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In February, 2002,
the "TAG" game was born. The rules are simple: When you are tagged,
you have to write your "story" for the rest of the list to read.
There are no rules as far as length or content but you will get
bugged if it takes you a long time to write! At first, only list
members were tagged but it has expanded to include spouses and other
family members who are not online. Click on the names below to read
each person's story and watch out, you may be next!!
CHARLENE
WOODWARD BOLES
Hey group,
Jamie just finished her senior year of soccer. She was team
captain. HHS didn't do very well. She is working at the mall at
SBarro's. She gets out of school at 11. Just 3 more months until
graduation. She plans on going to La. Tech. Jessica just won a
silver medal in bowling, district competition. We go to Baton Rouge
in a couple of weeks for the state competition. Then she starts
training for her athletics. Not much going on with TJ, he's getting
ready for baseball. Tony and I have been working at the Centurytel
for the Graduation Celebration for Jamie's Class. We are working
the Kid Rock concert, so if any of you go, go to the concession
stand where the HHS is working. We get a percentage of the
profits. Tony is working the Gathier Reunion. I will be in Baton
Rouge.
Papa has not been feeling too good. He has been at the warehouse
and trying to do too much. I'm sending a picture along with this
that was made when Jess was at the warehouse for "Shadow Day". We
all know how he doesn't like to have his picture made, and he wasn't
feeling good.
Sorry POP.
OK: BARRY WHERE ARE YOU?????????????????????????
BARRY WOODWARD
WELL HELLO
ALL FROM TEXAS,
Yes, I finally did it. I responded to "The Woodward List."
Thanks Charlene for tagging me. I tried to get Wanda (my wife) to
response for me but she refused and said I had to participate in
this one myself. For everybody's information you just started this
game yesterday afternoon, I do believe about 30 hours ago. Can you
give a working man a break, I just got home from work. I have no
experienced employees, so have to work over. I usually go on line
about once a week and of course there are all those one list
messages and by the time I get through reading them all I am usually
ready to go to bed.
So here goes, (making up for lost time)
For those of you who do not know I have 4 kids. Nicole 18,
graduated from Medina Valley in Castroville, Tx., Matthew 16 a
junior at Medina Valley, Michael 14 a freshmen, and Racheal 8 who
lives in Baytown, TX and is in the 2nd grade. I moved to Houston 17
years from Shreveport to start a tire business. I am a wholesale
used distributor for the Houston area and export to several
countries. We are in the process of closing on the property which
is located close to downtown. It is a pretty simple business "Buy
Low, Sell High." For those who might not know, a footnote to this
story, well maybe "The Salvails" will know. I was taught the tire
business from Diane's uncle in Benton. Just a little trivia. Well,
anyway it has been a good living for me over the years and consider
myself very blessed from it. As for my wife (Wanda) she works for
Earnest and Young, they are a consultant and tax company. She has
been there for 21 years and does work on several different types of
project and don't ask me what the are, but she is just waiting for
retirement.
Other than work, we are involved with our church. That's where I
met Wanda. We do some voluntary work and We are the Directors over
the Sunday School program. I also play the sax for the praise
service. With all of this there is not much time for much hobbies
but we do enjoy going to concerts, movies and eating out a lot. I
am looking forward to our trip to Memphis in August. I would like
to see if anyone would be interested in going to Branson in the
fall. I remember as a little boy going to a lot of concerts with
Mama Woodward. I remember going to see Elvis with her with several
other family members. If anybody remembers can they recall the
group. I know Aunt Marie was there but cannot picture who all else
was there.
Well, that is enough for now, my eyes are tired and starting to burn
a little bit. Charlene you owe me one. I will be in Shreveport in
a couple of weeks maybe you can take me to lunch. Also will you as
your Father if he would take me fishing sometime this spring. I
would like to take a couple of days off and just go fishing. If not
than maybe I can get my Aunt Ellen to have pity for me and her and
Crawford can take me. That is one of the things I miss about
Louisiana are the fishing lakes. In Houston you cannot even find a
good catfish restaurant.
That's too much need to quit now, I almost forgot. I need to tag
someone. I can't decide right now kind of tired maybe I will decide
in 2003, what do you think Jean????
Barry
MARIE WOODWARD
BARRY,
I can't believe you did this to me. Here goes!!!!!
I am retired from Bell South then retired from S.M.C and still
working at S.M.C. Maybe after this year I will be a stay at home
person. Everyone knows I don't have any Dogs, Cats or Kids so there
is really nothing to write about.
Mama W., Brother, Teny and I went to Nashville to the Grand Old Opra.
He fussed at me all the way about my driving I was not fast enough
the speed limit was 70 if I went the least bit under he would said
the speed limit is 70.I don't remember why I didn't give him the
wheel or better why he didn't take it. Needless to say he drove back
to Shreveport. Don't ask. I don't know why the four of us made that
trip.
I think I will tag LINDA
Aunt Marie
LINDA TODD
Thanks Aunt Marie!
My life is an open book. I don't think there is anything you don't
know
about me, but I'll play!
I have been at BellSouth for 32 years. I have been a facilities
specialist for 5 years. I was promoted to management the year Elvis
died. My job is totally dedicated to the facilities/equipment
dedicated
to operator services.
My mother, Teny, will be 75 years old in Sept. I hope to have some
kind
of party for her, but I'll need input on the planning. Daddy died in
1990 and his birthday is this Thursday on the 28th.
I have 3 fine wonderful sons all grown up and married with 7
grandchildren. I have some sweet daughter-in-laws, too, who love
their
mother-in-law!!! Todd has been in Florida since he married Michele
and
he is a supervisor for the Budweiser distributor. They have 2
children,
Tony and Shelby. Michele works part time as a dental hygienist.
Terry
Frank works in Bossier for Video Display. His wife, Sarah, is a
surgical
nurse currently working in the liver transplant unit at Willis
Knighton.
They have 3 children, Jessie, Ashley, and Tyler. Timmy works at
Gould
Battery (or whatever it is called now) and his wife Shelley works at
Frymaster. Shelley is going to college 3 nights a week to get her
degree. They have 2 children, Michael and David. I also claim
Jeromy's 2
children as my grandchildren. That's why Aunt Marie and I make all
those
trips to the Chicago area. My niece, Crystal Gail has been living
with
me since she graduated from high school, about 4 years. She is my
brother Ronnie's daughter. She works at Willis Knighton as a
receptionist and is going to school to become a nurse.
I have had a "significant other" for 12 years. Some of you may have
met
him at the family reunion. His name is Rick Adams and he is a
welder. He
has his own shop in Haughton. He has 2 daughters and each one of
them
has a daughter. (so I guess I really have 9 grandchildren) I kept
both
of them this past weekend. The one year old spent the night Friday
night, I took her home Saturday afternoon and picked up the other
one.
She will turn one on March 23rd. Her mother picked her up Sunday
afternoon. We have a good relationship with his ex-wife and her
husband.
She invites me to every family gathering they have. Her family is a
lot
like ours and they treat me like I'm one of them. We have no plans
to
get married. His shop is next door to his mothers house, which he
will
inherit and he can watch over her. He lives about 2 miles down the
road
next door to his sister. I like living in my house close to my
family
and we are both very happy with the way things are.
My hobbies are quilting every Wed. night, keeping my grandchildren,
fishing with Rick, and going to concerts. I also love spending any
time
I can with my aunts, uncles, and cousins! We have a very unique
family
as we feel so close to each other. I know a lot of families don't
have
what we have.
Love to you all and I re-tag Barbara since she's back!! Linda
BOBBI BARR KENNINGTON
I am back from Aruba.
Aruba in February IS wonderful. I like to have froze when I stepped
out of the airport Monday night. Barney sent me roses today at work
and the card read "Miss you already" That was sweet huh?
I was married in 1973, graduated in 1974 from Southwood High School.
I have 3 children. JD(25), Ashley(23) and Erin(20). Two dogs: Ginger
and Sara(in Aruba). JD will be getting married in Sept. to Melissa.
We are fixing up the garage to turn it into an apartment.
I have been working at La Pain Physicians, Dr William Whyte's since
Nov. I am called the medical assistant and I help with his
procedures, which help people with spinal pain. I draw up meds and
prep the back for the procedures then operate the C-arm, which is
like an x-ray machine so he can guide the needle to the appropriate
spot. I have enjoyed learning about the procedures, he is a very
good teacher.
Ashley works part time with me while she is attending BPCC. She is
planning to be a teacher. Erin is working at Christus Schumpert
Wellness Center at the front desk. She is not attending college this
semester but plans to go back (somewhere) in the fall. She is
looking at Vermont, N. Dakota or somewhere where there is an
athletic training program (which has a hockey team). JD has been
working at Purtle and Associates for some time and is a draftsman.
Barney has been in Aruba since Oct. working for UOP. I have enjoyed
visiting there and it is hard to leave to come home. He will be
there for sure for one year and don't know where they will send him
next. Maybe Brazil! He has 23 yrs experience in the oil business so
they can use him to train at other plants.
We found out yesterday that UOP will pay for the girls to go to
Aruba March 21-April 1st. We had already planned the trip but didn't
know UOP would pay. Isn't that exciting? Barney is soooo excited
about them coming.
I know I wasn't supposed to write a book about the Kennington family
but I couldn't help myself after I started writing.
Bobbi
I TAG TOMMY GAYER
TOMMY GAYER
If anyone has read "Angela's Ashes" they pretty know my life story.
I was born in County Kerry, Ireland. I lived on the banks of the
Shannon River in a small town called Foynes , just outside Limerick
City. We were so poor that for fun as youngsters we threw rocks at
each other. We bathed in a wooden tub in the front yard on Saturday.
Mama would boil water to heat the water up. We had no running water
or electricity. We boiled all our drinking water. I started school
at age 4 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1957 at the age of 8. It was
one of the last transatlantic Pan American propeller flights. We saw
chewing gum and coca cola for the first time. I lived in
Natchitoches and went to school at St. Mary's for a year before
moving to Shreveport. I attended parochial school all my life,
graduated Jesuit in 1967. Donna graduated St. Vincents in 1967 also.
I worked a 48 hour week for Humble Oil my senior year. That was
tough. I raced motorcycles TT flat track for a year. I built cars
and had sports cars. Most of them were red.
I was in the army reserves for six years during the Vietnam War. We
lost that one China 1, U S 0. What a waste of 54,000 young men.
Don't let it happen to your generation!
After marrying Donna , Mama Woodward got me interested in country
music and we made ALL the concerts. There is a void in my rock music
during the Cream, Boston etc era. I did develop an appreciation for
GOOD country music as well as good rock music. My favorite band is
AC DC. I like Bob Marley and the old country and old rock and roll
too. You know like Rightous Brothers, George Jones etc.
I have two wonderful grandsons that keep me young and one precious
granddaughter that is in Marble Falls, TX. She is at 2 years, 2000
diapers warranty and is ready to cut some teeth and potty train.
We follow the NASCAR racing and Horse Racing on TV on weekends. We
don't get out much.
I work for AEP which is now the largest electric company in the US
since Enron sent everyone home nekkid. I guess we are next. I have
worked for them 34 years and have 10 more to go. (actually 9 1/2). I
married into a wonderful family with beautiful people. Donna calls
me her first husband. Any man that has married a "woodward" girl
should count his blessings. They are not only beautiful, but
absolutely nice to the bone.
Tommy
I have to go and order "love me tender" for Aunt Marie, Donna and
Ivie Jean
Anyway i'm tagging jane elaine cummins
JANE CUMMINS
I don't know what the rules are to this, but personally I am
more interested in the present and future than in dwelling on the
past.
The first question between politicians and lobbyists when a vote is
on the line is always, "what have you done for me lately." In the
spirit of that wholesome repartee, let me just say that lately,
since graduating from UT in 1997, I have been living, working,
making music, and volunteering in the community in Houston, Texas.
Most of my time is spent on charities and community programs, as
well as international education.
