Home Care In Pineville, LA

By Staff Sgt. Noshoba Davis, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office

PINEVILLE, La. – Camp Beauregard was officially redesignated as Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville during a redesignation ceremony at the Dabadie Gym in Pineville, La., Oct. 18, 2023.

Government officials, Louisiana National Guard leadership, LANG Soldiers and Airmen, distinguished guests and members of the community attended the ceremony for the historical name change of LANG’s premier training installation.

“Today marks a new chapter in the history of this installation,” said Maj. Gen. Keith Waddell, the adjutant general of the LANG.

The installation’s history can be traced back to 1852 when Legislature authorized the purchase of 438 acres to build an institution that became Louisiana State University. In 1905, then Camp Stafford became a permanent camp for the LANG and a part of the US Army Southeastern Military District. In 1917, Camp Stafford was established as Camp Beauregard, one of 18 National Guard Camps organized in response to WWI.

For over 118 years, the installation has served as a training center for service members of the United States Armed Forces and the LANG mounting responses to the Mexican Expedition, WWI, the Great Flooding of 1927, WWII and the Global War on Terror.

The LANG launched a 90-day online survey in May 2022, where citizens and service members could offer their opinions on the redesignation and suggest a name for the installation. In September 2022, U.S. Army Col. Dirk Erickson, the LANG TCP installation commander, hosted a town hall meeting to field name suggestions.

Over 153 days, 234 potential names were presented to a renaming committee consisting of 14 military, local, and State officials.

“Our redesignation committee convened multiple times to consider all 234 submissions and select and rank the top six,” said Waddell. “I am pleased to report that the committee’s recommendation for the new name was the number one of the top six.”

Waddell explained that the first part of the name, Louisiana National Guard, represents the strength of the organization: the people.

“Today, we have nearly 11,000 Guard personnel, more than 800 State employees, 895 technicians and thousands of families that serve and support the State and country in an extraordinary manner. Our Guard members represent less than one percent of the population that serves our country” expressed Waddell.

The next part of the name, Training Center, represents the installation’s purpose as a training center for the service men and women in the LANG and armed forces while providing space and facilities for organizations such as the Youth Challenge Program and STARBASE.

The final part of the name, Pineville, represents the town that is geographically located in the middle of the state and is a strategic location for staging equipment and personnel to support every part of the state.

“Community has a special meaning to our Guard members. The dual mission of the Guard is unique,” expressed Waddell. “The Guard is a community, and we are excited that our redesignated name will be connected to the community in which the installation resides.”

Waddell expressed the name change signifies forward movement, like the flag on a Soldier’s uniform, within the organization, as well as reflecting on the organization’s current values while shaping the future within the local communities.

“I’ve said this many times. The people of Louisiana inspire me, but there’s not a group of Louisianans who inspire me as frequently or as deeply as the Louisiana National Guard,” said Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. “General, you were talking about 118 years, and there’s a lot that has changed over 118 years, and we want this installation to be as strong as it can possibly be for the next 100 years and beyond.”

Edwards explained the diversity within the LANG, and that the name change showcases the diversity and unity within the LANG.

For Soldiers like Col. Dirk Erickson, who has served in the LANG for 38 years and has roots tied to the installation, the name change represents where the organization is headed and brings credit to the organization as a whole and not any one person.

“This has always been a place for units to train and an inclusive place for units to do training. My memories are not of the name, but my memories are of the men and women I have served with,” said Erickson.

Today, the LANG TCP covers over 15,000 acres and has over 500 full-time employees who ensure theinstallation remains committed to supporting all training of the LANG and Department of Defense customers in support of military and emergency operations, both federal and State.

“We have obviously come a long way, but there’s always more work to do. I believe this new designation will serve to unify the members of the Louisiana National Guard as it moves forward in its commitment to continuing to serve Louisiana and the United States of America,” said Edwards.

PINEVILLE, La. (KALB) - Despite the state experiencing much-needed rain, officials are not sure when the drought will end.

“Hopefully we can get enough rain to at least help us with the burn ban situations and the wildfires throughout our state right now, but as far as getting enough to raise water levels, I don’t see it in the near forecast,” said Doug Anderson, public information officer for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Anderson said there is no specific number on how many inches of rain it will take to recover.

