The 46th Annual Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival will be held on Saturday July 18, in the air–conditioned Prather Coliseum located at 220 S. Jefferson Street on the Northwestern State University campus in Natchitoches. The festival’s curated showcase of Louisiana folk musicians, food vendors and traditional crafts persons will open at 9 a.m. with live entertainment scheduled for 9:45 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The family-oriented festival is fully wheelchair accessible. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Tickets are $10 at the door for all events or $6 for an evening pass to all events after 5 p.m. 

In honor of the 2026 Festival theme, “America the Beautiful,” the Festival will feature the traditional music of the nation – blues, gospel, Cajun, Celtic, country, bluegrass and zydeco on three stages of music as well as in the Magale Recital Hall. Music and dance headliners include Cajun bands Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys and Poisson Rouge, zydeco band Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie, blues artists the Wayne “Blue” Burns Band and the Snake Doctors, western swing and classic country artists Gal Holiday and the Honky Revue, the Rising Dragon Lion Dance Team, bluegrass group Catahoula Drive, gospel groups the Amazing! Rhythm Disciples and the Winnsboro Easter Rock Ensemble and dance performances by Native Nations Intertribal, the Rising Dragon Lion Dance Team, the Thistle Dancers and Pipers and Fijian traditional dance by the Rokobou Family. In addition will be a special appearance by Kovanda’s Czech Band which will accompany the Louisiana Czech Heritage Dancers. The festival also includes numerous food vendors offering traditional Louisiana cuisine. Outdoor activities feature demonstrations of traditional blacksmithing, Dutch oven cooking and a child-friendly hands-on demonstration of a 19th century wash day. 

More than 80 crafts vendors have been invited to display and discuss their traditional work with festival patrons. Craftspeople are expected to display beadwork, baskets, cowhide chair covers, alligator jewelry, Pysanky eggs, Native American crafts and pottery. Other expected craftspeople will display needlework, wood carvings, handmade toys and dolls, paintings, sculpture, homemade soap, spinning and weaving, handcrafted knives, handmade brooms, walking sticks, folk art quilts and more. 

The Festival will include a Gumbo Cook-Off, in which professionals and hobbyists alike can compete in one of the multiple categories and demonstrate their cooking skills in any of three categories, Seafood, Poultry Plus and People’s Choice. All gumbo must be cooked on-site, with no commercial or pre-made roux allowed. Poultry, meat, seafood, rice and broth or stock may be prepared in advance or on-site and canned broth is allowed. Registration and the Cooks’ Meeting will take place at 8:00 a.m. Tasting and judging will begin at 12:30 p.m. with winners announced at 3:15 p.m. There is no fee to compete in the Cook-Off. 

The Annual Louisiana State Fiddle Championship will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the Magale Recital Hall. There will be a non-championship class and a championship class. A twin fiddle category will also be held. Registration is at noon in the first-floor foyer outside Magale Recital Hall. The Fiddle Championship winner will perform on the main stage at Prather Coliseum at 5 p.m. 

The festival includes several opportunities for patrons to engage directly with Louisiana folk culture. Free dance lessons include clogging or flatfoot dancing with Clancey Stewart, Celtic dance taught by the Thistle Dancers and Pipers and Cajun and zydeco dancing taught by the Cajun French Music Association Dance Troupe. Interactive activities include dancing with the Louisiana Czech Heritage Dancers and Native Nations Intertribal. 

“The festival bridges the distance between artists and the festival patrons, thus breaking the artificial barriers between artists and audience,” said Dr. Shane Rasmussen, director of the festival and NSU’s Louisiana Folklife Center. “Rather than watching from the sidelines, everyone who takes part in these activities will share and engage in Louisiana’s rich culture.” 

KidFest will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Kidfest is an area dedicated to child-friendly activities and is a fun way for children to examine their own cultural and family traditions as well as those from around the state. 

Narrative sessions will be held in the festival N-Club Room from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will feature presentations on the making of the first sinker cypress fiddle, traditional carding, spinning and weaving, Fijian traditional culture, Louisiana foodways and heritage language revitalization. In addition will be music informances on Cajun music with bands Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys and Poisson Rouge. ASL interpretation, assistive listening devices and audio description for these cultural discussions will be made available upon prior request by July 10.  

This year also features several pre-Festival events which are free and open to the general public. A Visit with the Bagpipe will be held at 2 p.m. on July 11 at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum at 800 Front Street in Natchitoches. Attendees at this free workshop will learn the basics of traditional Celtic bagpipe and drumming, as well as Highland dance. The workshop will also feature a Celtic music and dance performance by the Thistle Dancers and Pipers. A second free pre-festival event will be a music and dance performance by Native Nations Intertribal at 6 p.m. on July 17 at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Members of Native Nations Intertribal will also engage in a discussion of their traditions with anthropologist Dr. Hiram “Pete” Gregory, an expert on Southeastern Native American tribes and culture. 

