Shreveport Magazine Issue 8

Cover by Kathryn Gaiennie

Redken 5th Ave Elite Salon

HAIR FOR EVERY FAMILY MOMENT

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Introduction Shreveport’s enduring wealth is all around us– an eclectic mosaic comprised of passionate people, intriguing places, and one-of-a-kind things. Whether it be the revered sights from under a canopy of our city’s most tremendous trees, the celebrated smells of fresh produce cold-pressed into delectable juice, or the joy-inspired sounds of children singing and dancing during story time at our neighborhood library, we ALL share in this wealth.

In This Issue 08

When The Stars Align: A Cosmic Look At Shreveport

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Seems Impossible: Shreveport’s Trees Face A Crisis

20

The New Southern Drawl

Shreveport Magazine hopes to continue its tradition of highlighting outstanding businesses, events, and individuals in our city. Our desire is to remain a platform for increased knowledge, while also supporting the many great things happening locally. We aim to be a tool for the movement of progress in this city.

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Well-Fed: An Egan Street Juicery & Cafe

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Breathing New Life Into The Barnwell Center

44

The Haynesville Shale’s Second Act

In these pages, we’ve asked local writers, photographers, and other talented individuals to share their in-depth perspectives on topics that matter to our town, shining a light on those who are working to shape the Shreveport legacy we all wish for our children. Through these local voices, we aim to inspire conversation across our community of active and engaged progressive-thinkers to keep Shreveport a wonderful place to call home.

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Shreve Memorial Library Presents: Miss Cookie & Mr. Adrian

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A Shreveportrait: Chef Hardette Harris

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Something In The Water

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A Final Funny: (WHODUNIT)???

We invite you to join us as we celebrate the kick-off of summer and all things positive & proud!

With love of community, Tara & Pete John

Team Publisher: Tara John Advertising Manager: Pete John Lead Designer: Zack Fink Designed By: Crawford Design Group

4 SUMMER 2017

Contributing Writers: Robert Trudeau, Angela Vinet, Davis Powell, Jessica Elston, R.J. Tangent, Rachel Stuard-Haas, Katy Larsen, Mandie Ebarb, Bill DeBaun Contributing Photographers: Kathryn Gaiennie, Robert Trudeau, Shannon Palmer, Gin Fernhill, M.C. Rollo, Hannah Spence

Subscribe for free at: shreveportmagazine.com Advertising: sales@shreveportmagazine.com Editorial: editor@shreveportmagazine.com

Things close to my heart : 1. My dog Leo 2. Fishing with my dad 3. My cardiologist right here in town When you list the stuff your heart loves, there’s always a little bit of home in each thing. So when it’s time to love your heart, put smart medicine and healing grace at the top of the list. Choose CHRISTUS Shreveport-Bossier and keep your heart close to home.

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So much more than a fun place.

Haley achieved her result with Damon brackets at CSO.

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When The Stars Align A Cosmic Look At Shreveport Written & Paintings by Rachel Stuart-Haas

L

ike you and me, a city has its very own astrology chart—a map of the sky at the exact time of “birth”. Of course, as it takes years and many events to establish an actual town, we look at something more formal to lock in its real birthdate, the day of incorporation.

For Shreveport, that day was March 20, 1839. Though finding the exact time of incorporation is insanely tricky (bonus points for anyone out there who can), we can indeed deduce and conclude. After some researching and asking a lot of questions, I have surmised that Shreveport was incorporated around 8:45 a.m. The city named after a steam boat captain surely has the planet of water (Neptune) in the very public 10th house high in the astrological chart. And don’t tell me a town who had a flourishing red lights district back in the day, and now a huge gambling draw doesn’t have aggressive Mars and fun-loving Jupiter in the 5th house of risky games. So, this means Shreveport has a Taurus Rising, slow and stubborn via change but also strong and beautiful (our Rose Gardens are indeed exquisite).

You can read the astrology of Shreveport just as you can someone’s own personal chart. In fact, the brilliant astrologer Carolyn Dodson has a whole book on the horoscopes of American Cities for those who are interested. So yes, we can actually glean all kinds of amazing clues and information about Shreveport and her future! Let’s dive in, shall we?

Based on the day of Shreveport’s incorporation, this town is a dreamy and mystical Pisces. Being a Pisces with a well-placed Neptune, our town can indeed thrive via art and music. The Moon in Shreveport’s Chart represents us—the very inhabitants of this city. It’s in chatty and curious Gemini, so we the people crave variety, knowledge, and communication. In fact, we are hungry for it! But the moon is harshly positioned against the planet Saturn, so there are restrictions. We at times feel blocked and frustrated, but there is a way out of this.

Shreveport has what is called a Grand Trine—a glorious and lucky aspect where three planets create a sort of triangle in the sky. It involves the Moon, Jupiter, and Neptune and is truly the best part of Shreveport’s Astrology Chart. And it is getting a massive activation in July.

8 SUMMER 2017

In July, Jupiter will return to its exact place at the time Shreveport was incorporated in 1839. This is called the Jupiter Return and it is a once in 12-year experience! The last time this occurred was in August of 2005, when Katrina occurred. So, what was in fact a terrible time for New Orleans was wonderful for Shreveport. Hello movie industry and a swell of people. Jupiter = expansion.

The exact dates of Shreveport’s Jupiter Return in 2017 are July 14th to 25th. This is a really wonderful time for our city. Venus, the planet of love and beauty will also be involved, so any chance you get to attend an art show or play, or even the opportunity to hear live music would be epic. The involvement of Venus will also impact romance so look for opportunities to start dating someone or romance your significant other. This is a fabulous time for Shreveport, so do take advantage!

Another significant time for Shreveport in July is the 22nd and 23rd, when a New Moon in Leo syncs with Shreveport’s Mercury—the planet that governs our city’s intellectual pursuits. This and the days around it, would be a great time to hit up your local library, Sci-Port, or Shreveport Water Works Museum (it’s free!). Any chance we get to expand our minds is greatly favored.

August is especially exciting as there is a Full Moon Eclipse on the 7th that pulls in Shreveport’s Grand Trine, that trifecta of planets that flow so well together. This date and the two weeks prior is one of the best times to tap into our cities imaginative side. Remember the Neptune, Jupiter, Moon combination is where Shreveport thrives, so this would be a great day to check out Norton, Artspace, or attend a movie at the Robinson. And Neptune rules water, so it should come as no surprise that Shreveport is getting its first Aquarium during this Eclipse season.

There will also be a Mercury Retrograde that begins August 13th until September 5th. A Retrograde time is when a planet slows down its orbit and appears as if it’s moving backwards (it’s really not). But it’s best not to rush through anything during this 3-week phase. Don’t sign anything important and don’t buy anything too expensive. It is better to wait until AFTER September 5th, when our heads will be much clearer!

The Mercury Retrograde is however a great time to get into a back to school mindset and get everything in tip-top shape. This is the time to clean out closets, desks, reorganize and reassess. It’s also one of the best times of the year to reevaluate diet and exercise and eliminate any bad habits.

Understanding what our city has to offer—in an astrological sense— can help us experience our town in the best possible way. Working with this energy instead of against it creates flow and ease instead of irritation and strife. This is not pure magic, obviously, but it sure seems like it is!

SHREVEPORTMAGAZINE.COM

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Seems Impossible

Shreveport’s Trees Face A Crisis Written & Photos by: Robert Trudeau

F

rom the well-known spreading oak at Slattery Blvd. and Highland Ave to the state champion sycamore on the Youree Drive side of A.C. Steere park, Shreveport’s tree inventory is rich. Oil and gas comes and goes, but the tall, wide and ubiquitous trees make this town rich year round.

Yet in Shreveport’s oldest and most tree-shaded neighborhoods, the whining machinery of the tree services are a commonplace sound.

Is there trouble in paradise? Are Shreveport’s trees entering an era of decline? Asked if Shreveport’s trees are in a crisis state, Donna Curtis, veteran head of Shreveport Green, says “Yes.” “The significant droughts of recent years, the disturbances in our weather patterns, those are a big stressor for trees,” she says.

“We miss so many rain storms—they seem to ride a climate bump over our city. And when we get a cats-and-dogs downpour our trees benefit very little.”

Arborist Vernon Gregory agrees with Curtis, “The summers of 2011 and 2012 gave us terrible droughts. And they were among the hottest seasons on record. That was devastating to our trees.” Gregory points out that trees respond to hard drought and heat in a delayed fashion.

“When trees are stressed during droughts, they are weakened. They become susceptible to disease. The diseases often begin and do their early damage inside the tree,” says the certified arborist. “It eats them from the inside.”

“Long-term damage from drought happens over a period of years and includes stunted growth, branch die-back, and possible death of the plant. Many woody plants can take up to three years after a drought to display negative long-term effects,” says Robert Childs.

Pest problems are another result of long-term drought. “Many pests, like wood borers and bark beetles, cannot survive in a healthy tree. As a tree or shrub becomes weakened from drought, these pests invade rapidly,” says Childs.

Construction and repair of infrastructure in Shreveport has been murderous to the city’s trees, according to Curtis. Recent excavation of yards to replace gas meters and underground gas lines has taken out trees both directly and indirectly. On picturesque Thora Blvd., which runs between Line Ave and Fairfield Ave adjacent to South Highland Elementary School, the construction-related death of a massive sweet gum tree led to the loss of 3 additional trees, observed Curtis. “Workmen were re-doing gas lines and their digging caused the death of the sweet gum. When that tree toppled, it upset and brought down 2 tall pines and a large magnolia,” noted Curtis.

12 SUMMER 2017

Augie Nagim exits the Caddo Parish Courthouse, 501 Texas St, under a notable stand of live oaks.

“Workmen need to be careful of trees,” reminds Curtis. Opening a number of smaller holes, she says, to access their below-ground lines and junctions might sometimes be as effective as opening a single giant cavity. Smaller holes may be less invasive of tree life. “At Shreveport Green we are always trying to educate people about trees,” she says.

Tree trimming by the electric power company has been damaging to Shreveport’s tree population. “I have spent a fortune re-doing my yard after the Swepco trimming,” says Curtis. Broadmoor resident Alice Normand was so enraged by Swepco’s tree-trimming that the Times did a story on her plight in June 2016. “We chose this house, bought this property 23 years ago, largely because of this oak tree,” she told Times reporter Lex Talamo. “It keeps the house cool, and it’s over 200 years old,” Normand said. “It’s a heritage tree.”

The power lines that nearly graze the top of her oak, though, have led to trimmings that she says amounts to butchery. According to Swepco’s Danny Salter, the work is “a routine procedure done for the safety of customers and to reduce power outages caused by trees.” Tree service contractors receive years of training, work under professional utility foresters and use modern arboriculture techniques during trimmings.

“We developed a program which takes tree health into consideration through proper pruning techniques, as well as reducing power outages and improving service reliability,” Salter wrote to customers.

Isabella and Jacqueline Van Savage kayak past the cypress trees that ring Cross Lake.

“SWEPCO is committed to balancing the importance of trees with the equally important need to provide reliable electricity to our customers.”

“When arborists trim the trees, they take the health of the tree into consideration. They follow guidelines,” Swepco’s Scott McCloud told The Times. “The side trim and V trim are for the health of the tree.

They’re using methods that have been approved.”

“We’ve got more problems ahead,” noted Broadmoor Neighborhood Association’s Rob Broussard in 2016. “The city is launching its infrastructure repairs, and that’s going to impact the trees,” Broussard said. “There’s the potential that Broadmoor will get a double hit, one from Swepco and one from the EPA.” “We need a city forester,” says Curtis, who remembers that in the 1980’s, Shreveport had two foresters. An ordinance protecting heritage trees has been on the city’s agenda, but alas, not enough votes for such a statute can been found. “The Home Builder’s Association has vigorously opposed it. It all came down to the dollar,” says Curtis.

When it comes to the dollar, trees are in the balance in several ways. Development of the Riverscape Apartment Homes on Clyde Fant Parkway is one of many examples, as the housing site was cleared of trees before construction began. Rain-driven run-off from the neighborhood will flow into nearby woods unimpeded by the trees that once stood on the site, points out Jon Soul, friend of the Coates Bluff Nature Trail. Why don’t homeowners simply plant new trees when they buy into such a bargain development? Hopefully, they will, but “older trees handle drought better,” says Curtis. “Newer trees are struggling to build a support system.”

