Community education and prevention efforts encourage healthy relationships among youth

The Domestic Abuse Resistance Team (DART) is reminding families, schools, and community members that February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, a time dedicated to increasing understanding of unhealthy relationship behaviors and supporting prevention efforts among adolescents.

Teen dating violence can affect a young person’s health, opportunity, and long-term wellbeing. Experts note that unhealthy relationships often begin early and may continue into adulthood, but they also emphasize that violence is preventable when communities work together to educate and support young people.

“Many teens believe behaviors such as teasing or name-calling are a normal part of a relationship,” DART representatives explained. “However, those behaviors can escalate into more serious forms of abuse, and many young people hesitate to tell family or friends when they feel unsafe.”

Key Facts

According to national youth behavior data cited by DART:

• About 1 in 12 high school students report experiencing dating violence within the previous year.

• About 1 in 10 report experiencing sexual dating violence.

Female students experience higher rates of both physical and sexual dating violence than male students.

Impact on Youth

DART says unhealthy or abusive relationships can have both immediate and long-term consequences. Victims of teen dating violence are more likely to:

• Experience depression and anxiety symptoms

• Engage in unhealthy coping behaviors such as substance use

• Exhibit antisocial behaviors including bullying or aggression

• Have thoughts of self-harm or suicide

Prevention and Community Support

DART emphasizes that prevention begins with teaching communication skills and emotional awareness before and during the teen years. Encouraging respectful relationships can reduce dating violence and its lasting effects on individuals, families, and communities.

Community members are encouraged to talk openly with young people about boundaries, respect, and recognizing warning signs of abuse. Schools, parents, and local organizations all play a role in helping youth develop healthy relationship habits.

About DART
The Domestic Abuse Resistance Team (DART) has served families since 1994, providing advocacy, education, and support services to victims of domestic and dating violence.

Contact:
Winn Parish DART Office
301 West Main Street
Winnfield, LA 71483
Phone: 318-648-0559

The National Weather Service is forecasting warm temperatures and gusty winds for Winn Parish through midweek, with rain and thunderstorm chances arriving Thursday before sunny skies return for the weekend.

Wednesday will be partly sunny with a high near 77 degrees. South winds will range from 10 to 15 mph, with gusts reaching up to 25 mph, creating breezy afternoon conditions.

Wednesday night will turn mostly cloudy, with overnight lows around 61 degrees.

On Thursday, there is a slight chance of showers during the morning hours, followed by a higher chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Skies will be partly sunny with a high near 81 degrees. The chance of precipitation stands at 50 percent.

Thursday night brings a 30 percent chance of showers before midnight, then mostly clear skies with temperatures cooling to around 50 degrees.

Friday will be sunny with a high near 74 degrees, while Friday night will be mostly clear with a low around 47 degrees.

The weekend forecast looks bright and pleasant. Saturday will be sunny with a high near 79 degrees, followed by mostly clear skies Saturday night and a low around 51 degrees.

Sunday continues the sunny trend with highs near 79 degrees.

Residents are encouraged to remain weather-aware Thursday afternoon as scattered thunderstorms could develop across the parish.

Spring is right around the corner. The winding, hilly road that leads to Goldonna is starting to turn faintly green making way for a beautiful show of lush Spring foliage that will put on a show for many weeks. While Goldonna is tucked away in the Northern part of Natchitoches Parish it is a well-kept secret of hospitality, flourishing churches and small businesses that cater to the population of the Village. It is the home of the Goldonna Christmas in the Park Festival and soon to be thriving community center that will be housed at the former elementary-junior high school. While some may have considered Goldonna to be closed like the school, elected officials want to remind you that they are open for business and truly want you to come visit the community to experience the benefits of a close knit community that care about as about everyone.

The Goldonna Assembly of God recently announced service time changes for their church. Sunday morning service will now take place at 10 am. Sunday night service has been moved to 5 pm. Wednesday night service is now at 6 pm. They also announced visiting ministers for the rest of the month of February.

February 21- Teen Challenge Street Ministry
February 22- Teen Challenge Men

Goldonna Baptist Church is continuing their Operation Christmas Child Ministry for 2026. The month of February they will be collecting wash clothes and loofahs for their boxes. Donations can be dropped off at the church. Church member, Dan Dupree won the recent “Breakfast for Supper Cookoff” with all proceeds being donated to the Operation Christmas Child Ministry within the church. The church will be hosting their 3rd Annual Clay Shooting Competition on Saturday, March 21 at 10 am. The event will be held at the 4H Shooting range located at 8882 Highway 34 in Winnfield. The entry fee is $25 per person. The competition will benefit Operation Christmas Child shipping costs. For more information please call 318-663-0302.

