March Birthdays!

1st - Veronica

2nd - Nicholas 

23rd - Takako

28th - Aiden

29th - Khloe

30th - Charisse

Celebrating Black Histor.y Month!

Happy Birthday, Lil Reggie!

Lil Reggie is the son of Reginald Williams and the grandson of LouVata

 

Clips From Whitn.ey's Funeral!

Happy Presidents' Day!

As is the case with most federal holidays, Presidents Day has evolved into standard fare: a day off, giving folks ample time to head to the mall and big box stores to buy 42-inch HD TVs, mattresses, clothes and whatever else until they drop. But Presidents Day has somewhat of a quirky history. It was the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, President No. 1 George Washington, on his February 22 birthday. What’s odd is while Prez Day remains steeped in its roots of celebration of Washington’s birth, it’s commemorated between February 15-21, never falls on his actual birthday. George Washington’s Birthday as a federal holiday was originally implemented for District of Columbia federal offices in 1880. It gained this status in all federal offices five years later. A push to honor all presidents took place in 1951, when Southern Californian Harold Stonebridge Fischer formed the Presidents Day National Committee. Fischer, who would go on to become national executive director of the organization for two decades, desired to honor the office of the president, not just Washington. Staging the holiday on March 4, the first inauguration day, was kicked around for a while. But that proposal went nowhere and eventually died in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which controlled national holidays. The SJC believed that Presidents Day, Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday and Washington’s Birthday would constitute holiday overload. Still, governors of several went ahead and proclaimed March 4 as Presidents Day. The scene changed in 1971. At that time, February 12 and 22 were federal public holidays feting Lincoln and Washington, respectively. President Nixon proclaimed that one holiday covering all three presidents be observed on the third Monday in February, putting three holidays in one nice, neat package. This would eventually become a boon to retailers across the country as Presidents Day has become one of the biggest shopping days of the year. It’s the product of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, in which supporters wanted to move all federal holidays to Monday to spur business. That movement first started gaining traction in 1968 and is now a fixture in American society. Presidents Day manifests itself in different ways in other states. In Alabama, the third Monday in February honors the birthdays of Washington and Thomas Jefferson, never mind that the latter was born in April. The third Monday in February is George Washington’s Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day in Arkansas and is an official state holiday. Gatson Bates was an Arkansas civil rights activist and newspaper publisher who advised the Little Rock Nine, the African-American students who integrated Central High School in 1957. Gatson Bates, who died in 1999, a week shy of her 85th birthday, became president of the Arkansas Conference of the NAACP branches in 1952. From The San Diego Times

Mar.di Gras Cam and History!

http://www.earthcam.com/events/mardigras/2012/?cam=catsmeow2_mg2012 (Copy and paste) The origins of Mardi Gras can be traced to Medival Europe, though we have no written record of how that really transformed into the current Mardi Gras of today. But the origins of the Mardi Gras we celebrate today -- with Kings, Mardi Gras colors, and brass bands -- are traced to New Orleans. Although we can trace its history to the Romans, a French-Canadian explorer, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, landed on a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans in 1699 and called it "Pointe due Mardi Gras." He also established "Fort Louis de la Louisiane" (which is now Mobile) in 1702. In 1703, the tiny settlement of Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrated the very first Mardi Gras. In 1704, Mobile established a secret society (Masque de la Mobile) ... similar to those who form our current Mardi Gras Krewes. It lasted until 1709. In 1710, the "Boeuf Graf Society" was formed and paraded from 1711 through 1861. The procession was held with a huge bull's head pushed alone on wheels by 16 men. This occurred on Fat Tuesday. New Orleans was established in 1718 by Jean-Baptise Le Moyne. By the 1730s, Mardi Gras was celebrated openly in New Orleans.. but not in parade form. In the early 1740s, Louisiana's Governor The Marquis de Vaudreuil established elegant society balls -- the model for the New Orleans Mardi Gras balls of today. The earliest reference to Mardi Gras "Carnival" appears in a 1781 report to the Spanish colonial governing body. That year, the Perseverance Benevolent & Mutual Aid Association is the first of hundreds of clubs and carnival organizations formed in New Orleans. By the late 1830s, New Orleans held street processions of maskers with carriages and horseback to celebrate Mardi Gras. Newspapers began to announce Mardi Gras events in advance. In 1871, Mardi Gras's second "Krewe" is formed, the Twelfth Night Reveler's, with the first account of Mardi Gras "throws." 1872 was the year that a group of businessmen invented a King of Carnival -- Rex -- to parade in the first daytime parade. They introduced the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold; the Mardi Gras song, and the Mardi Gras flag. In 1873, the first floats were constructed entirely in New Orleans instead of France. In 1875, Governor Warmoth of Louisiana signs the "Mardi Gras Act" making it a legal holiday in Louisiana, which is still is. Most Mardi Gras Krewes today developed from private social clubs that have restrictive membership policies. Since all of these parade organizations are completely funded by its members, we call it the "Greatest Free Show on Earth!" http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/history.html

Happy Birthday, Candice!

