The 8th annual Chocolate & Champagne Affair, a night of sweets and bubbly drinks from top local vendors, was hosted in the ballroom of Diamond Jacks. The party featured live music, dancing, a silent auction and endless amounts of chocolate desserts from more than a dozen local restaurants and champagne, of course. The party helps raise funds for Easterseals services in the local area. This year, Sid Potts was honored as the 2019 Lily Award recipient for his continued efforts to serve our community. – Mark Crawford

Chocolate & Champagne

1) Hailey Procell, Mallorie Smith

2) Elizabeth Crews, Corey Connett

3) Andrea Schwartz, Dawn Carter, Georgette Price

4) Tom and SuZanne Pace

5) Theresa Miller, Patti Richter, Sandy Putman

Wine Country Bistro hosted their 11th annual wine festival, Wine and Swine, inside and outside of their historic South Highlands restaurant on Line Avenue. This year’s festival featured more than 60 wines to sample along with local beers. Chef Jason Brady prepared local whole hogs for the buffet alongside a variety of sauces, savory and sweet, inspired by flavors from Louisiana to the Orient. The spread also featured Southern barbecueinspired side dishes to round out the meal, including Great Raft Brined and Smoked Chicken and Miso Grilled Salmon. There were also tasty bites from special guest chefs Josh Harmon, Peter Barlow from Niteshade Chef Collaborative, and Dustie Latioles from Cochon Cannery. Working in collaboration with these superstars were local culinary masters Jacob Mouser from Frank’s Pizza and Eleazar Mondragon from Ki’ Mexico. Live music was provided by TD McMurray and Easy Money. – Mark Crawford

Wine & Swine

6) Hanh Williams, Andrea Remedies

7) Heidi and Gregory Kallenberg, Beth and Jason Brady

8) Kim Voorhies, Katy Touchstone

9) Kelly Quackenbush, Emily Burford

The Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau hosted their annual P.R.I.D.E. Awards, which stands for Proud Residents Involved in Developing the Economy, at Horseshoe Casino’s Riverdome. This year’s dinner had a Mardi Gras theme. The awards ceremony recognizes excellence in the area’s tourism and hospitality industry. Numerous awards are presented each year, like outstanding bellman, outstanding culinary professional and outstanding event of the year. – Mark Crawford

P.R.I.D.E. Awards

10) Amber Free, Matt Hammock, Brandy Evans

11) Alan Bright, Karen Barnes

12) Ashley Ard, Emma Hebert

In April, Great Raft Brewing hosted their annual cask tasting event, Crush The Pin. The event featured 10 new, one-of-a-kind cask creations for guests to sample in the brewery tasting room. Selections included: Tiramisu Reasonably Corrupt Black Lager, Strawberry Shortcake 318 Golden Ale and Juicy Fruit Southern Drawl Pilsner. – Mark Crawford

Crush The Pin

1) Bobby Melancon, Larry Robinson, Larry Melancon

2) Laura Perilloux, Stafford Lyons

The Petroleum Club hosted a Cinco de Mayo Spring Fling Fiesta on May 5 that featured a Mexican food buffet, frozen margaritas, and the P Club Taco Truck served fresh-made tacos to party guests. Side FX provided the live music entertainment, and there was a caricature artist on hand to draw portraits of partygoers. – Mark Crawford

Petroleum Club Cinco De Mayo

3) Scott Martinez, Shelly Straughan

4) Chris and Sara Shankle

5) Mac and Mary Bridges

6) Jennifer Terrell, Deana Leubbert

An Evening for Healers is the signature fundraising event for the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. Not only does this event raise important funding for the hospital campus, it also shines a light on the first responders and health-care professionals in the Shreveport-Bossier community who work tirelessly every day to save lives. Funding from An Evening for Healers helps LSU Health recruit and retain top faculty, acquire cutting-edge equipment, and support programs for students. This year’s gala was hosted at the Shreveport Convention Center in downtown Shreveport. – Mark Crawford

An Evening of Healers

7) Michael and Jennifer Walt

8) Kim and Mary Ann Green, Michael Henson and Susan Moffitt

9) Daryl Mitchell, Kristy Fields, Yvonne Mitchell

10) Judy Williams, Terri Nelson

11) Keith Scott, Chris Philipbar

Shreveporter Will Flavin meets President Donald Trump at the Sempra Energy’s Cameron Liquefi ed Natural Gas Export Facility on May 14. The Flavin family is in the real estate business in Lake Charles and Will told the president they wanted to do a Trumpsized real estate deal with him. He laughed and asked Will who his father was. Trump loved when Flavin’s dad told him he was Will’s grandfather. The grandfather, Dan Flavin, served with Steve Scalise as a state representative a few years back.

– Mary Ann Van Osdell

Youngster Meets Trump

12) President Donald J. Trump and Will Flavin

13) Rep. Steve Scalise and Will Flavin

14) Will Flavin and Air Force One