THE PRINCESS THEATRE

ARTICLE BY APRIL HONAKER PHOTOGRAPHY BY PRAJAL PRASAI

With a population of roughly 5,000, Winnsboro,

La., is the quintessential small, southern town. In fact, Louisiana Travel has called it the closest thing to Mayberry in Louisiana. One of the keys to maintaining that small-town feel is preserving its history, even as the world changes around it.

Located at 714 Prairie St., the Princess Theatre is part of that history. For over 100 years the Princess has served as the lifeblood of downtown Winnsboro. Operations Manager Amy Thornhill said the location would have been the main gathering point for downtown when the theatre was built and for much of its history. With the exception of two brief periods of closure, the Princess has been a hub of reliable entertainment in various forms for residents and visitors since its doors first opened in 1912.

At that time, the theatre was a vaudeville house. By introducing this new form of entertainment to the region, the Princess drew patrons from throughout northeast Louisiana. Vaudeville was a type of variety entertainment that originated in France in the late 1800s. The typical North American vaudeville show comprised several distinct acts on a shared bill.

Although the acts tended to lack an overarching story or theme, they kept ticket holders coming back. With everything from musicians, singers, comedians, and dancers, to trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists, and jugglers, vaudeville

dominated the world of show business in North American and in Winnsboro well into the 1920s.

Then, in 1925, silent movies made their way to Winnsboro and onto screens at the Princess, where a hired pianist infused life into their stories. At the time, silent movies were considered cutting-edge technology. They were in vogue across the country, and people were excited once again to see a new form of entertainment reach their small town.

For the next several decades, the Princess continued to evolve with her patrons and eventually showed sound films, which kept the seats filled and doors open for several decades. In fact, Thornhill said she remembers seeing the original “Star Wars” at the theatre with her dad when she was a kid.

The Princess functioned successfully as a movie theatre until 1988 when it could no longer compete with the increasingly popular movie complexes with multiple screens. The doors of the Princess then remained closed until 1992, when owner Rowena Ramage gifted the inoperative theatre to the town of Winnsboro.

Following restoration of the theatre to a live performance venue, the Princess reopened two years later in 1994. Despite the many changes the Princess has gone through over the years, she retains some of her original features, and movies are still shown there on occasion throughout the year.

Thornhill described the Princess as a black box whose dimensions are comparable to the black box theatre at the University of Louisiana in Monroe. Today, the Princess’s stage continues to have several trap doors. Some used to flip up with lights to shine onto the stage. Others led beneath the stage where performers went to prepare for performances and for costume changes as needed. Thornhill said she’s unsure what the original height of the space under the stage was, but now it’s not really high enough for the average person to stand fully upright. However, the original theatre did not have a dressing room.

Another striking, original feature of the theatre is its ceiling, which is covered in large, pressed-tin tiles. Tiles like these originated in America as a cheaper, lighter, and more durable alternative to the elaborate plaster ceilings that were popular in Europe at the time. They were designed to last and give a high-end look without the expensive price tag and became very popular between 1890 and 1930.

photo courtesy of Curtis Hilbun

“Preserving venues like the Princess–which bring the arts to rural communities–is more important now than ever,” Brooks said. “The arts inspire and institutions like this theatre provide a necessary public service and a convenient location to experience live entertainment. Supporting the preservation of historic venues like the Princess Theatre in my home state is something I’m incredibly passionate about.”

In 2017, when work was done to repair a roof collapse at the Princess, every effort was made to preserve the original ceiling tiles, and those efforts were successful, making it possible for more generations of Princess patrons to enjoy their original, shiny splendor.

Today the historical theatre remains in use as a live performance venue and enjoys landmark status. Both the Princess Theatre and the adjoining Princess Room, which was originally a pharmacy, hold this status and are also available to rent for events. Having landmark status provides a measure of protection for these spaces. The status is not only an honor but can also be useful when it comes to saving historic buildings because people tend to hold landmark properties in high regard.

Although the Princess Theatre has lived a long and productive life, that life

has not been without hardship and a couple near-death experiences. Thornhill said the Princess was almost lost when the roof collapsed in 2017. At that time, the theatre was truly in crisis, but the community pulled together to save not only the remaining performances in the series but also the roof and the building itself.

A local church, Life Church, provided a temporary performance space. “Of course there were challenges,” Thornhill said, “but Life Church was so kind and gracious to us. We appreciate their generosity.” Because of that generosity, the Princess was able to carry on with its shows uninterrupted.

