Winn Community Health Center is the operator of Trinity Community Health Center in Lincoln Parish
Residents have watched as Winn Community Health Center has grown from its 2,000 square foot building with a small client base in July 2009 to a multi-parish, nine-site health service with over 500 employees and last year surpassed its 1 million patient mark.
In the same way they’ve watched as ground was broken in spring 2024 on their Winnfield location between the 5-lane and East Lafayette St. and their spacious three-story building has slowly risen. It’s an impressive structure that will house the multiplicity of services that will be handed there once opened as well as the management needs of all locations under the umbrella of Trinity Community Health Centers of Louisiana.
CEO Deano Thornton appeared before the Rotary Club of Winnfield and explained he cannot say for sure when the opening date will be, since finishing stages of any project always take longer than hoped. “But this will be a proud part of this community for years to come.” Looking at an edifice of this size and cost, he added that “people don’t know what WCHC has sacrificed through the years to get us to this point.”
Trinity opened clinics first in Winnfield then Colfax, Ringgold, Pollock, Ruston, Alexandria, Marksville, Dry Prong and Bossier, with others planned soon. Their goal from the outset has been to provide quality professional healthcare to patients regardless their ability to pay. This is vital in a low income area like north-central Louisiana, Thornton said, as some 63% of their 152,000 patients last year were Medicaid, while 11% were Medicare and 3% uninsured.
The speaker walked through a floor-by-floor slideshow of photographs and diagrams, showing what will greet patients as they enter the front door. The lobby and the building as a whole will have “a very open feel to it.” The health center is not simply primary care but many different specialty services as well, some of those varying from center to center throughout the Trinity organization.
The first floor will house general medical practices with 22 exam rooms, pediatrics, pharmacy, specialists, behavioral health, chiropractic, a spacious nurses’ station, radiology, labs, a warehouse and lots of office space. It includes two elevators and an escalator to the second floor. As big as the building appears from the outside, “it looks twice that size on the inside.”
Thornton explained that patients will be served through the same waiting area whether they arrive for an annual checkup, for behavioral services or other medical needs, thus eliminating worries of stigma issues. For the children, a glass wall will separate the “sick” from the “well” patients, giving parents peace of mind. Interactive boards are also installed to occupy the youngsters as they wait.
From the second floor, visitors will be able to look down from the common waiting area into the lobby. That floor will include physical therapy as well as the dental and oral hygiene departments.
The third floor will house support and administration for the entire Trinity organization. Included will be offices for finance, IT, billing, records, company officials, board room, kitchen (there are more than 130 people in the building) plus an employee break room, as on each floor. Thornton stressed that this does involve a number of people “but I’m old-school and want to hire local people who our clients can actually talk to rather than farm it out to businesses in other parts of the country. It helps our people and helps our economy.”
There will also be a banquet room on the top floor large enough to seat 100 people banquet-style that can be used for Trinity functions and when the organization wants to host a community event. He’s proud of the wood-look to many areas of the interior and exterior of the three-story. “I wanted it to look like it belongs to the community where timber products are so important.” He noted that TBA Studio is the architectural firm that made this happen, with Winn native Lisa Peddy Frontaura taking the lead role.
He also called attention to the center’s in-house 340D pharmacy serviced by pharmacists Steve Burnam and Chip Little. The advantage to patients receiving prescriptions from Community Health Center providers is that costs will be based on household income. He gave an example of a lady who had been paying $225 for one prescription who received the same for only $8 through the center’s pharmacy.
Be sure to watch the Journal for future details on the Grand Opening.
Paid Editorial Feature – The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lincoln Parish Journal.
Last month, OnPath Federal Credit Union agreed to buy Heritage Bank of St. Tammany in Covington, Louisiana, a century-old institution with deep local roots. The deal was hailed by OnPath CEO Jared Freeman, who praised Heritage’s “unwavering commitment to the local community.” But what Freeman failed to mention is that the acquisition will rob that community of a critical source of revenue.
Because OnPath is a credit union and thus tax-exempt, the deal means that St. Tammany Parish will lose a reliable stream of tax payments. Those dollars help fund schools, pay essential public servants like police officers and firefighters, and support other vital public services across the parish. Once the acquisition is finalized, that revenue will disappear, and the burden of making up the difference will fall squarely on the shoulders of local taxpayers.
The example of OnPath in Louisiana illustrates a much bigger problem across the country: credit unions are no longer the small, member-focused institutions they were established to be. Many have grown into large financial operations, similar to banks, all while enjoying tax-exempt status. Lawmakers must investigate whether credit unions’ tax-exempt status is still necessary in light of their significant growth, which is ultimately leaching revenue from state and local governments and setting the stage for higher taxes on local communities.
The situation in Louisiana is not the first. Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU) had planned to acquire Sabine Bank and Trust, which is based in Many, Louisiana. Although TDECU ultimately backed away from the acquisition, it underscores the fact that credit unions have strayed far from the original mission Congress envisioned when it exempted them from most federal, state, and local taxes under the Federal Credit Union Act. It’s time for Congress to revisit whether the tax breaks are still justified.
Credit unions like TDECU have grown into large financial institutions by leveraging taxpayer subsidies. Far from its founding mission to serve the residents of Lake Jackson, Texas, TDECU now serves over 380,000 members across the state. Ending 2024 with $4.8 billion in total assets, TDECU’s services have widened to include wealth management investment products through its partnership with LPL Financial, which they even acknowledge as being a conflict of interest. The growth doesn’t stop there. Credit unions are buying community banks at a time when bank consolidation and burdensome regulations are putting extreme pressure on banks’ bottom lines. The current regulatory environment and credit union acquisitions are exacerbating bank consolidation. In fact, data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shows that the number of community banks dropped by 46% over the last two decades, falling from 7,620 in 2003 to 4,129 in 2023. Credit unions are thriving, and skirting taxes while community banks are getting squeezed.
One negative outcome of tax-exempt credit unions acquiring community banks is that local and state governments lose revenue. This essential tax revenue helps fund local schools, projects, and infrastructure. The state of Louisiana has a bank shares tax that funds local communities, but when a credit union acquires a bank, it eliminates that source of revenue and results in less funding for local services. The shortfall in revenue could compel a parish to raise taxes on households to maintain a balanced budget. According to the Tax Foundation, “since 2011, more than 100 credit union–bank acquisition deals have been announced across the country.” Credit unions get to grow and avoid paying taxes, while American households across the country are getting forced to foot the bill at the end of the day.
