A culinary landmark of West Central Louisiana, the Hickory Smokehouse in DeRidder, was engulfed by flames Wednesday night, January 17. The Anderson family had operated a restaurant in that location for generations. We mark the occasion not knowing what plans, if any, the family has to re-open the location.

The Hickory Smokehouse on Ft. Johnson has fed tens of thousands of soldiers and their families through the years and continues to do so. The staff has catered so many events in the area and region, it’s almost too many to count!

One year, my wife hosted a high school reunion soiree at our home. The gang from Hickory Smokehouse set up a fish fry for about 35-40 people. When they finished feeding everyone, they bagged up the leftovers for us and quickly slipped away…NINJA caterers, if you will!

I chaired the Association of the United States Army golf tournament at Emerald Hills once and got Theo to come out with his food wagon. He set up on the hill overlooking the 18th green and made sure everyone had something tasty to eat as they finished… a portable 19th Hole. Theo travels well!

His portable crawfish rig catered the Bud-n-Boil promotion at KVVP-KROK since the get go…and they still do. Now that is a portable crawfish kitchen!!

Theo’s crawfish are legendary. I took two sacks of graded, select bugs to a boil in Shreveport once. They set the bar high for me as everyone wanted to know where I got the monster crawfish.

During the Iraqi-Gulf war in the early 90’s, KVVP did a live broadcast from The Crawfish Trap on Highway 10 in Sandy Hill; another Theo Anderson idea. There were tons of troops here on rotation and they swamped us. Theo did nearly two tons of bugs that day, and we stayed an extra hour on the air because it was a hell of a party.

I am saddened by DeRidder’s loss of a fine eatery but very glad to have a Hickory Smokehouse location in Leesville on the Alexandria Highway, right around the roundabout from my house. It’s just another hiccup in life, Theo…continued God speed in your endeavors.

The bottom line is that the Anderson family and their staff will continue to do what they do best, and we are better off in our community for it!

CRAWFISH IN SEASON, GREAT BBQ, SIDES AND DINNER CHOICES…FRIED AND BOILED SHRIMP…… CATFISH…TOP NOTCH CATERING FOR 20-2000…LOCATIONS IN LEESVILLE AND ON FT. JOHNSON