A wild time was had by all

Judy and Craig Storer were mixing and mingling at the Wild Game and Fish Dinner

Camille and Don Hathaway were among those seeing and being seen

Here I am at the gate

Shannon and Jean Medenhall (left) and Don Hathaway (at end of table) dig in.

Three hosts: Danny Logan, Steve and Berry Glassell. Logan's wife Karen was also in the crowd.

Photos by Paul L. Schuetze/The Times

On Friday, Paul and I headed up to Jeems Bayou Hunting and Fishing Club near Oil City for the annual Wild Game & Fish Dinner hosted by Danny and Karen Logan and Steve and Berry Glassell. (Jeems Bayou is an old club and its members are a see-and-be-seen group and we never turn down an invitation to zip up that way.)

Everyone is asked to contribute something. So, even if you don’t hunt and fish, you can bring salad, dessert or a bottle of wine.

No one wants to miss it. And a good time is always had by all.

Steve asks everyone to introduce themselves and to tell what they have contributed.

We took a marinated salad. Marty and Melanie Johnson contributed crawfish casserole and Larry and Anne Higdon, shrimp au gratin. There was a chorus of "yeahs," when Bubba Kneipp announced the had brought crawfish and shrimp corn bread.

Anyway, you get the idea of what is served at this feast at this wonderful place in North Caddo Parish.

Some others seeing and being seen: Rob and Vicki Franks, Shreveport City Court Judge Bill Kelly, Darrel and Anna Folse, Carl and Ellen Rice, Robert and Cindy Watson, Cecil and Lou Oliver and Virginia Chastain whose hubby Merritt regretted because he was in Dallas on business. Belcher

By the way, at least two of the guests were stopped by the Oil City Police en route. We are not telling who, but the police let them off with a warning. So, if you are headed up that way, watch the speed limit.

Inspiring women

Pointing out that March was Women’s History Month, an e-mail from Dottie DeHart, DeHart & Company Public Relations listed 10 women and lessons we can learn from them.

The list came from Roxanne Rivera, creator of nocryinginconstruction.com, a Web site aimed at women currently working or planning work in a male-dominated industry, said the release.

I thought the list was interesting. See what you think:

1. Eleanor Roosevelt. "Never back down from your principles."

2. Margaret Thatcher. "Never compromise your own beliefs in order to please people."

3. Mary Kay Ash. "Trust your instincts."

4. Harriet Beecher Stowe. "You’re never too busy to change the world."

5. Babe Didrikson Zaharias. "Don’t Let setbacks keep you from getting ahead."

6. Golda Meir. "Hard work pays off."

7. Oprah Winfrey. "Be open to learning from others."

8. Mother Teresa. "Accept no limitations.

9. Amelia Earhart. "Know the value of tenacity."

10. Sandra Day O’Connor. "Don’t hesitate to break down barriers."

Would you add any names to the list and why?

Are there women who have inspired you personally and why?

Have a good weekend.

We are headed out and about to cover: a Wild Game Dinner at Jeems Bayou ... a reception at First Methodist Church, Greenwood, to recognize its architect Edward Neild, the idea of Greenwood resident Mary Wark ... a glittery engagement announcement party.

I'll report back on Monday.

A toast to Easter at lunch in Natchitoches

Tommy Whitehead, and Sandy and Ray Strother at Whitehead's Lake Sibley home, Natchitoches on Easter Sunday.

Photo by Paul L. Schuetze/The Times



Paul and I had a most special Easter...
Lunch at the art-filled Lake Sibley cottage in Natchitoches of Tommy Whitehead — a host/cook extraordinaire. He collects people from all over the world and you just never know who will be your dinner party. It just rarely gets better than a fete planned by Tommy.

This time around, the faces were mostly familiar.

The diners included: Shreveporters Dr. Ray and Jean Turner, Natchitoches residents Coley and Sharon Gahagan and their clan from points east and west, temporary Natchitoches residents Ray and Sandy Strother and Robert and Lois Rector of Clinton.

The event began with mimosas, wine or champagne and lunch with Tommy’s to-die-for corn chowder. Then: ham from Grayson’s, Spinach Madeleine, sweet potato and macaroni/ cheese, green bean casseroles, fruit salad with poppy seed dressing and trifle.

