The Louisiana Tech Bowling Team added Stephen F. Austin transfer Frances Davila, head coach Matt Nantais announced on Tuesday.
“We’re really excited to have Frances join us from SFA,” Nantais said. “Transferring as a senior is never easy, but having someone with her experience and leadership is going to be a tremendous boost for our team. If you look at her stats during her time at Stephen F. Austin, it’s clear she brings exactly what we need here at Louisiana Tech-toughness, consistency, and a winning mindset.”
Davila helped lead SFA to a 70-41 record with a trip to the Arlington Regional Championship match. The Ladyjacks had a 213-130 record in her three seasons.
This past season, Davila saw action as the leadoff bowler for SFA, where she ranked 14th in the country with a 46.9 leadoff strike percentage with a 44.4 overall strike percentage.
The San Antonio native had a 19.55 average per frame. She led the Ladyjacks with a 73.6 spare percentage while also finishing with an 87 percent conversion rate on single pins.
During her high school career, she would make the All-Tournament team at every high school tournament she competed in. She won the 2019 Texas High School Team State Championship, the inaugural Best of Texas Scratch Singles Championship in 2021, the 2021 Greater San Antonio Girls City Scratch Championship, and finished eighth at the 2023 Teen Masters.
Grambling State Univeristy men’s basketball head coach Patrick Crarey II announced the addition of Desmin Wade to his staff as general manager and assistant coach.
Wade comes to Grambling State after leading James Hubert Blake High School to a 91-35 record. During the 5 year tenure they won 4 Division Championships, a County Championship, with 5 Regional Championship appearances.
Wade led the Bengals to a 19-1 regular season record in 2024-2025 (tied for the best record in the state of Maryland). The Bengals finished top 25 in the Washington Post All Met Sports ranking. The Bengals regular season success led to Wade being named James Hubert Blake Coach of the Year. Blake saw the nation’s top ranked player in the sophomore class according to ESPN, Baba Oladotun, become the first basketball student athlete to be selected First Team All-Met in school history.
Prior to his tenure at Blake, Wade served as the head coach at High Point High School, where he led the team to its first regional final in over 15 years during the 2018–19 season.
Before High Point, Wade spent three seasons at Washington Adventist University (WAU) in Takoma Park, Maryland. One year as a graduate assistant earning his master’s degree and two years as Defensive Coordinator/ Director of Basketball Operations. In 2014, the Shock was able to capture a National Championship.
Wade is a native of Forestville, Maryland, and played guard at WAU for two seasons. Before that, he played at Montgomery College Germantown, ranked 4th in the junior college rankings in 2008.
John Robert Franklin was born 07 February 1946 and passed from this life on 14 June 2025 at 79 years.
John was the only child of James A Franklin and Lois M Johns Franklin. He married Shirley Sue Goins. His parents and wife predeceased him.
John is survived by his sons, Michael Franklin (Blake) and Joshua Franklin (Jennifer) and his grandsons Bryce Franklin and Trent Franklin.
He went by many names including Dad, Papaw, Uncle John, Big John, Thumper, Papa John, and a few Sue called him we aren’t going to mention.
John worked hard in spite of the fact he was a polio survivor. His first job was welding. He was taught by his Dad at age 11. By the time he was 13 he had his own welding truck that he would take down to Tullos to work on rigs. Of course he would have to skip school but welding paid better. Throughout his life, John worked a variety of jobs including logger, truck driver, drove the hearse for Southern Funeral home as their “body lifter”, and a carpenter.
John could build anything he set his mind to. In his early years he built hot rods. His favorite was a Yellow Olds 442 with white interior. He built a trike out of a VW Karmann Ghia and rebuilt some of the wrought iron works when they were renovating Natchitoches. John and Sue worked together renovating and remodeling homes and businesses until retirement. John greatly appreciated craftsmanship in all things.
He savored life’s simple pleasures- a cup of black coffee shared with his buddies, swapping stories, afternoons in the bleachers cheering on his grandson, and quiet evenings watching Sue with her horses.
Through marriage to Sue he inherited a huge family that will miss him greatly!
A memorial service will be held at The Baptist Church of Choudrant, June 30, 2025 at 5:30 pm. Immediately after, a pot luck supper will be held in their family life center. John always enjoyed a good “eating meeting” so to honor him, please bring any dish he loved or you think he would love.
Leigh Ann Griffith June 30, 1971 – June 21, 2025 Funeral Service: Thursday, June 26, 2025, 10:00 AM, Living Water Full Gospel Church, 131 Oak St, Dubach
Billy Jack Talton March 16, 1940 – June 18, 2025 Visitation: Temple Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, Friday, June 27, 2025, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Service: Temple Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, Saturday, June 28, 2025, 2:00 pm Cemetery: New Chapel Hill Cemetery, Saturday, June 28, 2025
Trucy Mae Hudson Tuesday 03/06/1928 — Saturday 06/14/2025 Visitation: Friday 06/27/2025 3:00pm to 6:00pm at King’s Funeral Home Celebration of Life: Saturday 06/28/2025 1:00pm at King’s Funeral Home Interment: Saturday 06/28/2025 Following Service, Ebenezer Cemetery, Parish Road 214, Ruston
Ronald Lora Foster April 28, 1948 – June 12, 2025 Graveside service: Saturday, June 28, 2025, 3:00 PM, New Ebenezer Cemetery, Castor
CHOUDRANT, La. — As part of the April 2024 bond proposal passing, Lincoln School District No. 6 was awarded a total of $2 million for upgrades at both Choudrant High School and Choudrant Elementary.
“Both of these projects have started,” Lincoln Parish School Board Superintendent Ricky Durrett said. “We’re really trying to get the best we can for the proposition that was passed out there. I think the Choudrant community will be happy with the end result.”
The multipurpose facility at the high school is set for completion around Christmas 2025 and will be located close to the softball and baseball complexes.
