Author: Meeks Publishing

Meeks Publishing is an independently owned, family publishing company. Marcella S. Meeks, Owner/Operator

BLAST FROM THE PAST

BLAST FROM THE PAST

BY Marcella S. Meeks

       There has been a lot of changes in Logansport and surrounding areas since I moved here in the early nineties. And there have been many changes to The Enterprise newspaper as well.

     Back in the nineties, there were several columnists that I enjoyed reading that was in The Logansport Tribune every week. Mildred Lindsey from Haslem, Texas, Dewena Henry from Stanley, Glen C.Price from the Bethel Community here in Logansport, just to name a few.

     There were many others as well. Remembering names has always been my shortcoming.

   I loved reading The Tribune because of the columns and of course, yours truly (me!) always had a column in there, too. Mine was usually about my kids and school and church functions.

     These columns kept us connected with the communities in a lot of ways. You just don’t read that kind of stuff anymore. But things changes as time passes by.

     I remember when Holiday on Main Street was a big event every November here in Logansport and people from all around came out. As well as River City Fest, when it was held in May shortly after graduation. Back then, it was a big event for my kids and they walked to town with their friends every Saturday. Things were so different back then.

     I mustn’t forget the boat races along the riverfront. My boys always attended these.

     Back then, we’d go to Rusty’s Diner on weekends and get Rusty’s famous fried chicken. My favorite was the chicken salad sandwiches. You just couldn’t get a sandwich like that anywhere else with onion rings and a side of pickle. (Rusty and Sissy Morris).

     We’d leave there and go over to the video store and rent some movies (VHS) and go home and enjoy movie night with the kids!

     Bill’s Dollar Store and Big Star was directly across the street from Rusty’s Diner.

     The activities at school and church took up a lot of my time back in those days when my children were growing up. There was always things going on and kids coming to my house on weekends all the time.

       I remember going to one of the homecoming games at the old football field and the bonfire one year.

     Change has made it’s way through here over the years. A lot of the businesses are gone as well as their owners. NJ Caraway’s Hardware (B C and Janet Palmer) always seemed to have what everyone needed. Janet had a clothing store on one side and a lot of nic-nacs on the other in addition to plumbing and other hardware essentials.

       These are just a few blasts from the past that I remember so well. It was things like this that made you want to live here. I wish we could bring it all back!

     There was more, too!

     Back then, there was Hamel’s Park in Shreveport. Some of my family from Nacogdoches, TX and Tenaha, Tx would drive to my house, and we’d load up a picnic basket, cooler and all the kids and we’d go to Hamel’s once a month. I think all the kids in the neighborhood would show up wanting to come with us!

     There was a comet back then circling the globe that was a big deal called Comet Hyakutake in 1996, and then one in 1997 called Hale-Bopp Comet that lit up the night sky back in that decade.

     Then, in 2000 was the Millinnium. This was a spooky time for everybody because they thought all computers were going to stop on December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000. Everybody was buying up water and grocery supplies like there was going to be no tomorrow! Our society faced a widespread anxiety over the Y2kK bug for a long time. But nothing ever happened.

           Times have changed so much since those days. People have come and gone. I wish we could have all stayed connected but as time passes, so do people. Nothing ever stays the same. New faces, new places!

     Thanks for reading Blasts from the Pasts! Have a blessed day!    

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Around Town

Around Town

By Marcella S. Meeks

     Greetings Friends and Neighbors,

     Yesterday I saw the tractors cutting the grass along US Highway 84 in Logansport. Boy, did we need that. But once they were done, the trash was just plain sickening. I don’t know why people have to litter our highways so much. It’s nasty and people passing through probably think DeSoto
Parish is one of the nastiest places they’ve been through.                                                                                 

     Hopefully soon, the sheriff’s office will let the inmates clean up our roadway. It would sure help the looks of things around here.

     We’ve always had a litter problem around here. Honestly, the dumpster yard is a whole lot cleaner than the highway.

     On a brighter note, fall is in the air. Leaves are falling everywhere. Cooler weather should be on the horizon in the evenings pretty soon! I’m not too fond of cold weather but a little cooling off will make things tolerable for most of us. I know it will for me!

     In case any of you need to know, God’s Food Pantry in Logansport is open the third Thursday of each month. For more information, you may call 318-239-9904. Someone was asking me for this info so here it is. The next distribution will be Thursday September 17th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

     There is also a blessing box behind the Tobacco Barn – I donate a lot of stuff there and there’s usually some things already there that others have dropped off. Stop and see if there is anything you might be able to use.

     Celebrate Recovery of Logansport, Louisiana meets every Monday night at Church on the Rock, 301 S. 3rd Street, Logansport. It is for finding freedom in any life struggle. We start downstairs with a free meal at 6 pm, Big Group upstairs at 6:30 which is a teaching or testimony, then following a 10 minute break, men’s small group sharing and women’s small group sharing group. Ends at 8:30. We also have The Landing at the same time which is for teenagers; Children’s Place for children ages 5 – 11. Children must come with an adult that attends CR. Celebrate Recovery is a national/international ministry started at Saddleback Church. Anonymity and Confidentiality are required. You will be welcome here. No cost. No registration needed, just come. If you need more information, call Dave & Joyce Wilson at 318-697-5905 or Joyce’s cell at 318-453-3239.

     My daughter Theresa is feeding an abandoned cat named Tuffy on a wooded lot next to her house. Tuffy is very old and sleeps under an abandoned travel trailer. He needs a good home. He has been abused and abandoned and starved. Theresa feeds him every day now. She would bring him home with her but her dogs would kill him. If you’d like to adopt Tuffy, email me at marcies1960@aol.com and I will send you a picture of him. I would take him but I have three outside cats already and my male cat Midnight will hurt him. Let me know if you’re interested.

