Fragrance Garden for the Blind

Marie Croft Wissman; 2011.007.115

In 1972, Marie Croft Wissman and her husband Lt. Col. William Oscar Wissman returned to Bossier City upon his retirement from the U.S. Air Force, becoming permanent residents. When she passed away, her obituary gave a detailed account of all the volunteer work that she had performed while living here—leaving this writer to believe that perhaps she was the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) volunteer in our area. Mayor George Dement proclaimed April 16, 1991, as Marie Wissman Day for her extensive Community Service.

One of her passions was gardening, making her a perfect fit for the Barksdale Officers Wives Garden Club. But, one club was not enough for her. She was also a member of the Bossier City Garden Club, Louisiana Garden Club Federation, Shreveport Federated Garden Club Council, Deep South Region National Council of State Garden Clubs, and the Fourth District Louisiana Flower Show Judges Council. And she also served as Garden Chairman for the Shreveport Women's Department Club.

Garden clubs are a place to socialize and learn and where interested members can organize and participate in their community's beautification. One noteworthy project that Wissman spearheaded was the fragrance garden for the blind at the old R.S. Barnwell Garden & Art Center in Shreveport. According to Wissman, the idea of a garden, especially for the visually impaired community, was conceived by the Fourth District Garden Clubs. They researched other fragrance gardens, including the Helen Keller Garden in New York.

Margaret Steed Collection: 2011.023.019

In their research, they learned a lot about plants that are receptive to touch and smell. They also enlisted Richard Wells, a Shreveport musician, and composer who is visually impaired, in designing the garden. When Wissman became the president of the Friends of the Barnwell, she revived the idea and served as project chairman of the fragrance garden, and they immediately began raising funds.

Initial funding of $6,500 came from the Friends of the Barnwell. They received a $10,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier. The Fourth District Garden Clubs donated $2,500, with other significant donations coming from the Association for the Blind, Shreveport Beautification, and the Red River Revel. Many individuals also made donations.

The garden's dedication plaque reads, "Conceived by the Fourth District Garden Clubs as a sensory experience for the blind and all people who enjoy the smell, sound and touch of a garden, in such a special setting. 1988." This and other signs in the garden are in both English and braille. The planning and installation of the fragrance garden was a joint effort by the Friends of the Barnwell, Fourth District Garden Clubs, Louisiana Association for the Blind, and Shreveport Parks and Recreation.

"The Garden was planted with assistance from Richard Wells of the Louisiana Association for the Blind. Gerald Chance, chief planner and landscape architect for SPAR, said this assistance from the blind resulted in the best location and best planning for the project. 'If we didn't have that, we probably would have had the wrong idea,' he said.

"The site (on the East side of the Barnwell) was picked for convenience and size. Handrails used as guides also define the area. 'We learned that a blind person prefers a tight space over an open area,' Chance said. 'It gives them a sense of security.' The small garden features brick paths and beds, and there is a fountain 'which is a reference point for the blind' he explained. 'They will be able to hear the fountain and thereby know where they are in the garden,' Chance said.

"The garden features different types of plant material, selected for their contributions to the senses. 'You could almost call this a sense garden,' he said, 'because a visitor will experience most of the senses sight, smell, touch and sound.'

"Chance said the garden was planned to fit into the overall concept of the Barnwell gardens. 'While each area is separate, we (SPAR) oversee the entire thing in order to get a continuity,' he said. 'Although we allow for diversity, we have control over what goes into the spaces.' The same bricks (they once paved Commerce Street) are being used throughout the gardens for paths and planters and some plants ('theme plants,' he calls them) are used throughout."

The Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau awarded the Friends of the Barnwell fragrance garden a tourism award in 1990 for their expansion and development of a tourist attraction. The garden is still there, but sadly it lacks the love and attention it once received during its first two decades.

By: Amy Robertson

Miss Rita Made a Difference

Rita Sanders Keoun

Bossier Parish Police Juror, Jimmy Walker, motioned on May 7, 1987, for the Bossier Parish Police Jury to declare Jun. 14, 1987 as “Rita Keoun Appreciation Day.” The resolution was passed, and a Special Committee of the Bossier Parish Library Board was assembled to organize the dedication ceremony activities for the newly expanded Plain Dealing branch, including recognizing Rita Keoun for her many years of service.

Miss Rita, as she was most affectionately known, was born in Plain Dealing on Dec. 8, 1901. After graduating high school in 1918, she went to Louisiana Polytechnic Institute in Ruston, La, where she completed her education degree in 1923. For the first six years of her teaching career, Miss Rita taught home economics and anything else they needed her to teach. First, in Lisbon and then in Hosston, until R.V. Kerr offered her a teaching position in Plain Dealing, bringing her back home to the community she loved.

For the next forty years, Miss Rita taught second grade to children in Plain Dealing. As a lifelong educator, she was also a lifelong learner, returning to school during summer breaks, eventually receiving a master’s degree in primary education.