“We are very excited about the construction of the multipurpose building that started last week,” Choudrant High Principal Chris Jones said. “It is going to be 4,000 square feet and half will be used for weights and the other half will be an area for cheer and dance to practice. Right now we are practicing six teams in two gyms and we have a weight room that is only 800 sqare feet. Our weight room is going to be converted into a classroom and alleviate some crowding in the halls.
“This building will also give us an area to test for CLEP and we plan on using it for small banquets and special events. We can’t thank the Choudrant community enough for investing in these facilities for our students.”
The elementary school classrooms are expected to be completed in February of 2026, and restroom facilities will also be added in the process.
“I am very excited about our new upcoming classroom additions,” Choudrant Elementary Principal Jennifer Martin said. “We are adding three new classrooms which will help with our student to teacher ratios. Reducing class sizes will have an immediate positive impact on our learning environment.
“Our 3rd-5th graders (245 students) have been sharing two restrooms. This has been a challenge during busy times like lunch and transitions between classes. Another set of restrooms will help reduce wait time and help to make our day run smoother with less missed instruction time. I am very thankful to the Choudrant voters who made these additions possible.”
Mann Construction was awarded the bid for both projects.
Ruston Police Chief Eric Watson held his first “Chat with the Chief” session with local citizens Monday night, outlining some of his vision for the agency and fielding numerous questions from the audience.
The meeting in the King’s Funeral Home chapel is the first of several anticipated informal “chats” with the new chief aimed at community engagement and open dialogue.
Watson was introduced by host Carolyn Cage, a member of the Ruston City Council who also serves on the staff at King’s.
As a brief opening statement, Watson related his background as a “small town kid” from Arcadia who attended Simsboro School, Cedar Creek, and Louisiana Tech who worked several years as a patrol officer for RPD before moving on to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for 25 years.
Watson said he and his wife of 32 years loved their time living in Ruston in the 90s, so he was very interested in returning to Ruston when the chief’s position opened up.
He then launched into several topics, including his vision for the Ruston Police Department, his desire to substantially increase the agency’s use of technology in fighting crime, and the challenges of properly staffing the organization with quality officers.
Following the presentation, Watson invited questions from citizens, who queried him on subjects ranging from an unresolved homicide to how the department handles the mentally ill to complaints about speeders on certain streets.
Vision
Watson said he expects RPD officers to work proactively while interacting with the public positively.
“I’ve told the guys . . . that I intend for this police department to take on a little bit different look while I’m here,” Watson said. “And that’s not disparaging the police department now. But I believe that law enforcement should always be a professional organization. And in doing so, we should look professional, and we should address the public in a professional way . . . And I feel like if we have enough people saying that they had a positive encounter, the number that say they had a negative encounter is going to go down.”
“One of the first things that I told the guys when I started work here [is], we’re not a police department that’s going to sit in a parking lot looking at Netflix all night. We are not that department.” He described officers being proactive in searching for criminal activity while treating the public with respect.
Technology
Watson said he and Mayor Ronny Walker are working with federal representatives to secure major grants for new policing technology. “It’s going to be expensive,” Watson said, but noted indications that federal funding is a strong possibility.
Included in Watson’s proposal are better body-worn and in-car video cameras, surveillance cameras in strategic locations that dispatchers can see when receiving calls of trouble, and license plate readers. Watson envisions a technology center housed at city hall where staff can monitor ongoing situations almost immediately before patrol officers ever reach the scene.
Watson said he loves body-worn cameras. “I’m telling you right now, it saves my officers on complaints,” he said. “If I get a complaint about something that happened on a traffic stop, I go straight in there, turn the computer on and watch the video and I can see everything that happened. Remarkably, it changes a lot of people’s minds when they want to file that complaint.”
He noted those videos usually exonerate officers rather than confirm bad behavior.
Staffing
One of the hurdles the department must jump according to Watson is the need for more staffing but it’s difficult to find highly qualified applicants.
“We are trying very hard to hire people right now,” Watson said. “When I left the police department—this is a little bit embarrassing—in 1998, we had about 40 police officers. Right now, on the streets in Ruston, I have 32.” Divide that by four shifts, he said, and that’s few officers working at any given time.
Mayor Walker interjected, “There’s two departments that can hire until I tell them to stop: fire and police. . . because that’s public safety. And I guarantee you everybody in this room wants public safety to be number one on my chart.”
Along with staffing comes the need for increased funding for training, the chief added.
Questions
Once Watson invited public comment, he fielded about two dozen questions. One woman asked about the status of a homicide case. Watson said RPD had made an arrest, but the suspect had not been indicted. Several complained about traffic issues such as speeders. Watson acknowledged he receives similar calls about traffic every week and that the agency uses a court-funded overtime program for officers to conduct traffic enforcement on days when they aren’t working their regular shifts.
A lengthy discussion covered the frustrations of limited options for effectively dealing with the mentally ill, an issue Watson said is as exasperating for police as it is for the public.
Other questions asked about the presence of gangs and human trafficking in the area.
Watson pleaded for the public’s help in the fight against crime, citing a homicide on Easter Sunday when approximately 100 people were present, but RPD did not receive a single phone call with information about the crime. He also asked for patience as the police department evolves.
“I want you to know we’re going to make mistakes,” Watson stated. “You know, anytime somebody’s trying to change things and make it better, there’s going to be mistakes. And we’re going to look back and go, eh, I probably shouldn’t have done it that way. I should probably do it this way.
“I told the mayor, look back next March—March will be a year that I went to work here—and look at this police department in a year. And I think you’ll see some positive changes for everybody.”
Watson and Mayor Walker thanked those present for their engagement and feedback. Both stressed ongoing openness to public input and the importance of mutual respect and partnership for community safety going forward.
Watson is available to schedule a “chat with the chief” with any entity by calling the chief’s secretary at 318-255-4141.
(This is part of a series on the 11 projects designed and built by classes in the Louisiana Tech School of Design at MedCamps of Louisiana.)
