TRY OUTS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2022
(GROVE ST. RECREATION CENTER GYM)

9:00AM–4-6 YR OLD BOYS AND GIRLS (Co-Ed)
10:00AM–7-9 GIRLS
10:30AM-7-9 BOYS
11:00AM–10-11 GIRLS
ll:30PM–10-11 BOYS
12:00PM–12-UP GIRLS
12:30PM–12-UP BOYS

WHAT EVER AGE YOUR CHILD HAS ATTAINED ON FEB 20, 2023 IS THE AGE AT WHICH THEY WILL PLAY THIS SEASON.

**COACHES SHOULD MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO ATTEND TRYOUTS DUE TO THE FACT THAT YOU WILL BE GRADING AND PICKING YOUR TEAMS. EACH LEAGUE WILL BE PICKING TEAMS IMMEDIATELY AFTER TRYOUTS CONCLUDE.

TRYOUTS ARE MANDATORY!

Download the registration form here: 

Date:  !2-11-22
Name: Regina K Elliot 
Address: Sikes, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female 
Age: 52
Charge:  Resisting an officer, Battery of a police officer, Resisting a police officer with force or violence 

Date: 12-12-22
Name: Daniel Barnett
Address: Goldonna, LA
Race: White 
Sex: Female 
Age: 20
Charge: Contempt of court 

Date: !2-13-22
Name: Cody Dunlap 
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male 
Age: 22
Charge: Unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling 

Date: 12-13-22
Name: Cody Thomas Morgan
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White 
Sex: Male 
Age: 20
Charge: Failure to appear 

Date: 12-13-22
Name: Damien D Foster 
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male 
Age: 32
Charge: Failure to appear 

Date: 12-13-22
Name: Chad E Johnson 
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Male 
Age: 48
Charge: Failure to appear 

Date: 12-14-22
Name: Damien D Foster 
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black
Sex: Male
Age: 32
Charge:  Failure to appear 

Date: 12-14-22
Name: Summer N Vines 
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female 
Age: 39
Charge: Failure to appear 

Date: 12-15-22
Name: John D Rogers 
Address: Winnfield, LA
Race: Black 
Sex: Male 
Age: 48
Charge: Forgery to financial investments, Injury to public records 

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.

When Halloween has made its appearance and gone, I mentally begin preparing my Christmas decorating schedule. I check the calendar and pinpoint dates to hang the Christmas lights and make the trip to the storage shed to retrieve all of my Christmas decor. This is always entertaining, it never fails that I find Christmas items that I purchased the year before that I totally forgot about.

I get to feel the joy of shopping all over again.

One of the most protected boxes that is carefully planned and unpacked is my box of ornaments. It is treated like a family treasure that is securely tucked away to prevent any type of peril that could cause it harm.

Every single beautiful ornament in that well protected storage box holds a special memory that is very dear to my heart. Some of them tell a story of year’s gone by. Some were given to me by precious friends who are no longer with me. One of my favorite ornaments is a Mercury glass gingerbread house that is so large it comes in its very own box. It was given to me by a neighbor in Winnfield who passed away the next year. Every time I untie the red silk ribbon I think of her beautiful smile and joyful personality.

Some of the ornaments signify life’s milestones. The Lennox “Baby’s First Christmas Ornament” has faded quite a bit since 1998, yet I still hang it with pride. It has earned a permanent spot on the front of the Christmas Tree. The “Baby’s First Christmas Ornament” from 2006 lived a very short life as the child born that same year was way more rambunctious than her older sister.

I have often thought about shopping on Ebay for a 2006 replacement. Mainly so it doesn’t look like I play favorites with daughters.

Even though I do not have her official baby ornament, I have a profuse amount of glitter bombed, paper plate and popsicle stick ornaments made by her precious little daycare hands. It will always amaze me how the craftsmanship of these prized paper ornaments have survived the packing and unpacking for over a decade. I even believe they get stronger as every year passes by. I am ashamed to publicly admit it, these have a permanent spot on the back of my tree.

No one ever said I was a perfect parent. This mom loves an aesthetically pleasing tree too!

I also cherish a small wooden box of tiny Mercury glass Nutcracker ornaments. This treasure never leaves the house, it has a permanent place located indoors where it is temperature controlled. These were given to me by my mother who is no longer with us. She loved Christmas and believed in gifting you with precious things that would last a lifetime. If I am being totally honest, most years I do not hang them on the tree.