While the developer may see clearing trees as a plus, the destruction of trees for housing impacts the city as well as the home buyers. Simply put, trees make people feel better. “Whether tree-lined streets or pocket parks, trees send the signal that businesses care, which ultimately helps businesses attract shoppers,” says a study noted by the American Nursery & Landscape Association. Curtis also pointed out that trees enhance property value, to the figure of 16% per well-placed tree.

Measuring respondents’ heart rates and brain waves indicates that “trees calm you. They offer relief from anxiety,” according to Shreveport Green. “The absence of trees is a burden that falls on the most vulnerable people,” notes Curtis. Impoverished neighborhoods are not typically flush with large trees.

One economic advantage of trees particularly germane to Shreveport is that “they’re like giant air conditioners,” says Curtis.

“They cool people and buildings in the summer. They moderate wind and cold air in the winter,” reminds Curtis.

LSU forestry professor Dr. Hallie Dozier was raised in Shreveport and knows that, “People are passionate about trees in Shreveport.” In 2009, 2010 and 2011 Dozier led bicycle tours (velo) that focused on local trees (dendro) called the Velo Dendro. Joined by co-organizer Matthew Linn and others, each October tour drew 75 to 100 riders.

Dozier said she was influenced by similar tours promoted by the Baton Rouge Advocates for Safe Streets.

Perhaps it is time to combine the city’s bike lane vibe and need to educate people about how to maintain the city’s trees. The Velo Dendros of 2009-2012 were run by volunteers and required little cash to produce. Might you or your organization want to consider sponsoring such a consciousness-raising family-oriented bicycle tour?

When asked on social media to tell Shreveport Magazine about their favorite tree some two hundred people responded. The “Slattery oak,” a landmark at the corner of Slattery Blvd and Highland Ave, was the most frequently-mentioned tree. Brett Malone said, “Would love to know the story behind the ‘Slattery tree’ near the corner of Highland.

It’s pretty magical looking. Suspect it has many memories from current and past residents.” Kylie Flowers wrote, “That’s my favorite tree in Shreveport. I just wish I could climb in it and read a book.”

Moon’s Tree Service has taken care of the Slattery oak since the mid-1960’s, according to Benjamin Moon. He says that the oak is about 100 years old. When speaking of the stunning spread of branches, he explained that, “It’s the nature of live oaks to occupy as much space as possible.” Mike and Jill Kantrow occupied the house while they were raising children. Jill remembers hearing that, “The person who built the two houses where the oak spreads received the seeds from someone

Mike Corbin and family enjoyed the shade afforded by a canopy of Live Oaks that virtually cover both the 800 and 900 blocks of McCormick.

SHREVEPORTMAGAZINE.COM

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(L-R) The Slattery Oak, corner of Highland Ave and Slattery Blvd, is some 100 years old, says tree specialist Ben Moon.

Students from Montessori School for Shreveport trek amidst the forested Coates Bluff Nature Trail.

who brought them from China.” Between sessions of climbing on their tree, the Kantrows watched others enjoy it. Kantrow remembers “a young man proposed to his girlfriend there. We all watched from the window with tears running down our cheeks.” Another story was when their “neighbors were selling their house, the sign read, ‘Tree for sale / house included.’” In the ice storm of 1972 a giant limb on the Slattery oak was broken by the ice. Moon’s father went to work.

“He wired the branch and pinned the limb into place. It worked.”

The state champion sycamore tree with its 19’ circumference and 102’ height—towers over the playing fields of A.C. Steere park. It, too, has a place in the hearts and memories of many Shreveporters. Rae Anne Scruggs said, “Caleb Phillips and I love the giant sycamore in A.C. Steere Park! That is where we got engaged.”

Ania Swiergiel, a native Shreveporter now in NYC, said, “I used to walk my dog at A.C. Steere Park every day for years, and it never failed to awe me. Some early mornings, before the neighborhood had even thought of waking up, there would be a fog hanging over the field, with the tree the only perfectly clear thing rising out of it like a skyscraper. That’s when you can really see it’s true size.”

Sycamores are a visually arresting tree and a common sight in the riparian (near a river) environment of Shreveport. Maria Schmelz noticed a concentration of them, “near Fern Ave & Ockley Dr., alongside Bayou Pierre.” She added, “I don’t know my trees, but they are two-toned and were just gorgeous this past fall.” The sycamore has a brown lower bark, and as the tree grows, the bark sloughs to the ground because it lacks the needed elasticity. The wood of the upper part of the tree is white. Kids can be taught to identify the sycamore by looking into the overstory of trees and finding the ones with a shining,

14 SUMMER 2017

white bark. Sycamores are among the tallest of local trees, as seen in the state champion tree at A.C. Steere park. One more identifier—their leaves look like a maple and are usually quite large.

Numerous respondents, such as Myron Griffing, cited the “McCormick Blvd. live oak canopy.” In the 800 and 900 blocks of McCormick—between Fairfield and Line Ave—is what may be Shreveport’s perfect boulevard photo op.

Between the Montessori School for Shreveport and Caddo Magnet HS is a tree-shrouded woods walk called the Coates Bluff Nature Trail.

Amidst the canopy made by willow, pecan and cottonwood trees is a tree whose middle has curved into a horizontal pedestal. “That is a bois d’arc tree,” explains Jon Soul. The bois d’arc, aka the Osage Orange, is a tree that was native to the Red River valley. Caddo people used the hard wood of the tree to make bows. “The name bois d’arc, or “bow-wood”, came from early French settlers who observed the wood being used for war clubs and bow-making by Native Americans.”

Shreveport also has a state champion Osage Orange tree (aka the Horse Apple) on University Dr. Magnolias thrust their boat-like leaves into the sky in every part of Shreveport. Margie Caplis commented that “the two most important trees to plant, if you have children, are mimosas and magnolias. Their branches grow close to the ground and are inviting for tree climbers.” Ben Moon adds, “magical things happen when people do not trim their lower branches.” Moon is like Caplis in encouraging youngsters to explore trees. One of the impressive magnolias of Broadmoor is “behind” the Regions Bank on Youree.

Susan Whitley Abney said, “There is a magnolia tree behind the bank on the corner of Albany and Youree. When my boys were young, we’d

drive down, park at the bank, then I’d let them climb the tree. It’s massive and perfect for climbing.”

Light color enters the green world of Broadmoor via golden gingkos when, as Alice Normand notes, “Albany Ave between Fern and Youree is sprinkled with ginkgoes.” Brad Campbell added, “I love the gingkoes in Broadmoor and Shreve Island.

They always go out with a bang!”

Tiffany Sandifer said, “My favorite are the cypress trees in Ford Park! No photos in hand, but absolutely beautiful.” Ford Park, at the edge of Cross Lake, is a virtual cypress sanctuary. Though at the mention of cypress many will immediately think of the tall cypress trees of Betty Virginia Park.

Those giant specimens have long been fed by the springs that lie beneath the park’s soil.

While the courthouse oaks are notable downtown trees, the best tree stand in the heart of Shreveport is historic Oakland Cemetery. A similar bank of historic trees in Broadmoor can be found at Querbes Golf Course. Kathryn Usher said, “The view from the veranda at Querbes Golf Clubhouse is spectacular. And the beverages are cold and the food is tasty.”

Why are crepe myrtles so common across the city? They suit the territory by blooming during the hot months, possess an appealing trunk and are generally suitable for warm climates. Surely the landscape de-

signer at LSUS saw a field of blooms when planning the colonnades of trees at the entrance. Jackie Day Whaley remembered, “I was a student at LSUS when they planted these crepe myrtles along the walkway.

They aren’t breathtaking or anything like that, but they definitely made a great spot for senior pictures!” The pruning of crepe myrtles is a powerful argument-starter in this city. Whaley said, “Although I don’t think they have been pruned properly over the years, I am so glad they are not cut back like some of the trees I see in town.”

Today crepe myrtles in the region are widely suffering a white scale infestation accompanied by black soot. It is treatable and not considered fatal.

Looking at up-lighted trees along Fairfield Ave and at the massive live oak in front of A.C. Steere Elementary School, one would like to agree with Dan T. Cooke, who commented, “I have thought about an idea to light trees in Shreveport with solar powered LED fiber optics to make a display that displays the architecture of the trees visible at night in an unobtrusive way.”

Planting trees also ought to be mentioned as a virtuous pursuit. One example came from Elizabeth Gallagher. “The cypress trees at the duck pond in Broadmoor were planted by my son, Travis Pulley, and his scout troop as his Eagle project—along with the city parks’ direction. They stand nice and tall to shade the area.”

Wednesday night pick-up Latino soccer match adjacent to the sycamore that bears the title of Louisiana State Champion Sycamore. It’s diameter is over 19’ and it is about 106’ in height, according to laforestry.com

Nanette & Poppy Kawanaka climb on the best-known Live Oak in their neighborhood. It’s brances spread across two lots at the corner of Highland Ave and Slattery Blvd.

Among the leading tree planting institutions of the city is the R.W. Norton Foundation. Lewis Norton’s landscaper is Ms. Kip Dehart. “We have planted 40 or so trees each year for the past 8 years. We have added oaks, maple, cypress, pistacia, ginkgo, and elm as well as some native pines,” noted Dehart. “Many were added to restore the canopy that has been damaged from the loss of so many trees. Some of these were planted to add fall color to the gardens.” Norton’s grounds are an example of the considerable effect of the droughts.

Amidst Norton’s 40 acres of gardens are several deceased and felled trees. “The fallen trees were left in place in areas where the walking traffic is low. The wildlife love them,” says Dehart.

Another way Norton has enhanced visitors’ views of the canopy is by hanging a set of wind chimes in the upper branches of a tree near the middle of the grounds. “The wind chimes were added several years back to add sound to the garden. It has been a great addition—people love to watch everyone trying to find them.”

From the avowed tree-hugger Dehart: “My tree wisdom? My advice is to replant the trees we have lost now. It will take a life time to replace them for the enjoyment of the next generation.”

Another nickname for Shreveport arrived in the barrage of social media replies: Treesport.

“When I was in elementary school, my also elementary-school-aged cousin from Mangham always said, “Treesport,” commented Fr Jonah Bruce. “I guess he was more aware than I gave him credit for.”

SHREVEPORTMAGAZINE.COM

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Bike, Foot, Or Convertible Robert Trudeau

Whether by bicycle or by foot

Line Ave. There you are less than a block from one of the town’s most

or even open top vehicle, this

picturesque curving streets, Thora Blvd. Shaded by oaks and unusually

tour of shady streets will take

tall pines, the s-shaped Thora lends itself to capturing downhill tele-

observers on an easy circuit of

photo lens shots of people on bikes, skate boards or motorized vehicles.

Shreveport’s most picturesque

From Thora, one can access the romantic 6-block Thornhill Ave.

trees. Parking at the circular drive

You can enter the avenue via the South Highlands Elementary School

in front of the RW Norton Art

campus. The South Highlands school parking lot, nestled amidst

Foundation is an ideal place to

towering pines, makes a good alternative beginning or pick-up spot

start.

for the tour.

The 40-acre grounds of the

Walkers and bicyclists on Thornhill typically take over the sides

Norton could constitute their

of the 6-block street. The sidewalks are serviceable but often lumpy

own individual tour. Norton land-

owing to the underlying tree roots. The first block—as you head in

scaper Kip Dehart says, “Most

the direction of Betty Virginia Park—has a fine canopy of live oaks.

of the canopy trees are White

This length of Thornhill offers views of well-manicured lawns and old-

Oak, Post Oak and Pine. Live oaks

growth trees. Don’t hesitate to take side blocks toward Line Ave or

line the street.” Be aware of a

Fairfield Ave to enjoy the tranquility provided by trees that may have

couple of items that make the

been planted in the 1920’s.