MedCamps Executive Director Caleb Seney: As part of our master plan we needed a flat level place to play field games as there was none at Camp Alabama. So we leveled a field, irrigated it, and planted grass. We needed a place to escape the heat, store games and equipment, and we wanted a small “press box” too. Arch335 answered the call. The Fieldhouse is complete with a restroom and has all the shade we need on hot days. It has also become home to our weekly horse riding program provided through our partnership with the Outdoor Wilderness Learning Center’s therapeutic riding program. In its second summer of use we are already expanding the possibilities of the fieldhouse and games field.
Tech Professor Brad Deal: The Field House marked a changing of the guard, with An Le, an alumna of the 2018 Zip Line Studio, returning as a co-instructor. The project delivered about 85 custom trusses fabricated by the students along with complete plumbing and electrical systems all while keeping things playful for the campers. Students did an excellent job repurposing the steel beams and trolleys, blending them with energetic red ribbon elements. Slide open the doors, and the place comes to life.
Program Summary:A new games field and field house for a summer camp for children with special needs.
Program Statement:This project transforms a simple storage need into a playful, energetic hub for summer camp field games. Located at the field’s corner, it utilizes perimeter earthen berms to capture the space while doubling as overflow seating. Inspired by “Ready, Set, GO!”, angular gestures throughout create a sense of movement, beckoning visitors to action. Reclaimed theater beams and trolleys create movable walls, elevating a mundane storage program into a dynamic gathering space with a water fountain, creative gear storage, and a custom rolling island. The floor plan includes secure and open storage areas, a restroom, and a shaded patio. The approach mimics entering a stadium tunnel, building anticipation as visitors ascend the entry slope to emerge onto the field. Sustainability is core to the design: the roof’s playful form is oriented north for extended shading and is fabricated entirely from reclaimed steel from local natural gas drilling operations. Solar-powered lights cast a gentle nighttime glow, when the project is not in use. The project has transformed the accessibility, comfort, and excitement around field games for its special needs users. Pro bono design services, educational labor, and abundant community support kept costs remarkably low for the non-profit client. This Field House doesn’t just store equipment; it ignites excitement for timeless summer traditions, embracing innovative and efficient design principles, without compromising form or user experience.
Project Team:
Professors: Brad Deal, An Le
Students: Cameron Barron, Justyn Brossett, Anna DeSadier, Luis Flores, Gabi Gambill, Coy Gammage, Nolan Gee, Ben McLain, Grace Monk, Kinslei Scroggs, Clarence Smith, Millie Smith, Leyton Spencer, Blayne Springer, Alex St Cyr, Everett Watson, Lillian Woodward, Matt Wright
MedCamps programs are completely free of charge to all campers with special needs. If you would like to support future projects at MedCamps, events, sponsor a campers attendance financially or volunteer please visit www.medcamps.org or email info@medcamps.org for more information.
A man who grabbed a female employee of a Ruston hotel thinking she was his sister was arrested on several offenses including battery of a police officer.
Kenneth Lamont Anderson, 41, of Ruston, was arrested at the Best Western hotel on June 14 after he allegedly refused to leave the property and punched a Ruston officer in the face.
RPD was called to the Best Western after an employee complained a man staying in the hotel grabbed her by the arm and was cursing her in the hallway.
Anderson’s girlfriend confirmed Anderson grabbed a woman because he thought was his sister, according to police.
Police told Anderson and his girlfriend to leave the hotel, but Anderson refused. He also refused to give officers his identification.
Police said Anderson had been drinking and was having difficulty keeping his balance.
When an officer grabbed Anderson’s wrist to detain him, Anderson punched the officer on the side of his face.
Another officer handcuffed Anderson while the first officer held Anderson with his Taser drawn.
Anderson was booked into the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for battery of a police officer, resisting an officer, and disturbing the peace.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox.Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
The Ruston Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance in identifying a suspect in a major shoplifting incident at a local store.
On the evening of May 29, several purses and some luggage valued over $800 was stolen from the TJ Maxx store in Ruston. The still captured from store video shows the alleged suspect pushing a shopping cart.
If you have any information regarding the identity of this person, please contact Investigator Davis at 318-255-4141.
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox.Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
Boys & Girls Clubs of North Louisiana will host its ninth annual Holiday Basketball Camp on FRIDAY, June 27th at the LA Tech Intramural Center. All sponsorships may be designated for locations where we now have Boys & Girls Clubs in our north central region: Arcadia, Dubach, Farmerville, Jonesboro and Ruston.
A total of 200 campers from all over north LA have already registered for this free basketball camp that includes not only meeting NBA Champion Justin Holiday but also receiving a camp shirt, lunch provided by The Springs Church and served by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff Department and of course an opportunity to hone their basketball skills. Justin shares his experience as a Club kid at the Boys & Girls Club of North Louisiana in Ruston, his life journey, his great love for family and his faith.
Justin Holiday resided in Ruston, Louisiana from 1995 – 1999. During that time, Justin and his family moved back to California in 1999 where he and his brother Jrue attended the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena. Justin and his family maintained many close friendships with families in Ruston and Justin even married former Rustonite and Ruston BGC kid Shekinah Seigmund.
After playing basketball for the University of Washington, Justin took his career overseas, playing for a professional team in Belgium. Holiday started his NBA career playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, later winning the 2015 NBA Championship with the Golden State Warriors.
From 2015 to 2024, Holiday played for many teams within the NBA, including the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets.
Justin received the Louisiana Area Council CARE (Children Are the Reason for Excellence) Award during the annual Boys & Girls Clubs of America Area Council Leadership Conference in 2020. He continues to provide outstanding support to our local Clubs in North Louisiana.
(This is part of a series on the 2025 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class that will be inducted in Natchitoches on June 28th.)
By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
Written for the LSWA
Years melted away in an instant as Dale Weiner told the story that shaped his life.
“I watched Jimmy Taylor score a winning touchdown,” Weiner recalled, motioning with his hands. “It was just the way he angled his body to get between two defenders. I had never seen anything like that.
“He scored and Baton Rouge High won. I was so excited. That was it – I knew football was something I had be part of.”
