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2026 Spirit of Louisiana Community Awards! More photos!

Words cannot express the emotions that we were feeling when we were told that we would be receiving the Certificate of Congressional Commendation 2026 Spirit of Louisiana Community Award from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson! Shock, disbelief, and gratitude were a few emotions that came over us. We love honoring the people and places of the past and to be given this award means the world to us! We accept this award on behalf of all our 36,000+ teammates! We would not be getting this award if it weren’t for them!


The event was held this past Thursday at the Bossier Parish School for Technology and Innovation in Bossier City. We felt very honored to be there receiving the award along with such outstanding people including Bossier Parish’s Sheriff Julian Whittington and Clerk of Court Jill Sessions. As if the award wasn’t enough, we each also received a beautiful and rare Challenge Coin from Mike Johnson as well!

When Speaker Mike Johnson announced our names and we walked to the stage, he said, “Everybody knows these guys. They’re the Twin Blends Northwest Louisiana History Hunters. I grew up here and their posts are the first things that come up on my feed every day! I love it! This is a north Louisiana project, but it has helped preserve our history. You can’t help it but it brings you back to your childhood. I grew up here and it’s a great contribution and I just want to thank you guys for preserving the history and flavor of Northwest Louisiana. God bless you”. That was so cool to hear!

After the awards were given out, the recipients were all invited back to the stage to take pictures with Speaker Johnson. We were able to have our dad and sister join us for a photo and of course we had to have our friends Kristi and Danny DeYoung join us. Both of them have been close family friends of ours since high school and Kristi works in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office and is an important part of his team!

What a fun and exciting day! Congratulations to everyone receiving that award.

Those awarded were:

Caddo Parish

Mike and Mark Mangham for their work preserving history in Northwest Louisiana through their Twin Blends project.

Grant Muslow, who won first place with this team at the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge by creating "FarmMind" to help farmers manage operations more efficiently with AI.

Dr. Jerome Cox for his service in numerous philanthropic and economic development boards and organizations.

Lane Moore, the director of the Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association, for more than 20 years in ministries and leadership capacities.

Four women from the Shreveport Fire Department — Pam Mackey, Latonia M. Elias, Brooke Broadway and Janet R. Ward — for their leadership and service during Women's History Month.

Bossier Parish

Bossier Parish Clerk of Court Jill Sessions for her work updating the clerk's office and assisting clerks across the state in doing the same.

Sheriff Julian Whittington for his service on the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, to which he was appointed by Speaker Johnson last year.

Sabine Parish

Retiring District Attorney Don Burkett, for his work as the longest-serving DA in state history. He was elected in 1984 and reelected six times without opposition.

DeSoto Parish

Sheriff Jayson Richardson for his service in DeSoto Parish and as Speaker Johnson's appointee on the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Review Board.

Mary Lou Blakely, who created the Sharing and Caring Ministry in 2019, which offers a free meal and games and Bible lessons as an after-school program every Tuesday.

Evangeline Parish

Connie Landreneau was awarded on behalf of the New Life Pregnancy Center in Mamou, which offers free pregnancy services while advising against abortions, according to their website. Speaker Johnson commended the center for "protecting the sanctity of human life."

Calcasieu Parish

Chief Deputy Gene Pittman of the sheriff's office was awarded on behalf of the Southwest Louisiana Human Trafficking Task Force for their work "to end human trafficking in our region," Johnson said.

Vernon Parish

Sheriff John S. "Sam" Craft for his 40 years of service in law enforcement.

Becky Curl for her volunteer service supporting soldiers at Fort Polk.

Beauregard Parish

Pastor Chance Lewis was awarded on behalf of the Sew Caring Prayer Quilt Ministry, a group of women at the First Church of DeRidder who sew quilts for members of the community in need.

Webster Parish

Cindy Richardson Madden from Webster Parish, who has taught piano for 52 years, volunteers with the DAR and maintains an American flag recycling box in her yard.

Bienville Parish

Rodney Warren for decades of service as secretary/treasurer of the Bienville Police Jury and in the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness

Sheriff John Ballance, who is the longest-serving sheriff in North Louisiana after having been elected to seven terms.

Claiborne Parish

Rosalind Penegar for her service as a Claiborne Parish Domestic Abuse Resistance Team advocate.

Lincoln Parish

Ernie Stevens, a Vietnam veteran, for his work establishing and maintaining the Louisiana Military Museum in Ruston.

Ouachita Parish

Amanda Edge, the incoming chair of the Monroe Chamber, for helping establish Grow NELA and chairing the Louisiana Delta Community College Foundation's board.

Union Parish

Robert Allen for his 58 years of service as a volunteer fireman with the Town of Farmerville and his work as an alderman. ... See MoreSee Less

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Lost New Orleans History Found!

Here are a few photos of New Orleans and it's famous streetcar line from the 1920s to the 1930s that we found awhile back while researching through the Thurman C. Smith Collection! It's a cool glimpse back in time especially since probably none of the buildings in these photos are still standing!

Thanks to photographer Otis Johnson (Film Arbor Studios) we now have a few thousand photos just like these from the early 1900s to the 1950s! This photo was among hundreds of other large format (8x10) negatives that we found in the Thurman C. Smith Studio! Thurman had saved these negatives along with THOUSANDS of others from the late 1800s all the way up to the 2000s!

We are so honored to have been given access to not only Thurman Smith's entire photographic collection but Otis Johnson's as well! All of this, with the exception of several large boxes of recently discovered negatives, were donated to the Northwest Louisiana Archives at LSUS! This latest discovery will also be donated to the library! Stay tuned for more photos from this "probably" never before seen collection!

**** A couple of these photos are colorized and A.I. enhanced to bring them to life! ... See MoreSee Less