First stop: Venice. The water taxi driver didn’t get the memo that he was supposed to take us from the airport directly to our hotel, which has a boat dock. That would have been so easy. Instead, he dropped us off in what looked like the middle of town, with tourists crowding narrow walkways and alleys.

Hoping you don’t find this too much information to share, I typically shower twice a day— morning and night. I usually wear two undershirts—and yes, two pairs of underwear—a day. I pulled up the calculator on my iPhone and quickly learned I would have to pack 30 pairs of undershirts and 30 pairs of underwear.

Now, Stava hardly goes at all. “I would rather take the time to drive four hours (to Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.), go up there on a Saturday, stay overnight, and come back on a Sunday than drive 10 miles to Bossier, a place that didn’t care whether I was there or not.

“In that time, I stayed home a lot,” said Rice’s wife, Angelina, of her husband’s last two years. “I started going through his files. I gathered them, I organized them … We have three children … I asked them what they wanted. After they each selected a few pieces, I had this vast amount of artwork.

“I love high school football,” Dawson said. “I think it’s some of the best high school football in the country. I spent 16 years (one year at Redemptorist in Baton Rouge) as a Louisiana high school coach. I’ve spoken at the Louisiana (coaches) clinics. I’ve mentored many of these coaches.

In 1990, a young Ken Epperson Jr. was stationed at Fort Campbell, along the Kentucky-Tennessee border. The Shreveport native – training for deployment to fight in Operation Desert Storm – was excited to be the next in a long line of family members who had been in the military.

Fourth-grader Tyler Cooper has Caudal Regression Syndrome. Basically, the lower part of Tyler’s spine did not develop as it should have. So, Tyler is limited to being in a wheelchair, walking on his hands and scooting around on the floor. He needs help in the classroom and with his hygiene.

“I am hoping to dress in a replica of a gown worn by Marilyn Monroe in the film ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,’” Ballengee said. “I love the color, the style and the silhouette. And who doesn’t want to be Marilyn for a few hours?” Ballengee won’t be at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.