“Simple words can be come clever phrases,
And chapters could turn into books.
Yes if I could just get it on paper,
But it's harder than it ever looks.”
— If I Could Just Get It On Paper, Jimmy Buffett, 1982

Was out of town this weekend and had trouble sleeping in a hotel as usual so I saw
when the cell phone lit up with an alert at 2 a.m.
Jimmy Buffett, dead at 76.

Great way to start a weekend — if you want the weekend to be crummy.
It was autumn of 1979 and a friend said to come with him to a casual party on a
weeknight, just a couple blocks from Louisiana Tech’s campus, off Spencer Street
in someone’s yard. Maybe 50 students hanging around with Solo cups and a record
player was spinning “The Great Filling Station Holdup,” my first exposure to
Jimmy Buffett. I was about six years late to the party that wouldn’t end until early
Saturday morning when Jimmy Buffett, a musical Boy of Summer, passed away
from a rare form of skin cancer, holding on, fittingly, through the final day of the
Unofficial Summer.

I backtracked and caught up. Scraped together loose change and when possible
bought “A1A” and “Havana Daydreamin’” and “Changes in Latitudes” and “Son
of a Son of a Sailor,” each an album or cassette when there were such things.
Loved Jimmy. Appreciated he could laugh at himself and find the humor in his
fellow travelers and share it. We are, after all, an odd bunch.
Saw him twice in concert. I never recall anyone saying anything about going to a
Jimmy Buffett concert to hear Utley on keyboards or Fingers on harmonica or even
to hear Jimmy Buffett sing. It was all about going to have some fun.
In all the obits I’ve read, there were no stories of him being a big shot or a crazed
rock star. They are all about his humor and generosity and blanket kindness. He
sang about Margaritaville, but he didn’t live there.

He was a singer and a guitar player but mainly he was an entertainer and mostly he
was a writer. And a great one. He was at his best writing short stories, so short that
they could be three-minute songs.
Paul Simon and Paul McCartney, no less than titans in the art, have said this week
that Jimmy Buffett was not only one of their best friends but also one of the best
songwriters in the business. They know how hard it is.
You want silly, fun songs? Listen to “Margaritaville” or “Pencil Thin Mustache” or
“Cheeseburger in Paradise” or “The Weather is Here, I Wish You Were Beautiful.”
“Fins” and “Volcano” and “Fruitcakes.”
Women and men songs? “Miss You So Badly.” “Distantly in Love.” “Come
Monday.” “Cuban Crime of Passion.” “Who’s the Blonde Stranger.”
Want to make some quick trips? “Jamaica Mistaica.” “Trying to Reason with
Hurricane Season.” “One Particular Harbor.” “Tampico Trauma.” “Boat Drinks.”
“Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”
You want to meet some unforgettable people, read/listen to some textured short
stories? Try “African Friend,” “Havana Daydreamin’,” “He Went to Paris,”
“Somewhere Over China,” “The Captain and the Kid,” “Last Mango in Paris,” or
“Cowboy in the Jungle.”

There’s some good stuff on those old albums.
If you are aware of him at all, you can hardly think of him and not smile. I
appreciate that he had such a fascination with life, and that he wasn’t selfish about
spreading the love. Secretly, that took a lot of work behind the scenes; all we saw
were the beaches and the boats.
“… Yeah if I could just get it on paper,
I could tell you what I think I did.”

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

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Congratulations to Wayne Williams, the best Picker in the Marketplace Chevrolet College
Football Pickers Contest during week one. So, the Journal is beginning a new contest right
now. CLICK HERE TO ENTER.

Wayne Williams wins the first weekly prize of $100. You could be the next big winner.
Enter your guess of the winners of ten college football games. Everyone in DeSoto Parish is
eligible to play and win.

Deadline is Friday, September 8 th at 4:00 pm. There is plenty of time, but don’t let the
deadline slip up on you.

Again, congratulations to the $100 winner Wayne Williams. And good luck to you in this
week’s new game. No cost or obligation to enter and win. And all entrants will get a
complimentary subscription to the DeSoto Parish Journal, just for entering.

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By Doug De Graffenried

The usual routine for writing this article is that I arrive at the office on Monday morning, grab a
cup of coffee, and start writing. This week’s routine was disrupted by the Labor Day holiday. I did enjoy
my Labor Day and decided that a smoker did not violate the Burn Ban and I cooked away! Don’t get me
started on governmental overreach and intrusion into our basic freedoms, because I can wax poetic on
that topic.

I whipped into the offices on Tuesday morning knowing that my writing routine was a day late.
I grabbed a cup of coffee and that is where the day derailed.