I just do not trust my small dog, outside cat and especially the inside Kat…with her stray volleyballs.

Along with these amazing memories that I love to relive, I also have those that bring me a certain amount of grief. There is the “Our First Year Together” ornament date stamped 1995 that may have slipped out of my hands, or thrown into the fireplace one Christmas. My memory is a little rusty. There are countless vacation ornaments purchased from various National Parks and destinations from family vacations. Some of these still hang on the tree because my daughters love them. I try not to make a huge deal out of it. I made a promise to myself to not spend much time pondering over the things that have changed. Sometimes life does not work out the way you plan. In fact, most of the time it does not.

Some of those ornaments truly feel like a Ghost from Christmas Past. It was so easy to get lost in wondering how things might have turned out.

Over the past few years the Lord has been reconditioning my heart to not dwell on the past. This is also when God began his mighty works in our lives. When I dwell on the things that are no longer in my life I begin to feel like Lot’s wife who was warned not to look back. Nothing good comes from living in the past in a sorrowful way. I am now looking forward to the good things the Lord has planned for us. He has not disappointed us yet and I know he will never forsake us.

I sincerely want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, especially my friends who are experiencing life changes of their own. You are loved by a Savior whose birthday is celebrated this very month.

“For behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19

Alexandria, LA-United Way of Central has committed $10,000 for utility payment assistance to residents of Rapides parish residents

• Beginning December 12, qualifying residential customers in central Louisiana will be able to apply for a one-time $250 assistance on their utility bill through their UWCL website (uwcl.org)
• United Way of Central Louisiana will accept applications for residential customers who reside in our service area: Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, La Salle, Rapides, Vernon and Winn. 
• Those needing assistance are encouraged to visit http://www.uwcl.org for the most up-to-date information on bill assistance under “Get Help”.

United Way recognizes that although COVID may not be an everyday topic we are still seeing the effects. We are seeing it in our families that are now recovering financially from the past three years of financial challenges.

“We know these are difficult times for our communities, we saw it after doing our assistance program with Entergy” said Michelle Purl United Way of Central Louisiana CEO. “We want to ensure we’re doing everything we can to lessen the burden for our ALICE families. That is why we are targeting the working class with our assistance. The families in our community that are trying to do better but the holidays are hard financially.”

Assistance Guidelines

• Must have current employment (at least one household member)
• Must not have been assisted by UWCL in the past 12 months

• Customers with a household income of up to 250% of the federal poverty level will be qualified. This equates to:

Monthly:

• Family of 1 = $2,831
• Family of 2 = $3,814
• Family of 3 = $4,797
• Family of 4 = $5,781
• Family of 5 = $6,764
• Family of 6 = $7,747
• Family of 7 = $8,731
• Family of 8 = $9,714

• Must live in United Way of Central Louisiana’s service area
  • Avoyelles
  • Catahoula
  • Concordia
  • Grant
  • LaSalle
  • Rapides
  • Vernon
  • Winn

DOCUMENTATION

(Applicants will be required to upload documents. These file types are accepted: .jpg .tif .png .pdf

• Photo ID (driver’s license or state-issued ID, passport)
• Income Verification (choose one)
  • Last paystub for all income earners in household
  • Social Security Administration 1099 or 1042-S form

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

(please have this information handy when you start your application)

• Utility bill
• Valid email address
• Working phone number
• Utility service address
• Number of people in household
• Total annual income of all earners in household
• Income earners over the age of 18 in the household

**All documents must be turned in at the same time as the application for the application to be considered complete. All incomplete applications will require extra processing time or be denied if documents are not submitted within 5 days of notification.**

HOW IT WORKS

• Fill out the application online form and upload supporting documents.
• United Way’s Caseworker will review your application and get back to you within 14 business days.
• You will be notified if an appointment is necessary.
• Approved applications will receive a $250 credit on their utility bill within 30 days.

United Way of Central Louisiana will only be accepting online applications. We will update our website with the most current information.

By: Glynn Harris

There is an area in Louisiana capable of naturally producing habitat amenable to growing big healthy bucks and does. Land along the Mississippi delta is rich in nutrients with plants growing naturally there that are highly nutritious. Deer that feed on such a bountiful buffet tend to grow larger bodies with bucks sporting impressive racks.

The northern part of the state, for the most part, consists of rolling red clay hills and pine trees, not the type of habitat where deer can reach their maximum potential.

