Jennifer Hill-Robertson’s son Sean, is an 11-years-old who loves getting mail. Sean has requested that he receive 25,000 Christmas cards and mail this year.

Sean wants to thank everyone from Natchitoches and all around the world for sending him cards, letters, and notes. He has over 700 cards so far. While he might not be able to reach his goal, there still is time!

Students at the Natchitoches Jr. High-Frankie Ray Jackson got involved and made cards for Sean.

Sean has Autism Spectrum Disorder, Bilateral Sensorineural hearing loss, and hypoparathyroidism. Because of his exceptionality and difficulty with social skills and pragmatics, Sean is often the target of bullying and is picked on by students at his school.

His goal last year was 1,000 cards. He received over 10,000 cards and pieces of mail. It was truly amazing!

“I started this for him because he has been the object of teasing, bullying, and being picked on by his peers at school,” said Jennifer. “Since an incident occurred where he was hit in the face with rocks and broken pencils, he has asked me to help him get mail. It’s very hard for him to understand why children are so cruel. I want him to know that there are good people out there and not everyone is mean.”

Sean reads every letter and card. With his mother’s help he takes the stamps and the stickers and puts them in an album. He loves Mickey Mouse, anything Disney, the Avengers, art, music, stickers, stamps, geography, history, science, the Saints, and the LSU Tigers.

Anyone interested in sending mail can mail it to: Sean Stewart, P.O. Box 359, Natchitoches, Louisiana 71458.

Cane River Creole National Historical Park is hiring a student trainee. This is a part time park guide position in the division of interpretation. If you are a student or know a student who would be interested in working at the park go online to this link: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/PrintPreview/460361600

The position closes January 3, 2017. For more information call Barbara at 318-352-0383, ext. 200.

The City of Natchitoches is offering a half day program for youth ages 6-13 Dec. 28. The program will be held at the MLK Recreation Center from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Breakfast and lunch will be served, students will rotate through art, skills and recreation activities. Registration will be held at the MLK Recreation Center. The cost is $5 per child.

The first class of graduates of Northwestern State University’s Doctor of Nursing practice degree were hooded during NSU commencement Friday. Provided through NSU’s College of Nursing and School of Allied Health, the program provides a clinical doctorate for master’s prepared registered nurses.

On the front row from left are Susan Brown, Detries Morris, Allison Turner, Aimee Sandifer, Jennifer Cameron, Tammy Harris and LaToya Gipson. On the back row are Dr. Dana Clawson, dean of the College of Nursing and School of Allied Health, Alice Fanning, Beatrice Launius, Cheryl Adair, Julie Gayle, Billy Morales and Dr. Connie Hale, faculty.

James Edwards spoke before the Parish Council at its meeting Dec. 19 about concerns he has regarding Fire District 1 in Cloutierville.

On Sept. 9 a fire at his lumber facility burned 20 percent of his inventory, which he said was due to a breakdown in the responsiveness and reliability of FD 1. He claimed that when he called the chairman of the board for FD 1, the chief and assistant chief they were all unresponsive. According to Edwards, a Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s deputy called other fire districts in the area, who also failed to respond. The deputy had to call his superiors, who then made the fire districts respond to the fire.

Edwards also claimed that none of the members of FD 1 have the required 12 hours of training. When he got a group of people interested in becoming volunteer firefighters for FD 1, he was told by the training department at LSU that they’ve been unable to reach anyone from FD1 to get them to participate in the training.

Edwards claimed he has a long list of people willing to volunteer, but only after the leadership is changed.

Chris Posey, a former district chief, asked the Council to expunge the old members on the FD 1 Board and remove them effective immediately.

“The oldest ones that have been down there the longest are the ones breaking the rules,” said Edwards.

Other accusations include:

Unlike other fire districts, FD 1 has a rule where any interested person has to interview before they can join.

