The 2023 NSU Folklife Festival saw the long-awaited return of one of its most popular events – the Gumbo Cookoff. This year saw a fierce culinary battle as the different chefs filled the air outside of Prather Coliseum with a tantalizing aroma. After the judging took place, festivalgoers were able to enjoy cups of gumbo from each contestant and vote on their favorite.

Joel Sylvie won in the seafood category.

Laurie and Merryll Smith took top honors in the Poultry Plus category.

Natchitoches’ own Elvin Shields was the People’s Choice

The Gumbo Cookoff is more than a cooking contest. It is a celebration of one of Louisiana’s signature foods and a symbol of the many parts that come together to make our state the uniquely wonderful place that it is.

Kevin’s Gallery

NSU’s Prather Coliseum was transformed into the finest musical venue and restaurant in Louisiana for the 2023 Folk Life Festival, July 22. Thousands of festivalgoers packed NSU’s Prather Coliseum to be entertained by an eclectic variety of musical acts and presenters from all over Louisiana and surrounding states. In addition to the music, over 65 vendors from Louisiana and surrounding states sold books and crafts as well as educating festival goers on various Louisiana and Native American folk way. Festivalgoers who ventured outside could see a blacksmith from the LSUS Pioneer Heritage Center demonstrating blacksmithing as well as a representative from the West Baton Rouge Museum in period dress demonstrating laundry day in the days before machines.

NSU alumna and educator on Native-American culture Rhonda Gauthier was named as the honorary Chair of the 2023 Folklife Festival. She was joined onstage by her fellow 2023 inductees into the Louisiana Folklife Center Hall of Master Folk Artists. This accomplished and eclectic group ranged from Ms. Gauthier to Country Musician Hugh Harris and the Broussard Family Jure. Jure is a hauntingly beautiful style of African American folk music. Dr. Lisa Abney, retiring NSU faculty member and longtime fixture of the Folklife festival since its inception, was given the “Folklife Angel Award.”

The festival is a long-standing favorite as evidenced by its loyal following. Many of the attendees and performers have been coming for years. The loyal following and the festival’s new friends kept the dance floor moving and the concerts well attended.

The Folklife Festival, now in its 43rd year, is designed to showcase, preserve and perpetuate Louisiana’s unique culture. This year’s theme was “Celebrating Louisiana’s Cultural Gumbo”, a fitting theme for our state’s unique mixture of cultures. For a modest admission fee, the Natchitoches/NSU Folk Festival features a solid day of superb music, crafts, food and above all, fun.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video might be worth 10,000.

Case in point – click on the video above to get a look at the food, fun and frolic that everyone involved will enjoy at lunchtime this Friday, July 28, in Alexandria, in the only out-of-town activity during the three-day 2023 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration in Natchitoches.

The LSHOF’s big party starts Thursday evening with the La Capitol Federal Credit Union Welcome Reception, free to all from 5-7 at the LSHOF Museum on the Front Street traffic circle in downtown Natchitoches.

Then the scene shifts to Alexandria and Four Seasons Bowling Center for the Celebrity Rock N Roll Bowling Bash presented by BOM. Everyone is encouraged to wear their finest Rock N Roll gear and come ready for tons of fun, along with plenty of food and an open bar.

To enter or get more information visit LaSportsHall.com and click on the Induction Week button, or call 318-238-4255.

The bowling party will begin at 11:30 a.m. with lunch catered by Walk On’s Sports Bistreaux for everyone in the house – bowlers and spectators. That’s right – you don’t have to bowl to enjoy the party. Admission is $50 for adults and $25 for youth to mingle, eat, and watch the action.

Bowlers can enter as individuals ($100) or as a team ($400). Teams can be four people paired with a celebrity, or five friends playing without a celebrity.

The headliners on the lanes Friday will be the Class of 2023 LSHOF inductees, including Pro Bowl running back Matt Forte, WNBA All-Star Alana Beard, retired LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri, 14-year MLB pitcher and personality Paul Byrd, Atlanta Braves third base coach and former Texas Rangers World Series manager Ron Washington, and LSU and NFL star wide receiver Wendell Davis.

Among the other celebrities will be previously inducted Hall of Famers and Louisiana sports stars, including many who may ultimately be inducted in future years.