Also, during this time, several fundraising efforts took place to save the theatre, including a charity concert by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, which remains the best-selling duo in country music history. Born and raised in Shreveport, Brooks has roots in Louisiana and owns a farm near Winnsboro.

But his ties to the area are not the only reason Brooks chose to support the Princess. “Preserving venues like the Princess–which bring the arts to rural communities–is more important now than ever,” Brooks said. “The arts inspire and institutions like this theatre provide a necessary public service and a convenient location to experience live entertainment. Supporting the preservation of historic venues like the Princess Theatre in my home state is something I’m incredibly passionate about.”

If it were not for Brooks and the community’s support, the Princess Theatre might not have gone on to live another day. “It was really a community effort and a desire to not lose it,” Thornhill said. “It came down to people who really put in the time, effort, and energy to save it.”

performance photos courtesy of Curtis Hilbun

Although Rowena Ramage gifted the building to the town of Winnsboro, the Princess is its own nonprofit. “The theatre was gifted to the community for a purpose, and it’s serving that purpose,” Thornhill said.

Fortunately, that support is deeply rooted. “Many people in the community have memories centering around this building,” Thornhill said, “watching movies and that being part of the lore. They remember buying popcorn here and who sat where. It was a big deal. My parents grew up going to the movies here.”

Today, the Princess works hard to continue helping people create special memories by spreading a love for the arts, especially live theatre. “We have events for people of all ages,” said Thornhill. “We try to have a wide variety of shows, and we’re working on making sure that our shows appeal to a wide variety of audiences.” Through a grant from a generous sponsor, the Princess also provides a free summer theatre camp to approximately 60 children a year. The camp focuses on music, movement, and speaking on stage. At the conclusion, the children participate in a performance to showcase their newly learned skills.

“We’re really working to give kids in the community a place to come if they’re interested in the arts,” Thornhill said, “because they don’t have access to that in school here. They have a band, and that’s it.” At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Princess also supported children’s literacy by providing free digital access to storytime recordings that they planned and produced. Supporting the community’s youth is definitely key to the mission of the Princess.

“By giving to our students, I believe that we’re giving to their

photos courtesy of Curtis Hilbun

families,” Thornhill said, “because you can’t sow into their lives without sowing into their families.”

In addition to providing five to six shows in their annual series, including shows that provide performance opportunities for youth, the Princess brings in outside performers and aims to provide educational opportunities that appeal to a broad spectrum of the community as well. “We’re doing our best to bring shows that our older community likes as well,” said Thornhill, “such as music that they are asking for. It just really makes it feel like there’s something going on down here.”

The Princess is limited by the fact she is only a single stage, but Thornhill said, “We’re working really hard to put as much on our stage as we can and still manage it.” In December, the Princess will be getting new seats throughout, so those attending shows in the 2023 season will enjoy a new level of comfort. The 2023 season will kick off with “Red Velvet Cake Wars” in February.

Thornhill said, “Being a part of the Princess feels like you’re part of something larger than yourself–more than just you. Not only are you a part of the history and everything that the Princess represents. It also feels like you’re a part of this community. It feels like you’re part of something larger than just the individual. It’s like you find your place in the whole.”

Everyone who has ever been to the Princess or has a connection to the theatre has a story to tell about it. Thornhill said, “Being a part of the Princess is like you’ve found your place in the story.”

When grown people come back to participate in a show after being away since they were kids, or when people who grew up participating in shows watch their kids participating in shows, it’s really moving. “It’s like a continual flow. It’s like you’re part of the flow of history,” Thornhill said. “To the community as a whole, I think that we represent a piece of history, so for those that are really oriented to the past, we represent something that is part of bygone era, but it’s still functioning, and that probably feels really good, and for people who are concerned about the future, we’re working to bring diversity to our stage and to make shows enjoyable to all people.”

The organization is working hard to balance the old and new. Thornhill said, “We’re constantly trying to keep things fresh and new and exciting while also honoring the past, which is important.”

Winnsboro is a small town, and there are not many things to do, but Thornhill believes the visual and performing arts add value to the community. “We offer people the opportunity to laugh, cry, and think together,” said Thornhill.

The Princess provides residents of Winnsboro and beyond an opportunity to be part of a shared goal, shared experiences, and a shared history. Everyone who has ever set foot in the Princess is a part of her growing legacy.