Keep fire trucks sitting at personal residences

Accused Edwards and others of trespassing when they tried to put a donated water tank at the station in Cloutierville because they “didn’t want the tank there,” according to Edwards

Failure to file and send fire reports to Baton Rouge (FD 1 hasn’t made a report in almost 2 years according to Edwards)

One of the worst FD ratings in the state, which inflates insurance rates and can prevent area schools from receiving grants

Out of 14 trucks between 6 stations, only 3 will start

The decision was made to build a bathroom, an $8,500 project, when there’s fire trucks that don’t run

Beepers alerting FD 1 members of a fire during a fish fry held last year were ignored. According to Edwards, the fire was at the assistant chief’s neighbor’s house. “This is the reason why other districts are mad. They aren’t going to their own fires,” said Edwards.

Joseph C. Prothro, of FD 1, wrecked one of the district’s brand new fire trucks in September, 2015, which he was driving in Rapides Parish. Prothro was cited for careless operation of the fire truck.

No bids taken for buying trucks, simply using the same guy they always do

Parish President Rick Nowlin said they’ve replaced five of the seven board members for FD 1, primarily for the reasons Edwards mentioned at the meeting.

“He’s right about a lot of what he’s saying and it’s a problem,” said Nowlin. “There are some significant problems down there. We’re working with the new board members and since we’ve been advised there’s still problems, we need to seek more improvement quickly or we’ll have to take appropriate action. I may have recommendations at our next meeting.”

By Kevin Shannahan

Kevin’s Gallery

A standing room only gathering of worshipers came to First United Methodist Church of Natchitoches’ traditional candlelight Christmas Eve Services. FUMC Choir Director Dr. Nicholaus Cummins was joined by soloist Leanny Munoz. Munoz is a recent graduate of the Louisiana Scholars’ College, and is currently earning her master’s degree in musicology at LSU. She was a three year member of the church’s traditional choir while a student at NSU and returned to perform a beautiful solo performance of “O Holy Night.”

The services, always an occasion for family reunions, had an international flair this year. Eileen Riedel, a former NCHS exchange student from Hockenheim, Germany now back home for her final year of high school, returned to Natchitoches to visit her host family for the holidays.

Parish President Rick Nowlin and Director of Public Works Nick Verret the updated the Parish Council at its last meeting December 19 on road work and FEMA reimbursements.

All PW’s for repairs resulting from the March disaster event have been completed by FEMA. To date, payments totaling $274,284 have been processed by FEMA to the Parish.

Parish forces completed repairs to the Coal Kiln Creek Bridge on Robeline-Provencal Road and reopened in Dec. 9 with a 5-ton posted load limit. In other bridge news, the LA DOTD issued a letter to all local bridge owners advising that no new bridge replacement projects will be programmed until such time as additional funding is made available for the Federal Off-System Bridge Replacement Program. This won’t affect projects previously programmed. This includes the following bridges in Natchitoches Parish: Clark Road over Bayou Bourbeaux, Robeline-Provencal Road over Coal Kiln Creek and Good Hope Road over an unnamed drain.

The proposed resurfacing of Orda Levee Road through the Federal Lands Access Program will add 6 inches of crushed stone aggregate surface course to the entire 4.9 mile length of the road at an estimated cost od $473,211. The application was finalized for submittal by the Dec. 16 deadline. Because the road accesses a National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to pay $65,400 of the required 20 percent local match, with the Parish to provide the remaining $29,242. If the project is approved for FLAP funding, the Parish will prepare plans and specs, and the LA DOTD will handle the bid letting.

Nowlin gave updates on Capital Outlay work in the Parish, which received the executed 2nd Amendment to the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement from the FP&C. The Parish will request permission to begin project design and construction. The state funding remains at $280,000.

The Parish received an amended Cooperative Endeavor Agreement from FP&C that reduced the funding of Phase I from $500,000 to $200,000 for improvements to Payne Subdivision. Adding the $66,667 Parish matching funds brings the total project budget to $266,667. Because of the State funding reduction, the scope of Phase I must be reduced to the replacement of the bridge on Miller Drive and a very limited amount of street repairs. The amendment was executed by the Parish and returned to FP&C for its final execution.

In other news, the proposed renewal of the 5 mill Parish Road District 40 property tax will be on the ballot March 25. The District includes the entire Parish except for the City of Natchitoches. The renewal of this existing tax is critical to the continued operation of the Parish highway department. If it fails to be approved by voters, there will be major reductions in the highway department and its ability to keep the roads passable.

