Each week, the Rapides Parish Journal’s always-hungry reporter visits a different restaurant and tells you about the experience.
By ANON E. MUSS
It’s summertime, which also means that it’s vacation time and I’m heading north for what I hope will be cooler temperatures. Restaurant reviews will resume when I return in July. Wishing everyone an early happy 4th. Eat well and stay cool!
Is there a restaurant you would like the Journal to visit?Email: Anon E. Muss
1 Fork: Would rather eat a box of dirt 2 Forks: Will return, but only if someone else is buying 3 Forks: Will return and look forward to it 4 Forks: Will return and go out of my way to do so
Bobby Joe Womble June 30, 1932 – June 23, 2024 Service: Thursday, June 27, 2024, 11am at oak Grove Mission Church, Hineston.
James Wiley Bryant November 7, 1944 – June 18, 2024 Service: Saturday, July 13, 2024, 2pm at River Outreach Church, Pineville.
The Rapides Parish Journal publishes paid obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $95. Contact your funeral provider or RPJNewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Notice of Death shown above are FREE of charge. You may email them to RPJNewsla@gmail.com)
What led the three to a Simmons Street residence Wednesday night, we don’t know. We do know only one left alive.
That one, Rentis Austin, is charged with allegedly killing Ronald Landry, 55, of Boyce and Jeremy Swafford, 38, of Alexandria, then fleeing.
Austin, 46, of Alexandria was arrested the next night and charged with two counts of murder in the second degree as well as parole and probation violations. His bail is set at $2 million.
He was last booked in the parish lockup in March 2023 with charges including armed robbery, auto theft, possession with intent and parole violation and had been jailed there twice this decade.
Swafford’s felony rap sheet dated to at least 2019 and includes domestic abuse, stalking, home invasion, sexual battery, narcotics, resisting arrest and flight from officers charges.
NATCHITOCHES — Pineville journalist John Marcase was honored with a prestigious Louisiana Sports Writers Association award Sunday while Rapides Parish Journal writers Bob Tompkins, Ron Higgins and Doug Ireland picked up writing prizes at the LSWA’s annual Awards Brunch.
Marcase, who is a contributing writer for the Journal and 446Sports.com after a long career as a writer and sports editor at the Alexandria Town Talk, received the LSWA’s treasured Mac Russo-Jack Brittain Jr. Award. It is presented to one person annually who has made remarkable contributions to the progress and ideals of the LSWA.
Marcase was also installed as the new LSWA president, moving up from the vice president’s role and replacing former Town Talk sports editor Raymond Partsch III, who served a pair of two-year terms.
The LSWA’s Writing Contest rewarded work for stories published in the calendar year 2023. A record number of entries were received, said Partsch.
Tompkins, whose column appears every Tuesday in the RPJ, was a second-place winner in the LSWA’s General Columns category (Class II) for a piece that noted it was the time of year to endure coaching jargon. Tompkins also received a fourth place in the Columnist of the Year competition for Class II, a remarkable award considering that only about half of his columns are sports oriented, and he is a weekly columnist.
Higgins, who was enshrined in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Saturday night with the LSWA’s Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism, picked up four contest awards Sunday. The Journal’s LSU beat writer since last July won for work written earlier in 2023 for Tiger Details, including a first place for his story on the Tiger baseball team’s College World Series championship game victory.
Ireland took a third in Class I Columnist of the Year competition and was fourth in the Class I Prep Column contest for his column bemoaning the poor information flow from the 2023 girls Marsh Madness state basketball tournament in Hammond.
Ireland won in the general column contest in Class II for a piece that originally ran in the Natchitoches Parish Journal, addressing cancellation of Northwestern State’s football season after a player’s shooting death last October.
Ireland was the Class I third-place finisher in the Columnist of the Year competition for work that was originally published in the Shreveport-Bossier Journal. He captured the Class II Columnist of the Year award was for work that initially ran in the Natchitoches Parish Journal.
Adding in awards won by writers from the Shreveport-Bossier Journal and the Lincoln Parish Journal, the Journal Services team collected a combined 24 writing honors handed out during the LSWA’s annual awards brunch that caps the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction weekend.
