Greetings from Vinton, LA!

Run Stats
Day: 140
Miles Completed: 523.9
Miles to San Diego: 1572.1
Avg Miles/Day: 3.7
Marathons Completed: 20
Shoes: Skora Fit/Tempo
Playlist Favs: Genesis
Guest Runners: None

Bible Verse of the Day: The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we all share the same spirit. ... But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 1 Corinthians 12: 12-13, 18 (NLT)

Run Reflections: After completing my run yesterday afternoon, I had virtually reached the town of Vinton, LA. It's been a pretty good running week so far and I am on path to break 30 miles for the week if the local weather holds up. Speaking of weather, it starting to heat up a little here in the FL panhandle but I've been pleased that I have been able to maintain my mileage so far in the hotter weather. I hope you enjoy learning a little about this town and the surrounding parish. My time in Louisiana is almost done and I have to say that I didn't realize I would be in this state for so long (its been about 2 months) and I didn't realize how much I would enjoy learning about the different aspects of this state.

Vinton: Vinton is a small town in Calcasieu Parish and is part of the Lake Charles metropolitan area. The city's motto is: Louisiana's Gateway to Cajun Country." The city has a total area of 5.05 square miles and had a population of 3,212 at the 2010 census. I've included a picture of downtown Vinton originally taken by Billy Hawthorn and posted to wikipedia as part of the Vinton overview.

Wikipedia reports that Jean Baptiste Granger settled acreage in the Vinton area in 1827. Due to the extensive marshes and bayous in this area, river travel was the main transportation means for early settlers. Located 6 miles to the west of present day Vinton is Niblett's Bluff, a river port established on the Sabine River in the 1830's. During the Civl War, it became Fort Niblett and troops from this fort assisted in the Confederate success in the Battle of Mansfield. Today the area is the family-friendly Niblett's Bluff Park, funded and run by local citizens.

Eventually, the area began to grow as local timber brought the railroads and farmers from the midwest brought agriculture. Of these, Dr. Seaman A. Knapp, former president of the Iowa Agricultural College in Ames (now Iowa State University), is recognized as a significant contributor to the development of Vinton. Dr Knapp purchased the land where Vinton is located in the late 1880's to support his agriculture business and the city name was apparently chosen after Knapps hometown of Vinton, Iowa. As with other towns in this area, there was some additional economic growth with the development of the petroleum industry.

I wasn't able to find out much more about Vinton but I did learn that Bobby Kimball, lead singer of the 80's band Toto, is from Vinton. I listened to this band a lot during college and remember them as a playlist favorite when jumping rope in the hallway outside my room in Bancroft Hall at the Naval Academy trying to make weight for an upcoming wrestling match.

Since info was a little sparse on Vinton, I did a little additional wikipedia research on Calcasieu Parish. The name comes from the Atakapan word "quelqueshue" meaning "crying eagle." It was originally the name of an Atakapa chief but became the name given to what was formerly the Rio Hondo (Deep River), now the Calcasieu River.

The Atakapan's are described as an indigenous people (Indians) of the Southeastern Woodlands. They consisted of several bands living in Louisiana and Texas and called themselves Isak, pronounced "ee-SHAK", which translates to "The People." Their history including the descriptions of two different people groups - the sunrise people in Louisiana and the sunset people in Texas and several different bands within these groups, all aligned to natural elements of their environment.

The write up is well worth the read on wikipedia. Here's some tidbits to pique your interest: The Alligator Band used alligator oil for cooking and to treat minor arthritis and eczema symptoms & the Heron Band painted their lower legs and feet black during mourning ceremonies, mimicking the long black legs of the heron. These stories of the two different people groups and various bands aligned to "mascots" such as gators and herons made me think that these guys might have been the original SEC but, in this case, the main sport was probably lacrosse vice football. I've included a picture of a road sign in LA depicting the junction of some of the Atakapa Indian trails to document their history as a part of this area. I hope you'll consider checking them out.

The stories of this diverse band of Indians reminds me of the Bible verse I cited at the beginning of this post. In this interesting election year, combined with all the other things that are going on in our country and our world right now; it is easy to lose sight of the fact that we are all people made in the image of God. We each have our own gifts and talents and the opportunity to use them to serve God and others. Despite our differences; we are better when we work together, as the synergy of different parts that make up one body.

Thanks to all for your continued support and encouragement for this running challenge. Have a great week!

God Bless,

Pat