Desoto Life November December 2014

1DeSoto Life November/December 2014

LIFENovember/December 2014 Volume 5 Issue 6

Welcome theHolidays

DeSoto

2 DeSoto Life November/December 2014

November/December 2014 Vol. 5 #6

The locals’ guide to people and items of interest in and around our area.

If you want to be on our distribution list,

please call 318.471.2661or e-mail

[email protected]

DeSoto Life® is published bimonthly (January, March, May, July, September, November)

by Edna Wheless Co., LLCMailing Address: 880 Tyler Rd.

Logansport, LA 71049Office Address: 8352 Hwy. 171

Grand Cane, LA 71032

Single edition FREE on newsstands. Annual subscription $16 (6 issues).

Subscription questions or for advertising information

Call: 318.858.3775or 318.471.2661

Fax: 318.858.3776e-mail: [email protected]

DeSoto Life does not accept and is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

We are not responsible for any pictures, articles, or misunderstandings on opinions expressed

or facts supplied by its authors. We respect all points of view and promote free expression. We recognize

all comments, letters, notes, contributions, and the participation of this community

for making this magazine possible.

All rights reserved Printed in U.S.A. © 2014

Editor/PublisherEdna Wheless

Layout/Art DirectionBrandy Garison,

Ability Printing


06 What's a Picker?Finding things in a family event

08 A Journey of Hope Creations Janice Impson Jewelry

09 Treasure in a ChestTimeless photos of DeSoto History

courtesty of George Gilmer

16 Grow with GraceNew Child Care & Learing Center in Stonewall

21 So Built We the Wall Bethel Baptist Church

24 JW Energy Company Giving back to DeSoto

26 DeSoto's Last FrontierHistory of Frierson

34 DreamHunt FoundationMaking Dreams Come True

38 From Where I Sit...

42 My Front PorchStore recently opened in Stonewall

42 Thanksgiving and ChristmasDecorations for your home

02 Publisher & Editor’s Letter

51 E-ConnectionsPhotos from in and around DeSoto Parish

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Open and Ready to serve customers with unique home décor, gift items, jewelry and greeting cards from a spacious and colorful

location near Cathey Acres. North DeSoto Drug is also a full service pharmacy accepting most major insurance plans.

New to North DeSoto…North DeSoto Drug4974 LA Hwy 3276 Suite BStonewall, La318-775-4371Fax : 318-775-7469www.NorthDesotoDrug.comemail: [email protected]

Family owned and operated.

Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Open Now!


Welcome to Despino’s Tire Service

Randy and Ronnie Despino, owners of Despino’s Tire Service, have over 50 years combined experience. We’re a family run business opened in December of 1995 and have grown from one service truck used locally

to over 16 service trucks, providing statewide commercial service.

Despino’s Tire Service has the #1 Service Department in the state offering

service to commercial customers 24/7.

Visit These Locations for Friendly Fast Service:Bossier City 318-742-9888Alexandria 318-445-4561Keithville 318-925-8811

Mansfield 318-872-1477Shreveport 318-687-1112Natchitoches 318-356-8811

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*


IIs this a new hobby or pastime or is it ages old? What’s a picker? Who’s picking? What are they picking? The Gene Russell family in north DeSoto Parish knows a thing or two about picking because they are self-proclaimed pickers.And picking is a family event so their children are learning the art of picking. Mom Sarah says anyone can do it, and that it is fun because you never know what you’re going to find. “We are pickers”, Sarah said recently. “Our parents did it, our grandparents did it. We find all sorts of things that someone has just thrown away and we re-purpose it or re-imagine it.” By trade, Sarah is a esthetician. Gene is employed by the North DeSoto Water System

but he also works part time tearing down houses and salvaging items like windows, doors, other items to use when and where he has a need for them. “You know”, Sarah says, “you just walk through the woods, enjoy the fresh air, kick your feet a little ahead of you to make sure you’re not stepping on something that could be valuable and if you find something you pick it up and bring it home. Obviously it has been discarded by someone at some time and we’ve found some really neat things on our picking jaunts.” Yet there’s more to “picking” or just finding something old and giving it a new life. Mostly the items found by this family were used at a much earlier time. Working with pieces that may have been used around a farm are ways that

these parents explain what their lives and their grandparents’ were like in the past. This is a family who prays together and plays together, according to Sarah and their efforts have joined to create a little house made of all things repurposed, i. e. a refrigerator door placed horizontally on a wall in the little house, and painted black, serves as the children’s blackboard. The children do homework and study in the little house where they are surrounded by so much history, they may not need to take history classes. Sarah describes each outing when they go picking a family adventure. “We love it. This is what we do. This is in part to show our appreciation for the past by finding old things and making them new again. It’s fun for all of us.”

Found things become treasures

For this adventuresome family…

DeSoto Life November/December 2014


Chocolate To�ee Pecans

Home of Louisiana Plantation Pecans, Candies & Nuts

We accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Open Monday-Friday 9 am to 5 pm. Saturday 9 am – 2 pm

Chocolate Amaretto Pecans Praline Pecans Roasted & Salted Pecans

English Walnuts Black Walnuts Mixed Nuts Cashews Pistachios

Cajun Peanuts Smoked Almonds Chocolate Peanuts Tropical Mix Sticks & Stones Turkish Apricots Chocolate Almonds Yogurt Almonds

Inshell Products:Inshell Pecans.....................5# Cracked Pecans..................5#Pecan Halves ........ 1 lbPecan Pieces ......... 1 lb

Prices do not include shipping

Phone 318-872-2921Fax 318-872-6442

Village CuisineLOOKING FOR A REAL

SPECIAL PLACE?Let us cater your holiday party!

Now taking holiday orders (cornbread dressing, casseroles,

pies, cakes, and appetizers)!

Full-Service Catering anytime. No order too small!

Call us at 318.858.3200or e-mail [email protected]

Lunch: Wed., Thur., Sat. 11am-2pm; Call for monthly Dinner info

8372 Old Highway 171 (next to Capital One in Historic Village of Grand Cane)Like us on Facebook


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To guys and gals who prefer to shop locally, and find endearing gifts that become keepsakes to the recipients… read on. If you want to, need to, have to, or care to make a purchase for your mother, aunt(s), daughters or daughters-in-law or grandchildren, Journey of Hope Creations is the perfect place to shop. It’s in Stonewall.

On a recent tour of her small but well-equipped and well-filled shop, we found that Janice Impson, owner of Journey of Hope Creations, had beads, baubles, bangles and bracelets, more glitter than one can imagine…all hand created/ designed by her in her shop on Stacy Lane.

When you find the perfect outfit for any occasion but perhaps need a bit more bling than usual, visit with Janice and she will put the appropriate touch to your outfit that will catch everyone’s attention. Specialty pieces are her pride and she will hand

craft exactly the perfect piece(s) for you. Hand-crafted and here in DeSoto Parish? That’s right. Great styling detail and wear-ability? That’s right,

too. She can take something ‘old’ and make it something ‘new’ again, if you let her. She mixes various styles of beads and baubles and bangles and creates one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry that

will become heirlooms. And rings? That’s a whole other subject. At middle age, Janice went through a divorce. She had no job but had faith and knew that if she prayed

about her situation, God would answer her prayer. She prayed daily that God would lead her to something that would be an income for her. Earnestly, incessantly, humbly she prayed and asked. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months.