Weiner was a 5-year-old standing in the back of the BRHS end zone that night when Taylor, who went on to stardom at LSU and all the way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, scored that fateful touchdown.
Not every boy who grows up loving football becomes a 300 wins high school football coach. Weiner did and it not only shaped his life, it changed the trajectory of the athletic program at Baton Rouge’s Catholic High School.
Weiner, who amassed a record of 317-109 as a high school head football coach, is part of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Enshrinement occurs culminating the Induction Celebration in Natchitoches June 26-28. Event information can be found at LaSportsHall.com.
“Dale Weiner is the most the most consequential coaching hire in the history of Catholic High,” said Pete Boudreaux, the school’s former athletic director, and a 2014 LSHOF inductee for his track and cross country coaching career. “Some people might question that, but I don’t.
“When you look at a high school in Louisiana, one of the first things people ask about is the football team. Before Dale came, we might have a good season here or there. Once Dale got here, the program took off. He was the right man for the job. It changed not just football, but the entire school.”
Hyperbole or truth? The fact that Boudreaux, who collected 52 state titles in track/cross country, could make such a statement points to the latter. Others, including former Baton Rouge High classmate/teammate and longtime Catholic assistant Don Hood, shoot down that notion.
“We were bad … everybody wanted to schedule us for their homecoming game,” Hood said. “We were called a lot of things that weren’t very nice that I won’t repeat. When Dale got there, I knew things would change because I knew Dale. He was always that guy … bright, could motivate people and knew football.”
Long before Catholic, there was Baton Rouge High. Weiner grew up within walking distance of the school, so watching games like the one he saw as a 5-year-old were common. His dream was to play for the Bulldogs and he did that as a lineman. When he met the late Murrell “Boots” Garland, Weiner saw a career path.
“Coach Garland had a way of drawing people to him,” Weiner said. “He had a sense of humor and a way of getting a point across. He could be tough when he needed to be. I loved playing for him. I knew I wanted to be a coach after watching him.”
Others saw Weiner’s desire. Gerry Garidel, another BRHS classmate and Weiner’s defensive coordinator at Catholic for many years, explains it this way.
“Unlike myself, Dale always knew he wanted to be a coach,” Garidel said. “I had a class with him and Lindy (Weiner’s wife) at Baton Rouge High. You could see it. Knowing him and watching him back then there was no doubt. Dale Weiner was meant to be a coach.”
More than anything else, Weiner wanted to be the head football coach at Baton Rouge High. The school’s conversion into a full magnet school that no longer offered football happened a few years after Weiner’s graduation.
His career move to Catholic High, just a couple of miles away – across Government Street – was more than a decade away after he graduated from LSU.
But his first job as an assistant coach, at Catholic High of Pointe Coupee in New Roads in 1975, was both eye-opening and helped earn the “cradle of coaches” moniker for the school.
Jim Hightower, the Hornets’ first-year head coach, was previously a baseball graduate assistant coach at LSU. It was the first head coaching job for Hightower, now the legendary coach at St. Thomas More, second on Louisiana’s all-time wins list with 482 wins and a 2016 LSHOF inductee. Over the years, CHSPC has been the proving ground for many coaches, including Weiner’s son, Neil, head coach at The Dunham School in Baton Rouge.
“Dale was and has always been such a positive person,” Hightower said. “He was a hard worker and eager to learn. He was that guy who was always in the lab, trying to figure out which plays and systems would work in which situation. He was always working on something.”
There was one notable misstep in the Hornets’ 1975 debut. Catholic-PC won its jamboree game on the final play. Weiner was in the press box.
“Our player was running down the field to score the winning touchdown and I started jumping up and down in the press box,” Weiner said. “I was so excited.”
Everyone wanted to relive and review that play once the film was developed in Baton Rouge. It was not meant to be. Weiner was next to the camera when he started jumping up and down. It distorted the images.
“We laugh about it now,” Lindy Weiner said. “In that moment, Jim was so mad at Dale.”
Soon enough, Weiner got his first head coaching job. He was a head coach St. John-Plaquemine, Catholic-PC and Trafton Academy, now known as The Dunham School. The first time he applied at Catholic, Weiner was turned down.
“I was meant to be at Catholic High … I believed that from the time I first applied,” Weiner said. “I did want to be the head coach at Baton Rouge High. But why not Catholic High? I knew about the school and what the school had to offer.”
Garidel told Boudreaux and others in the school’s administration they were making a mistake. A couple of years later, the job was open again and Weiner was hired. During the second interview process, Weiner pointed out that he grew up in the neighborhood and boldly stated that was why he wanted to coach.
It’s fair to say the rest is history. In 30 seasons at Catholic, Weiner was 282-81, including a runner-up finish in Class 4A in 1990 and a Division I select title in 2015, along with 18 district titles with just one losing season.
More than 140 of his former players have competed on the college level and 16 have earned spots on NFL rosters. Weiner’s attention to detail in all things, including strength and conditioning, also contributed to 17 Olympic weightlifting team titles.
Trick plays were a thing Weiner’s offenses and special teams had a penchant for. It is one area of Weiner’s career that is still discussed to this day. Was he high school football’s version of a river boat gambler, as some fans thought? Or was it a unique way to motivate his team? Weiner says it was the latter.
“The trick plays? I wanted to make it fun for the players,” Weiner said. “It kept them interested. That was something to look forward to.”
Off the field there were life lessons. Sid Edwards, now mayor-president of Baton Rouge, and Zachary High head coach David Brewerton, a former Catholic player, attest to that.
“Coach Weiner is one of those men who parents want their children to play for,” Brewerton said. “It didn’t matter whether you were a starter or somebody further down on the depth chart, he had that infectious personality and could make anybody feel like the top dog.
“We were successful. And we learned so much off the field. We got to watch him handle stressful situations and how to be a husband and father to his son and daughters. Those are life lessons.”
Edwards added, “I don’t just think he transformed football at Catholic High, I think he transformed high school football in Baton Rouge. Before Dale, Baton Rouge football was pretty much three yards and a cloud of dust with people running the option. He opened things up with more passing and trick plays.”
