An update on Jackson Kennedy

I blogged about young Jackson Kennedy several times back in 2008 and 2009. Jackson, 7 at the time, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2008. 

It is back, and Jackson needs your help. Please do anything you can to help this family in the fight.
You can go to his page on Caring Bridge and read his story, and if you are able, make a donation.
There will also be a Wiffleball tournament on November 9th and 10th at the Benton Sports Complex to raise funds.

Some Bossier History

Our friend Pat has a good blog post in And so it Goes in Shreveport about a dedication today in Natchitoches at the grave of Dr. John Sibley, a soldier in the American Revolution. Please go to the link and read it, then come back and read the rest of the story.
The Bossier Connection

So what does that have to do with Bossier Parish?

After his wife in North Carolina passed away in 1811, Dr. Sibley married a young Natchitoches woman, Eulalie Malique, in 1813. They had a son, Rufus Sibley.

Rufus married Salina Gray Irwin, daughter of Jacob Irwin, who had been a gunsmith for Dr. Sibley at the Indian Agency. Jacob Irwin had located to Bossier Parish (or Claiborne Parish until it became Bossier in 1843), where he had a plantation on the river at Irwin’s Bluff. Jacob Irwin was married to Mary Edwards, who was the daughter of Larkin Edwards, the Caddo Interpreter who received a plot of land in the Caddo treaty that he sold to the Shreve Town Company in 1835.

Rufus and Salina Irwin Sibley

Rufus and Salina operated a stagecoach stop at Coleville, which is about 5 miles east of Benton. (There is a cemetery at Coleville where Eulalie Sibley, Jacob Irwin and Rufus & Salina are buried).

They raised their family at that location. Rufus built a small house on the property for his mother, Eulalie, and each week one of her granddaughters would stay with her to assist her with housekeeping and cleaning. The only caveat was that they had to speak French during that week, as she didn’t think too highly of the English language.

During reconstruction, the Sheriff of Bossier Parish seized two mules belonging to Rufus for failure to pay Spiritous Liquor taxes at the stagecoach stop. Rufus got a Shreveport lawyer and filed suit in Bossier Parish Court to recover his mules. He sued on the grounds that the Police Jury was not properly representative under the 14^th amendment and therefore any taxes they passed were null and void.

He won the case and the Sheriff had to return his two mules.

The picture below is of the oldest child of Rufus and Salina, Mary Helena Sibley, who married F. M. Hanks.

Mary Helena Sibley Hanks

The picture was taken in 1921, two years before her death. The license plate on the car gives it away.

To make a long story short, her daughter Vivian was my grandmother. She married R. E. Wallace in 1910. My mother was born in 1916, and then in 1947 I was her gift to Bossier Parish.

We're still around.

Vivian Hanks Wallace
Granddaughter of Rufus Sibley and
Great-Grandaughter of Dr. John Sibley.

To me she was just 'Bibby', my grandmother, and one of the most decent and loving people I ever knew in my life. She passed away in 1972. I think of my grandparents nearly every day.

The Funny Bone Award

Thank a Police Officer

It's Thank a Police Officer Day. To all of our BCPD, Shreveport PD, BPSO & CPSO officers, and to all in our extended area, thank you for your service to our communities.

Under the radar: School Board cuts crucial funding to classrooms

The Bossier Parish School Board made some cuts at their last meeting that will directly affect students and teachers. They voted to cut the parish per-student funds from $38 to $29. At the same meeting, technology was cut from $20 to $15, student fees from $10 to $8 and copier fees from $8 to $6.
For some schools, this may not have a drastic effect due to the affluence of the areas they serve. Benton Middle School raised $4,000 at a Sonic Night fundraiser, for example. Parkway, Airline and probably Haughton schools are capable of raising funds in their areas. Plain Dealing and Bossier High School, probably not so much.
Teachers copy allowances have been cut drastically, most teachers are having to pony up out of their own pockets just to make copies for class.
Of course, voters turned down propositions for employee raises and for technology. The main reason I heard at the time that the raises were denied was that the system was too top heavy, that if the money could go to teachers and lower tier employees, the vote would have been switched.
That, at least, is an out for the Board. They didn’t pay attention to the sentiment of the vote when they gave Superintendent D. C. Machen a $50,000 per year raise. I’m not saying that he should not be paid more in line with neighboring districts, this isn’t aimed at him. 
It is aimed at the Board for giving the Superintendent a raise that by itself exceeds the average income of Bossier Parish households at the same time that crucial classroom expenses are being cut.
I went to the School website to check the minutes of the meeting, but the last minutes posted are for August 1st.  It will be interesting to see who voted yea and nay.
A School Board special election is coming up in october for Dr. Brigham’s seat. It will be interesting to see what those candidates think of the cuts. Someone needs to ask them.
I volunteer. More later!

3000 Flags

For 3000 people. On Beckett Street across from City Hall.

This and That

I know it's been a while since I posted anything, just a little case of being burned out. I have been keeping up with Funny Bone Guy's rants (or FBG, as it has been shortened for convenience).

FBG is pretty entertaining. I've quit deleting his posts since no one takes them seriously at all. 

I was very happy to learn that I own a high-rise office building on Airline. I've never seen a high-rise on Airline, it must have gone up quickly, and I really would like to know where it is. Clue me in, FBG.

We have some interesting races coming up next year, mostly the Judicial ones. I have a feeling that will be a free for all. I'll look at them soon.

Anyway, the blog is back.

As a side note, Bill Moore had asked me when I was going to start blogging again. I had no idea that the next blog post I put up after he asked would be one about his passing.

Bill, I hope you're looking down on us, and on this blog, Cartman will live on forever.

Bill Moore

I was shocked to learn of the death of Bill Moore. I first met Bill a couple of years ago, although I already felt that I knew him somewhat. Bill was one of the good guys, smart, funny and had a great personality. 

He commented often on My Bossier using the name Cartman. Bill and I kept up on Facebook, interacting pretty much daily along with our friend Andy and a couple of other 'regulars'. 

Some of you will remember Bill from Benton High School, where he taught math after he retired from the Air Force.

Bill was very proud of his son Mike, with good reason. His granddaughter Sara was the apple of his eye; he loved being a grandpa.

Bill is survived by his wife, Gin, Mike, Sara and daughter-in-law Carrie. His full obituary will be in the paper in the next day or so. Visitation will be Thursday evening and the funeral Friday morning at Rose-Neath Bossier.

Bill, you will truly be missed. The world is a better place because you were here.

Happy Fourth of July

Celebrate the day. Give thanks for what our forefathers established for us in this country, and for the sacrifices made to keep it.
Listen to our official 'national march', The Stars and Stripes Forever, written by John Philip Sousa, who was appropriately enough the leader of the Marine Band.
He wrote the march in 1896 on Christmas day, on a ship headed back to the U.S. after a long European vacation. He said that he was homesick, and was thinking about the flag flying over the White House. 

My Bossier Buy, Sell & Trade Page on Facebook

For all of Bossier Parish, if you're on Facebook go join the group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/516885078378875/