SHINING BRIGHTLY: Members of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 stood together at the end of the opening Walk of Legends Saturday night in Natchitoches during the 65th LSHOF induction ceremony. Shown (l-r) are Kerry Joseph, Kevin Jackson, Ray Sibille, Ron Higgins, Frank Monica, Wilbert Ellis, Bobby Ardoin, Perry Clark, Tom Burnett and Seimone Augustus. (Photo by BRET H. MCCORMICK, for the LSWA)
By JASON PUGH, Written for the LSWA
NATCHITOCHES – The 12 members of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 brought worldwide acclaim to their home state – adopted or natural.
Fittingly, two of the newest Hall of Famers brought the world to Natchitoches Saturday during the annual induction ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center.
Although New Orleans Saints Super Bowl-winning quarterback Drew Brees and former UFC champion Daniel Cormier joined the proceedings via video from Japan and Saudi Arabia, respectively, the stories of the 12 inductees started much closer to home – specifically within their homes.
“I had the greatest parents,” Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism honoree Bobby Ardoin said in tears, “because they didn’t have to adopt me, and they did. They let me do just about anything I wanted. I wasn’t always a summer’s breeze, but they’re the reason I’m here today.”
That reasoning resonated throughout the eight competitive-ballot inductees and the four award winners who officially joined the state’s athletic shrine during the ceremony attended by over 800 at the Natchitoches Events Center. It was live streamed on LPB.org and can be viewed there on the LPB YouTube channel, or the Hall of Fame’s YouTube link through LaSportsHall.com using the multimedia button.
The inductees’ praise Saturday night did not stop at biological family members.
“I had some of the greatest parents in the world, and I have some of the greatest people in the world here tonight,” said Wilbert Ellis, the longtime Grambling baseball coach who became the second-ever Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award recipient. He had nearly 200 supporters in the crowd from nearby and around the country.
“I always wanted to give back. I always wanted to make a difference. That was my prayer. God gave me that prayer, and I’ve been all over the country doing it.”
Baton Rouge saw one of its most notable, successful products honored Saturday night.
LSU All-American Seimone Augustus spent her high school career at Capitol High School being feted as the nation’s No. 1 player. In an era where Tennessee and UConn “had a chokehold on the recruiting game,” according to Augustus, she made the decision to stay home and build something.
That something included the start of five straight Final Four runs for her hometown university and a sweep of the 2006 National Player of the Year honors.
“I was never a trend follower,” Augustus said. “I was a trendsetter. A lot of players as soon as they got a letter from Connecticut or Tennessee, they committed. I was like, ‘Don’t you want to take a visit?’ ‘Don’t you want to meet your teammates?’ I begged to differ. When I didn’t go to Tennessee or Connecticut, a lot of people thought I was crazy. Coach (Sue) Gunter, coach (Pokey) Chatman, coach (Bob) Starkey, they were sending me handwritten letters from when I was eight or nine years old.
“I went through every recruiting letter. Some were authentic. Some you could change my name for someone else’s, and it read the same. LSU’s authenticity and the fact it was in my backyard and the chance to build something that had not been build before (were factors). I could go somewhere else and be one of the greats, or I could be THE great. That was my thought process.”
Staying at home to build the program she grew up watching appealed to Augustus, whose initial impression on Starkey came in an athletic setting but not at an athletic event. It gave him insight into where the woman who now has a statue outside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center’s priorities laid.
“The very first time I saw her in person was Thanksgiving at the Riverside Centroplex (now the Raisin’ Cane’s River Center) and she was serving food to the less fortunate,” Starkey said. “Here’s the No. 1 high school player in the country, and she’s spending her Thanksgiving making others feel better.”
Those lessons began at home, forming both Augustus’ altruistic side and a work ethic that forced the LSU staff to adjust its practices.
“No one was going to outwork me,” Augustus said. “I learned that from watching my parents. Within my household, I was driven because I watched two people sacrifice so I could have. I wanted to work hard to give them something to be proud of.”
Along with her parents, among a large contingent of LSU staff and fans was Tigers’ head coach Kim Mulkey, who recently hired Augustus as an assistant coach. Mulkey is the youngest-ever LSHOF inductee, enshrined in 1990 at age 28 after her playing career at Hammond High, Louisiana Tech and for the USA Olympic gold medal team in 1984.