Then as we like to say, a God Thing happened. A lady who was a member of her church came up to her one day and told her that God had spoken

to her and said she should help Janice, and she handed Janice some money. With that gift and that encouragement, Janice turned to creating jewelry. It is her passion and she is extremely talented when it

comes to ‘putting pieces together’ as she calls it. “I’ve always enjoyed crafts, but making jewelry is my heart’s pleasure simply because what I design makes others happy.” Just so you know, she also loves to make porcelain dolls.

She said she recalled a Bible verse…Jeremiah 29:11 that more or less put everything into perspective. “I had no hope, no future, but this verse said that God has a plan for my life, one that would bring me good and not evil.”

Janice says this entire venture into jewelry has been a journey of hope…hence the name of her business. She came through medical and personal problems, she began to heal both body, spirit and heart, and flourished as she trusted God. She began to create beautiful jewelry and she’s been doing that for about 10 years.

Her items are currently available at Chelsey Marie’s in Stonewall or at the little shop behind her house where you can try on jewelry to your heart’s content. She also creates and designs jewelry for little girls …and all the popular styles are there…in a tiny shop where she and God often

converse one on one. View more of her items on her Facebook page, Journey of Hope Creations, and at Journey of Hope Jewelry at Etsy.com. Janice holds home shows and does custom work for customers.

Journey of Hope Creations will be among the vendors at the Barn Sale at Buckets of Burlap Nov. 21st from 3 to 7 and Nov. 22 from 9 to 5. Buckets of Burlap is located at the end of Stacy Lane in Stonewall.

Journey of Hope Creations Janice Impson Jewelry

Journey of Hope Creations

123 Stacy Lane, Stonewall

Cell 465-1914 or Home 925-5913


A real and endearing gift to DeSoto Parish are the keepers of our history. When time comes to say thank you to

them, it needs to be from a heart that is eternally grateful that someone can tell us

from whence this all started.

Pictured Above: Gilmer’s great-grandmother’s trunk


F

George Gilmer…a keeper of DeSoto Parish history

Following in the footsteps of Gay and Nathaniel Means, Raymond Powell and Liz Chrysler, all of whom have kept up with DeSoto history through the years, George Gilmer didn’t miss a step when the pen was handed to him. With funds donated a few years ago by Senator Sherri Buffington to the DeSoto Historical Society, the society established a genealogy library in the Mansfield Female College Museum. Gilmer was instrumental in setting up the library using a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the state.

As a matter of information, the DeSoto Historical and Genealogical Society is the group that, among a host of other projects, is placing signs at all points in DeSoto Parish that are extremely historically important to this parish, many not seen from any street, highway or road. For example, a sign now points to the location of the first land grant in DeSoto Parish…a tract of land that contained 36,000 acres with its corner north of Pleasant Hill, taking in Pelican, Rambin, Double Churches and where Grove Hill Cemetery is located. Later signs will be placed at Longstreet Rosenwald School and Augusta, the original settlement in the parish. There’s also a sign at Screamerville and the Old Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

If you would like to see the original document that records the scope of the 36,000 acre grant, visit DeSoto Parish Clerk of Court Jeremy Evans. He will be happy to show you the very large document which has been hanging on the east wall of the south entry into the court house for years. At this writing, Evans says he is having plexiglass placed over the document because it is fading as it ages. With this very important and priceless map, there is no doubt where the land lay that gave birth to DeSoto Parish.

Gilmer to this day has no computer…yet produces a quarterly publication called “The Plume” which is where the history of DeSoto Parish has been recorded for years. Members of the Society each receive one with subscriptions available for $10 per year. Gilmer is the man who knows who is who, what is where and how most of this parish came together. One can hardly ask a question of who or what or where before an answer proceeds out of his mouth.

Pictured Center: Rear view of Welcome Hall Plantation House

Pictured Below: Welcome Hall Plantation House


How did Gilmer come into so much information? Where does he get his trove of stories? His answers provide the answers to at least some our history...

He opened his grandmother’s trunk which he’d kept safely in a barn for years…never realizing what was in the old trunk. He found documents, photographs, letters, and discovered things about his own family and DeSoto Parish of which he was completely unaware. Shocked at what he found, he began to read old letters, diaries, look at old photos of places few of us have seen.

Does that not raise awareness of not only how important our ancestors were, but the importance of keeping clear concise family records in a place where, perhaps hundreds of years later, someone will want to discover the stories left behind?

The story about how his grandmother came to receive the trunk was part of a feature story written in an 1890 article published by the Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana. The trunk had been a gift to Gilmer’s grandmother as she embarked on a school teaching job. It is where she’d kept personal belongings along with a stage coach ticket that would take her from Keachi to Gloster and a train ticket on the T&P Railway that would take her from Gloster to Stonewall where she began teaching at the Stonewall public school, which by the way, was a two-room structure.

So many pictures, so much information, so many memories, so many recollections were contained in the trunk. One letter…dated November 26, 1928 which makes the letter 86 years old, from Mrs. Carrie Lee Means of Roseneath Plantation to Mrs. Worley Moseley Gilmer expressed regret for not being able to attend the wedding of Mrs. Gilmer’s daughter, Mary, to Dr. William Magee at the Gilmer home in Stonewall. The letter inquired about the wedding gown among other things.

George Gilmer can sit in a chair and tell you the hows, the whens, the whos, the wheres, and the reasons…much from the information contained in a trunk that he’d had stored for years before he decided one day to lift the lid to see what was in it. A major part of the history of DeSoto Parish was before his eyes and he has not stopped sharing his information with whom ever will listen.

Pictured Below: Welcome Hall Plantation House

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Pictured Above: Gilmer reads from a story that he typed, but in his lap are handwritten letters from family members that date back to the early 1900s and before… kept perfectly safe in his great- grandmother’s trunk.

Pictured Below: Stonewall Agricultural High School 1914-1988

Pictured Above: Lands End Plantation House



Stonewall Train Station 1881

Stonewall High School1906 DeSoto Life November/December 201412


Fax: 318-697-2143

E. J. and Justin Northcutt WeddingVenue: Cherokee Rose Farm, Logansport, LA

Florist: Famous Flowers and Gifts, Logansport, LAHair: Amanda Ewing

Rentals: My Friend Pattie

Photography: Joe Nichols

Wedding Coordinator: Lori Gurley

Caterer: Big Zack’s Place

Cake: Sissy Vickers

213 MainLogansport, LA 71049

Monday – Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pmSaturday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm


WE LIVE WHERE YOU LIVE.WE SHARE THE SAME DREAMS.

State Farm Insurance Companies Home Office: Bloomington, Illinois

Julie A Henderson, Agent(318) 872-0930

www.juliehenderson.us

Julie A Henderson, Agent(318) 872-0930

www.juliehenderson.us

511 Jenkins St.Mansfield, LA 71052318-872-0930Kayli Hanks; Lacy Springer; Julie Henderson; Jennifer Henderson-Lee; Ashley Sebastian


IN DESOTO PARISH, WE ENJOY OUR UNIQUE QUALITY OF LIFE; THE LOVE OF FAMILY AND THE OUTDOORS.

WHEN CHOOSING A JUDGE, NOTHING MATTERS MORE THAN CHARACTER AND LIFES’ EXPERIENCES.

LUCIEN IS A REFLECTION OF US; AN OUTDOORSMAN.

T

www.facebook.com/Marioneaux4JudgePAID FOR BY THE MARIONEAUX CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE.