The five-person teams warm up and play a 10-frame game, with the top team winning prizes. The top five individual bowlers and top five celebrities will have playoffs. The bowling party will wrap up about 2 o’clock, in plenty of time for everyone to make it back to Natchitoches for that evening’s free Rockin’ River Fest starting at 6 on the downtown riverbank stage, and the VIP Taste of Tailgating inside Mama’s Oyster House and the Blues Room beginning at 7.

One of the most festive events of the Induction Celebration, the Celebrity Rock N Roll Bowling Bash presented by BOM is an event fit for the avid bowlers or those who just like to have fun. There’s still time for you and your pals or family to join the party.

The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum was host to a dedicated crowd of history lovers Friday, July 21 for this month’s installment of the popular “Lunch & Learn” program concerning the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training’s (NCPTT) documentation of Louisiana’s surviving Rosenwald School buildings.

The talk was given by NCPTT intern John Richardson, a Morehouse College psychology major from Philadelphia. He is spending the summer working at the center and learning about its preservation mission. Mr. Richardson was on a team documenting the buildings using laser equipment to produce a 3-D model.

The schools were financed by Sears executive and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald who would match money raised by local sources. The facilities were built to provide schools for African American children. The schools were built from common designs and would arrive in kits similar to the Sears houses then sold by Sears. Over 5,000 of the schools were built throughout the South, with 395 of them in Louisiana. Of those, 18 are still standing, one serving as a community center in Powhattan. There is also one, standing after a fashion, below the waters of Toledo Lake.

The Rosenwald Schools, who at one point were educating about a fifth of the African American children on the South, were built from 1912 to 1932. They fulfilled a vital function of providing educational opportunities during a time of segregation and discrimination when there were little or no opportunities for African American families to educate their children.

The Natchitoches Parish Journal trusts that Mr. Richardson enjoyed his time in Natchitoches and found it productive. We also wish him all the best as he returns to Morehouse College to complete his studies.

The Louisiana Gumbo Cook-Off is returning to the Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival on Saturday July 22, in air-conditioned Prather Coliseum located at 220 South Jefferson Street on the Northwestern State University campus in Natchitoches. In honor of this year’s festival theme, Celebrating Louisiana’s Cultural Gumbo, the festival will see the long-awaited return of the Gumbo Cookoff, in which professionals and hobbyists alike can compete in any of three categories and demonstrate their cooking skills.

Registration and the Cooks’ Meeting will take place at 8:00 am. Tasting and judging will begin at 12:30 pm with winners be announced at 2:30 pm. There is no fee to compete in the Cookoff. Gumbo must be cooked on-site outside of Prather Coliseum.

The Gumbo Cook-Off is the Louisiana Folklife Center’s way of celebrating the state’s unique and storied foodways, as well as the rich culture behind the cooking of gumbo. The ways of preparing gumbo and the ingredients used are as varied as the people who cook it, so there is no better way to embody this year’s festival theme of Celebrating Louisiana’s Cultural Gumbo.

For all those times you’ve wondered what it would be like to visit with sports stars you see on TV or read about, you get the opportunity free of charge next Thursday evening at the La Capitol Welcome Reception kicking off the 2023 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration.

You can be right there at the Hall of Fame museum at 800 Front Street (at the traffic circle) in Natchitoches. No need to dress fancy, just enjoy food and refreshments and music and a world-class museum, mingling with sports stars and their families from 5-7 next Thursday evening, July 27, at the museum.

Adding to the excitement — one of America’s most prized sports trophies will be on display on the second floor. Billy Cannon’s 1959 Heisman Trophy will be in the house through the weekend festivities, courtesy of the Cannon Trust, as a cornerstone of the museum’s months-old Heisman Trophy exhibit that showcases the state’s four winners: Cannon, John David Crow (1957), Joe Burrow (2019) and DeVonta Smith (2020).

But the spotlight is squarely on the Class of 2023, which includes a two-time Super Bowl MVP (Eli Manning), a women’s basketball superstar with Natchitoches roots (Alana Beard), a College World Series-winning LSU coach (Paul Mainieri) and three more LSU sports heroes (big league pitcher Paul Byrd, NFL receiver Wendell Davis and two-time USA track and field Olympian Walter Davis).

There’s another Pro Bowl NFL star, former Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte. For fans of the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, Ron Washington will entertain you – he managed the Rangers to the World Series in 2010 and 2011, and as the current third base coach for the Braves, he was also in that role when Atlanta won the 2021 Fall Classic. He was also third base coach in Oakland during the “Moneyball” years (he’s a featured character in the movie headlined by Brad Pitt).