     Last but not least, I’d like to welcome all of you to Calvary Abundant Life Tabernacle on the Bethel Road across from the dumpsters on Sundays at 1:00 p.m. We have an open door policy so come as you are…

     Thank you for reading my column Around Town… I’ll be back next week. If you have community news you’d like for me to share, feel free to email me at marcies1960@aol.com any time and I’ll include it in my column each week.

     Have a safe and blessed week…

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CUTE THINGS REMEMBERED

CUTE THINGS REMEMBERED

By Marcella S. Meeks

     My family has always been a blessing to me, and I thank God for them everyday. As we go through life, our children and our grandchildren say and do cute things that we just can’t forget. Believe me, the bigger the family, the more things you’ll remember (and sometimes forget!

     I remember so many things about when my children were growing up and yes, a lot of things I forgot along the way. But here are some cute things that just never disappeared.

     When Brandie, my daughter was five years old in kindergarten, at th end of the year they had a graduation ceremony. The wore their little caps and gowns. Each student got to stand in front of the audience and tell what they wanted to be when they grew up. Of course, Brandie said “I want to be a writer when I grow up!” On the way home later that evening, she asked, “Mama, since I’ve already graduated, do I have to go to school anymore?” I laughed so hard. “You’ve only just started. You have twelve ears to go!” I replied.

***

     Years later, when Christopher, my grandson (my oldest daughter Tina’s son) was three, she said he was playing on the patio on his tricycle. She said he was riding around singing a little song he had made up that went something like this: “I got my mamaw! I got my mamaw!”

***

     Christopher would sit on his tricycle and push it with his feet because he couldn’t reach the pedals. When someone came out on the porch, he’d say, “Push him! Push him!”

***

     When he wanted to be picked up, he’d reach his little arms in the air and wiggle his fingers and say, “Hold him! Hold him!”

***

     Sometimes, we’d go places in my little car and Christopher’s car seat next to the door so we’d strap it in the middle of the back seat. When we rounded a corner or turned quickly, it would topple over to the side and he’d start screaming, “Help him! Help him!”

***

     When Shelby, Tina’s youngest daughter, was three, we took a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas that summer. We went out to Magic Springs Theme Park. I got on one of the kiddie rides with Shelby (the dragon mine tour roller coaster). When we started up and then into the dip, she grabbed my hands and covered her eyes with my fingers and screamed “Hide my eyes, Mamaw! Hide my eyes!”

***

     Later on, when Tristin (my daughter Theresa’s youngest son) started coming independent when he was only three or four years old. When he had just turned three, he wanted a sippie cup with chocolate milk. I watched him go to the kitchen drawer, take a cup and lid and sit it on a chair. He reached up and got the Nestle’s chocolate syrup off the counter’s edge and poured a bunch in the cup, and some of it drooled over the sides and into the chair. He opened the refrigerator and got the milk and started pouring, sloshing milk all over the cup, chair and floor. He took a spoon out of the drawer and stirred! I was stunned but Theresa said he wouldn’t let no one make it but himself! She was right. He turned the sticky cup up and drank!

     Later on, Theresa cleaned up his mess while he watched cartoons.

***

     One year, we went to Galveston, Texas for several days. We stayed at the historic Flagship Hotel (before the hurricane destroyed its foundation and it had to be torn down). This was our favorite hotel and where we stayed at all the time. It was the only hotel in Galveston that was built out on the water.

     My grandson Nicolas, only four at the time (Theresa, my daughter’s oldest son) always loved The Flagship.

     The day we had to go home, Nicolas apparently wasn’t ready to go. When we loaded everything in the cars, and got ready to go, he grabbed the staircase rails and held on for dear life, crying “I don’t want to go home!” Tears streamed down his little face, and he cried for several blocks after we left. That was the last time we got to stay because the next year, the hurricane came and wiped it out. A theme park was built on the remodeled foundation after that.

     I will never forget that look on Nicolas’s face that day a long time ago.

***

When my granddaughter Alanna (my son James’s little girl) was not more than seven or eight, I decided to buy her a new wardrobe for Christmas. She always loved new dresses! I went shopping on all the clearance racks and bought her an entire gift bag of new clothes that year for a fraction of the normal cost.

     After everyone opened their gifts, Alanna took her bag and drug it across the floor and set it beside the front door. She made

sure her mother didn’t forget her bag! We all laughed!

***

This is only a few of the memories of years gone by but to this mamaw, they will never be forgotten. I consider each one a little blessing in my life. I will always cherish them.

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Welcome Aboard

RiverCity X-Press News Online

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marcies1960@aol.com

318-505-0787

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Warmest Wishes,

Marcella

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Monthly Columns Needed – Gardening Tips, Recipes & Money Saving Tips


If you have tips on gardening, recipes or saving money, feel free to submit your favorite tip or full articles up to 1000 words. We need monthly columns and tips on every aspect of gardening, recipes and money saving ideas. We do not pay for stories or tips but we offer byline credit with each submission. Email tips/articles to:
marcies1960@aol.com.

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All stories and articles and time sensitive material will be posted in the order it was received. We update our site at the end of each day.


If you have news, events, announcements or photos that you’d like published, email them to us at marcies1960@aol.com.

Feel free to share our information on social media. We appreciate the boost.

If you have a time sensitive event or announcement, email it to us and we will post it immediately on our website.

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Monthly Articles & Tips on Gardening Needed


If you have tips on gardening, whether it’s fruit and vegetables or flower beds, feel free to submit your favorite tip or full articles up to a 1000 words. We need monthly columns and tips on every aspect of gardening. We do not pay for stories or tips but we offer byline credit with each submission. Email tips/articles to: marcies1960@aol.com.

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