News

The Fire Chiefs, Administration, and the Fire Board for Sabine Parish Fire District 1 Wards 3 & 4 would like to announce that Central Sabine Fire has now achieved a Class 5 fire rating from the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana (PIAL). This rating affects the insurance premiums for homeowners and business owners within our fire district.

Central Sabine Fire is the only fire district in the parish to achieve this rating. Before this new rating, the fire district held a Class 6 rating. The PIAL class rating is on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the highest and best rated class.

This new rating was made possible through the hard work from our Chiefs’, Duty Crew personnel, volunteers, and the Fire Board. The department staffed two firefighters working 24 hour shifts to ensure that the department was able to respond to the calls for assistance. Our duty crew person-nel also handled preplan inspections, trainings, and call logs.

The Sabine Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the election of Kaitlyn Johnson as a member of the Board of Directors according to Chairman Pete Abington. She replaces Donna Smith Ammons who resigned.

Born in Misawa, Japan, Kaitlyn attended Anacoco Elementary and Pineville High School. She then studied Mass Communication with a focus in Broadcasting while double minoring in Criminal Justice and Marketing at The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and worked with the Girl Scouts of Acadiana as a mentor.

While in Lafayette, she spent three years working with KLFY News 10 and ESPN where she was the face of UL Sports Media. She recently transferred closer to home to finish her degree at Northwestern State University.

Featured on local, regional and national television, Kaitlyn has a diverse background in communication, mentoring, leadership, social media, broadcast production and graphic design.

In a sea of books for sale on Amazon.com, Sabine Parish native, Chase Baker has managed to release a novel into the Top 50 in it’s mystery category.

Although fictional, his book highlights much of the history of Sabine Parish, particularly that of the Zwolle area. It also features many accounts from the “No Man’s Land” status to the settlement of the Bayou Scie community. Titled, “Big Woods”, a callback to a specific area of the parish between Zwolle and Belmont, it finds a captivating way of connecting reality and storytelling.

Set in the 1990’s, his book follows the story of a Sheriff and his deputy as they work to solve the case of a missing woman. As an ex con rises to popularity as a charismatic preacher in Sabine Parish, the two stories mix together to leave reader’s guessing as to where it will head next.

The Humane Society of Louisiana is actively involved in a fundraiser to pay for the heartworm treatment and medical expenses for the two starving dogs who had been left chained up without food or water in a lot near Florien. About $2000.00 had been raised by January 18.

Jeff Dorson, executive director of the Humane Society of Louisiana became involved after he was contacted by Mary Brocato, local animal lover who serves on the board of directors of the Sabine Parish Humane Society. Brocato asked Dorson to help out the Sabine Animal Shelter with this particular case of animal cruelty. She and Dorson are friends and have worked together in the past on legislative issues concerning animals.

The two dogs have been seized by law enforcement officers and are safe and being cared for at the Sabine Animal Shelter. They are eating well and responding to the care of the shelter employees.

The Sabine Master Gardeners will give every attendee at their garden seminar, Down and Dirty on February 25 at Cypress Bend a pack of milkweed seeds.

Monarch butterflies are endangered, and milkweed is the only plant they use for laying eggs and feeding their young. At the Down and Dirty seminar, ticket holders will be served coffee and snacks as well as lunch and have opportunities to hear experts on landscaping, herbs, beekeeping, and container gardening. They can also visit vendors selling plants, shrubs, herbs, handmade bowls, bird and butterfly houses, and floral arrangements. Registration is at 8:30 a m. Tickets are $45 and must be purchased ahead of time. Ticket information can be obtained at sabinemastergardeners@ gmail. com or by calling the Sabine Ag Extension office.

Anyone interested in becoming a Master Gardener can get information about an upcoming class starting in February fro Randal Mallet at the Natchitoches Ag Extension Office.

BOM is a sponsor of the Many Junior High School yearbook. Pictured left to right: BOM’s Twyla Lovelady, Yearbook Director Crystal Bass, and BOM’s Tiffany Miller.

BOM sponsors Many High Tiger softball

Louisiana is a state filled with many cultures, much history, and many different heritage’s. And the many histories of Louisiana involve local, state, and national events of great significance. One such history filled with many legends is that of No Man’s land, also known as the Neutral Strip and the Sabine Free State.

Scott DeBose, director of the Many High School Fighting Tiger Band, is extremely appreciative of Sabine State Bank and their recent donation that aids in keeping music programs in local high schools.

The Sabine High School Revitalization Project (SHSRP) is moving forward and the public is needed to get on board with the vision— “A tool for not only memorializing, but for looking forward and providing a new place of inclusion and community for the Northwestern Louisiana Region”. The school campus was placed on the National Historic Register and on Louisiana’s Most Endangered Places in 2020. The Town of Many’s Cultural District was expanded to include the old school to help the community apply for grants to help with rehabilitation efforts.