Augustus played on three USA Olympic gold medal squads, and won four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx. She will be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in October, and entered the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in April.
If anyone in the Class of 2024 could identify with Augustus regarding elevating a college basketball program, it was former Tulane men’s basketball coach Perry Clark.
When Clark arrived in Uptown New Orleans in July 1988, the Green Wave program was in its infant stages of being resurrected following a self-imposed, four-year shutdown following a point-shaving scandal.
Within two seasons, Clark took Tulane from a resurrection point to the first – and still only – conference championship in program history.
“He had to restart a Division I men’s basketball program, and there was no blueprint for him to follow,” former Tulane sports information director Lenny Vangilder said. “From no program to two years later winning a conference title, it was truly remarkable and may never be done again in the history of college athletics.”
Clark did just that in his own way – focusing on what Tulane could have instead of what it didn’t.
“I knew we weren’t going to get the best offensive players,” he said. “We were able to build defensively. We had the best defensive player in the conference at each position. That first year, we upset Memphis State, who was ranked No. 4 because we were able to stop Elliott Perry. We had a top-20 win every year because we could lock in defensively and believe in what we were doing.”
Armed with a bench group nicknamed “The Posse” after Clark’s favorite NFL team – the then-Washington Redskins – and their dynamic receiving corps, the Green Wave had all three of its NCAA Tournament appearances in Clark’s 11 years at the place he called Camelot.
While Clark left his mark on Tulane, winning 185 games in those 11 seasons, it left just as much of an imprint on him.
“I’m very privileged to be in the state of Louisiana,” Clark said. “The people here have inspired me in my growth as a person, my growth as a coach. This is the most wonderful group of people in the country. You love with your heart. You give with dedication and care. We had to live up to your energy, your desires and the things you hold very, very special – loyalty and caring. If I ever get accused of being too loyal, I hope they find enough evidence to find me guilty.
“I kept asking how do I get in this Hall of Fame. I kept hearing, ‘It’s too hard. It’s too hard.’ I kept asking, ‘What do I have to do?’ This is extremely special to be called a Cajun. I’m happy to be here and happy to be recognized as a Cajun.”
The year was 2015 and every surface of my house was covered in jars filled with orange candy.
I always loved orange, the color and the flavor, and I’d just discovered that you could order candy in one flavor only. Gone were the days of buying packs of Starburst and Sprees and throwing out all but the orange ones.
I’d discovered, much like the select-a-flavor Skittles machines often found in theaters, that I could order only my favorite flavor in a variety of candies from Jelly Bellies to Lifesavers.
In my trademark excessive fashion, I ordered nearly 50 lbs. of the stuff. I tend to go overboard when I’m passionate about something and, if orange was my love color, candy was my love language.
There’s something innocent and childlike about the sweet treat, honored every June as National Candy Month.
The National Confectioner’s Association shares, “For those who love chocolate, candy, gum and mints, those who appreciate the strong economic impact of a responsible and fun industry, and for many others, this is a month made for celebration. It is a moment to celebrate a classic American manufacturing success story.”
Celebrate indeed! I am literally like a kid in a candy store any time I visit a locale that separates out my beloved orange candy!
Jeanni Ritchie is an orange-obsessed contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
Nelson Cole, Sr. April 19, 1935 – June 20, 2024 Service: Monday, June 24, 2024, 10am at Hixson Brothers, Marksville.
James Wiley Bryant November 7, 1944 – June 18, 2024 Service: Saturday, July 13, 2024, 2pm at River Outreach Church, Pineville.
The Rapides Parish Journal publishes paid obituaries – unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $95. Contact your funeral provider or RPJNewsla@gmail.com . Must be paid in advance of publication. (Notice of Death shown above are FREE of charge. You may email them to RPJNewsla@gmail.com)
Assessor Richard I. “Rick” Ducote Jr. has notified the public he intends to raise his pay after Dec. 31.
Under terms of a 2023 legislative act, assessors were given authority to increase their salary up to 5 percent after Dec. 31 that year and this.
Though elected by parish voters, assessors by law have to rely on the Legislature for compensation changes.
They will have to return to Baton Rouge to seek any pay change beyond 2025.
Ducote has been assessor since early 2011 when as chief deputy assessor he succeeded Ralph Gill, who retired, and filled the unexpired term until elected.