Norton unusual, the first being

If you go towards Fairfield Ave on Delaware St. you can make a

wind chimes ringing from a tall

loop that will take you to an enchanted nearby neighborhood. Lined

tree when the wind blows—good

with comfortable and historic houses, Delaware crosses Fairfield Ave

luck identifying the source tree.

and becomes even more appealing as it descends into the Glen Iris

There are also several dead trees

Blvd. valley. Huge oaks and magnolias shade the streets that meet

that have fallen to the ground

Glen Iris—see as much as you can of Erie St., Ontario and nearby

and have been allowed to stay

Baltimore St.

where they have fallen. “Wildlife When leaving the Norton, take Creswell Ave, the prin-

was once a lake, and the 23-acre site is fed by springs to this day—and that has enhanced the growth of its cyclopean cypress trees.

cipal street in front of the

Exiting the park on Ockley Drive leads one to one of Shreveport’s

Norton, which leads to adjacent

most sinuous streets, Gilbert Drive alongside Bayou Pierre. The bayou

Southfield Rd. A turn towards

was an alternative to the Red River when the Red was clogged by the

Line Ave will lead to Rhino Coffee

Great Raft. The crepe myrtles and sycamores alongside the bayou

and its tree-covered patio at 721

are long-lived and wondrous.

Continuing on Gilbert to meet Southfield Rd. will make a neat loop

Southfield Rd. at

back to the Norton. To finish the loop, the trekker must go up “Thrill

Rhino Coffee, you have the

Hill.” Lined with beautiful oaks and magnolias, Gilbert is beautiful

opportunity to backtrack a half

but this leg is not as easy as the tour has been thus far. It is a worthy

block to oak-covered Camellia

challenge, but an easier final hike would be to take Delaware to Line

Lane. Camellia bends left into

Ave. Use Line Ave to get back to Thora Blvd., which leads to the Norton

Azalea Dr and a 2-block uphill to

and your trail head.

After

16 SUMMER 2017

Returning to Fairfield Ave—or to low-traffic Thornhill—via Ontario will enable you to take a downhill slope to Betty Virginia Park. The park

love them,” say Dehart.

a

brief

stop

Shreveport’s Trail Of Trees From 745 Ockley to R.W. Norton Art Gallery

From 4747 Creswell Ave to 920 Thora Blvd

From 4501-4599 Thornhill Ave to 4100 Thornhill Ave

745 Ockley Dr.

4747 Creswell Ave

4501-4599 Thornhill Ave

745 Ockley Dr.

Rhino Coffee UTWN

4100 Thornhill Ave

920 Thora Blvd Betty Virginia Park Rhino Coffee Uptown R.W. Norton Art Gallery Uptown Walking Route Betty Virginia Park Walking Trail Fern/Ockley Walking Trail R.W. Norton Art Gallery Walking Trail

SHREVEPORTMAGAZINE.COM

17

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ow many people can say, and genuinely mean, ‘This beer changed my life?’” asks Great Raft Brewing co-founder and president Andrew Nations.

For Nations, that life changer was a lager: Downingtown, PA’s revered Prima Pils, and it set him and his wife, co-founder Lindsay Nations, on the path to opening their own brewery in Shreveport. Southern Drawl, the brewery’s pale lager and one of three flagship beers, was envisioned from the start and written into the business plan, and it has been the bestseller since Great Raft first fired up the brew kettle in 2013. Conventional wisdom urges us to “dance with the one who brought you” and advises “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but complacency has never been a feature of Great Raft’s founders or their team. That is why in May of 2017, Southern Drawl will change from a classic pale lager to a Pilsner with a Louisiana connection.

Beers, especially flagship beers, often reflect the values and tastes of their producers. The vision for Southern Drawl, Nations explains “was to create a crushable, all-German-ingredient lager as a bit of a revolt against ‘imperial aged [read:

20 SUMMER 2017

boozy] this and that.’ It’s our expression of, and emphasis on, subtlety of flavor versus intensity of flavor. The latter is much easier to achieve and not something we wanted for a flagship.” Hoppy pale lager is a thirst quenching fit for northwest Louisiana’s often brutal summers, but it also serves as an introduction to craft beer for an area and community that was without a local brewery until Great Raft solved that problem upon opening. “It’s a very approachable beer and the one we stress out about the most,” confesses Nations.

Why the anxiety over beer, which is supposed to help us unwind? “There really isn’t any room for deviation or poor brewing practices. There is nothing to hide behind here and consistency is paramount with any of our beers,” Nations explains. Bigger, bolder styles can more easily conceal imperfections, but in something brewed within a narrow set of parameters as Southern Drawl is, there isn’t a lot of forgiveness for mistakes.

Those parameters for Southern Drawl are German barley and wheat malt (that lend flavors of biscuit and cracker), Tettnanger and Perle hops (flowers that add floral and spicy notes; think pepper more than heat) fermented with a house

lager yeast that lends a crisp, clean profile to the 5.2 percent finished product.

“Our lager is brewed to be complex and flavorful,” says Nations. “The end goal is not to create a soulless watered down commodity brewed to be consumed 30 at a time. The challenge is to keep it simple but not too boring. We accomplish this with a fairly unique-to-thestyle dry hop addition.”

It is a tough decision to change a beer that is complex enough to satisfy aficionados but not intimidating for newcomers, but nature forced the Nations’ hand. It can be easy to forget

that beer is an agricultural product. “Like every other brewery, we are dependent on raw goods. When those raw goods change, we have to adapt,” says Nations. In this case, a poor 2015 European hop crop had consequences that trickled all the way to Louisiana in 2017. Not only was the yield of hops low, but those hops that were harvested had lower alpha acids, which are key to providing bitterness and balancing out the sweetness of sugars obtained from malts that are eaten by yeast and converted into alcohol.

Great Raft’s contracts were large enough to cover the decreased volume of hops but not also the decrease in alpha acids. As the brewery team started thinking about workarounds, they realized they had an opportunity to change things up.

First, they asked why there was nothing “Southern” about Southern Drawl. Second, they asked how the beer could be more sustainable. The answer to both queries came from something they had done in 2015, the same year whose poor hop crop raised the challenge in the first place. Great Raft collaborated on a chef-driven and charitable beer series, Provisions and Traditions. Chef Brian Landry of Restaurant Borgne in New Orleans challenged them to make a Kolsch featuring Cajun Country rice grown in Crowley, LA. Great Raft accepted the challenge and answered the call with the series’ first volume. Kolsch, a crisp, thirst-quenching German beer that is fermented warm like an ale but conditioned cold like a lager, was a perfect place to showcase rice, which lightens up beer’s color and creates a crisper mouthfeel.

“We loved the results and have had this idea in the back of our minds since the release.

Our employees often ask us to brew it again, so jumping back to this idea for our new pilsner seemed to be an obvious choice and one we all are excited for,” Nations says.

Rice is frequently villainized by beer fans who decry macrobrewers’ use of it in in their lagers. Craft breweries employ barley, wheat, and rye with far more frequency. “We have all been told as craft beer consumers that rice and adjuncts are fillers and big (bad) beer uses them to save a marginal dollar to pay for their multimillion dollar ad campaigns, some of which are used to attack craft beer,” says Great Raft’s Chief Brewer, Harvey Kenney. “What if we turned that philosophy on its head and made the rice in our beer regional, independent, small, and desirable in flavor? The last one is the hardest to believe, right? Big beer hides its rice flavor. We want to showcase it.”

Nations is not concerned about making the transition from the old Drawl to the new.

“The move from a Pale Lager to a Pilsner is not a huge leap,” he says. The similar flavor profile will hopefully retain current fans while also bringing on new ones. An additional hook for America’s hop-frenzied craft consumers? Dry-hopping with American varieties like the grapefruit-forward Cascade and fruity and floral Mosaic. “The goal is to create a delicate but hoppy nose without the typically associated bitterness,” says Nations, likely to the relief of those turned off by some hop-forward styles because of the bitter finish. “Most people like the aromatic qualities of hops but not the bitterness and often confuse the two.

This beer challenges that perception.”

Recipe tweaks and reformulations like this are fairly common among craft brewers, but any change to a flagship beer, let alone a brewery’s top seller, is significant. Nations says that being open and honest about the process and the logic are important to him and Lindsay. “It happens with a lot of breweries. Some change and are vocal about it. Some aren’t. We have always been a very transparent company and plan to continue that effort.” That said, he does not see the changes as so drastic that the Southern Drawl brand needs to retire with the old recipe. “We don’t have a big marketing department telling us about trends and what beers we need to brew,” Nations muses. “I get to make decisions about what tastes good first. We know that the Pilsner will be an improvement, and we think the current Southern Drawl loyalists will enjoy the Pilsner even more.”

Pilsner is a classic, historic style that conjures a specific image. Notably, that image features neither rice (Louisiana or otherwise) nor dry-hopping (American no less). Asked about whether he thinks that’s something he’s concerned about, Nations was frank about the new endeavor that his whole team is excited about. After all, this is the style of beer that changed his whole life. “This beer is not a brewed to style Pilsner. Who cares though? Putting beer into a stylistically perfect box is boring. Crushable hoppy lager is not.”

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An Egan Street Juicery & Cafe

now ranks highest in the nation for obesity, with an average obesity rate of 36.2%. This percentage is up from 22% only 17 years ago. It’s true our beignets, crawfish etouffee, and bourbon bread pudding also rank highest in the nation— in taste tests— but it’s our love for these fatty foods that have led to our high obesity rate. With obesity at epidemic proportions in Louisiana, one small, renovated house in Shreveport’s Highland neighborhood seeks to turn the tide.

While scrolling through Instagram a few weeks ago, one picture grabbed my attention—a quaint, blue cottage. It was a picture of the new building that houses Well+Fed La, a local juicing restaurant. I was familiar with Well+Fed La, as its owner Lindsi Martin and I got to know one another at the Shreveport Farmer’s Market two years ago. I had no idea that they had bought and renovated a building in Highland. The most interesting pictures on social media are the ones customers take on the newly built back deck. It’s a grand, beautiful wooden structure with plenty of tables and chairs, set next to a landscaped back yard. “The deck needed to be torn down. It was rotten, and we had to rebuild it. It’s a lot bigger than we originally planned,” said Ashley Everage, business partner to Lindsi. It’s good the back deck is large and welcoming, as it appears to be a big part of what draws crowds—a creative space to relax. Their recent story of success goes beyond juicing and beautiful, creative Instagram pictures.

This is a story of hard work, love for community, and a passion to see Shreveport become a healthy beacon of light in our state.

“Now, you’re not from here, right?” I asked Lindsi during a meeting a few weeks ago. She smiled, affirming my memory. Lindsi moved to Shreveport years ago to pursue a career as a Physical Therapy Assistant. “That didn’t work out and I started working at Fit Nation.

That’s where I met Ashley,” she said. It turns out that we have the local health community to thank for helping Well+Fed La find their start in Shreveport. “At the end of workouts, Fit Nation started giving out samples of juices. Everyone thought the juice was good, so we decided to take a chance and start selling cold-pressed juice at the Shreveport Farmer’s Market 3 years ago.” The juices were well-received. “I don’t think we would have had the same measure of success even 5 years

ago. Shreveporters are becoming more health conscious. They’re more aware of what they’re eating,” said Ashley. Indeed, this seems to be the case, with local groups like Slow Food La popping up and more Farmer’s Markets all over the city. There seems to be a booming demand for fresh, local, and organic in the Shreveport-Bossier community.

Although I attend most of these Farmer’s Markets and try to eat healthy every night, the closest I’ve been to a juicing machine was when my best friend in college bought a juicer and went on an all juice diet. So, what exactly is juicing, and what are the benefits? Juicing follows a simple two-step process: grinding and pressure. First, the vegetables and fruits are put into a grinder. The grinder produces pulp which is then pushed through a strainer, and the high pressure extracts all the juice from the pulp, along with all vital nutrients.

Another healthy component to juicing is the cold-press process. Most juices are heated, which kills a lot of the healthy nutrients in fruits and vegetables. Through the cold-press process, each bottle of juice retains the maximum amount of nutrients. Without pasteurization, each juice has a shelf-life of 3 days, although this doesn’t seem to be a problem for a Well+Fed. When I arrived for the interview, not a single customer took their juice to go, but rather everyone quickly drank their juice. The drinks are tasty and healthy, and folks clearly want to drink them right away. “I think folks are most surprised when they hear how many vegetables we use throughout the day,” Lindsi said, “It’s not uncommon for us to go through 50 pounds of carrots in an hour. Each

This is a story of hard work, love for community, and passion to see Shreveport become a healthy beacon of light in our state

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drink has about 1 pound of carrots.” Here in Louisiana we pride ourselves on being connoisseurs of taste, so maybe instead of judging butter and grease for taste, we can judge strawberries and carrots too. When asked about their greatest success, they said it’s hearing people who don’t like vegetables say their juices are delicious, “We are helping people like fruits and vegetables.”