I think the word got out from my mother than I am DJ-ing a radio
show on ktru 91.7 fm. I am also chairing a charity event later this
year that also awards the "Five Outstanding Young Houstonians" and
raises money for the Houston Jaycees. It's a dinner with a silent
auction and everyone is invited. I'm a subchair for the 2002
Consular Ball which will be in October and raises money for
international education. I serve on a couple
of boards, including the Dionysus Theatre (a theatre troupe where
disabled children are the actors) and Express Children's Theatre
(multicultural children's theatre performed by adults), as well as
the Houston Junior Chamber Foundation which annually gives grants to
community projects.
My career focuses on developing partnerships between governments and
communities to respond to problems or needs in society. Lately, I
have worked on programs for homeland security, welfare reform,
census outreach, economic redevelopment, and others. I do not know
where this will take me in the future, but I'll keep you posted.
The most recent true mark of my Houston citizenship lately, is
probably the fact that I spent the weekend at the Rodeo for the last
rodeo and show at the Dome - I saw George Strait perform Sunday
night from the County's skybox and watched the barrel races and bull
riding the night before. I know you are probably thinking,
"Jane...rodeo?" The answer is no, I do not rodeo. I was just there
because practically every Houstonian was there that night and there
was an open bar in the suite.
I am a true blue Houston Astros fan, and you can catch me at the
Astros games at least 20 games a year, if not more, including away
games. I can tell you the score of every single spring training
game so far. Yes, I have a wall in my apartment painted the brick
red color of the Astros logo and I have all my Astros collectibles
on display there. If you are ever in town for an Astros game call
me and I will drop everything and meet
you at Astros field.
I am also a true burnt orange Longhorns fan and was all ready to go
to the Rose Bowl last year. Well, we won the Holiday Bowl, and Mack
Brown has done some great recruiting so you better watch out the
horns will hook you this year! Last night and tonight I am grading
scholarship applications for people going to UT next year. Our
alumni chapter is awarding 13 $3,000 scholarships which we have
raised money for all year.
The most interesting times lately for me are when I am NOT in
Houston - but I haven't been anywhere too exciting since I went to
Thailand in 2000. I've been leaving the big trips to my brother and
KC. But all that is about to change, I think. My next big trips
are possibly Cuba in May (yes, it is legal) and Peru sometime in
April. But, those are both iffy. If I could get to Paris, France,
I would go today. My passport is always
in my purse (just in case).
I'm keeping my tag south of the red river and picking on Eileen
Catherine in Marble Falls, TX. Hopefully Eileen can help our
average length of reply here. Can't wait to hear more about those
cutting teeth. Jane
OK. Am I allowed to tag Bill?
BILL HAYFORD
For those who don't
know me, I am Mary's "significant other" and we have been together
for 11+ years. I am an Air Force brat, having been born in
Frankfurt, Germany. I grew up in Bossier and graduated from Bossier
High School. In fact, Mr. Salvail was teaching French when I was a
student at Bossier High. I later attended LSU and got my start in
the electronics business with Radio Shack. I also worked for
Shreveport Refrigeration and Wright's Sound Gallery, ending my work
career with Holmes Honda. That is where I met Mary as I sold her an
Accord and asked her out during the test drive!
Some things that I enjoy are our pets, cooking, watching satellite
tv and I am a lifetime New York Yankees fan. I have a lot of fun
with Mary's mother with the Yankees-Braves rivalry. I really don't
have much family any more and the Salvail/Woodward families have
made me feel like I am part of their family. My sister, Debbie, is
an RN at WK Pierremont so if you are ever in there having a baby,
look her up. My brother, Frank, lives in Florida.
That's about all I have to say. Jane, thanks for tagging me and
making me part of the game.
Now, I tag ALLEN CUMMINS, son of Deborah Salvail Cummins, because we
share the same birthday, March 16th!
Bill
ALLEN CUMMINS
ok, here goes...
I am a native of Texas, but I've recently relocated to the
Chicagoland area where I am eagerly anticipating my 18th birthday on
March 16. I am also looking forward to finishing High School this
June. I am a Star Wars fanatic, an avid Science Fiction/Fantasy
reader, and I enjoy tinkering with computers. Currently my room is
littered with various computer parts, wires, switches, tools,
screws, etc. I entered the working world September 29, 2000. I’m
employed at the public library as tech support. It has been a very
good after school job for me since they have been very flexible.
That has allowed me to continue fencing and work at the same time.
I’ve been fencing for 5 years. It is a fun sport that I will
probably continue for quite some time.
well, that's me.
I tag My Aunt Deborah Sue Salvail
- Allen C.
DEBORAH SUE SMITH SALVAIL
Thanks to my sweet
18 year old nephew Allen in Chicago, I am sitting here at 7:30 in
the morning writing about myself. I love you Allen! (I'll get you
back) Ha! Also your story was great, very busy young man.
Well, where do I
begin! I am a native of Louisiana although I grew up mainly in
the Midwest, moved back to Louisiana my sophomore year. Went to
college and began working, moved to Dallas for a few years. After
moving back to Shreveport, Paul and I began dating and got married
in 1982. I worked for 10 years for 3 pediatricians, changed jobs
4 years ago and trained (am still training) for Director of
Religious Education at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. I
am currently going to school working toward a certification in Lay
Leadership and Theology. This keeps me very busy along with
taking care of an 18 year old getting ready for graduation and
college; a 14 year old getting ready for high school and of
course, my sweet husband Paul. I am truly blessed to have a
wonderful family, being one of 3 terrific sisters and their
families. My mom and dad live in Benton and are in good health.
That's my story!
It is now an honor to tag the stray!!!
Take it away
Steve!!!!!!!
Thanks for
listening guys. Deborah Sue
STEVE ALDRIDGE
Ivie has a gun pointed at my head right now, so I guess I had
better write something. My name is Steven Patrick Aldridge and I am
51 years old. My birthday is June 14th and everyone will celebrate
that day this year more than ever--It is Flag Day. I am a life long
resident of Little Rock, AR. and damn proud of it. I am a big fan
of the Chicago Cubs, Arkansas Razorbacks, and the Dallas Cowboys. I
enjoy playing golf and going to the Horse Races.
I have been married to Ivie (Jean) for 22 WONDERFUL years (remember
she is sitting behind me) and we have 3 Boys from our first
marriages. My son Alan Patrick is 26 years old and lives in Little
Rock. He is a Deputy Sheriff for Pulaski County and currently
trains new deputy's for the county jail. I will let Ivie
(Jean) report on Brandon and Ryan at a later date.
I currently work for a local window manufacturer, Pro Window &
Door. I have been with them for 2 years. Shreveport is part of my
sales area and I am in the area about once a month. I have gotten to
enjoy Shreveport. The city has a lot to offer.
The Woodward family has always been very gracious to me and have
made me feel like part of the family, even though I am known as The
Stray. However, most people don't know my own wife pinned that name
on me at a family Christmas party a number of years ago.
I have enjoyed going on some of the "pilgrimages" to the Holy Land
(Graceland) with members of the family. They allow me to go so they
can have a safe driver. Nothing like a trip with Elvis on the CD
player and 6 or 7 Woodwards all talking at once, but they all seem
to always notice when I miss a turn. I have to give them a hard
time. I always feel like I am driving Mrs. Daisy.
I would like to personally invite everyone to come and visit us,
here in Little Rock, just please not all at the same time, and give
me plenty of advance notice. We have had a few visitors thru the
years, and we always have a good time.
I would like to close by saying thank you and I hope everyone that
is not on the list gets to see my story. I truly believe I married
the BEST Woodward and I Love her Dearly, and yes she is still
sitting beside me. Deborah Sue this hasn't been as bad as I thought
it would be, so Thank You also.
I would now like to tag Daryl Sears as the next person to write
everyone a story. He and I always talk horses and I would like to
go to the races someday with him.
Steve "The Stray"
DARYL SEARS
O.K. Here goes.... My name is Daryl Sears and here is my story
because inquiring minds want to know. But first of all, for the
record, I would like to neuter the "Stray" for tagging me. Just
kidding. I was born in Greenwich, CT February 6, 1960. My father
worked for AMF so our family moved a few times due to transfers. We
lived in Port Chester, NY, York, PA, and East Lyme, CT prior to
moving to Shreveport in 1971. As much as I am proud of my roots, I
fondly call the south and Shreveport my home. I have one sister
who resides in Bossier and works in surgery at WK Pierremont.
Unfortunately she is the only immediate family I have left. My
father was killed in a car accident in 1979 (my first year in
college) and my mother died of cancer in 1997. My sister and I are
very close although you would have never guessed it from our earlier
lives.
As everyone probably knows, I am a veterinarian. It may sound
corny, but for as long as I can remember I have always wanted to be
a veterinarian. At times it is hard to call it a job. I have had
my own practice since 1993. Before that I worked for a local
veterinarian after graduating from LSU. When I get cut I bleed
purple and gold.
I met Kay in 1989 on, believe it or not, a blind date set up by
my barber and one of her childhood friends. I guess that's what
they mean by love is blind. We hit it off immediately and were
married on March 10, 1990. We recently celebrated our 12th
anniversary. I guess this is where I dispute prior claims of
marrying the "BEST" Woodward. Fortunately God saved Kay for me.
I'm sure everyone has met our rugrats. So I'm sure their reputation
precedes them. They are Amanda who is 17yrs. old and a senior at
Southwood, Drew who is almost 10yrs. old (April 2nd) and in the 4th
grade, and last but not least Tyler who is 7yrs. old and is in the
first grade. Tyler broke the mold. ha ha
My interests include racquetball, horseracing, anything LSU,
and my children's sports. I always enjoy family functions where I
can talk horses with Tommy and Steve, dogs with Mary and Bill, and
LSU with Jeff and Paul. I also appreciate going out to Blanchard
where I can always get home cooked meals! Our stove is as new as
the day we bought it. LOL Coming from a small family I've really
enjoyed my extended large family.
I guess that's all I have to say except that I would like to
tag Dan Martin because I'm sure everyone would like to know his
story. Hopefully he will not be angry with me as I am with Steve.
Just kidding.
Daryl Sears
DAN MARTIN
Daryl next family gathering we
need to talk.
Under great pressure from Jenny and the threat of being the black
sheep of the Woodward group, I am finally writing my story.
I was born on January 25, 1975 at Anderson Air Force Basein Guam.
I’m not sure how long we lived there, but I don’t think it was long
after I was born. We moved back to Louisiana when I was about 6
months old. We lived in Natchiitoches until I was in kindergarten.
We then moved to Benton, Louisiana where I lived until I moved to
Ruston in college. I have 2 brothers, Sam and Ben. I am the middle
child. I have 1 niece and 3 nephews. So our baby will be grandchild
number 5. I graduated from Benton High School. I have been hunting
and fishing since I was old enough to carry a gun or a rod and reel.
The only thing I don’t hunt is turkey (it interferes with my
fishing). Jenny and I started dating our junior year in high school.
We both went to Tech in the fall of 1993. I graduated 5years later
in Forest Management. I am now currently employed with Weyhauser
(formerly Willamette Industries) as a Procurement Forester. My dad
passed away April of 1998. Jenny and I married June of 1998. We have
2 golden retrievers that don’t realize they are not human.
I am currently coaching a 6 and 7 year old tee-ball team in
Winnfield. It’s been a lot of fun. I just finished painting the baby
room. Jenny likes things done way in advance. (As you all know, I am
more of a procrastinator.) I am in the process of putting in flower
beds at our house. That was one of my jobs in college, working for a
landscape architect. I do not like being inside after work or in
front of a computer or tv. I can hear the Salvail’s gasping now, so
this autobiography has taken awhile. We are expecting our first
child July 18, however it will be late if it takes after me at all.
You all have a standing invitation to a fish fry in Jonesboro,
whatever weekend you all can get away. Jenny would love to show you
the the baby room.
I tag Crawford for two reasons: 1. I want to hear about some fishing
and duck hunting and 2. any secrets for staying in the Woodward
family for 50 years.
Sorry this took so long,
Dan
CRAWFORD BARR
Well here goes as told to me: I think if you're
in the Woodward family you already know everything about me!