The most-recent audit (2022) of Ducote’s agency lists his base salary as $155,864.
Architects’ rendering of proposed LSUA tower, with already-under-construction Student Services Center at right.
By JIM BUTLER
A pre-bid conference is scheduled Monday for contractors interested in bidding on construction of a tower on LSU-Alexandria’s arrival plaza.
Architects for the project are Ashe, Broussard, Weinzettle of Alexandria. Bids will be received through July 11.
The tower will be a welcoming landmark to students. It will be located in the roundabout adjacent to the new Martin Family Student Services Center.
That $12 million facility now under construction by M.D. Descant is scheduled to open in Fall 2025.
Funding includes $2 million from RoyOMartin and $5 million from a host of donors responding to the school’s fundraising effort.
The center will incorporate a number of student-related services now scattered about the bustling campus into a one-stop shop for new arrivals and returning students.
The center and arrival plaza are at the southern-most campus entry on U.S. Hwy. 71.
They are part of a master plan for development and reuse of university that opened as a two-year commuter branch of LSU in 1960 and now is the fastest-growing state campus with an enrollment of well more than 5,000.
It offers four-year degree programs and on-campus housing as well as online learning opportunity.
I’ve been angling for a boat invite all summer. I think I’m going to have to settle for the kiddie speedboats at the Big Alexandria Fair this weekend!
Starting at noon today and continuing through June 30th, the summer fair at the Rapides Parish Coliseum will have thrilling circus acts and stunt performers, a foam zone, and plenty of thrilling rides.
My roller coaster riding these days is slightly less thrilling than in my younger days, but the Ride a Gator looks right up my alley.
A new hobby of mine is riding Ferris Wheels in every city I travel through so I can’t miss the attraction in my own hometown!
My favorite ride from Fun Land (next to the Alexandria Zoo) in the 70’s was the Scrambler and they have one assembled and ready to ride at the Big Alexandria Fair.
My favorite carnival ride has always been the Himalaya, and they have that one ready to roll as well.
My best-loved rides, shows, and food carts…I’m not even going to pretend I’m going for the grandkids!
The Big Alexandria Fair will be held at the Rapides Parish Coliseum, 5600 Coliseum Blvd, Alexandria.
The fair is open from noon-midnight daily and a clear bag policy is in effect.
Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
Eight-year old Ella Gwin, affectionately known to her loved ones as Sister, is busy prepping and baking for her vendor booth, Sister’s Sweet Shop, at the Kids Business Market this Saturday, June 22, from 11 AM-3 PM at the Alexandria Mall.
While this will be Ella’s first time setting up at the mall, she is no stranger to entrepreneurship. She’s sold her sweet treats at previous markets including The Barn at Aunt Julia’s Garden. She also maintains a business Facebook page and fills pre-orders placed on social media. Ella has customers from all over Louisiana and Texas!
Ella graduated from helping out with dinner to baking for her family to turning her baking into a business. I thought I was business-savvy trading dimes for cups of lemonade when I was Ella’s age but she’s far surpassed mixing a packet of lemonade with sugar and water. Ella has been baking cookies, brownies, cookie butter, red velvet cake, cake pops, and edible cookie dough.
“I like the idea of maybe having a bakery food truck one day,” Ella shares. “I love getting to share my baked goods with people!”
Sharing their products with the public is exactly what this program is designed for. Youth aged 6-15 years old set up and sell their goods in a market designed to promote retail entrepreneurism. They keep all of their earnings.
Parents are grateful for the opportunity. Ella’s mom, Lisa Gwin, shares “I love that the Alexandria Mall offers these kids an opportunity to be seen as young business people. The skills they will learn from prep work, to social interaction, to marketing, to finances is invaluable!”
Gwin remembered her own jewelry making business when she was Ella’s age. A family friend offered a small part of her booth space at a craft fair that meant the world to her. She is thrilled to see Ella get a similar opportunity.
Others receiving booth space include It’s Just The Kid In Me and You Shop, Bling by Roman and Dale, Two Brothers Designing Company, Alpaca Art Studio, T & J’s Snak Shak, The Preppy Place, Crafty Cat, Kennyria’s Jewelry Shop, and Kase’s Art.
Come out and support the future leaders of Cenla at the Alexandria Mall, 3437 Masonic Drive, and sampling their ware!
Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be found at www.jeanniritchie.com.
AS GOOD AS IT GETS: Basketball superstar Seimone Augustus is going into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this fall, but says being enshrined at home tops her list of honors. (Photo by BRET H. MCCORMICK, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame)
By BRAD WELBORN, Written for the LSWA
NATCHITOCHES – Thursday afternoon’s introductory press conference for the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 felt like a love letter to the state and its people.
The nine inductees on hand inside the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum recounted the relationships and people that fueled their careers and the pride they feel to represent the place where they rose to prominence in the athletic world.
Regarded as the state’s greatest women’s basketball player of all-time, with credentials that support the claim, Seimone Augustus made a remarkable statement Thursday that was echoed by her fellow Class of 2024 inductees.
A four-time WNBA champion and three-time Olympic gold medal winner, whose statue stands in her hometown outside LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Augustus continued her “Hall of Fame year” on Thursday. She enters the Louisiana Sports Hall thius weekend following her Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction in April and prior to her October induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
That last HOF may be considered the “world” hoops hall, but Augustus said as she weighs the accolades coming her way in 2024, being honored by her home state stands above the rest.
“This is the best one,” she said. “Being honored by the people that I know and that I love and those who have watched me since I was knee high. This one means the most because it’s home.”
Augustus credited her family, and many positive influences in Baton Rouge and at LSU, for helping guide her toward greatness.
Influence along those lines also instilled character traits into New Iberia native and McNeese football great Kerry Joseph at a young age that propelled him to legendary status after a 19-year pro career on offense (quarterback and running back) and defense (as a safety) in the NFL, NFL Europe, and including 12 Canadian Football League seasons.
“My mom was an educator and taught me patience,” Joseph said. “My dad pushed me and my brothers to be competitive. We were never going to be outworked. He pushed us every day to be the best and refuse to let the next man take our jobs.”
That patience and drive paid off for Joseph after engineering a comeback win for the Cowboys early in his redshirt freshman season. He never looked back from earning the starting QB job, parlaying his success in Lake Charles into an equally as successful playing career in the NFL and the CFL and to his current role as quarterbacks coach of the Chicago Bears.
“My dad helped me build character and perseverance,” Joseph said. “I just kept working to be the best that I could be. Every time I was told I couldn’t do something, I wanted to prove them wrong. I’ve held on to the saying, ‘never say yes to can’t’. It’s propelled me to the man I am today.”
Augustus, much like Joseph, got her drive, determination and refined her skill set thanks to her father. Helping her with the fundamentals, creating imaginary courts to hone her skills and teaching her how to deal with losses, something she did little of in her career.
The pinnacle came as she took her first step forward representing the USA in the Olympic Games.
“The first time I saw my dad cry was when I made the 2008 Olympic Team in Beijing,” Augustus said. “That was the first goal I had as a basketball player — to be on the U.S. National Team. When I was a kid I told him I was going to be on that team one day. So when I got a chance to put the medal around his neck that was the moment we did what we said we were going to do.”
The fundamentals that helped define Augustus’ career are also what lay at the basis of coach Frank Monica’s philosophy and style for more than five decades.
“I never got into coaching worried about awards,” Monica said. “I got into it to teach fundamentals and techniques. The game of football has changed a lot in my time but the values haven’t. Discipline is discipline and it all comes back to blocking and tackling. I try and teach these kids the importance of the little things. Make the little things matter and the big things will take care of themselves.”
That philosophy and work ethic helped Monica to the most wins (284) by a head coach in River Parishes history and three state titles at three different schools. Monica also spent 12 years spent as an assistant at Tulane, where he credited the talent in the state and the emphasis put on recruiting local talent, that helped change the program.
That talent across the state that continues to produce some of the most elite athletes in the nation, were some of the same ones that left an impact on a Washington D.C. transplant in coach Perry Clark.
Clark resurrected a Green Wave program shut down for four years after a gambling scandal, and took it to three NCAA Tournaments in four seasons and seven trips to the postseason in 11 seasons.
“This state has the most unique people,” Clark said. “If you love people in Louisiana, they will love you back. They will give you their heart and soul and that’s what makes them and this so special. (Fellow 2024 inductee) Ron (Higgins) befriended me and helped me understand how important basketball was in this state.