Finishing the Warhawk Race

I Was a Businessman and Said I Never Needed a College Degree

BY ROBERT WRIGHT

THIS MONTH MARKS TEN YEARS OF BEING a college educated man in America. On December 8, 2012, I graduated from the University of Louisiana Monroe with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. Dr. Nick Bruno was the president and it was a pleasure to walk across the stage and shake his hand, completing the challenge I undertook in 2009. But my race to the finish line began in 1996 at Northeast Louisiana University.

I enrolled as a freshman at NLU and majored in physical education. I decided to join the track and field team after never participating in sports throughout my childhood. I trained for the 200 meter relay and surprisingly ran the 40-meter sprint in 4.5 seconds, a speed that exceeded some of the team members that were recruited with scholarships. However, my time on the team would be brief as I was not in school on a scholarship and found it difficult to continue without funding. Because I wasn’t a recruited athlete, the coach said that funds for a walk-on were not available. I chose not to continue training and later decided I was done with the whole idea of college. I decided, however, to join the Marines.

For thirteen years, I ran away from college. Even after a few attempts to try again, all of them were met with decisions to drop out and try something else. I engaged in business pursuits with photography and graphic design. However, subconsciously, I knew I needed to finish the race. I was defensive in my unwillingness to finish the degree saying “I’m a businessman. I’m making money without a college degree.” Then one day during those collegiate denial years, one of my high school friends, Katrina Jackson, advised that I shouldn’t hustle all of my life, for one day I’d want to retire. My mother even said for years “It’s better to have it (degree) and not need it, than to need it and not have it.”

So in 2009, at the age of 31, I gave in and submitted to the task. Unfortunately, ULM was not going to make the challenge easy for me. The University reminded me that I had debts on the books and I could not re-enroll without paying those debts. So, I sold my car, furniture, and many other items to pay off the debt which was a few thousand dollars. After the debt was cleared, the Registrar allowed a one-time GPA wipe of my previous classes, which resulted in me repeating 12 hours of coursework. So it was back to the starting blocks for me.

During that three year residency at ULM, I found my passion for history. With professors like Dr. Horace P. Jones and Dr. Monica Bontty, I was able to see the finish line clearly and made running the race a little easier. I completed the entire Bachelor’s Degree in three years.

At my commencement in 2012, the commencement speaker for the ceremony was then Louisiana State Representative Katrina Jackson. The theme of her commencement address was to “Dance with Time.” She spoke about the many graduates who made sacrifices to complete their educational requirements. She even called my name, to my surprise, and spoke of my prior military service. I thought it was sensational.

Since graduation in 2012, I did exactly that. I continued running the Warhawk Race. I didn’t just stop at the Bachelor’s Degree. I was persistent for as long as it took to get the Master’s Degree as well. In 2020, during the middle of a global pandemic, I completed the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in History. Because of social guidelines, the commencement was virtual and instead of walking across the stage, I waited for my name to flash on the computer screen. Virtual or in-person, it didn’t matter, the Warhawk Race had been won and it was final.

What began as a desire to be a runner on a track found me in a race against myself. We can tell ourselves what we choose to shield us from the need for proper education and education will still be there waiting on us. “Not everyone is cut out for college.” “People need other options than a four-year university.” “I can’t afford it.” “I don’t have the time for it.” “I can make more money without a degree.” The list of excuses continues. From someone who was adamant about not needing a college degree, who had technical skills and could work well with my hands in a vocational field, the college experience I enjoyed at ULM changed that mindset. Education is for you. It’s not for a job; it’s not to make your family proud; it’s for you…and you alone.

My talons are out and I’m not on the ground running anymore. I’m flying high excited about the next ten years of adventure as an educated man in America.

Fishing With Kenny

KEEPING DECEMBER FISHING SIMPLE

article by KENNY COVINGTON

Louisiana’s weather patterns leave a lot to be desired. One week it will be brutally cold, another it will be mild and almost spring like. I can remember a Christmas when the temperatures were down in the teens, but I also remember a Christmas when we were wearing shorts with temperatures climbing into the 80’s. As confusing as it is to us humans, imagine what Mother Nature’s creatures go through.

I have always made it a habit to keep an eye on the weather systems as far in advance of a tournament day as possible. While I will admit I have an open and honest skepticism of our weather “experts,” I do find it helpful to monitor and prepare for what might could be. Contrary to popular belief, most winter weather systems do not the negative impact on a bass than anglers have longed believed. To understand the concept of this month’s Bayou Life article, you need to understand wherever a bass decides to spend the cooler/ colder months, is where they will stay until the upcoming spring when they begin preparing for the spawning ritual. A bass may move from a flat to a ditch or a creek channel if the cold front is severe enough to create a severe drop in water temperatures, but for the most part they will stay in the same areas this time of year.