For a full schedule of events, online registration forms to participate in the Louisiana State Fiddle Championship and the Gumbo Cook-Off or to make a donation contact the Louisiana Folklife Center at (318) 357-4332, email folklife@nsula.edu or go to nsula.edu/folklife/. 

Support for the Festival is provided by grants from the Cane River National Heritage Area, Inc., the Louisiana Division of the Arts Decentralized Arts Fund Program, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Natchitoches Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Shreveport Regional Arts Council and the State of Louisiana. The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program will not necessarily represent those of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.  

The festival is sponsored by Alliance Compressors, Atmos Energy, C&H Precision Machining, City Bank, Cleco, Evans Family, LLC, the Harrington Law Firm, Natchitoches Wood Preserving Company, Ronnie’s Auto Glass and Collision Center and Young Estate, LLC. 

Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.”

Doug said, “I drive, therefore I am,” and honestly, I’m starting to trust my version more.

I spend so many hours with my body attached to a car that I’m basically a mobile Methodist. I know I20 like the back of my hand—every bump, every dip, every spot where my cell signal disappears as if it’s entering the Witness Protection Program. I know where law enforcement hides, waiting to catch those who treat the speed limit as a suggestion from a friend rather than a command from the state. I know exactly how far I can push the fuel light before I’m praying in tongues at the next exit. If you see me on the Interstate, give me a wave. I’ll wave back. I’m friendly like that.

Driving entertains me. I read bumper stickers like they’re sacred texts. If you see me tailgating, don’t worry—I’m not being aggressive; I’m just trying to discern whether your “Coexist” sticker is faded or ironic. And I’ve developed a spiritual gift: I can tell when someone is talking on the phone while driving. They always slow down. Always. It’s like the car senses the conversation and decides to meditate.

Today I was headed to Bossier City when the nice truck in front of me decided it was time for a midjourney spa treatment. He hit his windshield washer at 70 mph. At my following distance, his washer fluid became my washer fluid. A surprise baptism by RainX. I just smiled and thanked God for the improvisational rain shower. Louisiana weather is unpredictable, but apparently so are Louisiana drivers.

Now here’s where the sermon sneaks in.

My actions can change your attitude, and your attitude interprets my actions. That’s the whole ballgame.

I could’ve gotten mad. I could’ve imagined he did it on purpose. I could’ve turned on my wipers and smeared my windshield into a Monet painting. Or I could interpret it factually: I was following too closely behind a man with a dirty windshield who needed to see better. Or I could interpret it spiritually: God’s grace falls on the just, the unjust, and the guy behind the truck who wasn’t expecting a windshield blessing.

We don’t live in a vacuum. Our actions splash onto the people behind us—sometimes literally. That’s why Scripture tells us to be careful how we walk. We don’t want to trip someone else up. But the other side is just as important: I’m not responsible for what you do to me, but I am responsible for what I let your actions do inside me.

The world is small. The road is shared. And whether we like it or not, we’re all windshield washers for somebody.

So drive kindly. Live kindly. And if you must baptize the car behind you, at least use the good fluid.

July 1 marks the anniversary of one of the most significant events in American history—the beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

Fought over three days in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the battle became the largest and deadliest engagement of the American Civil War. More than 160,000 Union and Confederate soldiers converged on the small town, where intense fighting ultimately resulted in an estimated 51,000 soldiers killed, wounded, captured or missing.

The battle began on July 1 as Confederate and Union forces unexpectedly encountered one another outside Gettysburg. As additional troops arrived throughout the day, the fighting intensified and eventually spread across the surrounding hills and ridges.

The conflict reached its climax on July 3 with Pickett’s Charge, a massive Confederate assault against the center of the Union line. The attack failed, forcing Confederate General Robert E. Lee to retreat south, ending his second and final invasion of the North.

Historians widely consider the Battle of Gettysburg a turning point in the Civil War. Lee’s defeat halted Confederate momentum, while the Union victory strengthened Northern morale and shifted the course of the conflict.

Just four months later, President Abraham Lincoln returned to Gettysburg to dedicate the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. During the ceremony, he delivered the Gettysburg Address, a brief speech that became one of the most enduring expressions of American democracy and the nation’s founding ideals.

Today, Gettysburg National Military Park preserves the battlefield, allowing millions of visitors each year to explore the site where one of the defining moments in United States history began on July 1, 1863.

