Haynesville Golfers Ask To Recycle Water
To Course
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Several members
of the Haynesville Golf Association attended Thursday's meeting of the
Haynesville Town Council to request the Council allow them to use the sewer
effluent, or gray water, discharged from the town's sewer plant to water the
golf course and ballfields. They believe using the
gray water will both save money and help preserve the Sparta Aquifer. Use of
gray water could also eliminate most of the $10,000-$12,000 cost for fertilizer on the
course each year. El Dorado, Arkansas began using gray water on their golf
course five years ago due to serious nature of their water supply.
The Town of
Haynesville, like most north central Louisiana communities depend on Sparta
Aquifer for their drinking water. According to US Geological Survey figures, in
2004 the parishes served by the Sparta were still using more water than nature
can put back. One million people use 72 million gallons from the Sparta
everyday. The break even amount is 52 million gallons. Other communities are
looking for ways to conserve water, such as by encouraging industries to go to
surface water.
Robin Bridges
with the LSU AgCenter said according to a representative
from the Dept. of Health and Hospitals, permit levels,
disinfection and cleanup of wastewater is much cleaner than water released from
personal septic tanks. According to Bill Branch with the LSU AgCenter, many communities are now using gray water on hay
fields to feed cattle and horses.
Four years ago,
the estimated cost for materials and labor to install a pipeline from the sewer
plant to the golf course was about $45,000.
Joyce expressed
concern that the Town gives the Association $20,000 per year from the
recreation tax, but doesn't get anything in return for the kids. She asked what
the club could do for the kids.
The Golf Association. according to
one member, spent over $30,000 for equipment to maintain course last year, that
much in equipment repair this year, and $27,000 to add golf cart paths. They plan to spend
$20,000-$25,000 over the next 3 years to have golf cart paths all around the
course, using money generated from
recreation tax.
Carla Smith
said Haynesville High, Claiborne Academy and Homer High all have golf teams
that use the courses for tournaments. She suggested possibly having volunteers
provide instruction for kids during the summer.
One member said
the Golf Course attracts a lot of people to Haynesville. They have 115 members
in the Golf Association, 40 of those are from out of town.
The Council
agreed to pursue the idea, possibly looking for a grant or soliciting volunteer
help to lay a pipeline.
Homer Memorial Hospital Open House
Friday
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Homer Memorial
Hospital will hold an Open House on Friday, August 26 from 10:00 AM until 2:00
PM to allow citizens in Claiborne Parish an opportunity to see the improvements
made at the facility. Hospital Administrator Doug Efferson
said, "All the work is a culmination of 2 to 3 months of hard work by
hospital employees. This is a time to celebrate and show off.."
He would like to see all parish citizens to take a few minutes Friday to stop
by to see the improvements and show your support for the hospital.
The Open House
will include guided tours of hospital improvements, artwork display by a local
artist, door prizes donated by area merchants and hospital vendors, and free hot dogs
and ice cream. Pictures will be displayed for participants in the Children's
Drawing Contest for grades 1-6. KXKZ Radio Station (107.5 FM) will provide a
live broadcast. Also on hand will be the LifeAir Helicopter and Claiborne Ambulance.
Besides
painting and cleaning, 30 patient room have been refurbished
with new beds. The old beds, 10 bedside cabinets and 18 over the bed tables
were declared surplus at Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Directors. Bids will
be accepted on those items. The upper parking lot has been completed with
rails, steps, and handrails. Employees have been asked to use the upper parking
lot to allow patients and visitors to use the lower parking lot. Air
conditioning units that were in most need have been repaired.
"It Is So Hot...The Trees Are
Looking For Shade"
BY JIMMY DEAN, Feature Writer, The Guardian-Journal
"It's gotta be 100 degrees!" Who hasn't felt or said that
the past few days? A call to Nancy Boddie, lab
technician at the Hill Farm Research Station, clears up any question about just
how hot it has been. According to Boddie, the Homer
area has hit 100 degrees only one day so far this summer. That was on July 21.
