By Elizabeth Clarke, LCU News
PINEVILLE, La. (LCU News) – The adage “The Lord works in mysterious ways” is definitely true for Louisiana Christian University alumna Bonita Preuett Armour.
What started as a desire to remain young and healthy has become a growing ministry in Grant Parish.
“It’s not about me; this is the Lord’s place,” Armour said. “This campus is a ministry for the Lord. I’m just His hands and His feet. He does it all.”
Armour, a native of Grant Parish, is a 1989 pre-law and history LC graduate, attended LSU Law School, and has been a successful practicing attorney in Central Louisiana for decades.
She has recently turned the former Dry Prong Junior High School into a thriving location for fitness, a community garden, her law office and a pizza restaurant—and more is in the planning.
The school had been in operation until 2011 before it was auctioned off. The owner, James Crooks, listed the gymnasium for sale on Facebook in 2018.
So, when Armour saw the gym at the old school campus (where she had attended as a child in 1978) up for sale, she felt like the Lord was telling her something.
“I had started B22 in my garage in 2012, and we had outgrown my garage and backyard,” she said. “I called and texted my friends and thought this would be perfect.”
B22 is the name she gave her gym because she always wanted to stay 22.
Armour’s selflessness and love for her community can’t be overstated, according to those who know her.
Knowing the history of the gym, that it was built and then moved from Camp Claiborne south of Woodworth to Dry Prong in 1948 where it was rebuilt piece by piece in its current location, Armour was determined to see what she could do to preserve the beautiful architecture and community memories.
“It was the heartbeat of the whole parish,” she said. “I thought we’ve got to preserve this.”
Armour lives her life by Joshua 1:9. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
She just wasn’t sure how she would do it, but she said the Lord knew how long before she did. Crooks self-financed the property for her — first the gymnasium and then the main school buildings, cafeteria and auditorium.
Armour relocated her law offices from Alexandria and Natchitoches to Grant Parish in order to purchase the property.
So many roadblocks have occurred during the rehab, including two hurricanes and a tornado that first damaged and then flooded the buildings, but Armour said that God has sent people and resources to handle every single one.
Mattison Brevelle, a paralegal for Armour Law firm, also serves as the property manager for B22 Sports Complex.
“When she [Armour] purchased the current B22 campus, I was here helping in any way I could,” Brevelle said. “I think I added many jobs to the resume. We painted, pulled up flooring, laid flooring, cleaned walls, hung signs and stickers, painted more, and planted flower beds. Just about anything you can think of, I have probably helped with on campus. I love Grant Parish and the community it brings to B22. They make this place feel like home.”
Today, Armour’s law office is in the old Band Hall. She has added a yoga studio, Rock Steady Boxing program, an indoor walking track, an indoor soccer arena, a gaming area, Rue22 restaurant, and is in the proce of adding softball fields and an outdoor fitness trail.
“B22’s mission to me is to see a need and fill it,” Brevelle said. “Bonita has instilled in me that when you see a need, we should try to do everything we can to help that need. My grandparents attend the coffee club here, and it has been such a blessing to see both improve not only physically but also mentally. It was a need in our community for the older generation to have a safe place for them to get physical activities, and it turned out they got so much more.
“B22 offers a space on campus for ladies who have recovered from addiction-filled life They get a new start here with a source of income and a home to live in. I see B22 as a melting pot. It has something for everyone.”
One of the programs housed on campus that Armour is most proud of is the nonprofit Chesed House ministry, which offers transitional housing for recovering women. Armour was inspired while serving on the board of the Louisiana Adult Teen Challenge program to try to address a need for housing once young women complete that program, and Chesed House was born. It is housed in two of the old faculty rooms on the former school campus and provides living space, while Rue22 provides employment.
Sheri Duffy, a professor of social work at LCU and Chesed House board member, went to school with Armour at the campus that B22 inhabits today.
“I went to school there and began playing basketball there,” Duffy said. “My parents, my sibling and my oldest daughter also attended school there. Additionally, my dad and oldest daughter both played basketball for the school in that gym on campus. So you can see, it has always been there and a part of our lives. Bonita and I went to Grant High School and Louisiana College (LCU) together. I have known her for many years, and in all that time she has always been one who dreamed big and encouraged everyone around her.”
Duffy said what Armour has done with the former school campus is nothing short of amazing.
“I am so proud of what she has accomplished and continues to do for our community,” Duffy said. “First and foremost, she has a love for the Lord and seeks to follow His will in all she does including the development of B22. She has a heart for people that you can see and hear as soon as you begin talking with her. It has been great seeing what used to be such a thriving place in Dry Prong return to being a place that our community and beyond can come to for food, fun, fellowship, and health/wellness.”
Like Duffy, Sonia Tinsley, LCU associate professor of health and exercise science, grew up in Dry Prong and started her basketball career at Dry Prong Junior High School.
“My mom and dad both played basketball in the original gym, too,” Tinsley said. “ My dad had Parkinson’s Disease for over 25 years. Bonita started a Rock Steady boxing program for people with Parkinson’s. That program was what helped my dad live independently until he passed away.”
Rock Steady Boxing is a program that helps slow the progression of Parkinson’s Disease. The closest program to CenLa prior to B22’s addition of it to its offerings was in Ruston.
Ken Price, a B22 Sports Complex and Rock Steady board member, has volunteered much time to the facilities for the past four years.
“I felt that to join the B22 team was to join up with positive change for our parish and CenLa as a whole, and now we’re reaching out even farther than that,” Price said. “I see B22’s mission as helping others succeed, grow, make it through the hardest times, and then have tools to not only succeed but to go and help others do the same.”
Price said B22 seems to work best when the task seems impossible.
“It leaves no person, group or community behind,” Price said. “It is to always have open doors to create space for each and every one while putting God first and loving and molding others to be like Him.”
And who knows where this ministry will take B22 next.
