then welcomed everyone. During the meal students Courley Baker, Kamdyn Howell, Natalee Vines, Joseph Bourgoyne, and Riley Armstrong read about the history of Veterans Day. The program was closed out by 8th grader Annaleigh Frederick reading a poem she wrote.

Each honored guest was given a copy of the poem written by Annaleigh. Winnfield Middle School also honored their own Veterans; Ms. Ericka Breda, Mrs. De’jwana Jones, and Ms. Venus Moss. WMS thanked everyone that was able to attend, it was an honor to have you join us!  (WMS writeup courtesy Mandi Wolfe)

Winnfield Primary School’s annual Veterans’ Day Parade was a successful event. The weather changed plans at the school, but there was a positive outcome.  Being indoors allowed the veterans to see the young students face-to-face, and joy and cheers filled the hallways.

After gathering in the auditorium, the veterans began their parade at 9 a.m., walking the length of the ground floor hall, then climbing the stairs to the second floor and retuning the length of that hall.   All along the way, smiling and waving children beside their classrooms on both side greeted the visitors.  The veterans then gathered for a group photo in the school’s entrance hall.

“We were so pleased to welcome in and celebrate the wonderful group of men and women that have served our country.”  The Grand Marshal for the parade was Helen Leonard. Mrs. Leonard was in the Army for 5 years and served in Desert Storm. She has worked at W.P.S. for the past 18 years. “We are proud to have her as part of our team.”

Winnfield Primary School is already looking forward to having this parade again next year. (WPS story courtesy Hannah H. Austin)

Huey P. Long Campus CLTCC was the setting of the 8th annual Veterans Luncheon sponsored by the Winn Parish Sheriff’s office.  More than 120 filled the dining room, with 84 of those being veterans.  “It’s a recognition you deserve,” said Sheriff Cranford Jordan in welcoming remarks.
Rev. Joel Hines in the opening prayer noted that “Freedom carries a high price.  They (veterans) did it for our country and for our future generations.”  He observed that veterans serve as examples to the nation today.

Guest speaker Col. Houston Polson USAF (Ret) told the crowd that the veterans have pledged their allegiance to the U.S. Constitution. “Embodied in that is the essence of American freedom.”  He suggested that the sacrifices made by veterans allow those of this generation to follow their dreams, which could be to study art, law, music, commerce or other pursuits. Two concepts that are eroding, the opined, are “Responsibility” and “Accountability.”  He noted, “How can we rebuild these two words in the younger generation?  Follow the concept of If you make a mistake, you make it right.”

The luncheon, a good meal enjoyed by all, was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and playing of the National Anthem and closed with an inspiring version of “God Bless America.”

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It felt like the “Old Days” that you hear about, where the downtown street is filled with people, stores are lit and ready for Christmas and holiday music (as well as some more contemporary sounds) can be heard by shoppers.

It was the traditional Christmas Open House put on by the downtown merchants, this time with a theme “Bands and Brushes.”  The bands, of course, provided the music heard on the steps of First Baptist, inside Pea Patch and on the patio beside.  The brushes referred to an emphasis on art, with displays in the Allen Building and Pea Patch.  It was described as a “Main Street Art Crawl.”

Stores, shops and boutiques saw shoppers coming through, some buying, others just previewing Christmas possibilities, while a few were just hoping to find candy or cookies or other holiday snacks that may have been offered by shopkeepers.  There was even red beans & rice at the museum where a number of concessioners were set up, hoping to sell their crafts.

It was a nice even, some business, a lot social and the misty rain held off until the very end.  

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