A common question I have heard is, “Well, if the water is cold and getting colder, don’t bass move to the deeper sections of the lake?” To answer this question, yes, some bass do move to the deeper areas of your favorite body of water, however a lot of fish will stay in water less then six foot deep. I have probably won more tournaments fishing shallow water in December than I have fishing ten foot or deeper.

Here are the things I consider when preparing for a December fishing trip or tournament. First I want to see what the previous week’s weather consisted of. Did it rain and how much? What about daytime temperatures? Were the nights especially cold? With this information, now I can turn my attention to the upcoming days forecast and what kinds of weather to expect.

At this point in time, I shift my focus to the lake I am going to. What type of lake am I going to; is it a bayou or river system, a natural cypress tree lake or a manmade impoundment. What kind of water clarity is the lake noted for? If I am going to Caney or Claiborne, I know I will be fishing mostly a clear water environment; however if I am going to a Mississippi River oxbow like Bruin or Lake Providence, I will probably have off colored water to deal with. It is this combination of weather and the fishery itself that allows me to determine what my best opportunities are to be successful.

One thing I have forgotten to mention that I have found especially important to consider is the personality of the lake. Some lakes, regardless of the weather and water temperature, the fish will be caught in less than five feet of water. All the Mississippi River oxbows have this tendency. In clear water lakes, even in colder water situations, if there is cloud cover, manageable wind or rain, fish can be caught shallow. On Darbonne Lake, there is always a certain number of fish that can be caught fishing the creek channels. Each lake has its own niche, and in the month of December, it is important to remember that.

So, now that we have discussed the many variables of December bass fishing, what are some things to look for that will make for a productive day on the water? My number one rule in bass fishing has always been, “if a lake has grass in it, you better be fishing it” and it’s always the first place I begin fishing. Our lakes have many types of grass with an abundance of coontail moss, hydrilla, milfoil, and lily pads to name a few. If I had to choose my favorite and most consistent grass producer, it would be coontail.

If I am fishing a lake with a large abundance of Cypress trees, I must be a bit more particular about the ones I choose to fish. A single foot of difference in water depth from one tree to the next can mean everything to your success or failure. Bigger trees, clumps of trees, or anything out of the ordinary can hold fish. One thing to remember about fishing Cypress trees; never overlook how shallow the fish can be even in colder months of the year.

December is a month where fishing boat docks comes into play. Not all boat docks are the same and on lake where there is an abundance of them, it can be an intimidating process trying to find the right ones to fish. A good rule of thumb when seeking out productive docks, remember “the older, more broke down a dock looks, the better its fish potential.” I have found this to be true no matter what body of water I am fishing. One final note about our December fishing adventure is do not get too hung up on lure choices. No matter what lake I am on, I will have the following on the deck of my boat: a 3/8 black/blue finesse flipping jig, a ½ shad colored spinnerbait, a Rat L Trap style lure, a ½ green pumpkin chatterbait, a Carolina Rig and a squarebill crankbait. I can go to any lake in our state, effectively fish the available cover and catch fish on these lures.

Well, it looks like we have run out of time and space again for another month. I assure you I will be keeping a close eye on the weather channel in the coming weeks as I prepare for the last of my tournaments this year. Remember, hunting season is in full swing as well so please be careful no matter if you are out in the woods or on the water and if possible, catch one for me!

See you next month!

bayou PAGES

“Memorial Drive” by Natasha Trethewey

“In every family, at some point, there must be someone who feels like an outsider: the one always standing or sitting a little farther from the group in pictures; the older sibling when a new baby comes along; the child from a previous marriage, sometimes with a different last name. Suddenly, I was all of those.”

Natasha Trethewey’s love affair with language is so palpable that as a reader, I sometimes feel I’m witnessing something I’m not supposed to see. Her command of words and their implications and sentence structure and composition, not to mention the lyrical cadence of phrasing, reverberates beyond the last page. This memoir could easily be a song, a heartbreaking beautiful song that would captivate the audience and silence the room. To hear Trethewey’s story is a privilege, the bravery it took her to tell it, is astounding. The memoir cna be easily consumed in one sitting, though the message lingers like the haunting melody of the ballad we can’t forget.

