Lifestyle

The son of a Korean War Veteran Hospital Corpsman, and a teacher, Master Chief Howell was born in Winnfield, Louisiana, attended high school and college in Southeast Texas, and joined the Navy in July 2001.

Master Chief Howell attended Personnelman Class ‘A’ school at Navy Technical Training Center in Meridian, Mississippi before reporting to his first ship, USS Essex (LHD 2) at Sasebo, Japan, where he served as a Personnel Supervisor. While in Essex, he completed five deployments with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked, including an 8 month deployment to the Northem Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

After his tour in Essex, he reported to Commander, Navy Personnel Command as the ITEM PO, Career Status Bonus/REDUX, and Suspended Pay Accounts program manager. While assigned to Commander, Navy Personnel Command, he was advanced to Chief Petty Officer.

The Winn Parish Library will be closed from noon on Thursday, December 22nd until Monday, December 26th so the library staff can celebrate the Christmas holidays with their families. The library wishes all of Winn Parish a very Merry Christmas, and looks forward to re-opening on Tuesday, December 27t.

Laurie Payne returned to speak to the Rotary Club of Winnfield for the third time at their Nov. 30 meeting. The first she came with her father Robert Charles Payne (a WSHS coach in the 1970s) when she was seeking the Miss Louisiana title. Her second visit two years ago came following her father’s death when she promised to carry on his inspirational blog site, “Building a Batter You.” Her most recent visit focused on being a single mom and how she hopes others can find inspiration from the narratives on her belief that the role of a single mom is both challenging and worthy. Arranging the program was Rotarian Jim Pinkerton.

Members of the Rotary Club of Winnfield spent time at their Oct. 26 meeting placing nameplates in the front of about 200 dictionaries. They would later give a dictionary to each third grade student in Winn Parish. Mrs. Grant’s class shows off their new books with Rotarians Kevin Smith, Bob Holeman and Mary Doherty.

We Celebrated “Learning In The Fall with Halloween Safety and Pumpkin Carving” on Monday, October 24, 2016. Mr. Lamar Tarver, Kiwanis member of Winn Parish was our guest and pumpkin carver for this event. A book about an odd shaped square pumpkin was read and tips about Halloween safety were distributed to students attending. Door prizes, snacks and pumpkin carving kits were provided to parents of students attending. Students and families of our elementary students of Atlanta High School attending this event were: Emma Bryant, Andrew Chevallier, Nia Peters, Raelynn &Anna Claire Bartlett, Kaniya Jackson, Demontrez Sapp, Cody King, Connor McLaughlin, Blake Sanders, Carlie &Braxton Slayter, Andrew Roberts, Micah & Wyatt Durbin, Emma Lummus, Dalton & Denver Blackman.

Vice President Gina Banks presented a Thanksgiving Program to the Kiwanis club, Monday, November 21. She gave a short history of the Thanksgiving that we celebrate today. Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb” wrote many letters to different government leaders before Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed a National Thanksgiving each November. This was toward the end of the civil war and he wanted to bring the country together. It wasn’t until Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency that Thanksgiving was designated to be held on the 4th Thursday of November. Banks also read some Bible verses on Thanksgiving. We then went around the room and every member of the club said something that we were thankful for. Some of the things mentioned were family, health, freedom, our country, God, our town and parish. We are very blessed and we need to be a thankful people.

Frank and Melba Bandy will be celebrating their 60 years of marriage on December 3rd at 2:00 p.m. at Mt. Zion Methodist Church (Hwy. 34) in Montgomery. Both are graduates of Atlanta High School and were married November 22, 1956. Come help celebrate this monumental event. No gifts, please, as your presence is gift enough.

Veteran’s Day was discussed and shown honor to at the First Baptist Church DayCare and Pre-K on November 11, 2016. The FBC Cuddlebugs honored E7 Master Sergent John Weatherford on this day with a special gift for his years of service to and for our country. The Cuddlebugs are very appreciative of the time that Mr. John spends with them on a day to day basis. His honors included 4 years of active duty Marines-Vietnam War; 4 years of reserve Marines; 2 years of Active Duty Airforce-Gulf War; 27 1/2 years of Air Force service; for a total of 37 1/2 years of service. The Cuddlebugs created their handprints to give a lifetime gift of remembrance to Mr. John. Linda Lestage and Nikita Etheridge are the Cuddlebugs teachers

Jennifer Martin, director of development for United Way of Northwest Louisiana, together with vice president of Resource Development Merrill Wautlet, spoke to the Rotary Club of Winnfield on Nov. 9 as the service organization strives to expand its positive impact over all of the 10 parishes within its service area. Martin asked Rotarians what services United Way might assist to improve the quality of life here in Winn Parish. Wautlet explained that while local financial support is vital to the ongoing success of United Way, it is not prerequisite for United Way’s active support here. One message they brought to Rotarians is that funds raised in Winn Parish would stay here. Jay Hinckley who had the week’s program stands with the presenters.

Shown above are American Legion Auxiliary Junior members Alyssa Taylor, Krissy Hoffpauir, Samantha Taylor, Caroline Whisonant, and Chloe Whisonanat placing a wreath at the Everette S. Fick memorial flag pole. Each year on Veterans Day and Memorial Day, a patriotic wreath stands at the monument at the Winn Parish Courthouse placed by members of the American Legion Auxiliary, Unit 9, of Winn Parish. Also present at the ceremony were Gayle Gilcrease, Martha Jordan. Sharon Brian, Carolyn Lang, Kandace Hoffpauir, and Amanda Taylor. The newly formed junior club, under the leadership of Carolyn Lang. meets on the first Monday of each month at 4 pm at the Winn Parish Library. The group learns about different aspects of government and Veterans Affairs, and does service projects such as poppy sales and gifts for veterans at local nursing homes. Daughters, granddaughters, and other female descendants of military veterans are invited to attend and consider joining the young ladies group.