“And I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for (1999 Hall of Fame inductee) Dale Brown. Didn’t matter he coached at LSU and I was at Tulane. He helped me. He helped humanity. And he helped raise the quality of the game in the state. Because of the culture and because of the people here, it made you raise your game to that next level.”
Ray Sibille has more than 4,200 career wins and $68 million won across the country in 35 years of racing on horseback. He retired in 2004 and in recent years he held out hope of being selected for LSHOF induction, finally realizing a delay has worked into his favor.
“The call came at the right time for me,” Sibille said. “I thought there might be a chance I would get in a few years ago but then my grandkids wouldn’t have been able to come, some of them wouldn’t have even been born yet either. So to have them here with me now and get to experience all this with me is special.”
OVERWHELMED: Rapides Parish Journal LSU beat writer Ron Higgins makes a point at Thursday’s Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame press conference, reacting to his impending induction as one of the state’s greatest sports journalists. (Photo by BRET H. MCCORMICK, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame)
By BRAD WELBORN, Written for the LSWA
NATCHITOCHES – Standing in amazement.
That was a common reaction Thursday afternoon as the four contributor award winners going into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 took turns reacting to their pending induction Saturday night at a sold-out ceremony in the Natchitoches Events Center.
“It’s stunning,” a sentiment shared by every inductee, including the six competitors at the press conference, and voiced by Distinguished Service in Sports Journalism Award winner Ron Higgins, who had a particularly poignant welcome to the Hall.
“It was an emotional day when I got the call from (Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame chairman) Doug Ireland. He didn’t know, but it was the anniversary of the day my dad died (in 1968) when I was 12 years old. Dad was the reason that I got into the business. I was helping him since I was seven, looking over the shoulder of sports writers and watching how they wrote stories.”
Higgins covered his first high school football game for the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate when he was a high school freshman, at age 14. One of the participating coaches thought he was a team manager until he asked an insightful question, and the response was, “you really ARE a sports writer.”
The son of LSU sports information director Ace Higgins, he said the bug for writing and the “fun part of the unpredictability” of covering sports still thrills him, in a career that has seen him serve as president of the Football Writers Association of America, and for a wide range of publications in Louisiana and Tennessee, for the last year with the Rapides Parish Journal.
The recipient of the second-ever Louisiana Sports Ambassador Award, Wilbert Ellis spent 30 years as the head coach of Grambling baseball and is recognized as one of the finest representatives of that sport. He’s in the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, among nine different HOF honors he holds.
But there’s so much more impact to appreciate. He has also earned acclaim for continuing service work in Lincoln Parish, elsewhere in the state – he’s in the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame — and even in Omaha, Neb., during the annual College World Series, where his youth clinics have been impactful in troubled neighborhoods.
A trusted advisor for countless coaches and administrators, all the way to GSU presidents, Ellis reflected on those that he learned from and now joins in the state’s most elite sports group.
“Eddie Robinson would say don’t cry,” Ellis joked. “It’s pretty hard not to but I think I’m alright. I’ve been honored to go into a few of these but when you think about it being your own state it’s something to be proud of.
“I knew I wanted to be a coach from the time I was nine. I just wanted to form a group and see what we could do to win some games. My dad said you might win ball games, but can you win lives. And thankfully through the grace of God we’ve been able to do that.”
Along with his dear friend “Coach Rob,” Ellis offered credit to iconic basketball coach Fred Hobdy, longtime publicist Collie J. Nicholson, and legendary president and baseball coach Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, three more pillars of Grambling, for being mentors and guides through his career and life.
Tom Burnett, the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award winner, also reflected on the people in his life going back to his time at Louisiana Tech that launched him to his role over two decades as commissioner of the Southland Conference and ultimately, chair of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament committee.
“I was born in Texas, but Louisiana is home to me,” Burnett said. “The Hall itself is special and even more so because of people like Jerry Pierce (2000 Distinguished Service Award inductee). You think of people like Teddy Allen, Ro Brown and of course Dave Dixon, it’s truly an honor to be here. To be mentioned in the same breath as him, it’s overwhelming.”