Sabine Parish is just such a location with habitat basically that you don’t expect to see deer grow to impressive weights and antler growth.

Ten years ago, something began taking shape to change the production of deer in a portion of Sabine Parish from piney woods averages to eye-popping characteristics. A group of hunters, who own and lease some 3,000 acres in Sabine Parish decided to see if their piney woods could do something to produce higher quality deer. Ryan Masters was one of the group who set out to see if it could be done.

“Ten years or so ago, I was fortunate to be able to hunt in the Midwest. I began wondering how those guys up there had much bigger deer that we had here in our part of Louisiana,” said Masters.

“I began realizing that up there, they were allowed only one buck tag per season and bucks must be five years old or older. It started dawning on me that I get six tags and can hunt deer for over two months and there is no restriction on age or antler size here,” he said.

Masters and his friends decided to try and do something about it. Could bigger bucks be raised in Sabine Parish? They were determined to try and find out.

“We developed what we’re calling the ‘Midwest Style’ of management. We changed our regulations to allowing members to take only one buck a year and the one they can take has to be at least five years old. Our property is in the piney woods with not much quality natural deer food. We keep food plots out all year and we developed our own protein blend of supplemental food we have been using on our club.

“We studied up on things that can help any area produce more quality animals and learned that the amount of sunlight, the amount of minerals, the availability of water sources along with genetics are keys to raising deer that are above the norm,” Masters said.

By the 2018 deer season, Masters and his friends began seeing positive results from their more aggressive approach.

On a personal note, I write stories of big bucks taken around the state for LA Sportsman magazine and just about year, I’ll be hearing about and writing about one the Masters’ group has produced. The current 2022-23 season has produced one when Ryan Masters son, Joel, downed a big 10 point buck weighing 220 pounds with an inside spread of over 20 inches, a buck with antlers measurements of 156 2/8 inches.

By improving the land you’re permitted to hunt, providing year around nutritious food sources high in protein, limit the number of bucks members can take during season and passing on those smaller bucks giving them time to grow and reach their potential, results are possible.

“I am able to tell folks that if they want to grow big deer on marginal habitat,” Masters said, “it can be done.”

NATCHITOCHES:

Mickal “Mike” Albert Edwards
March 7, 1951 – December 12, 2022
Service: Saturday, December 17 at 10 am at New Life Evangelism Center, located at 4810 University Parkway in Natchitoches

Curtis Lawrence Johnson
November 28, 2022
Service: Saturday, December 17 at 10 am at Calvary Baptist Church, located at 312 LA-3191 in Natchitoches

The Winn Parish Chamber of Commerce & Tourism honored one of its own Thursday afternoon. The Chamber honored the longtime treasurer, Mrs. June Melton. Mrs. June has faithfully served the Chamber and our local community in many capacities. From seasonal decorating local businesses to maintaining the Chamber of Commerce records, Mrs. June has always provided a personal touch that can sometimes be lacking in today’s society.

We greatly appreciate all the personal and professional contributions Mrs. June has made in her many years of service.

(Bob Holeman conducted this series of interviews with local World War II veterans as a lead-up to Veterans Day 2011.  Virturally all of those 34 American heroes have passed away during the decade following these interviews).

War may be hell but World War II gave a lot of country boys the opportunity to see a world that may otherwise not have opened to them.

Houston-born Chester Derr was one who now looks back on a wonderful career at the Winn Parish Enterprise, involvement in the American Legion and community and the opportunity to go all over north Africa, the Holy Land and southern Europe through the Air Force. His one regret is that, while he saw the romantic places, his travel schedule was exhausting and he did more resting than exploring.  “I wish I had been more inquisitive,” he laments.

The handsome young cadet thought he would be a wonderful pilot, able to execute perfect three-point landings, but limited positions and an over-critical instructor prevented that.  With time running down, Derr went to radio school instead in September 1943 and, with better-than-average typing skills, he was in.  On to B-29 school in Madison, Wisconsin, he found a friendlier personnel officer, a fellow Texan, who asked simply, “So, you want to fly again?”  Paperwork followed and he was off to Las Vegas for further training.

“Transitional training in California was the toughest ever, with the wind blowing between those mountains.  Now I was a C-3 radio operator.  One day on base, I heard my name called out and turned around to see my brother, Robert Carroll Derr.  Of all the people in the world to run into, that was a surprise.