I was born in Campti, met Peanut in the 8th.
grade, we dated off and on thru high school. I joined the Air
Force in 1951 and we were married in 1952. We have 4 children, Sue
Ellen. Bobbi, Jimmy and Robert, 10 grandchildren and 4 great
grandchildren.
I was raised in the country so I love hunting
and fishing. Jimmy bought 2 lots at Toledo Bend and we have a
trailer on it, but don't get down there as often as we would like.
Dan, you will have to go hunting and fishing with the clan
sometime.
You asked how I get along with the Woodward
women? I give my mother credit for our 50 yrs. of marriage. (she's
the one to taught me to say "YES M'AAM")
This couple were celebrating their 50th.
anniv.and she was laughing and talking having a good time and he
was sitting in a corner with a sad face, she asked what was wrong?
He said "do you remember when your dad put that gun to my head and
said, "You marry her or spend the next 50 yrs. in jail, well if I
had NOT listened to him I would be a free man today."
I think that sums up everything!!!!!!!!!
Crawford as told to Peanut
TODD GORDY
Well here goes nothing!! Most of you know my childhood , of
course I was an angel. Besides I don't like remembering that my
mother used to dress me and my brothers alike we were Not twins. But
she must have thought we were since she was pregnant for three
years. Enough of that . I'll skip my teenage years because I want
to forget some of the things I did. Put it this way my mother got me
a shirt that said I'm the only hell my mama ever raised.
In 1985 I joined the Army and went to Germany for three years, got
out in 88 and moved straight to Florida chasing a girl I met while
in Germany. We were married in 89. We have two of the most well
behaved children in the world. Tony 11, and Shelby 7. I have been
employed by Budweiser for 13 years now, my official title is area
coordinator. I manage all the salesmen and drivers in Indian River
County. Its a fun job and I love every bit of it.
Although I miss Louisiana a great deal, I would find it hard to
move back. I'm 45 minutes from Disney world and I have not missed a
shuttle launch in the 13 years that I've been here. Its always hot
and sunny and the beach is only 6 miles away. I play golf all the
time on the 21 golf courses in the county and deep sea fishing is my
new hobby.
We attend St. Mary's Catholic church and both our kids attend school
there. Shelby will make her first communion on May 4th. You're all
invited if you can come. Also if anyone is ever on the spacecoast.
stay with us it will save you some money! and we're close to
everything.
Hope I didn't bore any of you
with this stuff! Later. Todd Gordy
I TAG RUBY SALVAIL.
P.S. Aunt Ellen you still my favorite great aunt.
RUBY WOODWARD SALVAIL
Thanks, Todd for tagging me!!! You all
know a lot about me from what has been written already. I am the 3rd
of the 9 children and lived in Campti until I was 16. I never
learned to sew as I was the "motor", pedaling the machine as Mama
and Betty Jo sewed. As a child, I spent a lot of time caring for my
3 little sisters, Ellen, Marie and Mackie, making Mackie's "Shirley
Temple" curls. They followed Betty and I everywhere we went. Teny
managed to get out of much of this because as long as she was quiet
in a corner playing with paper dolls she made out of Sears-Roebuck
catalogue, Mama said to leave her alone. Now it is payback time as
Ellen and Marie help us!
I went from Campti to St. Vincent's and boarded at the Junior
College for about a year, courtesy of the Campti priests. I returned
to Campti for the summer and decided to go to Nurses training. My
great-aunt Yan (Papa Woodward's aunt) made me 3 uniforms as the
requirement to go was 3 uniforms, white stockings, white shoes and a
watch with a sweep second hand. Aunt Edna helped me with the rest of
it. Mama Woodward did not particularly want me to go. So I caught
the bus from Campti to Shreveport at age 17, lied about my age
(supposed to be 18) and spent the next 3 years at Shreveport Charity
Nursing School on Texas Street and graduated with my R.N. degree in
1945.
I met Ferdie in December, 1944, at the Walgreen's Soda Fountain. He
was a pick-up as he was at one booth, I was at another, and we
started talking. I
told Mama Woodward, however, that I met him at a Christmas party! He
was the French Interpreter for the French Commander at Barksdale AFB
where they were training the Free French Airman in WWII. He had been
in the seminary for 10 years prior to this, 4 years of High school
and 6 years of college but I did not take him away from the
priesthood as he was already in the Air Force. We married on May 5,
1945 at the Nativity Church in Campti.
We were transferred to Selfridge Field in Michigan and lived there
until the war ended. While there I gave birth to my first child who
was 3 months premature and lived only 2 hours. We then moved to
Springfield, Mass. and lived with the in-laws for a while while
Ferdie recovered from a car wreck we had in Washington, DC and I
worked at the Springfield Hospital. We moved to Boston where he got
his Master's Degree at Boston College, I worked at the Massachusetts
General and Mike was born in September, 1948. We got tired of the
Northeast winters and returned to the South in 1949 and Ferdie went
to work as a teacher at St. John's (Jesuit High School) and I was
very
pregnant with Donna. I didn't go to work at Schumpert until after
Donna was
born in 1949.
I worked at Schumpert Medical Center from 1949-1989, taking off only
to have children. The last 26 years of that, I worked as
Administrative Supervisor so I was only giving shots at home! Paul
was born in 1951, Debbye 1952, Mary 1959 and Andre 1965. Ferdie
passed away in 1967 and I had 6 kids from age 18-1 left to raise.
Many of you know about these years as you have your own memories of
this time and much has already been written here. My eye was removed
in 1967 (thanks, Jeff for reminding everyone) and yes, I gave the
family many shots over the years. Mary used to cry whenever she saw
the pot boiling on the stove as she thought that I was sterilizing
an syringe for a shot when instead it was just eggs for tuna fish
salad!
I still live in the same house in Southern Hills that we bought in
1956 when our mortgage note was $87.00 a month. I am a big baseball
fan and root for the Atlanta Braves and even got a satellite dish
with the MLB package last year so that I don't miss any games. I
became a baseball fan when living in Michigan and Hank Greenburg was
hitting home runs for the Detroit Tigers. After moving to Boston, I
followed the Boston Braves and the Boston Red Sox, then the Braves
when they moved to Milwaukee and finally to Atlanta. Grandpa Salvail
was a big baseball fan and I guess it rubbed off on me and then on
my kids.
In closing, I would like to mention my brothers as they have also
been an important part of my life. Brother was the most spoiled
child I have ever known and you may have heard that we had to
re-iron his clothes if they were not done to suit him. He certainly
was a character! Ashley and James graduated from high school
together and most people thought they were twins. (Betty and I
graduated together, too.) I don't want to leave out Papa Woodward,
either, as everyone mentions Mama Woodward because they have more
recent memories of her. He died in his late 50's in 1957. Brother
and I were with him when he died as Mama Woodward was down the hall
on the telephone...you know how she loved her phone! When he died,
he looked up at Brother and me and said, "Y'all take care of each
other". I think we have.
I TAG MY YOUNGEST CHILD, ANDRE!!
Ruby Salvail
as told to Mary Salvail
ANDRE WOODWARD SALVAIL
Here is my story. It is followed by my recent column for the
newspaper. I don't mean to be terse, it's just that I am so busy. I
am deferring my tagging option to Michelle Landrum because she knows
more about who is logged on to the Woodward list than I do. I do
like to keep up with the family from time to time by reading old
Woodward list messages -- by the time I get to them, they are
usually a few weeks old.
Andre Salvail. There really isn't much to say about me. I am 34,
single, I live on a sugar farm/swamp/bayou outside of Thibodaux in
south Louisiana, I have a large dog and I work for a newspaper,
putting out the Bayou Business Review, which is a biweekly business
magazine. I am in two bands, one is a blues band and one is a
rock/blues/country band. I like it down here and it is close to New
Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. I like to fish, especially saltwater
fishing in the marsh or out by the oil rigs. I am currently seeking
higher-paying employment and a job where I don't have to work for
idiots. I try to live life kind of low key because my job is very
stressful.
I like shrimp po-boys, boiled crawfish, boiled shrimp and raw
oysters. Seafood is very cheap down here. I am heavily into LSU
sports and The New Orleans Saints. When in Shreveport, I like to eat
fried catfish and Tex-Mex food and visit old high-school friends. I
have dated lots of different types of women over the years, some
crazy, some normal. More often crazy than normal. It usually lasts
about 10 months before I find something incredibly
wrong with them or they find something incredibly wrong with me.
Redheads,blondes, brunettes, dark-hair -- I have run the gamut.
There is really not much else to say. I have met a lot of
interesting people over the years through my job. I have had dinner
one-on-one with both Edwin Edwards and David Duke. They are probably
more similar than alike, even though they court different types of
voters. I don't think much of Mike Foster or Buddy Roemer. I think
Shreveport would be a cool place if everybody wasn't in everybody's
business all the time. By that, I don't mean family, I mean,
Shreveport is kind of a gossipy place in general. There also is a
terrible live music scene in Shreveport. Unless you go see some big
name at the casinos or the CenturyTel, there really isn't anything
out there. The lounge bands in Shreveport are terrible, and they
charge $5 to patrons when they should really be spending $5
themselves toward lessons. But I like Shreveport and I always sleep
well when I am there.
My hobbies are Civil War history, sports, music, old movies,
horse racing and imported beer, especially Guiness. My favorite band
of all time is THE BAND (1967-1979) and my favorite artist of all
time is Bob Dylan. Ernest Tubb, Elvis, Led Zeppelin, John Lee
Hooker, Lucinda Williams, Hank Williams, REM, Willie Nelson, The
Stanley Brothers, Ricky Nelson, Miles Davis, Ozzy Osbourne,
Tabby Thomas, Kermit Ruffins and Johnny Cash are great also and I
have been influenced by them musically. Lately I have been studying
the career and music of The Carter Family and June Carter Cash. I
saw Ralph Stanley at the Jazz Festival in New Orleans this year and
it was nearly a religious experience. I look forward to seeing
whoever is at Uncle James' camp on Sunday. All righty, then....
Here is a copy of my latest column for the newspaper.
Saints go marching in -- half an hour late
By Andre Salvail
Editor-in-chief
I may be the only person in town with this opinion, but I’m going to
express it anyway.
I thought it was rude for New Orleans Saints officials to show up
nearly 30 minutes late for a scheduled appearance at the South
Central Industrial Association’s monthly membership meeting last
week.
The May 21 event was arranged weeks in advance -- back when Randy
Mueller was still the general manager -- and was planned to coincide
with Saints’ caravan stops at Southland Mall and elsewhere in Houma.
Since the day when the appearance by the Saints GM and head coach
Jim Haslett was arranged, a lot has happened. Mueller was fired in a
hasty move by owner Tom Benson, and the Saints organization has done
some reshuffling, the most important act being the naming of Mickey
Loomis as general manager. This hire came just days after Benson
sarcastically told the media he might hang on to the role of general
manager for awhile.
On the state and national level, firing Mueller -- the NFL’s
executive of the year just two years ago -- then holding a rambling
news conference during which nothing was explained, was a bad public
relations move for Benson. It came just days after agreements
between the state and the Saints were made official. Those
agreements commit a lot of taxpayer money to the Saints, who seem to
know a lot about the bottom line but little about providing a
consistently winning product for its fan base.
On the local level, committing to an appearance before a crowd of
more than 250 of the area’s business and industry heavyweights and
then showing up well after everybody had finished eating was a bad
public relations act for the Saints organization.
If I were working for the Saints, I would make damn sure the new GM
and head coach are on time for speeches in front of more than 250
people with the ability to purchase hundreds, perhaps thousands of
season tickets for their families, their employees and their
customers.
Haslett is a pretty well-liked guy in south Louisiana, despite the
team’s collapse late last year. He still is the only coach to lead
the team to a playoff victory in the Saints’ 35-year history. It
comes as no surprise that the fans at Southland Mall and the
students at St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School would want to
talk with the coach and some of the players who accompanied him on
the trip, unknowingly holding up the caravan.