Americans expect transparency, safeguards, and a level playing field from banks. These same principles should apply to credit unions. This is not about eliminating credit unions; it is about accountability and ensuring the law matches credit unions’ behavior. In an era where credit unions operate more like large financial institutions and less like community-oriented lenders, Congress should conduct oversight hearings and reexamine whether their tax-exempt status still aligns with their actions today. Louisiana taxpayers, in towns like Many and Covington, and in parishes around the state, should not have to pay more taxes because the law, as currently written, allows credit unions to exploit their tax loophole.
Ken Hale is the President & Chief Executive Officer of BOM Bank
Notice is hereby given that David St. John, administrator of these successions, proposes to sell the aforesaid immovable property, at private sale, for the price and upon the terms set forth above. Any heirs. legatees, creditors or others opposing the said sale are required to make opposition, if any they have or can, to such sale, within seven (7) days, including Sundays and holidays, from the date whereon the last publication of this notice appears, or the court may grant the application without further action.
07/15/25, 07/29/25
Please view the Attached the Signed Court Document:
Notice is hereby given that David St. John, administrator of these successions, proposes to sell the aforesaid immovable property, at private sale, for the price and upon the terms set forth above. Any heirs. legatees, creditors or others opposing the said sale are required to make opposition, if any they have or can, to such sale, within seven (7) days, including Sundays and holidays, from the date whereon the last publication of this notice appears, or the court may grant the application without further action.
07/15/25, 07/29/25
Please view the Attached the Signed Court Document:
Trinity CEO Deano Thornton and TBA Studio lead architect Lisa Frontaura sit in front of the artist’s rendition of Trinity’s three-story complex rising in Winnfield. Standing with them are some of the many retired teachers who filled the library’s meeting room.
The three-story medical complex rising along Winnfield’s five-lane should be open by year’s end, Winn’s retired teachers heard during their monthly session May 19.
What launched as Winn Community Health Center with 5 employees in 2009 has grown into a healthcare operation covering seven parishes with nearly 500 employees, explained CEO Deano Thornton. Asked about the name “Trinity,” he replied that as the coverage area grew, an overall name of Trinity Community Health Centers of Louisiana was adopted, although each clinic retains the name of its specific parish.
With Thornton was Lisa Peddy Frontaura, a 2000 graduate of WSHS who was described in introduction as “the principal architect who oversees everything from the beginning of design to the end of construction and everything in between.” She is vice president of operations for TBA Studio.
The CEO and former Winnfield mayor told the retired teachers that his dream is to leave something lasting here in the community. Inspired by a saying by longtime educator Etoy Ashley, he noted, “Make your community better because you were part of it.”
When asked, he said cost of the project from the ground up is about $30 million, including $1 million in furniture. “I called Lisa and said I wanted to build this clinic. She is a Winn graduate and proud to be involved with this construction. She is young enough to do the IT work whereas I’m too old, more traditional.”
Frontaura confirmed, telling the gathering that she is happy to be here and part of this project. “When I was approached, I was glad to be giving back to this community.” Having worked on projects big and small over the 20 years of her career, she called this “the height of my activity.” In its design, she sought a façade that reflects the region’s forestry rather than simply a “white medical building.”
The audience seemed to enjoy descriptions of each of the three floors. Thornton continues to be proud of the escalators from the ground to second floor as well as the elevators, although if a patient ends up on the third, administrative floor, it’s only because they got lost, he said. First floor will contain primary care, clinic pharmacy, behavioral health, nurses’ station and x-ray.
Second floor will house optometry, dental care, physical therapy as well as a visual space to “look down” on the first floor plus an outdoor balcony. The third floor will have administration for the multi-parish clinics, billing, medical records, finance, IT, a kitchen and conference room large enough to seat 100 banquet-style.
The three-story was designed not just for patients but also employees so every floor has a break room for staff. About 125 people will work in the building daily. “My mission is to create jobs, not to farm things out.” Parking and access to the building with be ample, the visuals showed.
Since Trinity’s new center interfaces with the varied aspects of its services—clinic patients, school-based clients, pharmacy—he said the move could be in phases including school holidays to minimize service disruptions. He anticipates that move should be complete by the end of the year.
The 75th Annual Louisiana Peach Festival will take place on June 7, 2025, but the peach celebrations will be going all week long in Ruston, LA! If you’re planning to spend a full weekend soaking in the sweet peachy charm of Ruston, let this guide help you make the most out of your adventure.
Friday, June 6
Eat:
From June 2-7, enjoy Peach Culinary Crawl, a weeklong tasting tour featuring over 20 local restaurants. Each participating location will offer special peach-inspired items. From peach BBQ and burgers to peach toast, cocktails, and desserts. There’s something to satisfy every craving. The full Culinary Crawl menu is available in late May on the Peach Fest website.
See:
In celebration of the festival’s 75th anniversary, The Louisiana Peach Festival is collaborating with the Lincoln Parish Museum to present Peach Fest Through the Decades. This special exhibit will showcase memorabilia from the very first Peach Festival all the way through present day.
Peach fest hack: After visiting the exhibit, explore downtown Ruston to scope out the festival grounds and snap a picture at one of the colorful murals!
Experience: There’s plenty to experience Friday before the festival.
Take a stroll through Downtown Ruston and browse the Peach Sidewalk Sale. Participating downtown shops will be offering peachy deals and special promotions from June 2-6.
Peach Fest Hack: Grab a Peach Fest fit at the sidewalk sale to wear at the festival!
The Peach Parade is a long loved and cherished tradition by festival attendees. The parade will take place in Downtown Ruston on Friday, June 6, at 6PM.
After the parade, you can head over to the 36th Annual Peach Festival Rodeo for family entertainment, trick riders, and more. The rodeo starts at 8PM.
Saturday, June 7 – Festival Day
Festival activities start at 9:00AM and there’s plenty to eat, see, and experience—all located on the festival grounds.
Eat: This year, enjoy bites from a variety of food vendors, offering everything from burgers, sandwiches, and pizza, to classic festival treats, refreshing drinks, and tasty snacks. You’ll also want to pay a visit to the Historic Fire Station for a scoop of frosty peach ice cream from the ladies of Beta Sigma Phi.