When we were in graduate school at LSU in the early 1960s, Ray Strother was one of our classmates, who particularly studied propaganda and its use in politics, a study that has gained him fame and fortune.

Though we had watched him admiringly from afar, it had been years since we ran into Strother.

He now lists home as Wise River and Bozeman, both in Montana, and Washington, D.C.

In the last six months or so, I have gotten reacquainted with Strother and met his wife Sandy through our mutual friend Tommy.

Paul and I visited with the Strothers at a gathering in Colorado in July and, of course, saw them again on Sunday.

Anyway, this past semester Strother and Sandy, hunkered down in Natchitoches where he holds the 2007-08 Erbon W. and Marie Wise Endowed Chair in Journalism.

("His class has been well received," said Tommy.)

After grad school, Strother went on to fame and fortune as a political consultant — working with such glittery politicians as President Bill Clinton — when he was running for governor of Arkansas — Gary Hart for president and U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.

He was recently inducted into the American Association of Political Consultants Hall of Fame during ceremonies in Santa Monica, Calif.
Strother, by the way, attended NSU on a track scholarship that he held for two years until he was asked to leave the institution because of his political activities — a move Strother is proud to tell about!

And, yes, he did give us his take on the current presidential race, which is quite interesting, but, after all, this was a party and I was not taking notes.

He is also a fine artist, with wood his medium, and a gourmet cook!












.

Call to worship

Isn't Easter a special service?

It certainly was at First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport's 11 a.m. service where our new pastor the Rev. Pen Peery presided for the first Easter. (He told us later that this was his first Easter sermon, a landmark event for a minister.) His sermon: "Seeing Beyond Our Fear."

His sermon, the music, the Scriptures. All meaningful to me. Easter and the beauty of nature signal such a renewal in our world.

But, sometimes, through no one's fault, things go awry, even when well planned.

On Sunday, somehow the "Call to Worship" was left out, so we started with that most wonderful of songs, "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" for the processional.

However, words and the the message of the "Call..." are so powerful that I wanted to share them:

"Among the poor, among the proud,
"Among the persecuted and the privileged."

Congregation: "Christ is risen to make all things new."

"In the private house, in the public place,
"At the wedding feast and in the court of justice.

Cong.: "Christ is risen to make all things new."

"In Beijing, Baghad, and Belfast,
"In Washington, London and Shreveport,

Cong.: "Christ is risen to make all things new."

"That the Kingdom will come, that the world might believe."

"Christ is risen to make all things new.
"Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!"

Do you agree that it is a powerful statement?

Do you have news to share about your own church's Easter service?

What's cookin'?

For those of us who use and love the Service League of Natchitoches cookbooks, "Cane River Cuisine" and "Louisiana Living," we can look forward to another one in the future.

Eliza Brittain Behrendsen e-mails us that both of those books are almost out of print, yet still in high demand from the public. (I can certainly understand why for they are, indeed, wonderful.)

"Both cookbooks were printed using antiquated typeset and with today’s technology cannot be reproduced for less than it will take to produce a whole new cookbook. Our publisher has agreed to absorb the costs of digitizing the older ones if we produced a new one," e-mailed Behrendsen.

Was that an offer they could not refuse or what.

Anyway, the League is working on "Steel magnolias in the Kitchen: A Journey Through Cane River’s Heritage and the Mystery of Southern Charm."

"Steel Magnolias" author and Natchitoches native son has been generous in his support of allowing the group to use this title," said Behrendsen. "His mother, Margaret Harling, will be one of the ladies featured in this cookbook."
Others: Behrendsen’s mom — and my friend — the late Ann Williams Brittain, Marie-Therese of Melrose Plantation, artist Clementine Hunter and author Kate Chopin.

The group also seeks stories of people, events and memories of special meals shared with family and friends and special memories or anecdotes to share that relate to either of the previous cookbooks.

"We ask that you try to incorporate the food served, the setting and/or conversations as it relates to our community’s heritage and the Southern charm of the women who bring it all together," said Behrendsen.

Oh, yes, and they are looking for cookbook sponsors.

Information or questions: e-mail gbehrendsen@yahoo.com.

For a Fifties fix we head to Danny's Place

I grew up in the 1940s and 1950s eating Triple XXX hamburgers and Greco’s Grecoburgers, so every hamburger I ever eat is measured by them.