But with the team’s season-ticket sales woefully behind last year’s
pace, with the organization still reeling from one of the darkest
days in its history (and there are a lot of those days), it made no
sense for two of the top leaders of the floundering NFL franchise to
prompt a guessing game among the local business crowd as to whether
they would show up at all.
"I didn’t know it was gonna be this many people here, to be honest
with you," Haslett told the crowd. Are we to believe that the Saints
don’t have anybody in their marketing or public relations
departments to brief the coaches, players and other officials on the
size and nature of the crowds to which they are playing? Actually,
that’s probably the case.
Haslett really didn’t have anything significant to say after that,
unless you buy into his argument that the Saints have bigger, faster
players and that the team is going places this fall. We’ve heard
that before.
And consider this, part of the reason for the appearance was to
honor the Saints at the SCIA’s 200th member. I wonder how seriously
the Saints are taking this membership -- will they drop by for the
monthly luncheon in July and August when they are in Thibodaux for
training camp? Will they skip the opening prayers, the member and
guest introductions, the various committee reports, to focus on
lunch? Or will they skip lunch too, just as they did last week?
It would have been fitting for the black and gold balloons lining
the tables at the sold-out event to burst when Haslett and Loomis
showed up, as if to say, "Look guys, we’ve been stalling this crowd
for as long as we could, where the heck have you been?"
For the record, I am a Saints fan, and I will continue to support
the team when Haslett is coaching somewhere else in 2003.
I’m being accused of making a mountain out of a molehill by
mentioning this, and in the long run, it’s not that big of a deal,
but you have to admit one thing -- it was bad PR.
Eat that, Saints apologists.
 |
Andre with his
new great-nephew, Jacob Martin |
JEFF SALVAIL
-----JEFF'S STORY-----
Hmm, September the 8th 1977, born Jeffrey Michael Salvail at
Schumpert Medical Center in Shreveport. I was a whopping
9lbs13oz. We lived in Houston, Lake Charles, Jonesboro, ARK., and
I think New Mexico. We soon settled back down in Bossier City
where we lived for about 15 years before moving to Benton where we
live now. I attended St. Joseph's Catholic School and St. Johns
when I was in elementary. Jr. High I went to broadmoor middle lab
school, and then started Benton High School where I graduated in
1996. When I was about 8yrs old I got a motorcycle for Christmas,
first time I got on it I wrecked it under a trailer and hit a big
cinder block, don't worry I didn't get hurt got right back on it.
Then I made me a ramp that scared mom half to death I was jumping
about 6 feet in the air that's high for an 8 yr old rookie. Then
behind our house we had this big open field we cut the barb wire
fence so we could get through, well low and behold I was coming
back full blast and by the way barb wire is hard to see going
about 35-40mph a few yards away. I thought I was going between the
2 post where we cut the wire well I was sadly mistaken, the wire
got me right under my throat yanked me off but once again got back
up and kept going I was ok I think!?! Also during my childhood we
had a tire swing hanging from a huge pecan tree, I was on the
swing and jenny had an aluminum bat bc we were playing baseball
well I guess she thought my head was a ball cause she sure did tee
off. I am beginning to like these stories. Then I was on a skate
board sitting down and somebody was pulling me behind my
motorcycle, I put my hand down on the ground to try and balance
and the wheel ran over my hand and ripped my 4th finger nail on my
left hand almost all the way off had to go to Dr. Winterton he
gave me 4 shots in my finger and got some pliers and finished the
job off! it grew back...
OK enough about my childhood. Now I am older 10 or so 12
maybe. As most of you know Dad coached every sport I played and I
played them all. My favorite was baseball. In 1989 I was 12 yrs
old we were playing for the championship by the way I was put on
the DL due to my first kidney surgery but I did dress I just did
not play. We ended up winning 2nd hmm wonder why!! :) lol
Ok maybe jr high will interest yall. This was when I was at
broadmoor. I think the 7th grade. me and a whole bunch of my
friends at the time were outside at our lunch break, so we thought
we would see who could throw rocks the farthest don't ask I guess
we were bored. Well mine just happened to hit the principal in
the eye and knocked his classes off...LOL I almost got away with
it until some nerd kid ratted on all of us. Needless to say I was
suspended for 2 days soon after that and then another 2 for
kicking that guys butt for telling on me. Boys will be boys.....
Ok I guess I will move onto high school. I am 15 now freshmen
by the way, about to get my license. Dad took me to my driving
test and then let me skip school the rest of the day and drive
around. Well everybody has to get a ticket sometime right, well I
happen to get one the first day I got my license. I was on either
stoner or kings hwy. going 45 in a 35. First wreck came a month
after that and I totaled my truck by running a red light at one of
the busiest intersections in Shreveport at Line Ave. and
Pierremont. We had just left church and were going to eat at
Semolina's. Dad said that was the most expensive meal he had ever
eaten....By the way once again nobody got hurt there either I had
2 of my friends with me too.....
OK so now what do you want to know Ivie is it
getting long enough for ya. While in high school I played
baseball, and was on the golf team, ran track a little when they
needed somebody extra. Ok I will skip the rest of my high school
career. Summer after I graduated went to BPCC, then onto LA
TECH. I held a 3.1 gpa first 2 yrs of college don't know how I
did that going out every night of the week. Then after I left
TECH I went onto LSU in Baton Rouge, well I kinda was only there
about a semester in a half and was right back at home going to LSU-S.
Everything you hear about LSU is true, I don't think I ever saw a
classroom during that stint of my college career, I was also in KA
down there which didn't help any, I don't think I can tell any of
those stories....!?!
Now, I am 24 going to college at LSU-S. I will be finished in
a little over a year. After that I plan on getting a masters
somewhere not sure yet maybe LSU-BR. My major now is
International Business I want my MBA as well so maybe I have 3
years left of college that's not too not bad considering what I
have gone thru. Ok well I guess this is boring everyone by now so
I guess I will wrap this up some of this info is old since I could
not get on the computer for awhile during my recent move. Take
care everybody and hope everyone has a blast over the summer
break!!!!!!!!!!
I TAG IVIE JEAN!!!! (hers might be longer than mine cause
everyone knows she has the gift of gab) lol....
See Ya,
Jeff Salvail
IVIE JEAN WOODWARD ALDRIDGE
I am going to try
to write y'all a short story & tag someone. I know I have been
very slow to get started on this, but I have had a lot going on at
my house lately. So here goes.........
Like I said
before, I was born on 9/10/47 in Natchitoches. I remember the old
homestead in Campti pretty well for some reason. I guess when I
was very young I was there quite a bit. I remember a fire cracker
going off in my hand one time. Luckily it didn't do too much
damage. I think I was too young to be handling it, but you know
how us kids are!!! I remember that My Dad worked for the Wonder
Bread company. He would come driving up in his truck & I would
call him "Wonder Daddy". From the time I can remember I called
him that & as I got older I dropped the Daddy & just called him
Wonder. I guess Wonder & my Mother lived together for about 2 yrs
before they got divorced. I think I went back & forth between
living with my mother & Mama Woodward for about two yrs. Then my
Mother remarried & me & my sister, Edweda, went to live with my
mother & Step Dad in Houma, LA. I went from K thru 3rd grade
there. I think I used to go to Campti for the summers during that
4 yrs. At some point, Papa Woodward & Mama Woodward moved to
Shreveport. The summer after the 3rd grade I went to spend the
summer with them & when my Mother came to get me to take me back
to Houma, Mama Woodward talked her into letting me stay with her
in Shreveport. I started 4th grade at St. John's Grade School
that yr. Soon after I started living with Papa & Mama Woodward &
Aunt Marie, Papa Woodward died (1957). They had this old beige
Chevrolet that I remember. I guess Aunt Marie had a little fender
bender in it & there was this piece of pointed chrome sticking out
on it. One night I had to go out & feed the dog. Well, I was
scared of the dark & I didn't really want to do it. So I took off
running out the door & dropped the food in front of the dog & when
I was coming back around that car I ran slap dab into that chrome
that was pointing out. I bet that went in the top of my rt leg
about 2 inches. Needless to say, we had to go to the Dr & get it
sewed up. I remember that DR telling me he was sewing "Elvis's"
hip up in my leg to make me laugh. Aunt Marie, do I have this
story right????? The only other thing that comes to mind from the
time we lived on Kent Street was the time that the dog, Trixie,
got hit by a car. He had a bum leg after that & walked with a
limp. Every time he would be standing still, he would always have
that leg lifted up off the ground.
From the time I
was in the 5th grade on, I was involved in several activities at
school & with the city programs. I took piano lessons, dancing
lessons, baton twirling lessons & I played the flute in the band
in grade school!!!! I was 1st chair flute player too. I know
that Donna & Paul Salvail were in the band with me. Mr. Scarlato
was our band leader & teacher. We had a lot of fun doing that.
My favorite was baton twirling though. I got to help teach the
classes & march in a parade & go to contests to compete for
trophies. Mama Woodward made all of my costumes. Everyone helped
to sew on sequins on them. The twirling costumes were the best.
I even went to a twirling camp one summer at Ole Miss. I taught
small children twirling too for a while & some private lessons
when I was in high school.
Sometime around the
time when I went into the 8th grade, we moved over on Jordan St.
It was pretty close to school so I could walk home sometime. I
don't ever remember walking to school though. I guess either Aunt
Marie took me or someone else did when she couldn't. When we
lived on Kent St. I would ride home with Ferdie, Michael & Donna
sometime. I can remember Frank Cicero riding with us too. He was
so funny. He didn't like us to read in the car. He said it made
him sick!!!!!! I never really could figure out how us reading
could make him "sick"!!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!
So, I got done with
grade school & started at St Vincent's Academy in the 9th grade.
I remember riding the trolley home from school sometime. I think
I had to go downtown & transfer to get home & the trolley dropped
my off on Centenary & Jordan St. When I was going into the 10th
grade at St Vincent's I decided I wanted to go live up at the
school & I joined the Aspirancy in order to get to do this. The
Aspirancy was for high school students who thought they "might"
want to become nuns!!! My best friend at the time, Marilyn
Mabry, had lived up there her freshman year & so I talked Mama
Woodward into letting me go & then Marilyn got out of it!!!!!!!!
I went anyway & stayed there from Sept thru Dec. I got sick &
came home for the Christmas holidays & Mama Woodward wouldn't let
me go back. So that was the end of that!!!!!!
I don't remember
exactly when this happened, but probably when I was in about the
12th grade, James & his kids came to live with us. I could be
wrong about this. It could have been a little later than that.
The only thing memorable about that time was that I liked a band
called John Fred & His Playboy Band. I had gone to a dance they
played at & had taken a roll of pictures. I had put the film on
the dresser & had not gotten it developed yet. When I went to get
it, it was gone. I looked everywhere for it & it finally turned
up under the edge of the house & some little mischievous boy named
James John had gotten hold of it & exposed the whole thing. I was
so devastated!!!!!! I think I tried to choke him!!!!!!!!!!
LOL!!!!!!!!!! I discovered John Fred when I went to my senior
prom with Lanny Ray. I really liked their music & any time they
were in or around Shreveport I went to see them. I became friends
with the band & they would let me stand on the stage & play the
tambourine. I had started dating Lanny the last half of my senior
year. We dated for about a yr & a half. We actually got engaged
during our freshman year of college. I had gone to LA Tech & he
went off to LSU. Well, during my freshman yr at Tech, I
discovered that I was really too young to be getting engaged.
Lanny was the only boy I had ever dated & I had met a lot of
people at Tech & was having a lot of fun. SO, when summer came &
we both came back to Shreveport, I decided to give him the ring
back & get unengaged. I remember the night I was going to do
this. We had been to eat Mexican food at El Chico's. I was so
nervous that after we ate I got so sick at my stomach that I
started throwing up. I threw up in the restaurant bathroom & out
in the parking lot & we happened to be close to Mackie & Tommy's
house (They were living in the house on Kent St). I made him take
me over there so I could lay down. I ended up postponing the
breakup til the next day.
