1958
On a very unusually cold 17-degree day in December for Central Louisiana, the Lazenby family moved into another parsonage next door to another church. This time though there were no good-looking college guys to sweep us off our feet.
Gone were the days of playing in the woods, riding bikes and climbing trees. There were no longer familiar faces we called aunts, uncles and buddies. In one day and a moving van, our lives began another wonderful adventure.
We moved to the Riverview Baptist Church outside Alexandria, La on Hwy 1. It was a congregation similar to the one we had left, without the history. The folks were very friendly and open and welcomed us immediately.
The church building was an old two-story with steep steps up to the 2nd story front door. From the picture provided me above, they had obviously enclosed the steps some time later and added siding over the asbestos. They now have a new relocated church building but this one still stands and the original steps have been uncovered; the parsonage is long gone.
On our first Sunday there, a joint choir with several neighboring churches met at our church to rehearse their upcoming Christmas Cantata. The only thing I remember is walking through the front door and seeing four really cute boys on the back row who looked like they could be my age. And they were.
Floyd Davis, whose father pastored the Poland Baptist church, Lloyd and Buddy Reynaud, and Donald Ray Byrd ended up being some of our best friends. Floyd was my first-ever boyfriend and our families spent many Friday nights sharing a meal while our fathers discussed preacher matters. Floyd and I remained close friends until his death.
There were also several girls in the choir who became my best friends; it's just that they did not catch my immediate attention that first day.
Our house, near the Red River was several miles from the Poland community where we attended school. For the first time we girls rode a bus to school. I must admit though that it took us a while to adjust to the early bus schedule so Daddy had to drive us that first semester as much as we took the bus.
These were growing years for all of us. Gin shared the following:
"Those were two and a half impressionable years. I was in mid-year of my 6th grade when we moved to Riverview. It was my first time to be around new people and new kids I had not grown up with. We came to love the people quickly, made good friends and were accepted by the people in the community and school. I was even introduced to the idea of a boyfriend; as Daddy would say, 'idea only'."
"I was also introduced to what would become my love of basketball that lasted throughout high school. I was especially proud to be selected as the 8th grade Spring Maid in 1961, as Lib had also been chosen when she was an eighth grader. Mom made my formal out of light blue chiffon to 'match my eyes'."
Yes, these were impressionable years as Gin and I moved into our teens with all the hormones and drama of which girls are capable.
We learned how to use hair rollers instead of the pin curls Mother had always done. We started shaving our legs and wore bits of toilet paper on the many cuts on our legs until we got the hang of it. We dealt with acne and dentist chairs and even had a crush on the same boy at one time. Although Gin was outgrowing me at this time, we were still able to share clothes. We learned to ride horses and we both can testify to the horror of Gin having a very close call with a run-away.
We heavily starched our homemade cotton petticoats on Saturday and by the following Friday they were in desperate need of washing and starching again. We coveted our friend's pretty full layered net petticoats until we were finally able to purchase our first ones. We wore penny loafers with white socks just like all our friends, but never had a poodle skirt. We pinned pictures of our favorite movie stars to our bedroom walls and envied their perfect coiffeurs and wardrobes.
Sarah started first grade the fall of 1959 and Gin and I became more involved with leadership roles in activities both at church and school. I will never forget my 8th grade teacher. We delighted in watching her eat school lunchroom English Peas with a knife. She rarely dropped a single one which made me think this wasn't a new occurrence for her. Some of the boys in our class put a frog in her desk drawer one day and she was not a happy lady. This probably wasn't the first time for that either. These were pranks I had never seen before, but somehow assumed she must have deserved them. She will remain unnamed but was a pretty peculiar character.
In 1960, we were a pretty motley crew. Thankfully at this point, there could only be improvement. I'll never forget Daddy looking at my school picture (above) and gently suggesting that "next time, you might want to turn to the other side." I felt turning backwards was the best solution until a lot of dental work could be done.