My morning was disrupted by Bill Gates! I’m one of those dinosaurs that uses Microsoft
products. Only the cool people on our church staff have Apple products. They are also the people who
do all the graphics and video production. They are always bragging about their cool computers, iPads,
and such not. I sat down at my desk and noticed my computer was off. I never turn my computer off. Bill
Gates and Microsoft had turned my computer off. It was in the middle of one of the infamous Microsoft
updates and had not turned back on.

I hit the power button. If you have endured one of those updates recently, you know that I sat
gazing at a screen with the, “please be patient” message. I was. The computer cooperated and all was
well. Until I tried opening Microsoft Word. The update had fouled up all of my functioning Microsoft
product. I could not open Word. I could not open the mail program. I could not open another product
the church uses for internal communication. My computer was fully functional, but the programs I
needed to write this article and send this article out were not functioning.
My workday was in a state of disruption.

Those of us who are set in our ways don’t like disruption. Our habits give order and symmetry to
our life. I was upset with Bill Gates and the Microsoft software update disruption of my writing schedule.
I have an antidote for dealing with disruption. What if, rather than all our usual ways of grousing
about disruption, we practiced improvisation. When life comes at us with something that causes us to
get off our beaten path, can we “make it up” as we are going along? Then a disruption becomes a
blessing and opportunity to learn and do something different.

If we are anchored to Christ, let the winds blow and let the disruptions come. We have an
anchor that holds. Now we can move where the winds of the spirit move us. That is called improvisation,
or some call it faith.

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Be the difference maker your community needs!
Visit lhsoa.com/become-official/ for more information.

More than 4 million people live in our state but only about 4000 men and women choose to officiate high school sports. Every sport needs more officials, sign up today!!

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As an angler, we are always looking for the best bass fishing lake in the country. It’s our dream to catch ten-pound bass on every cast, but we don’t want anyone else to know about our secret destination. It begs me to wonder, “Where is the holy grail of bass fishing?” Is there really a Bassfield USA and if so, is it a destination all anglers should put on their bucket list?

This topic came up at lunch the other day with my so called “Lunch Bunch” crew. We are a sad group of guys that eat lunch together at least twice a week to discuss everything from LSU Football to the prettiest women of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. It is a group of both Republican and Democratic loyalists with a couple of Independents mixed in who have the answers to most of our country’s political issues. It was during a conversation about a former NSU Demon that someone asked where he was from? Turns out, he was from a town by the name of Bassfield!

After some lengthy discussion, someone finally Googled it to discover that Bassfield is in Mississippi, located in the northeast region of the Magnolia State. Now my peer group of misfits (Lunch Bunch) thought it was funny that “I” did not know where Bassfield was since I am a bass fisherman. While I failed to see the humor in their delinquent accusation, they just could not understand how I could call myself a bass angler and not know the location of Bassfield, Mississippi! They pretended to be disappointed in my lack of knowledge, but I thought they were juvenile!

However, this topic did raise a question with me…are there any other towns called by another species of fish like catfish? Or might there be a town by the name of Sac-a-lait, otherwise known as a white perch to most southerners. How many fish towns are there? Turns out, after extensive research and a waste of my time, there are at least eighty-one towns between Canada and the good ol’ USA that have a name associated with a particular fish species. Some include Catfish Paradise, Arizona; Fish, Georgia; Fishkill, New York (Love that one); Marlin, Texas; King Salmon, Alaska; Sturgeon, Pennsylvania; and one of my favorites…Jack Fish, Ontario, Canada. There’s even a Trout, Louisiana located in North Louisiana’s LaSalle Parish. Did you know there are three other town names with the word Bass in it? They are Bass Harbor, Maine, Bass Lake, Wisconsin and Bass River, New Brunswick, Canada.

So, there you have it! More useless information that no one really cares about! But at least next time when my “Lunch Bunch” asks about a town with a fishy name, I’ll be able to hold my head high by spouting off the location of several. It pains me to waste my valuable time on such trivial information, but when you have friends like the ones I have, you need all the ammunition you can get since these guys are ruthless when you don’t know the things “THEY” think you should know.

Till next time, good luck, good fishing and when you get that bite of a lifetime…don’t forget to set the hook!!!!

Steve Graf

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Ware Youth Center is seeking female and male staff to work directly with juveniles in both secure and non-secure settings. Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED, no criminal history, a valid Louisiana Driver’s License, and a strong desire to help improve the quality of life for the youth served at WYC. Benefits include state retirement, health insurance, vacation leave, sick leave and several holidays.

