Daily News Editor

An “Average Flag Football Tournament” was recently held at Peters Street Park in Jennings and saw multiple teams throughout the area take the field for a fun time.

Hosted by local residents Doug Matthews, Bryce Jenkins and Marvin Williams, the event was “an attempt to bring some activity and positivity to the community,” said volunteer Terry Simon Jr., who reported that the event was quite positive.

On July 19, 1910, the governor of the state of Washington proclaimed the nation’s first “Father’s Day,” according to USA.gov. However, it was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, that the day became a nationwide holiday in the U.S.

On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, but it was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday. The next year, a Spokane, Washington woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. She went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to drum up support for her idea, and she was successful. Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on July 19, 1910.

Slowly, the holiday spread. In 1916, President Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day.

During the 1920s and 1930s, a movement arose to scrap Mother’s Day and Father’s Day altogether in favor of a single holiday, Parents’ Day. However, the Great Depression derailed this effort to combine and de-commercialize the holidays. Struggling retailers and advertisers redoubled their efforts to make Father’s Day a “second Christmas” for men, promoting goods such as neckties, hats, socks, pipes and tobacco, golf clubs and other sporting goods, and greeting cards. When World War II began, advertisers began to argue that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, Father’s Day may not have been a federal holiday, but it was a national institution.

In 1972, in the middle of a hard-fought presidential re-election campaign, Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father’s Day a federal holiday at last.

Today, economists estimate that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father’s Day gifts.

With so many hard-fought efforts to make Father’s Day official, it is important to take the time today to thank your father, or any father for all the love and support they provide throughout the year.

To learn more about the history of Father’s Day in the U.S., visit http://usa.gov.

Ashton weighed six pounds, nine ounces at birth and was 21 inches long.

He was welcomed home by his brothers, Joshua Fuselier of Welsh and Trenton Guidry of Roanoke.

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Darin (Charmaine) Guidry of Evangeline and the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs LeRoy (Fay) Gary of Evangeline and Mr. and Mrs. James (Corieta) Guidry of Evangeline.

Mr. and Mrs. Dusty Ray Bergeaux

The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Dale (Pam) Logan of Lacassine and the granddaughter of Mrs. Elizabeth (Betty) Bourgeois and the late Mr. Bobbie L. Bourgeois of Lacassine, and Mr. William G. Logan and the late Mrs. Peggy J. Logan of Union City, Tenn.

Mrs. Joseph Benjamin Jones II

Sheriff’s Office

Seven people were reported as booked into the parish jail by the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office over the last week.

Friday, June 7

Douglas P. Bourque, 53, of Lake Arthur, was charged with cruelty to a juvenile and two counts of cruelty to the infirmed. No bond was listed.

Lisa Benoit, 48, of Lake Arthur, was charged with cruelty to a juvenile and two counts of cruelty to the infirmed. No bond was listed.

Monday, June 10

Sean A. Comeaux, 32, of Panchoville, was charged with contempt of court. No bond was listed.

Tuesday, June 11

Michael Kenneth Rimmer, 64, of Morganza, was charged with terrorizing. No bond was listed.

Wednesday, June 12

Tommy West, 43, of Amity, Penn., was charged with contempt of court for child support. No bond was listed.

Thursday, June 13

Tracee Chaisson, 37, of Jennings, was arrested on a warrant for vehicle burglary. No bond was listed.

Michael B. Andrepont, 45, of Jennings, was charged with domestic abuse battery. No bond was listed.

Ethel Aguillard Williams McMillin

Funeral services for Mrs. Ethel Aguillard Williams  McMillin, 86, will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, June 17, 2013, at  First Baptist Church of Jennings with Rev. Michael Stewart officiating.

Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery under the direction of Miguez Funeral Home of Jennings.

Funeral home visitation will be held today, Sunday, June 16, 2013, from 4-8 p.m. Monday visitation is from 8 a.m. until the time of services.

Mrs. McMillin died Friday, June 14, 2013 at 8:19 p.m. in  Jennings American Legion Hospital.

Mrs. McMillian was a native of Crowley and a lifelong resident of Jennings. She was a member of  First Baptist Church of Jennings, the Fidelis Sunday School class and a retired retail cashier clerk. Mrs. Ethel was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and prayer warrior.

