Columns

If you are a reader of this column it has become apparent that I like to research the life of an early leader of this town. Such is the case of the subject today – Marmaduke Ricks. A person with a name like that would have to work extra hard to succeed and Marmaduke did just that.

He was born March 24, 1828 in Greene County, Ala. to Josiah and Sallie Gandy Ricks one of ten children raised on a farm. He came to Mansfield in 1849 and after working for others he purchased a farm. In 1858 he went into the mercantile business and in 1862 he joined the Eleventh Texas Regiment where he served honorably during the Civil War.

Marmaduke returned to Mansfield and opened a new business. He was elected Mayor of Mansfield for several years and elected to the Police Jury in 1888. In 1859 he had married Mary Williams from a prominent family. After giving birth to one son Mary died and Marmaduke married Laura McFarland, another lovely lady, who bore him four children.

Erma Bombeck: A Feminist or a Woman Just Trying to Raise Her Kids?

My mother was a feminist. I can’t blame her though, I really can’t. She was born in 1940 the oldest of 4 girls. Her father sent her to college even though his friends told him he was wasting his money.

My mother wanted to be an accountant. Her guidance counselor at Kansas State University told her that she couldn’t. Women could only be teachers, secretaries, or nurses. My mother fainted at the sight of blood so she chose to be a teacher. When I majored in Accounting and earned my CPA license, my mother was literally bursting with pride. I am sure she felt I accomplished several milestones that she was denied.

WANTED! WANTED!! At last Sunday’s DeSoto Historical Society meeting we invited Leonard Gresens to speak to us. He is from Shreveport, La., is our Token Expert in this area, and had a very interesting talk for us.

I remember the tokens that the downtown trollies used and the old video arcades used to use tokens in the game machines but I did not know that back in frontier days many establishments used these coin-like replicas in everyday business. Mr. Gresens told us that the Token System helped local trade by providing a reliable coinage supply to make change, promoting the establishment that issued them, offering an incentive to enhance pay and trade. For instance, if you bought a whole roll of Shreveport Transit Tokens you would get a few extra. If you received Tokens as a supplement to your pay you could redeem them for full price at certain neighboring establishments or redeem them for a percentage of the face value at any local business.

Bird Watching

I’ve always enjoyed watching birds and learning the native different types in places I’ve lived. I guess with my Dad and Grandfather being County Agents and sharing their knowledge of birds with me made me appreciate them more. I like visiting with John Rambin who’s an avid watcher, too. He sees more meadow and open field birds than I do since I live over near the pine woods on Laura St.

Just the other day I’d filled the feeders with the Fruit & Nut Blend of bird feed I use from Tractor Supply and was taking my first water break on the back patio when I noticed the first visitor, a Downy Woodpecker. I have Red-Belly Woodpeckers a lot but this new Downy was a treat to see. I decided to start counting and keeping a list of all the different visitors at the feeders that day.

There are certain incidents in history that we should be reminded of from time to time before they are forgotten. The Berlin Wall is this type of historical fact and our youth should be taught of it so they will know.

The end of World War II left Germany divided into two sections – the West was Democratic under the U.S., Britain and France and the east was Communist under the Soviet Union. The city of Berlin, Hitler’s old capital of Nazi German and located deep in the eastern part of Germany, was divided into East Berlin and West Berlin.

Honeybees are one of the most crucial components of agriculture and essentially life in general. Without their pollination services, row crops, pasture forages, home gardens, and your flowerbeds would suffer greatly. In Louisiana, honeybees provide over $400 million in free pollination services, and commercial beekeepers produce about two million pounds of honey per year.

Now that we know what knives we have and what they are used form the next step is learning how to care for them and keep the blades sharp. There is nothing worse than trying to cut with a dull blade!

Knife Sharpeners

Sharpening Stone (or Honing Steel)

- All knives are great until they lose their edge. A dull knife is useful for nothing more than mangling whatever it is you need to cut or chop. Always sharpen your knives before you use them.

A honing steel looks like a long steel rod with a handle attached. It is rough and designed to sharpen your knives. With the honing steel in one hand, grasp your knife by the handle. From the handle to the tip of the knife, slide the edge of the blade along the steel in a slightly upward motion. Do this on both sides of the blade until the knife is once again razor sharp.

I n Mansfield? Where?? Well, last week I was coming back out to the driveway to finish bringing in the groceries from my car when I spotted a thin chalky white stalk sticking about a foot up out of the ivy. Curious, but thinking it was a large stick that had fallen out of the big beechnut tree in my front yard I moved over to check it out. AND, … it slowly rotated its head watching me as I passed up and to the side of it. As I got closer, I could see eyes and a flickering tongue! This was no fallen stick impaled in the ground but an upright snake’s neck. Since the ivy there is a foot tall and the neck was a foot over that I knew this had to be a pretty long snake. How long you ask? Very long! How many feet you may ask?? Well, Heck – it was a snake (Ha!) so it didn’t have any. I do know that it covered most of my driveway when is slithered away.

Well, are y’all HOT yet? It’s way, way to early for this heat and not even summer yet. But we can’t be satisfied LOL...I didn’t like the DEEP freeze for a week we had last winter either. What oh what is one to do?????

Oh well, despite our wonderful (NOT) weather, the show must go on here at MNC. We are always on the go!! During our Monday Bingo we had a wonderful surprise. Mrs Julia Dickerson, a previous Activity Director several years ago, came and helped out during bingo We love her, she is such a delight to be around and a wonderful helper.

There are some historical events that I believe every American should remember. Please forgive me if you think differently but my mind will probably not change. The war in Europe was over but Japan’s Emperor Hirohito had called on his people to fight to the last person living. They stood behind him solidly.