A JUDGE IS HELD TO HIGHER STANDARDS

A Judge must draw upon his life’s experience in making difficult and sometimes life-changing decisions for the citizens. My background is unique. A degree in Accounting coupled with years of practical business experience, along with my legal education and trial court skills, provide me with exceptional courtroom preparation. These distinctive qualifications and real-life experiences enable me to provide the fair and impartial, yet professional, administration of justice for DeSoto Parish.

The sum of my abilities exceed that of just being a civil lawyer, a prosecutor or a career judge. My life’s experience broadens the basis which a judge must rely upon in the informed and equitable administration of justice.

I am asking for your vote on Nov. 4, 2014.

Lucien Marioneaux, Jr.

DESOTO DISTRICTJUDGE

for

LucienMARIONEAUX, JR.

VOTE ON NOVEMBER 4, 2014

RIGHT FORDESOTO PARISH!

THE OPPORTUNITY TO HUNT AND FISH, AND THE VALUES WE HAND DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.

LUCIEN MARIONEAUX, JR. SHARES OUR COUNTRYLIVING VALUES.

#60

#60


S Stacy Durr, Director of Grow with Grace Child Care & Learning Center, says generally the first question she’s asked when someone comes in and is interested in using Grow with Grace as a place to leave their child or children, is that it is not a babysitting service. “I immediately explain that we are not a babysitting service. We are a Class A Learning Center.” And once you enter the facility, you will understand exactly what that means. Beginning with the youngest age, all classes have a curriculum (Funshine Express) to provide the children with tools they need to be independent as well as nurture their physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual development. Funshine Express also provides an online curriculum that encourages the staff to think outside the box, use technology in their classrooms via laptop or IPad. “In the future we’d like to see all classrooms have computers to boost education. The Staff at Grow with Grace also focuses on learning with fun hands-on activities and experiments. For the outdoor kid in all of us, we like to get dirty by teaching the kids to make a garden and plant flowers in the spring, or look for bugs with a magnifying glass and what child doesn’t love arts and crafts projects,” Stacy says with a smile. Grow with Grace staff members are trained in CPR / Pediatric First Aid. “We ensure all our teachers reach and maintain a minimum of 15 classroom hours provided by the Children and Family Network annually. As of October 1, 2014 the Department of Child and Family Services is now Louisiana Department of Education and they are focusing on more education in centers. We couldn’t be happier,” says Stacy. The owner, Dino Durr, has been a Nurse for over 20 years. During this tenure she learned the value of cultivating and nurturing relationships. “She created the same atmosphere at Grow with Grace by encouraging the staff to not just watch the children at our center, but to impact their lives in a positive manner. Dino has long had a vision of this center and is overjoyed that it has become a reality,”Stacy adds. Stacy Durr is the mother of three and has been in childcare for over 15 years. She has been a director at three different centers in the Shreveport, Stonewall, and Lake Charles area. She has over 200 clock hours in education classes provided by Child and Family Network. She is also Troop Leader for Girl Scout Troop #1354 in Stonewall. “The most important thing is the safety of our children at Grow with Grace. To ensure the safety of all the children in our care, no one can enter the center without a code. Without the code, the guest will have to ring the doorbell and will not be allowed in unless we can physically see their face. Once a parent enters, they must sign their child/children in on the computer provided, then walk through a second door to get into the actual center. All exit doors have alarms to alert the staff if ever the doors are opened. Our staff members are trained for any emergency situation that may occur so the children feel safe and calm if we have to evacuate or if we are on security lock down.” It is generally believed that all day care centers are pretty much the same. Grow with Grace is a totally different kind of center where the children are age grouped, have ‘class-room’ type settings and are ‘kept’ by caring individuals who love them as much as their parents do. In the order of importance at Grow with Grace, it is Safety First, Safety Second, Safety Third and beyond…learning takes place because the children feel and know they are safe in their surroundings and with the people who care for them.

Parents please take note… Grow with Grace offers so much more than babysitting…

Grow with Grace Child Care & Learning Center671 Hwy 171, Suite G

Telephone: 318-775-5054Stacy Durr, Director



AAs of this writing, the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals (DHH) has confirmed 15 cases of West Nile virus, of which five were neuroinvasive disease infections, bringing this year’s total to 118 reported infections. This week’s infections include five neuroinvasive disease cases… Ascension (1), Bossier (1), East Baton Rouge Parish (1), Ouachita (1) and Point Coupee (1). There were nine new cases of West Nile fever; these cases were in Caddo (3), East Baton Rouge (5) and LaFourche (1) parishes and one new asymptomatic case in East Baton Rouge Parish. At this writing, the Department reports one death and five new cases, three of which caused neuroinvasive disease.

Last week’s new infections included three neuroinvasive diseases. The death reported this week occurred in DHH Region 3, which includes Assumption, St. James, St. John, St. Charles, Lafourche, Terrebonne and St. Mary parishes.

West Nile is a very real and present threat, especially for those with weak immune systems due to existing medical conditions or because of age. Even a short time outdoors, particularly during dusk or dawn, poses a risk of infection. It only takes one mosquito bite from an infected mosquito to cause serious medical complications for an individual. DeSoto Parish is blessed with Clear Lake, Toledo Bend, bayous, branches, creeks, streams and woodlands, all prime places for mosquitoes to breed and live.

I live in a very wooded area with a pond and a duck pond. Since moving here, I’ve had to wear long-sleeved shirts and blue jeans while doing yard work because of the mosquitoes. Since the mosquito spraying program went into effect, I have been able to walk where and when I want to walk and work in the yard all I want to without a mosquito buzzing around me. I never even hear one buzz. We can’t say the mosquito abatement program has saved any lives in DeSoto Parish…or can we? To this date, there have been no cases of West Nile Virus reported in DeSoto Parish. Let’s keep outdoor living pleasurable and healthy for our families. Why would we risk the death of a loved one because we didn’t support a program that we believe has already kept us safe? With this funding we will spray the entire parish, both rural areas and municipalities, regularly. I absolutely support this millage. I love watching my six-year-old granddaughter ride the four-wheeler in T-shirts and shorts. Her life is far too precious to risk one single mosquito bite. And where we live there were thousands in these woods prior to the spray program.

To explain how little we will pay for this service, a person with a home valued at $100,000 will only pay $2 per month or roughly $24 annually.

Is $2 for every $1000 above homestead exemption too much to pay for safety?

EDNA WHELESS TYLER ROAD, LOGANSPORT, LA



TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY WHILE OUTDOORS, ALWAYS REMEMBER TO:

PROTECT YOURSELVES

Wear light-colored long-sleeved shirts and pants, and a hat. Use an insect repellent with DEET. Consider staying indoors at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active.

PROTECT YOUR HOME

Eliminate standing water around your home, which is where mosquitoes breed.

•Dispose of tin cans, ceramic pots and other unnecessary containers that have accumulated on your property. Turn over wheelbarrows, plastic wading pools, buckets, trash cans, children’s toys or anything that could collect water.

•Drill holes in the bottom of outdoor recycling containers. Drainage holes that are located on the container sides collect enough water for mosquitoes to breed.

•Check and clean roof gutters routinely. They are often overlooked, but can produce millions of mosquitoes each season.

•Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish. Water gardens can become major mosquito producers if they are allowed to stagnate.