The temperature got up to 98 yesterday, August 22, according to Hill Farm
instruments. "It's always 4-5 degrees cooler here than in
Shreveport," she said.
Boddie says the Farm's equipment records the highest and
lowest temperature in the previous 24 hours. They check the equipment daily
between 7:00 and 7:30 AM. She also said that they have measured 1.08 inches of
rain through August 22, a total of 30.18 inches so far this year. Our yearly
rainfall averages 53.5 inches. Although May and June were drier than usual, Boddie comments that "we're about where we would
expect to be at this time."
The Hill Farm,
an official data collection center for the National Weather Service, has been
maintaining records since 1950. Boddie says the
highest temperature recorded by their instruments since then was 109 degrees on
August 31, 2000. And the lowest temperature was one (1) degree on December 23,
1989.
NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER CLINT SOWARDS will present the "Idiosyncrasies of Butterflies" at 11:15 AM at
Haynesville's Seventh Annual Celebration of Butterflies to be held Saturday,
September 10 at the Claiborne Parish Fairgrounds.
DR. CHARLES ALLEN
will present a program on "Edible and Useful Plants" at Haynesville's
Celebration of Butterflies on September 10. It will be a "mouth on, nose
on" presentation.
Clint Sowards To Present
Idiosyncrasies Of
Butterflies
Charles Allen To
Present Edible And Useful Plants
BY SUSAN T. HERRING, Editor, The Guardian-Journal
Clint Sowards is what one might call a "Nature
Photographer". For the last half century, he has used a camera to record
birds, insects, other animals, scenery, anything in
nature. With the passing of time, it has become apparent to him that the
natural world is changing as humanity encroaches into space occupied by things
wild.
Jacques
Cousteau reportedly once made an observation that our world could be compared
to an orbiting rocket ship held together by rivets. Each tie a species of plant
or animal becomes extinct, a rivet pops out of the
ship. The question: Which rivet will cause the ship to fall apart and crash?
In an effort to
record things as they once were, Clint has provided the world—Africa, the
Amazon, India and other far destinations—to picture as much s
he can before any more rivets are lost. In addition, he uses his own backyard
as a studio. At one time he grew butterflies in order to photograph them
through all the four stages of metamorphosis. A sampling of this work will be
on exhibit September 10 at the Haynesville Celebration of Butterflies where
Clint will be giving a program at 11:15 AM on "Idiosyncrasies of
Butterflies".
Charles Allen
is a Research Associate with Colorado State stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
He is a retired professor of Biology from the University of Louisiana at Monroe
and a charter member of the Louisiana Native Plant Society. He served as
President of LNPS from 1995-1997 and has organized and led many field trips
throughout Louisiana. He is the co-author of "Trees Shrubs and Woody Vines
of Louisiana" and "Grasses of Louisiana, 3rd ed". He is
currently preparing "Edible Plants of the Gulf South" which should be
out in late 2005 and "Wildflowers of Louisiana" is scheduled for
release from LSU Press in 2006.
Allen has
presented "Edible and Useful Plants" to many groups including
Louisiana Archaeological Week at Ft. Polk in 2002 and 2003, and in Sulphur in 2004, at
the Haynesville Butterfly Festival in 2002, 2003, and 2004; at the Cajun
Prairie Society (May 2000) and the Louisiana Archaeological Society in Monroe
in February 1999.
Dr. Allen will
be giving a program on "Edible and Useful Plants" at the Haynesville
Celebration of Butterflies at 1:15 PM at the Claiborne Parish Fairgrounds on
Saturday, September 10. This is a hands on (actually mouth on and nose on)
presentation with fresh and dried samples of edible and useful plants. A brief
overview of each plant is presented and then participants are encouraged to
graze on the salad plants. Freshly brewed teas from an assortment of dried
plants such as New Jersey tea leaves, blackberry leaves, persimmon leaves, and
others will be prepared for sipping. Jars of dried leaves of red bay, mountain
mint, and other spices will be available for all to smell. Each participant
will depart with a list of plants that includes common and scientific name,
part used, and how used.
