Columns

By Van Reech

As a Baby Boomer growing up in the Fifties I was subject to all those Saturday morning ads on TV for sugar packed cereals. Back then we only had three channels 3, 6, and 12. That meant you were kinda trapped into what you watched. Back then and even today I like those Looney Tunes cartoons like The Roadrunner, Sylvester the Cat, Bugs Bunny and others – I know you remember the Saturday morning lineup. AND they all advertised Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Krispies (or Count Chockula!), Fruit Loops, Sugar Smacks, Captain Crunch and other sugar laden cereals. I even remember sprinkling more sugar on top of Frosted Flakes! The best part of a bowl of cereal was the sugar sludge mixed with a little milk and debris at the bottom of the bowl. – It makes my heart rate race now to even think about it.

By Raymond Powell

As this writer has stated many times in the past – History can take many forms. Today’s article primarily concerns a man that few in DeSoto Parish know or remember, Travis Spears. He and his wife were born here in the early 1900’s and he went to work in the oil fields in the 1930’s for the Standard Oil Co. After working in the drilling or production end for 15 years he was sent to Standard Oil’s South American Division in Venezuela. There he worked his way up to management in production. He and Mrs. Spears moved back to Mansfield with their 5th grade son, Travis, Jr. and they built a nice home on Hwy. 84 West near where Jeff and Jill Heard presently live. Travis, Jr. later became an M.D.

How to Have a Conversation

Are you ready to have a real conversation with your loved ones? Try a few of these tips:

1. Did you know that a child engaged in an activity will open up and talk more? Try taking him or her for a walk. Go fishing, or participate in a quiet activity. You might be surprised how much you learn.

2. Before you speak, learn to listen. Look a person in the eye. Hear the words they are saying. Do NOT allow your mind to try and answer before you hear everything. Before you respond, briefly rephrase what they have just said, so they know you heard them.

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Probably most individuals that read this column weekly consider themselves a s Americans who love our constitution and the freedoms which it insures. Let’s review or consider some of the facts of our constitution and freedoms.

1. What does our constitution do? It sets up the government, defines the government, and protects the basic rights of Americans.

2. What did the Declaration of Independence do? Announced our independence from Great Britain.

3. What are the Rights in our Constitution? Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.

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Herb Gardening

One of my goals for 2019 is to establish an herb garden that I can use for culinary, creative and medicinal purposes. I do grow a few simple herbs, such as basil, rosemary and bay leaf, and have grown others, such as parsley and oregano, but I want to grow a larger variety. Since I don’t know all I need to about growing herbs, the first thing I did was head to my bookshelf. On it, I found this book by Melissa Snyder.

As the sub-title suggests, this book does help you with all aspects of herb gardening. I especially enjoy the section on the different types of herb gardens. She gives a brief description of type – such as tea, dye, medicinal, cosmetic, fragrance and cutting – and also gives you a list of the herbs to grow for each category.

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From time to time the towns of DeSoto Parish have been mentioned but several have asked that an article just on these towns be compiled. The history of the towns of DeSoto is interesting and this writer thinks you will enjoy.

Mansfield, the parish seat if government, was determined by the La. legislature in 1843 and incorporated April 15, 1847. Several names were suggested such as Jackson and Ferdinand however, Thomas Abington gave a very interesting speech for the name Mansfield. Lord Mansfield of England, the only British leader that supported the original 13 colonies, was chosen as the name for our parish capital. The first post office was in 1844, a few months after the Keatchie post office. Mansfield’s most noted historical happenings were the Mansfield Female College that was open from 1854 to 1930 and the April 8, 1864 Battle of Mansfield.

How do you pronounce this famous American condiment? It probably depends on where you’re from – kinda like the different pronunciations of ‘Pee-Can’, ‘Pa-Con’, or ‘Pee-cOn’ . AND we Louisianans love to make fun of Yankees saying ‘Cray-fish’ instead of ‘CRAW-Fish’ as God intended.

Anyway, February’s National Geographic had a big article on “How Ketchup Made Food Safer” by Deborah Blum. She belives that we don’t really know where the name came from but, perhaps, from a 6th century Asian sauce made from fermented fish and called “Ke-Tsiap” (Ga- Aaak!). She reports that our “Ketchup” first came on the market in the late 19th century but it was a thin sauce made from tomato scraps and thickened with anything from ground pumpkin rinds to apple pumace and dyed a deceptive red or put in colored glass containers to hide the appearance and condition of the contents.

As a person gets older history becomes more important in their life. Many people are most interested in a certain phase or time period of history while others like the accurate facts of history. Then there are others that have an interest in all phases of history. Today’s article will please those individuals who like snips of history in many categories. The following facts about DeSoto Parish cover the period from its beginning to the present.

I. Governor Alexander Mouton, father of Gen. Moulton of Battle of Mansfield fame, in 1843 created DeSoto Parish from Natchitoches Parish and Caddo Parish. Roughly the north half of DeSoto was from Caddo and the south half from Natchitoches.

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History is in many forms and today’s article takes on a whimsical form yet is about one of our true icons of the mid 1900’s - Burma Shave. They introduced in 1925 a different and unique method to advertise their products. Originally a liniment and aftershave made from “Ingredients from the Malay Peninsula and Burma”. It grew into the top shaving creams through a series of road side signs that entertained the children and adults all over America.