Often I've written about the Cajun side of me, but I seldom have said much about the fighting side of me. That's my Irish side. While a kid in Abbeville, I was a strange youngster,... — Updated 3/14/2023

How quickly the years have flown by. Come December 31, Phyl and I will mark our 68th wedding anniversary. I knew, my heart knew, and my soul knew, the second I met her that she was... — Updated 12/27/2022

When you're poor, really poor, Christmas can be a very sad time, especially for a youngster. Sometimes the scar is so deep that even a lifetime won't remove it.  My... — Updated 12/20/2022

It's come on the 81st anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Prior to the attack, life in the little Cajun community of Abbeville was slower and more country than any Norman Rockwell... — Updated 12/6/2022

This is for those youngsters who will be graduating this month, leaving the protection of home and striking out on their own. You have absolutely no idea what the future has in stor... — Updated 5/24/2022

My grandmother Availia had many children; among them were three sets of twins and a set of triplets. Many of the young died as infants. Only one twin, my uncle Meldan “Tee-Dan... — Updated 4/12/2022

The Battle of New Orleans I turned down Larry Messier's offer to be his guest at the Ali-Spinks heavyweight fight in Vegas and made my annual trek to Rising Star's Sipe Spring cemet... — Updated 3/1/2022

It was a dark day in the U.S.A. on Oct. 24, 1929, the day the Great Depression began. The stock market crashed investors and wealthy people lost everything. Many committed suicide,... — Updated 1/4/2022

On New Year's Eve, December 31, 2021, Phyl and I will celebrate our 67th wedding anniversary. Over the Thanksgiving Holidays we had all three of our children, five grandchildren... — Updated 1/3/2022

I don’t have very many good memories of Christmas in my childhood. We were extremely poor, in my very early years, so I don’t recall that I ever received a store-bought gift.... — Updated 12/21/2021

For more than a year, President John F. Kennedy had sought the trip to Texas that ended tragically the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963. The national pain and trauma that followed his ass... — Updated 11/16/2021

Quote from Roy Dunn publisher "The staff of The Record Newspapers is deeply saddened by the tragic death of our popular fishing columnist, longtime fishing guide, Dickie Colburn."... — Updated 11/2/2021

Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 steam engine train arrives in Orange Thursday for a whistle stop at 9:30 A.M. at Holly Lane crossing. The engine was built in 1941, during WWII.... — Updated 8/17/2021

This is for those youngsters who will be graduating this month, who will be leaving the protection of home and striking out on their own. You have absolutely no idea what the... — Updated 5/25/2021

Memories of the past are a reflection of the road we've traveled and where it brought us... In my mind, from time to time, I go back to times of my youth. Raised on Young Switch Roa... — Updated 5/4/2021

I was watching CNN just before 10 p.m. Sunday, May 1, 2011, when a newsbreak announced President Obama would be addressing the nation. A newsbreak this late on Sunday made it... — Updated 5/4/2021

Bridge City today is far different than it was 62 years ago when the Penny Record first hit the streets in April, 1959. My roots run deep in Bridge City soil. My dad, Clay, first... — Updated 4/13/2021

After what little supper we had was eaten, the chores of another day put away, we gathered on Grandma Avelia's little front porch. She rocked in her favorite rocker holding her... — Updated 4/13/2021

The Civil War had come to its conclusion. The year was 1865. Dr. Stephen Dunn had been one of its casualties. He was survived by his wife, Sarah Jane, and one eight year old son,... — Updated 3/16/2021

On February 19, 1959, 62 years ago last Friday, my father Clay Jackson Dunn died on the operating table. He had a gallstone lodged in an unusual duct and had turned jaundice. The do... — Updated 2/23/2021

Several events, as of late, got me to thinking about my longtime friend Johnny Preston Courville, Jr. My mind is wandering back over 60 years to a period that is unique. The Gulf... — Updated 2/9/2021

There was no way of knowing our late years would get down to isolation because of a life threatening pandemic. It's certainly not the way we wanted to spend our final years.... — Updated 12/29/2020

Long Ago Cajun Christmas, Town and Times Remembered Christmas will be different this year than our normal gatherings with an economy that allowed us to have many gifts under the... — Updated 12/22/2020

As we travel down life’s highway, we encounter events that mark that place, where we recall what we were doing and what was going on around us at the time of their happening.... — Updated 12/1/2020

I'm optimistic that by next Thanksgiving the times we are living today will seem like a bad nightmare. We will wake from this bad dream, on a bright new day. We will still be strugg... — Updated 11/24/2020