Well, I went back
to La Tech in the fall & I stayed at Tech & in Ruston until I got
married in 1970. I married a guy from Ruston named Rickey
McCormack. He was going to school in Natchitoches at the time. I
got a job at the local Ruston State Bank. A year later, we moved
to Little Rock (1971). He was working for Gordon Jewelers as
their watch repairman & he did some jewelry repair too. I went to
work at another bank. After a while I got out of the banking
business & started doing bookkeeping jobs at several different
places. I probably changed jobs about every 1 to 2 yrs for a
while back then. Brandon was born in Oct. of 1973 & he was almost
the death of me. I never went into labor with Brandon & back then
the technology wasn't like it is today. I carried him for almost
10 mos. My due date was Sept 28th & he was born on Oct 23rd. My
DR. had to end up putting me in the hospital & inducing. I
remember that we did this on a Monday night & there was a TV on in
the room & Monday night football was on & the Steelers were
playing. I was having labor pains & rooting for Terry during the
whole ordeal!!! He got my labor started around 7PM & the next
morning at 6:30AM he had to do an emergency C-Section. I had only
dilated to 8 cms & Brandon's head was too big!!!!!! After he
delivered him my heart stopped beating & they had a Code Blue on
me!!!!!!!!! When I woke up later that day, I was in ICU & there
were all these people standing in a circle around by bed. I
didn't have a clue as to what had happened. Rickey had called
Mama Woodward & she got Aunt Ellen & Crawford to bring her up &
Wonder came with them too. I didn't get to even see Brandon for 2
days. They were taking Polaroid's of him & bringing them to me.
I swore I would never have anymore kids after that!!!!!!!!! Then
low & behold, I got PG again. I was so scared. My DR told me
that is would be a piece of cake because he would schedule a
C-Section for two weeks before my due date & I wouldn't have any
problems this time. He didn't let me down & everything went very
smooth & it was sooooo much easier with Ryan. He was born on
9/19/75. Well, I was sure after that I didn't want anymore kids &
I got the DR to tie my tubes when he was delivering Ryan. Rickey
& I were married for 7 yrs & got divorced in 1977.
In Aug of 1979 I
was invited to a birthday party for some friends of mine. That is
where I met Steve "The Stray"!!! It turned out that we had mutual
friends & they actually got us fixed up for our first date that
Aug. Our first date was to the drive In to see "The Villain"!!!
If you have never seen it, you need to rent it...NOT!!!!!!!!! It
was soooo stupid. We dated for two months & on Oct 13th we got
married. Our wedding day was planned pretty quickly, but it
turned out to be so much fun. A lot of my relatives from
Shreveport came up for it. Some of Steve's family came & we had a
lot of friends there too!!! Steve had a son from his first
marriage named Alan. Alan & Ryan are the same age. I guess that
Steve & I just had so much in common that we were destined to be
together & it just didn't take us long to see that!!! The lady
that married us said we could have a few people there & before we
knew it, we had filled up her whole living room. It was standing
room only!!! AND of course I was late!!!!!!!!!! I DO have a BAD
reputation of being late!!!!!!! Most all of you know that
though. Tommy Gayer took our pictures. We had a reception at a
friends house & everyone had a great time. Our honeymoon was a
one-nighter in Arkadelphia at De Grey Lodge!!! Mama Woodward,
Barry, Charlene & I don't know who else spent the night at our
house & kept Brandon & Ryan. Steve & I have been married now for
almost 23 yrs.
When we got married
Steve was managing a Sherwin Williams Paint Store. We had only
been married for about 3 or 4 months when the store burned down.
They didn't rebuild it so Steve decided to look for another job.
He went to work for Hunt Wesson Foods. While he was with that
Company we went on 4 cruises & 1 trip to Hawaii. Steve won all
those trips. When we went on the trip to Hawaii, we missed
Brandon's graduation. Hey, you would have missed it too to go on
a free trip to Hawaii!!!!!! Brandon told us to go!!! I had some
stand ins from Shreveport to come up for me. Aunt Ellen, Betty Jo
& Eddie came up here & went to it. AND his Dad was there of
course!!!!!! Brandon could have cared less. All he was
interested in was the "Party" after graduation.
I went to work for
Manpower in April of 1983 part time. We were wanting to build a
new house & I had quit working & wanted to stay off for the
summer. Well, the mortgage company said that in order for us to
qualify for the loan that we needed about $500 a month more coming
in. I took this part time job in April & went full time in Oct &
worked there for 18 1/2 yrs before they decided to eliminate my
job. I have been off work now for 4 1/2 months. I am drawing my
unemployment & I guess I will try to start looking for a job in
the fall. I keep hoping we will win the lottery & I won't have to
worry about a job. Steve travels a lot & he picks us up lottery
tickets when he goes to Louisiana or Texas. We try to keep one
going all the time by buying one set of numbers for 10 drawings so
it will last us for 5 weeks at a time.
As you all know,
Brandon has moved back to Little Rock. This has been a big
adjustment for us. They stayed here for close to 2 weeks & have
now settled into a rent house. It was a very hectic 12 days
having them here when we are not used to so much going on for so
long of a time. They are like the "hyper" family. I never felt
like I could just sit down & relax!!!!!!!! I am serious about
loosing 5 lbs while they were staying here. I hope I don't gain
it back. I may have to go get the kids & keep them over here for
a few days every once in a while. It wasn't the kids that I
minded at all anyway!!! IT was the two adults that act like
kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to finish
this my just mentioning a few things that I remember from my
childhood that stick out in my mind.
-
going to see the
movie "The Birds" at the Drive In & having dreams about
it!!!!!!!!
-
being in a hoola
hoop contest at a TV station with Linda Gail!!!!!!
-
climbing the
Mimosa Tree in the front yard on Jordan St.!!!!!!
-
getting an
embroidery needle broken off in my big toe & having to go get it
pulled out in the emergency room at Schumpert!!
-
going to see
"ELVIS" when I was 10 yrs old at Hirsch Coliseum!!!!!!(Do I have
that rt?)
-
having the
neatest "Elvis" skirt in the whole world!!!!! I wish I knew
what happened to that skirt!!!!!!
-
having "Elvis"
pictures from movie magazines all over the walls of my small
bedroom on Kent St.
-
going to camp in
the summer & I know that Linda Gail went there too, but I can't
remember the name of it!!! I have pics of us riding horses!!!
I think that Sue Ellen went too???
-
sitting in Mama
Woodward's lap when the adults played penny ante poker. I
learned how to play poker at a very early age!!
-
banana pudding &
eggnog that Mama Woodward made.
-
watching "As The
World Turns" in the summers from the timeI was probably 12 yrs
old. I still watch it sometimes too!!!
-
having a wreck in
Aunt Marie's red Chevy when I rear ended someone on Centenary &
broke off my top front tooth when I hit the steering wheel
-
having car
trouble late at night on the way home form Wonder's store in
Bossier City & sitting in the car on Highland Ave scared to
death to get out of the car. I finally had to get out & start
walking & a policeman came along & rescued me & pushed me home.
Aunt Marie was out looking for me & Mama Woodward was at work.
I got home & no one was there.
-
going to the
bathroom in an out house in Campti!!!!!
Okay, I am done
now!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't think anymore & that is all that is
coming to mind. Now Jeff you are probably sorry you tagged me,
right??????????? Sorry I took so long!!!!!!!!
I NOW HAVE THE
HONOR OF TAGGING LUCY WOODWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAKE IT AWAY
LUCY & I PROMISE NOT TO BUG YOU ABOUT HOW LONG IT TAKES YOU TO
WRITE YOUR STORY!!!!!!!!
Ivie Jean Woodward
McCormack Aldridge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LUCY WOODWARD
Here it is and don't Laugh!!!!!
First of all, my worse subject was
English!!!!!!!!!! essays and reports!!!!!!!!!!
I could never figure out where to put those
little squiggly things, One of my teachers said to write like I
talk and put a comma where I pause for a breath. Well that
doesn't work because I get long winded and don't pause. Sometimes
I over compensate and pause too much. I hate to write.
I was born in Gurdon Arkansas on June 27,1942.
The next to youngest of six (four girls and two boys).
My first favorite song
was "You Are My Sunshine". Because when I was two I
walked around the house singing it.
My next favorite song was "We Live In Two
Different Worlds Dear". Because my sister, Juanita would sit
in a 55-gallon drum and pretend she was the radio, and that was
the only song she knew. Then she learned to yodel, that really
sounded good in that barrel!!!!!!!!!
We lived in Sandyland Ark. when I started to
school. We had to walk two (yes the old two miles tale!!!) to
catch the school bus. There were these boys that would set
night chasers (I think I misspelled that) after us. So every
morning Juanita would make me get in the well house with her until
the bus came. I don't know what I was the most frightened of,
the chasers, or the spiders and snakes that I thought were in the
well house. But she was protecting me!!! She always looked after
me.
Then we moved to Smackover and lived by the
railroad tracks. Daddy worked for the railroad. The train would
stop in front of out house when it was switching ,sometimes we
would get on the caboose and ride to town. I remember it had a
big potbelly, wood-burning , stove in the middle. We also rode
the passenger train to Monroe and back on Sundays, for our family
outing. Daddy got free passes and a discount at the railroad
cafe.
Next move was to Parkers Chapel. That school
had two grades in one room. I was in the 4th grade. when I was
in the 5th grade we moved to El Dorado. The 7th ,Old Union
another school with two grades in one room. I remember they were
really into basketball. I was to late to start playing, because
they started playing in the first grade ,I had never played. I
went to all their games, they won most of them. Boys and girls
all played on the same team. They used the boys' rules. The
girls were really tough.
After that we moved back to El Dorado. That
was Jr High & High school. Once I ask Mother why we moved so much
she said "the rent came due"!!! My Daddy liked to drink and play
dominoes in the pool hall.
I remember one time we started to Gurdon to see
Grandpa Brown. When we got to the creek the bridge had been
washed out by a flood . Someone in the car said they wished we
could go swimming. Daddy (who had been drinking) stopped the car
and took all four wheels of , removed the inner tubes and pumped
them up with a hand pump ,so we wouldn't drown. Then he had to
remount them. I didn't want to go swimming, Mother was
mad!!!
When we went fishing ,we cut cane poles, dug
worms, broke a piece of wood for a bobber , smashed bottle caps
for sinkers, I don't remember where we got hooks. I guess that
made the fish taste better, because they sure were good cooked on
the river bank.
Waking up to the smell of biscuits and bacon
cooking on a wood burning cook stove.
Shadows dancing on the wall, made by a
kerosene lamp..
Churning butter, and storing
it in an Ice Box.
Washing clothes in a "Warsh Pot".
Running water, we " drawed" it
from a well and ran up the hill with it.
Filling the #3 warsh tub (bath tub) up with
water in the am and letting the sun warm it.
My turn to pick out the cow feed
,it came in a cotton sack with designs on it, then
picking out a dress in the Sears & Roebuck catalogue ,mother would
make one just like it.
Flour sack blouses and
drawers.
Can Can
slips (that was what made the Poodle skirts stand out) they had
rows of net ruffles. Mother made me one out of cotton material ,
it had three tiers of ruffles . I starched it very stiff with cold
starch, it took all day to iron it. Every time I moved it rattled
like paper!!!!!!! But my skirt stood out and looked
pretty.
Mother divorced daddy when I was 13. She went
to work managing the fountain at Bell Pharmacy. I went to work
there when also when I was 13. I was a soda-jerk. That
was soooooooooo neat getting to make and eat all
those ice cream and cola treats. I worked there for four years.
Then, I fell in love with a boy that looked and
acted like James Dean. (I didn't know who James Dean was at the
time). He had a hot '55' Ford, won every drag race he was in.
One of his friends ask "how do you get it to run so fast". He
said "I keep it clean and polished so it slips through the air
easier". After that every time we saw that boy he was waxing his
car! We married and moved to Shreveport. He bought a Service
Station on 70th street. I was the "car wash", in
my cut off blue jean ,short, shorts. Several years later I met
Robert Davis and he said he remembered my "car wash".