Peach Fest Hack: Ask vendors what their special peach item is! All food vendors create and offer a peachy item just for the Peach Festival.
The festival is also conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Ruston, so there’s plenty of local restaurants you can walk to.
See:
Festival Art Displays: Discover art boards and interactive displays by local artists that will be showcased throughout festival grounds.
Ruston Antique Classic Car Show: Head over to Cadence Bank from 9:00 AM-3:00 PM for the Car Show. Whether you’re a car enthusiast or just love vintage charm, this show is sure to impress with its lineup of beautifully restored classic vehicles.
Drone Show: Stick around till the headliner performance for the Peach Festival’s first ever drone show at 8:45 PM! This transforming sky display will take place before the headlining act to kick off the grand finale to the festival.
Experience:
Live Music: Enjoy more than 12 hours of live performances at the Railroad Park stage. With an exciting lineup of artists, the festival’s musical energy will keep you dancing all day long. Don’t miss the headliner, The Band of Heathens, taking the stage after the drone show.
Kids Alley: A family-friendly zone packed with interactive activities and entertainment to keep the little ones smiling.
Curated market:The festival will have over 70 vendors, all selling their handmade arts, jewelry, clothing, mugs, decorations, candles, and lots more. Additionally, you can stop by the Peach Fest Sticker Wall in the market—perfect for a fun and unique photo op.
Peach Fest Hack: arrive early to the Curated Market before your favorite vendor sells out.Visit www.lapeachfest.com/vendors to get a sneak peek at what vendors are offering.
Sunday, June 8
After a Saturday full of adventures, take it slow on Sunday. Sleep in, relax, and savor your last day in town before heading home.
Eat:
Start your day with a delicious Sunday brunch at Trio’s. Whether you choose a cozy table indoors or enjoy the sunshine on their patio, you’re in for a wonderful dining experience. Looking for a spot closer to downtown? Try Board & Bottle’s Sunday brunch and specialty brunch cocktails.
See:
While you’re at the festival Saturday, you will likely spot a few of Ruston’s unique bulldog statues scattered throughout downtown. In total, there are 22 bulldogs placed around the city—each with its own charm. Stretch your visit a little longer and turn your Sunday into a scavenger hunt to track down the ones you missed.
Experience:
Wind down with a peaceful visit to Lincoln Parish Park. This park offers mountain biking and walking trails, kayaking, fishing, and a playground for the kids. It’s the perfect way to soak in the natural beauty of Ruston and cap off your Peach Festival weekend.
From peachy treats to live tunes and everything in between, the Louisiana Peach Festival is the perfect way to kick off your summer. Soak up the fun, explore Ruston, and celebrate 75 years of sweet traditions and unforgettable memories!
To learn the insider tips and tricks all seasoned festival goers know, read up on our How to Peach Fest blog.
Two men who said they were victims of a shooting near Ruston Tuesday afternoon were arrested on drug and gun charges by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to a report of gunshots in the area of Pecan Street and Donna Lane about 4 p.m. Nov. 19. They found a disabled vehicle riddled with bullet holes near the intersection of La. Highway 146 and South Chatham Spur just outside the city of Ruston.
The two occupants of the vehicle were still at the scene and stated the gunfire had been directed at them. During the course of the investigation, deputies recovered a Glock 19 9mm pistol and approximately 84 grams of suspected marijuana.
During interviews, Karmekizik Z. Barber, 19, admitted possessing the pistol while aware the other occupant, Tremarious D. Lewis, 17, was in possession of the marijuana he was attempting to sell.
Lewis admitted he was attempting to sell the marijuana. He was booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Barber was charged with illegal carrying of a weapon in the presence of a controlled substance. His bail was set at $25,000.
Both men are from Jonesboro.
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.
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At their annual Holiday Press Conference, Experience Ruston announced the official kickoff to the 2024 holiday season. In partnership with the Louisiana Holiday Trail of Lights, Experience Ruston shared details about upcoming holiday events in Lincoln Parish, as well as holiday announcements from around North Louisiana.
Kicking off the press conference, Ruston Main Street Director and Community Coordinator Amy Stegall shared a sentiment about the hometown feel of Ruston Louisiana, expressing her excitement to share the holiday fun with visitors this year. She encouraged visitors to come support local businesses, vendors and restaurants in Lincoln Parish. Stegall shared a bit about what makes Downtown Ruston so special during the holiday season.
“When we turn on the lights in downtown, something magical happens to this place,” said Stegall. “This is a historic place that’s been here since the late 1800s, and it just becomes this little Hallmark village. People love to come down and shop with the people they know and just find incredible treasures for the people that they love. So, whether you eat here, shop here or just come and walk around the lights, it just has a feeling that you can’t really put into words. So, we love that it’s our hometown.”
In partnership with Louisiana Holiday Trail of Lights, Experience Ruston Director of Marketing and Communications Tori Davis shared some of the exciting holiday activities that will be happening is Ruston over the next few weeks. Many local partners and businesses will be hosting holiday events, all included on Experience Ruston’s holiday calendar. Davis highlighted some of the larger events, including the Holiday Open House, Lincoln Lights Up the Pines, Ruston Community Theater’s production of “White Christmas”, and the Holiday Arts Tour.
“We are so fortunate to have such passionate and dedicated partners here in Ruston and Lincoln Parish,” Davis said. “We have something happening every single week, and often multiple things happening throughout the week. There are so many events that you won’t want to miss.”
Reflecting on the work that goes into bringing the holidays to Lincoln Parish, Mayor Ronny Walker thanked many of the organizations, community members and workers who dedicated their time to making Ruston so beautiful during the season.
“It takes a village, or in this case a city,” said Walker. “Amy (Stegall) does an incredible job with our main street and our merchants downtown. Amanda (Carrier) and Tori (Davis) with the CVB help tremendously with publicity, ads, and events like this. I think the group that is often left out is the group of about 30 people from the city that put up all the lights. They actually started this process about 5 weeks ago and they come in early to try to get all this up.
“So, I want to say a big shoutout to our city workers, from electrical department to the street department. Everybody in the city pitches in because it takes so many people to do all this. Especially thank you to the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Main Street and the merchants.”
Several other groups from the Louisiana Holiday Trail of Lights group spoke and invited the community to experience the holidays in North Louisiana. Speakers included guests from Discover Monroe-West Monroe, Visit Shreveport-Bossier and Visit Webster Parish.