Derr’s trek for action began in August of 1944, in Nashville then on to Miami where he’d be part of a mission to deliver a massive C-46 aircraft with two B-29 engines to China.  Unlike the long distance craft of today, the trip involved many stops with names like postcards from a tropical vacation.  Puerto Rico, British Antigua and British Guiana where a landing strip was hacked out of the jungle and it was surprising to hear natives speaking the king’s English.

Derr reeled off other ports of call en route…Ascension Islands, Monrovia, Marrakesh…and each had a tale with it.  “The only thing I remember about Marrakesh is that we ate in a giant warehouse.  It was big enough to house a dirigible.”

The C-46 was bound for China but Derr was bound for North Africa where he served for the remainder of the war.  “I was sent to Casablanca.  That would be my home, flying mostly B-29 engines to Cairo.  I was in all those towns where they’re fighting now…Tripoli, Benghazi.  Then on to Oran to help deploy Gen. Mark Clark’s army out into Italy.”

The veteran observed that they often did not return in the same craft they flew out in.  “We often returned on hospital ships that could carry 11 or 12 wounded men at a time.  These were the bravest men.  They were in awful pain and their flying conditions were terrible.  But they never griped.”

In his duties, Derr was more in a support role than combat, yet he would get a combat medal for one incident in Italy.  Only bombers went on night missions, he explained, with all other aircraft out of the sky by sundown.  Derr’s flight ran late on one mission into Naples and, instead of their usual accommodations in town, his crew had to remain on the base, in a tent where the working staff changed clothes. 

“The Germans attacked and you’ve never heard so many ack-ack guns.  Planes were flying low.  They had one dead in their spotlights but somehow they couldn’t manage to bring him down.  Shrapnel was flying everywhere.”

He also had good memories of the USO and the many people who did everything they could to entertain our troops.  “We’d come and sit on everything from tree stumps to easy chairs.  I remember one…Arabella Show Shop.  Phil Silvers.  Frances Langford.”

After 1000 flight hours, personnel are supposed to be rotated home for a leave, Derr explained.  But that mark came and went without a word.  He ended up with 2000 hours.

After the war, Derr decided he didn’t want to live in Houston and found a job assisting a surveyor on a road project toward Denton.  Pay was poor and work was brutal in the dead of winter, so he decided he could do better by going back to school on the GI Bill.  He admits he had no real focus at Kilgore College.  But the Fates smiled on him, for that’s where friend Hugh Gillespie introduced him to Anne Love, a Kilgore Rangerette and “one of the best-looking women I’ve met in my life.  We hit it off.”

They married in August 1946.  This got him back in focus.  Or perhaps it was an unusual note from a judge in an essay contest by the Texas Legislature on The Duties of a Citizen in a Democratic Government.  Derr didn’t win.  In fact, the note read, “One of the most unusual papers I’ve ever seen.”  Regardless, the young student never got lower than a B and was an honor graduate from the Department of Forestry.

His early working career changed course when his company was sold and he faced a move to Baltimore.  “I’m not going to be a Yankee,” he vowed and the young couple returned to Houston.  It was the fall of 1954 when the phone rang and Anne’s aunt, Mary Riser, had decided to get back into the newspaper business and offered Chester a job in advertising.

“I had a wonderful career as advertising manager.  The town was thriving, with locally-owned stores everywhere.  We thought we knew everybody in the community.”  He is particularly proud of his role leading the local American Legion chapter which sent as many as a half dozen young men to Boys State every year, an experience that enriched their lives.

1^st Team Offense

 Co-Offensive MVP
RB Jeremiah James          Many                    7              JR
QB Malachi Jackson        Winnfield            7              SR

Offensive Line
Joe Cryer                             Many                    77           JR
Cole Pickett                        Many                    53           SR
Sam Jones                           Winnfield            65           SR
Kaleb Womack                  Winnfield            51           SR
Desmond Mitchell           Red River             77           SR
Mikel London                    Mansfield            70           SR

Quarter Back
Malachi Jackson               Winnfield            7              SR
DeKeldrick Thomas          Mansfield            1              SR          

Running Back
Jeremiah James                Many                    7              JR
Leonard Mosely                Red River             24           SR
Jamarlyn Garner               Many                    8              SR
T.J. Pegues                         Mansfield            8              JR
RyKelon Vanzandt           Mansfield            4              JR

