Newspapers: The Saga of A.D. "Sonny" Bignar; LaSalle, Louisiana
Submitted by Jack Willis
Date: 11 Oct 2004
Source: From the Jena Times - Olla Tullos Signal, Woodlands And
Waterways Echoes
Date: 30 June 2004

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The Saga of A.D. "Sonny" Bignar

Catahoula Lake and its environs, which lie predominantly in LaSalle Parish,
is a winter haven for migrating waterfowl, that is, until the overabundance
of hunters chase them off, usually in the first few days of waterfowl
season. In years past this area is also has been a choice area for the
development of woodsmen, fishermen, wood lore entrepreneurs, animal trainers
and waterfowl call carvers.
Nebo native James Ed Yule has been carving for decades, winning many
national awards along the way, and his unique one-of-a-kind creations are
deemed works of art and are avidly sought after like rare paintings. James
Ed, having the heart of a dedicated educator, coupled with a genuine love of
people, will share most of his artistic techniques at the drop of the
proverbial hat.
Having said that, Ed began mentoring and inducting a cousin of his, A.D.
"Sonny" Bignar into the hallowed rituals of carving waterfowl calls in the
early 90s, and Sonny is demonstrating today that the mantle has indeed
passed on to another generation of Catahoula innovators.
Albert Doyle Bignar, known since childhood as "Sonny", was born and reared
in the Sharptown community, one of several rural hamlets on the periphery of
Catahoula Lake. He attended elementary and high schools in the Jena area,
but opted to quit school and go to work for his uncle before graduating.
After a stint of harvesting litered pine stumps, Sonny graduated to the oil
patch where he would spend the next 40 years or so, the last ten as a tool
pusher.
After "spooling it up" in 1997, Sonny Bignar decided to really get serious
about call carving and made up his mind to go at it, more or less, full
time. In meditating over how to begin his first project Sonny decided a good
wood to start with would be ash, but he found out in a short hurry why they
use ash for baseball bats, and it's because of the wood's density and
durability.
Most of his labors of love configurations are created from cherry, black
locust, bois d'arc, and black walnut, with some of his more ornate calls
featuring embellishments Sonny is renowned for called "checkering." Applying
his refined checkering technique to a piece of Gabon ebony enabled him to
capture Best of Show at a national contest in St. Charles, Illinois in 2002.
Sonny maintains that the most beautiful call he created, in his estimation
was fashioned from a cow cumber billet featuring a black gnarl interwoven
into the wood grain.
When asked how many calls he's been able to market, Sonny replied, "I figure
I've got about 150 to 200 calls in circulation." And he goes on to state
that he has close to 100 calls made from a variety of woods in various
stages of completion.
If you're interested in acquiring one of Sonny Bignar's prized waterfowl
audible lures, he may be contacted at 130 Honeysuckle Lane, Jena, and LA
71342 and at 318-992-4841.

W&WE (6-30-04)                                          JMW