Columns

If religion were just an “opiate for the masses,” or if it evolved primitively to help people cope with things out of their control (such as death, illness, natural disasters, etc.), then it is reasonable to say that anyone could come up with any religious theory from the depths of their imaginations and that every theory would be equally valid.

No theory would be right or wrong, good or bad.

And none of them would be absolute.

However, Jesus Christ made this type of theorizing obsolete.

When Jesus walked this Earth, He made two major radical claims: He said that He was God in the flesh; and He said that He was the only way to Heaven.

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Grow Your Food!

There is just nothing that tastes better than vegetables harvested straight out of the garden. We know that the first line of self-sufficiency begins with growing your own food. But an added benefit is that there is no comparison for fresh. The produce you find in the grocery stores have been hybridized for certain qualities – size, color, and shipping. Notice that taste and health aren’t on that list.

Instead of depending on the grocery store, grow your own vegetables. Even if you choose a hybrid variety, they don’t all ripen at the same time, and they do have some distinguishing shapes and colors. Better yet, try growing heirloom vegetables. Especially with tomatoes, you won’t get two that look the same. And rather than eating food that tastes like cardboard, you will get rich, delicious flavors.

(Editor’s note: Due to the recent storms in our area, Allison Carpenter’s internet was knocked out, so we at The Enterprise have picked one of our favorites that was written by Mrs. Carpenter in 2013. Please enjoy this article from our files. Hopefully, things will return to normal with internet service by our next issue.)

Prayer Life Will Change Along With Our Lives

My mom once told me that your prayer life changes as your children get older. An older child’s desire to begin attending sleepovers, spending time with friends, and going away to camp help prepare parents (especially mothers) for the things to come, such as the increase in time away from home in high school and, ultimately, leaving home for college.

I had everybody over to my place after church Easter Sunday and what a blessing. The day was just warm enough with a big welcome sun in a crystal blue cloudless sky. Our church service at First Baptist was inspiring and let me tell you if you’ve never heard our Pastor, Thumper Miller, preach and his wife and choir Director, Tracy Miller, sing then you need to swing in one Sunday for our services - they are so good. After we all got back home, we had Susan’s deviled eggs, my sister Nan’s coleslaw, my Mom’s baked beans and one of Mr. Hoenselaar’s hams – Wait a minute … What!?.

While reading some of the old issues of the Mansfield Enterprise at the Mansfield Female College Museum I noticed a number of interesting businesses that were located in the city in earlier years. Some of you older readers might remember them today.

In the 1933 issues, there was a story of the Mansfield Coffin and Casket Company located on South Washington Ave. where the former sweet plant had operated. Mr. J.E. Herbert was the owner and master carpenter. The article further stated that everyone was welcomed to come by and “… View those on display”. It was a common practice for people to purchase their caskets before death and many bought the casket to be stored at their homes. Another early practice before Drewett’s Funeral Home came to Mansfield was stores having caskets in stock or being able to order them quickly. This writer remembers the large store in Keatchie having caskets on display on the second floor.

I stumbled across a good sounding recipe the other day at the ‘My Recipes’ website called “Cheesy

Chili Hash Brown Bake” from the Southern Living magazine in February 2011. It sounded so good and so easy to make but alot like another recipe with Tater Tots by my best ole Breaux Bill Love. So I knew that I was gonna do a little research on these.

I learned from our Parish Historian and my friend/mentor, Mr. Powell, that writers need to be held accountable for what they write so that history will remain correct. Names need to be spelled correctly and dates need to be right. That’s why I try to do a little research before I write my columns and this often leads to additional interesting information about the subject - It was the same with these two in the title. Have you ever wondered about where they started or who invented them? Wellll ….

Several weeks ago, this column was devoted to the various towns in DeSoto Parish. It was stated that the list did not include all of the communities of the parish. DeSoto Parish is proud of its town and communities. The following will not complete the list but only add additional ones that we certainly want to remember.

Carmel – A small community located about 7 miles east of Mansfield on Hwy 509. The village grew up from the area served by the Carmelite Monastery founded in 1888 at the Bayou Pierre Church by members of the Carmelite Order of the Catholic Church. The name Carmel translates to ”Garden of Gods”. The beautiful little Rock Chapel is located at Carmel.

Dolet Hills – Located in southeastern part of DeSoto Parish is named after a French Creole, Pierre Dolet, who made a settlement along Bayou Adays in 1795. Pierre Dolet was a large cattle owner who ran cattle over most of present day southern DeSoto Parish.

This weekend must have been prom weekend for nearly everybody. Lots of pretty pictures o n Facebook. Saturday was terrible weather. Coach Walker, one of the coaches at Stanley, had a tree fall through his house.

Abbie Wood and Lance Lafitte had their wedding Saturday night. I didn’t try to go as the weather was too bad.

Sunday afternoon at 2:00 we had Ellie Clark’s birthday party at an athletic place in Shreveport.

I went Friday for my MRI on my back, not realizing it wasn’t until Monday.

Thursday at quilting Johnny Gibb’s wife Nancy and said he had fallen in the floor and couldn’t get up. When she got home, they realized he had had a stroke, so they called an ambulance and took him to Willis Knighton North. Wednesday Susan Sibley had a stoke and was transported to Willis Knighton Piermont. At this time she is not doing very well.

Over the past several years I have written articles about many men and women that have had profound influence on the City of Mansfield and on DeSoto Parish. They should all be remembered but none would, in the opinion of this writer, be more deserving than Dr. George A. Ritchey.

Dr. Ritchey was born in Enterprise, Ms. and later attended Pearl River Com. College in Poplarville, Ms. where he lettered in football, baseball, basketball and track. He was converted while a student there in 1926. He later attended Mississippi College in Clinton, Ms. where he played football and pastored two churches in Duncan and Friar’s Point, Ms. He continued his education in the ministry at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. And graduated from there with a Masters of Theology degree in 1933. He earned a Doctors of Philosophy degree in 1935 while a student at Louisville, Ky. and was a pastor of a church in Paragon, Indiana.

Learn To Cook

Not everyone loves to cook, but it isn’t difficult to learn. There was a joke in our family that said my sister Amie couldn’t boil water without burning it. Truthfully, she wasn’t that bad, but she wasn’t that good, either. Today, Amie is a Registered Dietitian and can cook with the best of them. Her jams and jellies are always in demand and she never hesitates to bring something delicious to any potluck. If Amie can learn, then there is hope for everyone!