There is a touch of irony in Edwards’ statement. Weiner, a former lineman, was first a wishbone disciple before his coaching philosophy evolved.
“To this day, I am thankful to the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, the administration, Pete Boudreaux and all the coaches and faculty members I worked with at Catholic High,” Weiner said. “I ended up where I was supposed to be. I am blessed.”
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In four-plus decades as a sports journalist – most of them at the Baton Rouge Advocate – Robin Fambrough has produced voluminous content and coordinated high school coverage while also serving the LSWA in various leadership capacities. Most significantly, the 2020 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee was the first female president of the organization from 1999-2001 after serving as secretary and vice president.
Three fun-filled days and nights make Natchitoches the festive focal point in our state Thursday evening, Friday and Saturday with the 2025 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration and you and yours are invited.
The LSHOF’s Class of 2025 will be enshrined Saturday night at the Natchitoches Events Center to culminate the 66th Induction Celebration. A seating reconfiguration last week created additional seating up to 900 and a few dozen tickets remain available at LaSportsHall.com.
The Induction Celebration will kick off Thursday with the free admission Welcome Reception from 5-7 p.m. at the Hall of Fame museum at 800 Front Street.
The Friday schedule begins with the Mardi Gras Bowling Bash presented by BOM at Four Seasons Bowling Center in Alexandria. There’s still room for individual and team entries with participants enjoying lunch catered by Walk-On’s while warm up for the competition takes place at the 40-alley facility.
Two of south Louisiana’s hottest musical acts from the Baton Rouge area will take the stage for the coolest concert for miles around, the absolutely free Rockin’ River Fest party Friday evening.
The Lauren Lee Band will get the party started and The Chase Tyler Band is the featured act on the Rue Beauport stage bordering Cane River Lake smack dab in the middle of the City of Lights’ historic and beautiful downtown district.
In conjunction with the Rockin’ River Fest is the VIP Taste of Tailgating party, a ticketed indoor-outdoor event that is approaching capacity on the Front Street bricks and inside Mama’s Oyster House, Papa’s and the Blues Room.
The slate on Saturday kicks off with the free LSHOF Junior Training Camp led by community relations personnel from the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans, along with Northwestern State coaches and this year’s Hall of Fame inductees, on the NSU campus at the Webb Wellness and Recreation Center and Turpin Stadium. This event is presented by Natchitoches Regional Medical Center and is nearing capacity. Free registration for kids ages 7-16 is required and can be easily accomplished at LaSportsHall.com.
At noon Saturday, the Round Table Luncheon presented by the Tiger Athletic Foundation is set for Riverside Reserve on Mill Street. Fox Sports broadcaster Tim Brando emcees an entertaining program.
Festivities culminate Saturday evening with the Induction Reception at the LSHOF museum beginning at 5, followed at 7 by the Induction Ceremony at the Natchitoches Events Center. Northwestern State University and State Farm Agents of Louisiana are presenting sponsors Saturday evening.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting will televise the ceremony live from 7-9:30.
The VIP Taste of Tailgating, the Bowling Bash, the Round Table Luncheon and the Induction Reception and Ceremony are ticketed events requiring purchase in advance through LaSportsHall.com or by calling 318-238-4255.
The Thursday reception, the Friday evening River Fest and the Junior Training Camp are free.
The Class of 2025 is headlined by two men pivotal in LSU’s 2003 football national championship – coach Nick Saban and Andrew Whitworth, a champion at West Monroe High School, LSU and in the NFL during a 16-year pro career. More sparkle is provided by pro basketball All-Stars Vickie Johnson and Danny Granger, the state’s winningest all-time college baseball coach Joe Scheuermann and Danny Broussard, one of the nation’s most successful high school basketball coaches, in this year’s induction class.
It also includes LSU gymnastics great and NCAA individual champion April Burkholder, transformational Catholic-Baton Rouge high school football coach Dale Weiner and George “Bobby” Soileau, a four-time high school and 1956 NCAA boxing champion at LSU who also won a state crown as a football coach at his alma mater, Sacred Heart High School in Ville Platte.
LSU graduate Herb Vincent, now a longstanding associate commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, is receiving the Hall’s Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award with his enshrinement.
Also being honored: Ed Daniels, a generational television sports broadcaster in New Orleans, and Glenn Guilbeau, one of the nation’s more decorated sportswriters in a career that has seen him cover LSU, state college, high school and pro sports along with stories across the South and around the SEC. They are being inducted as recipients of the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism.
Legendary broadcaster Dave Nitz loved being around the ballpark, loved being around the guys, loved being close to a microphone and a scorebook.
More than anyone I’ve ever known.
He also loved being around a Wendy’s single and a chocolate Frosty.
More than anyone I’ve ever known.
Oh, and the French fries. Forgot the French fries. Usually ate them first.
“That’s just Dave being Dave.”
Few people I’ve known have enjoyed being themselves as much as Dave enjoyed being Dave. And he loved loved LOVED being “Freeway” Dave, a nickname Leon Barmore hung on him in the late ’70s when a road trip sent Barmore, the Lady Techsters and Dave to Los Angeles, where Dave rented a car with “unlimited mileage” — and managed to exceed it.
Just Freeway being Freeway.
Dave. For a half century, the Voice of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
A man entirely home at any ballyard, Dave Nitz was appropriately born in the middle of baseball season — July 10, 1942 —and sadly died the first week of summer, June 24, 2025, a Tuesday around 1 a.m.
For those who knew Dave, either in person or by following his thousands of broadcasts, the news of the passing of a pro whose signature call was “You Gotta Love It!” is just the opposite.
You gotta hate it.
All day Tuesday it was the same. Sad.
Calls from old ballplayers.
Sad.
Calls from colleagues.
Sad.
Calls from friends and family.
Sad.
But it was Dave, and Dave was fun for all those years, Dave being Dave, so there was this story or that, either about him being stubborn, being talented, being from West Virginia, being a guy who could embellish a story with the best of them.