As a young girl, Tretheway straddled two worlds in rural Mississippi. Her black mother and white father formed a love bubble that sheltered her from outside judgment, but as their relationship struggled, the exterior started to crack. After their divorce, Natasha and her mother Gwen moved to Atlanta, a growing mecca for the black community. While finding her footing, Gwen marries a controlling man who uproots any hopes of freedom with his mental, verbal, and physical abuse. Shortly after Natasha leaves for college, her stepfather murders Gwen outside her home, and Natasha is left with her mother’s fading memory.

Trethewey constructs this memoir in the before and in the after, the two opposing worlds in which she must now reside. Returning to her mother’s memory means confronting the reality of what happened, a tragedy too unfathomable at the time of its occurrence. Trethewey weaves in and out of reality and dreams, the mother she remembers and the one left behind in relics of the past. She asserts poetry as her savior; to understand what happened, she had to tell the story. This memoir is the culmination of years of soul-searching and soul-avoiding, of denying her history and embracing her past, of loving her mother in the flesh and loving the soul left behind. In the search for the truth, Trethewey finds herself, the pieces scattered in the evidence left behind. The duality in the prose and poetry of this masterpiece channel the parallel nature of two lives converging into one woman’s lived experience.

Natasha Trethewey was named the US Poet Laureate for 2012 and 2013. Her poetry collection Native Guard won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize.

“For as long as I can remember, my father had been telling me that one day I would have to become a writer, that because of the nature of my experience I would have something necessary to say.”

REVIEW BY MEREDITH MCKINNIE

BAYOU HOLIDAYS

Wrapped Up

Wrap your gift with care this holiday season. Whether sophisticated or whimsical, embellished gifts make holiday giving more thoughtful. Taylor used beautiful ribbons in jewel tones and gold monograms to add a touch of personalization to these perfect presents.

Historical Impressions

“ GOOD NIGHT, GOOD LUCK, A MERRY CHRISTMAS...”

by Guy Miller. Vice Chair Emeritus, Chennault Aviation and Military Museum

On December 25, 1968, Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders set a record. They became the persons the farthest distance ever from their homes and families on Christmas Day- 234,474 statute miles (or 377,349 kilometers). Borman, Lovell and Anders were orbiting the moon.

Borman, Lovell, and Anders were the crew of Apollo 8. Jim Lovell had flown in space twice before on Gemini VII and Gemini XII. Frank Borman had been the commander of Gemini VII and that seniority made him chosen as commander for this mission over the more experienced Lovell. Lovell would be the first commander of a previous mission (Gemini XII) who flew as a noncommander. Anders had never flown before but had extensive training as a Lunar Module pilot.

Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and head away from our planet. All prior American and Soviet spaceflight missions, including the first manned Apollo mission- Apollo 7, had remained in orbits around the Earth. Apollo 8 was also the third flight of a Saturn V rocket and the first crewed launch. Of all its “firsts” the most important for Apollo 8 was becoming the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon.

Apollo 8 was originally planned to be the second crewed Apollo Lunar Module (LM) and Command Module (CM) test flight. As such it was to be flown in an elliptical medium Earth orbit. Unfortunately, or fortunately for the crew, production of Apollo 8’s LM had fallen behind schedule. The delay and expected time to fix all problems endangered the NASA’s goal as established by President Kennedy in 1962 of a landing on the moon before the end of the decade. George Low, the Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, proposed changing Apollo 8’s mission to sending a crewed CM to the Moon and entering lunar orbit before returning to Earth. In order that the spacecraft would have the correct weight and balance, Apollo 8 would carry a LM test article, essentially a nonfunctional full size model. Adjusting this and subsequent missions would allow the plan for lunar landing in mid-1969 to remain on schedule. After discussion of the changes among senior personnel at NASA, James E. Webb, the NASA administrator, authorized the mission.

Borman’s crew had to replace their planned Lunar Module Earth orbit training with translunar navigation training and also do so with two to three months’ less training and preparation time than originally planned. Apollo 8 would be the first crewed spacecraft to orbit more than one celestial body. The crew had to learn had two different sets of orbital parameters – one for Earth and one for the Moon- and a translunar injection maneuver. Moving from an orbital velocity of 25,567 feet per second to the injection velocity of 35,505 feet per second would set a record for the highest speed relative to Earth, that humans had ever traveled. Although less than the Earth’s escape velocity of 36,747 feet per second it would place Apollo 8 into an elongated elliptical Earth orbit that would come close enough to the Moon to be captured by the Moon’s gravity.