Verret also provided a report detailing the work accomplishments in each district for the month of November. It included 158 jobs totaling 564,488 feet (106.911 miles) of work for a total amount of $99,058. This included $44,089 in equipment, $33,988 in materials and $20,981 in labor. (SEE PHOTOS BELOW)

Members of Natchitoches Central High School’s FFA chapter toured LSU and the College of Ag today. Four are members of the national 1st place Agronomy Team – the first team in the state to ever place first in a National FFA Career Development event. The students got a behind-the-scenes tour of Tiger Stadium with LSU’s Global Ag Ambassadors.

Members of the FFA first place Agronomy Team are Brad Scott, Brooklyn Hampton, Dylan Daniels and Preston Tibbett. They are pictured with Assistant Dean Dr. Leslie Blanchard and Dean Richardson. They each received a scholarship from the college.

With over 100 children attending the Cookies with Santa event, the Natchitoches Christmas Angels organization said it was a very successful event. The kids enjoyed making their own ornaments, candy cane reindeer, coloring and other projects. Cookies by the dozens were eaten with milk on the side. Santa knows all the kids’ Christmas wishes and took plenty of pictures. The Christmas Angels would like to thank everyone that came and participated at the Phi Mu sorority house on the NSU campus. The girls are all looking forward to making the Christmas donation to a charity.

The staff and columnists at the Natchitoches Parish Journal wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

By Kevin Shannahan

Natchitoches residents Johnny and Audrey Broussard were joined by California physician and longtime friend, Dr. Jessica Laursen and her daughter Zoe, in hosting 20 international NSU students for a holiday dinner and fireworks on the Cane River Friday, Dec. 23. The group decided to forgo Christmas gift exchanges and to do something for others instead. Hosting a dinner for NSU’s foreign students in conjunction with NSU’s Wesley Center and its director Clair Carter came to mind.

The students are from Mexico, Columbia and Hondoras and are majoring in a range of subjects from nursing to music and engineering. Several of the music students are also singers and muscians at First United Methodist Church in Natchitoches. They started the evening at FUMC and then drove to a boat launch to see the lights and fireworks from a barge on the Cane River. The group then returned to the church for a traditional Columbian dinner of roast arroz con pollo, pork medallions, empanapas and arroz con leche.

Northwestern State senior swingman Zeek Woodley, the Demons’ leading scorer for the past three seasons, may be sidelined for 6-8 weeks due to a broken wrist suffered in the first half of Monday night’s 100-93 loss at Rice.

Demons’ head coach Mike McConathy said Woodley, a 6-2 senior who is 70 points away from becoming NSU’s all-time scoring leader, will have surgery Friday. Woodley hurt his right (shooting) wrist when fouled on a driving layup late in the first half, apparently landing on the wrist when knocked to the floor, but remained in the game and scored 10 second-half points in a 20-point outing, the 48th career 20-point outing for him.

Woodley is averaging 17.6 points this season and 19.2 in 101 career games, the seventh-best career scoring average in major college baskeball. The Pelican-All Saints product ranks fourth nationally in career scoring (1,940 points), 26th in field goal percentage (55.8), 41st in free throw aim (83.6) and has made 41 percent of his career 3-point shots with averaging 4.7 rebounds as a Demon.

The injury occurred in the 10th game of the season for NSU and Woodley, who is not eligible for a medical redshirt. That threshold was NSU’s ninth game.

NSU (5-5) plays its final non-conference game next Wednesday night at home against Louisiana College, then opens the 18-game Southland Conference season in Prather Coliseum next Saturday afternoon against McNeese.

An usher was escorting visitors to a seat in the sanctuary. As they walked down the aisle the usher inquired, “Clapping or non-clapping?” You can stir up some hot mess debates about clapping in the church, especially when the clapping follows a musical selection. Congregations have been applauding children’s programs and Choir cantatas as we roll through this season. Applause breaks out every Christmas season, even in the most formal of congregations.

