I would have been able to get support from people in the same situation. I would have had transportation back and forth if I needed it. I would have had Wi-Fi access to get work done for my job. It would have been a lifechanging experience if it was here.

“Having (practiced) at the hospital (Willis-Knighton Bossier), they feel like that was really congested for their needs, especially for a primary care type thing,” Dr. Wilson said.

After a multi-year hiatus, the event returns Friday, March 17, which just happens to be St. Patrick's Day. From 3-11 p.m. at Shreveport's Festival Plaza, you can pay homage to the luck of the Irish by enjoying food, drinks (yes, green beer) and music..

“He had worked it in years past. One day at lunch, he asked me if I would mind helping out. I said, ‘Sure.’ That was the extent of our conversation. That afternoon, he got a phone call that said he had been awarded another assignment to Key West (Florida).

On a lot of different people. In a lot of different places. “I’ve definitely been asked to do things that I’ve turned down,” Shore said. “I’m a pretty modest person. I have turned away things that just made me feel uncomfortable, or on people who have made me feel uncomfortable – as well as subject matter.

“There was definitely a burning – and a hunger – to do my own thing. What I would do would be so well-received at a Neal McCoy show. I was only his bass player, but I sang background vocals. I was up front with him. I was able to free-roam and do what I want.

Now 41, Balderas – make that Chef Balderas – has a little pocket change. He is the owner of two successful Shreveport restaurants – El Cabo Verde and Zuzul Coastal Cuisine. He has his own farm. He’s a member of the Shreveport Metropolitan Planning Commission.

But since 2008, Elkins – the owner of Pyromania Fireworks – has had what he calls another full-time job. Elkins has provided hundreds of thousands of people throughout the South with spectacular shows – often choreographed to music – which light up the sky.