•Clean and chlorinate swimming pools that are not being used. A swimming pool that is left untended by a family for a month can produce enough mosquitoes to result in neighborhood-wide complaints. Be aware that mosquitoes may even breed in the water that collects on swimming pool covers.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT



Experience that Counts

Richard Johnson, DeSoto Parish District Attorney208 Adams Street, Mansfield, Louisiana

318-872-2991

DeSoto Parish

‘During my six year tenure as District Attorney I have overseen the prosecution of hundreds of cases, including the conviction and death sentence for Brian Horn for the murder of 12-year-old Justin Bloxom, the conviction and life imprisonment of Bobby Harris for the murder of Dessie Lee Patterson, as well as the successful conviction of many other murderers, sex offenders, drug dealers and domestic abusers.

Prior to 2008 when I was elected District Attorney, I was employed by the DA’s Office for 20 years, served as Chief Criminal Prosecutor for 16 years, and prosecuted thousands of criminal offenses in DeSoto and Sabine Parishes. I successfully argued cases before the Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and the Louisiana Supreme Court.

I served as Captain in the US Army; was awarded the Army Service Ribbon & Army Overseas Service Medal; Received undergraduate degree from Northeast Louisiana University; have Law Degree from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, graduating 7th in class of 104. I am a graduate and faculty advisor for the National College of District Attorneys Career Prosecutor Course.

As to local affiliates, I am a member of the Board of Directors for the Louisiana District Attorneys’ Association; past treasurer of the DeSoto Parish Library Board; Past President of the Kiwanis Club, member and deacon of the Mary Evergreen Baptist Church where I serve on the Board of Trustees.

I have been married to Fredrena Freeman Johnson for 32 years, and have two daughters, Jessica Sparks and Mighan Johnson. Canon Zemry Johnson is my two-year-old grandson.

If experience is required to do this job, and certainly it is, then re-elect me and you will continue to have an experienced district attorney on the job. Vote for #62 on the Nov. 4 ballot.’

Thank you for your support.

Richard Z. Johnson



Celebrating 159 Years at Bethel Baptist Church

“...so built we the wall...for the people had a mind to work.”

It didn’t take long, once folks began coming to and moving about in DeSoto Parish, for Bethel Baptist Church to be built on Bethel Road near Frierson. In fact, just 16 years after the parish was established, a few folks in the Stonewall/Frierson area established the church. The theme for the project was “God’s Remnant Rebuilds, and the resounding Scripture that gave credence to their commitment was found in Nehemiah 4, verse 6 - …”so built we the wall … for the people had a mind to work.” Actually for more than a century Bethel Baptist Church has been a landmark in DeSoto Parish. It was organized in 1859 with only a few members. Its founding stemmed largely from the efforts of Col. Henry Marshall who came here from South Carolina in 1835, bringing with him a large number of colored people and settled in North DeSoto Parish. Soon after he arrived, he built a log house in the quarters. This building was used as the church until a few years later when he built a frame building which was used by the people of color on the Marshall plantation at a site known as “Lands End. During this time the services were conducted by white ministers including Dr. McIver and Rev. Robert Scott. A few years later, the congregation decided to move to within 30 yards south of the present structure so they built a one-room small frame building with four wooden windows and one door.

Old church was the one

built after the log church

was demolished

In 1892, the third structure that preceded the present one was built. Rev. Stephen Presley was the leader until 1895. The church grew rapidly almost from the beginning and became a leader in the local, state and national organizations. Rev. Presley was instrumental in helping to establish firm roots from which Bethel has grown through the past one hundred plus years. Following Presley’s active service, Rev. R. B. Sloan became its second pastor. After that came Rev. George Lampkin who served from 1900 to 1904; he was elected the second time as the church’s pastor and then was succeeded by Rev. B. H. Taylor who served until 1935. Other pastors followed and suffice it to say that all worked diligently, both pastors and members, to continue services and continue the progress being made by the church. During early 1960, members wanted a new sanctuary and since the old building had served for more than three quarters of a century, a building fund program was launched and the present administration continued working on this objective until it became a reality with total demolition of the old frame structure and the erection of the new modern brick edifice. This marked the completion of the fourth building program in the life of Bethel Baptist Church. In 1962, Rev. H. L. Dickerson accepted the call to Bethel and he came…not only as pastor but as leader, pulpiteer and builder. His concerns were many and varied but his

primary goal was that of preaching God’s Word. He served well spiritually and with his keen insight on financial matters, guided the church successfully. In its long life, Bethel Baptist Church has had twelve pastors, 34 deacons, 12 clerks, 8 treasurers, 11 superintendents of Sunday School, 12 trustees and 5 presidents of the mission and one acting pastor. Since 1859 Bethel Baptist has done nothing but move forward. It continues to reflect on the goodness and mercy of the Lord and His Infinite help and guidance and members are quick to give Honor and Glory to the Lord. “The God who has been with us in the past will be with us in the future,” said Rev. Dickerson in a prepared statement dated 1970. “In a time when there are strong forces contending that God is dead, it remains the Task of the Christian believers to make it known that God is very much alive.”

Program book for

celebration at

Bethel Baptist Church 1970

Lillie Atkins reviews history of Bethel Baptist Church near Stonewall-Frierson Road

Bethel Baptist Church as one sees it now...

ready for growth and more years to serve the community.



Local residents Jon and Melita Blackburn recently opened DeSoto Pawn & Gun. Their new store is located on HWY 5 just one mile from Kickapoo Corner. This clean and well lit store offers customers many products and services. One facet of the business is making pawn loans to customers who need a little extra cash. They believe that helping and serving others is an essential part of living a Christian lifestyle. They also offer a wide range of products for sale to those looking for a great deal on new and used items such as tools, electronics, and household items.

Of course, no pawn shop is complete without guns and ammo. DeSoto Pawn & Gun offers a well-stocked gun department. Jon and Melita are both NRA certified pistol instructors and regularly train with a wide range of firearms. Their experience allows them to help customers select a firearm that best meets their individual needs. Jon has completed the Glock Armorer’s Course and he can lighten and smooth the trigger pull on many popular guns. He also offers reasonably priced gun cleaning and gun repair services.

To add convenience to living outside of town, Jon and Melita offer a selection of snacks, drinks, and grocery items. Who knew you could buy paper towels and charcoal at a pawn shop? Now you can avoid driving back to town when you run out of toilet paper!

The next time you find yourself near HWY 5, take the time to stop in and visit Jon and Melita at DeSoto Pawn & Gun. They are open weekdays from 8 until 6 and Saturday from 8 until 2. Whether you need a pawn loan, are shopping for a new or used firearm, or just like to browse, you will be given a warm and friendly welcome each time you visit.

DeSoto Parish welcomes an exciting new business to the community…


Spray-On

BedlinersSpray-On

Bedliners

Pro-Lix Liquid Feed • Hauling & Spreading • Fertilizer & Lime

New Fertilizer Plant 30 Years in BusinessOffice: 318-933-5741

Charlie’s Mobile: 318-455-2476Fax: 318-933-5743

Mike’s Mobile: 318-455-4012


MMany DeSoto residents and some outside the parish drive past J-W Energy Company on Stonewall/Frierson Road once or twice a day, some less often. Locals know that J-W Operating Company has been in DeSoto Parish for a number of years. What many don’t realize is the size of the heart of J-W Energy Company.

J-W Energy Company is a large and growing organization with a long history and a big heart. They’ve been successfully combining knowledge, ability, and desires. The company was first organized in November 1960 as J-W Operating Company with one of its first field offices being in the area on Oxford Road in Mansfield. The company seized opportunities for growth as they came along, and how it has grown.