I’d like to say Well+Fed’s success comes from filling a “health void” here in Shreveport. We are sorely lacking in healthy food options, and, indeed, there is a market for this type of food. But if most folks liked eating healthy foods, we wouldn’t be the fattest state in the nation. No, Well+Fed’s success comes from our first love here in the bayou state—community. If there’s something we love more than powdered beignets, it’s talking with our neighbors or sharing beers and laughter with our friends. We are a talkative, motely group of folks. We are loud

and boisterous and exciting. We like to have a good time, which brings me back to that big deck. When Well+Fed built their giant back deck, they probably had no idea it would be such a vital part of their success, but I think the deck is precisely what gets people through the doors and drinking bottles of rose water and carrot lemon juice. Their beautifully renovated home in the heart of Highland conveys this message, “We’re here with you, Shreveport. We love your history. We love your homes and your architecture and your people. So we’ve renovated a home built in 1903. We did this for you, Shreveport, and we built you a giant back deck to come and congregate. Our doors are open. We welcome you.” So people come in droves, and they gladly drink bottles of fresh juice. And maybe it’ll be this combination of healthy foods and lively conversation that will kick-start Louisiana into creating the healthier culture we need.

TOP WELL+FED LA DRINKS 1. Rosewater 2. Kale Pineapple 3. Beet, Carrot, Apple, Lemon

TOP WELL+FED LA FOOD ITEMS 1. Avocado Toast 2. Smoothie Bowl with Homemade Granola

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If there’s something we love more than powdered beignets, it’s talking with our neighbors or sharing beers and laughter with our friends.

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Written by: Angela Vinet Photography by: Shannon Palmer

BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO THE BARNWELL CENTER

Local Talent is Building Shreveport Aquarium from the Ground Up

T

he sharp pang of hammers pounding away, slaps of wood stacks hitting the floor, and the sound of power tools buzzing in the air are all signs of progress here in Shreveport, Louisiana. Four people have taken their vision to offer a string of aquariums across America and broken ground in Downtown Shreveport, building their flagship aquarium along the shimmering waters of the tranquil Red River. These four individuals make up the Planet Aqua Group.

This group consists of four founding members with extensive resumes in the aquarium world, ranging from fishery science and biology to designing exhibits and working on several different continents in themed entertainment. This group has an impressive list of accomplishments and accolades and their goal is finally coming to fruition—to build an aquarium that will educate and inspire people to make a change in their own world. Seeing that we are all stewards of this planet, it’s exciting that these individuals have discovered the spark in our community to accomplish such a grand goal, all while embracing North Louisiana.

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Re-envisioning a beloved botanical treasure, The Barnwell Center, as the Shreveport Aquarium and making personal sacrifices to build their dream site, the team has invested time, money, and sweat equity while focusing all energies toward a summer opening.

Speaking with Jon Whitehead, Co-Founder and Visionary of Planet Aqua Group, one is instantly aware of his passion for the environment and all things aquatic. Scouring the country for sites since 2014, the team decided Shreveport was the perfect place to make the initial splash thanks to the demographics and beautiful building site at the Barnwell Center.

To determine the aquarium feasibility, the team first looked at distances from established aquariums and feeder markets. Drawing a 100-mile radius circle around the city, with no other aquarium close by, meant that Shreveport and surrounding areas would be able to support the tourism required to keep the aquarium operating.

With 2 million people living within a 100-mile radius of Shreveport-Bossier City, Shreveport checked the box for demographics. The next hurdle was to find a site—cue the deserted Barnwell Center and a meeting with the City of Shreveport’s Mayor, Ollie Tyler.

The Barnwell Center was deemed perfect for the job, and the rest is now history.

Transforming the Barnwell Center and its iconic 7,850 square foot plexiglass dome, part of the downtown waterfront image, truly keeps with the group’s mission and goal as environmentalists to recycle, re-use, and re-purpose. Once a horticulturist’s dream, even boasting a fragrance garden for visually impaired people, the Barnwell Center was treasured and well-loved during its time in Shreveport.

…Whitehead figures that there are easily close to 200 touches by the community from print and design to fabricating theme pieces and the physical construction of the site.

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Now in the process of being transformed into an educational experience for North Louisiana, the Barnwell Center has been treated as the treasure we all have known. Jake Wood, Marketing Director for Shreveport Aquarium, discussed how the group is making thoughtful nods to the Barnwell Center at every opportunity. Recognizing the significance of this building for many people in all stages of life he said, “We want this to be more than just an aquarium being built for Shreveport. It’s a place where all of Shreveport can come together, eat, learn, laugh, and truly be a part of something special.” Recognizing that without the Barnwell Center, Shreveport Aquarium would be a totally different concept, Woods said the group is re-purposing and salvaging as much as possible since the history is something not to be discarded.

Once the agreements were signed, Planet Aqua Group was ready to embed itself in the community and find local talent to design the aquarium and create reality. Finding hidden talents and buried treasures in Northwest Louisiana, Jon Whitehead said that 90% or more of the aquarium will be completed from start to finish by local talent, vendors, and contractors.

Once Planet Aqua Group looked past the lacking incentives offered by other states to firmly decide upon Shreveport, Whitehead saw a depth to the city of more than just financials. He discovered an incredible amount of resources in Northwest Louisiana that most don’t know exist. By the time the project is completed, Whitehead figures that there are easily close to 200 touches by the community from print and design to fabricating theme pieces and the physical construction of the site.

Many people have tread the Aquarium waters to get things moving in a positive direction with Jon Whitehead praising Shreveport’s Arlena Acree, Director of Economic Development and Film, as an invaluable and enthusiastic champion who has moved mountains and navigated difficulties.

Considering the closest aquarium is in Dallas, Texas, at a quick 3-hour drive or head South to New Orleans, Louisiana, for a 5-hour jaunt—North Louisiana will be able to draw large crowds thus increasing our tourism.

Chris Jay, Public Relations Manager for the Shreveport/Bossier City Convention and Tourist Bureau was completely blown away after taking one of the hard hat tours offered by the Shreveport Aquarium. Jay was beyond impressed with the improvements and plans, but he found the LEED certification goal using recycled materials and finding efficient ways to conserve water and power as truly going the extra mile. “They are doing this the right way for environmental stewardship—it’s just impressive,” explained Jay. LEED certification is quite difficult to obtain, requiring dedication and commitment, as it is often costlier to recycle and re-use than it would be to purchase brand new. The first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accredited professional in our region and only local architect to secure a LEED Gold rating for a building in North Louisiana is Shreveport’s Kevin Bryan. As a future Green Building, Bryan said the Shreveport Aquarium has made the

commitment to use sustainable building practices, proving that the Planet Aqua Group is dedicated to protecting the environment in whatever small (or large) ways possible.

To prevent incredible amounts of construction waste being placed in landfills, Bryan explained that with just a little effort big waste can be curbed. Simply using the wrong materials such as the amount or type of insulation or perhaps by specifying the wrong type of lights or HVAC equipment can be a big waste of energy.

As Bryan pointed out, there are numerous, easy ways to conserve energy, avoid waste, and create environmentally responsible buildings with a little forethought before construction with a LEED accredited architect.

Serving primarily on the building renovation design team and having been involved in all three phases of this project, Kevin Bryan and his team are helping to make sure the aquarium’s sets, exhibits, and aquarium tanks work within the existing building as well as with all of its new or existing building systems. Designing the underground process piping, above ground tank bases and the deep foundations for the very large aquarium tanks, the team has also redesigned

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“It only takes one small drop of water to create a ripple.”

and added to the existing restrooms making them fully handicap accessible to accommodate the anticipated number of visitors per day.

The team has also designed a new restaurant space called SALT, and are currently in the process of wrapping up the design of the new exhibit floor inside the Arboretum as well as the outdoor space in the rear courtyard—all eagerly anticipated spaces.

With Planet Aqua Group’s mission and dedication to the environment, they are putting their money where their mouth is by re-routing one or more of the existing roof drains to fill an underground cistern with rain water inside the Arboretum which will provide irrigation to new plant life inside this space. Even small ways of helping our planet will have an impact on business in the Aquarium with a ban on pre-packaged bottle water or Styrofoam cups during any meetings on site. One of Jon Whitehead’s many sayings, “The devil wears an overcoat and it’s made of Styrofoam,” stuck out in Bryan’s mind as truly practicing what he preaches, as these materials can take over 500 years to decompose in a landfill versus a paper cup which decomposes within weeks with the right conditions or be recycled.

Planet Aqua Group is also repurposing as much of the existing demolished material as possible by relocating and reusing existing millwork, making desks out of doors, and using former set props from the TV series Salem filmed in Shreveport. All of this material would have been bound for the landfill had the Shreveport Aquarium not used them. This was a win-win in terms of reusing and repurposing, said Brian, “speaking directly to the aquarium’s desire to protect not just the aquatic environment, but ALL of our environment.”

Local creative powerhouses, Jim Hayes and Bruce Allen of Jim & I - Design Collective, are an incredible dream team. Feeding off of each other’s creative flow, the two were approached by Jon Whitehead in the fall of 2016 to help bring the Shreveport Aquarium to life. Whitehead was shocked to discover Jim and Bruce, whom he called phenomenal with incredible talents and decades upon decades of experience.

Their business name Jim & I, a play on words for the astrological Gemini twins, suits them as they often act connected in thought when brainstorming and designing. While Bruce specializes in art and materials, along with welding and fabricating, Jim engineers, builds, and creates mechanical drawings to use—designing conceptually together. Their projects are created with each building upon the other’s ideas which produces ideas that are nothing short of beautiful.

In their design studio, there is an entire wall dedicated to the aquarium, with picture upon picture of fishing villages and mangrove swamps surrounding sketched out plans of the aquarium layout to gaze and ponder upon. The two created a small-scale version of the aquarium out of materials on-hand to continue the theme of re-use and re-purpose. Bruce was able to repurpose tiny materials from other completed projects such as the rocks on the model actually being Willy Wonka candies from a candy store they did in L.A. Bruce and Jim are thrilled with the Shreveport Aquarium letting them have creative freedom for the designs, never knowing where inspiration will hit, but when it does the wow factor is off the charts.

The much-anticipated jellyfish light fixture created and crafted

by Eric Allen, President/Owner/Artist of Ed’s Emporium Stained

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Glass Studio in Bossier City will hang in the entrance of the aquarium.

The idea for this massive artwork all started with Eric Allen taking a slumped glass class, creating a jellyfish wind-chime, and Jim Hayes having to get one for his wife.

When Jim and Bruce realized one of the rooms in the aquarium is dedicated to jellyfish—they knew instantly a giant jelly fish chandelier would be an amazing piece of art work for the entrance.

The fixture has given Eric Allen the opportunity to showcase his talents, thus building new business for his parent’s shop, which he now runs. With many glass shops disappearing, a group was started to figure out how to survive in a world where glass work was fast becoming a lost art. Eric Allen joined the Retail Art Glass Studio group which is where he learned how to create the jellyfish wind chime.

Wanting the aquarium to be for people of all ages, Jim and Bruce have dreamed larger than life. Starting at the entrance, guests walk under a massive nod to the Barnwell center with artistic white salvaged panels lit as moon light hung from the ceiling. Guests will also be able to experience the giant jellyfish chandelier complete with tentacles and fairy lights to provide the visual component of the creature’s bioluminescence. Or perhaps imagine checking into the reception desk or visiting the kiosk made with seaweed sculptures and thick plexiglass colored like pristine ocean waters.

This is also where Steve Culp’s metal sculpture crafted from salvaged and repurposed Barnwell lettering will hang in a special place on the wall. All of these pieces are a fitting nod to the heritage that made the Aquarium possible.

When you enter the massive mangrove swamp in the Contact

36 SUMMER 2017

Cove, resting atop the sharks and rays, you will find a ray touch tank and giant Megalodon shark jaw protruding from the wall coupled with a hands-on shark tooth matching activity sponsored by a local dentist. Purchase fish food from the fishing shack and feel immersed in island culture with the fishing village set built on the walls. Visitors will also be able to peer through widows into the life support room which will feed all the tanks and serve as an interactive way to show how the water flows through the facility.