Revered George Procell would like to announce that the River of Life Family Worship Center will have a special guest Minister on Sunday, March 22. Brother Benny Anglin, who is no stranger to Goldonna, will be ministering. There will be a covered dish church fellowship directly after the service.

For news to share please email Reba Phelps at jreba.phelps@gmail.com

I did not put my sense of humor away for Lent. Honestly, I’m not sure I could if I tried. My sense of humor has a mind of its own and occasionally needs to be told, “Hush now, we’re in church.” I once preached a funeral with the “Exit” sign burned out over the doors we’d be leaving through. My brain, unhelpfully, started processing the symbolism — we all exit eventually — and before I knew it, my mouth was dangerously close to sharing that observation with the grieving family. That’s when I realized: for Lent, I may fast from many things, but my sense of humor is apparently not one of them.

And speaking of Lent, that little moment of funeral foolishness reminded me how this season always brings out our quirks, our questions, and our wellintentioned attempts at spiritual discipline. Many congregations observe Lenten practices, and you can usually spot us by the annual question: “So… what are you giving up for Lent?” Some of my Roman Catholic friends give up meat on Fridays, which has sparked many a conversation — and, fun fact, is the reason McDonald’s invented the fish sandwich. Stick with these Ponderings long enough and you’ll be ready for Jeopardy!

Which brings me to one of my favorite Lenten stories.

John Smith was the only Protestant to move into a large Catholic neighborhood. On the first Friday of Lent, John was outside grilling a big, juicy steak. Meanwhile, all his neighbors were dutifully eating cold tuna fish. This went on every Friday. Finally, the Catholic men decided something had to be done — John was tempting them beyond what any human should endure.

So they set out to convert him.

They talked with him, brought him to church, and the priest sprinkled water over him saying, “You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, and now you are a Catholic.” The men rejoiced. Their Lenten temptations were over.

Until the next year.

The first Friday of Lent rolled around, and just as the neighborhood sat down to their tuna, the unmistakable aroma of steak drifted through the air. They rushed to John’s yard, ready to remind him of his new commitments.

And there he stood, sprinkling water over his steak, saying, “You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish.”

It’s funny — and it’s also a gentle reminder. It’s not what our neighbors call us that defines us. It’s not even what we call ourselves. Our actions, our habits, our quiet choices — those speak louder than our reputations or our labels.

Lent invites us into that quieter truth. Not the showy kind, not the “look what I’m giving up” kind, but the kind that shapes us from the inside out.

This Lent is Jesus shaping your heart and your journey to Easter?

Ever notice how quickly opinions travel faster than facts? This week’s cartoon plays with that idea, leaning into the humor of how we debate, react and sometimes overreact in the digital age. Inspired by the game-show energy of Jeopardy!, it’s a lighthearted reminder that not every buzzer needs to be hit — and sometimes it’s okay to wait for the full answer.

When you’re young and full of pee and vinegar, you think you’re bullet proof. You have a younger mindset that nothing can happen to you. But nothing could be further from the truth. For an angler, or anyone who spends a great deal of time in the outdoors, there are three words you never want to hear, “You have Melanoma.”

This is the number one form of cancer that takes more lives than any other. Like so many others, I thought something like this would never happen to me. But God had other plans as that day came for me in June of 2023. Never in a million years did I think I would be that guy who would have to battle cancer, but here’s my story.

A couple of years earlier I started seeing a dermatologist on a regular basis. Then one day while my sister-in-law was cutting my hair, she asked if I knew about this small black dot on the back of my ear. Since none of us can see the back of our ears, I had never seen this spot. She suggested I get it looked at, so I took her advice and made an appointment.

It was March of 2023 when I had this appointment, and my dermatologist suggested we try some chemo cream to help get rid of this spot. Well, after two weeks of chemo cream the spot went away. I thought my worries were over until mid-April when the spot returned. So once again, I made another appointment scheduled for the first week of May.

While I wasn’t overly concerned, we were planning a family vacation to Disney World the last week of May and I wanted this spot off my ear. But as fate would have it, my dermatologist had to go out of town to attend a convention, and my May appointment was cancelled. So, they rebooked me for the last week of June which was basically eight weeks.

Again, at this point, I’m still not overly concerned but really wanted this off my ear. Well, let’s just say when I returned for my appointment the last week of June, this spot had ulcerated and was now a deep purple color. Then the day of my appointment, the minute I was called to the back, the nurse took a look at my ear, and she instantly got very concerned and rushed out of the room to get my dermatologist.

This got my attention and now I’m nervous as my doctor walked in and said, “Oh, Steve this is not good, and I’ll go ahead and prepare you that this is probably going to come back positive for Melanoma.”

