News, Citizen Profile, Bettie Ruth Richard Morrow, LaSalle Parish, La. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Submitted by Craig Franklin and The Jena Times From the Jena Times - Olla Tullos Signal, Jena, LA May 9, 2001 Page 10B Thank You to the Times -Signal for allowing the following to be added to the Archives. A Times-Signal feature "Citizen Profile" A Very Special Salute Bettie Ruth Richard Morrow – Citizen Profile Her full name is Bettie Ruth Richard Morrow. But for hundreds, perhaps thousands of kids, she'll always be known as "Ms. Bettie". Although originally not from the Northwest LaSalle area, Ms. Bettie has become one of the family after taking an active part in youth sports and activities for the past 30-plus years. Throughout this time, she helped start the first summer girl's softball program in LaSalle Parish, and has taken youth from the two-lane bowling alley in Olla to become state champions. Her whole life has been about giving. Giving to others, giving her time, her talents and abilities, and her hard work for the advancement of whatever cause she set her heart to. She was born in Rayville on May 25, 1940, to David Franklin and Lessie Bass Richard. She was one of eight children in a family that seldom stayed in the same place for more than a year. "My father did just about anything he wanted to do," Ms. Bettie said. "He did mill work, put in air conditioners, and even piloted cruise ships. He really could do anything. The only problem was, we moved every time the weather changed." Ms. Bettie said that from the time she was a child until she was in high school, her family moved nearly twenty times to various cities in the states of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida. "We'd go to school one morning and nothing would be mentioned about moving, but when we got home, the car would be packed and we'd move somewhere else," she said. "He was like a rolling stone and couldn't stay in the same place very long." In the ninth grade along, Ms. Bettie went to four different schools in just three months. "It was so bad, that I never took a report card from one school to another," she continued. "They always had to mail them to the next school." Being the seventh child of eight children, some of her sisters and brothers had grown and started lives of their own by the time Ms. Bettie got to high school. One of those sisters, Bernice Franklin, lived in Olla and during her high school years, Ms. Bettie stayed with her to have a more stable life. In the middle of her senior year, her mom and dad with the rest of the family was living in Rockport, Texas. Her mother became very ill, later to find out she had cancer, so Ms. Bettie left Olla and went to take care of her in Texas. She was 18 years-old when she left Olla in 1958. On June 17 of that same year, her mother died. "She was a good mother," Ms. Bettie recalled. "She did whatever Daddy wanted to do and stood by him. She was one of those mothers that when you came in at night you had to go in and kiss her goodnight. It was hard when I lost her, but it's hard whenever you lose any parent." When she was going to school in Olla, Ms. Bettie met a young man by the name of Don Morrow, who was from Tullos. They dated for about a year, and when Ms. Bettie returned from Rockport, the two were married. For a while, they lived in several different locations, including Ball, Louisiana, Lottie, Louisisana, Livona, Louisiana, and Clinton, Louisiana. (13 years)all in However, Ms. Bettie had stern instructions for her husband, in that she was not going to live her married life like she did her childhood, moving all the time. "I told him that he'd better decide where he wanted to live because when we had children we were not moving," she said. So with this in mind, Mr. Morrow went to work with Louisiana-Pacific in Urania on June 15, 1970, and they moved to his parents' property in Tullos to live. After this, the children came, and the Morrow's stayed. This was the last time Ms. Bettie ever moved. The Morrows had two children born into their family, Sabrina Clark, who now lives at Haughton, and Christopher Morrow, who lives in Tullos. When they arrived in Tullos in 1970, Sabrina was nearly nine years-old, attending the school in Tullos. Ms. Bettie, immediately started working in the school's PTF, side-by-side with another parent, Mary White. The duo would form a friendship and partnership that continues even to this day. They started off organizing softball tournaments at the Tullos Ball Park which raised money for the PTA. "We'd put on ladies' tournaments and the top ladies' teams in the state would come to Tullos to play," Ms. Bettie said. "All of the money we raised from the tournaments, including entrance fees and concessions, would go directly to the school. With that, we bought all kinds of things for our school." Among the items bought were air conditioners for every classroom, curtains for every classroom, drapes for the school auditorium, ice machines, books and many other things. "It wasn't just us though," she said, "we had a lot of help from a lot of people. Back then, there were plenty of people that were willing to work. For instance, Velma Allbritton cooked enough chili to sink a battle ship during this time, and many others helped as well." When Ms. Bettie and Mrs. White's girls became old enough to play softball themselves, the two took on another project, which the parish is still seeing the benefits of today. "They were old enough to play ball, but there was no organized league in Tullos for the girls," she said. "There was a boys' league in Olla, but no one had a league for the girls. This is when we decided to start a girls' softball league." The duo of Morrow and White joined forces with Hazel Brewer, and organized LaSalle Parish's first girls' softball league. "We held another ladies tournament and raised money to purchase equipment for the league," she said. "We had a Jena team, a Georgetown team, a team from Olla, a team from Urania, and one from Tullos." The league was a huge success. Before long, more and more girls participated and more teams were added. Eventually, Jena created their own girl's softball league, and the Tullos' league joined with the Northwest LaSalle Dixie Youth program, of which is remains a member of today. The results of starting the girls off in softball early can be seen nearly every high school softball season. This year alone, the LaSalle Lady Tigers and the Jena Lady Giants both went to the state tournament. While the trip