At Winnfield Rotary Club’s meeting on Wednesday, May 15, Rotarian Al Simmons, Winn Parish School Superintendent, brought Rotarians’ attention to a lawsuit recently filed by the Louisiana Attorney General, asking U. S. Courts to strike down new rules recently established by the U.S. Department of Education in the application of the law commonly referred to as Title IX.

Mr. Simmons explained that Title IX is a provision of the education statutes in the United States Code passed a little over 50 years ago prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex or gender in any federally funded education program or activity. Implementation of the statute has primarily received notice in the area of sports, as it results in women’s sports receiving funding equal to men’s sports.

According to Simmons, federal laws enacted by Congress are implemented and enforced by the executive branch—in this case, the U.S. Department of Education [DOE]. The Department issues the federal regulations by which it deems the law should be implemented. Any dispute related to the interpretation of the law by the DOE is left to the federal courts to resolve.

The Department of Education recently revised the regulations implementing Title IX to state that gender identity is a protected class under Title IX, just as one’s actual physical gender is. This is the main regulation in dispute in the lawsuit. 

Simmons explained that the policy in Winn Parish schools is to treat every child and employee decently regardless of one’s gender or gender identity. Observing that principle would ordinarily result in compliance with Title IX. However, the DOE’s recent re-interpretation of the statute including gender identity in Title IX’s protections against discrimination creates difficulties for most school districts in the state. 

This primarily concerns restroom facilities in buildings constructed before Title IX was enacted and long before gender identity began to receive attention. Restrooms for males were constructed with only a few areas of privacy, much less than that provided for female facilities. Accommodation of gender identity in school facilities and assurance of the comfort of all students would require renovation of restroom facilities in every school building in every school district. Such renovations would be excessively expensive and not feasible for most school districts. 

Hence, numerous school boards in Louisiana sought representation of the Attorney General in pursuing a lawsuit against the DOE seeking to have the new regulations struck down, and to have Congress resolve the issue by clarifying the intent of Congress in enacting Title IX. The Winn Parish School Board was not able to meet within the time required for formally becoming a plaintiff in the suit, but it has passed a resolution in support of the Attorney General’s filing of the lawsuit.

Regarding the controversial gender identity issues currently witnessed in women’s sports competition across the nation, the DOE deferred, saying its Final Rule would not apply to the sports sector at this point.

By Bob Holeman 

I drove to the Post Office on Saturday morning.  As I rounded the corner at First Baptist and City Hall, I was greeted by a full company of American Flags, each flying independently as affected by wind gusts.

I slowed to take in the sight (there was no traffic behind me).  I felt a sense of pride for my country as my glance swept down the row of flags extending all the way to the Pose Office corner.  That feeling hit me.  But why?  It’s just the flag.  It’s what we tend to see and ignore as we drive past parks or buildings or businesses where a flag is always on display.

You hear that “familiarity breeds contempt.”  Perhaps this is not contempt but a dulling of the senses, a taking for granted the Stars and Stripes of our nation and what it really stands for.  Occasionally it takes a little shock treatment like a church displaying an impressive cluster of American Flags or the Lions Club taking time to line Main Street and the railroad overpass with American Flags to make us stop and realize, “Whoa!  It’s Memorial Day, isn’t it?”

Let’s think about Memorial Day in this context.  I’d suggest that no other holiday better embodies the Red, White & Blue banner that represents for our nation.  Memorial Day is not a swimming and fishing and watermelons announcement that “Summer Has Arrived.”  It’s a time set aside to remember those service men and women through the years who have given their lives so that we in America can sit at home, go to work, and attend worship more freely than anywhere else in the world.

Veterans Day is wonderful.  It celebrates the men and women who served or even fought for these same freedoms.  But they came home, often scarred and broken, mind you.  But those we are asked to remember on Memorial Day, they didn’t come home.  They were brought back in coffins, having given everything…their lives…for this country.

The preacher Sunday morning cited John 15:13 when Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Let me mention an irony.  Go back some decades and find parades and flags and memorial gatherings around flagpoles.  Taps was played and rifles shot in tribute.  Now in America’s heartland, it’s mostly a long weekend and celebration of summer’s start.  On our nation’s coasts, mobs gather, waving banners and chanting slogans like “Death to America” or “Death to Israel.”

So here’s the irony.  It’s those who served and died and are recognized on Memorial Day who gave these students the freedom to voice their national disrespect.  And the ultimate irony is that these students don’t even realize where that freedom came from.  Or don’t care.  They’ve just always had it.  Tell them, “Freedom has a price.”  I wonder how things would go down if they moved their riots to the streets of Tehran and chanted “Death to Iran?”  Students tried that in Tiananmen Square and it didn’t work out so well.