Some of the company’s accomplishments over the years include:

*Built the Douglas Gathering System in 1969.*Established the company with a reputation for service excellence with projects such as the Dorcheat-Macedonia pipeline, the General Motors transmission station and purchasing the Louisiana Intrastate Red River Bull System.*Spawned numerous patents and trademarks.*Owning and operating pipelines and compressors opened the door to the oil and gas exploration and production business with discoveries in Northeast Colorado and North Louisiana.*Ventured into power generation from landfill gas and in the late 90s, aggressive growth strategy complemented the staff with professional managers whose charge was simple: double the size of the company.*One of the first and industry-recognized leaders in building compressors, storage spheres and ancillary equipment for CNG fueling stations.

The list of accomplishments continues, including the start of drilling small prospects and acquired ownership interest in the Caspiana Field primarily located in DeSoto Parish. A field development plan was initiated with good success. It provided in-house geological and operational expertise in the Cotton Valley plans in both DeSoto and Caddo, later resulting in developing Elm Grove Field.

J-W Energy Company

a BIG company with a BIG heart…

and a desire to give back to DeSoto…


As a general rule, companies who do what they say, that grow and develop jobs for people and stand behind those employees, have big hearts. Their first and foremost desire is that their employees are trained and capable of doing their jobs, wherever they are and whatever they are.

Successful companies of this magnitude especially want to give back to the area that has been good to them.

With that thought in mind, J-W Energy Company and the DeSoto Parish Police Jury recently entered into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) which will allow employees of J-W Energy Company to begin picking up litter and trash along Stonewall-Frierson Rd.

“We’ve seen the Sheriff ’s Department’s crews out cleaning trash and litter. We know from experience that truck traffic can be some of the worst offenders so we thought this would be something that we could do to help the parish. We talked about it and everyone agreed so we’ll be cleaning Stonewall-Frierson Road one mile from the facility on a regular basis,” says Harlan Lee, Projects Superintendent.

Steve Brown, parish administrator, says that’s good news for everybody. “I have known Harlan for more than 40 years so I was very excited when he called and said that J-W wanted to pick up litter. Not only is their offer going to make the road and right-of-way look better, it will save the Parish money. ”

“The Jury sincerely thanks J-W for their offer and looks forward to a long-standing relationship with their employees.”




moves ahead to become

Last Frontier

DeSoto’s

DeSoto Life November/December 2014 27

Frierson


W What was to become DeSoto Parish may not have looked like much...way back when ... or did it? Something here lured folks to come here, and for those, this part of the state must have seemed like the magic kingdom. It held at least a semblance of hope for a decent life.

Timber stood tall. Vast fields appeared where cotton, corn and other crops would become legend. And water? Everywhere. Rivers lapped the banks to the east to the west of what became the boundaries of the parish and streams crisscrossed its interior, allowing farm animals to mature... space for gardens to feed families and row crops that would bring income. Home places would become all that the homeowners could make them be.

Life changed when the parish became incorporated and the parish seat was defined. The Police Jury bought a quarter section of land, 160 acres, for which it paid $200.47, laid out streets and began to grow. Towns and communities sprung up and growth was everywhere. Frierson was one of those very early communities. Yet its close proximity to Shreveport years later enabled residents to shop in Caddo more conveniently than DeSoto. Frierson was part of DeSoto Parish but folks knew

little about it. Yet it held its own for decades and saw growth along the way. It was named for the Frierson family that arrived early on the scene. Although Bee Gum moved westward to become Stonewall, Frierson stayed put. For the most part Frierson folks wanted it to remain as it was and had been... a close knit community where families could live as they chose... consequently Frierson is not incorporated.

The Frierson family, early arrivals on the scene, built a two-story mercantile store that sold just about anything anyone needed. The old store became a landmark in northeast DeSoto and in later years became a tourist attraction where one could step back in time and enjoy glimpses of history by visiting and shopping at the Frierson Store. Sadly, it was destroyed by a fire years ago.

Now, 164 years later, Frierson’s face is changing… and is becoming DeSoto’s last frontier.

Living to see it...


Over the years a few businesses came to Frierson along with

some residential growth but no one could have imagined what its future held. The discovery of a vast natural gas reserve amazed everyone. The largest of the reserves was in the northeast part of DeSoto Parish, namely Frierson, Kingston, and along Highway 5. Despite the influx of activity, Frierson remained a rural community. Some folks lived and died in Frierson... never knowing that under their feet were the makings for overnight millionaires.

When the news broke of the discovery of the Haynesville Shale, and oil and gas companies got the okay to move forward with their great numbers of employees and trucking equipment,

roads leading into or out of Frierson overnight became clogged with 18-wheelers and white pickups. Truckers hauled in equipment wider than parish roads all over the parish, but in the rural areas of Frierson, where poorly built and poorly maintained roads were the norm, it seemed the most damage was done. An account in The Tribune in February 2007 noted that on Gravel Point Road, a little-used road up until then, ditches were destroyed, sink-in places were the norm, and two-foot deep holes of water stretched across entire roads. An actual traffic count one day revealed 120 18-wheelers drove in and out of Gravel Point Road in 90 minutes. Local traffic? Forced off roads so that equipment trucks could navigate. Frierson folks had mixed emotions…they were excited about the huge sums of money they were coming into, but fed up with road problems. Constant heavy use required constant costly maintenance for the parish.

The Relay Station located at the Hwy 175/ I-49 interchange prior to the shale discovery, and developed a very good business. However, good turned to grand once the shale companies began locating nearby. The 24-hour business reaped a huge economic benefit from the shale discovery and showed everyone how many trucks and pickups could park on its lot at any given time of the day or night. Then Frierson got a sky line when Trinidad bought space in the I-49 Industrial Park and built a two-story office complex. Other companies soon followed. In its heyday, the industrial park grew to 14 businesses related in some manner to oil and gas trade. Sales tax from these businesses helped Frierson in many ways, especially in the upgrades for fire protection. Bit’s Country Store in Frierson where locals buy gas, tobacco, staples, a plate lunch or burger drew unbelievably huge lunch crowds but so did Greg Scott who fed large crowds tasty barbecue at ShankCat’s.



Folks living on Hwy 175 in close proximity to Bit’s worried about the speed of the trucks on Hwy 175 right in front of their homes and enlisted the aid of the DeSoto Parish Sheriff’s Department which took care of that problem.

Over time, things slowed down but Frierson will never be the same. 18-wheelers still must deal with the train tracks at the curious intersection of Gravel Point and Friendship Roads and workers maintaining wells still buy gas and supplies at Bit’s. Bell Supply and Select Trucking continue operations in close proximity to where the needs are. Frierson got a brand new compactor site and a dangerous curve that withstood all the heavy traffic was finally been straightened by the LA DOTD. New homes have been built north of Frierson Baptist Church which has undergone massive reconstruction,

and a brand new fire house has been built. But there’s more coming to the community of Frierson.Maple Leaf Subdivision, a large residential development, is underway at the intersection of Red Bluff Road and Hwy 175.

Children from these homes will attend the ever-growing North DeSoto schools. There could be over 200 homes in this subdivision. Yet with continued growth, the charm of Frierson does not diminish. It remains what it has always been... a close-knit caring community that enjoys lifelong friendships and attends churches that meet the needs of the community. Stonewall continues to grow beyond all expectations and now it’s Frierson’s turn. Our last frontier will be gone forever, except in the memories of those who stayed the course, kept the faith and kept it alive. Truck traffic has lessened somewhat but the quiet community is still dealing with exploration and drilling. Police Jurors agreed it was time for a new compactor site and one was built at the junction of Hwy 175 and Red Bluff Rd.