He didn't have a car but would borrow one from a friend
to get it washed!!
We lived on Bienville Street, next door to the
house that had the EDSEL in the front yard.
When my oldest was three, he 'escaped' from the
back yard one day. When I found him he was several houses down
the street, on a front porch with a group of teenagers. Could
they have been Woodwards?????? My "James Dean" died as a result
of an automobile accident.
All my family ,except for one sister, moved to
Louisiana and then to Texas. I never made it to Texas. My mother
is 88 and her mind is very sharp. I always tell her she remembers
too much.
Now you all know where I came from. There is a
lot in-between but I won't bore you with it.
I have five children, four boys and one girl.
Tommy lives in Iowa and does construction work, no "rug rats" as
he calls them. Roy lives in Blanchard ,owns All About
Auto Works 929-4805 ( had to put in that plug) he does
paint & body work. Has two boys ,Richard & Kyle, one girl, Kayla.
Rickey works for Analytical logging. Has one boy, Austin. Sandy
is manager of Auto Zone on North Market Street
( oops another plug). One girl, April and one boy Zachary. Keith
lives in Blanchard and he helps out at the warehouse.
I married into the " Woodward clan" and lived
happily ever after.
That's my story and no sequels!!!!!!!!!
I tag Karen Hester
KAREN HESTER
|
My Story: Karen Hester
I am the second born of two girls.
My sister, Darlene and I are only 11 months apart, she was
born in January of 1962 and I was born in December of 1962
(same year) in Shreveport to Barbara Leone Lafitte and Bill
Lafitte. We were always in the same grade, so we spent most
of our school lives being called twins. We attended private
schools most of our school age lives until we attended
Woodlawn our 10th-12th grade years (when Woodlawn was a
great school). We were both in pep squad, then Red Line (danceline),
and then cheerleaders. I met Phillip in my junior year and
we have been together ever since. Yes, a high school
sweetheart romance story!!!
After graduation, in 1980, I went to Barber School
and have been cutting hair every since, first in a hair
salon called Tiffany South, 1980-1990, then in my home,
which is currently what I am still doing! I love being my
own boss and not sharing a commission with a shop owner.
Phillip and I married on May 7, 1983, at St. Mary of
the Pines in the courtyard under a gazebo with about 150-200
family and friends attending. We had Briana on June 30,
1988, and Cody on August 27, 1990. They are now 14 and 11
(almost 12) years old. They both are involved in summer
swim team at Southside Swim Club. Cody is a baseball player
for S'port Dixie and Briana is a baton twirler, currently
twirling for Byrd High School.
In addition to cutting hair, I also work in the CPS
system as an office clerk sub, so if you see me in various
school offices, that is why. I also volunteer for the PTA,
on the District level, as an officer, Secretary, and on the
local level, also as an officer, 2nd VP at Cody's school,
Broadmoor. I have also served as a PTA President, two years
at Broadmoor and two years at Forest Hill, Briana and Cody's
elementary school. This takes up a lot of time, but I feel
it is worth it for my children's future. Phillip and I also
spend a lot of time with our children, as it keeps us a very
close knit family. We also spend a couple of Sundays a
month at T.J.s, so we can keep a close relationship with the
rest of our family. We also spend time with my side of the
family also. My sister is pregnant with her first child at
40. What a surprise that was to the family!
That is all of the time I have for now ... I tag Kay
Sears. Sorry Kay, but if I had to do it, so do you!!!!!
|
|
KAY WOODWARD SEARS
I guess I'll have to write something on here since Karen was SO kind
to tag me! There's really not much to tell. lol Everybody pretty
much knows "my story."
I'm the 5th of 6 children. The only girl. I'm not the spoiled one
though. Doug had that honor growing up. (That's my opinion) There
was a double standard. Even though I was 2 years older than him, I
had an earlier curfew. (I remember Jennifer saying the same thing
about Jeff) The older boys were 11 to 5 years older than me so most
of our friends thought that Doug and I were the only two kids in our
family. I was a cheerleader in elementary, middle, and high
school. Everyone picks at me at the kids games because I'm so
loud. I tell them I have a well trained voice!
I didn't start dating until the end of my sophmore year in high
school. Dad said I couldn't go on my first date, but mom said she
didn't think it would hurt anything. I had to go some time. He
never liked anyone I dated until I broke up with them. When I
started dating Daryl, he would go in his room every time Daryl would
come over. Daryl likes to joke that all he saw was dad's back for
three months.
After high school, I went to nursing school for one year. I decided
that wasn't for me. I moved to Baton Rouge and went to LSU for less
than one semester. I met Pete (my first husband) and we were
married. I lived in Baton Rouge for 4 years. Amanda was born down
there. She was 2 years old when her dad and I seperated and we
moved back home.
I met Daryl on a blind date. I didn't know what he looked like, but
he wanted to see a picture. We were married in 1990. Drew was born
in 1992 and Tyler in 1994. I don't have a "job", but I spend a lot
of time on the road. My kids keep me busy. Amanda just graduated
from high school, Drew is in the 5th grade, and Tyler is in the 2nd
grade. Most of you know all about them!
Childhood Memories: I remember going over to the Hester's on Burke
St. on the weekends when our parents played cards or dominos. It's
a wonder I didn't turn out to be a hairdresser because I remember
fixing Tina's hair a lot. lol I remember going to Mama Woodward's
house every Christmas Eve and she would walk around with a bowl of
egg nog and a spoon tasting it. There was a tower with a blinking
red light on it down from her house and every year we would look at
it and say there goes Rudolph. I always thought it was neat that
Ivie Jean and I had the same birthday. I remember going over to
Teny's and there were always kids over there! lol The more things
change, the more they stay the same. I remember when Michael was a
referee at Baptist Christian (down the street from our house) he
would stop by our house in his little blue Opal. If we were eating
supper, he would grab a plate and fork from the table (it didn't
matter who had just used it) and get something to eat. I had never
seen anyone do that before! lol
Ok, enough about me. I now have the honor of tagging Barney
Kennington. I figure he's probably got some free time on his hands
over there in Aruba. Sorry Barney.
Kay
BARNEY KENNINGTON
My Story
Well where to start, I am the oldest of Basil and Sue Kennington’s
children. I have a sister Donna who is 4 years younger than I and
she lives in Port Allen La. We (my sister and I) were born and
raised in Shreveport. I started out living in Sunset Acres on
Cannel Street, moved to South Shreveport to Green Terrace where my
sister joined our family. From there to where I spent the rest of
my growing up years on Southland Park Drive. I attended Summer
Grove Elementary School, Ridge Wood Junior High and Southwood
High.
At Southwood High School is where my story really begins. Or I
like to think of it as when my life was forever changed, because
up to this point my life was simply growing up. Nothing to write
home about just normal stuff, like playing football, fishing and
hunting with my father, spending time with my friends etc. But at
Southwood in my 10th grade English Class with Mrs.
Scott is when I saw Barbara Jo Barr for the first time. WOW! I
know to her wonderful family she is Bobbie or Bobbie Jo, but
please allow me the pleasure of referring to her as Barbara or
Barb, because this was and always will be the sweetest most
beautiful name on this earth to me. I remember laying eyes on
Barbara for the first time and I know this sounds corny but as for
me it was love at first sight. Barbara walked past my desk and in
the early 70’s mini skirts were popular, WOW again!
Barbara and I had a mutual friend who I contacted imminently to
find out the availability of my new found love. Much to my
disappointment I found out Barbara was dating, going out with (or
whatever they call it today) someone else. So for the time being I
was out of luck but I was still in love. I remember the glorious
day when I received the information that Barb was no longer seeing
old (what’s his name) anymore. This was the best news I had ever
heard in my life. Around October I put on my best (I’m going to
get you) voice and called 686-2595. I finally got up the courage
to go over to 123 Oak Ridge for a visit on my Honda 175 Scrambler;
I brought a friend along for support. I remember our first date to
a Southwood High School football game. To this day I could not
tell you who won that game, all I could think of was I must be in
heaven to be on a date with Barbara Jo Barr. I shall never forget
asking Barbara to go with me, be my girl on October 16th.
This was the beginning of a wonderful relationship that lead to
our marriage November 17th 1973. We have been blessed
with three precious children all who are young adults now and a
wonderful supportive family. We will celebrate 29 years together
this coming November and to think it all started in our 10th
grade English Class.
I know you may be thinking that this story would be about Barney.
Well the way I see it is without Barbara there would be no Barney.
You see if I had never been blessed to find my soul mate at such a
young age, I would not have experienced the precious live that I
have. If I did not have Barbara as my soul mate, then I would have
never had J. D., Ashley & “E”. I would have never known such
wonderful people like Momma Woodward, Danny, Aunt Mackey, Ma-maw
Barr and so many others. So you see BARBARA is my
story, she is my reason for living, she is my soul mate, she
completes me. My story is and will always be Barbara, Barb, Bobbie
or Bobbie Jo.
Now I have the pleasure of tagging someone. I will tag Mary
Loretta.
MARY SALVAIL
Where do I begin? Some of you know me as
Mary, many others as Mary Loretta,
and I am sister, niece, cousin, aunt or some other relationship
to all of you. You know me as outgoing, dare I say loud? and
boisterous, the one who will say anything. While there is some
truth to this perception, it isn't altogether true but it works
for me. When people expect you to be a certain way, it takes the
pressure off. If you notice, you don't find me telling "stories"
about myself at family get togethers. I am very inquisitive and
like to know what is going on with everyone else
but since Barney has tagged me, now I have to share my story.
I grew up in a
family of 6 children. I was the 5th one but since there are
about 7 years between Debbye and me and about that between Andy
and me, I was both oldest and youngest child at different times.
I have very few childhood memories...my father died when I was
barely 8 so I was raised by Mom and my older siblings. We were a
very Catholic family and religion played a big part in our
lives. I went to St. John's grade school, St. Vincents Academy
and graduated from Loyola University. We went to church every
Sunday and every Holy Day and in high school, I was involved
with St. Joseph's Youth Group. My first two years of college, at
LSU-BR, I was also involved with the Catholic Student Center
there and the Awakening Retreat Program.
I guess the
reason all that comes to my mind is that 24 years ago today, I
entered the novitiate of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille,
in New Orleans. I am sure this was something of a curiosity in
the family and looking back, I guess it does seem rather odd.
There was a lot of, "Did you hear that Mary Salvail joined the
convent???" At the time, it seemed the right thing to do. Did
any of you see the movie, "Dead Man Walking"? The main character
in that movie, Sister Helen Prejean, (played by Susan Sarandon)
was my formation director and we lived together in the novitiate
for three years. It blew me away to see Susan Sarandon playing
Helen, LOL! It still does, when I think about it. Anyway, I left
before making first vows but did complete my bachelor's degree
in Religious Studies from Loyola University in New Orleans.
What does one
do with a degree in Religious Studies? Over the years, I taught
High School theology at both St. Thomas More High School in
Lafayette and Loyola College Prep in Shreveport. In between
that, I held jobs in sales: insurance, hotel business,
construction safety supplies...For the last 9 years, I have
worked for the State of Louisiana, Office of Family Support. I
started in eligibility, recertifying people for food stamps and
fitap (you call it welfare or afdc) and for the last 5 years,
have been a Social Services Analyst in the FIND WORK program.
What we do is assist the Fitap recipients in getting jobs or
attending training programs that will lead to employment. We
handle all aspects of it, from monitoring their participation to
paying for their transportation and childcare. Whenever you hear
on the nightly news that the welfare rolls have dropped,
remember this, CHILDCARE is the welfare of the new millenium.
Money wise, we are paying a lot more in childcare than we ever
gave the clients to sit home and collect a check. What can I
say...it is a job.