Applicants should apply at Ware Youth Center, 3635 Hwy 71 in Coushatta. Ware Youth Center is an equal opportunity employer.

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Lola Jean Thompson Norwood was born on March 28, 1950, in Pineville, Louisiana to Arles and
Lillie Mae Thompson. She went home to be with her Lord and Savior in Shreveport, Louisiana
on September 1, 2023.

She is survived by her husband, Donald (Don), her son, Greg, her brother, Pete Thompson of
Bryson City, North Carolina, her two sisters, Sandy Thompson of Ball, Louisiana, and Joan
Holmes and husband Jimmy Holmes, seven nieces and nephews and several great nieces and
nephews, lots of cousins, and Charla Streetman, a very special friend who called Lola her Little
Sister and Lola called Charla her Big Sister. They formed a bond that words cannot adequately
describe.

Lola is preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Kim, her grandparents, and aunts and uncles.
She is also preceded in death by Ross and Hazel Norwood, her in-laws who thought of her as a
daughter.

Lola graduated from Tioga High School, attended Northwestern State University until she met
Don, and later on after settling down in Alexandria, Louisiana, she attended Louisiana College.
She would jokingly say that she got her MRS and when Don graduated, he got a Bachelor of
Science degree or what is commonly called a BS degree. Both seemed appropriate! She and Don
were married on January 24, 1970, immediately after he graduated from Northwestern. Five
years later she gave birth to their son, Greg, who brought much joy to their lives.

She was one of the most kindhearted people that anyone could know and easily adapted to
whatever she needed to do. Whether it was sitting with someone who was ill, cooking for a
function, taking someone to a doctor, and just being the person who would do whatever was
needed to do. Even before she and Don were married, she sat with his grandparents while they
were in the hospital. As their parents grew old and their health failed, she dedicated her life to
caring for them regardless of what the need was. She never stopped worrying about her brother,
sisters, and parents. She wanted all to be healthy and to lead good lives.

When she married into the Norwood family, she fit right in doing whatever that family was
doing. That was sometimes doing such things as operating a tractor, getting her hands dirty in the
garden dirt, fishing, and many other things. Bushhogging was one of her favorite farm activities.
About the only thing that she did not do was to hunt. She loved working in a garden, working in
the yard, fishing, traveling, cooking, and being a dedicated wife, mother, daughter, and daughter-
in-law.

Lola loved God and even as she was being taken from the room for surgery, she commented that
if she didn’t make it through the surgery that she was going home to be with God and our
families and friends who have gone on before us. As Don said, as hard as it is to give up the love
of your life, there is comfort in knowing that she is with God and all of those mentioned. She
will be missed for her smiles, compassion, dedication, and determination to get a task done, and
for just being Lola. She was one in a million.

Honoring Lola as pallbearers will be Mark Griffin, Jason Holmes, Steve Palmerton, Lee
Rainwater, Phillip Daniels, and Scott Gentry.

Funeral services celebrating the life of Lola J. Norwood will be held at 10:00 a.m. on
Wednesday, September 6, 2023, at Kilpatrick’s Rose-Neath Chapel, 943 Polk Street, Mansfield,
Louisiana. Interment will follow at Old Union Cemetery, Converse, Louisiana. Officiating the
service will be Dr. Chad Hardbarger. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, September 5, 2023,
from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Kilpatrick’s Rose-Neath Funeral Home, Mansfield, Louisiana.

The family requests that memorials be sent to St. Jude’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 50,
Memphis, TN 38101-9929.

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By Brad Dison

Elijah was born in Ontario, Canada in 1844. Three years later, Elijah’s family moved to the United States. In 1859, Elijah’s father, George, sent 15-year-old Elijah to Scotland to attend the University of Edinburgh where he became a certified mechanical engineer. When Elijah returned to the United States, he was unable to find work as an engineer. He eventually settled for a job as an oiler and fireman for the Michigan Central Railroad, a job that was far below his level of education. An oiler’s job was to keep the railroad’s locomotives and rolling stock lubricated. Steam engines of the era required oilers to manually lubricate all the moving parts of an engine including ball bearings and cylinders. Locomotives had to make frequent stops so oilers could lubricate the parts.

Elijah knew there was a better way. He just needed to find it. In his free time, Elijah performed more highly skilled work at the machine shop at his home. Through his efforts to allow trains to run for longer periods without maintenance which made them more efficient, Elijah made improvements to existing equipment and invented new pieces of equipment.

