“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.

“Listen to your customers,” said Julian Holmes, who sold Holmes Hardware to Tubbs in 1979. “Don’t run your business from your office. Let your shoes be your office. You meet those customers up front. You have a want-list in your front pocket, and you find out what customers want, and you fill their needs.

At a horserace track. "It's a really big room," said Corbin, who designed the "Cinderella" section of this year's upcoming Christmas in the Sky event at Louisiana Downs. "I've had this room numerous times, so I'm very familiar with how big pieces have to be.

“Coach Francis was very demanding,” said Deans, who is in his fourth year as the head basketball coach at Captain Shreve High School. “He worked us hard. He told us if we could play for him, we could be successful at anything in life. That was the honest God’s truth.