From here, guests will find the docks and submarine station with a bubble for children to get up close and personal with jellyfish. They can watch the grace and splendor of these lovely creatures without the threat of being stung. There are also plans for a 20-foot jellyfish touch tank and a large spider crab exhibit to get a closer look at what lies beneath the waves.

Within eyesight will be the diving bell, which will house a diving helmet with virtual reality goggles currently being designed by graduates of the local Digital Media Institute at InterTech alongside the institute’s Executive Director, John Miralles acting as Executive Producer. Having already completed an incredible three-dimensional digital aquarium sign welcoming those flying the friendly skies from Shreveport Regional Airport, these digital masters are now creating the virtual reality diving bell. Children will be able to take a voyage to the bottom of the sea in collaboration with the aquarium to offer the latest in animation technology.

Miralles was sure to point out that the Shreveport Aquarium is creating jobs in our community by using recent graduates from digital media programs at the Institute to work on the project with Miralles.

The Shreveport Aquarium will be offering 45 aquarium jobs and filling 18 positions in the uber chic SALT restaurant—on top of the jobs that have already been commissioned by Planet Aqua Group.

Traveling down the hall of the aquarium, one will find the sunken ship room created with re-purposed Salem set pieces such as the

SALT

wooden floor planks. The tanks will hold fish that divers would find on shipwrecks, even keeping concrete cannonballs and cannons within its waters while an anchor rests partially in and out of the side of one of the tanks.

Building the room as a set that can be easily changed, Jim Hayes wanted it to be an easy transition, especially if they wanted to change up the room or repair an item if something gets broken. The key thoughts behind the design are durability, safety, and accessibility. Taking into account all limiting disabilities, Jim and Bruce have spoken with the Blind Center and Deaf Action Center.

One entire room will be devoted to our own local Sportsman Paradise, designed as Caddo Lake, and offering an overall aquatic view of our native aquatic animals. This room will double as an event space, available for private events. Party-goers will be able to rent single spaces or the entire facility, from the patio to the arboretum to classrooms. Jake Wood wants the Shreveport Aquarium to be the place for a fun night out or a Saturday walk-through with children—the sky is the limit.

The dynamic and multi-talented Jim and Bruce duo have stopped counting the hours they have put into the aquarium model with it being their main focus since January of this year, pointing to the creative process as keeping them on their toes.

The Touching Tomorrow exhibit will focus on teaching the young and old how people can avoid depletion of natural resources and maintain ecological balance, otherwise known as sustainability. For this exhibit, Bruce Allen has been tasked with projects such as building the large water bottle sized plastic shrimp from zip-ties and used plastic water bottles, continuing with the re-use philosophy preached by the Shreveport Aquarium. As head of Centenary College of Louisiana’s Art Department, Allen is able to hire students to help with the project thus creating yet more jobs from the aquarium.

One of the many genius ideas Bruce and Jim came up with for the

Touching Tomorrow exhibit room is exhibiting water hyacinth—the invasive water plant wreaking havoc on our very own waterways—to help visitors understand the plant. To properly portray the choking and blanketing affect this species has on our waterway, Bruce is creating water hyacinth out of plastic water bottles to blanket the ceiling and give the feel of what happens when it covers the water.

And yet, there is still more, with a seashore exhibit and tidal pool touch tanks, an ocean cave, and bioluminescent tank full of flashlight fish. At just about every nook and cranny, twist and turn there is something to interact with or become tranquilized watching.

Even the two classrooms will be used to teach environmental awareness to visiting children and youth, allowing visitors to learn the impact we as humans can have on our planet. Working with local teacher and conversationalist, Jon Soul and his Bayou to Bay program—children will learn about how sea life can be affected by

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our local actions. This program will focus on protecting our existing streams, rivers, and waterways as these bodies of water ultimately lead to the Gulf. Additionally, they are working with local schools to develop a curriculum, with the hope that their favorite Jacques Cousteau quote, “People protect what they love,” will be fostered and embraced as a passion in the children who visit.

Woods understands that some people will never be able to experience this sea life in its natural environment. With exhibits displaying animals found all over the world and in our own back yard, his wish is for guests of the aquarium to learn through interacting and discovery.

If building an enormous aquarium was not enough, Planet Aqua Group is ready to enjoy the fine local cuisine that will be offered at Shreveport’s newest restaurant, SALT. As the only restaurant in Shreveport to overlook the waters of the Red River, Shreveport’s newest restaurant is the type of place to see and be seen. SALT will be stylish, sophisticated and decorated with a bit of California flair.

SALT’s General Manager, Konstantin Plavnik’s enthusiasm for the new space is contagious–because everything they serve will be Louisiana made or grown. Introducing Louisiana to sustainable food, once again continuing the common theme from the aquarium, SALT will serve anything caught or farmed locally within the waterways and lands of Louisiana.

Wanting to foster a complete full circle, Plavnik will secure products that are indigenous to Louisiana, transforming them into a delicious dish which guests will be able to enjoy. The restaurant will then be able to purchase more locally grown foods—reinvesting in our farmers and standing firm with the Know Your Farmer movement, because to the SALT team, the farmers are the rock stars.

Table tents will showcase where the day’s food came from and they plan on hosting a get to know your farmer gathering once a month.

They want Shreveport to know where their food comes from, and are making every effort to support the goals of the aquarium through their food.

Behind the bar will be a wall of salt, literally, and not just any salt, but Himalayan Rock salt. Another large draw to SALT will be the oyster bar. Hand-crafted by Jim and Bruce with hand chiseled acrylic and stained to look like the ocean waters, the oyster bar will have six different varieties of oysters. Just to get an idea of the menu and mouthwatering deliciousness, Plavnik will serve charbroiled oysters drizzled in sake jalapeño butter and smoked gouda cheese with prosciutto chips. Look out Drago’s because there is a new oyster specialty in Louisiana.

To support local micro brews, breweries and wineries, SALT will showcase Louisiana made beverages by offering them on tap, in the bottle, or by the glass. For herbs, leafy greens and tomatoes,

“ANECA has a strong commitment to foster the business community in Northwest Louisiana, and the opportunity to help create local jobs coupled with bringing a must-see tourist destination to our area was a huge incentive for us.”

David Wodke, Director of Lending

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the restaurant team asked Michael Billings of Cotton Street Farms to supply their needs. As a relatively new hydroponic grower, this branch of farming has expanded from the Dixie Maze farmers to this new and exciting service. In the process of purchasing and moving to a building downtown, Cotton Street Farms will grow produce indoors using hydroponics with no herbicides, pesticides or fungicides needed due to the lack of dirt. Using a closed watering system, Billings will grow food vertically and deliver to door steps for free. In addition, they will be growing micro greens exclusively for SALT. At zero waste and 10 harvests a year, Billings will be able to grow the exact amount of produce he will sell—thus continuing the sustainability and environmental stewardship the Shreveport Aquarium is preaching.

As Adrea Gibbs, the Planet Aqua Group’s Managing Director said, “It only takes one small drop of water to create a ripple.” Let’s hope that the ripple they plan on making will enlighten the future generation of our area and those that visit will be the difference that is required to make changes for the betterment of the world. The ripple that the four founding members of Planet Aqua Group has had on our community will be felt for many years through their education outreach and quality employment now and down the road.

They looked past the lacking incentives to come to North Louisiana where other States offered so much more, and found a place where people will stand with them to get this off the ground. They found a place that is primed and ready to learn and embrace the ideals they hold so dear. They have found a place for their dream to call home— Shreveport, Louisiana.

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DAVID M. HOOPER Land Specialist/Forester/Certified Professional Landman United Country-Gibson Realty & Land Company david@arklatexlandsales.com 318.453.9101 • Bossier City, Louisiana www.ArkLaTexLandSales.com

By all accounts, Certified Professional Landman David M. Hooper, is truly living his dream. As an avid hunter, fisherman, and all around outdoorsman, the opportunity to spend his days outdoors connecting buyers and sellers with the perfect piece of land is frankly a dream come true.

After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Louisiana Tech University, David spent more than 10 years in the oil and gas land business, and forestry industries learning everything there is to know about land and its unique nuances before purchasing land himself in 2008. It was that experience that would ultimately lead him to shift gears and begin helping buyers and sellers.

“When it comes to land, I know exactly what we’re buying or selling. I’ve spent years learning how to accurately value properties, and I understand and can explain to clients the specific issues involved in land purchases,” he says. From educating buyers on easements, timberlands, and mineral rights, David’s extensive background in forestry and petroleum perfectly positioned him to succeed as a land agent, although he admits it still requires a lot of hard work.

“Real estate is a tough business. I work many hours, but in the end it’s very rewarding. There’s nothing stagnant about what I do.

I love working with people, and I love putting deals together. You could say I’m a bit of a deal junkie,” he laughs. “I enjoy negotiations, and pairing the right buyer with the right seller, but most of all, I love being outside exploring and showing land.”

As a lifelong resident of the Ark-La-Tex region, David is based in the Shreveport/Bossier City area and focuses his expertise on helping buyers and sellers in not only Louisiana but in East Texas and Arkansas as well. Not surprisingly, it is within these communities that he also focuses his community service efforts. As a father of two, he spends his spare time coaching tee-ball and serving in various volunteer and leadership roles including serving as the current president of the Red River Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA).

David is also a member of the Society of American Foresters, Louisiana Forestry Assocation, Ark-La-Tex Association of Professional Landmen, American Association for Petroleum Landmen, National Association of REALTORS® and Northwest Louisiana Association of REALTORS®. Additionally, he volunteers his time with the Dream

Hunt Foundation which he says holds a special place in his heart.

“Through the Dream Hunt Foundation, we take children and teens who have challenges on dream hunting and fishing trips,” he says.

“On our last trip we had more than 20 kids from around the south and as far as Pennsylvania. It’s a really special organization,” he says.

“If there is some way I can be involved in helping others and helping the community, I try not to turn those opportunities down.”

With experience as his foundation and integrity as his driving principle, David says that beyond his vast experience in land dealings, it is his dedication to honesty which has earned him the respect, referrals, and repeat business from clients. “I tend to shoot very straight. Being honest is the only way and the right way to conduct business,” he says.

As far as the future is concerned, David says that he intends to continue in land sales as there is truly no other career he’d rather have.

“I love what I do. It’s the perfect fit for me. I’ll be earning my broker’s license soon and plan to open a brick and mortar office here in the Shreveport/Bossier City area. What I’m most looking forward to is continuing to help others while continuing to invest in land myself.

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The Haynesville Shale’s Second Act Written By: J. Davis Powell Vice-President of the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO), Attorney at Davidson Summers, APLC in Shreveport, Louisiana

Andrew D. Martin Attorney at Davidson Summers, APLC in Shreveport, Louisiana

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A

long the bottoms of the Mississippi River channel, the churn of sand and sediment can be constant, endlessly shifting and sweeping it along with the current. In his book Rising Tide, John M. Barry quotes civil engineer John Eads who witnessed this tumult firsthand after (purposefully) sinking himself to the bottom of the river and thereafter comparing the shifting sands to a “dense snowstorm.” This storm continues to drift along the floor of the Mississippi River even today, while just above the surface, great barges carrying even more sand are headed to oil and gas basins across America. However, the owners of the onboard material would be quick to protest that their product is not just sand. No, this sand strives for the perfect denseness, size, and consistent “sphericity” to serve as one of the most sought-after ingredients in oil and gas completion operations. This is frac sand.

The Red River Parish Port sits along a quiet stretch of the river in Hanna, Louisiana, roughly 60 miles due south of Shreveport on Highway 1. The Port near Hanna receives multiple barges every week, each carrying many tons of frac sand. Seeing this great influx, one may worry that Hanna risks disappearing beneath it all; however, as fast as the barges arrive, the sand is then transported away to staging areas or directly to oil and gas drilling sites. The port at Hanna is but one of a number of ports in Northwest

Louisiana which have seen an increase in barge traffic related to frac sand as of late.

The largest port in our region, the Port of Caddo-Bossier located in South Shreveport along the Red River, has seen especially significant gains recently. “The amounts of frac sand received at the Port by both barge and rail showed a significant increase over the last four months of 2016” says Eric England, the Executive Port Director at Caddo-Bossier, “And those levels have continued thus far into the first quarter of 2017.”

A very simplified description of frac sand’s role in oil and gas drilling is that it serves as part of a mixture which is pumped at extremely high pressures into unconventional formations such as the Haynesville shale.