The crew wanted to name their spacecraft Columbiad which was the name of the giant cannon that launches a space vehicle in Jules Verne’s 1865 novel “From the Earth to the Moon.” NASA did not allow any name for this capsule but the later Apollo 11 CM was named Columbia partly for the same reason.

The basic design of the mission patch was developed by Jim Lovell. Lovell reportedly sketched it while riding in the back seat of a T-38 flying from California to Houston shortly after he learned Apollo 8 would be re-designated as a lunar-orbital mission. The mission patch was triangular like the profile shape of the Apollo CM. The red figure 8 looping around the Earth and Moon on the patch is both the mission number and the course of the circumlunar flight for the mission. On the bottom of the 8 are the names of the three astronauts.

Apollo 8 launched on December 21, 1968. It took the Apollo spacecraft 68 hours to travel the distance to the Moon. The crew then orbited the Moon ten times over the course of twenty hours. The three astronauts were the first humans to see and photograph the far side of the Moon and an Earthrise.

On Christmas Day, 1968 Apollo 8 performed the Trans Earth Injection (TEI) maneuver that put the spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit. The Apollo 8 CM splashed down in the northern Pacific Ocean on December 27, 1968 - bringing its crew safely home. Apollo 8’s successful mission paved the way for the Apollo 9 and 10 missions; and, with Apollo 11 in July 1969, the fulfillment of President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade.

While they were in lunar orbit, the crew made a Christmas Eve television broadcast. At the time, the broadcast was the most watched TV program in history. In their broadcast each astronaut read a section from the Biblical creation story from the Book of Genesis. Borman finished the broadcast by saying “And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you—all of you on the good Earth.”

Meredith’s Musings

SIDE BY SIDE AND HEART TO HEART

article by MEREDITH MCKINNIE

From L to R: Charlotte Smith, Debbie Smith, LorrAine McKinnie, Meredith McKinnie, Crystal DuBose

Friday afternoon my girlfriend sped into the driveway and hopped out of the car with a magnanimous “Whoop!” We were hitting the road, headed to Fort Worth for the Judds Final Tour. My mother pulled in shortly after, and we loaded her bags into the Ford Explorer, stuffed to the brim for a 48-hour trip. My friend’s mother couldn’t make the trip, so it was just us three headed to stay with my husband’s parents in Texas for the concert the following evening. Mom is a fervent reader, often starting and finishing a book on a long car ride (We joke that she prefers her characters to us.) So, my friend and I had the radio to ourselves, the Judds’ music on repeat for the last few hours of the trip. We laughed. We cried. We seized those soulfilling moments of time spent with a best friend absent the daily distractions.

The next morning while Mom and my mother-in-law caught up, I took my friend to all my favorite Fort Worth hot spots. After a brief nap that afternoon, we loaded up in the car and headed to Dickies Arena. As I mentioned in last month’s article, Mom is no concert goer. She has mentioned enjoying live music in her youth but purchasing a ticket and traveling to see a show - no. My husband’s mother goes frequently since she lives so close to a popular tour spot, and my friend follows all the country singers on the road. This trip, at least for me, was about Mom. I wasn’t sure how she would react to tons of people in a loud space, but I was anxious to find out.

The relatively new venue is gorgeous, reminiscent of an old opera house with carpeted spiral staircases leading to the second level where we perched for the show. Martina McBride opened the show, and Mom was glued to the action down below. I was sitting to her right, further away from the stage. I eyed her responses, looking for signs of joy. I could see she was enamored, rarely looking away from Martina. Before Wynonna’s entrance, we scurried to the bathroom - at the same time everyone else did too. The line wrapped through the halls. A funny gentleman came out of the men’s bathroom (with no line) and started swinging his arms, encouraging the women to use the vacant stalls. My friend and I leaped, though Mom resisted. When we took off, she reluctantly followed, embarrassed by our willingness to break social norms.

A few minutes later, my husband’s mother pointed out the security team circling the tiny stage toward the back of the venue. She predicted Wynonna would pop out there soon, and she did. Her euphonious voice echoed throughout the venue, seemingly wrapping itself around all of us and holding us tight. She shortly made her way through the crowd to the main stage, shaking fans’ hands along the way. She established a personal connection with the audience on that walk, thanking us for showing up for her in Naomi’s absence. She carried her mother on her shoulders that night, bellowing every song as if her mother was standing beside her. Throughout the two hours, Mom and I sat transfixed, cheering when it was appropriate and wiping tears when the lyrics moved us. I couldn’t help but be acutely aware of sitting next to my own mother while Wynonna entertained the crowd without hers. There was nowhere else I’d have rather been at that moment. I thought about the joy of being able to share her talent with an adoring crowd, compounded by the price of fame. I thought about the sacrifice of feeling each of those lyrics, especially as videos of her mother played behind her as she sang.

