Spearsville Happenings

Barbara Walton
January 28, 2010

HOW ‘BOUT DEM SAINTS!!! There are lots of happy people in this little village today for they are finally going to see their team go to the Super Bowl. Our church, as many, adjusted the time of the night service so the fans could get home in time to see it happen. Looks like it was worth it. YEAH!!!

Our church needs an icemaker, so the young people have set about raising the money with a soup & chili dinner last Sunday and a rummage sale, at the church, on Feb. 6th (Saturday). The dinner brought in over $400 — which is about 1/3 of the amount needed. If you have anything that is still good but you are running out of space for things you don’t really need anymore, feel free to donate it to this worthy cause; then buy some more treasures that someone else had difficulty parting with. The committee for the Little Yellow House Pictorial Museum thought it would be a good idea to combine their fundraiser with this; therefore, if you don’t have time to cook, after you get through shopping the rummage sale, there will be Spaghetti dinner available – Homemade Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, salad , Floy’s homemade rolls, and dessert (of course, homemade). This is going to be by donations, but, hopefully, everyone will be generous as our funds have about dried up and we are a long way from having the museum like we want it to be. Perhaps you have thought about contributing something in honor of your family and just haven’t gotten around to it; this will be a good chance to get a good meal and help on this project at the same time. If you have any old pictures of your ancestors from the Spearsville area, bring them and Gene Barron will make a copy; then, he will return your picture to you.

I attended the Bluebird workshop, Saturday, which was conducted by Mr. Jimmy Dean. He always gives good information in a relaxed setting with encouragement to ask questions. Since the weather was a bit dreary, the attendance was down. If you were one of the ones unable to to, you missed out on a great learning experience. His expertise is unbelievable. Mr. Dean has several hundred bluebird houses, keeps detailed records on eggs laid, birds hatched, and the number of times the house is used each year – a full time job but one that he enjoys very much. At the end of the session we went to his truck and received one of his handmade bird-houses. He told us that now is the time to put them up for they start looking for a home to raise their family in February. However, he did add that it is never too late to put them up but you just might miss seeing birds early. They will start looking the houses over within a couple of days after they are put up.

Joan Smith has been in the hospital but is back home; however, she was unable to attend church on Sunday. Jeff Bennett was back and told us there had been complication with the surgery on the retina of his eye; they were going back in on Tuesday to insert some type of gel to hold everything in place because a separation had occurred. After a time of healing they will go back and remove the gel. Continue to pray for him during this time as the doctor repairs this problem and his sight is back to normal. Jeff has a lot of energy and it is going to be hard for him to be still and patient during this long, ninety day ordeal.

Marie Rockett retired from the Tri Ward Hospital after more than thirty years last Friday. She is looking forward to knowing that now all her fun activities do not have to be planned around her two days of being off. The bad part of retirement for everyone, and I’m sure she will find this out, quickly, is not interacting with people that she is used to seeing everyday. It is really quite an adjustment. We wish her well, with much happiness, as she enjoys a well-earned “vacation”.

While I was writing this, I thought I was calling Marie to check on just how many years she had worked and dialed the wrong number, it was Joan Rockett Miller. God must have planned this for I got to catch up on her. She has been to visit her sister, Phyllis, in Slidell. Her wheelchair days have ended, no walker needed, but she does use her can for stability. Joan sounded so good — just like her old self. I’m looking forward to seeing her out and about; she is such a people person, with a fun-loving personality.

Maxine and Jack Taylor invited out-of-town guests as well as Floy & Billy Rea to their camp, between El Dorado & Hampton, on Saturday night for a great feast of wild game — squirrel, deer, and fish. They always enjoy sharing their camp; entertaining old friends and swapping old stories. (They invited me, too, but I am a bit squeamish about eating wild stuff; however, it is always nice to be included). Maxine retired from the School System of St. Bernard Parish, moved to Spearsville and has just jumped right into art, church, and Triad. She is the president of the Spearsville chapter and is doing such a good job.