When I wrote about our local World War II veterans, I noted that when they recited the Pledge of Allegiance, their chests may have swollen a little more than the rest of us.  They had seen the effort it required, the blood that was shed and the lives that were given to raise the American Flag on the shores of tiny Pacific islands or in towns across Europe.  They understood what our Flag stands for.

By Susan Horne

Many great things have come from the small community of Atlanta, one of Winn Parish’s greatest kept secrets for many years. Doctors, lawyers, therapists, nurses, teachers, accountants, loggers, small business owners – these are just a few of the ‘greats’ who are products of Atlanta High School.

Among this list one will also find basketball coaches. One such product is a 2000 graduate, Bradley McLaren, who was the Class C State Player of the Year and played for Coach Gene Rushing at Louisiana College. He brought his love of the game to Zwolle High School in Sabine Parish.

This is a destination already rich with its own legacy of championship basketball – as evidenced by the school’s street address of “Championship Drive.” McLaren, son of retired teacher and Winn Parish Police Jury President, Frank McLaren, joined ZHS in 2004 as a teacher and boys’ basketball coach.

Throughout his tenure as an educator at Zwolle, McLaren also served as Assistant Principal from 2011-2014, and Principal from 2014 to present. During his 20-year tenure as boys’ basketball coach, McLaren has added to the hardware at ZHS and broken state records in the process.

Over those 20 seasons, McLaren’s teams have accumulated 672 wins. Along the way, the Zwolle High School Hawks have made 14 state tournament appearances, finishing as state runner-up 5 times and bringing home the State Championship trophy 8 times, most recently for 2024.

On Tuesday, May 28, Dr. Bill Gaddis led a program on Memorial Day with the Kiwanis Club of Winnfield.

He invited guests Charlie Bice and Tommy Harrel to join the club and also included member Dr. Jerry Williams in the program.  Tommy was in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Vietnam beginning in December 1968.  He was recruited in college.

Charlie also served in the United States Marine Crops and was recruited when a junior at Northwestern.  In 1959, he went to flight school at Quantico.  After being sent to the West Coast, he learned how to fly helicopters.  He was actually in the Marines for 20 years.

Dr. Jerry Williams was in ROTC and the National Guard and served at Walter Reed Hospital.  Dr. Gaddis was in ROTC and served in the Army.  For a period of time, he was answering congressional complaints about the military and then served as MOS officer in Vietnam.

The highest number of deaths in a war occurred in the Civil War (620,000+).  World War I saw 116,000+ deaths, World War II saw 405,000+ deaths, and Vietnam saw 58,000+ deaths.  

The original name of Memorial Day was Decoration Day which began with the Confederate States and the Civil War.  It was a day that people decorated the graves of those who died serving our country.  Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971.  Memorial Day is about men and women who have given their lives in service to our country.  

Dr. Gaddis closed the program by reading the poem, “In Flanders Field.”

Cody Whitaker, a 4th grade educator at Winnfield Primary School, has been accepted into two prestigious summer education institutes, promising an enriching and inspiring experience. 

The first program, the Civil Rights Educator Workshop in Atlanta, GA, is a dynamic week-long initiative designed to delve into civil rights, American history, and the arts. Facilitated by the Museum of History and Holocaust Education at Kennesaw State University and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the workshop showcases the iconic papers and artifacts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., alongside the compelling history of the civil rights movement in the United States and poignant narratives from the global human rights struggle.

Expressing his gratitude, Cody shared, “I am honored to have been chosen for this opportunity. Out of a pool of hundreds of deserving and qualified educators, I am thrilled that the KSU selection committee chose me!”

The second immersive experience awaiting Cody is the Teaching the Humanities Through Art Summer Institute in Washington, DC, hosted by the esteemed Smithsonian American Art Museum. Renowned for housing one of the most comprehensive collections of American art globally, the museum’s exhibits offer a window into America’s diverse and compelling artistic and cultural legacy from the colonial era to the present day.

Cody expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “The Smithsonian American Art Museum is an American institution that I have yearned to explore for years. I am deeply honored to embark on research and discovery within one of the world’s most historically significant museums.”

These back-to-back enriching programs promise Cody an exciting and enlightening summer, where he will undoubtedly gather valuable insights and experiences to enrich his teaching journey.

Winnfield City Police remind there are 3 ways to take care of a bench warrant:

• (Least favorable) We can come arrest you.