Vendors Sought For Butterfly Festival On September 10
Food and craft vendors are being sought for the seventh annual
Haynesville Celebration of Butterflies to be held at the Claiborne Parish
Fairgrounds in Haynesville on Saturday, September 10. The charge for vendors is
$25 for a 10'x10' booth in the air-conditioned building and $15 for a 12'x12'
space under a covered pavilion. Tables can be rented for $5 each. Festival
hours are 9 AM - 9 PM. For a vendor application, contact LeBois
Sincox at 318-624-0661 or Pat Bourn at 318-624-1216.
Butterfly Festival To
Feature Nature Photography Contest
A nature photography contest will be part of the Haynesville
Celebration of Butterflies to be held September 10 at the Claiborne Parish
Fairgrounds in Haynesville. Entry classes are: Student in grades 1-4, grades
5-8, grades 9-12, and adults. All photographs will be on exhibition during the
festival with winners being announced from the stage at 12:30 PM Awards each
class are first place $20, second $15, third $10, and fourth honorable mention.
For an entry form or further information, contact Sarena
Cox, 216 Dawson St., Homer, LA 71040, or call (318) 927-4314.
THIS SKETCH OF HOMER TOBACCO by Stan Routh shows the building on East Main
across from First Baptist Church. The telephone pole shown in the drawing still
leans.
THE LOADING DOCK on the north side of Homer Tobacco awaits a new owner. Closeup of front
door of older Homer Tobacco building (left) showing "For Sale" sign.
The two Homer Tobacco buildings, to the right, are no longer in use.
End Of An Era:
Homer Tobacco Sells To
Caldwell Wholesale
"We are still doing business with
pencils and order pads."
BY JIMMY DEAN, Feature Writer, The Guardian-Journal
A Homer
institution is no more. The inventory for Homer Tobacco was sold to
Shreveport's Caldwell Wholesale earlier this year. Caldwell has removed the
last of the stock, and the two buildings that were Homer Tobacco are up for
sale.
Sidney Cox and
J. D. Kelly opened Homer Tobacco on October 1, 1945. Having purchased an initial supply of stock
from E. B. Robinson, the business first opened on the southwest corner of the
Square where Design Concepts is now located. After 3-4 years they moved to a
building behind the present Claiborne Parish School Board Building. The
building was on land they rented from Max Maritzky.
By the early 1960s the business had outgrown that location. They bought
property at the corner of East Main and South 2nd, this time diagonally across
from the Claiborne Parish School Board Building.
From its
earliest days J. D. Kelly handled order taking and deliveries while Sidney Cox
handled the books and recordkeeping. By the early 1980s Kelly wanted to retire,
and Carrell Dowies bought
the business on January 1, 1981. Cox stayed on, for "a year or so" to
ensure a smooth transition. The "year or so" lasted until the company's recent sale
to Caldwell.
Cox added that
Homer Tobacco's way of doing business was to take orders one day, then deliver
the next. Their routemen also routinely carried extra
inventory so customers needing merchandise that had not been a part of the
original order could get what they needed immediately. Homer Tobacco's policy
was also to make good on a customer's complaint promptly with no hassle. As a
result, the company rarely lost business due to customer dissatisfaction. Cox
explains, "A customer trading with us might be bought out by another
company that already had their own supplier that they chose to stay with...but
we didn't lose business because of dissatisfaction with our service."
Susan Herring's
dad, Hutto Tabor, was a routeman
for Homer Tobacco for about 20 years, until his untimely death in 1975. She
remembers how she and her siblings would be one of the first in Homer to try
out new candy treats on the market. She also rode with her dad occasionally on
his Saturday route to make deliveries to many small
rural stores in North Louisiana and remembers how much he enjoyed visiting with
store owners and employees. Cox said Tabor left Homer Tobacco for a brief time
to take another sales position, but returned to Homer because his heart was
really with Homer Tobacco and his customers.
