Time to take a break from politics and instead enjoy a couple of special people and issue a pair of invitations.

First, there are good folks all around us – especially those who show up to return a lost wallet just as I’m making the second call on my list to cancel a credit card.

Two weeks ago, my husband, Eric, lost his wallet while leaving a south Bossier store.

Within just a few minutes of returning home to cancel cards, Ed Mayton was at the door with the wallet.

His mother Okhwa Mayton had found it outside the store. Ed, a military veteran noted my husband’s veteran status, saying he just had to bring the wallet to Eric personally.

It doesn’t get much better than that. On the other hand, Carlos Prudhomme’s April 26 first annual Health Fair and Birthday Celebration is right up there on the list of caring people making a difference.

Prudhomme, a Shreveport attorney, said he’d always been “kind of a bigger guy” whose doctor had often advised him that he could likely get off some of his medications for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes if he’d lose some weight.

Like many of us, Prudhomme said his intentions for that weight loss were good, but the follow through didn’t count for much.

A year ago, however, he got up one morning at 5 a.m. and walked around his neighborhood – and continued to do that for a month – and found himself five pounds lighter.

“It’s been a slow, steady crawl to better health and feeling better about myself,” Prudhomme said.

“It took me deciding one day to go ahead and do it – and that even if you have a bad day, you can do it again tomorrow. But I want to be around for a long time.”

Prudhomme has lost 65 pounds over the last year and said he has another 20 pounds to lose.

He said he is using his birthday as an opportunity to show people that they can lose weight without surgery or the pills offered on infomercials.

“We’re getting resources all together in one place to provide information along with health screens and all sorts of things you can do to lose weight – and maybe inspire you to get into a healthy lifestyle,” Prudhomme said.

The April 26 health fair at Caddo Middle Career and Technology School at 6310 Clift St. in Shreveport will offer health screenings, nutrition and fitness tips and include participants from Life Share Blood Center, Zumba by Briana, TNT Boot Camp and SUSLA Allied Health Department, to name just a few.

The health fair will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The whole family is invited to enjoy the activities and learn about healthy lifestyles.

While the event is free, Prudhomme said he wouldn’t turn down any $10 donations to Volunteers for Youth Justice’s GEMS and GENTS Mentoring Program, an effort he strongly supports.

Finally, and on the other side of the Red River, south Bossier City residents should mark their calendars for April 28 to attend a public meeting concerning the south Bossier Barksdale Boulevard Redevelopment Plan.

This effort evolved from the city’s settlement of the Coleman lawsuit and involves planning for south Bossier improvements.

The public meeting will be held at the CenturyLink arena; doors open at 5 p.m., and the evening will include an overview of the area’s existing condition, considerations for improvements, invite public input and a question/answer session.