• (More favorable) Turn yourself into the Winnfield Police Department where you will be arrested, but we will work with you to avoid actually going to jail.  

• (Most Favorable) Go by the City Court Clerk’s office at 113 E Main Street, meet with Cash Melville, City Court Clerk, and get a recall on the warrant.  A recall fee of $100 is required and you will be given a summons for a new court date.  

G-J  is posted for this week:

Name   Last Known address   Case No.   Date of Warrant

Decarwin Guillory   1805 Turpentine Rd Winnfield   230228   4/25/24

Chad Guyolte   108 N 3rd St Dodson   220797   2/2/23

Braylon Goff   112 Ridge Dr Winnfield   230687   12/12/23

Michael Glover   300 N King St Winnfield   240133   5/2/24

Christopher Hoskins Jr   808 Henderson Dr Winnfield    190436   4/5/23

Kristen Howell   PO Box 134 Calvin   200166   9/16/21

Kevin Harrell   1664 Hwy 156 Winnfield   220418   4/14/22

Georgia Hoard   104 Walker St Winnfield   230358   7/6/23

Gary Hart   172 Washington St Winnfield   230909   1/11/24

Jay Hennigan   200 S Pineville St Winnfield   230908   1/11/24

Amber Jones 1402 S Grove St Winnfield 210422 2/3/22

Sadie Jones   202 Clay St Winnfield   210107   8/12/21

Trimika F Johnson   110 E 24th St Winnfield   210594   9/2/21

Christy Jordan   209 S Grove St Winnfield   221236/210077   12/22/22

Corey Jackson   144 S Davenport Rd Winnfield   200101   6/27/23

Henry Jordan   419 Horseshoe Rd Winnfield   220886   10/26/23

Name    Last Known address    Case No.    Date of Warrant

Devon Johnston   610 Dale St Winnfield   230327 10/26/23

David Jewitt   305 22nd St Apt 52    Winnfield   230885 2/1/24

Tristen Johnson   901 Neil Wagoner Dr Apt 54   Winnfield   240194 5/2/24

Sarah Kosh  455 Louisiana St Winnfield   210599   9/2/21

Brian Kitchens   14158 E Hwy #34 Atlanta   210597   9/2/21

Torryanna Kennedy   411 N Park St Winnfield   220645   7/7/22

Tangua S King   308 N Grove St Winnfield   230061   6/27/23

Brandon King   404 Pecan St Winnfield   240101   4/2/24

The highest hill in downtown Goldonna is carefully adorned with beautiful American flags to honor fallen heroes for Memorial Day. Area residents are making it an annual tradition to honor Veterans on Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day. Please take the time to enjoy the beauty and symbolism of this community effort.

The Goldonna Dusty Cut League is having a great season while dodging Spring storms. Be sure to check their Facebook page for regular updates. There are only a few games left in regular season. The tournament is scheduled to begin May 31st, weather permitting.

The Goldonna Christmas in the Park will hold their famous Fish Fry on Sunday June 9th, at the Village Town Hall beginning at 11:00. The plates will be sold for $10.00. If you would like to help please reach out to Gail Cloud or Eugene Garner.

Goldonna Elementary Junior High School has wrapped up the 2023-2024 school year. Report cards can be picked up Monday through Thursday until June 6th.

The Goldonna Baptist Church has numerous things to be excited about this summer. Thier summer family nights will begin on June 5th with house church. They also have movie and pizza nights, corn hole tournament, and fireworks with homemade ice cream on July 3rd. The wiffle ball tournament will be July 20th. The cost is $60 for a six-player team with a minimum of three females per team. However, all-female teams are certainly welcomed. The church will also have a big waterslide that day and a $10 bracelet buys the young ones (or young at heart) all day access. All proceeds will go to Operation Christmas Child. Our OCC items for May are “WoW” items, such as playground balls, toy trucks, playing cards, etc. Vacation Bible School is scheduled for July 14-17. The RAs/GAs Sunday night programs are up and running with amazing leaders. The Youth Group will always have biscuits and sausage ready before Sunday School. Dr. Wiley Cole is currently leading the church through an in-depth study of the book of Romans at 5. This is followed up with supper together every Sunday evening at 6:00.

Goldonna Assembly of God Church would like to remind everyone about the Blessings Box located in front of The Stand Coffee Shop. Inside this box you will can goods, personal hygiene items and inspirational materials. These are for anyone in need. Of course, if you have an abundance, please don’t be shy about adding items for others in need.