Meet the amazing 86-year-old Walter Imahara, a Japanese-American who became a world-class weightlifter for decades – while running a Baton Rouge floral business, and serving in the United States military in the early 1960s. Another Baton Rouge hero is M.L. Woodruff, who won 11 state championships coaching baseball for Parkview Baptist.

Sports journalists Bruce Brown (Lafayette) and Lori Lyons (New Orleans/Houma) have covered many amazing games and highly-accomplished athletes, including plenty of LSHOF members, in their careers and will be inducted next weekend as well.

The Welcome Reception is also a wonderful chance to stroll around the 27,500-square foot museum, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Lots of display items have been rotated into exhibits, and there’s a new Kim Mulkey exhibit showcasing the LSU women’s basketball coach.

A frequent reaction from first-time local and area visitors: “I didn’t realize it would be this great! I can’t believe I haven’t been here already. I’m bringing friends next time.”

That’s the same sentiment for the entire Induction Celebration, which includes a free Friday evening Rockin’ River Fest concert on the downtown riverbank stage, and a free Junior Training Camp Saturday morning, July 29 with the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans teaming with Hall of Famers to provide activity and instruction to kids ages 7-17 (no charge, but registration is necessary at LaSportsHall.com).

You’re invited to all the fun. Visit LaSportsHall.com to get more information and the schedule of events, make online ticket purchases and Junior Training Camp reservations, or call 318-238-4255 for participation opportunities for ticketed events.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development advises motorists that construction has  begun on a $6.6 million project to repair a portion of the LA 1 Bypass in Natchitoches Parish.

This project will require a closure of the southbound lane from the intersection of LA 1 and LA 6 to the intersection of LA 1 and LA 1 Business.

The purpose of the project is to repair both the existing concrete pavement and the roadway base on a four mile section of LA 1.

Related work also includes concrete pavement patching, class II base course, in-place cement treated base course, milling asphalt pavement, guardrail, and pavement striping.

The contractor will maintain one-way thru traffic in the northbound lane at all times, with the southbound lane being closed to traffic. Motorists are advised to remain alert to construction signs and changing roadway conditions along LA 1.

The entire project is anticipated to be complete in early 2024, with progress dependent on weather conditions and other factors that may impact construction timelines.

Alternate Route: Southbound traffic will be detoured east on LA 6, then south on LA 1223, then south on LA 1 Business, then north to LA 1.

Safety reminder:

DOTD appreciates your patience and reminds you to please drive with caution through the construction site and be on the lookout for work crews and their equipment.

Area residents should exercise caution when driving, walking, or biking near an active construction zone.

Additional information:

Call 511, visit http://www.511la.org, or download the Louisiana 511 mobile app for additional information. Out-of-state travelers may call 1-888-ROAD-511 (1-888-762-3511).

The “youngest” event during next weekend’s Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration is the most exclusive, yet casual, opportunity for the public to enjoy hearing from the Class of 2023 inductees.

It’s the LSHOF Round Table Luncheon on Saturday, July 29, at noon in The Venue at 530 Front Street in Natchitoches. There’s still time to be among the 200 guests for the fifth annual Round Table Luncheon presented by the Tiger Athletic Foundation.

Registration is available for that event and all other activities during the Induction Celebration beginning next Thursday, July 27, by visiting LaSportsHall.com, or by calling 318-238-4255.

Festivities begin next Thursday evening at 5 with the free of charge La Capitol Federal Credit Union Welcome Reception open to all, no registration necessary, at the Hall of Fame museum facing the traffic circle at 800 Front Street.

Next Saturday’s Round Table Luncheon starts with tremendous Louisiana cuisine and quickly kicks into gear with Fox Sports announcer (and 2020 LSHOF inductee) Tim Brando interviewing small groups of inductees on stage in a very informal and fast-moving setting.

While there are some logical pairings for the interviews, like former Chicago Bears players Wendell Davis and Matt Forte, and former LSU baseball teammates and much more accomplished coaches Paul Mainieri and M.L. Woodruff, other groups will fall together in fun and unpredictable fashion.

Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning will certainly be an entertaining interview for Brando. .Manning created the faux character Chad Powers and took part in a hysterical tryout for Penn State football last summer. He also shares the platform with his older brother Peyton in the popular and off-the-wall “ManningCast” on ESPN2 during Monday Night Football games, and is in a new beer commercial with Snoop Dogg. It will be interesting to see who shares the spotlight with Eli.