When I bit Wednesday into the one-fourth pound hamburger at Danny’s Place, it measured up.
Chef Danny Beavers and wife Carrie. took over the 1950s-themed Danny’s Place, 9006 Mansfield Road, in January. On Wednesday, Chef Tim Cullen, a former student of Danny’s, who has been at Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, was working his first day at the place.

They are proud to say that it is a family oriented eatery. And the southwest Shreveport neighborhood is embracing it.

Danny, as you might know, was chef instructor at Louisiana Technical College — which everyone still calls Vo-Tech — for 10 years. Before that, he was executive chef at the Petroleum Club.

Through the years, I’ve covered a lot of things Danny has been involved in and he is also a neighbor, so it was fun visiting with him and Carrie.

Commenting on the hamburger, Danny said, "We want the hamburgers to be a cross between Triple XXX and Tic Toc Grill and the onion rings to be close to Ko Ko Mo. We are almost there!"

"We want our blue plates to be based on Wiseman’s. When I was a kid, we went every Friday for turnip greens, black-eyed peas and fried catfish. Remember they were the first to have catfish steaks, rather than whole steaks," said Danny. (Talking about goin’ down memory lane!)

I chose as a "side" for my hamburger, turnips and greens. Ummm. "These are not greasy and they are perfectly cook," I commented.

"They are not greasy, because we use a ham hock for flavoring and we don’t cook them mushy. I don’t like overcooked vegetable," said Danny.

Anyway, Danny’s Place is styled after a ‘50s cafe. It is done up in Coca-Cola-inspired decor. Everything is red and white, black and white checked floors.

There is a Bel Air Chevy mock up on a wall and standing statues of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean.
The menu is extensive — from chili and sandwiches to a blue plate special every day. And, an unusual touch — a greens special daily. That might also be cabbage or mustard greens.

The regular veggies: black-eyed peas, white rice, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and buttered whole kernel corn. Wednesday’s special was chicken fried steak.

There are ice cream, shakes and malts, sundaes and floats.

And, we didn’t try any, but the oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies from the eatery’s bakery looked absolutely delicious.

For "Kiddie’s Kravings," there are such goodies as "grilled peanut butter and banana sammitch" and "Frito pie."

There is also live entertainment Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and people get up and dance! (I want to go back for that.)

Anyway, it was fun seeing Danny and Carrie and what they are up to.

Hollywood loves 'em and leaves 'em

It is not everyday that a local receives a phone call from the New York Times.

But Natchitoches resident Tommy Whitehead did and he is quoted in today’s Times about location movie making in "A Premiere Far From Hollywood."

"I got a one line quote about ‘Steel Magnolias’ way down in it," he wrote.

Whitehead was an extra in the movie shot 20 years ago and got to know a lot of the players in that long hot summer when Hollywood came calling and shot the movie in Natchitoches.

The story deals with movie making outside of California and New York.

"Hollywood loves the heartland, but only to a point. Movie crews perennially drop in, dazzle the locals, then pack up their stars and head back to Los Angeles or New York when they’ve soaked up enough color," said the story.

"But the local folks can find it hard to end the affair," the story continues.

However, the story continues: "Sometimes, of course, a movie comes to town and never really goes away."

"We had a re-enactment of the cemetery scene last year," said Tom Whitehead, a retired journalism professor in Natchitoches.

He spoke of the town’s enduring attachment to the movie.

"Visitors to a local bed-and-breakfast can still sleep in Shelby Eatenton Latcherie’s room, just as pink as when Julia Roberts, as Shelby, inhabited it in the film," said the story.

What do you think about this view?

Does Hollywood come in and dazzle us, return to dazzle us again and then leave when they’ve soaked up enough color?

Military Ball gets brass and locals out and about

Gen. Bruce Carlson makes a move to leave the stage.

Darlin' Debra Cordell, wife of Senior Airman Michael Cordell, snaps a photo of a Strolling String.

Power crowd: Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover, Horseshoe exec Helen Black, Glover's wife, Veronica, Adele Walker and hubby Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker.

Here we are being serenaded by a member of the Strolling Strings, who move around the floor. Senior Airman Michael Cordell is right behind me.


Photos by Paul L. Schuetze/The Times

Holiday in Dixie Military Ball.