Visitors and community members can find out more about the holiday events in Lincoln Parish by picking up an Experience Ruston Official Holiday Guide from the visitor’s center at 2111 N Trenton St. Or you can view the holiday calendar online at www.rustonlincoln.com. Let your heart be light this season and come experience the joy of the holidays in Ruston and Lincoln Parish.
Monte Moore, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, board certified
Have you ever noticed that when under stress, you (or a friend or family member) exhibit extreme behavior, ranging from acting out to shutting down? That could be displayed in anxiety, anger, depression (low mood/low energy).
This may point towards a condition known as “behavioral maladaptiveness” or the inability to adapt to stress or change. It can impact folks of all ages. Maladaptive behavior’s severity can also range from minor to severe and professional help may be advised.
Good news is that such help is available here in Ruston at Lincoln Community Health Center at 1140 S. Vienna Street (as well as at Bienville Community Health Center at 3265 Military Road in Ringgold). Among their full range of professional medical service professionals at the centers is Monte Moore, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, board certified, who has been helping individuals young and old since 2019 through his work at LCHC.
A psychiatric nurse practitioner is an advanced practice registered nurse who is trained to provide care to patients struggling with mental health problems.
The north Arkansas native received his undergraduate degree and two master’s degrees, all in English, and he taught English and Journalism before obtaining a bachelor’s degree in nursing. “When I was finishing school, a recruiter suggested I interview with Trinity Community Health Centers,” he told the Journal. That led him to north Louisiana.
He explained that by way of interview with each patient, he ascertains his diagnosis for the most appropriate tools to treat the symptoms. Those could be medication, psycho-dynamic therapy, hypnosis or referral to other therapists.
This Advanced Practice Nurse stressed that problems of maladaptive behavior affect the full gamut of ages. “The most dominant issue, say 95%, is family childhood trauma. It starts at a young age and it could be going on ‘just down the street.’ I’ve treated kids as young as 2-1/2. Then like a snowball that rolls through life, it gets worse and worse.
“For this diagnosis, ‘talk therapy’ alone doesn’t work. And medications won’t stabilize the problem long term. The best long term results come through a combination of medication and therapy,” says Moore. “In an optimum scenario, a patient will learn to manage symptoms with a minimum, or no, medication. That’s my goal.”
“Trinity Community Health Centers of Louisiana Provides comprehensive medical, dental, and/or behavioral health care to all, regardless of ability to pay,” says CEO Deano Thornton.ou may contact Lincoln Community Health Center at 318-224-7190 to schedule an appointment. Or call Bienville Community Health Center at 318-894-2341.
Last week was only the second Sunday of this 2024 NFL season, a mountain of games and weeks and months away from Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans February 9, 2025, what is to be a record-tying 11th Super Bowl in New Orleans (Miami also has 11) and the eighth in the Superdome.
But when the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys play, it’s an early Super Sunday in these parts.
And so it was Sunday, and so it was not that surprising when the preacher let loose with some football talk to a congregation secretly intent on making it home by midway through the first quarter, what with kickoff being at noon and all.
(Saints and Cowboys fans always pray for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff but … not all prayers are answered with a ‘yes.’ This sets us up for another column on patience, faith, and hope. But for now, the lesson is ‘acceptance.’ Anyways… )
The sermon was the first in what is to be a series on the book of Philippians, one of several epistles, or letters, that the apostle Paul wrote 2,000-plus years ago, give or take, to young churches, the football equivalent of expansion teams in the early days of Christianity.
The letter was addressed to the young church at Philippi on the Aegean Sea and began, the preacher said, with a word of grace “to all the Saints in Philippi…”
“Notice,” our pastor said, “Paul didn’t write ‘to all the Cowboys in Philippi…’”
Boom. And all the Saints fans said, “Amen.”
And all the Cowboys fans thought, “Boooooo!” This proved to be good practice, because the guys with the star on their helmets got smoked by the Saints Sunday in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, 44-19.
Old news if you’re a Cowboys fan, still music to the ears of Saints lovers.
And the new joke is that the star on a Dallas helmet isn’t a logo: it’s a one-star rating.
Mercy.
Whether that was preaching or prophecy or a little of both, the preacher’s prelude to Sunday’s game was something to smile about before a game that, although it’s only mid-September, presented in its conclusion a two-headed question:
Did the Saints go marching in? Or did the Cowboys go marching out?
Way too early to tell. But this much we know.
After two games, the Saints are No. 1 in scoring (45.5 points per game), No. 4 in total offense (405.5 yards per game), No. 4 in scoring defense (14.5 ppg) and No. 8 in total defense (273 ypg).
Glory!
Meanwhile the Cowboys were favored by a touchdown and lost by … 25 points? 26? Something like that.
Speaking of 26, ESPN picked the Saints to finish 26 in the 32-team league. The Cowboys are picked 6th.
All that said, it’s a long, long way to the NFC Championship Game. The NFL season is a brutal slugfest, a tedious journey at best. The Cowboys got smoked at San Francisco 42-10 in early October last season, and still won seven of their next eight to finish 12-5, a tie for best in the NFC.
Green Bay then cleaned their clock in the playoffs, 48-32. It is tough being a Cowboys fan these past few (25-plus) years, one would imagine.
Meanwhile a Saints fan can hang his or her helmet of hope on the 44 points scored Sunday and what looked like a defense that could make the playoffs, something New Orleans hasn’t done since 2020.
And as summer turns to autumn, fans of either team could always fall back on Philippians. It’s only four short chapters — but not short on the subject of joy, no matter the circumstances.
Family nurse practitioner Candace Hubbard always works to dispel any anxiety of children she sees at Winn’s School-Based Clinic.
Working moms (and dads) know what’s involved when they get a call from the school about a sick child. Certainly there’s concern over the child’s health but there’s also the issue of lost work time as they pick up the child, try to find a doctor and likely stay home the rest of the day with the little one.
Trinity Community Health Centers in both Winn and Rapides parishes have incorporated a system of care within their network that can resolve the lost-work problem while providing professional health care for children. It’s called a School-Based Health Clinic. This past school year they saw over 4,500* students through this service.