“Obviously rain here matters substantially, but we also need lots of rain up north to raise our river systems to get them back to normal,” said Anderson.

Places like Lake Buhlow are low in water in certain spots and the drought affects how people boat and fish on the water. Anderson said October is historically dry for harvest season, and that this drought will not go away anytime soon.

According to the United States Drought Monitor, most of the state is under D3 and D4 drought, which are the two worst drought conditions possible.

Over at Pineville Marine, weathering the storm is part of the process of owning a shop like the Marine.

“We are very, very blessed,” said Kathy Witherell, secretary and treasurer at Pineville Marine. “We’re very blessed to be part of this community and we’re very, very blessed with our customers. Because we’ve been here for so long. I think that my husband and hero who owns and does around here, he’s used to weathering storms.”

Witherell said revenue has been down due to the drought and fewer people getting on the water, but there are better days ahead for the shop.

“It’s a process that you go through,” Witherell said. “You have good times, and you have bad times. You try to run your business and sustain your business as responsibly as possible. Without our crew, without our customers, Pineville Marine doesn’t exist.”

The drought affects everyone, especially people on the water, and as Anderson says, boaters need to be extra careful.

“They need to pay attention to these low water situations because there are hazards that may not be seen and may not be a threat to you in a normal pool stage situation, but in these low water situations, you could hit stumps, sand bars, other hidden objects that lie just beneath the waters where you typically wouldn’t hit anything,” Anderson said.

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Copyright 2023 KALB. All rights reserved.

By Staff Sgt. Noshoba Davis, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office

PINEVILLE, La. — Louisiana National Guard Training Center Pineville has a rich history that can be traced back to 1852 when legislature authorized the purchase of 438 acres to build an institution that became Louisiana State University.

For over 118 years, the installation has served the Louisiana National Guard and the United States Armed Forces. Throughout this time, hundreds of thousands of service members have trained at the installation to ensure that they were ready to answer the call of both the State and Nation.

As the installation has grown over the last 118 years, the LANG has had multiple leaders who have made an impact on the organization. One such leader is the late retired Brig. Gen. Joseph Levy Dabadie Jr., father of retired Maj. Gen. Stephen C. Dabadie.

Brig. Gen. Dabadie served in the United States Army and the LANG for over 40 years, holding several key positions and culminating his career as the chief of staff for the LANG.

The LANG recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the area on Training Center Pineville named after the late general.

The display case of Brig. Gen. Dabadie’s service items is located in the installation’s force protection building next to the installation’s Dabadie Gym Complex, which is named after the late general. The display showcases a painted picture of the late general, the brigadier general flag, his service uniform jacket with medals and other pieces of service equipment and awards received by Dabadie throughout his career.

The gym complex was originally a part of the J. Levy Dabadie Correctional Center, which was located on LANG Training Center Pineville from 1970 until its closure in 2012.

“The correctional center housed 580 minimum security male offenders, and over 200 of those offenders worked at LANG Training Center Pineville in a maintenance capacity, such as grounds crew, carpenter crew, paint crew, plumbing and electrical crews and janitorial trustees,” said Mrs. Brandy Mays, LANG Training Center Pineville senior advisor.

Mays explained the land and buildings were transferred back to the LANG upon the correctional center’s closure.

Since receiving the land and buildings back from the correctional center, the LANG has updated the barracks buildings, office buildings and the Dabadie Gym Complex. Additionally, the LANG also added a new warehouse on the grounds and the force protection and billeting office building.

The Dabadie Gym Complex offers service members, LANG Training Center Pineville employees and residents a state-of-the-art weight room with machines and free weights, an indoor basketball/volleyball court and cardio rooms with treadmills, rowing machines, and stair climbers.

In addition to training and the gym complex, the LANG Training Center Pineville leadership has worked on improving Morale, Welfare, and Recreation opportunities for service members. Over the years, a MWR building has been added to the installation which houses a pool table, ping pong table, cable, internet, video game consoles, guitars and more. The installation also has multiple outdoor basketball courts, volleyball courts and a softball field.

“The Enlisted Club Café serves hot lunches Tuesday through Friday. We have movie nights here on post, a Fall Festival and a Spring Festival,” said Mays. “We also host a Christmas Extravaganza, as well as a post-wide Christmas party.”