I think we should add applause to our Christmas celebrations.

A brief history of applause tells us that it became a more formalized cultural convention in the early days of the theater. Roman theater audiences, for example, were told “Valete et plaudite!” “Goodbye and applause” at the end of every performance, which was the ancient equivalent of today’s “Give it up for “Your NSU demons” by an announcer.

Given that the theater was the only place in those days where you could gather the bulk of the people, politicians also used applause as a form of early polling data, gauging the crowd’s reaction when they entered the venue and took their seats. Once, when the Roman emperor Caligula attended a performance, a certain actor received more applause upon his arrival than had the emperor himself when he arrived at the venue. The maniacal emperor Caligula reportedly muttered (while fingering his sword, no doubt), “I wish that the Roman people had one neck.” Whether it’s in an ancient theater or in a modern arena, the strength of applause is still the thing that can make or break a performer or a politician.

The Romans, in fact, had three categories of applause that further make its connection to the sounds of the material world. “Bricks” was the flat-handed clapping of polite applause, while “roof tiles” or the clapping of cupped hands meant that the audience liked you a lot. The best type of applause, however, was the sound of “bees” — a cacophonous buzz that included not only clapping hands, but shouting voices as well. Listen to a modern audience clapping and you can definitely tell the difference between the smattering applause that sounds like raindrops and the full-throated roar that sounds like thunder. In Europe especially, synchronized applause is common.

And applause is usually accompanied by vocal acclamation, i.e., cheering.

One part of the Christmas story reads: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,

“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Merry Christmas

Work was completed at the Robeline Marthaville Water System well site Dec. 22. A new pump and pipes were installed. The old tank was removed. The Delta Regional Authority contributed $27,000 of emergency funding toward the project. DRA’s investment was matched by $5,000 in local funds to replace the 30-year-old water tank.

“I am pleased we had the opportunity to support the efforts of the Delta Regional Authority to make immediate assistance available to the communities in Robeline and Marthaville so that they will have drinkable water in time for the holidays,” said Gov. Edwards. “We are incredibly grateful for DRA’s help in making this critical and timely repair possible, given the tremendous challenge that small municipalities repeatedly face when it comes to affording the costs of maintaining a functional water system.”

Reba Phelps texted a few of her neighbors in the St. Claire Avenue and Whitfield Drive area to see if their children would be interested in caroling one night before Christmas.

“My only instruction for their behavior was to tip toe and whisper when we traveled through yards so they would be totally surprised, like cat burglars,” said Phelps. “We knew we wanted to make this an annual event.”

The night of caroling came and the group gathered at Phelps’ house. The kids were dressed in their warmest red and green attire. Some had on Christmas light necklaces and elf hats. They rang the first door bell at Ellen Tucker’s home and sang “Silent Night.”

“The kids sounded like absolute angels,” said Phelps. “There is no way to describe the unity and melody that came out of their mouths. It was beautiful. Once the kids sang, all of the parents were teary eyed and shocked at how good they sounded. Ellen gave the kids ring pops so they were thrilled and excited to visit the next spot.”

The kids were well received at each and every house. Some residents cried while they sang, some sang along with the carolers and some invited them in.

After it was said and done they decided to name the group “Cat Burglar Carolers.”

The Cat Burglar Carolers will return next year.

Kids who participated included Sydney Hicks; Kathryn Phelps; Gabriel, Teegan and Kyson McKnight, Cameron, Colby, Rannon and Allyson Jett; Emma Bain and Sophia Pleasant.

BOM is a $250 sponsor of the Natchitoches Parish 4-H Archery Team. Pictured from left are Sarah Al-Darsani, Coleton Anderson, Pat Johnson (Archery Coach), Allison Johnson, Patrick Anderson (Assistant Archery Coach), Tayler Anderson and Katrice Below.

The Natchitoches After School Program teamed up with the Concerned Citizens Association for Bailey Heights to collect and donate non-perishable food items to the Rock Island Church.