Candace Hubbard, a family nurse practitioner at Winn’s School-Based Clinic, explains. “The focus of our clinic is keeping kids healthy and in-school. We handle cases of acute illness so that the parent doesn’t have to leave work to get a doctor’s appointment. But we’re more. We also offer wellness visits in an effort to keep the children healthy and to head off later problems.”
The nurse practitioner assures that Trinity performs follow-up calls and works closely with parents in all cases. Through contact with the Trinity professionals, Hubbard says, “the children see us. They know who we are. This helps eliminate the ‘fear factor’ of going to the doctor. Because of this, kids take on a bigger role of taking care of themselves with little things like brushing their teeth and wearing seatbelts.”
As they say, “And there’s more…” Trinity’s School-Based Clinics offer not only basic health care for the children but also offer a dental clinic, behavioral health services as well as vision and hearing screenings.
In its operation, the Trinity staff works closely with the schools and school nurses to provide this service. “I love being able to work in the same area where my children go to school,” says Hubbard. “I love the family-centered environment, bringing health care to people who might not afford it otherwise. We fill the gaps in areas like transportation. I truly believe we are meeting those needs.”
Candace Hubbard and husband Shane have two children, Alison and Gabriel Wren, who are students at Winnfield Senior High School. She joined the Trinity Community Health Center family in 2013, assisting in the launch of the school-based clinic when it was a pilot program. That clinic was initially located in the old Winnfield Intermediate School building but shifted to the old Adult Learning Center around the corner following Hurricane Laura.
The Lakeview High School graduate received her BS degree in nursing from NSU in 2005 and her MS degree in nursing, also at NSU, in 2013. In the interim, she worked as an RN in the Natchitoches Hospital’s labor & delivery department.
*School-based student services numbers for the 2023-24 school year were 655 for dental cleaning, 904 behavioral health, 2,503 medical (sickness & wellness visits), 338 sports physicals and 189 flu shots.
“Our mission at Trinity Community Health Centers has always been to provide quality healthcare services to students and their families, regardless their ability to pay,” says CEO Deano Thornton.
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Family nurse practitioner Candace Hubbard joined the Trinity Community Health Center family in 2013 after receiving her MS degree in nursing from NSU. She assisted in the launch of their school-based clinic.
Family nurse practitioner Candace Hubbard always works to dispel any anxiety of children she sees at Winn’s School-Based Clinic.
Experience Legendary Music, Food & History at the Louisiana Legends Fest presented by Car Giant Chevrolet GMC of Homer! This unique festival is this Saturday, October 21st from 10am- 6pm in Downtown Historic Homer, LA!
The music line up this year includes two stages of live music starring multi-platinum singer/songwriter Deana Carter!
9:00 – 12:00 – DJ Haynes 12:00-12:30 – Firm Foundation (GBT Gospel Stage) 12:30 – 1:00 – Edgewood Square (GBT Gospel Stage) 1:00 – 2:30 – Muzikology (Fibrebond Main Stage) 2:30 – 3:00 – Combined Choirs of Homer & Haynesville 1st Baptist Churches, Calvary Baptist and Cornerstone (GBT Gospel Stage) 3:30 – 4:00 – Sean and the Crew (GBT Gospel Stage) 4:00 – 5:30 – Deana Carter (Fibrebond Main Stage)
Tours will be available of the historic Claiborne Parish Courthouse and Ford Museum. Enjoynlocal antique shopping, over 50 art and craft vendors and mouthwatering food in the food Court.
There will also be cars on display at the Thomas G. Bourn Memorial Car Show, Art Contest, Farmer’s Market and much more!
The Louisiana Legends Fest honors and celebrates Louisianans’ that have had a significant impact with their life. This year’s honoree is Coach Alton “Red” Franklin who served as Head Coach of Haynesville’s Golden Tornado. From 1966-2000.
FREE General Admission $25 Super Fan (Special Seating – Artist Meet & Greet Access) $100 VIP (Covered Special Seating – Artist Meet & Greet Access – VIP Parking – VIP Lounge Access & Complimentary LLF Folding Chair)
It isn’t as rare as sighting Haley’s Comet, but it was very unusual Thursday morning when Journal readers checked e-mail and didn’t find the normal 6:55 a.m. edition of your free local news source.
In fact, it’s the first time in over a decade of operating Journals around north Louisiana that happened.
Our e-mail distribution portal is operated by Constant Contact, which had a significant system disruption early Thursday. It was systemwide for them – a much bigger problem that goes far beyond our Journal community.
Fortunately, the problem was resolved mid-morning, and your Journal e-mail arrived about 10 a.m., three hours late. We apologize for the delay. It’s a first for us.
All Journal content was published as normal Thursday morning and is available through our websites and our social media pages that are specific to each Journal.
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The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 (front row L to R) Paul Mainieri, Ron Washington, Lori Lyons, Walter Imahara and Bruce Brown. (Back row) Paul Byrd, M.L. Woodruff, Walter Davis, Matt Forte, Alana Beard and Wendell Davis. (Photo by Chris Reich/NSU Photographic Services, for the LSWA)
By JASON PUGH, Special to the Journal
NATCHITOCHES – Thursday afternoon was about “R and R” for 11 members of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
This “R and R” session, however, was not about rest and relaxation. Instead, the focus of the annual induction press conference inside the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum was on the inductees’ reactions to their moment in the sun and the relationships that drove them to or were created along the way in their Hall of Fame careers.
Some of those kinships even had a direct tie to Hall of Fame weekend itself, such as the case with 2023 inductee Paul Mainieri and his college coach, New Orleans’ Ron Maestri, a Class of 1994 inductee.
“I thought about that when (Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation President) Ronnie (Rantz) and (Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Chairman Doug Ireland) called me,” said Mainieri, who led LSU to the 2009 College World Series championship and five CWS appearances in his 15 years atop the Tiger program. “I had flown down from South Bend, Indiana, because Mase was being inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and I wanted to be here to honor him. I learned so much from Mase in my two years of playing for him – about handling players, promoting your team in the community, about what it took effort wise. At that point in my life, and to this day, he is probably the second-most important male figure in my life as far as guiding me through my baseball career and coaching career.”
Mainieri is one of five members of the Class of 2023 with ties to LSU, joining fellow Tiger baseball players Paul Byrd and M.L. Woodruff, standout football receiver Wendell Davis and Olympic jumper Walter Davis.