Wide Receiver
Elijah Harper                      Red River             11           SR
Rick Davis                            Mansfield            7            SR
Trevor McClendon           Many                    6              JR
Xavier Adkins                     J-Hodge            13           JR

Tight End
Mason Leach                      Many                    87           JR
Jake Norsworthy              Winnfield            5              SR

Athlete
Keithan Hamilton             Winnfield            2              SR

^2nd Team Offense

O-Line
Colby Jones                        Many                    57           SR
David James                       Red River             52           SR
Monquerious Sturgiun   Mansfield                  50           SR
Eli Little                                Winnfield            62           JR
Cartavious Waters           J-Hodge                    74           SR
Andre Cole                          Red River             72           SR

RB
Mon’tre’veun Smith       Red River             22           SO
Kaleb Collins                 Lakeview              30           JR
Micah Simmons            Winnfield            25           SR
Trey Starks                          Winnfield            6              SR

WR
Nick Bailey                          Mansfield            11           SR
Shaylon Newton               Red River             7              SR
Jamarion Demery             Red River             5             SR

TE
Zacchariah Scott               Mansfield            9              SR
Jomello McDonald           Red River             15           SR 

Kicker
Miguel Allen                       Red River             32           SR                                          

1^st Team Defense

 Defensive MVP

Tackett Curtis                    Many                    4              SR

Defensive Line 
Swazy Carheel                   Many                 3              JR
Jacorean Smart                 Many                  54           JR
Kentravian Roberson      Winnfield            17           SR
Jake Norsworthy              Winnfield            5              SR
Reginald Prelow               Red River           44           JR
Gevious Washington      Lakeview             77           SR

Linebacker 
Garrett Culberson            Many                    29           JR
Keaton Montgomery      Many                    44           SR
Ryland Brister                Winnfield            23           SR
Trenton Grigg                 Red River             6              SR
Xavier Adkins                 J-Hodge              13           JR
Feezel Montgomery       Mansfield            20           JR

Defensive Back
Tylan Singleton                 Many                    2              JR
Tackett Curtis                    Many                    4              SR
Trey Starks                          Winnfield            6              SR
Jieron Calhoun                  Red River             2              SR
Isaac Jenkins                      Mansfield            27           SR

Kicker
Deacon Laffolette            Many                    21           JR

Punter
Malachi Jackson                Winnfield            7              SR

Kick Returner
Keithan Hamilton             Winnfield            2              SR

2^nd Team Defense

D-Line
Chris Carper                       Red River           16           JR
Adam Miller                        Many                 58           SR
Justin Ford                          Mansfield           6              SR
Manuel Espejel                 Winnfield            13           SR
T.J. Pegues                         Mansfield            8              JR
Cartavious Waters           J-Hodge                 74           SR
Jerrelle Palmer                  Lakeview             65           FR

LB
Jyrel Jones                          Red River             3              SR
Marquise Maxey              Many                    22           SR
Alex Adams                        Winnfield            20           SR
Jermicheal Howard          Mansfield            19           JR
Jeremiah Eckles                Mansfield            55           JR

DB
Trent Williams                   Many                    1            SR
Kedric Gosey                     Many                    11          JR
Jaterion Hobdy                  Winnfield            14           JR
Terrell Gary                        Red River             8           JR
DeKeldrick Thomas          Mansfield            1             SR
Kalvin Jackson                   Mansfield            2            SR
Cameron Leonard            J-Hodge               5              SR
Keymarion Newton         Red River             9             SR

Punter
Isaac Jenkins                      Mansfield            27           SR

**Honorable Mention**

O-Line
Leyton Gardner                Winnfield            72           SR
Jeremiah Jones                 Red River             57           SR

D-Line
Sam Jones                           Winnfield            65           SR

RB
Jyrel Jones                          Red River             3              SR

LB
Jeremiah Roberson         Red River             10           SR

Date: 12-5-22
Name: Sherry D Phillips
Address: Joyce, LA
Race: White
Sex: Female 
Age: 37
Charge: Theft  Continue reading →

In the mid-1960s, the space race, the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, Cold War rivals, was at its peak.  At first, the Soviet Union was ahead.  They sent up the first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1), sent the first human into space (Yuri Gagarin), and had the first human make a “spacewalk” (Alexei Leonov).  America had to play catch up, but had several firsts as well.  This is the true story about one of the American firsts in space.