Sarah shared these Riverview memories:
"It was there I accepted Christ as my Savior and was baptized. I attended first and second grades at Poland. Because of Daddy's great love for animals, it was during these two years that I learned that I too shared that love, and I still have it. We always had dogs and cats and even tried to save a baby skunk. A fond memory I have is when we would put pennies and dimes on the railroad track across from our house right before a train arrived. We would retrieve the flattened coins and Dad would drill a hole in them and put some of them on chains for me."
Mother worked outside the home for the first time, at the Wellans Department Store in Alexandria. It was the finest store anywhere around and she was over the accessory department. Before she started that job, I had no idea what "accessories" were. She enjoyed the work and the extra income, but Daddy had to drive her the ten miles into town every day and pick her up. That meant that we girls got used to not missing the bus.
Mother's job led to my first ever job in the Wellans gift-wrapping department during the Christmas holidays. Oh my, was my supervisor strict about those corners and the amount of tape allowed. The skills she demanded are still paying off. Once in a while on Saturdays, I enjoyed going to work with Mother, then roaming and exploring the stores and the renowned Hotel Bentley. Living at Riverview had opened our eyes to "city life" and I liked it.
It was at our church that I sang my first solo, "I Would Love to Tell You What I Think of Jesus." After that, my friend Judy Herrin became my accompanist and we used our practice sessions as an excuse to spend time together at her house. Judy was also an excellent basketball and softball player.
My favorite teacher was Mrs. Parker who taught Home Economics and also coached girls' basketball and softball. I so admired everything about her, especially her French twist hairstyle. I was determined to one day be classy enough to wear my hair in a French twist as well.
Finally, in the late 1960's I achieved my goal.
It was under the teaching and mentoring of Mrs. Ward-Steinman at Poland High School that I developed as a vocalist, if not scholastically. Both my freshman and sophomore years I went to the Parish Literary Rally and was scored high enough to compete on the state-wide level where I placed 1st in all categories. It was because of this that I was given a 2-year tuition-free scholarship to LSU.
In my freshman year, Donald Ray "Bubba" to me, and I were voted "Class Favorites" and for some reason I was chosen along with the really deserving boys' basketball player as "Best Sports." My family and I agreed that it must been because I fouled out faster and better than any other girl on the basketball team. I also played softball and though not the greatest batter, played a pretty mean center field position.
I was Future Farmers of America (FFA) Sweetheart my sophomore year. It was becoming evident even then, that Gin was going to be the larger of the two of us and by far the better athlete. Our last year at Poland, we both tried taking piano lessons again and after the first recital, we knew we were better in the sports field than on the piano bench.
Dad was involved in associational and state-wide denominational work while meeting the needs of a faithful congregation, and mother continued to be very involved in state missions and the leader of Girl's Auxiliary (GA) mission program at our church. Gin and I attended GA Camp both summers we lived at Riverview. These camps were the first occasion we had had to be away from home by ourselves. Gin was much more outgoing and adaptable than I was and enjoyed every minute. I was always glad when it was over.
Gin and Sarah, as well as Mother found their best friends in our church and in the same family. Miss Edith Stewart and Mother could have been sisters and made an immediate bond. Her oldest daughter was Kathy who was a year younger than Gin and they loved each other immediately and played middle school basketball together. (See more about Kathy below) Sarah was a year older than Jackie the youngest, and they were together at every opportunity. There really were some special people at Riverview who had a life-long impact on our lives, for which we will always be grateful.
One special Riverview memory for me was driving the motor on our little fishing boat while Daddy strung and checked his fishing lines carefully placed across the Red River. He taught me to throttle the motor with the exact speed he needed to pull the heavy lines filled with catfish out of the water, then to bait and set them again. Looking back this could have been a very dangerous experience, but thankfully at the time it only meant spending time with my dad.
Another memory is learning to drive our little Fiat with a standard gearshift. Daddy had me make circle after circle around the church. He even propped tires against the back of the church to keep me from destroying it and/or the car, but also to teach me to parallel park. I have always been grateful for his patience in teaching me to be a good defensive driver in spite of my love for speed.
