Bio: Frank Moss, Winn Parish, LA Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** >From the May 7, 1948 Winnfield News-American Traditions in Winnfield Football Here Wouldn't Be Football Without "Old Frank" by Betty Harrel A football game just wouldn't be a football game in Winnfield unless Frank Moss, colored assistant, is on the scene to rush water to "his boys" between the quarters and halves. A familiar figure on the football field, Frank has been water carrier and general utility man for practically every contest since his arrival in Winnfield in 1903. Helped Bring in Rock Island Born in Haynesville in 1887, Frank relates that he helped bring the Rock Island railroad into this section "around 1900" and later established permanent residence here when he was 16. Except for a three-year period (1916-1918) when he resided in Texas, Frank has been on hand for every football season, from the first when games were played on a field where the Radescich home now stands until the present date. "Skip" Adams of Arkadelphis, Ark., coached this first pigskin eleven. Says Stokes Best Coach Frank casts his vote for the Reverend Alwin Stokes as "the best football coach Winnfield has ever had. The boys always did everything he would tell them to do, and he turned out the best teams that I've seen in my 45 years in Winnfield." Reverend Stokes coached the 1917 high school team to a state championship. The long-time water carrier, still very active for his 61 years, remembers his most exciting game as the time the local team met Shreveport on the opponent's field in a nip-and-tuck battle which Shreveport was slated to win. Tells of Exciting Game "Well, this was around 1925," recalls the veteran football fan, "and toward the last of the game Shreveport boys were ahead 7-0. A Winnfield man had made a bet of $ 500 that our boys would come out on top, and, sure enough, in the last minutes our made two touchdowns to win 14-7. One of the Winnfield players was seriously injured, and that made the game even more exciting because the team went on to win after he had been taken out." When asked to compare the football teams of today with those of yesterday, Frank said that "the boys today don't seem to play as hard. They fought to win in the old days, would work their heads off and wouldn't break training rules. They really had spirit." Worked For L. & A. 30 Years Frank has had two "main" occupations since he came to Winnfield: shoe shining and working at the Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad depot as a freight warehouseman. he shined shoes here (and the interval when he lived in Texas) for 15 years, and began work for the L & A. in September, 1913, 30 years ago. Nine Moss children, six girls and three boys aged 10 to 29, are living today. Mrs. Moss died in 1946. All of the sons and daughters have completed or are in the process of completing their high school education, and Frank's interest in his children's education is an example for others to follow. Two of his family, Doretha Barnes, 23, and Roy, 25, were graduated from Southern University. Two Children Teaching Doretha is now teaching health and physical education at the Webster Parish Training School in Minden, and Roy instructs photography at the State Normal School for Colored at Grambling. Everyone in the Moss family is interested in athletics. Glen, 20, likes baseball, and although he has been cripple since birth, he follows his favorite sport by listening to the radio and can name practically every player on big league teams. Doretha, the daughter who teaches in Minden, coached her girls' basketball team to an undefeated season last year. Frank himself follows the big leagues and pulled for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series last year "because they were the underdogs and had a colored boy, Jackie Robinson, playing first base for them." Frank Moss probably has seen more local football games than any man in Winn Parish, and he undeniably holds the records for carrying the most buckets of water to hot, thirsty players. Always a favorite of coaches and players alike, he has traveled with the teams on out of town trips, applied bandages to the injured athletes, carried equipment and has performed innumerable other errands for "the boys." Has Been Happy Here Commenting on his 45 years in Winnfield Frank said, "Everyone really has been nice to me since I've been here. The people are always good, and no one has ever done me any harm. This is a good town, and I surely have enjoyed all these many years that I worked for the football teams." Here's hoping that Frank Moss, who has certainly become a tradition on the football field, will be around for many more seasons. (Mr. Frank Moss, deceased, is the great grandfather of television star Raven Symone. Submitted by Greggory Ellis Davies, Winnfield, Winn Parish, LA.)