Emerson Chief Operating Officer Ed Purvis and a team of executives visited Alliance Compressors this week to officially present the 2016 International Safety Award to the plant team and visit and thank all employees for their diligence and hard work. Ed and team spent time touring the 400,000 square foot facility talking with employees one on one and culminating in a ceremony where he presented the award to plant manager Ken Gardner.

Ed spent additional time visiting with the Alliance Safety Steering Committee, which is the leadership arm of safety at the plant charged with delivering the continued emphasis and focus on safety as a Value of the business. Mayor Lee Posey, Chamber President Tony Davis, and Acting President of Northwestern State University Chris Maggio also attended a luncheon, spending time with Ed and the team to talk about the strong partnerships the plant has with the community.

During Ed’s presentation he pointed out the magnitude of the achievements among Emerson’s 500+ locations worldwide and among the over 100,000 employees that the Natchitoches facility has, which was one of the reasons it was chosen for this honor.

He said, “The award is certainly about posting great safety numbers such as incident rates but in the evaluation it’s also about the programs and culture in place. Alliance clearly demonstrated commitment by having several innovative programs that evidence a very strong safety culture. You (Alliance team) are now a benchmark for our other facilities who will be looking to you for example and leadership of how it is done.”

Plant manager Ken Gardner commented just how proud he is of the whole Alliance team and shared a quote that he thought was appropriate. “Good deeds should be done with intention, not for attention.”

Gardner said, “We set out to create a culture where there are zero accidents and our employees go home safely to their families at the end of the workday. It is gratifying to see recognition for great results but the focus remains on keeping our employees safe. Ed Purvis’ last comments and challenge to the team was to never stop working on safety because even with record safety numbers we can do better.”

Pictured is the Alliance Safety Steering committee with Ed Purvis. Kneeling on front row from left are Bill Fair, Michael Richard, Alvin Dixon, Michelle Brundige, and Daniel Urrutia. On middle row are Brian Brock, Richard Dove, Chad Waldrip, Priscilla Smith, Emerson COO Ed Purvis, Robin Ryder, Ken Gardner, Tony Johnson, Eddie Foster, David Chesal, and Emerson Corporate Manager of Safety and Health. On back row are Paul Grice, Craig Caskey, Emerson Vice President Global Human Resources Tim Volk, Emerson Corporate Profit Planner, Glen Reffke, Larry Cole, Don Butler, and Tom Frazier.

The Robeline Marthaville Water System received the gift of water, just in time for Christmas. “We’re looking at having running water by tomorrow,” said Leslie Durham, Governor John Bel Edwards’ Designee for the Delta Regional Authority.

DRA contributed $27,000 of emergency funding to provide reliable drinking water to the 475 residents on the Robeline-Marthaville Water System at a meeting Thursday, Dec. 22. DRA’s investment will be matched by $5,000 in local funds to replace a 30-year-old water tank.

“We are grateful for the DRA’s immediate approval of our request to fund a new pump that will deliver running water to all residents and businesses on our system,” said Tommy O’Con, chairman of the Water System Board. “This allows us to purchase the pump today and install it immediately to provide running water just in time for the holidays.”

The meeting including Water System Board members; Parish President Rick Nowlin; members of the NPSO Office of Emergency Preparedness; Knox Ross, president and CEO of the Coordinating and Development Council of Shreveport; a representative from the Dept. of Health and Hospitals; M.E. “Toye” Taylor, deputy chief of staff for intergovernmental affairs at the Office of the Governor and members of the Louisiana Rural Water Association.

The Robeline-Marthaville Water System experienced a “catastrophic failure of its main pressure water tank,” the Water System said in its application for DRA funding. Buying a new pump will return reliable potable water to customers, including the 370-students at Marthaville Elementary and Junior High School.

“Drinking water is essential to every community, and DRA is committed to taking swift action to make investments that ensure the Delta has the infrastructure in place to deliver dependable water for residents,” said DRA Chairman Chris Masingill. “In this case, we acted within 24 hours on the Robeline-Marthaville request, and I’m grateful to our Board of Directors for approving this emergency funding today. Our actions this week clearly demonstrate DRA’s pledge to support infrastructure improvements that are vital to communities across the Mississippi River Delta region.”

