There was the good: Toledo Bend was named the No. 1 bass fishing lake in the country by BassmasterMagazine, Benton ruled in the National Archery in Schools Program once again and the top 10 fisheries in the area were named.
There was also some bad: The Red River jumped out of its banks, a potential Caddo Parish gun ordinance caused a stir, while David Parker and Jim Clark Jr. were among the outdoor enthusiasts who moved on.
Here’s a look back at three stories that stuck out in 2015:
Local couple marries at Martin’s Gun Shop
Some Saturday morning nuptials in southeast Shreveport may have redefined the term “shotgun” wedding, while offering up some entertainment of the redneck variety.
When Ricky Martin (not the singer) and Beverly Brooke (the singer from London) decided to get hitched in the states, they opted to make the move at Martin’s Gun Shop on Kay Drive, owned by Ricky’s dad. Henry Martin no longer sells guns, but he does expert repair on shotguns and there were plenty on hand inside the store, if a need arose.
How this wedding came to be is a miracle in itself and can be laid to rest on the heavily tattooed shoulders of Tammy Martin, sister of the groom and best friend of the bride. Dating a member of the 69 Eyes rock band in Finland, Tammy met Brooke on Facebook and decided to visit her a couple of years ago in London. The two became fast friends, so when Tammy returned stateside, Brooke came along for the ride.
“She didn’t know she was pregnant at the time,” Tammy said. “Brooke went back to London, but her family threw her out. She was homeless on the streets of London.”
But as luck would have it, Brooke found a $20 bill, or maybe it was a 20-pound piece, on the street. She called her U.S. friend to tell her the news.
“I told her to go to the race track and bet on the gray horse,” Tammy said. “She did that and won $1,500. She used the money to buy a plane ticket and come back here. God was taking care of her.”
“I thought they were kidding,” she said.
Ricky proposed in February, Brooke accepted and Tammy began making plans for the wedding. Since Ricky was recently laid off from his job, a barebones wedding was in order.
“They were looking for a place and I told them they ought to just have it at my shop,” Henry Martin said. “We could put up some tents and there’s plenty of parking at the Lodge across the street.”
So, Martin’s Gun Shop, which has been around since the muskets were brought over on the Mayflower, became the landing spot for the 60 or so folks who came to celebrate with the family on the memorable day.
Finding something borrowed and blue for the wedding wasn’t a problem. The wedding decorations of turquoise and orange were “recycled” from Amy and Shane Trichel’s wedding from a couple of weeks ago.
Brooke was tastefully dressed in a cream dress with turquoise sash and a sleeveless denim jacket. Like the rest of the bridal party, she wore brown cowboy boots, but had trouble deciding on a topper.
“I have two ‘ats and I’m not sure which to choose,” she said with a look of concern. “And I’m a bit nervous.”
The ceremony was conducted by Judge Barbara Douget, who wasted little time once she took the reins.
“We’re gonna make this quick, because it’s hot out here,” said Douget, who recently oversaw a wedding in front of the fish tanks at the Bass Pro Shops.
And quick it was. Once the words and rings were exchanged and the kiss was planted, Douget pronounced the couple “Mr. and Mrs. Ricky Martin.” Beverly instantly became and U.S. citizen who can now sing country music, while Ricky continues to stay clear of all microphones.
Appropriately, the post-wedding meal was catfish with all the trimmings, cooked by Trichel and Dillion Twohig, and served under several quickly erected tents.
Following a honeymoon trip to Eldorado Casino in Shreveport, the couple, along with 2-year-old Henry Brooke, were expected to reside at the Broadmoor home Henry.
Susie Boniol looked out her kitchen window in south Bossier’s Olde Oaks Subdivision one May day and what to her wondering eyes did she see but one giant alligator threatening her black lab.
It took just a matter of seconds for the demonstrative Boniol to scoop up Mingo and her three children making sure they were safely tucked away inside their home. The Boniol abode is located on one of the ponds surrounding Olde Oaks Golf Course, which offers “27 holes of outstanding golf,” according to the company website, along with gators in the 10-foot range.
“What frightened me was that it was hiding here in plain sight and it was huge,” Boniol said. “It had been swimming in the 3-1/2 acre pond, but it came up on our property. I hate to think what could have happened.”
Boniol called Wildlife Refuge in south Bossier and a representative there told her to get in contact with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to file and official nuisance complaint. Since it was after 5 p.m., she had trouble reaching an LDWF agent or biologist but finally got through on a special hotline number.
Given the complaint number she needed, Boniol contacted a nuisance animal removal specialist who offered “a ton of information” she needed.
“He came out the next day and said it was a male gator and that it had been circling in the pond looking for its next meal,” Boniol said.
Home owners in Olde Oaks own 14 feet into the water, according to Boniol, and her family regularly uses their pier area for fishing, boating and swimming. That might not happen again for the foreseeable future, since she believes more gators may be lurking in the depths of the unnamed pond.
Anyone with a nuisance alligator problem should be aware that alligators aren’t relocated, because no one wants them in their backyard, whether it’s a camp on Lake Bistineau or their residence on Cross Lake. Folks water skiing on the Red River don’t like seeing them either. But their meat makes and tasty meal and their skin can be turned into some pretty good boots, so harvesting them has its uses.
All Boniol knows is she doesn’t want any more gators in her backyard threatening her children or the family pet.
“We have a massive nutria rat problem on the pond, so it’s like a gator buffet,” she said. “There are also some overgrown empty lots, too.”