Frierson is home to a peach orchard, a blueberry farm, a cabinet shop, a Christmas tree farm, a tire store, a taxidermist, and a sprinkling of other businesses as Highway 175 meanders north toward Shreveport and south toward Mansfield. Folks unfamiliar with this area drive through Frierson with hardly a notice. However it is not now, nor will it ever be, a community to be taken for granted.

Many changes have occurred in Frierson, but one thing remains constant. The Ladies Auxiliary of Fire District 9, organized years ago, continues to work to benefit the firefighters, and meet community needs, holding true to their commitment. Ladies meet monthly, take care of business, plan and hold fundraisers and offer help where it is needed. The Auxiliary hosts political forums where politicians must answer to constituents. Names of deceased members displayed on a plaque continually encourage the current membership. The personalities of Jamie Lou Walker, Pearl Fuller, Charlotte Cawthorne, Arbelle Reynolds, Lizzie Williams, Mae McCall, Rebecca Gage, Betty Harris and Josie McCloskey inspire members to follow the course they set while they were alive…simply service the community.

Growth has become constant. Businesses like Select and Bell Supply, Relay Station and the I-49 Industrial Park remain in the game for a reason. And with EXCO, who moved onto the scene early in the shale play... growth could come within 24-hours

like the last spurt of growth came. Two new housing developments are underway. Numerous signs direct trucks every which way as they continue to drive in and out of Friendship and Gravel Point roads; the EXCO sign.if it does nothing else, reminds us all that it might not be gold in them there hills, it’s gas under that dirt.

Frierson is DeSoto’s last frontier


Enjoy a Country-Style Life-Style

in

Maple Leaf SubdivisionFrierson, LouisianaMinutes from I-49, Hwy 175 or Hwy 171

1/3 acre lots selling now. Homes range in size from

1,600 to 2,000 sq ft…

Priced in range of $139 to $140 per square foot

Bonus room available if purchaser desires more space

Public Utilities with Private Septic System

North DeSoto School District

For More Information Call Developer Joe Beaubouef

Cell 464-3550DeSoto Life November/December 2014 31


Fire Chief Bobby Hayes

Cost of new Fire Station 2: $2.3 million

Size: 15,000 sq.ft, including living quarters, offices, kitchen, day room, training room, workout room, dining room, sleeping quarters for seven

(7), and three (3) large bays that will hold six (6) fire vehicles.

Date of move-in to new station: Sept. 27, 2014

4 new fire vehicles purchased from 2011 includes three (3) new pumpers, and one (1) new tanker.

Area of Fire District: Covers approximately 165 square miles, with 2,500 residents. Covers all of Northeast DeSoto Parish, including all the East side of I-49 to the Caddo Parish line, ten(10) miles of Interstate

Highway 49, North to Wallace Lake and Caddo Parish Line, Southeast to Red River Parish Line, and South on Highway 175 seven (7) miles from I-49.

Revenue from all gas wells in District 9 increased from $150,000 in 2009 to 2.8 million in 2919

The District went from $150,000 in revenue in 2009 to 1.8 million the next year due to all the Gas Revenue in the District, which enabled the purchase the new vehicles, equipment, and hire

six (6) full-time firefighters.

Facts related to desoto Fire district 9

A new subdivision under development on Gravel Point Road in Frierson will offer from 5 to 10 acre wooded sites for sale for home

construction, served by public utilities.

More to come in Jan/Feb edition of DeSoto Life on more growth slated for Frierson.

If you’ve always wanted a rural, woodsy home site, you can have one...



Gary Evans has moved

his law office to

The public is invited to come see their

Old Post Offififififfiice restored like it used to be.

“To Restore Pride and Confidence in Your DA's Office, Vote Gary Evans, #61”

VOTE EARLY!

The Old Post Office100 North Jefferson Street

Mansfield, LA



T Think about it. A ten-year-old boy who longs to go hunting like his buds at school talk about doing, but it is physically challenging for him to go. He spends his day in a wheelchair. A young man appears to be physically fit for hunting with his dad or a friend, but we all know that looks can be deceiving. He has multiple tumors around his heart and lungs. A number of reasons in the past may have prevented some youths from suiting up, heading for the woods with their dads or friends, with their guns loaded or their fishing poles and bait cans and with their adrenaline pumping. But that’s not so in DeSoto Parish. Any physically challenged kid can go hunting in DeSoto Parish because a group of individuals chose to make hunting possible for young folks. These individuals committed themselves to do whatever it took to provide hunting experiences despite physical limitations. Thus was born the DREAM HUNT FOUNDATION, founded in the spring of 2013 with one goal – to give deserving young people, ages 10-18, the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors through organized hunting and fishing experiences, free of charge, to them and their parents. DREAM HUNT FOUNDATION’S Board of Directors and guides make special arrangements to accommodate the particular needs of each child. They make sure the trip is enjoyable and safe. And memorable. The Foundation has partnered with multiple area hospitals, including Shriner’s Hospital in Shreveport to identify candidates for these hunts. Candidates are approved through an application process which includes a selection committee. So what do the families or the youths have to bring along if they are chosen for the hunts? NOTHING. The Foundation provides lodging, travel, food, outfitting, game processing, food plot materials and any necessary hunting equipment. The Dream Hunt Foundation wants to expand its reach by offering more life-changing hunts to an ever-increasing number of deserving children. “Dream Hunt Foundation exists so that kids who are terminally disabled, terminally ill or are underprivileged have the chance of a lifetime to fulfill their dream of participating in a guided hunting trip. We work closely with Shriner’s Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana. They refer children between the ages of 10 - 18 years old who want the experience of a guided hunting trip and may not have the chance to go hunting if we do not make their dream come true.” Says Director Jeff Warren.

Group Makes

How YOU Can Help Make Dreams Realities…

The approximate cost of each hunt is $600.00 and includes, but is not limited to food, lodging, outfitting,

supplies, fuel, etc. Any donation is greatly appreciated in order to ensure the success of our future, as well as help make dreams come true for each candidate. Or you can choose the donate option with our PayPal link on our

website. Checks may be made payable to Dream Hunt Foundation (Tax Receipts Will Be Mailed To The Provided

Address). Your gift is a 100% Tax Deductible Donation.

For further information, visit our website at dreamhunt.tv or

email [email protected]

dreams come true


Near Stonewall...

35DeSoto Life November/December 201444 DeSoto Life November/December 2013

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Happy Holidays to everyone...enjoy your families and the beauty of the season Season’s Greetings

District 38

Senator Sherri Smith Buffington

318-687-4820

District 7

State Representative Richard Burford

318-925-9588


A Truly Unique Boutique

Pattison’sFashion

101 JeffersonMansfield, LA

318.872.4501www.pattisonsfashions.com

Man! I bring

boxes and

packages in he

re

all the time!


From Where I Sit...1. Take a trip to a spa or sauna. Silence your cell phone and relax.

2. Bake cookies for delivery to your grandchild’s classroom…but only if your grandchild is in kindergarten thru 2nd grades.

3. Invite a friend or friends for home cooked meal.

4. Pot an amaryllis now if you want to impress your friends with your green thumb

5. Walk through yours or someone’s woods and

gather pine knots to use in the wood stoves and fireplaces or to burn a few calories.