Although Mainieri’s relationship with Maestri began roughly an hour east of Baton Rouge, his tie to Woodruff was formed in the LSU baseball locker room long before the Tigers were among the nation’s elite.
Woodruff and Mainieri came into LSU as freshmen together before making their mark as baseball coaches.
Mainieri has the 2009 national title to his name, but it was Woodruff who made winning championships an art form, skippering Parkview Baptist to a remarkable 11 state championships in a 23-year span from 1986-2009.
“After the announcement, Paul was so gracious,” Woodruff said. “He came up to me after the pairing party for the golf tournament and said, ‘M.L., we’re in the locker room at Alex Box Stadium, and someone says, ‘Two of you guys are going into the Hall of Fame.’ He says, ‘Do you think they would have picked us?’ Absolutely not.”
Although not related, Walter and Wendell Davis played into sharing a last name.
“First of all, give it up for my brother, Walter” Wendell Davis said after following Walter’s speech before reflecting on his record-setting career that came in a time that long predated the current pass-happy era of college football.
A Shreveport-Fair Park High School product, Davis was recruited primarily by north Louisiana colleges – Northwestern State, then-Northeast Louisiana and Grambling State – before LSU came in “at the last minute.”
The marriage produced two All-American seasons for Davis, the 1987 SEC Player of the Year as a senior, a career built off a pairing of unsuspecting stars – Davis and his quarterback Tommy Hodson. Davis then produced a six-season NFL career with the Chicago Bears that was cut short because of an injury in Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium that still resonates.
“I look pretty unassuming – you wouldn’t think I played football if you met me on the streets – but Tommy was worse than that,” Wendell said. “Tommy was a skinny kid, great basketball player. You see him on the street, you wouldn’t think he was a player. He was highly recruited, and I thought, ‘I need to get to know him.’ As a redshirt freshman, Tommy and I would work out all the time. We’d lift weights, and we’d go to the field. We’d go up and down the field – I’m running routes and he’s throwing the ball. The hope was this chemistry would carry over into a game. Fortunately, it did. He gained confidence in me, and he knew where I would be on the field. He was very instrumental in me doing what I did.”
While Wendell Davis found success in a team sport, stepping away from basketball led the 6-foot-2 Walter Davis to a track and field career that took the native of Leonville to Barton County Community College in Kansas, back home to LSU and around the world with berths on the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Teams.
A prep basketball standout, Walter said the individual nature of track and field played a role – as did a coach who mentioned the plethora of 6-2 basketball players and the dearth of 6-2 basketball players who had his track and field ability – into pushing him onto his Hall of Fame path.
“One reason I left basketball was if someone missed an assignment or missed a layup, it was a hack on the team,” he said. “If I went to a track meet and I lost, I have to look in the mirror. That’s on you. That’s why I really stuck with track and field. I don’t have to depend on anyone but myself.”
Right-handed pitcher Paul Byrd, a 14-year major-league veteran, rounded out the LSU-tied contingent. Byrd’s relationship with the Hall of Fame goes right to the top as he was Tiger teammates with Rantz, who noted Byrd was his first former teammate he was able to honor as an inductee.
A school-record 17-game winner at LSU in 1990, Byrd grinded his way through more than a decade in the major leagues that included a 1999 All-Star selection that led him to mingling with National Baseball Hall of Famers at Fenway Park and a 2007 American League Division Series-clinching win against the New York Yankees.
Byrd remained humble throughout his time at the microphone, nearly speaking about fellow inductee Ron Washington as much as himself. Byrd, now a television analyst calling Atlanta Braves games, and Washington, Atlanta’s third base coach and gilded infield instructor, have developed a friendship that was clear from Byrd’s speech – although it started around the time Mainieri first visited Natchitoches.
“Ron Washington, where are you, buddy?” Byrd asked. “When I got called up to the big leagues in 1995, you don’t remember this. I was playing for the New York Mets. I’m not that good. I’m just trying to bob and weave and last as long as a I can. I’m always told I’m too short, and I don’t throw hard enough. I get called in the office and get told I’m going to the big leagues. All my teammates are hugging me and giving me five. Wash’s energy is unbelievable. He makes working hard fun.
“You don’t remember this, but you told me, ‘The big leagues can change you. Don’t let it happen to you. Stay humble and keep working hard.’ Ron Washington can handle success. All that he has accomplished has not changed him. Thank you for that.”
While Washington has remained the same since leaving New Orleans’ John McDonogh High School in 1970 to start a 10-year playing career, he has been a change agent and self-described “ambassador” for baseball. The Crescent City native said he always played above his age group while growing up, and it didn’t take long for him to have the Texas Rangers punching above their typical weight class in his first Major League Baseball managerial job.
Under Washington, the Rangers won at least 90 games in five seasons and reached the franchise’s first two World Series, capturing American League pennants in 2010 and 2011. Washington finally summitted the mountain in 2021, capturing a World Series title with Atlanta in his 51st season in professional baseball.
It was the relationships Washington built – and the vision he had – from Day One that built a budding dynasty in North Texas.
“When I arrived in Texas, my first meetings were with scouts, and out of the blue, I talked about winning a World Series,” Washington said. “They thought I was crazy. They did. I had the ring sizers, and I was sizing them up. I believe belief is powerful. When you believe and you can put action to that belief, you can get things done.”
Belief was a two-way street that led Matt Forte to the door of the NFL – one he kicked in and enjoyed a decade of top-tier performance with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets.
Forte, a Slidell native, was set on playing football in the SEC, but when the offers did not materialize, he followed his father Gene’s footsteps and signed with Tulane. Flashes of his potential were evident in his first three seasons, but a knee injury late in his junior year – and a coaching change – provided the impetus for a school-record 2,127 rushing-yard season as a senior that led him to become a second-round pick of the Bears.
Forte’s two-a-day workouts put him on a path to the Hall of Fame and to a fast friendship with the Davises, who were the targets of a good-natured shot from the former Green Wave standout.
“It means a lot, especially as a Tulane alumnus around all these LSU people,” Forte said. “Let y’all know, Tulane, we’re up here, too, especially y’all (Davis) brothers over there. When I got the call, I was honestly not expecting it. I was underrated my whole career. I didn’t consider myself underrated. I just think maybe overlooked, but it was God’s plan. Getting this honor at the end of a career was really sweet, because I feel my entire career, some people get their flowers while they’re playing or they come in with a lot of hype.