By: DENNIS COLEMAN

The name used for this battle is indicative of battlefield intelligence available to the U.S. Army in late November, 1950.  The maps being used were those left by the occupying Japanese in WWll, i.e. at least five years old and inaccurate. The Korean name Changjin was simply changed by the Japanese to Chosan and later Americanized to Chosin (pronou…nced chosen). It will be forever known as Chosin Reservoir.  Our military brass didn’t even have the name right.

The U.N. forces, 88% of which were the armed forces of the United States,  were coming off victories at Pusan and Inchon and mistakenly did not anticipate the the Red Chinese getting into the fray.  That incorrect assumption proved costly and deadly. There is evidence that Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung had baited Macarthur and the general took the bait. U.S. troops had rushed headlong toward the Yalu River.  This battle, taking place from November 27, 1950 to December 13, 1950, would prove to be one of the most horrific in U.S. military history.

There are several factors which add to the magnitude and difficulty of this engagement.  Not to minimize anything but probably the most significant to the outcome was the entrance into the war by the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese had traveled by night and were well camouflaged during the day to get deep into Korea.  The Red Chinese had the high ground.  The weather (temps. down to 35 degrees below zero F.) was unrelenting and about half of the casualties were caused by the weather.  Additionally,  the 30,000  U.S. troops had no knowledge of the presence of the 67,000 Red Chinese who had infiltrated across the Yalu River and were waiting to spring their trap. The Chosin Reservoir was about 150 miles above the 38th parallel and ‘roads’ were often limited to a single lane gravel trail.

When the first illumination flare was fired at about 2:30 A.M. on November 27, hundreds of Red Chinese troops could by seen coming at the American positiions. It had begun. The fire from both armies was intense and unabated. 25,474 troops from the 1st Marine Division and 3,000 from the army were completely encircled. At dawn air support from Navy F4 Corsairs helped stem the onslaught, but the overall situation would not get any better for the next three days. In the extreme cold, weapons would not work properly, batteries would fail, and engines would not start.  Soldiers suffered frostbite and some froze to death.

Even as casualties mounted the U. S. commanders on the ground were incorrectly told that the Chinese were on the run. At a time when they were at risk of being overrun it was decided to attack toward the port of Hungman. The killing and dying continued along a 70 mile strip of road finally ending at Hungman. With naval artillery and air support, what was remaining of the force were evacuated from Hungman.

There were 17 Medal of Honor (MOH) recipients at Chosin Reservoir, 15 of those were from 1st Marine Division. The total casualties for U.S. troops 1,029 KIA, 4,594 missing, 4,582 wounded and 7,338 non-battle casualties for a total 17,843. The Red Chinese admitted casualties were 19,202 battle casualties and 28,954 non-battle casualties for a total of 48,156…out of the 67,000 stated above.  Being totally surrounded, the U. S. troops did not, could not, retreat, they simply fought their way to the evacuation point of Hungman, and after reaching the safety of the waiting ships, the port of Hungman was leveled by air and naval bombardment.

The result was one of the rare times that a Pyrrhic victory was declared for the Chinese. This term is reserved for those cases when a victory is so costly that a second such victory would result in ultimate defeat.

The Natchitoches Parish Journal received this submission. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Natchitoches Parish Journal.  If you have an article or story of interest for publishing consideration by the NPJ, please send it to NPJNatLa@gmail.com.

Goldonna Elementary and Jr. High School recognized its Student dog the Week for Dec. 9. Pictured on front row from left are Colin Freeman, Samyia Caldwell, Presley Alexander and Brooklyn O’Bannon. On back row are Principal Kendria Sanders, Avery Martin, Preslee Jones and Kara Slaughter.

BOM sponsored the NSU Middle Lab Orchestra to perform at the National Disney Festival in Orlando, Fla. Gretchen Dauzat presented a $500 donation to Kaitlin Holt.

Pictured from left are William Watley, Tyler Murchison, Farrah Murchison, Craig George, Nariaya Sowell, Gretchen, Kaitlin, Aryel Durr, Director Katrice LaCour, Catherine Picht, Freda LaCour, and Whitt Scott.