That evening and the next day, we were still high from the experience, grateful to have witnessed such a show among people who shared a love of the music. We felt fully at peace in that arena among strangers. Mom went on about how much she enjoyed the show; I knew it was money well spent. Dad called me a few days later, insisting Mom loved the trip and thanking me for taking her. We had the kind of time that makes one crave more of the same. I’m trying to seize more of those opportunities while I still can. Life goes so fast, and we don’t want to miss it.

Louisiana Pain Care

Welcoming Dr. Brandon Banks

THE MEDICAL PRACTICE THAT WOULD LATER become Louisiana Pain Care, LLC opened in 1994 to address a burgeoning medical need in the northeast Louisiana community and the ArkLaMiss area. Founder John L. Ledbetter, MD, said he first began to realize the need for a clinic devoted to non-surgical pain treatment while working with Anesthesia Associates in Monroe. “I was regularly being asked by spine surgeons to help with patients who continued to have pain after having spine surgery, and it became clear that there was a definite need for interventional pain management,” he explains. Dr. Ledbetter took a leave of absence from anesthesia practice to complete a pain management fellowship at University of Texas, Health Science Center San Antonio. He would later return to open what is now Louisiana Pain Care in 1995. Dr. Vince Forte and later Dr. Hardy Gordon were recruited and have become an integral part of the growing practice. And most recently, Dr. Brandon Banks joined the team at Louisiana Pain Care.

Dr. Banks is a West Monroe native who decided to come back to his roots after doing his medical training and working in Tennessee for the last 10 years.

After graduating from the University of Louisiana - Monroe with a degree in Biology, he attended LSU Shreveport where he received his Doctor of Medicine. During his anesthesiology residency, he realized his passion for pain management. Instead of treating a patient with the goal of momentary relief, Dr. Banks wanted to make a bigger difference in their lives.

The ability to take care of a patient and through minimallyinvasive procedures that can provide a long-term solution was attractive to Dr. Banks and steered him in the direction of pain management.

Dr. Banks offers his patients the majority of conventional interventional pain treatments and has a strong interest in Spinal Cord Stimulation. Spinal cord stimulation is generally used after surgical and nonsurgical treatment options have failed to provide sufficient long-term pain relief. He also provides Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) Stimulation therapy that can relieve pain in a specific area. Because the spinal column has a number of different DRGs, each of which is associated with different areas of the body, DRG stimulation therapy can target the specific area of the body where a patient experiences pain. In this way, DRG therapy has the unique ability to help manage pain in targeted parts of the body where pain occurs, and is especially helpful for patients who live with isolated chronic pain in the lower parts of the body.

Dr. Banks has certifications from the American Board of Anesthesiology in both Anesthesiology and Pain Management. He will primarily practice in the Louisiana Pain Care Ruston clinic. “We were looking for a way to better serve our patients and prospective patients in the Ruston, Jonesboro, and El Dorado areas. This Ruston location is more convenient for those who live west of us,” said Mallory Sanchez, Physician Liaison and Director of Marketing. “Dr. Banks‘ expertise and genuine care for patient’s well-being will be an asset to our clinic and the community.”

When he is not practicing medicine, Dr. Banks enjoys spending time with his kids, Nolan and Kylie, and watching them dance and play sports. Now that Dr. Banks is back in Louisiana, he is excited to get back to hunting and fishing. He and his wife, Erica, look forward to getting involved in the community they grew up in.

Louisiana Pain Care offers the only board-certified, fellowshiptrained pain management physicians in northeast and north central Louisiana. They primarily serve patients suffering from back or neck pain from bulging, herniated or damaged discs or from arthritic or muscular conditions. The doctors also treat failed back surgery syndrome, fractured vertebrae, neuropathies, shingles pain and cancer pain. The doctors agree that God continues to bless this practice with an incredibly talented and devoted nursing and administrative staff, most of whom treat their position with LPC as more than just a job.