At some point, Dad bought a Pontiac Bonneville Sedan. It was green and black, and I thought it was the prettiest and definitely the fastest car I had ever seen. That is until my boyfriend's father bought him a '1960 Chevrolet Impala. Now that was a cool car.
How about another Beebo story. Sarah referred to this earlier. One day Beebo walked up to Daddy with something in her mouth. When she dropped it, Dad thought it was a kitten but then saw a tiny white streak down its back. Yes, it was a skunk. Nothing would do but that we keep it. Dad built a cage for it but it spent most of its time in the hands of one of us girls. It stayed on the back porch of our house until Mother decided it was time to release it before it released on us. That was a sad day, especially for Sarah.
In March of 1960, the final work had been completed on the sanctuary of the Bayou Chicot Calvary Baptist Church and we were invited back for the dedication. It was a great day to celebrate all God had done through the many years to bring this new building about. In the picture above is our family including our grandmother Lazenby, and Sarah's three adopted Whittington sisters, Sherry, Jennifer and Darlene.
During this time, Dad was feeling the tug to return to Evangeline Parish. These had been two and a half good, productive, growing years for all of us. It was really hard to leave our friends and all that we were part of after such a short time.
God called us to the First Baptist Church in Pine Prairie in the summer of 1961. It was only a few miles southwest of Bayou Chicot; however, Pine had a more French and Catholic culture than we were accustomed.
Let me close with these personal stories about some of our Riverview friends and why our time there was so special. It was because of the people!
A few years ago, I attended a Poland Class Reunion with some of my very best friends from there. Judy, on the lower left, my pianist from years before, reminded me of the many hours we had worked to perfect "The Holy City" for the Christmas program of 1959. I loved that girl. To the far right are Vera and Yvonne, and to my left is Lynda Lee. Vera and I still stay in touch.
Behind Judy is Charles Lee and seated in front is Donald Ray. Behind him is Kathy Stewart Holloway, in white. Let me tell you their story.
Donald Ray, though he never knew it, was my favorite of all the people in my class. He was, and still is, the most kind, gentle, genuinely good person I had known. His Aunt Yvonne (seen above) was one of my best friends. She called him Bubba, so I did too. By the way, it was Donald Ray who saved Gin on the runaway horse and helped her when she was thrown off it.
Charles Lee told the following story at the reunion. It was an emotional time as I'd never heard this story, but it also made me so proud to have known these two boys now men.
Donald Ray and Charles had always been best friends and immediately after HS graduation, enlisted in the Army. They went to basic training together, shipped out together and served in Vietnam side-by-side.
On one fatal day, Charles saw a grenade shatter his friends left leg. He immediately called for a medic and got help. Even after all those years he cried when he relived seeing his friend being helicoptered away without him, and not knowing if he would ever see him again. It was the first time they had ever been apart.
Charles later learned that Donald Ray had survived but had lost his leg. After being discharged, Donald Ray returned to the Riverview community, married, had a family and has successfully run the family farming business. After completing his tour of duty, Charles also returned home to Poland and they still spend a lot of time together.
Kathy Stewart Holloway was and still is recognized as an outstanding Poland basketball player. In 1965 she led Poland High School to the Class C state championship as a senior player. She was a star on the LSU women's basketball team and after coaching high school teams, was the first female president of the Louisiana High School Coaches Association as well as the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. The NHSACA inducted her into their Hall of Fame in 2012, while she was elected to the LHSAA Hall of Fame in 1998. She also happened to marry my favorite college professor, Dr. Holloway.
In 2021 the "Kathy Holloway Women of Inspiration Award" was inaugurated as a means of recognizing women in Louisiana who have shown exceptional leadership in women's sports. I can't think of anyone more deserving to have an award named in their honor than Kathy. She still lives on her family's land in Riverview and is involved in youth basketball at her church.
Yes, it is the people, not the location that make life rich and memorable. We will always be grateful to have spent two and a half years at Riverview.
Next Monday I will take you to Pine Prairie and back to Evangeline Parish.