“I never bought into the hype. I’m glad I didn’t have a lot of hype around myself, because if you don’t turn out to be good the hype doesn’t mean anything. I’d rather be consistent. This was the cherry on top as far as the career I had.”
Consistency was a synonym for Alana Beard’s basketball career.
Four state championships at Shreveport’s Southwood High School led to an All-American career at Duke where she also won the Wade Trophy before playing professionally in the WNBA and overseas.
That career, which began with Beard playing against her older brothers as the only girl, led her to play in 27 countries. It was her relationship with her prep coach, Steve McDowell, she credited with being the linchpin for her globe-spanning career.
“Those Southwood years simply defined who I became,” Beard said. “I decided to play organized basketball in the seventh grade – I was too shy to do so in the sixth grade. That became my journey. That became my love especially when I understood that I had the opportunity to take a burden off my parents’ shoulders. Basketball could be the vehicle to take me where I eventually wanted to go. It wouldn’t have happened without my parents and the foundation they instilled in me, but also with Steve McDowell, the legendary coach at Southwood. I knew I wanted to play for him because he had a championship culture already there, and I had a desire to be a champion.
“I knew choosing Southwood would be hard. I knew the players there were better than me, but that motivated me to want to be one of the best. Any time I think about my success, Steve McDowell is synonymous with that because he taught me the fundamentals of the game. He taught me respect. He taught me discipline. I’ve carried that with me throughout my life.”
While the other eight competitive-ballot inductees carried competitive scars from outcomes that didn’t go their way, world champion weightlifter Walter Imahara’s career was forged in a different setting.
A Japanese-American, Imahara and his family spent three-and-a-half years in a World War II internment camp in California. Instead of a jaded worldview, Imahara took his pleasant disposition – and dogged dedication – to then-Southwestern Louisiana Institute and helped the Bulldogs win an NCAA national championship.
More importantly, Imahara, now 86 years old, found a longtime home among a group of people who treated him like one of their own.
“I was born in California, but I’ve lived in Louisiana for more than 80 years – Louisiana is my home,” said Imahara, who graduated from Baton Rouge’s Istrouma High School in 1955. “When I went to Southwestern, you have to remember, I was like the only Japanese-American on campus. People there were not prejudiced. They were of a Cajun background. How could they be prejudiced?”
Those relationships simultaneously define Acadiana and its 2023 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism honoree Bruce Brown.
A longtime fixture at the Daily Advertiser, Brown was a staple at Lafayette-area sporting events – community-wide or ones with a national focus. In addition to being a talented on-deadline writer, Brown said he enjoyed focusing on sports that didn’t always draw the eye of the greater public.
And while he made Lafayette his home, he had a perfectly pithy response to his honor.
“I think the full quote was ‘Get out of town,’’ Brown said of learning of his DSA selection. “It was unexpected. You don’t live for such a moment, but you take them when they come that’s for sure. I don’t write for the acclaim. I write for the athlete, for the kid. That’s the way I always approached it.”
While Brown wrote about barrier breakers, his fellow DSA honoree broke them herself.
Lori Lyons climbed the ladder at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, starting as a clerk in 1986 before becoming a two-time Louisiana Sports Writers Association Prep Writer of the Year and the second female LSWA President.
During her time as the Times-Picayune’s prep sports reporter in the River Parishes, Lyons chronicled numerous Louisiana Sports Hall of Famers, including 2017 inductee Ed Reed. Now her name – and biography – stands alongside Reed and the other statewide legends in Natchitoches.
“I have been coming to this event for 30 years,” Lyons said. “I have sat in the audience and cried while people like you stood on that stage and tried to explain what it means or how it feels and what an honor it is. Now it’s my turn, and as good as I am with words, I don’t have the words to do it.
“It is humbling. It is surreal. When I punched my name in that computer database and saw my name and my picture … I saw Walter Davis and said, ‘Come here. You have to do this.’ Then I saw his face. Then I saw Wendell Davis and said, ‘Come here. You have to do this.’ That is the most amazing experience so far of this whole thing.”
The 12th inductee, football great Eli Manning of New Orleans, is arriving Friday to join the festivities.
You’re invited, free of charge, this evening from 5-7 to a star-studded casual party — the La Capitol Welcome Reception kicking off the 2023 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration.
It’s in downtown Natchitoches, at the Hall of Fame museum at 800 Front Street (at the traffic circle) in Natchitoches. No need to dress fancy, just enjoy food and refreshments and music and a world-class museum, mingling with some of our state’s greatest sports stars and their families.
The Class of 2023 includes a two-time Super Bowl MVP (Eli Manning, who arrives Friday), a women’s basketball superstar from Shreveport with Natchitoches roots (Alana Beard), a College World Series-winning LSU coach (Paul Mainieri) and three more TIgers sports heroes (big league pitcher Paul Byrd, NFL receiver Wendell Davis from Shreveport and two-time USA track and field Olympian Walter Davis).
There’s another Pro Bowl NFL star, former Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte, a Tulane star from Slidell. He did things that only two other NFL backs ever have done, and now runs a charitable foundation and works in a ministry in Chicago.
For fans of the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, Ron Washington will entertain you – he managed the Rangers to the World Series in 2010 and 2011, and as the current third base coach for the Braves, he was also in that role when Atlanta won the 2021 Fall Classic. He was also third base coach in Oakland during the “Moneyball” years (he’s a featured character in the movie headlined by Brad Pitt).
Braves fans, this is a double bonus for you. Along with “Wash,” Byrd – whose LSU pitching accomplishments are on a short list with Paul Skenes and Ben McDonald – has been a color analyst on Braves TV game coverage who has won regional sports Emmy Awards. Here’s your chance, this evening, to get the inside angle on the club.
Meet the amazing 86-year-old Walter Imahara, a Japanese-American who became a world-class weightlifter for decades – while running a Baton Rouge floral business, and serving in the United States military in the early 1960s. Another Baton Rouge hero is M.L. Woodruff, who won 11 state championships coaching baseball for Parkview Baptist, and now is also involved in a ministry.
Sports journalists Bruce Brown (Lafayette) and Lori Lyons (New Orleans/Houma) have covered many amazing games and highly-accomplished athletes, including plenty of LSHOF members, in their careers and will be inducted next weekend as well.