Louisiana Pain Care’s size and services may have grown and changed over more than 25 years of operation, but the vision and purpose remain the same: to provide the highest quality and up-todate interventional and clinical pain management care to patients in Northeast Louisiana and South Arkansas.

Louisiana Pain Care accepts patient referrals from other physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, chiropractors, physical therapists, insurance adjusters, case managers, and attorneys. They also schedule patients by self-referral. Louisiana Pain Care is located at 210 Layton Avenue in Monroe, LA and 1809 Northpointe Lane in Ruston, LA. Call 318-323-6405 to schedule an appointment or go online at lapaincare.com.

T.P. Outdoors Monroe

Memories of a Great 2021-2022 Hunting Season

IAM WRITING THIS WHILE ON MY last hunt of the season. I’m hunting with Justin Wilson and his grandfather. Justin was shot in the neck 13 years ago and has been wheelchair bound with little motor skills in is hands or legs.

The 2021 season was set to kick off with renewing our two annual handicap hunts at Mercer Whitetails. After missing the 2020 Mercer hunt because of fears from Covid, the 2021 hunt was set with handicap hunters the first weekend of October and Wounded warriors the second weekend. These hunts are always something special for all of us volunteers and for the men, women and kids that get to hunt. Just two weeks before the first hunt Mr Mercer has to make the difficult decision to cancel the hunt because of renewed outbreaks of Covid.

My season began with a yearly tradition of heading west to New Mexico chasing bull elk. Only this year I was bringing along my best hunting buddy/son-in-law Brad Bell. I decided to be camera man and guide until Brad takes a bull then hands the camera over and lets him film my hunt. After four days of walking 10 plus miles , many failed attempts to get into range of screaming bulls , a miss or two Brad finally harvested a large 6x6 bull.

Now with only one day left to hunt it was my turn. Well after several close encounters the day ended without me getting a shot on a bull. Even after me not getting a bull the hunt was a huge success with great memories I will cherish forever.

By the time we returned from New Mexico it was only days until Louisiana archery season opens. After seeing and passing on several huge bucks a 150” 9 pt with 22” wide spread made the fatal mistake of coming in to try the Bills Big Buck Crunch!

As the season rolled I was seeing lots of good quality bucks but was letting them walk, for some unknown reason. Then on Nov 10 I received a text from Jeff Mercer that he had a special handicapped hunter that wanted to hunt and wanted to know if I wanted to help. The hunter he had is blind and has not been hunting since the home invasion three years ago that left him blind. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this hunt.

My mom had been going to physical therapy and one of the therapists, Don Hanaker, asked if she thought I could help him take one of his blind patients deer hunting. I thought the Mercer hunt would be a great opportunity for these two men to get to know each other and feed off each other during the hunt.

With the help of several volunteers, within a week we were at Mercers Whitetails sitting in blinds with both these men hunting. Josh Butler was blinded from a home invasion where he was shot in back with a bow, his head crushed with butt of gun, stabbed 26 times and he and his wife were left for dead just three years ago. Our other hunter is Dillon Brown that was blind in a duck hunting accident 10 years ago where he was shot in the head a point blank with a 12-guage shotgun. Josh is hunting with Jeff Mercer and me while Dillon is hunting with Chris Porter and Don Hanaker. Josh and I didn’t see any deer but Dillon was able to take a very nice 8-point.

After a couple of more hunts at Mercers, Josh was finally able to take a 4-pt buck. I really believe it was divine intervention that kept us from taking a deer until the third hunt. Because the time spent in blind together I got to know Josh and ended up hiring him to be editor of the “TP Talk” monthly newsletter.

Josh and I made another hunt together on Davis Island but I’ll save that story for another time.

One night while eating dinner, my oldest granddaughter Bristol said she wanted to kill her first deer. I have taken her on several hunts over the years but never pushed her to shoot. Hoping the day would come that she asked I was surprised and overwhelmed when she said she was ready! We made several hunts waiting one one particular buck I wanted her to take. We played lots of cards and ate lots of snacks. I have a great story about our hunts, but they will have to wait until next months article also.

The year 2021 was also a very difficult year with loosing one of my son-in-laws, Nick Green, in a freak accident while at work at TP Outdoors Monroe. I also lost several friends to Covid including Louis Robinson who help organize many of the handicapped hunts you have seen on TP Outdoors Advertures.

If I’ve learned anything in 2021 it’s has to be the following: Pray often and hard, Live everyday like it’s your last day, Spend time with family, Serve others,

Until next month stay safe and be happy! -Bill