Former Texas Rangers manager and current Atlanta Braves third base coach Ron Washington is one of the more beloved and funny people in Major League Baseball. He was a prominent character in the award-winning major motion picture “Moneyball”—which earned Brad Pitt an Academy Award nomination — chronicling the success of the Oakland Athletics due to groundbreaking use of analytics in the early 1990s, while he was third base coach with the A’s.

Washington could be paired with LSU pitching great Paul Byrd, who had a 14-year MLB career and has since become a colorful member of the Braves’ TV announcing crew.

Duke All-American and WNBA All-Star Alana Beard might be matched up with Walter Davis, the two-time USA Track and Field Olympian who was a basketball star at Beau Chene High School near his hometown of Arnaudville. Beard has local roots, with her parents from Cloutierville and Bermuda, and plenty of relatives still in south Natchitoches Parish along Cane River.

A poignant scene at the 2019 luncheon unfolded before the program when Peyton Manning stopped by to greet LSU legend Johnny Robinson, who was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame two months later.

It all combines to provide a memorable 90 minutes with guests in close proximity to the living legends.

The Hall of Fame Round Table Luncheon shapes up as a highly entertaining opportunity for guests to have a up-close-and-personal experience and be entertained and well fed in a casual setting.

The weather has started to heat up here in the middle of July and for the bass fisherman, he knows that some of the day’s most exciting and often best action occurs at the break of day.

There is something about being on the water this time of year while all is quiet with a growing glow in the east as he casts a topwater lure next to the trunk of a cypress or willow.

When the twitch of the lure results in an explosive strike, it just about doesn’t get any better than this. Once the day brightens, the early morning action usually slows and the average bass angler heads home for the air conditioning once old Sol peaks over the cypresses.

For anglers who want to extend their bass fishing experience longer, the search is on for one lure to keep the bites coming, even after daytime temperatures rise. The Wobblehead meets all the characteristics of just such a lure.

This rather non-descript device features a slender curved slab of metal with a single hook onto which is attached a plain straight tail six-inch plastic worm. Incidentally, there is no lure easier to retrieve than a Wobblehead; you simply cast it out and bring it back in a rather boring straight retrieve. However, there is nothing boring when a big bass gulps down the bait.

The curved metal body of the Wobblehead gives the lure its name; it wobbles side to side and gives the plastic worm tail an enticing swimming motion which resembles a favorite food for a foraging bass, a small swimming snake. Remember the last time you saw a snake swimming across the water? That’s the exact image you get when you reel in a Wobblehead.

These lures are especially effective when fished next to moss beds, where bass lurk out of the glare of the scorching sun waiting for something good to eat to pass by. A small snake slowly wagging overhead is often too much to pass up.

Cast out a Wobblehead in the heat this summer next to a patch of weeds and hang on. The results could leave you feeling “cool.”

Bream fishermen can still do their thing with these fighters even in the heat of summer. Both bluegills and chinquapins can be caught even though the spawn is over and they have moved from their shallow spawning beds.

One of the most productive bream fishing forays I ever experienced was one sweltering day several years ago when Eddie Halbrook took me to Grand Bayou Lake near Coushatta where we caught at least 50 big chinquapins fishing cold worms on the bottom on an 8-foot deep flat.

If you’re a crappie fishermen, here’s something you may want to try to improve your summertime catch of tasty slabs.

If you want the best service from your waiter at a favorite restaurant, let it be known that you’re a generous “tipper.” You’re more than likely to find him eager and willing to be at your service. Keep this truth in mind the next time you head for the lake after summertime crappie. If you’re a good “tipper,” the crappie just might be much more cooperative.

Tipping explained means that you add something to your crappie jig to make it more enticing. Some anglers regularly tip their jigs with small shiners while others prefer commercial pea-sized niblets, grass shrimp or wax worms.

One of the best times to go for crappie during the heat of summer is to stay indoors during the hottest part of the day and head for the lake at night. A bucket of shiners dangled beneath the lights around a pier or off the side of the boat will attract shiners or shad which attracts the crappie. It can be a bunch of fun and you won’t even need sunscreen.           

Whether it’s bass, bream or crappie, you can still get your string stretched even in the middle of summer.

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

Mark your calendars for July 24th, 25th, 31st, and August 1st !