A baited hook was set up, similar to your favorite “Swamp People” episode, the 10-foot, 2-inch gator took the bait and was harvested.
Although the same wasn’t true for his razor and his barber, David Parker was never far from his time-tested Thermos of coffee, according to longtime friend George Hodges, currently in charge of the prized possession.
But more on the Thermos later.
Hodges remembers the first time he saw Parker, who passed away on in March due to a heart ailment, at a bass fishing tournament on Lake Bistineau in the mid-1980s.
“This guy was standing in front of me with seven of the biggest fish you ever saw on a stringer – probably 4 to 7 pounds each,” Hodges said chuckling. “His beard was down to his waist, his hair was down to his shoulders and he didn’t have any teeth. He looked like someone who had just come in out of the swamp.”
The pair would end up fishing together for 21 years, winning at least a half-dozen bass boats, but the fishing marriage wasn’t without an audition.
“Both of our regular partners had decided to quit tournament fishing, so I went to David and asked if he’d like to join up,” Hodges said. “He thought about it for a few minutes and then said, ‘let’s go fishing this weekend and we’ll see.’ I guess David wanted to interview me to see how I did.”
Fishing for money was never what David Parker was about – not that the veteran angler of North Louisiana fisheries didn’t capture his share of money before being diagnosed with Asian cancer in 2010. Parker eventually beat the disease, but his heart couldn’t survive the trauma. Services are set for later this week.
Whether he was fishing with Hodges, Gary Yelverton or Cindy Camus Pruett in a Thursday Night Tournament, Parker was always in contention on just about any body of water. He loved Cross Lake so much that he and longtime girlfriend Joan Mayfield-Parker were married on Jan. 8 under the lake’s pavilion, donated and built by Bass Life Associates in his name. Parker wasn’t hasty in making decisions, however. It took him over 23 years to ask Mayfield for her hand.
“David was pretty conservative and patient,” Hodges said. “I learned a lot about patience in fishing from him.”
He was also a tough cookie. Berney Bracken played football with Parker at Fair Park in the early 1960s.
“He was a little bitty fellow –probably not even 150 pounds, but he played offensive guard and he went up against guys weighing 230-240 pounds,” Bracken said. “What he lacked in size, he made up for in meanness.”
Parker was charter member of Bass Life Associates and was staple at that group’s Youth Fishing Tournament on Cross Lake every year. He also worked the Get Hooked on Fishing (Not Drugs) event annually on Caddo Lake. He was a guy who gave back a lot more than he took.
"David has probably fished in thousands of bass tournaments and he's never said 'no' to anyone in need,” said fishing buddy Dallas Miller, who often drove him for chemo treatments. “If there was a benefit bass tournament being held, he was always there."
Parker’s battle with cancer nearly came to an end in 2011 when a group of friends held a bass tournament to help with his mounting medical costs. He had lost his massive locks of blond hair and a long beard to match, thanks to the radiation and chemo treatments, but he had his priorities in order.
While talking with The Times at that event, Parker broke down when asked what his prognosis might be.
"Just tell everyone that I love them," he said. "I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and if he has room on the road of gold, I'll go walking with him."
Hodges said Parker acquired the red, one-quart Thermos, which survived a multitude of fishing trips across Northwest Louisiana, before they became fishing partners. His friend drank coffee “all day and half the night,” refusing to give it up for a new one. It had been Duck-taped together, hot glued and even reconstituted with epoxy at one point.
“But at the end of the day, you could still get a cup of hot coffee out of it,” Hodges said. “It was old and beat up, but it was dependable.
“And that’s a lot like my friend.”
Jim Clark taught his son about winning
Saturday’s funeral service at Shreveport’s University Church of Christ, honoring the late Jim Clark Jr., got off to a rousing start under the direction of longtime friend Curtis Shipley.
“It speaks to Jim’s sense of humor that he picked an ol’ country boy like me to conduct his funeral,” Shipley said to some chuckles. “If it’s too redneck, it’s Jim’s fault – and you can take it up with him the next time you see him.”
In front of a nearly full auditorium of friends, fans and family members, Shipley talked about the multi-talented Clark, who was magical with all three firearm disciplines – handguns, shotguns, rifles – was even more adept at creating firearms that changed the course of competitive shooting.
Clark did that with a grace and humility often unmatched in the industry. Although he rarely lost in a sport he spent several decades as a world-class competitor, he knew how to win and he how to lose. Sometimes he won to lose, something he passed on to sons JEC and Logan, who relayed a lesson he learned from his dad.
Logan had just won the 2004 regional sporting clay championships in Shreveport, the first of his own awards. He was waiting for the scores to be posted when Jim said it was time to head home.
“Wait a minute. We’re going home already? I won,” a confused Logan said.
“That’s right, you did. And you did good,” Jim said. “But who got second? That person over there in the corner crying.”
It was a 13-year-old boy who had been looking forward to the match for a long time.
“I looked at my dad and understood. At that moment I learned that some things were more important than winning,” Logan said. “My dad always taught me there was just one competitor you needed to worry about at a match and that was yourself.
“One thing my dad loved more than winning matches was passing his knowledge on to my brother and myself.”
Clark also had a pilot’s license although Shipley said he never had the opportunity to fly with his friend.
“Jim didn’t die in a plane crash, so I’d say he was pretty good,” Shipley joked.
Whether he was creating one of his masterpieces or competing for a noteworthy title, Shipley said at least one thing was unclear about Jim Clark Jr.
“When he was holding a rifle, did it become part of him or did he become part of it? I just know that together they could play some pretty good music.”
没有评论:
发表评论