Mays explained there are plans to continue improving the installation, which includes road upgrades, dam repairs to Twin Lakes, adding additional commercial T-Hangers at Esler Airfield, electrical upgrades, establishing a new MWR facility and a new barracks project.

PINEVILLE, La. (KPEL News) - A Louisiana artist who went viral for a Waffle House-inspired painting is at it again with another painting inspired by both the classics and the restaurant chain, and he tells KPEL News that it's not the last one he's doing, either.

Matt Dawson, of Pineville, Louisiana, painted a parody of the famous "Starry Nights" by Vincent van Gogh that he called "Starry Waffles." It featured the restaurant amid the "Starry Night" background and was immensely popular online.

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"When my wife was sick, we used to go down to New Orleans to see a doctor… and every time we would come back, we would stop at [Waffle House] in Sorrento," Dawson shared in an interview with Fox News at the time, adding that his wife Amber Dawson once struggled with bladder and kidney issues.

"In addition to the tip, I would always put five dollars on the jukebox for the waitress to [put] on whatever artist they liked," he added.

Dawson, who hails from Natchitoches, Louisiana, has been painting for a long time. He's self-taught and draws inspiration from a variety of pop culture references, as well as beautiful and iconic scenes. He also sells prints of his work on Etsy, a popular platform for selling goods and crafts.

A pharmacist during the day, Dawson has been painting for more than 30 years.

He also received requests for different uses for his painting, including by someone who wanted to use it in a classroom.

"This is the coolest thing," he wrote on Twitter. "Someone contacted me this week to use my painting in their class. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. The response to this is amazing. I’m really blessed."

"Starry Waffles" is just one of the prints for sale. The original, he said in a thread on Reddit, has already been sold.

The viral painting has received a ton of attention online, and it even got a comment from the official Waffle House account on Instagram.

Dawson announced his latest work on his social media pages earlier this month. The painting, "Waffles of Memory" is based on the classic Salvador Dali work "Persistence of Memory."

The original painting sold on Dawson's Etsy store, but you can buy a print for $50. However, this isn't the end of his work featuring Waffle House. Dawson says you can expect another one in 2024.

"This is the second in the Waffle House series I’m doing, I will be doing a third next year," Dawson told KPEL News. "I’ve had this one in my head for a while and I finally got to do it."

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"I do take commissions," he also noted on Twitter. "I already have some for Christmas. Let me know soon so I can get them to you in time." He also advised followers to send him a direct message on the platform so they can work out details.

PINEVILLE, La. (KALB) - Brick by brick, one Pineville resident is transforming the city’s main street landscape and hoping the change preserves a part of the city’s rich history.

Political advertising is Jorge Rocha’s nine to five, but when he steps out of his office and onto Pineville’s Main Street, Rocha said revitalization is the word of the day.

A native of Venezuela, Rocha married a local, settled in Pineville and began investing.

To date, Rocha owns four buildings on or just off Main Street, the Ad Central Building, a former beauty supply store, a building that started off as a theater in the 1950s and later housed Big Al’s Guns and the former SMG radio station.

Rocha said he loves his city and when you love something, you want to see it grow and flourish.

”No matter where you live, it’s always going to be a work in progress, but if you own it and you learn to love your people and the place where you live, it’s going to thrive,” he said. “So yeah, Pineville is home, and Pineville also means opportunity and just good people in general.”

With every brick laid, Pineville’s Main Street is regaining a little more of its culture, commerce and community.

“It’s been overwhelmingly positive, really,” added Rocha regarding the community response.

It is a metamorphosis Rocha said the city is embracing.

“The city and the administration, everybody is there to support you, but they can only do so much.”

Rocha said his investments will soon yield results. For now, he is tight-lipped about what the future businesses will be but said it is certainly more than aesthetics and hopes to open the doors on his first business by the end of the year.

“By the time my son is in high school, he can look and enjoy all these things that have come to Pineville,” said Rocha. “Starting from Wayback’s Arcade, all the way to the bridge.”

Rocha’s commitment reminds us that change starts with a single vision, and with collective efforts, it can blossom into reality.

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