Paul and I were part of a sold out crowd of over 500 at this spectacular event Saturday at Horseshoe Riverdome — held there to accommodate a larger crowd. Locals clamor for tickets to this event.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen Bob Elder, head of the 8th U.S. Air Force, played drums with the 531st Air Force Band Texas Air National Guard Band of the Gulf Coast.

The Strolling Strings from Bolling Air Force Base surrounded us with sound on the party floor.
Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover and Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker held court.

Four Star Gen. Bruce Carlson, formerly based here as head of the 8th U.S. Air Force, was seeing and being seen. He is now based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he is commander of Air Force Materiel Command.

Gale Odom delivered a stirring rendition of "Star Spangled Banner."

Attorney/Ball chair John Odom starred as master of ceremonies.

There was playing of all the service songs, parade of guidons or company pennants and commanders.

And, there was dancin’ the night away until the midnight hour.

And there was dinner. The menu ranged from cold and hot selections to desserts. Let’s see, there was pasta salad; broccoli, bell peppers, red onions. olives pepperoncini tossed in fresh herb/garlic vinaigrette; beef stroganoff; buttered wide noddles; and, my fave, baked salmon with lemon/thyme beurre blanc. Desserts included: chocolate meringue pie and white chocolate mousse tarts with mixed berries.

Ah, it was festive and patriotic and a lot of fun.

Or as A-lister Linda Biernacki put it, "This is a great party. BAFB does put on a party. I never miss a Barksdale event."

The 2008 Holiday in Dixie Cotillion King Dr. Charles Sale was there with wife Katherine, and so were: Robert and Kim Poindexter, Murray and Pat Viser, Col. Robert Wheeler and wife Rachel, Lt. Quincy Rhinehart and Tamika Davis, Elder’s wife, Bess, who works the crowd with aplomb.
Centenary College Prez Ken Schwab was mixing and mingling and so were Tech. Sgt. Andrenow Dunklin, Tech Sgt. Presha Zarcariaous, Tem and Maggie McElroy, Col. Mike and Elaine Shoults, Richard and Linda Biernacki. Senior Airman April Schlichtenmyer and Master Sgt. Tina Martinez.

Check out the photos above and more on Military Ball gallery on www.shreveporttimes.com.

Places to call home.

During the last two weeks, I've interviewed, visited and written stories on two very different places that people call home. (Royalty live in both of them.)

On Saturday, I take you to the condo of very eligible bachelor/2008 Krewe of Gemini King Dr. Tobin H. Grigsby. A popular man in town, his condo is in the old Crystal Oil Building at Milam and Market. He and Stewart Madison are developing it for offices and condos.

"Mr. Brooks" was filmed here and there are pictures of Tobin with actor Kevin Costner.

His parties are legend.

And, he loves downtown living.

I love his condo. You'll read about: His round bed. (Where in the world do you get one?) We tell you. And the sheets and the bed cover? We'll reveal that two.

And the fact that he has nine up-to-date televisions. A kitchen with a seven-foot granite bar. A regulation pool table.

Read all about it Saturday on the Home & Garden Page.

... On March 22, I'll take you to the historic Davis Homeplace at 804 Wilkinson in the heart of Highland, where Terry Gill and wife Marsha Millican-Gill and their daughter, Ashley, hang their hats. (Millican-Gill is a former Krewe of Highland queen.)

The house was built circa 1916 and, until the family bought it in 2002 years ago, it had been in the same family since that time.

You'll read about the house's ghosts, the pieces that came from a very prominent local family whose roots reach back to the first rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, a most unusual desk and such Shreveport memorabilia as a 1943 Shreveport telephone directory.

See more photos from both of these on separate galleries at http://www.shreveporttimes.com/ before they are printed.

Do you have ideas for houses that I might write about. Send 'em my way.

If you want some fine food, head to Grand Cane.

"Come on down to Grand Cane and have lunch at our new restaurant," invited Grand Cane A-lister Edith Herring.

Having lunch with Edith is a happening I can never turn down. Not only does she know everyone in North DeSoto Parish, but she knows everything going on and all the gossip. Besides, she is great company.

And, I rarely say "no" to an invitation to head to a country place.

So, on an absolutely beautiful, clear sunshiny today, I skimmed down Interstate-49, and onto a country lane before I headed south on 171.

I met Edith at Grand Cane Food Co., Restaurant and Catering, at the south end of the cluster of vintage buildings right in the middle of the town.