6. Switch to pink light bulbs if you don’t have time to dust.7. Make plans on your calendar NOW to attend a church program or cantata.

8. Buy greeting cards and stamps and deliver them to a shut-in / help address the cards and mail them if necessary.

9. Finish your Christmas shopping.

10. Finish your Christmas wrapping.

11. Finish your Christmas gift deliveries.

12. Tie a red bow or hang a small wreath on your mailbox…and don’t forget to leave a small gift for the mail carrier.

13. Plan menus for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day foods and make grocery list.

14. Like everyone on your Facebook page.

15. Fill bird feeders and hang out corn for the squirrel.

16. Hand write a note to thank someone whose friendship has enriched your life this year.

17. Purchase a subscription to DeSoto Life Magazine and send it to someone who has moved away from DeSoto Parish. (What a great idea!) Santa’s greatest gift idea.

18. Organize Christmas CD’s and tapes if you still have them so you won’t be fumbling when company comes.

19. Morning: Make wassail if you plan to have company prior to Christmas Eve/Day and refrigerate it. Afternoon: Make appointment for manicure/pedicure.

20. Greet everyone you know with a hug or handshake, a holiday greeting and remember: It’s okay to say Merry Christmas. Tell them it’s good to see them.

21. Hang the stockings and stuff with small gifts.

22. Purchase fruit, peppermint sticks, hot chocolate mix and sweetened whip cream. Arrange fruit in basket for coffee table, put the peppermint sticks in the cups that hold the hot chocolate, make and serve the hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and enjoy while you watch Christmas programs on TV.

23. Launder guest towels and bed linens if you’re having overnight holiday guests. Spray bed linens with BALANCE Aromatherapy scented with wintermint and lemon grass oils like I use.

24. Purchase battery operated candles and put them everywhere – just like you do your poinsettias. Put cookies out for Santa and replenish as needed until Santa arrives…

25. Kiss Santa goodnight.

26. Share the day loving on your family.

25 days til Christmas and counting… a to-do list for santa-rettes

Pick a date and schedule your special event at

Calhoun Event CenterMansfield, Louisiana

To reserve a date and time, call Van Reech, Director

540-7500

Make New Memories this Christmas!



Shoveling dirt for the groundbreaking were B.J. Robison, Red River Bank; Stonewall Mayor Charles Waldon, Steve Kotfer, Chevrolet district sales manager; John Adams, general manager/owner; James Lynch, dealer principal/owner; Wiley Pollard, Pollard Hodgson architect; Fred Kahler, developer; Dan Poole, Boggs & Poole contractor.

A General Motors dealership with roots deep in DeSoto Parish for over 75 years has started work on its new home.

Guests attended a groundbreaking ceremony at the 6-acre site on the northeast corner I-49 and Hwy 3276 in Stonewall, the site that Mansfield Auto World will call home…not only as the franchisee for DeSoto Parish but also for Red River Parish, with easy access to Caddo and Bossier Parishes.

The relocation necessitated a name change - effective when the dealership opens next summer – it will be Marketplace Chevrolet Buick.

The $6 million, 25,000 square-foot dealership, highly visible from the interstate, will feature full-service facilities, including an after-sales department with one of the only climate-controlled service centers in the area, and a full inventory of almost 375 new trucks and cars. Pre-owned vehicles will be available for

purchase on the lot in Mansfield at Hwys 84/ & 509 where the facility has long been located.

Moving to Stonewall will enable the dealership to take advantage of the growth in north DeSoto and provide a more centralized location for Mansfield Auto World's customer base that stretches from Shreveport to Natchitoches and serving the expanded market to the east.

"Just as we knew years ago that locating in DeSoto Parish would be a good decision for establishing the dealership, we are confident that moving and rebuilding our dealership, visible from I-49 at the Stonewall/Frierson exit, will give us the edge necessary to offer premium service to both DeSoto and Red River parishes," said James Lynch, dealer principal/owner.

The dealership was welcomed in Stonewall where the City Council last year extended the town’s corporate limits to slightly east of I-49 to take advantage of residential and commercial growth along the corridor. Even though sales

taxes from vehicle purchases are paid to the owner's hometown, revenue is anticipated through other services Marketplace Chevrolet Buick will offer its customers, Stonewall Mayor Charles Waldon said. “It will be a great economic impact for us because the 40 or so people who will be working here probably will spend some of their money in our community. I believe they’ll eat here, buy gas here. Any little bit they spend will help our local businesses and the sales tax on parts and service work at the dealership will go to the town,” Waldon said. “It will create additional revenue that we can count on for our budget, which is spent on repairing roads and making improvements in our town. It’s a shot in the arm for us. I think it will spur more development along the 3276 corridor.”

Everyone reading this magazine is invited and encouraged to visit DeSoto Parish during the coming Holi-day Season …learn of our unique history, and see our towns in a new light … Christmas lights!

Exciting parades…marching bands…floats of all kinds and even a flotilla on the Sabine River are just some of the holiday events that are planned.

Our restaurants have the best cooks and serve the best food…there’s motels and lodging and our local merchants go all out to keep shopping dollars at home…it’s shop til you drop heaven! New businesses…

new ideas…new fashions…new home décor…and repurposed delights? Yea…we got them too.

You can’t help but like coming to DeSoto Parish…what’s there not to like?

DeSoto Parish Chamber of Commerce and DeSoto Parish Tourist Bureau115 North Washington Street – Downtown Mansfield

Telephone: 318-872-1310 and/or 318-872-1177

to the Time of your Life

75 year old GM dealership breaks new ground in Stonewall

You're Invited


We would like to express our sincere thanks to Valerie Fourd and Jon Hogan for the time they spent with Ivey's. Both are moving away from the area, and will be greatly missed. Together, they logged 26 years with us, and we hold great memories of that time, so we would like to wish them the best, and say again,

“Thanks so much."God bless you and your families.

900 Polk St.Mansfield, LA 71052

318-872-1726

Josh JohnsonIvey's Building Materials Center

1820 Hwy 80Haughton, LA 71037

318-949-4000318-872-4003 fax

1820 Hwy 80Haughton, LA 71037

318-949-4000

"As the holidays approach, I want to say Thank You to all of you who have supported me in the Dairy Queen business in

Logansport for 35 years. The new DQ, which opened in July 2012 is one of only four prototypes of this design in the nation and

because of you, we are one of the best. I thank you humbly for your support. I knew the business would

grow once we got into the new facility but I never dreamed the growth would be as good as it has been. It has been a real

pleasure for me to have served this area through the years.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Holiday Season with your families and loved ones. Thank you again for helping us grow to

the point that everyone in Logansport is proud of.”

Stan Haynes


HootensOrder your complete Dinner or just part by November 15

and let us take the work out of your holiday.

Come by or call for a complete menu and price list.

Make Thanksgiving and Christmas a snap!

318.858.3368In Heart of the Historic Village of Grand Cane

Therapeutic massage is very relaxing and a great way to deal with holiday stress.

Gift certificates are available.

Massages are by appointment only.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Smith's Jewelers & Radio Shack

Promises GREAT prices on GREAT gifts for everyone on your Christmas List.