My
passion, as many of you may have guessed, is computers. I love
everything about them, from setting them up to installing new
software or hardware, to helping people with computer problems,
to making webpages and graphics, etc. It is really ironic as I
used to hate computers and would complain about how Tommy Gayer
and Eddie Ikerd were wasting time fooling with them. All that
changed in March, 1992. when Bill and I bought our first. He was
the one that wanted it but that quickly changed. After I get my
10 years in with the state, I might try to find a job in
computers but I will be 44 then so I don't know what would be
available to me, locally. I like Shreveport and do not want to
move. You can view my website at
http://www.marysalvail.com
I am also
involved in the Papillon Club of America and our online
community of Papillon dog lovers, called Papfriends. No, I don't
show or breed dogs or get into all of that stuff, I just like
them! We have several and I also run a 400+ member mailing list
of papillon fanciers. Go to
http://www.papfriends.com
and you can see pictures of the breed. I have the website and
the mailing list and both keep me quite busy. I have attended
the PCA National Specialty the past two years and we have had
"dog friends" come and visit and stay with us. Thanks to the
internet, I have made some lifelong friends. I have also been
asked to be the webmaster for the history website of the
Papillon Club of America which involves getting over 50 years of
history online. It is an enormous project but worthwhile. I just
started it but if you want to take a look, it is at
http://www.marysalvail.com/history
.
Bill Hayford,
my significant other, has already been tagged so you know his
story. We met when he was selling Hondas and went on a test
drive. I went back about a week later and he came running out of
the showroom as he remembered me. On that test drive, he asked
me out and I said to him, "Look, you don't have to ask me out
just to get me to buy a car." He was insistent so I told him he
could call me. When he called and asked me out, I said, "Listen,
I am a Cincinnati Reds fan and the World Series is this weekend
and I don't want to miss it. Also, LSU football is on and I
don't want to miss that". Bill called me the next day and said
he had found a Mexican Restaurant that would have the World
Series on the small tvs and LSU on the big screen so what could
I say? (it was where Monjuni's is now, on Youree) That was
October 20, 1990, and we have been together ever since.
Sports have
always been important to me. I played softball from 6th-12th
grade but we were always playing baseball in the neighborhood. I
was a huge fan of the Big Red Machine in the 1970s and believe
that Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame! While I follow all
sports, Baseball is my love. Mom's love of the Braves rubbed off
on me years ago and I am a big fan. They are having a great
season and there had better not be a strike! Do any of you
listen to Sportstalk Radio on 1130am from 8-11 each morning? If
you do, you have heard them say "Mary says this" or "Mary says
that"...well that is me! I send instant messages to Darrell
Rebouche and Tim Fletcher during their shows and they often
comment on what I am saying. I have been listening to them for
several years but never call. Too shy, I guess.
Whew, is this
enough? I think so. In closing I want to say that I really enjoy
the Woodward list and I think it has helped to bring all of us
closer. I often think that my brother, Mike, would have
absolutely loved this list, don't you agree? I still miss him
terribly. I hope our little list continues for many, many years
and that as times goes on, we get even more family members
onboard.
I have given a
lot of thought as to who I want to tag. ASHLEY WOODWARD,
you are hereby tagged by your favorite niece! I can't wait to
hear your story. If you don't feel like typing it all out, call
me and I will be happy to do it, just like I did mom's.
All
stories/memories in this story are mine and therefore, not
disputable! LOL!
ASHLEY
WOODWARD
Ashley Thomas Woodward - Born on 4/3/31
on the outskirts of Campti, LA on a dirt road leading to a place
called Clouds Crossing on Black Lake. I think all the older
brothers and sisters were born there too. I think Ellen, Marie
and Mackie were born in Campti. Daddy planted the few acres in
corn, cotton, and vegetables after he worked at the saw mill
every day. It was about 3 miles outside of Campti. I think we
lived there because of Mama's Mama.
In the mid 30's we moved to Campti in a
shack, but we called it home. That's where the 3 younger sisters
were born. I started school when I was 5 yrs. old because Mama
couldn't keep James in school unless I went. She would take him
to school and he would beat her back home, so I've been told. We
went to a Catholic school called St. Cecelia's Convent. It was a
3 room school with two or three grades in one room. The nuns
were very strict. One tried to make me sing in music class.
After a few licks with the thick yard stick, she convinced me
that I could sing. I don't remember all of the other times the
yard stick came into play, but most of the time it was for
altercations on the school grounds with another boy and his
sister. We had an ongoing thing throughout my elementary years.
We then had to go to high school in the 8th grade, and the first
thing was a fight with the same boy. After a trip to the
principle's office and a few whacks with a paddle that had a
hole in it, we were friends afterward.
Some time in the late 30's, Mama
convinced Daddy to buy a piece of land (11 acres) not too far
from where we were living. The man lived in Natchitoches, but
before he moved to Natchitoches, he had owned a grocery store on
that property. One of Mama's brothers was a wild one. He thought
he was Wild Bill. He went into the store a little on the high
side and the man tried to put him out and a wrestling match
occurred. The man's ear was bitten off. I'm surprised he sold
them the property. I think the cost of the property was $100. It
took forever to pay off. I think Daddy was making $12 a week and
had nine kids to feed. He got lots of help from his sister, Aunt
Edna, and his Dad, Grandpa Woodward.
Aunt Edna worked at a dry goods store and
Grandpa owned a grocery store. I used to help in the store at
different times. One summer he wanted me to paint the metal roof
on his store. Not knowing any better, I put the ladder next to
an electric line. I was going to pull myself up on the roof and
caught the line with one hand on the roof. Luckily it knocked me
off the ladder and onto the ground. Someone else painted the
roof. I used to spend the night with Aunt Edna. It was nice to
get up and she would have a good breakfast fixed. Cornflakes and
bananas or breakfast sausage, eggs and toast. My other favorite,
Aunt Emeline, took up a lot of time with me. She also lived on
the dirt road to Clouds Crossing. I spent a lot of nights with
her. Her son was in service and when he came home she would also
feed me good. Fried chicken for breakfast or pork chops. That
was a lot different than what we were used to.
Back to my side of the story. In the
summer time we used to have to work for the nuns (for free)
doing odd jobs like cutting grass or cleaning class rooms. One
summer James and I had to paint the inside of a water tank
(cistern) which caught rain water that was the main water
supply. It was an asphalt base paint and we had a small hole to
crawl in and out. We could only stay a few minutes at a time. We
finally got through, but we were cooked from our waist to the
top of our head. The skin peeled to another layer. Needless to
say, the nun got an ear full from Mama. I don't think we worked
there any more. As we got a little older, we had a lot of odd
jobs like peeling poles, cutting pulp wood, loading crossties,
loading telephone poles, and fence posts.
In our spare time we played summer
baseball and went to the movies on Saturday nights (tent shows).
Don't want to forget the time we tied Teny to a rocking chair,
put a rope around it, pulled her off the porch and broke her
arm. She was not the only one who played with paper dolls. I had
a shoe box full of my own. I also spent a lot of time under the
house (it was high off the ground) building dirt roads and
playing with small cars and trucks. Daddy built the house mostly
by himself in his spare time. It was one bedroom, dining room
and kitchen on one side. One bedroom and a long room that had 3
or 4 beds for the smaller kids on the other side. It didn't have
a living room. The front bedroom was used as a multipurpose
room. It had the only wood burning heater in the house. That's
where we spent most of our winter evenings. We had oil burning
lamps and we had to do homework with those lamps. I don't think
much homework got completed. Finally in the early 40's,
during World War Two, Mama got running water and electricity. We
still had to use the outhouse. We had to serve the priests as
alter boys during our years at the convent. I don't remember if
it was voluntary or not, but sometimes I think we were forced to
get up early to go
serve at 6:30 mass. I enjoyed it at times though. I was more
interested in sports (softball, track and basketball) than
academics after getting established in high school. I was better
than fair in all sports, but I liked basketball the best.
Although, I did win 3rd place in district at track (22.7 in 220
yd. dash). Me and two more boys went to state that year. We had
to go without a chaperone, so it was quite an experience for
three people who had never rode on a train before. The morning
we were supposed to run we got large milkshakes. Needless to
say, I got about halfway in the competition and got sick and had
to leave the track. I ran the 220 yd. dash. One guy ran the 100
and the other threw the shot put and javelin. We came back with
a lot of experience and had fun.
I met Mary as a result of being able to
play basketball where we had a lot of contact. She was on the
girl's basketball team (they played half court). I must say she
was a pretty good forward. We started dating in our junior year
and through our senior year. I guess it was my good looks that
attracted her, and I thought the same about her except she had
the brains to go with her good looks. She was valedictorian of
her class. We finished school in May. Some things between May
and July are a bit fuzzy. As I remember, James and Aunt Emeline
had a big part in us getting married. James could drive and he
took me over to Natchitoches for the blood test and license. I
think Chubby Robinson knew a Justice of the Peace in Coushatta
and they made the arrangements, so we got married on Sunday
night. We spent most of the night at Aunt Emeline's and then I
took Mary home. I had already signed up to go in the army, so I
left Monday morning to go to Natchitoches. James was the driver
again.
After eight weeks of basic training, I got to come home. Aunt
Emeline told Mama what we had done (gotten married) after about
two or three weeks. I guess she took it calmly. This was July,
1948. I got assigned to Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Mary
came and we lived in a duplex with another couple (older) and I
guess they kind of showed us the ropes. In May of 1950 Thomas
Wayne was born in Fort Jackson. While I was at Fort Jackson I
worked in a branch of the Post Office. Before that I went to a
clerical school and got a MOS to do office work. It wasn't long
before they shipped me to Fort Benning, GA. We didn't stay at
Ft. Benning long when the Korean War broke out and I was shipped
overseas. We first went to Japan then they sent us to Seoul
Korea.
At Ft. Benning they put me in the
Quartermaster Corp. We had the responsibility of getting the
food supplies to the front line. That was a break because we
stayed behind the lines. Each company would send us a list of
how many people they had to feed and we had to break down how
many cans, pounds of rice (dried fish if Korean), and C rations,
etc. per man. I was fortunate to be a platoon leader (Staff
Sgt.) so I didn't have to do a lot of the work. My biggest job
was to assign the different jobs. We also had a lot of Korean
labor. They worked 12 hr. shifts on two bowls of rice the size
of a small cantaloupe. Sometimes dried fish. At first it was
difficult to see the way the Koreans were treated, but after a
while you got used to it. We moved pretty close to the Chinese
border, but that didn't last long. We had to retreat. That's
when I lost all my possessions. The pictures were what I regret
losing. The clothes and shoes I had replaced. When we got back
to a safe distance we stopped and set up camp at night. It
rained that night and we were in an old rice field. The water
got about six inches deep. When we woke up we were floating on
our air mattress. Wouldn't you know someone stole my boots. A
trip to the Quartermaster that handled clothes fixed me up with
a new supply. After being in Korea one year, I was eligible to
come home. They put all of us who were eligible in trucks and
took us to the port to catch a ship. While waiting on the ship,
President Truman extended everybody for a year. They loaded us
back up and sent us back to our outfit. It didn't bother me as
much as some of the older men. We had to stay another 6 months.
When that was up, the C.O. wanted me to stay another 6 months to
help train the new replacements. I told him no way. When we got
to Japan some of the guys saw him in the airport headed home.
After I came back home, I went to Fort Polk and got discharged.
I came home and worked for J. B. Beaird
making shells for the services. I did that for 2 years and they
closed down. I went to the painters local and they placed me
with Schexnaidre's. Then life began, Buddy, Ricky, Dennis, Kay,
and finally Doug. As the years passed, I started coaching Buddy,
Ricky, and Dennis in baseball. Ricky in basketball. Then Doug
got big enough to play so I coached him in football, basketball
and baseball. That's another story. We had some very successful
years. After coaching, we went to ball games to watch Doug play
and Kay cheer. We traveled a few miles with the cheerleaders. I
worked as a painter and estimator for 27 years. In 1979, Mr.
Schexnaidre passed away and in 1980 we went to the bank and they
agreed to lend a large sum of money to buy the company. It was a
big step. It was an established company so it worked out very
well. It helped to send kids to college, buy cars, a nice home,
office building, and shop. It also helped to provide a living
for some family members.