On June 2 at 10:00am, the Women’s Teen Challenge Center will be ministering at Goldonna Assembly of God on Tally Street.

If you have news to share please email Reba Phelps at jreba.phelps@gmail.com

Kiwanis and Sabine State Bank treated the Kiwanis Girls 9-10 year old softball team to a Pizza Party Thursday, May 23.  Members of the team and their families gathered at Johnny’s Pizza earlier than planned due to a rain-out of their game and enjoyed the pizza. 

Members of the team as pictured are front row: Adalyn Powell, Mia Whisonant, Hailynn Gibbs, Myleigh Mercer and Kaitlyn French.  Back row: Kenslee Henry, Zoey Roberts, Jordyn Jones, Coach Dazy Turner and Jayda Jones.  Member of team not pictured: Maria Bricker, Jackson Foshee, Abby Grace and Coach Adaijah Starks. 

Kiwanians on hand were Margaret Coon, Mary Lou Blackley, Ethel Howell and Dr. Bill Gaddis.

The information below is a generated summary of the aid and service the Winn Parish Fire Department has lended its community over the course of the year. We thank our local firefighters and EMTs for their vigilance and protection of Winn Parish and all who call it home. 

Wednesday, June 19, will bring a day of fun and games to First Presbyterian Church in Winnfield.  It’s a fundraiser with a difference.

Game tables will be set up in the Fellowship Hall, featuring Bridge, Rook and Dominoes. A maximum of 20 tables will be available.  Any overflow registrants will be placed on a waiting list.  “Don’t worry if you don’t have a full group to fill a table,” said chairman Carolyn Phillips.  “There will be others available to help fill out tables.”

Doors of the church at 302 S. Bevill Street will open at 9:30 a.m. and ply will get underway at 10 a.m.  The games will end at 2 p.m.  A $20 donation includes morning refreshments and luncheon with dessert.  Coffee, tea and water will be available all day.  Payment is due by Monday, June 3.

The June 19 Game Day will have the added attraction of a Silent Auction.  Organizers describe it as having “lots of unusual items available.”  Auction winners will be announced at the conclusion of Game Day play.

Check should be made out to First Presbyterian Church and mailed to P.O. Box 302 Winnfield, together with a note showing your name, address and phone number as well as which game you’d like to participate in.  For anyone who cannot attend but wishing to donate to the fundraiser, all contributions are appreciated.

Many people are unsure of what to do with their future when they graduate from high school.  That was not the case with Sarah Ophelia Colley.  As a youngster growing up in Centerville, Tennessee, she decided she would become a dramatic actress.  She taught herself how to mimic those around her, but that was about as far as it got in high school.  She knew she needed formal training.  Once she graduated from Centerville High School, Sarah auditioned to join the theater department of Ward-Belmont College, which is now Belmont University.  She was well spoken with a southern drawl which she struggled to mask.  Despite her southern drawl, Sarah was accepted into the program.  She majored in theater studies and dance. 

For the first few years after graduating from Ward-Belmont, Sarah taught dance.  Sarah realized that unless she changed course, she could never realize her dream of performing on the stage.  In the late 1930s, Sarah began working as a play director for the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, a touring theater company based out of Atlanta, Georgia.  She performed her parts perfectly, but Sarah was forgotten almost as soon as she walked off stage.  In 1947, Sarah married Henry Cannon.  Despite her best efforts, few people knew Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon as an actress.  In the 1980s, after being successfully treated for breast cancer, Sarah became an outspoken advocate for cancer research.  In 1987, she helped create the Sarah Cannon cancer foundation to raise money for cancer research.  This led to the creation of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute which specializes in cancer treatment.  On March 4, 1996, 83-year-old Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon died from complications from a stroke.   

As I said earlier, few people recognize Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon as an actress, but there is more to Sarah’s story.  While working for the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, Sarah made brief appearances at civic organizations.  While directing a ten-day musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama, Sarah met a woman that changed the course of her life.  Sarah needed a place to stay for the ten days, so she boarded with the Baileyton woman and her husband.  Something stood out about the Baileyton woman.  Sarah watched as the woman spoke.  She paid careful attention to her mannerisms, her attire, and her accent which was very similar to her own.  Remember, Sarah had struggled for years to hide her southern drawl.  When it was time for Sarah to move on to another town, the Baileyton woman said, “I hate to see you go.  You’re just like one of us.” 

