| Current Poll |
Should members of the LSU Board of Supervisors disclose who receives their scholarships?
View Results
|
|
Story Archives: Weekly vacation in Madison Parish
- 2013 - 802 articles
- 2012 - 1954 articles
- 2011 - 2029 articles
- 2010 - 2139 articles
- 2009 - 2066 articles
- December 2009 - 163 articles
- November 2009 - 166 articles
- October 2009 - 231 articles
- September 2009 - 161 articles
- August 2009 - 136 articles
- July 2009 - 153 articles
- June 2009 - 126 articles
- May 2009 - 164 articles
- April 2009 - 242 articles
- March 2009 - 204 articles
- March 31st, 2009 (Tuesday) - 2 articles
- March 30th, 2009 (Monday) - 3 articles
- March 29th, 2009 (Sunday) - 2 articles
- March 28th, 2009 (Saturday) - 4 articles
- March 27th, 2009 (Friday) - 1 articles
- March 26th, 2009 (Thursday) - 25 articles
- March 25th, 2009 (Wednesday) - 11 articles
- March 24th, 2009 (Tuesday) - 1 articles
- March 23rd, 2009 (Monday) - 1 articles
- March 22nd, 2009 (Sunday) - 1 articles
- March 21st, 2009 (Saturday) - 6 articles
- March 19th, 2009 (Thursday) - 35 articles
- March 18th, 2009 (Wednesday) - 9 articles
- March 17th, 2009 (Tuesday) - 2 articles
- March 16th, 2009 (Monday) - 3 articles
- March 14th, 2009 (Saturday) - 4 articles
- March 13th, 2009 (Friday) - 2 articles
- March 12th, 2009 (Thursday) - 27 articles
- March 11th, 2009 (Wednesday) - 15 articles
- March 10th, 2009 (Tuesday) - 3 articles
- March 5th, 2009 (Thursday) - 31 articles
- March 4th, 2009 (Wednesday) - 12 articles
- March 3rd, 2009 (Tuesday) - 1 articles
- March 2nd, 2009 (Monday) - 2 articles
- March 1st, 2009 (Sunday) - 1 articles
- February 2009 - 163 articles
- January 2009 - 157 articles
- 2008 - 1757 articles
|
Weekly vacation in Madison Parish
My daddy was the head football coach at Tallulah High School in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Most every Sunday, with the exception of football season, we piled into our old Studebaker, and hit the back roads of Madison Parish.
The season usually lasted until mid December because the Trojans were definitely spoiled by yearly trips to the finals or semi-finals. Our Sunday afternoon rides were educational opportunities to view wildlife and the beautiful woods that were abundant during this time period.
We always loaded up the entire family, which at that time was four of us — my older brother Devone Jr. and I were the only kids. When we traveled the back roads, especially the gravel roads between Crowville's Warsaw community and Tallulah, we would come out west of Tallulah. If we took the road that passed through Indian Lake and the Sharkey Hunting Club, we came out south of Tallulah. Sharkey was one of those hunting clubs that was the envy of many a deer hunter. We were always entertained by the deer that we saw between Crowville and Tallulah.
It was nothing to see 30 or 40 deer standing out in the middle of a pasture dining off the farmer's crops, or fresh green pastures. When you passed the McLemore property just south of Tallulah, it looked as if you had come upon a zoo for deer. You could always see deer in the pastures no matter what time of the day it was.
Families did not have a lot of money in those days for entertainment. Riding around the parish, spotting wildlife, or stopping in for a visit with one of daddy's player's families could lead to an interesting afternoon.
Since Daddy did not believe in hunting or fishing on Sunday, we never got to stop to try the fish in the bar pits, or get in a boat to fish in Indian Lake during our Sunday outings. The only time that Daddy bent the rules was when he was the head football coach at Northeast, now ULM. When he was a high school coach, he had more time to go hunting and fishing with us. College coaching put an end to hunting with our daddy. This particular season we had not been able to go deer hunting because of Daddy's busy schedule.
This particular Sunday was the only exception to the Sunday rule. We all piled into Coach Jim Coates' jeep and headed for Madison Parish. I saw one deer, but only a black silhouette. Daddy, Coates and Devone had spooked a deer on their way to pick me up from my stand. It was too late to shoot. This is the only time that I can remember hunting or fishing on Sunday. Daddy came from a strict hard-shell Baptist upbringing and he still enforced many of their rules
I don't want it to sound as if we were so limited on Sunday that Sunday was no fun. Sundays were always fun. There were plenty of things to do on Sunday besides hunting, fishing or swimming.
I can remember when I was playing baseball at Neville. I had made the squad as a freshman, and Coach Brown had to assure my mother that practice would not jeopardize Sunday morning services, or Training Union at nights. Mother gave in to Brown's persuasions.
Sunday was a special day for our family, not only because it was the Sabbath; but also, because we had plenty of interesting things to do as a family. We took a short vacation every Sunday afternoon.
Robert Charles Payne is an inspirational writer who lives in West Monroe. He can be contacted by e-mailing robertcharlespayne@yahoo.com. |
|
|
E-mail Story
Print Story