The mixture serves to fracture the rock in a targeted area downhole and the frac sand remains within the formation in order to prop the fractured channels open, allowing the production to flow into the well bore, or the actual hole that forms the well. Due to this role, frac sand is also referred to as “proppant.”

The shipping of frac sand into the Shreveport area is nothing new; however, this recent uptick in volume may tell us more about the changes in oil and gas well economics than it does about the actual number of wells being drilled. Currently, Northwest Louisiana is in the midst of a mild reawakening of drilling activity and the driving factors behind this resurgence could solidify the Haynesville shale as a perennial economic asset for our area.

THE HAYNESVILLE’S RAMP UP: We are nine years removed from the initial push to lease and drill the Haynesville shale in this area. Over that time, we have witnessed the frenzy of activity that accompanies the first few years of any oil and gas exploration prospect. However, the early drilling activity was as much a reflection of the oil companies’ contractual obligations to drill or lose their leases as it was about actual supply and demand economics.

The typical oil and gas leases with the mineral owner do not require the oil company to drill in most cases, but they do set out a limited window in which they may drill and produce the lease or lose their right to do so altogether. Customary lease terms allow the company about three years to take action, though some leases are longer and some are shorter. It is because of these time constraints that drilling activity in a prospective area balloons in the beginning as companies seek to lock their leases down into “held by production” status, meaning the lease will carry forward for as long as it continues in production.

In the Haynesville Shale, the leases’ use-it-or-lose-it ultimatum was even more pronounced than in most other areas due to extremely high amounts which were paid as up-front “bonus” money to acquire the lease rights. In essence, the companies were committed to a race against the clock to produce their Haynesville acreage quickly or they would be forced to write off truly staggering economic losses if and when those lease rights lapsed—so produce they did.

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH By 2011 and 2012, the majority of the Haynesville leases were secure within producing “units”, such that all the leases within a 1-square-mile range (the most common dimension of a Haynesville shale unit) were in “held by production” status. Without contractual obligations requiring a higher rig count, we could now see what the Haynesville Shale looked like when laid bare before the market. This exposure to supply and demand unfortunately coincided with a plunge

in natural gas prices. The price of gas fell from highs of over $10.00/mcf in 2008 to averages under $3.00/mcf in 2011—a splash of cold water in the faces of companies who had just invested a great deal in the play (shale formations) with the expectation that natural gas would remain a hot commodity. The price then continued declining, even falling below $2/mcf for a period in early 2012. These dismal prices upended the carefully-calculated business models of even the most sophisticated exploration companies. The rig count in the Haynesville reacted with a precipitous slide in 2011 and 2012.

It didn’t help the Haynesville’s economics that other shale plays throughout the country had just begun their own drilling frenzies to maintain new leases around this same time. Basins such as the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas and the Marcellus and Utica shales in the Northeast U.S. all had large areas of lease acquisition too. As in the Haynesville, the operators in these varied regions each drilled heavily to maintain their acreage during early exploration. Not all of this activity was in pursuit of natural gas, but the continued drilling had the net effect of increasing natural gas supplies and providing a short-term ceiling on the price of the Haynesville’s showcase product.

In these dog days, any new drilling in the Haynesville was isolated to targeted areas where companies still needed to meet contractual obligations, or in those rarified areas where impressive production returns allowed the economics to work out even at depressed prices.

Everywhere else, most companies reserved themselves to simply maintain their currently producing wells and temporarily shelved plans to further exploit the deep reserves of the Haynesville.

THE EVOLUTION: LONGER WELLS, LOWER COSTS, AND BETTER COMPLETIONS In 2011, the typical horizontal well extended almost the length of a production unit, save for a 330-foot “setback” area near the unit boundaries in which the operators were not allowed to complete their wells. It was in this year however that the Louisiana Office of

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Source: haynesvilleplay.com

Conservation first authorized the drilling of cross-unit laterals, sometimes termed “CULs.” The CULs were important to allow the operator to not only drill through, but also produce the setback areas which were previously off limits. On average, production of a unit’s setback area would unlock about 80 acres or one-eighth of the unit, which was previously being left unproduced. Encana Oil and Gas (USA) and SWEPI, LP drilled the first CUL in the Haynesville shale later that year, and it would not be long before other operators would follow suit with their own CUL program. Shreveport-based independent landman Skip Peel has always monitored the regulatory filings in the Haynesville for his clients and found that the CUL’s popularity grew very quickly. “Today the cross-unit lateral has gained great popularity in the Haynesville, and represents a large number of the Haynesville drilling permits”, says Peel.

The total length of the CULs in the Haynesville has varied. Some operators have sought only to extend their new wells through the former setback area and then just into the adjacent unit to also produce its setback area.

Other wells are drilled anywhere from a mile and half (producing a full unit and half of an adjacent unit), up to those producing two entire units and even beyond. Skip Peel says the current trend may be for the longer CULs, especially when a company’s drilling pattern permits it. “A number of operators are now able to push their lateral lengths to 10,000

46 SUMMER 2017

feet and beyond in certain areas” says Peel.

In addition to allowing the operator to reach previously closed-off resources, CULs also created tremendous economies of scale. Robert Clarke, the Research Director, Lower 48, of the research and consulting group Wood Mackenzie agrees that opening an exploration play up to extended laterals provides any immediate benefit. “Many drillers will tell you that the cheapest foot you will drill is very likely your next one”, says Clarke. It also hasn’t hurt that costs for rigs and well completion services have dropped as the recent decline in oil prices left the service companies with extra capacity. Clay Lightfoot, Wood Mackenzie’s top Haynesville Analyst has studied the recent Haynesville economics, and suggests that “cheaper services along with longer laterals in some cases has allowed companies to drill twice the well for similar costs to their original wells in the Haynesville.”

The CUL advantage was even more apparent upon Chesapeake’s announcement last August of the initial results of its CA 12&13-15-15 1H horizontal well in Caddo Parish. This well was drilled as a 10,000-foot lateral, essentially the length of two production units, with reported costs of around $9.8 million. The estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of the CA 12&13 was stated as possibly reaching 22-24 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas over the well’s life. For perspective, the average cost of a

single Haynesville well in 2008 and 2009 was around $10 million, with even the most hopeful well’s EUR falling in the 8-9 BCF range.

Of course, you don’t get a 20+ BCF well just by drilling longer wells. On an August 4, 2016, earnings conference call, Chesapeake CEO Doug Lawler stated that the CA 12&13 used over “30 million pounds of sand” and announced a plan to test future wells at “50 million pounds of sand” during completion.

On the call, Lawler coined a new catchword in the Haynesville as he explained Chesapeake’s ambitious new completion technology, calling it “proppant-geddon.”

Make no mistake, frac sand was big business even before the rally cry of “proppant-geddon.” The profit margin is such that mining companies within that industry have been quick to develop the sand’s source, process the product to the necessary specifications, then ship the sand thousands of miles to its sales point. I guess it is somewhat fascinating (if not humorous) that all of this commerce has been created by simply taking the ground from one place, moving it halfway across the country, where someone will then pay millions of dollars to shove it back into the earth. But it’s hard to argue with recent results, and currently the operators in the Haynesville shale have found sand to be a major component in unlocking value at lower commodity prices.

ENTER PRIVATE EQUITY: It is not complicated math: double the volume + similar well costs = higher returns.

These higher returns have attracted the attention of a number of private equity groups who have begun purchasing positions from former Haynesville operators or by simply purchasing those companies outright. Two early examples include Vine Oil & Gas’s 2014 acquisition of SWEPI, LP’s lease holdings in the Haynesville, and then Geosouthern Haynesville’s 2015 purchase of Encana Oil & Gas’s Haynesville interests. Both Vine and Geosouthern are ultimately backed by private equity.

More recently, we have seen the private-equity fueled Covey Park Energy step in and make multiple purchases of Haynesville assets. The first of these was a March 2016 acquisition of a portion of EP Energy’s Haynesville holdings. Still hungry,

Covey Park then acquired a sizable portion of Chesapeake Energy’s lease acreage in December 2016. With these two purchases, along with another purchase from EOG Resources in 2016, Covey Park has become the holder of one of the largest positions within the combined east Texas and Louisiana sides of the Haynesville Play.

Covey Park Energy was formed with funding provided by Denham Capital, a private equity firm with a focus on energy related assets.

It is important to note that private equity-backed companies have a distinct business model which can differ in many ways from that of a traditional public producer.

Robert Clarke with Wood Mackenzie finds that one main distinction is that “private equity sometimes places an emphasis on shorter-term investment time frames, rather than the patient approach that larger operating companies can showcase when their portfolio isn’t tied to just one asset.” However, a focus on the shorter term does promote more immediate exploration activity. Clarke suggests that “the influx of private players is a likely reason Haynesville activity accelerated throughout 2016.”

REVISED ESTIMATES: In April of this year, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) revised previous

reports created by the agency that dramatically increased their estimates of potential recoverable natural gas in the Haynesville area. The report was quite a nod in our region’s direction as the Haynesville formation (including the associated Bossier formation) was deemed the largest continuous natural gas assessment ever performed by the USGS. The newer completion techniques and longer well laterals played a large role in the USGS revision, which sought to identify the amount of product actually recoverable through exploration - a constantly moving target as technology advances.

LOOKING FORWARD: Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. —Nils Bohr The new completion technology resulting in increased recovery of natural gas is certainly hopeful for our region, but the gas from the Haynesville area is only as relevant as its own economics allow. Just as sand may be the bellwether of increased production, the increased production itself may be the canary in the coal mine for commodity prices.

Exploration companies have shown they can turn on the spigot very quickly in an established play. Along with the higher volumes of the newer wells, it would seem the supply side may be poised to dampen any short term

increases in the price for natural gas. Many experts have used the term “range bound” when describing commodity prices, meaning we are unlikely to see any sustained periodic spikes in natural gas prices like those in 2008 which drew the operators to the Haynesville.

“The days of natural gas prices over $6/Mcf may be gone for good” says Skip Peel.

Of course, the demand side for natural gas has reacted to the lower prices. Natural gas is utilized as a component in a number of industrial operations along the Gulf Coast such as the manufacture of ethylene, a key ingredient in plastics. There have also been multiple liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities constructed along the Gulf Coast, one such being Cheniere Energy’s export facility at Sabine Pass near Lake Charles, Louisiana. Cheniere initiated its first exports of LNG in early 2016. Similar facilities for the export of LNG are in the works, one of which is the “Driftwood” facility being developed

by Tellurian, Inc., which is also located near Lake Charles.

Although it is difficult to predict the future economic impact oil and gas exploration will have in our region, it appears more certain that the Haynesville shale will see continued development for years to come as it seeks to solidify itself as the premier natural gas play in America.

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Shreve Memorial Library Presents

Miss Cookie & Mr. Adrian Written by: Lulu May

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Photography by: Shannon Palmer

ibraries—most towns have them, and inside you will find ohso-many interesting things. But wait, what was that you hear— singing, instruments, contagious giggles—oh my, what luck, it’s story time at the Broadmoor Branch Library! With great thanks to a fabulous staff of librarians, our community of young families has the privilege of not only listening to great stories but truly interacting with all types of books.

Shreve Memorial Library has 22 libraries in Caddo Parish including the Mobile Library. There, you will find wonderfully helpful staff providing wonderfully helpful resources, and best of all it’s free. Not only is it in your neighborhood, it could even be the beginning of your electronic device detox! Way to throw a curveball, huh?!!! Even if you don’t have kids as an incentive to begin your challenge, let this be a moment of quiet consideration.

Now, on to two fantastic, amazing, knock-your-socks-off, get-up-anddance children’s librarians. They are beyond fun, friendly, talented, and engaging and they are getting kids of all ages interested in reading. Miss Cookie & Mr. Adrian are the real deal and they are on a mission—you have been warned. They leave a lasting impression on their audience, inspiring children to love their local library!

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WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A CHILDREN’S LIBRARIAN? MISS COOKIE: Since Kindergarten, all I have ever wanted to be was a librarian. I shared a birthday with the school librarian at Sunset Acres Elementary, and I always thought she was the coolest person who knew all the best books! So, for the love of books was my first reason, but in 11 years of working here, I would have to say the crazy, fun things we get to do for the community is why I want to make it my career.

MR. ADRIAN: To get rich. Slowly. Very Slowly.