She is survived by her daughters; Nancy W. (Ronnie) Liles of Jennings, Cheryl (Henry) Duplantis of Iowa, Pam Miller of Jennings, Gaynell (Steve) Pierce of Fort Worth, Texas; and a stepdaughter, Marian McMillin of Lake Charles; and a stepson,  Doug McMillin of Baton Rouge; her grandchildren, Amy (Richard) Brasette, Stewart Billodeaux, Cheryl (Matthew) Ottaway, Erin Miller, Courtney (Mark) Leger, Margaux Miller, Tiffany (Justin) Meadows, Brandon Scuderi, Amanda (Jeremy) Robinson, Avery Duplantis and Michael Liles; two step-grandchildren, Haleigh Pierce and James Pierce; and seven great-grandchildren, Drew and Walker Brasette,  Hallie and Thomas Leger, Ethan Meadows, Thomas Ottaway and Noah Robinson.

Mrs. McMillin was preceded in death by her parents, Seulice and Marie Janies (Janis) Aguillard; her husbands, Harold Joseph Williams and “Bill” McMillin; five sisters; and one brother.

Words of comfort may be expressed at www.miguezfuneralhome.com.

Nellerine Richard

Funeral services will be held Monday, June 17, 2013, at a 2 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial in Evangeline Memorial Gardens Chapel in Carencro for Nellerine “Nell” Richard, age 76, the former Nellerine “Nell” Comeaux, who passed away Friday, June 14, 2013, at 6:53 a.m. at her residence in Carencro.

Interment will be in Evangeline Memorial Gardens in Carencro.

Musical selections will be provided by Charlotte Jagneaux, accompanied by Phyllis Simar on the organ. The songs will be “How Great Thou Art”, “Amazing Grace”, “Hail Mary Gentle Woman”, and “Ave Maria”.

A rosary will be prayed at 1 p.m. Monday in the funeral home.

The family requests that visiting hours be observed from 10 a.m. Monday until service time on Monday.

Mrs. Richard was a native of Jennings and a resident of Carencro since 1998. She was a parishioner of St. John Berchman’s Catholic Church in Cankton.

Survivors include her husband since 1958, Ivan Lee “I.E.” Richard of Carencro; four sons, Brent (Dori) Richard of Picayune, Miss., Eddie Lee (Pia) Richard of Lafayette, Brandon (Tammy) Richard of Carencro, and Toby Richard of Lafayette; five sisters, Phyllis C. Jones of Fort Worth, Texas, Dolores C. (Leon) Bonin of Houston, Texas, Barbara C. (Jerry) Hand of Carlyss, Mary C. (Leeward) Credeur of Scott, and Dale C. (Dr. Allen) Richert of Sulphur; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Eldridge Comeaux and the former Nonnette Miller; and two brothers, Albert Comeaux and Marvin Comeaux.

View the obituary and guestbook online at www.melanconfuneralhome.net.

Melancon Funeral Home, Evangeline Memorial Gardens Chapel, 4117 N. University Ave., Carencro, (337) 896-3232, is in charge of arrangements.

Daily News Staff Writer

Residents in Jennings may soon pay more for water and sewer services, as well as garbage collection, as city officials will vote to raise rates June 25.

The Jennings City Council will introduce proposed slight rate adjustments to water, sewer and waste collection rates for the next effective fiscal year beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2014.

Shoppers can recognize a participating vendor by the Marketplace logo, which will appear in all advertising published in the JDN, or by visiting http://www.jenningsdailynews.net. Marketplace merchants are added weekly. Business owners interested in being a part of the Jeff Davis Parish area Marketplace should call 824-3011 today to join the community.

Current participating businesses include: Bordelon’s Furniture, Bourbon Street Café, Briar Patch, Cajun Tales Seafood, Cassidy Insurance & Investments, Jennings Daily News, Cormier’s Specialty Meats, Di’s Pies, Flowers by Julie, Gary Tire Center, Gulf Coast Autoplex, Hanson’s Superfoods, Hornsby Lawn & Equipment, Jennings Credit LLC, Jennings Electrical Supply, Joe’s Pizza & Pasta, LaBelle Femme, LaSpiaggia Day Spa, Louisiana Hospice, Matthews & Sons, McDonald’s, Merkay Fine Jewelry, Miguez Funeral Home, Mike’s Seafood & Steakhouse, Rosebud’s, Salon Couture and More, Southwest Loan Companies, Tina’s Flooring Center, Tre’s Chic and Walmart.