On July 23, 1872, Elijah received patent number 129,843 for his “Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines.” Elijah’s invention was a lubricating cup which automatically distributed oil evenly over the engine’s moving parts. Rather than having the oilers lubricate each moving part individually, which took a lot of time, they could fill a central cup with oil. The oil flowed through pipes to the engine parts which required constant lubrication. Railroad companies quickly began installing Elijah’s automatic lubricators on their trains.

Elijah probably could have lived the remainder of his life off the income from this one invention, but Elijah kept making improvements. In 1898, 26 years after he received his patent for the lubricating cup, Elijah added a glass sight feed tube to the system. This improvement enabled engineers to visually monitor the rate at which the moving parts were being lubricated. If the engineer saw that the automatic lubricator was feeding too much oil to the engine, he could partially close a valve to slow the release of oil. If oil was needed, he could open the valve more. A study published the following year concluded that Elijah’s lubricating systems were in use on almost all railroads in North America.

Throughout his lifetime, Elijah received nearly 60 patents, most of which were related to lubrication systems. He also received patents for a lawn sprinkler, an ironing board, and other machines unrelated to steam engines. Elijah’s inventions proved to be reliable and long-lasting. As with any successful product, competitors came up with their own versions of Elijah’s popular products. Most of the copycat products were designed quickly and made as cheaply as possible to maximize profits. The cheaper lubricators failed frequently and required almost constant maintenance. To avoid using the cheap imitations, railroad workers began asking for Elijah’s equipment by name. Over time, Elijah’s name came to symbolize any superior product made by any manufacturer.

Nearly 100 years after his death, Elijah McCoy’s name is still synonymous with quality. To this day, people who want to avoid buying cheaply made imitation goods ask for the real thing. They ask for the real McCoy.

Sources:

1.     “Elijah McCoy – Inventions, Facts & Death.” Biography, April 1, 2021, www.biography.com/inventors/elijah-mccoy.

2.    “NIHF Inductee Elijah McCoy Invented the Automatic Engine Lubricator.” Invent.org, January 27, 2020, www.invent.org/inductees/elijah-mccoy.

3.    “Elijah McCoy (U.S. National Park Service).” www.nps.gov, www.nps.gov/people/elijah-mccoy.htm.

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According to Steel Records Studios, a new songwriter’s studio is in the works. The proposed state-of-the-art facility will serve as a creative hub for talented songwriters, providing them with the opportunity to track demos and pitch their compositions to renowned artists. The studio is offering to not only include the recordings in their catalog but also present them to artists who may be interested in recording these songs.

Heading up this new department is Blake Griffith. Griffith is a 10-year veteran of the Nashville music scene and has penned songs for artists such as Tim McGraw.

No date is set for the completion of this new venture, but it will be an addition to the already-established recording studio open to musicians and artists who want to record their music and be introduced to the music industry.

Steele Records Studios is in Grand Cane, Louisiana

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DeSoto Parish Library is seeking a full-time Children’s Services Librarian at the Mansfield Library location. Apply with resume and application stating qualifications by email or postal mail. Applications must be received before 5pm on September 22, 2023. Mail applications to Mansfield Library, ATTN Doris Ross, 109 Crosby, Mansfield, LA 71052 or email to dross@state.lib.la.us

Would you like to go to an LSU game with 4-H? 4-H Day with the Tigers: LSU vs Army is a great chance!
All 4-H members, FFA members, family and friends are invited to Tiger Stadium to enjoy the LSU vs. Army game on October 21st. Contact the Desoto 4-H office for more information.

New parents join the Stonewall Branch Library’s new program: Baby Bounce and Rhyme. Enjoy singing songs and reading stories. Refreshments are served for both children and parents. Every Thursday at 9am.

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Lola J Norwood
March 28, 1950 — September 1, 2023
Service: Wednesday, September 6 at 10am at Rose Neath Funeral Homes – Mansfield 

Betty Joe Rascoe
April 18, 1936 — September 3, 2023
Service: Thursday, September 7 at 11am at Union Springs Baptist Church, Converse

Lillian “Sister” McDonald
June 7, 1933 — September 5, 2023
Service: Thursday, September 7 at 3:30pm at Cassell Cemetery, Converse

Joyce Strickland
April 19, 1974 — August 28, 2023
Service: Friday, September 8 at 11am at Fellowship Community, Gloster

The DeSoto Parish Journal publishes “Remembrances of Loved Ones” with unlimited words and a photo, as well as unlimited access – $70. The Remembrance will be included in the emails sent to subscribers.  Contact your funeral provider or DeSotoParishJournal@gmail.com. Must be paid in advance of publication.