State Fair of Louisiana President and General Manager Chris Giordano remembers clearly when the dominos started to fall. It was March 11 of this year when the huge Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo abruptly closed just days after opening because of growing coronavirus concerns.

n the mid-2000s, Cassie Stone was a high-flying sales rep for Eli Lilly and Company. Her background as a registered nurse working with cardiac care patients served her well as she zoomed to the top of pharmaceutical and medical device sales for the multinational company.

In 1999, right on the cusp of Y2K, Logan Mansion co-owner Lisa Brutto was employed by the giant computer technology company Oracle. It was a hectic and crazy time for Oracle and all computer businesses.

andie Winchester spends the better part of many days covered in flour and loving it. Her work kneading dough and perfecting old cake recipes connects her to her mother and grandmother – both bakers of pies, fruit-filled turnovers, cinnamon rolls and...

The first time Stokes saw the repurposed former Sears Department Store was at a meeting at Rhino Coffee downtown. It reminded him of the upscale properties in Dallas and elsewhere, and when Chris and Walker-Alley & Associates got the listing to sell the Lofts buildings, he immediately determined he would market them heavily outside of Shreveport.

Edwin Edwards (of course) was governor of Louisiana, but in March 1988, he turned the office over to fresh-faced North Louisiana newcomer Buddy Roemer. 1988 was the year Microsoft released Windows 2.

A couple of years ago, a group of talented and creative souls were huddled around the DDA conference table playing a game of “who’s going to the bathroom first?” Katy Larsen of The Agora Borealis, Christine Bailey of Norsworthy Gallery, David Nelson...

to blow up the status quo, to force the reconsideration of long-held beliefs about community strengths and weaknesses, to put the myths of growth on display, and to encourage what has become a remarkable and overdue public dialogue about future planning.