I remember road trips in his old van — a VAN — when we were young. Country music concerts (well, hello!, Mr. Merle Haggard!) Gassing up and checking into hotels and strapping on press passes and then Dave getting quiet and no longer laughing but straightening his headset, knocking back a slug of Crystal Light lemonade, and saying, “OK. Here we go … ‘Hello, everybody!’”
Dave being Dave.
His passing is another tough reminder that time is undefeated, that we aren’t really built for life down here, that reality is unavoidable, an acquired taste.
He officially retired only a year ago this month — but diabetes was the thing. And time. All those road trips. Nearly 40 years of professional ball and a calendar of college ball. No one will ever do that again.
One. Of. A. Kind.
So the diabetes, then the arthritis, the creeping in of dementia. We just couldn’t get the traction to turn things around.
But in his prime … well, in his prime, different ballgame. He was a Shirts vs. Skins regular, a force who ran on no sleep, a guy who could broadcast as well as anyone, and that’s with one vocal cord tied behind his back.
One. Of. A. Kind.
Major Stud Alert.
He got older and reflexes slowed, gifts faded, but his voice was the same, the voice of a couple of generations, and down deep in there, in his Dave heart, there was still the little boy, a kid who loved ball, and I will always be grateful that, until time robbed him and he just couldn’t do it anymore, he faithfully shared that little-boy Dave with the rest of us.
Trust me when I tell you, if you heard Dave broadcasting to you from press row or a radio booth, there was no where else he would have rather been, and no one else he would have enjoyed talking to more, right then, than you.
A wanted man spotted by narcotic agents was found with more drugs when he was arrested on the front porch of a Ruston residence.
Abrian Bryant, 39, of Grambling, was arrested June 12 on drug warrants and other drug charges when he was spotted on the front porch of a Lewis Street residence in Ruston.
Two Lincoln Parish Narcotics Enforcement Team officers arrested Bryant and found a large amount of cash and a prescription bottle in the pocket of his shorts. Inside the bottle were various pills later identified as 51 units of alprazolam. Another bottle was found to contain seven oxycodone and two types of hydrocodone.
The arrest was made in a drug-free zone surrounding a church.
Bryant was booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute, possession of hydrocodone (10 mg) within intent to distribute, possession of hydrocodone (7.5 mg) with intent to distribute, possession of alprazolam with intent to distribute, violation of the controlled substance drug-free zone law, and arrest warrants charging him with distribution of MDMA (ecstasy), and violation of the controlled substance drug-free zone law.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox.Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
Each Monday through Friday, the Lincoln Parish Journal will post a list of non-for-profit upcoming events happening in the parish. If you would like to add your event to this list or advertise your for-profit events, please email us at lpjnewsla@gmail.com.
Wednesday, June 25 7-8 a.m.: Veterans Coffee Club (PJ’s Coffee) 11 a.m.: Technology Help Hour (Lincoln Parish Library George Byrnside Conference Room) 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome
Thursday, June 26 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Kiwanis Club lunch and program (Trinity Methodist Church fellowship hall) 2 p.m.: Tween Time at Lincoln Parish Library Community Room (Ages 9 and up) 4 p.m.: 4-H Nutrition Class for teens (Lincoln Parish Library Community Room) 5-6 p.m.: 5 Loaves 2 Fish Ministry will host a free meal in Dubach at the Community Center on the corner of Smith Street and 167 North 6 p.m.: Southern A’Chord Chorus rehearsal (Presbyterian Church fellowship hall, 212 N. Bonner St.; open to all women singers) 6 p.m.: Yoga at Lincoln Parish Library Events Center 7 p.m.: Ruston Community Theatre presents “Singing in the Rain Jr.” (Dixie Theatre)
Friday, June 27 10 a.m.: Therapy Dog storytime special (Lincoln Parish Library Community Room) 7 p.m.: Ruston Community Theatre presents “Singing in the Rain Jr.” (Dixie Theatre)
Saturday, June 28 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Farmers Market 2 p.m.: Russ-Town Band Concert (Howard Auditorium, Louisiana Tech) 3-5 p.m.: Puzzle swap (Lincoln Parish Library Community Room) 7 p.m.: Ruston Community Theatre presents “Singing in the Rain Jr.” (Dixie Theatre)
Sunday, June 29 2 p.m.: Ruston Community Theatre presents “Singing in the Rain Jr.” (Dixie Theatre)
Monday, June 30 10 a.m.: Senior Health (Lincoln Parish Library Jack Beard Community Room) 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome 4 p.m.: Story hour at Lincoln Parish Library (Events Center) 6 p.m.: Toastmasters International meeting (Louisiana Center for the Blind, 101 South Trenton Street) 6-9 p.m.: Creative Meetups (Creatives at Work, 301 N. Trenton)
Tuesday, July 1 10 a.m.: Harvey Rabbit and Friends (Lincoln Parish Library Events Center) 2 p.m.: Crafternoon at Lincoln Parish Library Community Room (Ages 5 and up) 4 p.m.: Color wheel wreath for teens (Lincoln Parish Library Community Room) 6 p.m.: Lincoln Parish School Board meeting (410 S. Farmerville St.) 6 p.m.: Fitness class (Lincoln Parish Library Events Center)
Wednesday, July 2 7-8 a.m.: Veterans Coffee Club (PJ’s Coffee) 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome
Thursday, July 3 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Kiwanis Club lunch and program (Trinity Methodist Church fellowship hall) 6 p.m.: Southern A’Chord Chorus rehearsal (Presbyterian Church fellowship hall, 212 N. Bonner St.; open to all women singers) 6 p.m.: Yoga at Lincoln Parish Library Events Center 8:30 p.m.: Temple Baptist Church fireworks
Friday, July 4 Independence Day
Saturday, July 5 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Farmers Market 9 a.m.: Fighting Gaming Community (Lincoln Parish Library Jack Beard Community Room)
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox.Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
Louisiana Tech’s track and field teams continued to break records as the Bulldogs placed eight athletes on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, announced by the association on Tuesday.