It is a real find for a foodie.

Chef Cal Smith has been cooking for 50 years, mostly for family and church events, until he opened the Food Co. Aug. 15.

"My mama was a wonderful cook. I was raised by the stove and I learned to cook," said Smith, who worked 30 years as an administrator, before turning his talents to cookin’ full time.

And, he wanted to serve a better hamburger. So, he found jalapeno cheese buns at a bakery in Houston that he grills before filling them with Angus beef and sauteed onions. (His bread comes from Gambino’s in New Orleans.) It is absolutely a divine hamburger.

Each day, there is a different special and everything is cooked to perfection. Today, he offered meat loaf, mashed potatoes, field peas and corn bread.

I am not sure how I resisted that meal made up of all the things I love, but I selected the hamburger.

Tomorrow, there will be pork loin, rice and gravy, sweet potatoes and yeast rolls.

Thursday is steak night, but there will also be grilled shrimp and chicken/beef kabob.

The Food Co. special — and popular— au gratin potatoes and a veggie, such as steamed asparagus, are part of the order.

Friday is seafood night and will feature seafood gumbo.

And Sunday? "Whatever I get up and decide to do," said Smith.

In the past, that has been traditional baked chicken or pot roast, but also cornish game hen, which was much talked about.

But dinners are more intricate and might be grilled tenderloin with pork reduction sauce and for dessert, grilled bananas in Bourbon sauce with ice cream or a chocolate souffle.

The staff includes Dana Gilbeau, who helps with the cooking and Pam Kennedy who works the front. Justin Kennedy, who has just received a scholarship to be in the Centenary College choir, is the matrie ‘d.

If you stop by, you are likely to be in the midst of the DeSoto power crowd. Grand Cane Alderman Bill Cook walked in as we walked out.

Also spotted at other times: DeSoto Sheriff Rodney Arbuckle, Grand Cane Mayor Clayton Davis, Mansfield Mayor Curtis McCoy and DeSoto School Supt. Walter Lee.

The eatery is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Thursday and Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and "after church" on Sunday, though they will be closed Easter.

Note: Next door is Village Creations, owned by Suzanne Brossette and housed in a building with a ribbed metal ceiling, unfinished concrete floors and exposed ceilings and duct work. It is wonderful and with fine gift items, including local very good art, jewelry, and mosaics, such as garden steps, plus urns, unusual guest towels and antiques.

We hope to go back and have plenty of time to browse.

If you know of some country places, send 'em my way. I'll visit and write about them.

Henry Goodrich and Laurice Rountree are engaged

Henry Goodrich and Laurice Rountree with his dog Lily at the Poodle Party

Photo by Paul L. Schuetze/The Times

News flash!

Oil man/artist Henry Goodrich and Laurice Rountree are engaged to be married. Plans are not finalized yet, but they are thinking September for the ceremony.

Goodrich presented the solitaire in a Tiffany setting — purchased from Sid Potts — to Rountree Wednesday. Goodrich, Rountree and Goodrich’s dog, a Havanese named Lily, stopped by the Poodle Party at the home of Bill and Ruth Atkins late that afternoon, shared their special news and received "best wishes" to Rountree and "congratulations" to Goodrich. (It wasn't officially, but it turned into an engagement announcement party for them as word spread through the crowd.)

"I told her she was too old to be a ‘trophy wife,’ but she is my trophy!" quipped Goodrich, in a later interview.

Lily received the "best exotic dog" award.

More news about Goodrich, "I am painting up a storm."

Dr. Charles Sale — the 2008 Holiday in Dixie Cotillion king — and wife Katherine were also hosts for Poodle Party, a popular early spring gathering.

Dogs are guests of honor and receive treats as party favors.

Cirque du Soleil comes calling

Cirque du soleil of Saltimbanco enter artspace Saturday for the Fiesta

More Cirque du Soleilers

Ciorque du Soleil bus

Ciorque du Soleil performers at the Fiesta

Scott Soignier and his wife, Fiesta chairwoman Missie.

Lauren Humphrey (left) and Dr. Lauren Wallace dressed alike at the Fiesta.

Times Photos by Paul L. Schuetze

Cirque du Soleil of Saltimbanco street performers were all over town last week.

Dressed in black and white and standing almost ceiling high on stilts, they burst into The Times newsroom Thursday, handing out press releases to Kathie Rowell and Stephanie Netherton and others. It was a dramatic moment, catching all of us totally off guard.