WHAT IMPACT ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE? C: I want to keep libraries relevant! Community needs have changed drastically since we started and we should always be pursuing and meeting those needs. In the national landscape, I think Shreve Memorial is doing an excellent job staying updated, and I hope to

Shreve Memorial Library is dedicated to growing and maintaining young readers personally make everyone aware of the services we provide for free to every citizen.

That’s the great thing about libraries—they are for everyone!

A: I want people to know they have purpose.

And I want to help connect them to the resources and information they need in order to reach their goals.

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO INSPIRE YOUNG MINDS?

DO YOU HAVE ANY FUNNY MEMORIES OF KIDS SAYING THE “DARNEDEST THINGS” TO YOU? C: One of my favorite Field Trip groups comes to the library twice a month with around 70 toddlers. I always try to greet each kid at the door with a hello, wave, or high five. They are always lined up and so well behaved, saying “Hey, Miss Cookie!” But this one time, the last little boy in line casually greets me with “’Sup, lil’ Cookie.” Absolutely adorable!!

A: Anytime you ask a group of kids if they have a pet, there’s at least one who loves to tell about how they had a pet. But for “whatever reason,” they no longer do. It’s a story I often interrupt and the grown-ups in the room always laugh. Crisis averted. Storytime will go on.

C: Helping kids and teens find the right book for them is imperative for academic excellence! Literacy is the first and best skill students need in order to succeed. I have heard children tell me many times that they “hate reading.” This is a problem easily solved by finding the right book. Readers’ Advisory is one of my favorite duties and my team always works together to find options for each child to turn them into lifelong readers.

A: They are our future. If we fail our children, then we fail our future. If we want Shreveport and Caddo Parish to be successful, then we must give children the tools they need to be successful.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE KIDS SAY ABOUT YOU TO THEIR FAMILY, TEACHERS, OR FRIENDS AFTER A STORY TIME OR RELATED ACTIVITY? C: I always hope that my story time theme becomes a fixation and that they decide to explore that topic. For this reason, I try to incorporate Nonfiction into my story time more and more. With my teen group, I know they always talk about how much fun they have in programs, but I hope they also always feel safe and welcome in the library.

A: “I can’t wait for story time,” or “Is it story time today?” I just want them to be excited about coming back to the library.

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PLEASE RECOMMEND SOME FAVORITE SUMMERTIME BOOKS? C: Kate Beaton is one of my favorite picture book authors; she wrote “Princess and the Pony.” Her books are great for young children under age six. I always enjoyed bedtime stories where we read a chapter or two a night together; “Ollie’s Odyssey” and “The Guardians” book series by Bill Joyce are excellent for evening reading! And, I will forever recommend my favorite book from childhood, “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen. It’s a survival story about northern wilderness suitable for 5th grade or higher. For teens and adults, the summer is a great time for a thriller and my absolute favorite is the “Escape From Furnace” series by Alexander Gordon Smith.

It’s a dystopian book about an underground prison for teen offenders; scary but so good!

A: Three books: Bounce, Wiggle, and Stretch all by Doreen Cronin. Growing up, I was always the kid who could never stay still, so obviously, I loved summer vacation. These are some of my go-to books for story time when I want to get kids up and moving. They’re interactive and great for toddlers up to Kindergarten.

Your favorite places in Shreveport or close surrounding areas to read a book.

C: Without a doubt, downtown Shreveport! Any bench outside the Courthouse or Bon Temps patio if I want a coffee!

A: I love spending an afternoon with some nonfiction on or near the water. Ford Park, Richard Fleming Park, or a nice shady spot between Clyde Fant and The Red are my favorites.

Favorite place to Think/Create/Reenergize/Dream C: Downtown Shreveport is my favorite place to think and reenergize!

I love to bring my sketchbook to work out ideas for fashion design.

There’s just something relaxing about the white noise of traffic.

A: Outside. A nice shady spot in the woods or near the water always does the trick.

Favorite Quote C: “Much madness is divinest sense” by Emily Dickinson. I love this poem and the meaning behind feeling misunderstood but knowing what is right for you.

Do you have any special talents or hobbies that help you engage kids in your children’s programs?

A: “He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.” –John Milton

C: Being artistic is probably my best skill for programming! I love to draw, paint, and just create. I have worked on countless displays to promote books or programs and I love to make flannel boards for story telling. My favorite medium is cardboard; I love to build with it! When you come to the children’s department at Broadmoor, my giant 8.5-foot Lego mini-fig named LeRoy, the Lego Librarian, greets you. It took a lot of cardboard to make him!

As Dr. Seuss wrote, “The more that you read, the more things you’ll know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

A: I play quite a few musical instruments, which definitely come in handy when working with children. My ukulele is my trusty sidekick for pretty much every story time. I’m a big fan of Music Education and try to slip in some musical tidbits from time to time.

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Favorite City Street C: Texas Street or Marshall Street in Downtown Shreveport; I have a lot of nostalgic feelings for downtown in general. As a teen, I spent a lot of time at 516 Soundstage on Texas, but when I was homeless as a teen, I slept outside a lot of businesses on Marshall St. and am really grateful for the refuge and kindness I was shown.

A: Lakeshore Drive. I love the drive around Cross Lake. It’s a great thinkin’ route.

What attributes are needed to turn a dream into real success?

C: Perseverance! I know that my consistent hard work over the past 11 years is what led to me being promoted to my current position.

A: Determination: Life is tough sometimes so you have to be strong-willed. If you really want to turn your dreams into real success, you have to stop making excuses and simply give it your very best shot every day.

Community: As I said before, life is tough sometimes and there’s no need for us to go it alone. Find people who can help you; people who can share in your success and lend a hand in your failure.

What does our younger generation need to know to find their true calling?

C: Knowing what you like and are good at is important. It’s just as important to know what you don’t like and aren’t good at. While you may not always be able to avoid the things you don’t like, doing them for something you feel strongly about makes it easier. For me, I make a terrible salesman! While we give our services for free, I still have to “sell” kids and parents on certain books sometimes.

A: Sometimes, your calling doesn’t always look like you thought. There may be some changes in life that redirect your course a little. And that’s okay. Keep your dreams in mind, but don’t be afraid to accept change when it comes.

How do you define happiness and fulfillment?

C: Consider what gave you joy when you were younger. For me, it was being creative, and I have definitely used that skill to create new opportunities for myself in my job.

A: I think knowing that you’re doing something worthwhile and meaningful for someone is pretty fulfilling. I think happiness comes from having peace.

Do you have other advice to impart to the generation going into college or entering the work force?

How can Shreveport establish itself as a best southern place to work, play, and raise a family?

C: I would love for Downtown Shreveport to be totally revitalized!

A: Opportunity. Opportunity gives people choice. It’s an incredibly empowering thing when a person can freely choose for him/ herself. From schools and homes to jobs, let’s give people plenty of good options to choose from in Shreveport.

C: Head right out of the gate running! Being fresh and new to a job is an asset for you in any workplace. Use your enthusiasm to affect change when you see the opportunity, and explore how your job can grow to suit your workplace, customers, and your needs.

ADDENDUM

A: No matter what degree, certification, or career path you choose, you will have to put in effort. Even after the studies and the tests, you must put that knowledge to work. Don’t be lazy. Do everything to your very best.

Beginning this fall, every Caddo student will receive a Shreve Memorial Virtual Student Library Card; a perfect opportunity for CPSB, SML and other organizations to partner in support of children and literacy. The American Library Association and the White House worked together to support the ConnectED initiative. Basically, the goal of the initiative was to provide school children with access to the internet and other e-materials.

Yet, sometimes ‘physical’ books are still the best for homework and reading. SML wants to combine the best of both worlds with the Virtual Student Library Card.

Other Words of Wisdom that may POSITIVELY affect our community, especially those who are next to in line to make Shreveport a PROUD place to call home.

C: While I am inherently a loner who loves nothing more than to work diligently and independently, I have been recently enjoying the great benefits of networking. I think it’s very important that those who wish to affect change or be recognized for their unique skills get out to local events and meet new people.

A: Don’t give negativity any room. You keep doing what you do to make Shreveport the place you want it to be. This is our home. Let’s make it the very best that we can.

-John Tuggle SML Chief Operation Officer

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Straight from the red dirt and fresh waters of North Louisiana, we offer you our soul in a bowl.

C

hef Hardette Harris is a champion for North Louisiana cuisine. A personal chef with over 15 years of experience, Chef Harris is changing the way people experience the food of North Louisiana. As the creator of the official meal of North Louisiana, she goes above and beyond to educate and inspire both young and old about our local foods and how to make the most of what this area has to offer. Harris offers numerous services such as nutritional education and cooking classes for children, affordable meals and food services for seniors, and a multitude of culinary experiences for tourists and locals. Simple, healthy, low salt, low fat, low sugar meals and menus, as well as those learning to cook in one of her “Learn The Basics” cooking classes, are what her clients have most requested during her private career. Requests have even included preparing dishes for vegetarian and raw food diets. Chef Harris does prepare more complex dishes but likes to keep it clean and simple especially for those trying to change their eating habits as she introduces them to new foods and cooking techniques.

Most recently Chef Harris has started a Go Fund Me campaign to raise money for a kitchen and modest event space. “Having a place that offers meals and culinary experiences that celebrate North Louisiana cuisine will gives us the position we deserve in the culinary arena as well as attract visitors and tourists to the area,” she explains. The ability to work from her own kitchen/event space will make it possible for her to reach a larger audience and provide a more in depth experience for her classes and demonstrations. “There are just so many things I want to do, and things that I think I could do better if I had everything I needed in one place.”

Of particular importance to Harris are opportunities to teach children practical cooking skills. “Its exciting to pick vegetables from the garden with your children but it’s important for them to understand how these foods get from the garden to their plate,” she states. “I teach kids how to move around the kitchen, how to identify cooking utensils and how to cook and taste fresh vegetables. I want kids to be able to go to the farmer’s market and with their parents in the produce aisle at the grocery store and say, ‘Oh yeah, I want that. I remember eating that.’ That is how you grow a demand for our farmer’s markets and our small community gardens.”

Another exciting aspect of having an event space is the ability to share the regions’ rich culinary traditions with the rest of the world.

“When VIP’s, executives, and private groups from all over the globe call wanting to taste a few items from the official meal of North Louisiana that I created, I’ll be able to whip it up and serve them right

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away without advance notice,” says Harris. In 2015 it was Harris who worked with State Rep. Gene Reynolds to create the official state meal of North Louisiana, showcasing the area’s favorite local home cooked dishes. Items like fried chicken, barbeque, rice & gravy, black eyed peas, greens, corn bread, and peach cobbler are just a few of the foods that were chosen to be part of the meal. “The resolution was passed with 33 yeas and 0 nays, making it the second official meal in the entire United States,” she explains. “I would like to be able to have a dinner to thank those people and I need a place for that. Last year an “Us Up North” (celebrating North Louisiana cuisine) dinner for 10 prepared by myself was auctioned off at a fundraiser and went to the highest bidder for $4,000! I really am a cheerleader for our local

cuisine and I hope to share that excitement with people who visit and live in this region.”

Harris understands that not everyone has the financial means or the time to prepare healthy home cooked meals made with fresh, organic and locally grown ingredients and wants to help. “I want to focus on preparing meals that people can pick up and bring home.

It doesn’t have to be fancy but something you know that I have done right and well and is flavorful,” she stated. Meals like casseroles, turkey meatloaf and stuffed baked chicken would be available for individuals to pick up and bring home in order to take the burden off of busy families and individuals. She teaches her clients the way to a healthier lifestyle is to start small, “I tell people you don’t have to start thinking this is a whole new way of eating and selecting because that’s how people fail.”

Harris wants to see people take more pride in the amazing natural resources in this area. “I have these pecan trees in my backyard that are dropping just tons of pecans and like my dad says, that’s free food. Free food, right

here in our backyard,” she exclaims. “I also have a Mulberry tree in my front yard that I will pick from to make mulberry pies if I have the time or somebody suggested mulberry wine. I thought that was a great idea!” Chef Harris has worked closely with farms like Mahaffey Farms to find the freshest locally grown produce and meats. “I also really like Smithfield Farms, and Flowing Hills Dairy, but I get a lot of my ingredients from our local farmer’s markets. There is a lady named Kathy who I met at the farmer’s market who grows the absolute best cantaloupes and watermelons I have ever had.”

