Biographies: Howard A. "Dick" Porter, 1975, 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: May 14, 1975 and September 15, 1976 Winn Parish Enterprise News-American Article No. 1 "Dick" Porter In 50th Year Behind Counter by Vernon Ray Davenport The state of mind affects the life of the individual. This is the basic philosophy of Howard A. "Dick" Porter who at age 79 is as active mentally and physically as many half his age. "Dick" Porter does not sit around and watch the world go by. Rather he is a living active part of the world in which he lives. "A busy person is a happy person," says Mr. Porter. To say he is busy might be dealing with an understatement. To say he is happy most definitely would be. "Dick" Porter is one of Winnfield's oldest and best known citizens, a capable businessman who has been operating a store in downtown for 50 years. "When I first opened my store the only businesses in the downtown area were a variety store, a grocery store, Bethea's Dress Shoppe, a shoe shop, a bakery a store called the Crystal Palace, the Gulf Public Utilities Co., and the Post Office, which was located at the rear of my store," he recalls. The World War I Veteran stated that his secret for staying in business so long is the fact that he tries to treat everybody right, he had a lot of friends to begin with, the store is centrally located, and he was very lucky. Porter, in business since Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States, said that the only industries in Winnfield when he first opened his store were sawmills, farms, and the rock quarry. R. W. Buce was Winnfield's mayor and Horace Peters was the chief of police. Asked to compare prices of today with those of 50 years ago, the 79 year old father of three replied "things are much higher today. I was selling cokes for a nickel then, now they cost 30 cents." According to Porter, the greatest changes to come to Winnfield in 60 years were paved streets, improved City Court and officials, and acquiring our own electric power plant. He recalled that Winnfield had a population of almost 4,000 then, compared to the current figure of over 7,000. Porter, a native of Winnfield, attended what was then Central High School. Later the name was changed to Winnfield High School. He recalls that the first car he ever owned was a 1919 Runabout one seated Roadster. "I was in love with that car," he declared. "It was the prettiest little automobile I had ever seen," he reminisced. Known for his immaculate wardrobe, Porter was once one of the best dressed men in town. "I believe that a person should care enough to look his very best. If you look good, you feel good," reasoned Porter. The very active septuagenarian opens his store every morning at 8 a.m. and works an eight hour day, six days a week. He operates the business alone, except for a boy named Todd Roberts, 14, who comes in every afternoon and cleans up. Asked why he is still working in his store at an age when most people are retired, Porter looked down at the freshly waxed floor and said "I suppose the major reason that I am still active is that if I go home and sit down without having an interest, I would be unhappy. After sixty years of working, I don't know what it would be like to be inactive. It would probably worry me to death just to sit around doing nothing. A person needs to keep his mind and body busy. If he doesn't he will soon lose all interest in living," Porter said. A man of many varied interests, Porter played the violin in the Winnfield Baptist Church for 40 years. The former member of the now defunct 14-piece Winnfield String Orchestra, still plays his violin in Sunday School occasionally. A long time church member, the veteran store owner joined the church way back when they would ring the bell in the steeple. He seldom misses church on Sunday. "I don't feel right during the next week after I have missed church on Sunday. It has become a part of me," he said. While preparing for their 50th anniversary in November of 1972, the former Miss Illa Garriss suddenly died. They were the parents of one daughter, Mrs. Elaine Porter Martin, and two sons, Howard A. Porter, Jr., and Gene Porter. Porter's wife was a constant help and inspiration to him. "Without her help and encouragement there were many times in which the difficulties would have seemed insurmountable," recalls Porter. He gives credit to his brother in law, A. E. Garriss, who was with him in the beginning of the business. " 'Baldy' was there during the depression days," he recalls. Among the people who have worked for Porter are Pat Harrell, Winnfield Postmaster, Howard Kelley, Manager of Gibson's, and Dewey Hammonds, Superintendent of city streets in Winnfield. Article No. 2 Plays Violin At Church 59 Years Dick Porter, 80, has played his violin at the First Baptist Church since 1918. "R. D. Bevill got it in 1914 wady down below Natchitoches in the Coony Country and brought it home on horseback in 27 pieces in a meal sack." Porter's brother, David, put the violin back together. Dick Porter has played that same violin since 1914. In 1918 he started to play for Sunday School Services as First Baptist Church. About 15 years ago, he switched to playing for the assembly of adult Sunday school classes, with piano accompaniment. Brenda Etheridge is his present accompanist, but there have been several others, including Mrs. Edith Price, church organist. "We've played music together since she first started to take lessons," he said. Porter himself got his first lessons from his parents, both of whom were musicians. Then in grammar and high school, he studied with Miss Lillian Ponder. A little later Bob Seery came to town. Seery was a first violinist in a New Orleans Orchestra, Porter said. He came to Winnfield as an operator on the L and A Railroad. He also organized a band in 1915. "About 17 of us rehearsed twice a week at the home of R. D. Bevill. Miss Mae Bevill played violin in that orchestra, too." Seery's group lasted about four years, with musicians of varying awareness. "The drummer had a habit of going to sleep. Once he went to sleep, fell off that high stool and turned over the drums," Porter said. After the Seery Band, Porter organized a dance band, the Dixie Jazz, which played dances throughout the parish. When Porter went into the army, the group broke up. For the past 51 years, Dick Porter has run the Dixie Drug Store in Winnfield. He and his wife, Illa, who died four years ago, had three children. Mrs. Elaine Martin lives in Winnfield. Gene Porter is a pharmacist in El Dorado, Ark., Howard Porter, Jr. is a chemist in Houma. That's right, Howard Porter, Jr. Dick Porter's name is Howard Alan Porter. He got the nickname Dick when he was a boy selling peanuts from a basket to the passengers of trains which stopped in Winnfield. "A man named Merrill was the agent for the L. R. and N. Railroad. He said I looked like a man in Mississippi named Dick Porter. If the wanted to call me Dick, that was okay by me. He bought two bags of peanuts every day." (Proudly, I was employed by "Daddy Dick" in the early and mid 1960s while in junior high school. My older brother had worked for him prior to my employment. We made $ 3 per week, plus a nickel off of every New Orleans States Item newspaper we sold, which amounted to about a quarter a day. The only regular customers who would by the New Orleans paper were Mr. James Hall Emerson, Mr. Norman Smith, Mr. Russell Tullos, and Mr. Harmon Porter. Now and then, my cousin, Billy Plunkett, would buy one as he either feet sorry for me, or wanted to get rid of me. Mr. Porter was a very eccentric man, very talented and intelligent. He was very wise when it came to making money and being able to hang on to it. With age, Mr. Porter became a bit hard of hearing and an old joke around town was that "he couldn't hear very well, but you could drop a dime on the sidewalk at Houston Gates' store [a full block away] and Dick could call it heads or tails." Mr. Porter was a very benevolent gentleman, a Mason, a constant church goer, and a friend to a lot of folks around town. His main reason for hiring young school kids was more to help them and not for the help they furnished him. It was a sad day in Winnfield when Mr. Porter died and a public institution was lost. The Good Lord only made one Dick Porter).