Laney Meshell is 2010 Loggers Festival Queen The 2010 Zwolle Loggers and Forestry Festival Queen admits she has always been a tomboy, growing up as the "baby" in a family with five older brothers and one sister. And as an upcoming senior in the class of 2011 at Many High School, she intends to pursue a career normally populated by men. Laney Meshell, is from a fourth-generation logging family, the daughter of Zwolle logger David Meshell, who has four sons who have already joined him in the logging profession. A fifth son, the eldest, did not "fit" in the woods, and became a CPA instead. Laney says upon graduation she plans to attend Tulsa, Oklahoma welding school to earn professional status in a craft she already has some experience at. After that, she will attend Louisiana Tech University school of agriculture at Ruston, with plans to become a vocational agriculture teacher. From a "blended" family, Laney has one half sister, one sister, and five half-brothers, and as the youngest sibling in a large family, already has 17 nieces and nephews. She currently lives with her mother, Mrs. Connie Byrd of Belmont community in Sabine Parish. Mrs. Byrd has recently resigned her job at Doctor's Laboratory in Pleasant Hill, a nearby Sabine Parish community, to be available for travel with Laney as she tours various events representing the Loggers and Forestry Festival. Laney works after school at the Laboratory, which operates a regional diagnostic service for doctors and medical facilities in North Louisiana. Since being chosen as Queen at the annual Festival on May 8, Laney has appeared at the Fisher Sawmill Days, the Bonnie & Clyde Festival, and has a full schedule of dates to fill during the coming year. With a quick, wide smile and a sparkle in her eyes, Laney has a manner that is both open, friendly, and focused. Agriculture teacher? Never doubt it; she'll make it and always have fun. |