The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury recognized the retirement of local television anchor John Bridges at their most recent meeting.
Bridges has worked at KPLC-TV for 33 years.

“Certainly we have a familiar face that we’re honoring and recognizing this evening, Mr. John Bridges, he served 50 years bringing news to residents of Southwest Louisiana and the last 33 years with KPLC,” said Police Juror Joe Andrepont. “ We know John’s professionalism. If John had chosen to move to a big city in major market he would’ve excelled there, but he chose to to stay home in Southwest Louisiana, and we as residents are better for it.”

Andrepont also spoke of Bridges’ volunteer work over the years, mentioning all the times he’s served as Master of Ceremonies.

“John is like family to all of us from Southwest Louisiana because we have you in our televisions and we watch you in the mornings, special events, elections, hurricanes – you’re family to us – and when I think of John, I think about how he put people to ease when he’s interviewing them, his trustworthiness and his demeanor,” Andrepont said.

“Thank you for this honor, I appreciate this. It feels like yesterday but it was really the late 70s when I covered my first police jury meeting sitting on the front row with the media and it’s an honor to be here and be honored,” Bridges said.

Bridges said when he first started covering the news in the late 70s and early 80s it was a very fascinating time. He said civics was always something that interested him and was his favorite subject in school, along with history. Bridges said it was amazing to watch the government in action and how much fun it was to cover.

Bridges joked about not missing waking up at 2 a.m. for work, but how he’s definitely going to miss the people he’s met and interacted with over the years.

“That’s why I stayed here, it’s home. I didn’t want to leave, it’s where I grew up and it was important for me to stay here and I’ve been blessed to be paid for something that I think was a hobby and I appreciate that,” Bridges said.

Police Juror Ron Hayes gave a couple words regarding Bridges’ retirement, as well.

“I’ve known John (Bridges) since he was in high school as a student and I was a teacher at Sulphur High School back in the 60s and he’s the same now as he was then — a gentleman, a guy who thinks before he talks, John was the kind of guy that if you give him an assignment or something to do it was done, his mother was a substitute teacher at Sulphur High School and she became my idol because I liked the way she conducted herself and then I metJohn and he became my idol of sorts. He’s just a special guy, he was always the bar, he could raise it, he could lower it, 9 times out of 10 he raised it,” Hayes said.

Police Juror Randy Burleigh said he and Bridges are brothers in-law.

“There’s only two sons-in-law and I always tell people in a joking manner, but I’m somewhat serious about it, I’ll gladly be No. 2 to John Bridges, I don’t know if I can be that good of a person, it’s a small family and there’s only two of us and I’m that number two, but I’ll wear that badge with pride,” Burleigh said.

President Judd Bares had some final words for Bridges, as well.

“I’m glad our paths continued to cross and they will still, happy trails,“ Bares said.