Most employees
enjoyed their work with Homer Tobacco and stayed for years. Bobby Fowler had
been with the company 35 years when it was sold, and he continues with Caldwell
Wholesale. Gil Dowies also moved over to Caldwell.
Asked why Homer Tobacco is leaving the Claiborne Parish business
scene now, Dowies explains, "There were a number
of considerations. For one thing, regulations imposed on businesses are
making it harder for the little guy to compete while dotting the
i's and crossing the
t's. Also we were still doing business with pencils
and order pads. Although it worked fine for us, we had an effect on other folks
we dealt with who were computerized. For those and other reasons, it was just
the right time to move on."
Voter Registration Week August 22-26
Secretary of
State Al Ater announced Louisiana's annual voter
registration drive will be conducted Aug. 22-26 across the state. Registrars of
voters' offices throughout Louisiana are working diligently with the Secretary
of State's office to increase voter registration and voter participation. If
you are interested in registering to vote, please go to any motor vehicle
office, your parish registrar of voters' office, or contact your registrar of
voters for a schedule of registration drives being conducted in your area.
Ater encourages all of our citizens across
this great state to register to vote and to exercise their right to vote. Any
person who is a United States citizen at least 18 years old is can vote. A
person must register to vote no later than thirty (30) days prior to an
election. Voter registration forms and voter education information can also be
obtained through the Secretary of State's website at www.sos.louisiana.gov.
A copy of a
mail voter registration form may be obtained from the registrar of voters'
office, the Dept. of Motor Vehicles or on-line at the Secretary of State
website www.sos.louisiana.gov/elections/elect-appli.htm
For more
information on registering to vote, contact the Claiborne Parish Registrar of Voters at 318-927-3332 or
stop by the office in the Claiborne Police Jury Complex.
PURPLE, RED, YELLOW, ORANGE ZINNIAS - this is a glimpse of the acres of zinnias at Double M Farms near
Sharon on the Claiborne-Lincoln parish line that make up the "Butterfly
Garden."
Gather Kids For
Day At Double M Farms
BY JIMMY DEAN, Feature Writer, The Guardian-Journal
At a time when
small farms seem to be dying out, one is not only alive but growing. Double M
Farms, operated by Chad Miller, straddles 131 acres of Claiborne and Lincoln
Parishes in the Sharon Community.
A working farm
since 1985, Miller's spread includes 4 acres of a corn maze, 2 acres of zinnias
(also known as the "Butterfly Garden"), several poultry houses, 150 peach trees,
acres of watermelons, strawberries, cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, squash,
cantaloupe—but, wait, there's more.
There's a
petting zoo with rabbits, quail, a pig, a bull, sheep, and goats. There's an
almost 4-acre pond where kids can feed the catfish. The pond also has bream,
white perch, chinquapin, and bass. Then there are the 150 Christmas trees that
have been planted.
Von Wafer Day Set At Pineview
Saturday,
August 27, 2005 has been declared "Vakeaton
(Von) Wafer Day" by Pineview High School and the
Lisbon Community. Von has been drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and will begin
camp on September 1, 2005. He is the son of Mrs. Doris Ziegler of New Port and
Ray and Virginia Johnson of Homer. Everyone is asked to stop by Saturday to
offer best wishes to Von. The program will begin at 2 PM.
Herbert Ford Museum Has New Website
The Ford Museum
is the proud owner of its new website. The website was designed by Esteban Ricardo Fiallos through the
Small Community Website Project as an outreach project of the Louisiana Tech
Center for Rural Development with funding provided by USDA Rural Development
and the Delta Regional Authority. The Ford Museum has worked with students at
Louisiana Tech and Homer's Joel Ponder (Key-Comp Web Design) to get a first rate site for residents of
Claiborne Parish and visitors to our area, to use and learn more about what is
going on in the Museum. The website will be updated with the latest news and
events concerning the preservation of the history and culture of our area. The
website address is www.ford.claiborneone.org.