It was Hall of Fame Tech sports information director Keith Prince who helped the “meandering student” onto his path to commissioner. Craig Thompson introduced him to the sports world of New Orleans and Wright Waters, longtime Sun Belt commissioner, polished Burnett into being ready for a 20-year stint leading the Southland Conference.
Burnett’s connection to Pierce, who died in November 2022, was one also felt by the other recipient of the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism, Bobby Ardoin of Opelousas.
“I had a few choices for journalism school but when I visited Northwestern and met Jerry Pierce, that’s where I wanted to go,” Ardoin said. “I met Rick Woodson about a year later or so and I knew that sports writing was what I wanted to do.”
Ardoin, a baseball player growing up, covered the gamut of sports while working at the Opelousas Daily World, including fellow 2024 inductee jockey Ray Sibille at nearby Evangeline Downs, all while teaching full time.
“I never started out wanting to be a teacher,” Ardoin said. “I was working on my masters and wanted to get married, so it was kind of a survival tactic. But it was great to be with the kids every day.”
He stopped teaching English and history after 42 years, but Ardoin is still working daily as a news and sports reporter for the St. Landry Today website. In fact, he was filing a story Thursday night on the LSHOF press conference.
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame free entertainment. Some of the greatest sports stars Louisiana has ever produced. Beautiful fireworks, with a sports music bed.
It’s free, this evening, on the Natchitoches riverbank stage, in a cornerstone event of the 2024 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration.
The Rockin’ River Fest Concert, presented by Rapides Regional Medical Center, runs from 6 p.m. to 10:30. You are invited to join the party. At no charge!
At 9:15, members of the LSHOF Class of 2024 will be introduced on stage, and celebrated with 10-minute fireworks show set to sports-themed music over Cane River Lake. Then music resumes for another hour.
There will be food and beverage vendors on the riverfront. Front Street’s always fun watering holes/restaurants are just a few steps away.
It’s family friendly. A free interactive kid’s zone presented by Louisiana Propane Dealers under the Church Street Bridge will include basketball, football, golf, and science games for all ages to enjoy.
Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs have been a staple of the concert since it began in 2018, but now as Louisiana Music Hall of Fame members, the popular group gets to headline the musical card. The Moondogs have entertained across the south and are set for another July 3-4 gig on Orange Beach during the Independence Day festivities at the Gulf Coast’s unofficial capital.
Cranking up the party this evening at 6 will be Coteau Grove, an energetic and entertaining south Louisiana band with a wide range of sounds and its own Louisiana Music Hall of Fame recognition.
For a preview, visit the bands’ websites – TheMoondogs.com and CoteauGrove.com – and see and hear what’s going to be on the riverbank stage free of charge this evening in Natchitoches.
If you want to beat the summer heat and enjoy a tasty collection of Louisiana foods and specialty refreshments, there are just a few $100 tickets remaining to join the VIP Taste of Tailgating presented by Hancock Whitney. That party is headquartered inside Mama’s Oyster House, The Blues Room and Papa’s Bar and Grill at 608 Front Street. To get set up, call LSHOF operations manager Ronnette Pellegrin at 318-332-8539 – none will be on sale this evening.
That party runs from 7-10 p.m. in the air-conditioned comfort of Mama’s Oyster House and Blues Room that will provide exclusive access to the 2024 Induction Class.
Saturday’s Round Table Lunch at Riverside Reserve also still has a handful of seats available – call Mrs. Pellegrin at 318-332-8539.
Saturday evening’s 2024 Induction Reception and Ceremony are already sold out. A crowd of nearly 800 patrons will attend the ceremony.
You can watch live coverage free beginning at 6 Saturday evening on the LPB.org website.
Eric McCullin, 41, Alexandria — possession with intent, firearm with drugs, firearm possession convicted felon, resisting with force or violence, parole violations, $30,500 bail;
A Northwestern State University graduate student in the Department of English, Languages and Cultural Studies has been awarded a 2024-25 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to serve in the Republic of Uzbekistan in Central Asia. Christopher Doney of Alexandria plans to arrive in Uzbekistan Sept. 7 and serve there for nine months in the city of Namangan at Namangan State University. Namangan is located in the far-northeastern reaches of Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley, near to the borders of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. He is the first ever NSU student to earn a Fulbright Award.