Thank the Lord I have always been healthy
up until October, 1997 when I had an operation for cancer in the
thyroids. They removed both thyroids and was supposed to have
gotten it all. I continued to have follow ups and in January,
2002 they decided it had reoccurred. After some tests, they
operated again on April 2nd. The operation was fine except a
tooth was knocked out which later I had pulled. While in the
hospital Kay brought Amanda, Drew and Tyler for a visit and the
bandage got too tight around my neck and I thought I was going
to suffocate and they were trying to loosen it. I think it
scared 3 kids half to death. In May I went back for a follow up
and we felt like the doctor was not doing all he was supposed to
so we changed doctors. Mary convinced me to go see an oncologist
(cancer doctor) the first of July. He looked at my records and
sent me for a CT. The results are he found cancer in my lungs.
Since then I have had a bone scan and a head scan. They didn't
find anything. Right now I have been going to an endocrinologist
for blood tests and he did the bone thing. In October I am going
on an iodine free diet to reduce the iodine in my body. On
October 15th I am going to take a radioactive iodine pill in
hopes it will reduce the cancer. If not, I might have to take
chemo. I went to the doctor today and will have a biopsy done
after the radioactive iodine treatment.
I know I have left out a lot because
there is a lot of things that happen to a person with 71 years
behind them.
-
Riding horses with a black playmate
-
Picking cotton
-
Stealing watermelons & sugar cane that
belonged to Papa Woodward. I don't think he cared. He had
plenty.
-
Slipping off to swim in Red River
-
Hitch hiking to Shreveport
Camping out every weekend with the kids
-
First grandchild and etc.
-
50th Anniversary
-
Caring for mother-in-law in her aging
years
Hunting birds during winter and roasting them on a bed of
coals
-
Watching blacks baptize on the small
lake close by
-
Sleeping with the black lady (Alma)
while Mama was away
-
Killing hogs in winter and using all
the parts for food (like blood pudding)
-
We also used wash pots to boil clothes
before washing
-
Water well that had to be drawn by a
metal bucket
-
Climbing cherry trees and eating wild
cherries until you got dizzy
Well, I guess that's it. I hope it wasn't too boring. I now
tag my sister,
Ellen Barr.
ELLEN BARR
I guess I will start this somewhere, thanks
again, Ashley.
I don't remember a lot of Campti stuff...We
went to the convent at Campti and like Ashley I remember going and
doing things for the nuns and for a priest there, Father
Carpenter, we liked to roam around upstairs at the convent it was
creepy.
I took piano lessons from a nun, Sis. Helena,
one day I didn't really want to go, because it took up part of my
lunch hour, she sent for me and I told the girl to tell her "she
ate her lunch, let me eat mine" the girl told her that, when I
started to my lesson I met Sister Helena coming after
me...needless to say I wasn't late again.
Mama had this black lady, Alma, that helped us,
she lived across the pasture from us, I guess we liked her about
as well as Mama. We would walk her home and sometimes get to stay
for awhile. I remember going to her church too.
We played with a black boy named Ephram and
going to a baptism at a pond or some sort of water.
Daddy raised peanuts and we could go out to the
shed and eat as many as we wanted.
We had an outhouse, and I surely didn't like
that!!!!!!!!
Ashley and James didn't pick on us like they
did Teny but maybe Mama wouldn't let them.
We had a storm pit and when it came a storm, we
would have to get up and go out there, sometimes we would spend
the whole night and be so sleepy to go to school the next day. The
neighbors knew we would be down there and they would come up and
stay there too.
Teny would come down and bring Linda, and later
Punkin, we would beg her to leave them and sometimes she would.
Now Ronnie that was a different story, he had colic a lot, so we
didn't want him to stay. LOL
We always looked forward to birthdays and Xmas,
we knew Betty and Teny would get us new outfits, we would have
something new to wear to Midnight Mass. Aunt Edna (Daddy's sister)
would give us a roll of nickels($2) we thought we were rich.
Daddy played cards or dominos with us or
sometimes they would go play and we would be up half of the night.
I guess that's where we got that from, after we got married) going
to each others house playing poker until early morning and if you
won over $2 you had a good night. LOL
I keep saying "we" and that means Me, Aunt
Marie and Mackie, I guess we did everything together whether we
wanted to or not!!! Movies, dance lessons and swimming.
I went to Campti High School in the 8th grade
and met Crawford...We had to write what we wanted to do when we
graduated and I wrote (as a joke) "to marry Crawford and have a
lot of little cotton pickers" The teachers saw us girls laughing
and made me read it to the class. He nick-named me "Peanut" ( I
was short and a lot thinner) He went into the Air Force when I was
a senior.
I came to Shreveport and Betty got me a job
stuffing envelopes at Selber Bros. I got a job at Southern Bell
(now Bell South) as a directory assistance operator, making $37.50
a week.
Crawford came home on leave in Oct. 1951 and I
was working a split shift, we went to a movie, he had the
engagement ring and asked me to marry him, we were married the
following April 7, 1952
I lived with Ruby and Ferdie when I came to
Shreveport, right behind St. Johns. I moved to an apartment on the
corner of Jordan and Louisiana until I moved to San Antonio to
live (Crawford was stationed there) we stayed there until he got
out in 1955.
Sue Ellen was born in Texas in 1953. She had
something wrong with her heart so we were in and out of the
hospital for a year until her heart got regulated.
We lived with Brother and Peggy for awhile and
Crawford worked for WonderBread. We lived in a duplex with Mama
and I tried to go back to work, with Mama keeping Sue Ellen but it
was too hard with just one car and the crazy hours at the
telephone Co. so I quit again.
Bobbi was born in 1956, we lived on Kent St.
across the street from Mama and Daddy. We lived on the corner of
Morningside and Kent when I was pregnant with Jimmy. We moved to
Bossier on Northside Dr. where Jimmy was born, Betty drove me to
the hospital. Teny kept Bobbi and Mama kept Sue Ellen.
We bought a house on Fairfax and the kids went
to Holy Rosary. We moved to Oak Ridge when Jimmy was in
kindergarten. That's where Robert was born.
I went back to work when Robert started school,
and retired with Bell South with 25 years.
Everyone knows about my trips to see Willie
Nelson from Okla. Dallas and cow pastures. Also our trips to see
Elvis, alive or dead, we don't care.
4 children, 10 GRANDCHILDREN, and 4
GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.
Now you know everything, almost. I may as well
keep it in the sibling family....I tag Betty Jo, even though
she doesn't own a computer.
BETTY JO WOODWARD GAY
I am the oldest living child
of the nine children of Willie and Vivian Woodward; therefore, I
have the most memories. My memories of the EARLY years were those
of the Depression, World War II, and Prohibition. I will tell a
few.
When I was very young we lived in Milltown which was a row of
houses owned by the sawmill where daddy worked. We owned a Model
T-Ford. One day when we were four or five years old, “Brother” and
I were in the car and he started the car and ran into a house down
the street. I guess you could say the car was wrecked.
As for living on the farm, most of us remember Daddy walking us
to church every Sunday (3 miles). He would visit his mother, who
was sick in bed with diabetes, while we were at church. She always
had some hidden change under her pillow that she gave us. One
Sunday when we were going to church, we found two $20 bills and one
$10 bill in front of a “joint.” I guess a drunk lost it the night
before. Mama gave it to two cousins that lived with us off and on.
They needed to go to Alexandria to see their daddy that was in the
hospital. He had been shot while in front of one of the “joints” in
Campti. He died shortly after they visited him.
While living on the farm, we had plenty to eat. We raised a
cow, chickens, turkeys, geese, and pigs. Daddy hunted squirrels,
rabbits, etc. We had the famous apple sandwiches to take for our school lunches.
I have told Carol about them, but she doesn't believe me. Grandma
Goodson lived nearby. She had lots of guinea. We would eat guinea
gumbo. The eggs were small and hard to break but they made good
Easter eggs. We would use green leaves, tea, or whatever we could
find to dye our eggs.
Daddy planted cotton. There was a small cotton gin and a syrup
mill near us. I do not know the details, I know mules were hooked
up to stir the syrup. They would go around and around a container
that was about eight feet in diameter. There was a fire under the
container. Watching that process was very exciting to me.
It was fun to go into the woods at Christmas time to cut down a
holly tree. To light the tree we had clamp-on candle-holders for our
candles. They were made for Christmas trees. I don’t know how we
did not burn the house down. Sometimes, we would gather around
daddy's chair and he would read the Sunday funnies to us. At the
beginning of school every year, mama made us two new dresses and
Aunt Edna gave us a pair of shoes. When I got old enough, I helped
with the sewing.
There are some Prohibition and white-lightning stories. Daddy
and our uncle made whiskey in the woods by the branch water. I
think this was a one-time thing. My uncle liked it too well. They
tried to hide this activity from the kids.
We moved back to Campti in 1935. We continued to go to the
Catholic school. In the 7th grade, there were two, Ruby and I. She
and I were the only ones in the choir at the church. I can’t even
carry a tune. We went to Campti High from the 8th grade through the
11th grade. The 12th grade was added later. By the way, I did not
fail a grade. Ruby read all of my books and she knew a lot when she
started to school. The Sisters promoted her. In high school I
worked for $15.oo a month keeping the first aid room cleaned.
After graduation in 1940, I attended Normal (NSU) for a few
semesters. Students in Natchitoches Parish were bused to school.
To help pay school fees, I worked in Mr. Weaver’s office, Mama’s
cousin.
The stories of World War II are too numerous to mention, but I
will tell one. The day Brother was drafted, He and I with several
rowdy friends stayed up all night. He was supposed to be in
Natchitoches by 7. We all went over there with him. After training,
he was sent to England as a radio man. During that time, I attended
business school in Shreveport. After about three years Brother
returned to the United States. He called me from the bus station on
his way to Campti.
In 1947, I moved in with Teny and Chester. They did not have
any children. When I moved out in 1953, they had four. I went to
work for Selber Brothers in 1947 as a cashier. My final job was
collection manager. I retired in 1987. During these years, I
worked part-time for six years when Carol was young and sick a lot.
I went back to work full-time. I did dress my family well,
especially Carol. I used to send her clothes on the bus when she
was at La. Tech. I have always loved nice, pretty clothes. When I
was a kid, I hated the secondhand clothes from our cousins.
In 1944, I got on a bus at Campti to goto Shreveport. There was
not a seat available. A nice Coast Guard guy, dressed in uniform,
gave me his seat. After that, he wrote me letters and sent me
pictures. I did not answer. A few months after his discharge in
1946, I had a date with him. That date did not go well. In 1950 we
had another date. That date was better. I took him to Campti.
Mama cooked a big meal with all the trimmings. I think the meat
was chicken. She cooked meat pies also. Meat pies were her
specialty and he did not eat any, which surprised me, because he ate
everything. He thought they were fruit pies for dessert. He had
never eaten a meat pie. His mother made fruit pies. In 1952, we
did not miss a Texas League baseball game. They were the champions
and we were known as the couple on the 3rd baseline. I was always
very thin. He told me that when I weighed 100 pounds, he would
marry me. I got up to 98 lbs,so in 1953 I married him. In March of
1955 we bought a house in Bossier City for $64 a month. This is my
current residence. Over the years, there was hunting, fishing,
card-playing, dominoes, football, soccer, and Florida vacations.
In 1955 we adopted a baby girl, Carol. Carol married Paul
Adkins in 1980. Carol got her BA degree from La Tech and her
Masters from LSU-BR. She is now an Associate Professor of History at
Bossier Parish Community College. Paul went to Louisiana Tech and
then to LSU Law School. He is a partner with Blanchard, Walker,
O’Quin & Roberts in Shreveport. They had a baby boy in 1984, Paul,
Jr. He is now a freshman at LSU in Baton Rouge, majoring in
engineering. My husband, Carl (Duck) Gay, was deceased in July of
1991.
There are lots of stories to tell. Enough for a book or two;
some good, some not so good, some funny, some sad. This is enough for me for now.
I tag Paul Salvail
Betty Woodward Gay
September 18, 2002
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Carl &
Betty Jo Gay |
 |
Uncle Duck
Napping |
PAUL SALVAIL
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