Shortly thereafter, Sarah bought a dress and shoes similar to those worn by the Baileyton woman.  Rather than hiding her southern drawl, she began to embrace it for comedic affect, but something was missing.  In 1939, Sarah was set to perform her imitation of the Baileyton woman in Aiken, South Carolina.  Before the show, Sarah went to Surasky Bros. Department store in downtown Aiken.  While shopping for nothing in particular, Sarah put on a straw hat and did her best imitation of the Baileyton woman.  The hat completed the character.  Sarah bought the hat for $1.98 and headed to the theater.

As an imitation of the Baileyton woman, Sarah poked fun at rural Southern culture.  Rather than target other people, her jokes were aimed at herself, her fictional family, and her fictional hometown of Grinder’s Switch.  She was always trying and failing to gain the attention of “a feller.” She told fictional joke-laden stories about her Uncle Nabob and Aunt Ambrosia, Lucifer Huckelhead, Miss Lizzie Tinkum, Doc Payne (pun intended), and her brother who remained nameless.  In character, she once quipped about her Uncle Nabob, “He ain’t a failure.  He just started at the bottom, and he liked it there.” 

Sarah’s imitation of the Baileyton woman was a hit, and it led to her becoming the first solo female member of the Grand Ole Opry.  In 1975, she became the first female comedian inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  She performed the character on the stage and screen for over fifty years.  Still, no one knew Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, and she never seemed to mind that she was overshadowed by the character she had created by imitating the Baileyton woman.  Her family, friends, and even her husband called her, not Sarah, but Minnie Pearl.  Her greeting to the audience became famous.  “How-DEEEEE!  I’m just s’proud to be hyere!”

The small Concordia Parish village of Ferriday has received national if not worldwide acclaim for three reasons. Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart. Three cousins, who grew up in Ferriday would become known across the globe for Lewis’ and Gilley’s piano-pounding music and Swaggart’s preaching.

Seven miles up the road from Ferriday, the Franklin Parish hamlet of Gilbert has produced another notable figure who’s behind the scenes work with his video camera has made his name known throughout the outdoors industry. He is John L. Brown, Jr. who for some 20 years worked as videographer for the National Wild Turkey Federation, eventually being named Executive Producer.  

For more than two decades, his expertise with the camera put him in close quarters with every well-known name in the outdoors industry.

Brown has now retired and has moved back home to his north Louisiana roots. He finally had time to put together a wonderful hard cover book, “Gathering Light” that covers his life from growing up along the Tensas Basin to his years of loading up and packing his camera gear to film hunts with the most notable outdoors personalities across the country.

“Gathering Light” begins as Brown, a youngster, watched and lamented over the destruction of the thousands of acres of prime hardwoods in his beloved Tensas Delta being brought to the ground and burned. The reason for this horrific destruction had to do with the fact that the fertile land along the Tensas could grow soy beans, a crop seen at the time as more 

valuable than oak trees. Soy beans could grow back every year while you could just about forget about ever replacing the hardwoods.

At the age of 24, Brown and his roommate, Rex Moncrief were working at a lumber yard when an earlier chance encounter with the promotions director of a local NBC affiliate led to an escape from loading lumber for customers. Brown and Moncrief pitched the idea of producing a local outdoor program for the station. Long story short, their program, “The Outdoor News” was born and enjoyed success for several years.

From “The Outdoor News” came the opportunity to do free-lance work for companies such as Knight and Hale, Primos and others. 

“Gathering Light” covers Brown’s eventual expertise with his video camera to capturing the attention of other companies. He was slowly but steadily climbing the ladder to his eventual landing a plum of a job with the National Wild Turkey Federation, a position he held for some 20 years until an unceremonious release from the organization.

One thing that led to his success probably more than anything else was imparted to him by well-known outdoors video producer, Ron Jolly, a fellow Louisianian.

“John”, Jolly told him, “there are two things that I’ll tell you about this business that are absolutes regarding the job. One, you must be an eternal optimist. You must believe that without a doubt that the buck you’re hunting is about to walk past your stand, or that the next yelp will elicit a gobbler. Number two, you must enjoy seeing others succeed.”

Brown writes that as time passed, he understood what Jolly was saying as he saw the failure of others who couldn’t derive satisfaction seeing someone else pull the trigger.

Personally, I finished my copy of “Gathering Light” in one sitting. It brought back memories of the times I was privileged to visit with John over the years and as an outdoors writer, my association with so many he writes about. If you have any interest at all in the outdoors, it’s a book you’ll thoroughly enjoy.

“Gathering Light” is available at Amazon.com. For an inscribed copy of the book, which sells for $25, contact Brown at 486 Marion Sims Rd., W. Monroe, LA 71292.

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.

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.