810 Polk Street, Mansfield


…you see them in every town… ‘big box stores’…we all shop at these big stores at some time during the year but shopping in one during the holiday season sort of takes all the fun and excitement out of the day. It becomes a chore…you finally get someone to wait on you and then you wait in long lines to pay for what you’ve selected. It’s hard to get the Christmas Spirit under those circumstances. So…the question becomes why do we shop at those places? Why not shop where we can get the Holiday Spirit…where the shop owner knows our name, we see friends, we slow down and visit and go home with gifts that excite us just knowing that we’re giving someone something they mentioned wanting.

My Front Porch, recently opened in Stonewall alongside Hwy 171 and filled with a multitude of treasures by its owner, Terry Farnell, is that sort of place…even its name tells you it will be a friendly place to shop. And it should tell you if you’re a keen shopper that

Farnell’s interests and memories are much the same as ours… she’s done a fantastic job of searching for and finding just what we want. She says she’s always loved “old stuff.”

“It takes me back to a time when I sat on my grandparents’ front porch or under a tree …peeling fresh peaches to can. My grandparents had a small farm with chickens, cows, a horse here and there, and nothing but an old hook on their screen door for a lock,” she recalls. Times have changed how people live and where they live but time does not erase from a heart the memories that were made as we grew up and recollections of how life used to be. That’s Farnell’s strong point…fortunately for us, she has found our memories…and she’s arranged the shop in a way that not only takes our breath away, but it brings back memories of when we were much younger. My Front Porch is filled with so many items it is not possible to describe them with words, but just know you will be there awhile. From artifacts to jewelry to decorative pieces to boots and beyond, you will most likely get all your holiday shopping done right here…without the headache of traffic or crowds.

Think about it. While you gather delightful gifts for those you love, you’ll be giving a gift to yourself…in the form of recalling fond memories of grandparents and aunts and uncles … and more than once you’ll ooh and ahh and say…” oh mybgosh… I remember when…”

And that will be her gift to you…the gift of memories instantly recalled, simple and easy ideas for holiday décor, and the unique touches that really do make a house a home.

“Happy Holidays from My Front Porch,” says Farnell. “I hope all your senses are awakened the moment you walk into my shop. Enjoy this Holiday Season remembering the holidays when you were children…bring those kinds of memories alive again as you decorate for your family with items you will find at My Front Porch.”

Remembering past holidays make current holidays more special…

2068 Hwy 171, Suite 5Stonewall, LA 71078

[email protected]

My Front Porch



...Thanksgiving Time

Set the Table...



T

Set the Atmosphere

This is the Season that ushers in memories of a past time and brings anticipation of moving ahead in a world that at best often seems upside down. When we decorate our Thanksgiving Dinner Table, we do not do it with a thought of anything but bringing sense and rhythm and color and peace to our homes. Of course there will be turkey with cornbread dressing and giblet gravy…home made cranberry sauce (never store-bought) and sweet potatoes and one by one, everyone’s favorite dish. Desserts run the gamut … it’s simply a case of name your poison. This is the Season of the changing of the colors…Mother Nature does such a neat trick with slight of hand that one morning you awaken to find the leaves on the tallow trees turned red overnight. And what about those spider lilies? They are certainly never shy about showing their true color. All the woods give in to the Mother’s demand: look gorgeous or I’ll blow you down, so they obey and the hickory trees blaze with yellow, the pumpkins in the patch are orange as orange can get and the loss of color of the cornstalks must not be overlooked. This is when you look for pine knots for kindling even though you’ve got central heat… …perhaps it has all to do with the smell of pine near your fireplace. Perhaps it has to do with walking in the woods with the children to make sure they know what a pine knot is…for it is you, my dearest of friends, who will teach them these things. These are the things that matter in this life…who Mother Nature is and what she is capable of doing… what the changing of the seasons really means in our circle of life, and how grandparents relate to their most precious possession…their grandchildren… Decorate your table…make your menu …go for a walk in the woods, ride on the four-wheeler, or hold a baby in a rocking chair on the porch. Your goal is to be at peace and to be grateful for all that you have…with the most important possession always being your family.

Thanksgiving



Ideas to inspire, delight and celebrate the coming holidays



So...are you wishing for a

White Christmas?



So...are you wishing for a

L Let’s face it. The most we can hope for during any Christmas Season is that the snow will fall in such abundance that drifts around our steps keep us inside for the duration. We so want to sit in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace and listen to holiday music. We all long for the look that we see in movies, read about in books, and enjoy on television but these sights generally don’t happen in the south we call home. But what if…just what if… we could create the look of a white Christmas…a snow fall on the inside of our home…. …so that we could truly appreciate the wonderful crispness of stark pure white…the gorgeous red of the traditional poinsettias…the glitter of stars in silver ornaments and the true live green of the trees that we use as swags over the windows and over the doors…we think there is no way we can duplicate such a splendid holiday seasonal look because Mother Nature is not so given to delivering snow for Christmas. Yet in DeSoto Parish, no matter if Mother Nature sends snow or not, the look throughout this feature home is pristinely white… and though it’s not snow that we’re seeing, the lush background of pure white lends itself to all manner of seasonal décor.

White Christmas?Here’s how to

make one happen...

Get your ideas from her ideas…and have a Merry White Christmas!



Ideas abound everywhere in places

you least expect



DESOTO PARISH LEGAL NEWS

PO Box 318 - Mansfield, La 71052

E-Edition $15 - Mailed $17.50LaBetha Tull - 318-871-6949

Is it a little early?Or is it the best time ever?

Planning and shoppingearly for your holidays

ahead makes good sense.Mansfield Drug has a


Bellemead Centre, ShreveportBrokerage, investment and financial advisory services are made available through Ameriprise Financial

Services, Inc., Member FINRA and SIPC. Some products and services may not be available in all jurisdictions or to all clients. © 2013 Ameriprise Financial Inc., All rights reserved

Larry W. Yelverton,CRPC® Financial Advisor

(318) 212–AMPF(2673)An Ameriprise Platinum Financial Services® Practice

Putting Your DreamsMore Within Reach.

Thank you

It’s time to say thanks…Before the Holidays arrive and our days get

hectic, we want to stop a minute and just say thanks to all of our customers…old and new…who have allowed us the privilege of serving

you. We’ve made new friendships and we are grateful for those, and we’ve handled claims

and worked with long-standing customers and have met their needs.

We hope every family has a delightful Holiday Season…and remember…we’ve got your back

should something unforeseen occur. That’s what we love doing…taking care and giving

great service to our customers.

Kathy Mason, Mary Amox and Amy Barber

E


-connectionsEvents, people, and items of interest in and around our area.

A large crowd attended the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for North DeSoto Drug located in the shopping mall near Cathey Acres. They are officially open for business with a complete pharmacy as well as delightful arrays of gifts, home décor, Christmas decorations and greeting cards.

Ms. Eva Gamble always just wanted to make

things pretty says her daughter, Linda. So

years ago she began planting these spider

lilies just so they would make Wood Springs

Road pretty. And indeed they do. Thank you

Miss Eva...and happy belated 91st birthday!

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Grow With Grace Child Care & Learning Center located on Hwy 171.

A luncheon recently at Nonnie’s in Grand Cane was to celebrate the outstanding jobs performed by the support staff of DeSoto Parish schools. Each person there was selected by their school as the Support Person of the Year. Congratulations and thank you for jobs very well done.

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The locals’ guide to people and items of interest in and around our area.

PRSRT STDU. S. POSTAGE

P A I DShreveport, LAPermit No. 266

DeSoto

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Desoto Life November December 2014

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