For 20 years Cris had worked as a commercial fisherman and a dockworker.  On this particular cold March afternoon, Cris had some time on his hands.  He had just returned from working on a ship in the Bahamas and was waiting to catch another ship which would take him to yet another port city.  He never caught that ship.  While he waited, Cris walked over the frozen, snow-covered ground to King Street, the port city’s main hub of activity.  Cris carried a pound stick, a tool of his trade.  A pound stick was a large stick used to strike or pound a ship’s deck to summon crew to their stations and for setting the pacing for others while they were loading and unloading a ship’s cargo.  When not on duty, Cris and other sailors used their pound sticks as walking sticks.  

Shopkeepers on King Street recognized that something other than the comings and goings of regular commerce was happening in front of the government building nearby.  Shopkeeper Edward Payne stood in his entry doorway gazing at the large crowd trying to understand the situation.  Edward heard the voices of men and boys yelling at each other in the crowd.  Suddenly, chaos erupted.  The men and boys threw rocks, hard-packed snowballs, and anything else they could get their hands on at the nine guards protecting the government building.  Some of the sailors swung their pound sticks at the guards.  Whether Cris swung his stick has never been confirmed, but he was in the front when the guards opened fire.  The gunfire lasted for only a few seconds.  

Yells of anger turned into a mixture of moans of pain and shrieks of terror.  51-year-old Sam Gray, a rope maker, was shot in the head and died instantly.  17-year-old Sam Maverick, an apprentice, was shot in the stomach and died the following day.  49-year-old James Caldwell, a mate on a ship, was shot twice in the back and died in the street.  30-year-old Patrick Carr, leather worker, was shot in the hip and died nine days later.  Cris was shot twice in the chest and died instantly.

Others were injured but survived.  Shopkeeper Edward Payne’s arm was broken when he was struck by a shot as he stood in his shop’s doorway.  John Green, a tailor, was shot in his thigh.  Robert Patterson, a sailor, was shot through his right arm.  A youth named David Parker was shot in his thigh.  Two 17-year-old boys, Christopher Monk and John Clark, both apprentices on ships, were shot; Monk in the back and Clark in his abdomen.  All but Monk recovered from their wounds.  Monk’s wound was extremely severe, left him disabled, and led to his early death ten years later.  

Most citizens in Great Britain are unaware of this altercation, but the British government officially referred to it as the Incident on King Street.  Colonists initially called it the Bloody Massacre.  The world now refers to the Incident on King Street as the Boston Massacre.  

Sources:

1.     The Boston Gazette, March 12, 1770, p.1-3.

2.     “The bloody massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.,” Library of Congress, accessed June 28, 2027, https://www.loc.gov/item/2008661777/.

3.     “What was the Boston Massacre?” Boston Massacre Historical Society, accessed June 28, 2027, https://www.bostonmassacre.net/index.html.

The Winn Parish Police Jury will meet Thursday, June 25 at 5:00 PM for a regular meeting at the Winn Parish Courthouse, 119 West Main Street, Room 112.

June 24 marks the anniversary of the event that helped launch America’s modern fascination with unidentified flying objects.

On June 24, 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine bright, unidentified objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier. His account became one of the first UFO sightings to receive widespread national attention in the years following World War II.

Arnold was flying near the mountain when he said the objects moved rapidly across the sky. He described their motion as similar to a saucer skipping across water. News reports interpreted the description as referring to the objects’ shape, helping popularize the phrase “flying saucer.”

The objects were never definitively identified. Arnold initially considered whether they could have been experimental military aircraft, but officials said no test flights were taking place in the area at that time.

The report was followed by a surge of similar sightings across the country and helped establish the public interest in UFOs that would continue for decades. While accounts of unusual objects in the sky existed long before 1947, the Arnold sighting is widely regarded as a starting point for the modern UFO era.

In sports there’s nothing better than playing at home. Doesn’t matter if it’s a regular season game or a playoff game, playing at home in front of your home crowd can make a huge difference in the outcome of the game.

But there is one sport where the “home field advantage” doesn’t always pan out. In fact, it can actually be a disadvantage! The sport would be tournament bass fishing. 

When you’re the “local” angler, you are usually considered the favorite due to the amount of success and knowledge you have about the lake/river.

Anglers always look forward to fishing an event on their home water. It’s an opportunity to sleep in your own bed, eat a good home cooked meal and everything is very routine. You tend to be more relaxed, but you also feel the pressure of being the favorite.

Then as you prepare for the tournament, you put a game plan together that usually involves looking at past history. This is where things can go wrong!

Just like people, anglers are creatures of habit and tend to lean towards fishing the same way we have in the past, especially when we’ve been successful on our home lake/river. 