Chef Harris is looking forward to having a garden of her own that she will be able to grab fresh ingredients from for demonstrations and cooking classes. “Through my Go Fund Me fundraiser I will be able to do all these things and more. I can no longer make half attempts at my dreams or put them on hold all together. I have so many things I want to do for the Shreveport-Bossier area as well as the state. Your donation could make this happen.”

gofundme.com/ChefHDHarris

You can learn more about Chef Harris’ services and culinary experiences by visiting chefservicesinc.com & foodtourslouisiana.com

SHREVEPORTMAGAZINE.COM

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A Few Of Chef Harris’ Favorite Local Flavors Taylors Catering on Fridays when they have BBQ, The Levee for their ribs and cocktails and Eddie’s on Hearne Ave. for their stuffed shrimp....because it’s the old Pete Harris recipe stuffed shrimp. Taqueria Sin Frontera in Haughton. They have the hottest salsa I’ve had in a long time and I like hot! Also El Cabo Verde. The best margarita’s I’ve had since I’ve left Texas along with the best guacamole! Brings tears to my eyes.

“Us Up North” Mustard & Turnip Greens INGREDIENTS •

DIRECTIONS

4 lbs mustard/turnip greens

•

Cover smoked meats with water and boil until the neck bone is tender but not falling apart (about 45-50 min).

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Remove the thick part of the stem and roughly cut or tear the green leaves into 2 inch pieces.

¼ inch pieces

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Wash thoroughly in salt water and drain.

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1 med onion yellow chopped

•

•

4 cloves of garlic chopped

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2 T seasoned salt

Remove meats from water and set aside.

If desired, trim fat from the ham hocks and discard.

•

1 T garlic powder

•

•

1 tsp onion powder

Skim water for excess fat and add washed greens, onions and garlic.

•

S/P to taste

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Boil and cook greens for about 20 minutes, then add all meat, reduce heat and cook on low for 20 to 25 minutes to desired tenderness.

•

Add spices and adjust seasonings if necessary.

mix or 4 bunches fresh* •

1-2 large ham hocks smoked

•

3 med neck bones smoked

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4 ozs salt pork cut into

*If using collard greens, adjust total cooking time to 1 hr and 15 minutes

facebook.com/chefin

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facebook.com/usupnorth

@chefhdh

Learn more about North Louisiana’s official meal by visiting bit.ly/NorthLaOfficialMeal

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SHREVEPORT 5750 N. MARKET ST.

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Something In The wateR Written by: R.J. Tangent

S

hreveport has long been considered a hot-bed of musical talent.

From the glory days of the Louisiana Hayride (1948-1960) until now, some of the foremost musical talent in history has come through—and from—Shreveport, across all musical genres.

There are certainly numerous Shreveport-Bossier natives who have made their mark as songwriters in Nashville. In addition to native son Kix Brooks (of Brooks and Dunn), are Troy Verges (BMI Songwriter of the Year, 2002), Stan Paul Davis, Kenny Beard, and certainly Haughton native, Keith Stegall, who co-wrote mega-hits such as “We’re In This Love Together” for Al Jarreau before going on to serve as Producer for country superstar Alan Jackson, and co-writing some of the artist’s biggest hits.

One of the most successful Shreveport songwriters who has found fame in Nashville and beyond, is hit maker Michael Garvin. A Bossier native, Garvin moved to Nashville in 1977 and got work almost immediately as a studio guitarist. Hits as a songwriter soon followed and to date, he has been a writer on at least 23 number ones across the globe.

His biggest hits have been “Waiting for Tonight” by Jennifer Lopez (30 million copies and number one in several countries including America) and “Never Give Up On A Good Thing” by George Benson (30 million copies and, again, number one on a long list of countries including America). He also had much success in the Nashville country market.

Garvin moved back to Shreveport a few years ago for family matters and has continued to write hits for pop artists across the world and has had number ones in Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands and Germany. He often flies to foreign countries to write with the artists but occasionally hosts those writer/artists for extended sessions at his home in Shreveport.

After many years of playing guitar on sessions and writing hits for others, Garvin is now in the process of becoming an artist himself as a jazz guitarist. He has been writing and recording—in his home studio—a number of jazz instrumentals to release on his own CD with the first single to be “Vibe Taxi”. Since returning to Shreveport, Garvin

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Photography by: M.C. Rollo

has also performed occasionally, including dates at Noble Savage, the CORK Festival and, of course, The Shreveport House Concert series.

“The House Concerts are a fabulous venue and we are blessed to have them in our community. I have played there before and I look forward to playing there again,” Garvin said. Since its founding in November of 2004, the Shreveport House Concert Series, based at Fairfield Studios, has played a unique role in the Shreveport music scene.

Singer/songwriter/musician Alan Dyson was at the forefront of developing the so-called “writer nights” in the Shreveport market, initially at the late lamented Burning Spear. He then got involved with the “No Cover” series which was presented by Red River Radio, the local public radio station. Through that project, Dyson began a partnership with the late Dana McCommon, who owned the production facility Fairfield Studios.

“Dana approached me because he wanted to produce a musical series at his facility that he would record, edit and broadcast,” Dyson recalled. “He wanted it to be a ‘House Concert’ type presentation.”

The series, which became known as Shreveport House Concerts, kicked off in November of 2004 with the support of a loose group of dedicated volunteers. It also benefitted greatly from a tight relationship with Red River Radio, Shreveport’s priceless public broadcasting gem.

“We’ve had some remarkable singer songwriters come through like Nashville hit writer Gary Nicholson, who is a tremendous performer as well as writer,” Dyson said.

The House Concert stage has also hosted many other gifted writer/ performers including Darrell Scott and Earl “Bud” Lee (“Friends in Low Places”), as well as hometown boy made good James LeBlanc who was a writer on the Travis Tritt hit, “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde”. Other stand-out writer/performers have included Stacey Earle (Steve Earle’s sister), Laurie McClain and Americana treasure (and Shreveport native) Victoria Williams. They have also presented many stellar national touring acts such as the sensational all-girl blue

grassers Della Mae and the popular husband-wife duo, Birds of Chicago.

The consistency of the artists is what has made the Shreveport House Concerts such a draw over the years, so that even if the names are new to you, their work is probably familiar to you and you are ensured an entertaining performance.

The Shreveport House Concerts at their core are a “listening venue”, where there are no clinking glasses or bustling waitresses to disturb the audience. Patrons may, however, bring their own wine and beer. “I like to think of this as a dedicated listening room,” said Dyson who in addition to hosting the series has also performed there promoting his two CD releases “Skyscraper” (2002) and “Stray Dogs By the Highway” (2016), the latter a collaboration with poet David Love Lewis.

Rachel Stone of Stone’s Throw Catering usually provides ‘eats’ during the intermission. Food is provided as a part of the ticket price although additional contributions are encouraged and certainly welcomed. Since organizing as a 501(c) 3 non-profit in 2013, the concert sessions usually feature an opening act performing approximately 30 minutes, intermission and then the headliners. During intermission is when food is served and the artists come out in the lobby to meet and mingle and sell CDs and/or t-shirts and other merchandise. In addition to Stone’s Throw Catering, the Wyndham Garden Hotel must be mentioned for graciously providing rooms for most of the touring acts. As a general rule, doors open at 6 p.m. with the shows beginning at 7 p.m. The admission fee is usually $20.

In addition to the many outstanding touring acts that take the Shreveport House Concert stage, they occasionally host some top notch local talent as well. Among the popular home grown talent that has performed at the venue, are blues/roots guitar man Buddy Flett, Professor Pork Chop and the Dishes, and the late, great David Egan, founding member of the renowned A Train, member of Band of Gold and a prolific and successful songwriter as well. His loss is sorely felt by any true music lover. The Seratones with lead singer A.J. Haynes are recent signees to Fat Possum Records and they were recently on stage for a well-received concert at Fairfield Studios.

“This is a great cultural asset for the community. You get to actually hear the words to the songs. I particularly like hearing the stories that the artists tell,” said Buddy Flett.

Local favorites Dirtfoot have also brought their unique brand of music to the stage, a style which they dub: “gypsy-punk-country-grumble boogie”. They will be taking the stage again on Sunday, September

10. The line-up for this performance will include founding members Matt Hazelton (lead vocals, guitar) and J. Bratlie (banjo and backing vocal) along with John Hoffman (drums), Doug Dicharry (trombone, backing vocal, percussion) and Wayne Anderson (lead guitar, backing vocal). In the past, the band has raised the money to record and press their CDs through a Kick Starter campaign, the popular ‘crowd funding’ system. This time out, J. Bratlie says they will simply fund this release out of their own pockets.

Also coming soon will be former Shreveporter, now Nashvillian, Cole Vosbury. Cole came in fourth place in Season Five of the hit television competition, “The Voice”. Since that time, he has relocated to Nashville where he still tours as often as possible and co-writes with some of the biggest writers in Nashville. Amanda June will be performing on the bill with Vosbury. She is also a Nashville singer/ songwriter who met Cole through mutual friends. Cole Vosbury performs on Sunday, July 2.

A few months back, Shreveport House Concerts successfully held the first of many planned fund-raisers by presenting a performance of Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band. That concert was held at the Cliburn Auditorium at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum on Greenwood Road. Jazz drummer Blade is certainly one of the city’s greatest success stories. In addition to his solo outings and his work with the Fellowship Band, he has recorded and toured with an almost endless array of major artists including Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Chick Corea, Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan and Bob Dylan. He was awarded a Grammy in 2015 for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, and in April 2016, he performed at the White House for the International Jazz Day Global Concert. Brian Blade is one of Shreveport’s best kept secrets and said, “Shreveport House Concerts are a true treasure, an intimate sanctuary where people can experience the artists and their music with little distraction”.

Whatever genre of music you prefer, you should consider yourself fortunate to live in Shreveport where the opportunities to hear great music are plentiful. It certainly says something about Shreveport that talents like Michael Garvin and Brian Blade, either of whom could live anywhere, continue to call Shreveport home, support Shreveport House Concerts and find inspiration here for their art. There must be something in the water.

Look for upcoming concerts, fundraisers and other ways to participate in supporting the Shreveport House Concerts by going to shreveporthouseconcert.org or by calling (318)-670-3567.

SHREVEPORTMAGAZINE.COM

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A Final Funny: A (WHODUNIT) From Summer Art Camp

The heat was sweltering and I wiped the sweat off before walking into the room. I took a long deep breath that would have made Leonidas of the 300 proud. Even though I knew I was outnumbered, I felt I was ready. Then out of nowhere and everywhere they came, firing questions and statements like sharpened arrows. Each arrow tip was “Mr.______, Mr. _______, can I go to the bathroom, I’m hungry, I ate too much, can I get some water, I’m cold, I’m hot, do you have Kleenex, does mine look good, she said I did it wrong, I need an eraser, his is better.” The assault continued and lasted what felt like forever. Finally, the tides turned and I began to get the upper hand. Slowly things began to move along and surprisingly it was quiet—not even the sound of questions.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Reinforcements had arrived and it was time to leave. My heart rate returned to normal, however my tinnitus continued even as my breath was steadying. I quickly walked to my truck ready to go home and rest for tomorrow, when I would once again bravely face this challenge—same time, same place.

Reach out to us at shreveportmagazine.com or on Facebook @ Shreveport Magazine to guess the mystery writer.

Summer Issue: Things To Do July 2

Cole Vosbury & Amanda June

August 5

Ironfish Kids Triathlon

July 4

Independence Day Festival

August 18-20

Geek’d Con

Wed. thru July 26th

Stories of the Strings

August 20

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit

July 14-15

Red River Balloon Rally //LSUS

Saturdays from 7a-12p

Shreveport Farmers’ Market

Movies & Moonbeams: Arthur Christmas

Saturdays from 9a-1p

Bossier City Farmers’ Market

Shark Week

Sundays from 12a-4p

Benton Farmers’ Market

July 21

//Shreveport House Concert Series //Shreveport Riverfront //Artspace

//A.B. Palmer Recreation Park July 22-28

//Sci-Port Discovery Center

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//Cypress Black Bayou

//Shreveport Convention Center //Municipal Auditorium //101 Crockett Street //Pierre Bossier Mall

//495 Simpson Street

2578 Airline Dr. Bossier City

8690 Line Ave. Shreveport