The 2025 Academic All-District® Track & Field Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in their sport and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
To be nominated, a student-athlete must be in the top 50 in their region, be at least a sophomore in both academic and athletic standing, and carry a cumulative GPA of at least 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale).
The four athletes named to the Conference USA All-Academic team claimed their second academic honor – William Estes, Abdulraof Rashid, Tim Rummelhagen and Nia Wiley. Arabiah Jefferson, Annie Jones, Tia Reder and Kaitlyn Washington gave LA Tech a program record eight athletes to make the team.
Rummelhagen recently graduated with a degree in Kinesiology and Health Sciences with a 3.75 GPA. He is a four-time member of the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and received the CUSA Academic Medal in 2025. On the track, he was part of the 4×400 relay team that won four consecutive CUSA Championships between the indoor and outdoor seasons. The relay team would qualify for the 2025 NCAA East Regional.
Rashid is a junior transfer who carries a 3.80 GPA in Kinesiology and Health Sciences. He was a member of the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Academic Medalist this season. He finished with a time of 10.33 in the 100m and 21.37 in the 200m at the CUSA Outdoor Championships.
Estes is a junior studying Political Science with minors in Spanish and Sociology while maintaining a 3.91 GPA. The Ruston native is a three-time member of the Commissioner’s Honor Roll and three-time recipient of the CUSA Academic Medalist. Estes threw a personal best of 54.33m (179-3) in the javelin at the CUSA Outdoor Championships.
Wiley has a 3.96 GPA while pursuing her degree in Biology. The junior sprinter is a three-time CUSA Academic Medalist and member of the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. She qualified for the NCAA East Regional with the 4×400 relay team, which broke the CUSA Outdoor Championship record at 3:33.60.
Jefferson graduated with a degree in Biology in the spring, earning a 3.75 GPA. The Queen Creek, Arizona, native is a three-time CUSA Academic Medalist and Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient. Jefferson had her best career mark of 37.66m (123-7) at the Jim Mize Invitational this season.
A Ruston native, Jones has a 3.90 GPA in Speech and Language Pathology. The Cedar Creek product has been a member of the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Academic Medalist each season she has been on campus. Jones finished with a career-best 42.25m (138-7) in the javelin at the CUSA Outdoor Championships.
Reder is a Human Development and Family Science major with a concentration in Child Life and has a 3.63 GPA. The jumper is a two-time member of the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Reder recorded a personal best of 12.37m (40-7) in the triple jump to win bronze at the CUSA Indoor Championships while also setting a PR of 5.85m (19-2.5) in the long jump to finish fifth.
Washington is a transfer from Northwestern State with a 3.57 GPA in Biology. The Lafayette Christian product is a 2025 member of the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Washington ended her season with a second straight trip to the NCAA East Regional in the discus, where she finished with a throw of 39.73m (130-4). She has the eighth-longest throw in program history at 51.03m (167-5) at the Jim Mize Invitational.
Grambling State head men’s basketball coach Patrick Crarey II announced the addition of Aaron Proctor to his inaugural staff as an assistant coach on Monday morning.
“Coach Proctor brings extensive experience, having coached on the Division 1 level for the past 5 season,” said Crarey. “Having worked for great head coaches he will bring a level of organization and professionalism we seek to mirror. A native of Houston he has great recruiting ties to the state of Texas. We welcome Coach Proctor and his family to Grambling.”
Proctor joins GSU after spending the past two seasons at Texas State University as the program’s Director of Basketball Operations.
Prior to Texas State, he served in the same role at Lamar University from 2021-2023, and he also spent the 2020-21 campaign in the same role at Southeast Missouri State.
Overall, Proctor brings 20 years of coaching experience to the Tigers, including four years as a head coach at the high school level and two stints as an AAU head coach.
During the 2019-2020 season. Proctor served as an assistant at Missouri State-West Plains after spending the 2018-19 campaign at Arkansas-Fort Smith. He joined the Lions after a one-year stint as the head coach of North Forest High School in Houston. His time at North Forest was one of three high school head coaching jobs which also included stops at Heights High School and Alvin High School.
For two years, Proctor served on staff at Kansas State as a graduate assistant coach. During his time with the Wildcats, they recorded 38 wins – including a 20-win season in 2016-17 – and advanced to the 2017 NCAA Tournament where KSU defeated Wake Forest in its first-round game.
A native of Houston, Proctor attended Cal State-San Bernardino where he played one season for head coach Jeff Olivier. During that season (2004-05), Proctor helped lead the Coyotes to a 21-6 record and captured the California Collegiate Athletic Association title and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
He graduated from CSUSB with a bachelor’s degree in 2006. Following graduation, Proctor went on to teach at the high school level before returning to college to receive his master’s degree from Kansas State in 2017.
Proctor and his wife, Ashford, have a daughter, Harper.
Funeral service for Doris Kyle Green Tatum of Calhoun, LA, will be held at 3:00 PM on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at Beulah Community Church located at 487 Beulah Church Road, Calhoun, LA. A visitation will be prior to the service from 2:00 to 3:00 PM. Interment will be a Beulah Community Cemetery. Officiating will be Pastor Jon Tellifero.
Doris was born October 2, 1938, in Farmerville, LA, to John Louis and Nora Williamson Kyle. She worked for many years as a teacher’s aid at Lillie Middle School where she lived for many years. She enjoyed watching her hummingbirds and spent a lot of time cooking for her community. She was loved by many because of her kindness toward others.
Doris is survived by her brother James Kyle; daughter, Ann Hernandez and husband Keith; son, John Green and wife Jennifer; grandchildren, Ashley Bennett (Michael), Jarred Hernandez, Jessica Finklea, Devin Doster (Tiffany), Daniel Doster (Heather); 9 great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her sisters, Lela Gathright and husband James, Betty Colvin, and sister-in-law Monette Kyle.
Pallbearers will be Jarred Hernandez, Mason Hernandez, Devon Doster, Daniel Doster, Jaxon Finklea, and Jason Kyle.