OMC Natchitoches is hosting a Pediatric Care Summer Wellness Fest! Our services include sick child visits, immunizations/vaccines, and back-to-school sports/wellness physicals. Walk-ins are welcome or call 318-352-9299 for an appointment.

“Because Caring For You Is What We Do!”

Good thing I’m elderly because it is evident as of two weekends ago when I went to my first ever T-Ball tournament that I could not afford to have a child today.

Not an athletic one, anyway.

This was the Dixie Baseball Regional Tournament (I think) at Tinsley Park in Bossier. For T-Ball. An All-Star Tournament. We now have all-star tournaments for 6- and 7-year-olds even though the ball is hit off a tee and there are no pitchers. This has been going on a good while; I’d just never seen it.

I knew the doings were big when I parked and could not hear any baseball things. That’s how far away the parks were and everyone had gotten there a lot earlier than I had. I like to walk, so no complaint there; just trying to convey how many people were parked here on this Saturday evening. It was like the cast party for Gone With The Wind.

The first sign of trouble was a nice lady walking toward me. She handed me a wrist band. “Here, I’ll save you 10 bucks,” she said and handed me the band. “I was in there five minutes.”

Mister Teddy did not know it cost money to watch T-Ball.

And now I have an idea how much money it costs to play T-Ball, or at least be the guardian of a person who plays T-Ball.

It’s a lot.

Jerseys. Colors. Full uniforms with “Saline” or “Ruston” or “Bossier” across the front. Dozens of teams. “Olla” and … is there a team from “Greater Olla” here? Seems everyone else in Louisiana is.

The winners are traveling to the Dixie World Series in Center, Texas this weekend, and if you’re going to that, best leave now because traffic will not be a walk in the park. (If you’re interested in sponsoring, Hospitality Tents are only $200 a day and the Team Dinner/Opening Ceremonies are just $1,500. This is a big jump from 30 years ago when T-Ball was a YMCA T-shirt and a cap and your cleanest dirty shorts, and when the “regular season” was over, you met at Johnny’s Pizza.)

It took less than five minutes for me to figure out two things.

One, the gear required. Full uniforms. Battery-operated fans. (Could have used those back in the day.) Bat bags. And a clever invention—a wagon. Most everyone had these fold-up wagons, and in them were chairs for Mee Maw and Pee Paw, coolers, fans, bat bags, and sometimes a baby.

And two, most everyone I saw was sweating, but also smiling. It wasn’t my scene, but then again, none of these people wanted to be on the No. 7 tee box with me. They pay for a wagon, I pay for a pitching wedge. Different strokes … Same feeling of fun.

The little team I went to support came in 14th out of 16 teams, I think, but they all looked happy as little dudes on Christmas morning.

Things change. Used to, “travel ball” was one trip each summer out of town for a two-day tournament so my guys could experience a hotel and be together for a weekend. Then it was wiffle ball in the parking lot at night. Low overhead, high return. It was a different time, I guess.

Today, if they were grading, I’d make an F in T-Ball.

Things change, but still … when was the last time you saw boys and girls riding bikes with their baseball gloves hooked to the handlebars, or playing pickup baseball at a park or wiffle in the yard? Something in my old soul always thought that would be timeless. At least it’s still free. 

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu or Twitter @MamaLuvsManning

Kids who dream of playing in the pros – or, kids who just love to play – can get registered now for the free New Orleans Saints & Pelicans/Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Junior Training Camp on Saturday morning, July 29 on the Northwestern State campus in Natchitoches.

Parents can visit the LaSportsHall.com website, or call 318-238-4255, to complete a registration and waiver form for the JTC, which provides two hours of full throttle fun alongside Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame members and NSU coaches, and staff from the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans community relations department.

The LaSportsHall.com website has the full schedule for the Induction Celebration next weekend, July 27-29.

The camp runs from 9-11 a.m., starting with registration between 8-9 a.m. at the Webb Wellness and Recreation Center (WRAC) gymnasium. At 9 a.m., campers get introduced to the sports stars who will be coaching them for the next two hours, inside focusing on basketball skills, and outside at Turpin Stadium, with football and general sports skills instruction.

Kids ages 7-17 are welcomed at no charge. The registration and waiver form online should be submitted in advance through the LaSportsHall.com website. The camp is open until filled to 300 capacity and anyone who registers after capacity is reached will be on a waiting list. So far, there’s plenty of room.