Launching people into space has always been dangerous, and so it was with the Gemini 6 mission.  Gemini 6, crewed by command pilot Walter Schirra and pilot Thomas Stafford, was scheduled for launch on October 25, 1965.  One of their main objectives included four dockings with an unmanned space vehicle, the Agena Target Vehicle.  On the morning of October 25, Schirra and Stafford boarded the Gemini 6 spacecraft and prepared for launch.  During their preparations, NASA launched the unmanned target vehicle on a separate rocket.  Six minutes into the unmanned craft’s flight, a catastrophic failure caused it to explode.  As the target vehicle was needed for the mission, NASA cancelled the Gemini 6 launch. 

NASA rescheduled the spaceflight for December 12, 1965, with an altered mission objective referred to as Gemini 6A, to rendezvous but not dock with Gemini 7, a spacecraft crewed by command pilot Frank Borman and piloted by James “Jim” Lovell.  As they had done on the previous launch attempt, Schirra and Stafford boarded the spacecraft and prepared for launch.  At 9:54 a.m., the main engines ignited and, after just a second and a half, shut down abruptly.  Engineers determined the cause of the problem was a plastic dust cover mistakenly left inside the booster when it was assembled months earlier.  Engineers removed the cover and, after reinspecting the spacecraft, deemed it safe to fly.

Three days later, on the morning of December 15, astronauts Schirra and Stafford boarded the rocket for another attempt.  At 8:37, the spacecraft lifted off and rocketed into space in what engineers called a textbook launch.  After four orbits, Gemini 6A propelled towards Gemini 7 for the planned rendezvous.  The two spacecrafts carefully positioned themselves, and at one point, came within one foot of each other, and the astronauts conversed over their radios.  This was the first rendezvous of two spacecrafts in space.  After nearly four hours of remaining together in close proximity, Gemini 6A positioned itself 19 miles from Gemini 7 to ensure that there would be no accidental collisions while the astronauts slept. 

On the following morning, December 16, 1965, as the crew of Gemini 6A prepared for reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere, they radioed a distressing message to the Houston space center:

“…this is Gemini VI. We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, up in a polar orbit. He’s in a very low trajectory traveling from north to south and has a very high climbing ratio. It looks like it might even be a … Very low. Looks like he might be going to reenter soon. Stand by one … You might just let me try to pick up that thing.”

Then, over the radio, Gemini 7 and the Houston space center heard a metallic jingling sound along with some musical notes.  They were relieved when they realized that Schirra was playing a harmonica and Stafford was shaking some bells, instruments that the stowage people at Cape Kennedy would have had to approve for the flight.  This was another first in the space race as it was the first song ever played in space.  The name of the song astronauts Schirra and Stafford played in space was “Jingle Bells.”         

Sources:

1.     The Buffalo News, December 16, 1965, p.1.

2.    The Raleigh Register, December 16, 1965, p.15.

3.    The Buffalo News, December 16, 1965, p.1.

4.    “First Song Played in Space,” Guinness World Records, accessed December 8, 2022, https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com.

Today is the unofficial First Day of Christmas since it’s 12 days until The Big Day, which means it’s fixing to be Christmas. 

That we say “fixing to” instead of “about to” is one of the joys of being a Southerner. Who said it first, I don’t know, but bless his heart, and merry First Day of Christmas to you. 

Some traditions hold that the First Day of Christmas is December 25, and the 12 days run into the New Year. Who wants to wait that long? Not me. We’re fixing to start celebrating now. 

Speaking of things southern, we’ve been working on some carols, Southern-themed: 

“I’m dreaming of a white cornbread,
In every skillet that’s in sight.
May the sides be crispy, to bite,
And may all your cornbreads be just right.” 

Or, how about . . . 

“Pork skins roasting on an open fire.
Chittlins’ nipping at your nose.
Waylon and Willy being sung by the fire,
While dad spends Christmas Eve at Lowe’s.” 

Give me some time to work on it …  

Thankfully, the most important songs were written at the dawn of time and wait as gifts for us to receive and to sing with sincerity, even as the angels sang, that long-ago Judean night, as Luke recorded: 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men.”  

Peace and goodwill came to earth, to men, in the flesh and as a baby. Only God could have thought of something like that. 

William Billings, regarded as America’s first choral composer, captured — at least as well as a human mind can — the mystery of the incarnation in his Shepherd’s Carol, composed in New England in the mid-1700s. 