Candice is the daughter of Carlton and the granddaughter of Mary "Billie"

Happy Birthday, Taivion!

Taivion Cortez Bell  2 years old today and the youngest descendent of Union Bell.  Taivion is the son of Whalyn Bell, grandson of Sharon Bell Ashley and great grandson of Las Bell

That's A Church Song!

Happy Birthday, Jackie!

Whi.tney!

That's A Church Song! (Whitney)

This marks 1,000 posts for the Bell Gram!

Happy Birthday, Summer!

Happy Birthday, Wayne III "Trey"

Remembering Joe On His Birthday!

First to say happy birthday to my mom and to daddy Joe. I miss both of you so much. You guys was a big part of my life. On Sunday I went to church and came home and did nothing.  I felt like there was a heavy load on me. Then today I stayed home from work remembering Joe. Lord, I don't mean to be selfish. I loved both of them dearly, but I know you love them more. I thank you for time you gave me with them. RIP until we see each other again. Melinda "Sissy"

Happy Birthday, Joe. You have been on my mind this week even before I remembered it was your birthday. I will never forget how brave you were when the end was near. I still miss you and I guess I always will. Jean

Was thinking of Joe all week. Also thinking of Dorothy whose birthday was February 5th. Miss them both. Rikki

That's A Church Song!

Happy Birthday, Wayne H.!

Kansas Quail

Kansas Pheasant

 

Louisiana buck

California wild hog

Winning sturgeon in tournament, California Delta

Happy Birthday, Whalyn!

Happy Birthday, Ali!

Las Bell Interview!

Listen to Las Bell's radio interview done by Cedric Nelson for Black History Month.  You can hear it on Saturday, February 4th at 3:00 P.M EST, 2:00 P.M. CST and 12:00 P.M. PST. It will air on Magic 104.5, Camden, AR and you can listen online at this link:

http://radio.securenetsystems.net/v4/index.cfm?stationCallSign=KMGC&fb_source=message

As I Remember It!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We were all saddened by the death of cousin Boot. He was blessed to live longer than any other Hay family member. We enjoyed having Wallace and his family on New Year's Day. Cecily is so pretty and has such a sweet spirit.   I was thinking back to where I have come from. I don't  remember it, but I was born on George Bell, Jr's (AKA Uncle Little George's) land. The house was above the church spring. When we left there, we moved to the Hudson Meadows place. He was the uncle of Hudson Jr' s  daddy, Hudson.The house was across from Aunt Theo's old house. I am sure Mattie was born there, but I do know that Margaret was born there. I remember when she died at that house. We moved from there to the Log Cabin which  was owned by Uncle Plummer. It was across from Evelyn Holyfield's place going toward Palmer's store. it was at this house that I started to school at  Mt Sinai. It was a long walk for a little girl. The Levingston kids walked all the way from Rainach area to Mt Sinai school. They included Margie,  Arlene (Dutt), Virginia (Hista) and their brother Snookum. (I never knew his real name) We had to walk through Mr. Will Meadow's pasture to get to school. I was extremely afraid of the horses in the pastures. Mama asked the Levingston kids to take me through the pasture and see that I got past the horses with them. They did fine for a few days. One evening,  they ran away and left me on the other side of the pasture.  I panicked but I finally realized that I had to face my fears.  I slowly started to walk past the horses. To my surprise, they didn't even notice me, but  kept their heads down eating. After that I was no longer afraid and walked home alone. One day it had rained and they were ahead of me. They found some frog eggs and waited for me. Arlene pretended to eat some and coaxed  me to swallow some. They then laughed and told the kids at school the next day that I said my mama made a frog egg pie. Ultimately, Arlene (Dutt) became my Sister-in-Law. When we moved from the Log Cabin, we moved to Mr. Elbert Meadows' house. It was a large  house with a hallway, pantry, kitchen, dining room and 3 bedrooms.  It was close to Mt Sinai school. We stayed there until the house burned down. We then moved to Mr. Ules Meadows' house. He lived in one room. He was like a grandfather to us. We then moved to our grandfather's (Tom Bell's) house above Mt Sinai church. It was there that I left school in the 11th  grade, got married, went to Los Angeles for 3 weeks and then to San Francisco. I was not happy so I returned to Louisiana, got an annulment, finished High School in Minden and went to Grambling College on an academic scholarship. At the end of one year, I returned to Los Angeles and married my first  love. We lived on 59th place until Hank was born and then moved to our first little house on Miramonte Blvd, near Chris's job. When I became pregnant with Rick we needed a bigger place and moved to 54th and Figueroa St.  Mary Helen came to live with us at this address and moved with us to our present home in Carson. We have lived here for 48 years. That is where I came from. So until next month: Remember the mind is like an Parachute. It does not work unless it is open.  Jean