She biopsied the spot and overnighted it to a lab for testing. The next day around 10 that morning, she called and told me, “You have Melanoma.” My heart sank and I was a little overwhelmed and wasn’t sure what to think. But my dermatologist did an outstanding job of reassuring me that everything will be OK, as hopefully we’ve caught this early.

To shorten this story, I had two ear surgeries to remove the upper portion of my left ear and four difficult immunotherapy sessions that were hard to get through due to my reaction to the drug OPDIVO. But since then, all of my scans have been clear and bloodwork has been good.

Immediately I started the first year going to M.D. Anderson in Houston every three months. Then in late 2025, they scheduled me for testing every six months which is where I’m at today. Hopefully, if my PET scans, MRI’s and bloodwork continue to be clear, I’ll soon be moving to testing annually for the rest of my life.

The one thing my cancer doctor has told me is that Melanoma is the worst form of cancer that can hide in the body for long periods of time. It can come back at any point and that’s why I’ll continue to go back to M.D. Anderson from now on.

Here’s my advice to anyone (especially anglers) when it comes to protecting yourself from the harmful rays of the sun. First, understand this: Melanoma does not discriminate, and no one is immune to getting this form of cancer. Wear long sleeve SPF shirts with built-in sunscreen. Wear long pants instead of shorts to protect your legs. Wear a wide brim hat — even if you look goofy. I also wear fishing gloves to help protect my hands.

Always apply sunscreen to any portion of the skin that might be exposed. Do everything you can to protect yourself from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Because the words you never want to hear are, “You have Melanoma.”

Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com

February 25 marks the birthday of Nina Simone, an artist whose music blurred the lines between entertainment, activism, and cultural revolution. Born in 1933, Simone became one of the most uncompromising voices of the Civil Rights era, using her platform to challenge injustice while reshaping the sound of American music.

Trained as a classical pianist, Simone defied expectations by blending jazz, blues, folk, gospel, and classical influences into a style uniquely her own. Her performances were emotionally raw and politically charged, reflecting both personal struggle and collective Black experience. Songs like “Mississippi Goddam” and “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” became anthems of resistance and pride.

Unlike many artists of her time, Simone refused to separate art from politics. Her willingness to address racism directly often made her controversial, but it also cemented her place as a cultural truth-teller. February 25 serves as a reminder of how her music functioned not just as entertainment, but as commentary on American life.

Simone’s influence on pop culture has only grown over time. Her music has been sampled and referenced by modern artists across genres, from hip-hop to indie pop. Filmmakers and television creators frequently use her songs to underscore moments of tension, empowerment, or historical reflection, introducing her voice to audiences far removed from the 1960s.

Beyond her music, Simone’s image and persona have become cultural symbols. Her unapologetic authenticity and refusal to conform resonate strongly in today’s conversations about artistic freedom and racial justice. Documentaries, biopics, and streaming playlists have renewed interest in her life, prompting deeper discussions about how Black women artists are treated by the industry.

February 25 also invites reflection on Simone’s complicated legacy. Her life was marked by brilliance, struggle, and resistance — elements that mirror the broader Black American experience she so often sang about. Today, she is widely recognized not only as a musical innovator but as a cultural icon who spoke truths others feared to voice.

As Black History Month nears its close, Nina Simone’s birthday serves as a powerful reminder that pop culture can be a force for change — and that music can carry the weight of history.

William J. “Bill” Blythe Jr. had recently been honorably discharged from the Army and had just been hired as an equipment salesman by the Mankee Equipment Company of Chicago. Immediately following World War II, so many soldiers were returning home and looking for work that jobs were scarce. 29-year-old Bill could find no work in his hometown of Hope, Arkansas, and was lucky to find work even if it required him to relocate to the windy city. It could not have come at a better time. Bill’s wife, 22-year-old Virginia Dell Cassiday, was six months pregnant. After calling home with the happy news, Bill began the 750-mile drive back to Hope, Arkansas, to prepare the family for the move.

Just before midnight on May 17, 1946, Bill had driven about half of the 755 miles to Hope when, about three miles west of Sikeston, Missouri, one of the front tires on Bill’s 1942 Buick sedan blew out. Bill lost control of the car, and it rolled over twice before coming to a stop on the side of the Brown Spur drainage ditch along Highway 60. Sikeston was surrounded by drainage ditches to help prevent flooding. Bill suffered a head injury and crawled out of the wrecked car. He could hear the sounds of passing cars and could see their headlights as they passed. He began crawling up the steep embankment toward the highway. As he was crawling, he slipped and fell into the drainage ditch which contained four feet of water. There, he drowned.

