Remember When:
How many of you remember your first love affair? When I was about 10 or 12 years of age, I had a crush on Mary Guillory, the sister of Eula Guillory and Lloyd Guillory, the architect. She lived on First Street and I worked at the theatre, which was also on First Street. I knew that every day Mary would go to the post office around 9 o’clock in the morning. I would sit in the box office in the theatre and watch patiently. One day when I saw her coming, I said to myself, “I have to do something so she will notice me!” Looking around, I saw Blue Falgout riding his bicycle in front of Hebert’s Drugstore. He went into the drugstore and I took his bike and started riding toward Mary. Immediately, I started showing off, making my front wheel jump up; putting my hands in my pockets so Mary could see me ride without holding on the the handlebars. I was really showing off when all of a sudden, while looking at Mary, “Bam.” I hit a guy-wire from an electric post. I fell of the bicycle and it caught me under the chin. I made two flips in the air. Mary saw me and came running and asked me if I was hurt. Well, I said, “No, just a little scratch.” But I was in real pain! Then she put her hand on my head to check me out and when she touched me, the thrill made my heart beat so loudly that I thought I would explode. I could not hear a word she was saying. All I could see was her lips moving. The noise that my heart made sounded like two battalions marching by.
I knew a man from Morgan City who cured his stomach trouble by fasting for 39 days – they buried him on the 40th day.
I was in Patterson recently and stopped in to see my friend Charlie Cullotta. We sat down and did a little reminiscing about the days when he was in Berwick. We surely enjoyed talking and laughing about the “good old days” as we call them now. Charlie told me that his family was going to have a reunion in the near future. I told him that was a very nice thing to have, because we had two reunions in my family and this was a great way to bring families together again. Charlie’s office was full of pictures of his family. One thing that caught my attention were pictures of his two uncles taken in 1918. They were in service at that time in World War I – Pete Cullotta and his brother, Malcolm Cullotta. For some reason these two brothers ere sent to Berwick to guard the Railroad Bridge from German attacks. Can you imagine that! Can you imagine any Germans coming over here from Germany to attack our railroad bridge? I don’t think so. I don’t think the Kaiser knew where Louisiana was located. I’m sure guarding that bridge helped us to win the war!
Remember back in 1928 when the Patterson High Lumberjacks became the state champions in football? The coaches were Ted Banks and Charles Chauvin. Patterson beat Bogalusa High School 6-0 that year to become state champs.
On this same page is a picture with the names of the players listed under the picture of the 1928 champions. There were two Berwick boys on the team, L.J. Bourg and Paul Lemke. Jimmy Conrad lived between Patterson and Berwick in the Clark Subdivision, which is now Bayou Vista. Jimmy Conrad, Patterson High, and Paul Geisler, Berwick-Morgan City High, were the most outstanding athletes in this area in my time.
Thanks to Mr. L.J. Bourg for making available the photograph of this team. Also, thanks to L.A. “Frenchie” Rogers of Patterson for calling me and having this put in my column “Recollections” in The Daily Review.
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