The Welcome Reception provides the best possible opportunity to stroll around the 27,500-square foot museum, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Lots of display items have been rotated into exhibits, and there’s a new Kim Mulkey exhibit showcasing the LSU women’s basketball coach.
Just ahead — the free Friday evening Rockin’ River Fest concert on the downtown riverbank stage. Music starts at 6, with Manning joining his 2023 classmates on stage at 9:15, followed by a 10-minute fireworks show set to sports-themed music. There will be a free kids zone presented by Louisiana Propane Dealers with games under the Front Street bridge.
You’re invited to all the fun. Visit LaSportsHall.com or call 318-238-4255 to get more information and the schedule for the three-day celebration, and for participation opportunities for three ticketed events.
LOUISIANA GREATS: Members of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 gathered with previously-inducted members on stage. This Legends Lineup concludes each year’s induction ceremony and is a photo favorite for guests.
There are football legends, a women’s basketball great, four baseball icons, a two-time USA Olympian, a world-renowned weightlifting champion with an amazing life story, and five LSU Tigers.
They – and a fun-filled slate of events — are among the reasons to be in Natchitoches Thursday, Friday evening and Saturday, to enjoy the 2023 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration.
Festivities include three free events, and four others which require admission charges. Only the grand finale, the Saturday evening Induction Reception and Ceremony presented by State Farm Agents of Louisiana, is a dress up affair.
Two – the Friday lunchtime Bowling Bash presented by BOM, in Alexandria at Four Seasons Bowling Center, and the free Saturday morning New Orleans Saints and Pelicans Junior Training Camp on the Northwestern State campus – are activity-filled.
Another – the free Friday night Rockin’ River Fest Concert featuring Rockin’ Dopsie and The Zydeco Twisters, and rising country artist Jason Ashley, along with a 10-minute fireworks show over Cane River – is activity-optional, dancing encouraged.
The concert also features a free kids zone presented by Louisiana Propane Dealers with football, basketball, golf and science fun on the Natchitoches riverbank.
Tickets for the Bowling Bash, the Friday night VIP Taste of Tailgating party at the concert, and the big finale, the Induction Reception and Ceremony, are available at LaSportsHall.com or by calling 318-238-4255. The Saturday noon Round Table Luncheon is already sold out.
Advance registration at LaSportsHall.com for kids 7-17 is required for the free Junior Training Camp, which will feature many of the 2023 inductees participating as coaches in football and basketball.
Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning (from New Orleans) joins four-time WNBA All-Star Alana Beard (a Shreveport native with Natchitoches roots) and College World Series champion LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri in a star-studded 12-member induction class.
The Class of 2023 also includes New Orleans native and resident Ron Washington, who managed the Texas Rangers to a pair of World Series appearances and in 2021 helped the Atlanta Braves win the world’s championship (and is still the Braves’ third base coach); two-time LSU track and field USA Olympian and world champion Walter Davis from Arnaudville; and Slidell native, Tulane great and Chicago Bears two-time Pro Bowl running back Matt Forte.
Also set for induction are All-American LSU pitcher Paul Byrd, a 14-year Major League Baseball veteran who made the 1999 All-Star Game; Shreveport native Wendell Davis, who shattered LSU football receiving records before heading to the NFL; multiple national champion and world class weightlifter Walter Imahara, a Baton Rouge florist and UL-Lafayette legend who as a child spent 2 ½ years in a Japanese American internment camp in California; and retired Baton Rouge-Parkview Baptist baseball coach M.L. Woodruff, whose teams claimed 11 state championships.
Two south Louisiana sports journalists, Bruce Brown of Lafayette and longtime New Orleans Times-Picayune high school reporter Lori Lyons, will also be honored.
The Class of 2023 will be enshrined Saturday night at the Natchitoches Events Center to culminate the 64th Induction Celebration.
The Thursday reception at the museum, the Friday evening River Fest and the Junior Training Camp are free. As noted above, camp participants need to register online in advance.
The 2023 Induction Celebration will be hosted by the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, the support organization for the Hall of Fame. The LSHOF Foundation was established as a 501 c 3 non-profit entity in 1975 and is governed by a statewide board of directors.
For information on sponsorship opportunities and other participation, contact Foundation President/CEO Ronnie Rantz at 225-802-6040 or RonnieRantz@LaSportsHall.com, or Greg Burke, Director of Business Development and Public Relations, at 318-663-5459 or GregBurke@LaSportsHall.com .
Don’t miss out! Limited tickets are available for the Natchitoches Jazz Fest featuring Mark Chesnutt, Cupid, Tracy Byrd, and more!
Buy now and enter to win a luxurious Steel Magnolias Getaway! Affordable prices, unforgettable experience!
How to enter:
It’s simple! Buy your Natchitoches Jazz R&B Festival tickets, and you’re automatically entered into the giveaway! The more tickets you purchase, the more chances to win, with VIP tickets counting even more!
The Giveaway Prize Package includes:
2-night stay at the iconic Steel Magnolias House B&B where several scenes from the movie were actually filmed!
$100 gift certificate for Merci Beaucoup Restaurant in downtown Natchitoches just a few blocks from the Steel Magnolias House!
$100 gift certificate for Mayeaux’s Steak House within easy walking distance from the Steel Magnolias House!
Dinner for two at Mariner’s Restaurant on Sibley Lake which offers spectacular sunset views over the lake and fine dining!
Scenic cruise on the Cane River Queen, Natchitoches’ own riverboat!
$100 gift certificate to Plantation Treasures Gift Shop!
$100 gift certificate to Magnolia Spa Wellness & Boutique.
The approximate value of the package is over $1,000!
We at the Lincoln Parish Journal are pleased to welcome our newest sister publication, Claiborne Parish Journal. This online publication joins 10 others across Louisiana from Rapides Parish north to the state line.
“We feel the people of Claiborne Parish – Homer, Haynesville and surrounding towns – deserve their own publication,” said publisher Paige Nash. “At Journal Services LLC, we pride ourselves in covering local parishes with high-quality news and advertising to keep our readers up to date on what’s happening in their communities.”
Nash is the publisher of Claiborne and Bienville publications and a reporter for Webster Parish Journal.
All Journals cover local news, features and sports. Subscriptions are – and always will be – free. Please visit www.claiborneparishjournal.com and sign up today.