The family would like to extend a special thanks to the church for all the love, prayers, visits and food that was shown to our mother while residing in this community.
Leigh Ann Griffith June 30, 1971 – June 21, 2025 Visitation: Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM, Owen’s Memorial Chapel Funeral Service: Thursday, June 26, 2025, 10:00 AM, Living Water Full Gospel Church, 131 Oak St, Dubach
Billy Jack Talton March 16, 1940 – June 18, 2025 Visitation: Temple Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, Friday, June 27, 2025, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Service: Temple Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, Saturday, June 28, 2025, 2:00 pm Cemetery: New Chapel Hill Cemetery, Saturday, June 28, 2025
Trucy Mae Hudson Tuesday 03/06/1928 — Saturday 06/14/2025 Visitation: Friday 06/27/2025 3:00pm to 6:00pm at King’s Funeral Home Celebration of Life: Saturday 06/28/2025 1:00pm at King’s Funeral Home Interment: Saturday 06/28/2025 Following Service, Ebenezer Cemetery, Parish Road 214, Ruston
Ronald Lora Foster April 28, 1948 – June 12, 2025 Graveside service: Saturday, June 28, 2025, 3:00 PM, New Ebenezer Cemetery, Castor
Dave Nitz (left) served as the play by play voice for Tech Athletics for 50 years. Nitz passed away Tuesday morning.
By Malcolm Butler
Louisiana Tech lost a legend Tuesday and Bulldog fans lost a friend when legendary broadcaster Dave Nitz passed away following a lengthy illness.
Known for his love of his home state of West Virginia (his flip phone ringtone was John Denver’s song Take Me Home, Country Roads), Dave brought his family to Louisiana in the early 1970s as he took over as the Voice of the Bulldogs.
And the rest is history, a rich Tech Athletics history that Dave stamped his vocal mark on for five decades.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize how much Dave loved sports and broadcasting,” said Jack Thigpen, who met Dave in 1975 when the two became neighbors on Bittersweet Drive and who serve as the color analyst on many Bulldog basketball games. “His goal then, and for many years, was to become a major league baseball announcer. In my opinion Dave was as good as, and better than most, big league announcers.
“Louisiana Tech has been very fortunate to have had Dave as the voice of the Bulldogs all these years. Dave lived to broadcast games and was the ultimate professional. He was as good a broadcaster as there is.”
During his Hall of Fame career at Tech, Dave broadcasts more than 3,000 sporting events, mostly with football, men’s basketball and baseball. He also served as the voice of the Lady Techster basketball team in the late 1970s and much of the 1980s.
Dave was inducted into both the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame during his illustrious career.
“Even though Dave was a West Virginian through and through, Tech meant a lot to him,” said longtime friend and radio booth partner Benny Thornell. “He had received his degree from Tech and had raised his family here. For 50 years his life revolved around Tech.
“A lot of people grew up listening to him broadcasting Tech games. It was always interesting to see people tell him how much they enjoyed listening to him on the radio. He had no idea who most of them were, but to them he was part of their family. To them he was Tech, and he will definitely be missed.”
Appropriately enough, Dave’s first ever broadcast was of a Bulldog baseball game in the NCAA regionals in Arlington. His real love was baseball, and he never tried to hide it. Tech fans were blessed with his knowledge of the game, and his storytelling abilities.
His talent behind the mic was admired by all, including his radio colleagues.
“Dave was a broadcaster…pure and simple,” said Chip Walters, longtime voice for Middle Tennessee Athletics. “He was the eyes and ears of Tech fans everywhere. In addition to being a pro’s pro, he was a prince of a guy. I’ll miss a great friend and Tech fans will miss the soundtrack of so many great moments for over 40 years.”
“Dave was a broadcaster I always admired,” said Randy Lee, longtime Voice of WKU. “His passion for our special profession and longevity was remarkable. We developed a special friendship over the years. Dave always greeted us with a smile, and he had that special way of making you feel better. I’ll miss Dave a great deal.”
“I met Dave Nitz early in my career and never will forget him taking me under his wing and showing and telling me how to do broadcasting things that I had no idea how to do,” said Southern Miss broadcaster John Cox. “Most of those things he taught me so long ago – I still utilize today. I will cherish the times I was around him. He always made me smile, he always made me laugh and he always made you feel better.”
Every Tech fan has their own stories and memories of Dave. Although he never wavered from the side of professionalism, his love for the Ole Red and Blue was exact. He allowed emotions into calls at the appropriate times and even produced a few tears during the years.
His call of “Stallworth to Cangelosi” that beat eventual SEC champion Alabama at Legion Field in 1999 is one of the most memorable for Tech fans — his voice cracking with the immensity of the moment for the Bulldogs.
That call was worthy of inclusion in Heart Stoppers and Hail Marys: 100 of the Greatest College Football Finishes.
It was just one of so many over the years.
“Dave Nitz will forever be remembered as an iconic figure in Tech Athletics history,” said former Tech AD and friend Jim Oakes. “Dave was on the call for so many memorable moments for Tech sports over the past 50 years. When the Tech family hears the words “Ya gotta love it” we will always smile and think fondly of Dave and his great legacy.”
Personally, I grew up listening to Dave. I would go to sleep with the sound of his tonsils bringing the game to my bedroom – a story that so many Tech fans can probably share.
My career at Tech allowed me to get to know him more than just as a voice. He became my friend.
In 2015, the Bulldogs traveled to Huntington, West Virginia, to play Marshall in the CUSA Football Championship game.
Talk about a kid in a candy store. Dave was giddy every time he got to go back to his home state.
The morning of the football game, several of us in the travel party got up at 5 a.m. to drive an hour or so to his hometown of Milton to have breakfast at one of those hole-in-the-wall establishments. We met a few of Dave’s old friends from high school, who showered us with stories of our friend.
Dave was all smiles.
Although he had lived in Ruston for four decades at that point, Milton and the mountains of West Virginia were still his true home.
Tech fans were just fortunate enough that those “Country Roads” took him south for the past 50 years.