Doney was a semifinalist for a Fulbright Award in 2023 and was an alternate this year before being selected for the award. The Fulbright Student Program is a competitive, fully funded student-exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The program is offered to graduate and graduating undergraduate students, both domestically and abroad.
In addition to the Fulbright, Doney was awarded a $1,500 Graduate Research Grant earlier this year from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Those competitive grants are designed to support graduate students who are active Society members seeking funding for research in support of career development opportunities. Doney is one of 20 recipients nationwide to receive the award. The grant enabled him to study and present findings on the cultural impact of the English language in Central Asia.
Doney earned a B.A. in liberal arts with a minor in English at NSU in 2022 and will graduate this August with a Master of Arts in English with a concentration in writing and linguistics.
His academic path has not been conventional.
“I was a student on full scholarship at New York University-Abu Dhabi when extremely strict COVID protocols were implemented at NYUAD and the UAE. All classes at NYUAD were moved online, so I decided to take a leave of absence, return to Alexandria and consider my next steps,” he said. “I am a hiking enthusiast, so after discussing my situation with my parents, I decided to travel to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for a two-week trip. Tajikistan is a mountainous country and former Soviet Republic, and it has some of the best hiking in the world. Once I arrived in Tajikistan, I fell in love with the country, the people, and the hiking.”
After returning to Alexandria, Doney decided to register at NSU as an online student and take classes remotely from Tajikistan. While he was there, the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan took place, and many Afghan refugees poured across the border into Tajikistan.
“Most of them had nothing with them but their clothes,” Doney said. “I wanted to help these people, so I collaborated with the government of Tajikistan and opened a language learning center where I taught English-language classes to Tajiks and Afghans of all ages. I did this on top of taking online classes at NSU fulltime.”
An extension of his master’s thesis, his research investigates the pervasiveness of English in the linguistic landscape of Tajikistan, and the reactions of its citizens to the increasing prevalence of English in private settings and public signage such as street signs, store signs and billboards.
“Since the dissolution of the former Soviet Union and the ensuing independence of several Central Asian countries, the English language has become ubiquitous in the region, and Tajikistan is no exception.”
Doney said Tajikistan is a culturally and linguistically diverse nation with most citizens having knowledge of two or more languages. Doney gathered information through interviews of nearly 100 Tajikistani citizens ranging in age from 18 to 80. Individuals were asked if English is a welcome addition or if there is resentment about its prevalence and if minority languages and culture have been displaced or at risk of extinction.
“Although some respondents voiced concerns about the ubiquity of English, most welcomed the addition of English and viewed it as a positive development. The primary significance of this study is that the results were obtained through grounded theory and may be used to guide Tajikistan’s future linguistic policy so that minority languages are protected and any potential damage by English is mitigated.”
Living and teaching abroad were not new to Doney. He was a math and English tutor through his high school years, and for a gap year, was a study-abroad student in Taiwan. By learning English, Doney believes individuals are empowered to get better jobs, provide more for their families and escape poverty.
“I have always enjoyed helping and empowering others, and teaching abroad is one of the best ways to do that,” he said. “English is the global lingua franca. The language is no longer owned by native speakers of English, and they don’t control it. It is bigger than any one group. For example, there are four times as many people who speak English not as their first language as there are native English speakers. English is more like an open-source code. Any country can adapt it to its specific needs, and many do just that.”
Eventually, he hopes to get a Ph.D. in linguistics or applied linguistics.
“I plan to live abroad, but not necessarily to teach abroad in the long term,” he said. “I hope to join the U.S. Foreign Service and become an ambassador one day. I love learning foreign languages, and I would like to help solve some of the world’s problems through diplomacy.”
Doney credited his professors at NSU for their help on his academic journey, especially Dr. Thomas Reynolds, his faculty mentor, thesis committee chair, and head of the Department of English, Languages and Cultural Studies, Dr. Lisa Abney, Dr. Patrice Moulton, and Dr. Keith Dromm, NSU’s Fulbright program advisor.
“It is a tremendous honor for NSU that one of its students received a Fulbright Award,” Dromm said. “Christopher is a remarkable student and a model for others who want to apply for a Fulbright or similar award. He has extensive study — and also just living — abroad experience. More importantly, he has demonstrated a lot of initiative. I believe he will represent NSU and the United States very well while abroad.”