When you are fortunate enough to have an event on your home water, you want to make a good showing and hopefully bring home a win. 

But why is there so much pressure on the angler who is fishing his home lake? Here’s the problem. Because you know the lake/river so well and you know so many good areas that hold fish, you can’t decide which area you should hit first. 

Do you go where you caught them last year at this same time, or go where you caught them two years ago where you won the tournament? Too much history on a body of water can really clutter the brain and destroy a game plan. 

Then you decide to go with your gut and start in area A where you’ve done well in the past. But after you start fishing this area on tournament day with little to no success, you start to question your decision. 

Now confusion or panic sets in and you really start thinking too much! So, then you decide to fall back to Plan B to try and salvage the day and just make a good showing. 

Too much knowledge on any body of water can be detrimental to putting a good game plan together and is the fear of every angler who fishes their home water, especially in a big event.  

Sometimes you’re better off throwing history out the window and approach the lake like you would any body of water you’ve never fished before. This is why scouting before an event is so important. Pay attention to what the fish are doing at that particular time and make your game plan around that.

All anglers at some point make fishing complicated. We tend to try and outsmart the fish and end up outsmarting ourselves. While I’m not sure who said it, but the words “keep it simple stupid” are very fitting for bass anglers! 

Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com

I had it. Oh, I had it.

The greatest idea in the history of these Ponderings. Pulitzerworthy. Heavensanctioned. The kind of idea that makes you sit up straighter in your car at the Walgreens red light and think, “Well now… that’s good.”

I remember exactly where I was when it arrived. I was headed to Tractor Supply to look at things I will never use in my life. I call this “expanding my horizons,” though my horizons remain suspiciously unchanged. Still, there I sat—traffic creeping, inspiration soaring. The idea was brilliant. It was illuminating. It was humorous. It was under six hundred words. It was perfect.

And then a voice in my head whispered, “This one is unforgettable. No need to write it down.”

Never trust that voice. That voice lies. That voice is the same one that says, “You don’t need a grocery list,” and “You’ll remember where you parked,” and “You can fix that without reading the instructions.”

The truth is: I have absolutely no idea what the idea was. None. I don’t know if it was about faith or farming or ferrets. I don’t know if it was animal, mineral, or vegetable. It has vanished. Gone. Evaporated. Or worse—someone else posted it on social media this morning and is now being hailed as a genius. If you read something brilliant, illuminating, and humorous today, it was probably mine.

I do remember this much: it had something to do with a Yiddish proverb I’m using in a sermon later this month. It goes like this: “If one man calls you an ass, pay him no mind. If two men call you an ass—go buy a saddle.” I thought it was brilliant, illuminating, and humorous. I just forgot what else went with it.

Do you forget?  Because I do. More and more. As I grow more “mature” (which is the polite churchnewsletter way of saying “things are starting to creak”), I’ve noticed my mind isn’t quite as quick as it once was. I forget names. I forget appointments. I forget why I walked into the kitchen. I even forgot to read an online article about remembering not to forget.

But here’s the tender truth tucked inside all this forgetfulness:

God remembers you. Every bit of you. Not the polished version you wish you were—you. He remembers you with love, with delight, with the kind of attention usually reserved for an only child. And while God remembers you, He chooses to forget something else entirely:

Your sins. When you confess them, He doesn’t file them, store them, or keep them in a drawer labeled “For Later Use.” He forgets them. Completely. Eternally. Joyfully. So if God has forgotten your sins, why are you still lugging them around like a saddle you never needed to buy?

Maybe the real brilliance—the idea I lost somewhere between Walgreens and Tractor Supply—is simply this:

Your memory may fail you, but God’s mercy never does.  And that’s something worth remembering.

Michael Faraday was born in 1791 just outside London, England.  Michael’s father, a blacksmith who was often too ill to work steadily, could hardly afford to feed himself, his wife, and Michael and his three siblings.  He could certainly not afford to send his children to school.  Up until he was a teenager, Michael could only perform rudimentary reading, writing, and math, basic skills he learned at his church’s Sunday school.  When Michael was 14, his father arranged a seven-year apprenticeship for him under George Riebau, a bookbinder.  One of the perks of the job was that George allowed Michael to read any of the books they worked on.  Michael read books on a variety of subjects but became passionate about science.  Michael’s desire to learn impressed George as well as his customers.  One customer gave Michael tickets to attend four lectures by Humphry Davy, professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution.  Michael took copious notes and bound them in book form.  When Michael’s apprenticeship with the bookbinder ended, 22-year-old Michael asked Humphry for a job and provided his bound notes.  Humphry was taken aback by Michael’s interest, understanding, and determination, and hired Michael to be his assistant at the Royal Institute.  For the next 18 months, Michael accompanied Humphry on a tour of scientific institutions in Europe where he met noted scientists including André-Marie Ampère (for whom the ampere or amp is named) and Alessandro Volta (for whom the volt is named).  

