January 7, 2000

In 1840, Beverly Berwick inherited the Town of Berwick. After the Civil War, times were hard and he was unable to pay the $1 per lot tax and lost his property to the Yankees. He was later married to the late Marry Belle of New Orleans and she was the first teacher to open a school in Morgan City.

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Someone asked me if I ever go fishing. I said that I never went fishing in my life and that I can’t tell one fish from another. I do, however, know what a whale looks like after I saw the movie “Moby Dick.” And I know what a shark looks like after I saw the movie “Jaws.” Every time I’m with a group of men who fish, they always tell you how big the fish was that they caught. They put out both hands and arms to show you the size of the fish. Many, over-extend their arms and hands and exaggerate the size of their catch.

Now, I knew another fisherman whose name was Osteel Sons. he had only one arm. And he would say the biggest fish he ever caught was – and he would put out his one arm.

The best fisherman who I know is my neighbor, “Shot” Parro. you can fill your bathtub with city water – and “Shot” can catch a fish in the tub.

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Remember Roy and Annie Dow? They ran a clothing store next to the Ber Theatre. When Annie would yell: “Royeee,” Roy would come a running. Roy sure was loyal to Annie.

You take myself. I never was a “Yes Man.” When my wife says “No” – I say “No.”

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One day there was a gang of fellows who pulled up in a car and kidnapped my Aunt Bess and took her away. The next day, Uncle Jake got a ransom note, saying: “Dear Uncle Jake: We have your wife and if you do not give us $10,000 in small bills, placed in a shoe box under the bridge by 6 o’clock tonight, we will return your wife, unharmed.”

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Do you know how to tell ladies from men now that they both wear pants and long hair? The one listening is the man!

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My uncle was so short that he used to wear out the seat of his pants just walking around!

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Lena Adams from Metairie called me quite a few months ago. Lena is Van Adams’ sister and Jimmy Jett’s wife’s aunt. She told me that she read one of my articles in “Recollections” in The Daily Review. She said that she left Berwick 65 years ago and wanted to know more about some of the people there whom she knew. I said, “Lena, there’s only a few here, as 95 percent have moved on to the big sub-division – Willow Grove Cemetery.”

* The End *