“Seek not in courts or palaces,
nor royal curtains draw.
But search the stable, see your God
extended on the straw.”

God, extended on the straw. 

Extended, as a baby, a stretching newborn.  Extended, from a heavenly throne to an earthly manger.  Extended, to mankind and to man, to each of us, individually. 

God extends his hand.  Even to me.  Even to you.  

Christmas is always the opportunity to receive the best gift of all, a new birth in our old selves. And a new song the Psalmist told us about. 

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God . . ..”   

Now some 2,000 years after Christ’s birth, the message is the same.  A 19th century minister named Phillips Brooks reminds us, each year at this time, that the Good News is everlasting.  If we choose to be quiet, we might even hear the song, the new song, born in a manger. 

“How silently, how silently
the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him still,
the dear Christ enters in.” 

If no one’s wished you Merry Christmas yet, I’m “fixing to.” Let me be the first. Here’s hoping we can get in tune with the baby and ourselves and each other, and make this our best song yet.  

He promised he would.  For months before the actual consummation of the sale that gave him ownership, Elon Musk vowed to return free speech to the massive social media platform that is Twitter.

And there have been some discoveries that are as stunning as they are unnerving. 

The release by Musk of internal emails highlights Twitter’s 2020 censorship and suppression of the New York Post story a month before the 2020 presidential election.  These revelations make undeniable the blatant conflicts of interest, influence peddling and likely crimes of Hunter Biden and the incestuous complicity of his business partner, ‘The Big Guy’—then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. 

But Twitter suppressed the New York Post story and shut down several prominent Twitter accounts, including that of the New York Post itself, that would have circulated the story.

What persuaded the Twitter brass of 2020—not to mention the corrupt and highly partisan national media—to suppress the story?

Two former Democratic intelligence officials, James Clapper and John Brennan.  How did they manage this? By deceitfully issuing a press release that they believed the laptop may have been hacked and its content was “Russian disinformation.”  Later, 51 more former American spies released a letter stating that the presence of the emails at issue “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”  (Wall Street Journal, 12-5-22.)

All false.  All lies.

We later learn that the real “disinformation” was provided by Clapper and Brennan themselves.  However, their claims provided a lazy, biased and compliant national media with the justification it needed to ignore the Hunter Biden laptop story and discredit Hunter’s former business partner, Tony Bobulinski, who went on the record before the election to substantiate much of the information on the laptop through the use of huge numbers of text messages.

Why does this matter so much?

Because the revelation of influence-peddling by Hunter Biden just prior to the election was obviously newsworthy given that former VP Biden had repeatedly said he had “never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.” 

The emails effectively proved that Joe Biden was not only aware of his son’s business dealings but actually participated in meetings in support of this lucrative, international scheme to sell access to the U.S. Government.    Thus, it is demonstrable that Joe Biden lied directly to the American people throughout the 2020 campaign and in the Presidential Debates.

So, how should we view this joint effort by the national media and these current and former spies and other Administration officials who essentially colluded to suppress the Hunter Biden Laptop story?  

The Wall Street Journal offers a sobering admonition.  This “partisan foray by current and former U.S. intelligence officials in the last two elections should be deeply troubling to Americans on the left and right.  They have authority by dint of access to information that isn’t confirmable by the press, which takes their spin as gospel.  This is a form of political corruption that needs to be exposed, and perhaps the Twitter documents will help to unlock the story.” (WSJ, 12-5-22)

What effect would this damaging information have had on the 2020 election?

Following the election, a full 17% of Biden voters polled stated that they would not have voted for Joe Biden had they known prior to the election of the information contained on the laptop.

Remember, Pres. Trump only lost the Electoral College count by a mere 44,000 votes in three swing states out of approximately 154.6 million votes cast nationwide!  

As a result of this suppression of the truth, the voice of the people was silenced, and the trajectory of American history and world history was forever changed.

This is not right.  This is not what we do.  It doesn’t matter how we may feel about Pres. Trump or Pres. Biden or any other person.  America does not allow its powerful government agencies to form a Police State, to repeatedly lie with impunity and, thereby, control or influence its elections in this way.

Millions of Americans no longer trust our national “news” and no longer have the same faith in federal government agencies like the FBI and the Department of Justice that for so many decades have been revered and patriotic and effective guardians of the domestic and international security of America.  They have earned this distrust.  And America is less free and more vulnerable as a direct result.