They wheeled Ashley Northington around the newsroom, planting a red clown’s nose on her.
They generally created whimsical mayhem.

Which is to say that we loved the interruption — just prior to a staff meeting — and applauded as they stilted out.

I ran into them again Friday night when they joined the crowd for the Sci-Port Discovery Center Mad Scientist Ball at the center and made their way around that event — just missing the mayor and his wife who had left for a friend’s birthday party.

And, they made quite a grand entrance Saturday night at St. Mark’s Cathedral School Fiesta at Shreveport Regional Arts Council artspace. Earlier in the day, they had reconnoitered there to be sure everyone know what would be going on.

At the Fiesta, they swirled their capes, danced about and charmed all.

Their green bus was parked outside. (Paul captured them at the Fiesta. See photos above.)

With its elaborate likeness of a Cirque performer, it is quite eye-catching.

Did you run into the performers anywhere else?

Let me know.

JUST A NOTE...

Great pals Lauren Humphrey and Dr. Lauren Wallace showed up in the same retro-print dress at the Fiesta. Humphrey paired hers with high heel sandals and teamed boots with here. (See photo above.)

Star Watch

The Cambridge Club bustled Friday night with movie stars.

Regular diners looked up surprised to see star Michael Douglas walking through the club en route to the Oak Room where some 13 members of cast and production members of "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" was having a cast party.

Also sighted: Jesse Metcalfe, yard boy from "Desperate Housewives," and Amber Tamblyn, of "Joan of Arcadia" plus the film’s producer. (Diners seen and being seen included John and Mimi Hussey and Hank and Frances Anderson.)

The Hollywood types ordered from the menu, with entrees including snapper and steaks.

The club will also be the location for filming a restaurant scene Friday and the wait staff will be extras in that scene! For instance, maitre ‘d Bill Boston will play himself.

The script also calls for female wait staffers, so Patti Carey, a Cambridge owner, and bookkeeper/event planner Shelly Ezell will suit up to represent female ones. There will be 45 extras for the shoot and they include Cambridge members Dr. Tom and Tracy Pressly.

The club will also prepare the food for the scene.

The mayor has big shoes to fill

Mayor Cedric Glover's size 17 shoes painted for Mad Scientist Ball auction item

Veronica Glover and hubby his honor Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover

Photos by Paul L. Schuetze/The Times

You would have to wear a Size 17 to fill Mayor Cedric Glover’s shoes.

That is his shoe size, he said proudly at the Sci-Port Discovery Center Mad Scientist Ball held Friday at the center.

He was among those who contributed well decorated soles to the silent auction. "Patients from Feist-Weiller Cancer Center Arts in Medicine painted the shoes," said the Mayor.

The two are Kelnesha Odom, 5, and Kamryn Chauncy, 8. The two also painted two very different portraits of Glover which were framed, presented to him at a Shreveport City Council meeting and hang in his office. When the presentation was made, Glover asked the two to help him out and paint his tennis shoes for the Mad Scientist Ball! And, they did.

We haven’t found out yet who bought them, but if you see a pair of high tops with a flag-inspired scene on one and a more whimsical sport motif on the other, they are the mayor’s.

The dress for the benefit was "tuxedoes and tennis shoes" and Glover wore a pair of olive green tennies with his black accented with a yellow tie.

The mayor and wife Veronica made a mad dash into the party but left early to attend a friend’s birthday party high in the sky at Independence Stadium. (A great place, by the way, to have a gathering.)

At the benefit, Vicki Franks’ shoes were the talk of the event for they lit up.

Lt. Gen. Bob Elder, head of the 8th U.S. Air Force, wore faux leather athletic soles, with his mess dress, while tuxedoed attorney Jim Hill painted white tennies gold and purple — for LSU, of course.

Sci-Port chief Ann Fumarolo laced up white-accented, tangerine-hued ones to pair with her black-seamed hose and short black dress.

Tem McElroy’s were traditional athletic shoes, white and silver, but Carl Bantle wore attention-getting red-and-white check slip-ons.

More social musings:

... Friend Nancy Canson e-mails us from Marshall, Texas, that Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, a star of "The Great Debaters," attended a rally for Presidential hopeful Barack Obama Sunday at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.