In 1820, Michael had mastered chemistry to the point that he was developing his own theoretical views and ways to test his theories.  When Humphry retired, Michael replaced him as professor of chemistry at the Royal Institute.  While a professor, Michael became the first chemist to liquefy a “permanent” gas, one which the scientific community believed was incapable of liquification.  He discovered benzene, a colorless and highly flammable gas with a sweet smell which is partially responsible for the odor of gasoline.  His experiments with chemistry combined with electricity transformed electricity from a curiosity to a useful technology and led to him being called the father of electrochemistry and electromagnetism.  Among his many inventions were the electric motor, the electric generator, electric transformers, and a container for holding hydrogen.      

In 1824, Michael was performing experiments with hydrogen to understand its properties.  He experimented with several different containers to determine the best vessel for holding hydrogen.  In one experiment, Michael cut out two pieces of raw, tacky rubber into circles, rubbed flour on the center of the two pieces to prevent it from sticking, and pressed the edges of the rubber together.  The edges of the raw rubber sealed to itself automatically.  The scientific community was so enthralled with Michael’s new container that in the following year, 1825, rubber manufacturer Thomas Hancock began producing do-it-yourself rubber hydrogen container kits for scientists.  Rubber manufacturers eventually mass-produced and marketed these containers to the public.  Each of us has probably owned a modernized version of Michael’s hydrogen container.  Rather than hydrogen, we fill ours with helium.  In that chemistry lab, Michael Faraday invented what we now know as the toy rubber balloon.  Can you imagine a world without Michael Faraday’s hydrogen containers?  

Sources:

1.     “The Genius of Michael Faraday,” American Association fo rthte Advancement of Science, September 11, 2012, accessed June 14, 2026, https://www.aaas.org/membership/scientia/genius-michael-faraday.

2.     “Balloons,” Science World, accessed June 14, 2026, https://www.scienceworld.ca/resource/balloons/.

3.     Dmitriy Vaysman, “A Brief History of Party Balloons,” Balloon Lab, January 24, 2024, accessed June 14, 2026, https://balloonlabusa.com/a-brief-history-of-party-balloons/. 

Louisiana motorists will no longer be required to display vehicle inspection stickers on personal, non-commercial vehicles beginning Jan. 1, 2027, under a new state law approved during the 2026 Regular Legislative Session.

House Bill 1085 was passed by the Louisiana Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jeff Landry. The law eliminates the inspection sticker requirement for personal, non-commercial vehicles registered in Louisiana starting Jan. 1, 2027.

The law also creates a transition period beginning June 30, 2026. From June 30, 2026, through Jan. 1, 2027, law enforcement officers may not issue citations solely for failing to display or produce a certificate of inspection.

As a result, Louisiana State Police announced that it has immediately stopped enforcing inspection sticker violations.

Even though inspection sticker enforcement has ended, other traffic and vehicle laws remain in effect. Drivers are still responsible for ensuring their vehicles are safe and properly maintained, including working lights, brakes, tires and other required equipment.

Louisiana State Police said its focus during the transition period will be on educating motorists and helping the public understand how the new law affects them moving forward.

• June 30, 2026: Officers can no longer issue citations solely for missing inspection stickers or certificates.
• Jan. 1, 2027: Personal, non-commercial vehicles in Louisiana are no longer required to display inspection stickers.

If you drive a personal, non-commercial vehicle in Louisiana, you do not need to worry about receiving a ticket for an expired or missing inspection sticker during the transition period, and the sticker requirement will officially end on Jan. 1, 2027. However, your vehicle must still meet all other safety and equipment laws on Louisiana roadways.

Northwestern State University announces the names of Dean’s List students for the Spring 2026 semester. Students on the Dean’s List must be enrolled full-time at Northwestern and have a grade point average of between 3.5 and 3.99.

For questions regarding the Dean’s List, contact the NSU Registrar’s Office at (318) 357- 6171 or email registrar@nsula.edu.

Students listed by hometown (within Journal coverage areas) are as follows.

Goldonna – Winsome Guillory

Winnfield – Mattie Barnes, Kyleigh Blundell, Maggie Bruce, Sarah Carter, Haley Collins, Peyton Glenn, Pamela Hight, Marvanesha Lewis, Eli Little, John Pickett, Ella Price, Caleb Reed, Tolbert Triplett