Every camper gets a free T-shirt and a coupon for a meal at Raisin’ Canes. Photos from the camp will be posted on the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Facebook page, and so will a highlight video.

The goals of the JTC are simple – a fun, and thrilling, experience for the kids, free of charge; skills instruction from some of the best to ever play, or coach, the games; and promotion of health lifestyles and positive life choices.

The campers are separated into two groups. One stays inside for the first hour for basketball instruction, while the other is next door at Turpin Stadium, having football fun. The groups switch locations in the second half of the camp.

The kids will enjoy a star-studded lineup of celebrity coaches, including:

Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning;

Pro Bowl running back Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears;

Duke women’s basketball All-American, WNBA All-Star Alana Beard, whose parents are from Cloutierville and Bermuda in Natchitoches Parish;

Record-breaking LSU and NFL receiver Wendell Davis;

Two-time USA Track and FIeld Olympian Walter Davis;

Atlanta Braves coach, former Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington;

Former LSU, big league pitcher Paul Byrd;

Retired LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri.

Several past Hall of Fame inductees are also expected to be there.

Parents are welcome to watch, and take photos and video.

And it’s all FREE!

When I look around today, and drive by the city pool, school playgrounds, sandlots and youth baseball complexes, a question often pops in my head. Where have all the kids gone? Yes, I know it’s 2023 and I understand it’s a different time than when I grew up during the 1970s, but why is that? Well, there are several reasons why we don’t see kids out playing like we did. The number one reason? Protection.

Today’s kids are growing up in the age of social media like You Tube, Twitter, Instagram and processing up to the minute news. The ‘70s had basically three channels, NBC, ABC and CBS, all of which only had two local news broadcasts a day at 6 and 10 p.m. Today, there are numerous 24-hour news channels, even local channels, where anything and everything is known about in a matter of minutes.

Kids today are sheltered and protected from the dangers of the world we live in due to the fears generated from what people see every day on the news. Parents today have a much tougher job of raising kids and worrying about the different types of dangers and challenges than those that existed for my parents.  

Even though there were dangers when my generation grew up, it was a different time when so many bad things were never seen or heard about. The world was still a bad place, but no one really knew because of the lack of news coverage. The news was much simpler back in the ‘70s and mostly void of daily murders or drive by shootings. The worst thing we heard about was the weekly death toll from the Vietnam War. We learned of the passing of Elvis Presley and updates on the Watergate scandal involving President Nixon. We heard about the nationwide gas shortage and the long lines at the pumps. But even then, there was almost always a feel-good story.

During my generation, parents trusted their kids to behave and play with responsibility. Now this was not always the case — kids have historically had a propensity to get into trouble. Common sense is what kept us alive as we understood what was risky versus what was just plain dumb, something kids today seem to lack. During my younger days, the main form of transportation was a bicycle. We rode our bikes around the entire community for miles, seven days a week. We spent countless summer hours outside every day no matter how hot it was.

No one stayed in the house because you weren’t allowed in the house. We played outside because our parents did not allow you to come inside unless you had a medical emergency. If you needed a drink of water, you turned the water hose on until the water got cold enough to drink. A water hose during my generation was necessary for survival! It not only kept us hydrated but was a great form of entertainment when it came to water balloon fights and a slip-n-slide.

Hungry? Well, we could usually find a fig, pear tree or blackberry patch with good fruit on it to satisfy our cravings. Sometimes we hopped on our bikes and went on a coke bottle run collecting as many bottles as we could find in ditches and trash cans so we could turn them in to the local country store in exchange for candy or maybe an ICEE.

It’s sad today to look around and see empty playgrounds and sandlots. You never see groups of kids riding their bikes anymore. You don’t see kids playing chase or climbing trees. Kids today have no idea what a treehouse really is! They have little imagination when it comes to playtime unless it involves a joystick. Because of the level of protection kids have today, they’re just not as mature as my generation was during the pre-teen and teenage years. Imagine your 18-year-old today having to go fight a war in hand-to-hand combat.

What concerns me the most is that the days of kids being free to play outside will never happen again. Kids are too busy on social media sites worrying about someone saying something negative or starting rumors. They are consumed with self-indulging issues that really don’t mean a thing. I only wish parents would take more control and give better guidance. In the meantime, I will continue to pray for kids to experience good fishing, good bike riding and good tree climbing, while not forgetting their sunscreen.  

Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com