In Nov. 1949, Keoun joined the Bossier Parish Library Board of Control and was elected president in 1960. In her forty-plus years on the board, she only missed one meeting due to car troubles. She served without pay or expense reimbursement because she felt she could be of service, and because of her love for education. Public libraries are, after all, a vital part of the educational system in America.

Miss Rita was recognized for her contributions by many organizations on a regional, state, and national level. She was the recipient of the 1980 James O. Modisette Award for Public Library Trustees. Not only did the parish recognize her on “Rita Keoun Appreciation Day,” Governor Edwin Edwards proclaimed Jun. 14, 1987, as “Rita Keoun Day” as well. When asked how she felt about her special day, Miss Rita responded by saying, “I was embarrassed to death.” In another interview, she asked the writer not to make her “look special.” It’s clear she was not in it for the recognition; her only concern was making a difference.

Rita Sanders Keoun, honored at the dedication ceremony of the Plain Dealing Library.
On Rita Sanders Keoun Appreciation Day, June 14, 1987. Ada Myreck Collection: 1997.005.002.

Outside of teaching and serving on the library board, Miss Rita was also involved in numerous civic organizations. She served on the committee that created and presented a memorial plaque honoring the two hundred WWII veterans that were graduates and teachers from Plain Dealing High School, a gift of the 1944 graduating class. When the Bossier Parish Teachers’ Association was founded, May 1946, Miss Rita served as its first treasurer. She was a founding member of the Plain Dealing Kadelphian Club and a member of the Plain Dealing Dogwood Drive Association.

 

Miss Rita was on the Bossier Restoration Foundation, in which she was elected president in 1974. Anytime there were any national fundraisers, she often served as the chairman of the local chapter, including the American Red Cross Roll Call campaign, Infantile Paralysis Foundation, March of Dimes, and the Cancer Fund. For sixty-seven years, she was a devoted member of the Plain Dealing First United Methodist Church, teaching Sunday school for at least fifty of those years.

Miss Rita made a difference in Bossier Parish with her lifelong passion for educating and serving others. In a final recognition of her dedication and service to the parish, the Plain Dealing branch of the Bossier Parish Library was renamed the “Rita Sanders Keoun Memorial Plain Dealing Branch” shortly after her death in 1991.

By: Amy Robertson

Plain Dealing's Volunteer EMS

This being the third week of May, is National EMS week, where we honor emergency medical service practitioners for their contributions to communities across the nation. National EMS Week began in 1974 after President Gerald Ford declared the week to acknowledge the crucial and often lifesaving work these first responders provide.

In 1979 the town of Plain Dealing started the process of securing an ambulance to serve North Bossier Parish, which had to rely on “Shreveport ambulance services – some 30 miles away – or the Springhill service – 18 miles away – when emergency medical treatment was needed. The wait for an ambulance took from one and one half to three hours,” according to Shanda Thomas, Bossier Metro writer for The Shreveport Journal. “Some of the people’s conditions worsened as they waited for medical care. Others died before an ambulance reached the small north Bossier Parish town.”

Mayor Leon Sanders, Jr. was determined to bring the much-needed emergency medical services to the community. “He contacted the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, which studied the area and found that it needed emergency services and qualified for state monies to implement the medical program.”

The ambulance cost $22,900, which was funded by a grant from the highway commission of $15,000, and the Bossier Parish Police Jury split the remaining $7,900 with the Plain Dealing town council. The EMS program cost an additional $4,600 and was funded by the Bossier Parish Police Jury as well.

What made the medical service a real success was the 21 citizens who not only volunteered their time, but they also paid for their course manuals, the certificate fee, and their uniforms. The volunteers completed 81 hours of classroom and practical training over several months to qualify state certification as emergency medical technicians.

Among these volunteers was Billy Tom Weeks, a lifelong resident of Plain Dealing and the longest-serving EMT volunteer for the service. In an article appearing in The Shreveport Times on Nov. 10, 1993, Bob Monk reported that Weeks was the town’s first EMT certified in Plain Dealing in 1979 when the service began. Not only was he the only one of the original volunteers to still reside in Plain Dealing, but 14-years later, he was still volunteering as an EMT. In the interview with Bob Monk, Weeks exclaimed, “I love this community. I’ve lived here all my life; I just want to help people and serve my community in the best way possible.”

By having a dedicated EMS in North Bossier Parish, and committed volunteer EMTs like Weeks, the mortality rate for the region improved, and many lives were saved. This week, be sure to show your appreciation to these first responders that provide lifesaving medical care. If you are posting on social media, be sure to include #NationalEMSWeek for others to see.

While the BPL History Center is closed during the pandemic, our staff members are still available to answer any research questions you may have. What do you want to know about Bossier Parish History? Email history-center@bossierlibrary.org or call us at 318-746-7717.

By: Amy Robertson