Virginia was devastated. Three months after the accident, she had her child and named him William J. Blythe III in honor of her late husband. Everyone called him Billy. Virginia, now a single parent, went to nursing school in New Orleans, Louisiana. Virginia’s parents took care of Billy while she was away. In 1950, Virginia returned to Hope and went to work as a nurse. In that same year, she met and married a car dealership owner named Roger. In 1956, Roger and Virginia had a son whom they named Roger Jr. At some point, Billy Blythe began using his stepfather’s last name, and, in 1962, Billy legally changed his last name so that he and his half-brother would have the same last name. In the following year, Billy was selected to be a delegate to Boys Nation, a special youth leadership conference held in Washington D.C. Billy was among the other boys from Boys Nation who, along with the Girls Nation, were invited to the Rose Garden at the White House to meet President John F. Kennedy. Billy was one of the first in line to shake JFK’s hand. Billy said later that meeting JFK had a profound impact on his life.

Imagine just for a second that Bill Blythe’s car wreck never occurred. Billy Blythe III would probably have been born in Chicago. The whole trajectory of his life would have been different. He probably would not have become President of the United States. If he had, we would know him as Bill Blythe rather than Bill Clinton.

Sources:

1. Daily American Republic (Poplar Bluff, Missouri), May 18, 1946, p.1.

2. “It All Began in a Place Called Hope: Biography of the President Bill Clinton,” National Archives, accessed February 15, 2026, https://clintonwhitehouse5.archives.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/Hope.html.

Carolyn Gaar, age 88, entered into her eternal rest peacefully at her home in Gaars Mill on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, surrounded by her loving family.

Mrs. Gaar was known to many throughout Winn Parish and the surrounding communities as the beloved owner of Billie’s Flower Shop, where for more than 30 years she brought beauty, color, and comfort to countless families during both joyful celebrations and moments of sorrow. Through her artistry and compassionate spirit, she left an enduring mark on the community she so dearly loved.

In addition to her years as a business owner, Carolyn faithfully served the children of Winn Parish for over 20 years as a school bus driver at Dodson High School. She considered it a privilege to safely transport generations of students, many of whom remembered her warm smile and steady presence.

Her life was one of service. She was an active member of the Pilot Club and the Home Demonstration Club, always willing to lend her time and talents to community efforts. During the years her children and grandchildren attended Dodson High School, she could often be found volunteering, supporting school activities, and cheering them on with pride.

Above all, Carolyn dearly loved her boys, and they, in turn, took the very best of care of their mamma. She was a loyal and devoted friend; on Friday nights, she enjoyed fiercely competitive card games with Joann McDaniel, Linda Bustin, Totsy Gaar and Betty Parker-games marked by laughter, intensity, and cherished fellowship.

She was preceded in death by her father, Virgil Samples; her mother, Christine Williford Samples; her husband, Shelby Gaar, Sr.; her son, Ralph Jenkins; her siblings, Mary McGill, Linda Bowman, and Bobby Samples.

Those left to cherish her memory include her son, Shelby Gaar, Jr. (Quanita) of Dodson, Louisiana; her grandchildren, Meagan Jenkins Garrett (Bryan), Dallas Jenkins (Jami), and Lane Johnson (Sydney); her great-grandchildren, Memphis Northcutt, Madilyn Jenkins, Westin Jenkins, Kase Johnson, and Korleigh Johnson; and her brother, Billy Samples, along with a host of extended family and friends who will forever hold her memory close to their hearts.

The family received friends at Southern Funeral Home in Winnfield, Louisiana on Saturday, February 21, 2026 from 5:00PM until 8:00PM. Visitation occurred again on Sunday, February 22, 2026 from 12 noon until time of services which were held at 2:00PM in the chapel of Southern with Rev. Kevin Womack officiating. Interment immediately followed the service in New Hope Cemetery in Dodson, Louisiana under the direction of Southern Funeral Homes.

Serving as pallbearers were Bryan Garrett, Lane Johnson, Donnie McDaniel, Chase Hemperly, Michael Gray, and Dylan Womack. Honorary pallbearers will be Shelby Gaar, Jr., Dallas Jenkins, Memphis Northcutt, and Kase Johnson.

The family wishes to thank the doctors and staff of Winn Parish Medical Center and Hand in Hand Hospice for their unending services.

Carolyn’s legacy is one of devotion to her family, her community, and her friends. Her hands arranged flowers that spoke when words failed, her steady driving carried children safely to and from school, and her life reflected a quiet strength and enduring love that will not be forgotten.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to New Hope Cemetery, 109 Mistye Lane, Winnfield, Louisiana 71483.