was a first for Jena, LaSalle continually fields outstanding teams. Many in Northwest LaSalle attribute the winning tradition at LaSalle to the program that was started many years ago by Morrow and White. "It was hard work and we couldn't have done it without the many others that worked along side us," Ms. Bettie said. "Since then, I've been able to watch all of my granddaughters, except one, play in the league." Ms. Bettie said that one of the reasons she took such an active role in her children was because that is what she believes parents should do. "You've got to be there for your kids and you've got to provide them with opportunities or they'll find something else to do that you might not approve of," she said. "I used to question God about not having a talent, but I didn't realize that He'd given me the ability to work for these kids and put people together to provide activities for them." Another activity that Ms. Bettie has become famous for in the Olla-Tullos area, has been bowling. "Jo Hortman was the director of the Olla Rec. Center and she actually started the bowling leagues," Ms. Bettie recalled. "For a while not a whole lot of kids bowled and my grandchildren asked me to start organizing the league again in 1989. I told them that noboby wanted to bowl anymore, but because they asked I would at least send out letter and see if there were any interest. That year we had 56 kids sign up and I was at the rec. center four days a week. I didn't think I would get enough to do anything and then all of the sudden I was up there all the time. . . and this was just a summer league." That fall, Ms. Bettie continued with the bowling program with the Fall Sizzlers Bowling League. For the past 10 years, she has had the summer and fall leagues each year, and has taken her bowlers to state competitions. "We've had state champions and runner-ups and won all types of tournaments over the years," she said. "Not bad for these kids who bowl in a two-lane bowling alley. In fact, we've even been told that we couldn't come back to some tournaments, because we always win. They didn't like the fact that our country kids bowling in a two-lane alley beat their kids with their 40-plus lanes." Ms. Bettie is so committed to her "kids", that even though she's experienced four strokes in the past two years, she still goes with them to the competitions. During this past state competition, she watched from a wheel chair as her "kids" bowled. "I just believe that if someone will get out there and do something with these kids that they'll do it," she said. "But again, this bowling league is not just me. There are many people that help, including all of the mothers. Also, Terry McGee has worked really hard and of course I've got to say something about Billie Kerry. She has bent over backwards helping us and does so much that no one knows about. She is another one of my dear friends." For Ms. Billie, the smile that breaks across a youngster's face when he or she succeeds and the enjoyment they have in doing something, is the main reason she does what she does. "When the kids come and hug my neck and tell me 'I love you,' that's worth it all," she said. "That's what's important." Although Ms. Bettie has always had a heart for children, during the past few years she's discovered a new love for senior citizens. She's volunteered countless hours working on many senior citizen projects, including food programs, Christmas dinners, and nursing home visitations. "When I had the stroke I had to give up a lot of stuff that I loved doing, and working with the seniors was one of them," she said. "My heart is still there and I hope that one day my body will allow me to pick back up where I left off." Ms. Bettie says that seniors and children are who God has placed on her heart to minister to. "We need to listen to our seniors more and just sit and visit with them," she said. "I wish I'd had more sense when I was younger to listen to our seniors more." As mentioned before, Ms. Bettie suffered a stroke in July of 1999, and has since suffered three other strokes. She works each week on physical rehabilitation, and has seen some improvement. At one time, she was confined to a wheel chair, but now she is able to get around with limited assistance from a cane. "I've been through a lot these past two years but even through all of that I can still say that God is good," she said. "If it hadn't of been for my church family and other churches praying for me, I couldn't have made it the last two years." Ms. Bettie and her husband attend Tullos First Baptist Church, where they have been members since they moved there in 1970. "My children have always been in church, just as I always was as well," she said. "I accepted Christ when I was 18 years old, was raised Pentecostal, but started attending a Baptist Church when I lived in Olla before I got married. I'm thankful that God is not a religion, He is a person." Along with being thankful for Jesus, Ms. Bettie is also very thankful for her loving husband that God sent her way. "Over the past two years I've had four strokes, broke both arms, had back surgery and I suffer from migraine headaches," she said. "But through it all, he (Don) has been right by my side and has been so good to me. He puts up with me and for that I'm thankful. He really is a wonderful man." Family is very important to Ms. Bettie, who loves spending time with her nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Then again, any child that has ever had the pleasure of being a part of Ms. Bettie's life, whether it is in softball or bowling, is considered part of her family. "I really do count it a privilege to just be a part of these kids' lives," she said. "I have gotten so much more from them then they ever got from me and again I thank all of those parents for just letting me be a part of their children's lives." Webster defines the word "giving" as "to turn over possession or control of to someone without cost or exchange; make a gift of." This one word is personified in the life of Ms. Bettie Morrow. Her unselfish giving of herself, without any thought of reward for her actions, is why we salute her this week as our Citizen Profile. Caption under photo: FOR THE PAST 30 years Bettie Morrow has been active in youth activities in Northwest LaSalle Parish. She was one of the original founders of the first girls' softball program in the parish, and has taken bowlers to win state championships. For hundreds of her "kids," she is known simply as "Ms. Bettie." (See story.)