Michael Durbin was born and raised in Winnfield. He learned from his father to put God first and everything else will follow. He didn’t always follow that but after marrying his wife Connie he began to do better. He has a strong work ethic and has always worked hard. Rhett Butler gave him his first opportunity in the trucking business. 

Then the business was sold to Quality Carriers. Later Michael went into business with a couple of friends and started Gulf Coast Carriers. They started with 10 trucks and now have 320. By the end of the year they should have 350. This has become a million dollar business. He believes that he is successful because of God.

In 2017 Mayor Kiah Beville formed a board for city and parish recreation called the Winn Playground and Recreation Board. This board gets grants for different projects and many have been done in the area including the Grove Street Recreation, Henderson-Holden Park, and many others. This grant money can only be spent for things that are approved by the authorizers of the grant and there are rules to go by. This board is set up on 5 year terms but they have trouble getting people to serve on the board so many of the founding members are still on the board. 

The reason Durbin came to speak to Kiwanis was about the Veteran’s Memorial. The first Veteran’s Memorial is the 3 flagpoles at the Farmer’s Market. There were supposed to be memorial bricks at the flagpole but they are not there. He has been working since 1987 to get a Veteran’s Memorial, not a park. Veterans deserve a memorial because they protect us every day and some of them have given their lives for our freedom. 

Steve and Gail Shelton approached him about giving this project a 20 year lease on the old U.B. Carpenter’s building on Main St. However, the Winnfield City Council voted it down due to wording in the lease document. They are working to fix the wording so that the council will pass this project. Durbin says he has another location (not named) if the Main Street one falls through. He believes that Winn Parish and the City of Winnfield owe this to the veterans. 

Another reason to have it on Main Street is because of the Main Street sidewalk project that is coming soon to improve downtown. This would be an open air memorial with walls and a floor but no ceiling. The floor would be bricks with veteran’s names on them. There would be a flagpole in the center that sticks up above where the roof would have been. It will be a peaceful place people can come to remember. 

They are also working on the start of a Winn Parish Veteran’s Association which would be a non-profit. There are people who would be interested in making donations once the non-profit has legal status.  Durbin was interested to learn that Wonderworks (combination of the local civic clubs) raised money with a gun raffle a few years back for the Veteran’s Memorial and that money is available to them when they are ready for it.