Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Episode 143 Terri Matthews - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

We can boast about having some incredible annual events in our community and this week we focus on one of them, Mudbug Madness. You can find my full discussion with Terri Matthews here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:25 1. Mudbug Madness is coming up. It will be held from May 23rd-May 25th this year. What will be the same about it this year as previous years and what will be different?
 
3:10 2. I am going to lean on you today for some history. Your involvement and commitment to Mudbug Madness are inspiring and deserve serious recognition. When and how did Mudbug Madness first get started? What is it today versus what was it when you first started being a part of it?
 
6:02 3. Because I have heard you talk some about it previously. Share some history of how festival plaza came to be.
 
7:50 4. You are Executive Director of Downtown Shreveport Unlimited (or DSU as many know it). You chiefly oversee four events. Tell me a little about the three others, in addition to Mudbug Madness.
 
9:08 5. You once said, “I believe we’re supposed to give back to our community. I love Shreveport. Yes, it has challenges. I face them every day. But, it’s where I’ve chosen to stay. If I’ve chosen that, I need to give back."
 
How do we get our young people to think like you do? Or the generations coming behind you to see this in the way that you see it?
 
11:57 6. DSU is housed in the Visit Shreveport-Bossier office building. I know Visit Shreveport-Bossier has done great work around trying to pinpoint the best way to brand us and find what our unique identity is as a community. Many cities similar-sized to us have large universities and/or sports teams that bring the community together. We probably will never have either of those things in Shreveport-Bossier. But we do have numerous great events like the ones that you oversee.
 
So all that to say, because I think about this all the time about the Y where I work. How do we take what happens during your events – the palpable community pride and everyone coming together - and make that more of a recurring part of our daily lives in Shreveport-Bossier?

Episode 142 Logan Sledge - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week is a reminder of yet another thing we are so lucky to have in our community - high quality theater. You can find my full discussion with Logan Sledge, Chair of the Theater Department at Centenary College, here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:32 1. You and I go way back. I believe I first met you in the summer of 1997. We’ve never talked about it I don’t think. But let’s start here today. Tell me how you first got into theater.
 
7:04 2. You moved back to Shreveport in 2008 after many years in California. You and I were out in California at the same time in fact. I know that Bob Buseick and Patrick McWilliams, two of Shreveport’s greatest theater legends, both of whom unfortunately are no longer with us, both had a profound effect on you.
 
Tell me a little about Bob and Patrick, what made each of them so good and tell me a thing or two or three that you learned from each of them.
 
16:11 3. You are the Chair of the Theater Department at Centenary College. Tell me what happens today in the theater department.
 
25:50 4. Last week I had Morgan Walker, the Executive Director of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, on the podcast and we talked about how to get new people to go to the symphony. When is the best time for someone who is new to theater to come to Marjorie Lyons to see a production?
 
39:22 5. Last week Morgan and I also talked about what our community would miss without the symphony. I know how lucky we are to have symphony, opera, ballet, community theater. In your opinion, what would Shreveport-Bossier miss if community theater ceased to exist?

Episode 141 Shreveport Rouxgaroux - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

It's a very special time for football in Shreveport-Bossier. You can find my full discussion with the Shreveport Rouxgaroux here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:28 1. Let’s just start with some of the basics.
 
Heather, you are the Fan Club Director for the Shreveport Rouxgaroux Roux Krewe and Chase you are the Center for the Shreveport Rouxgaroux. Heather, start by telling me a little about our newest pro team that we’re so excited to have. Where do you play in town? And when is your next local game?
 
2:21 2. I haven’t been to a game yet but I definitely plan to come. Chase, I’ve heard arena football described as a circus with a football game or as NFL meets hockey. I’ve heard you say, “Hopefully it will be so loud I can barely hear the quarterback tell me to snap the ball” and “Usually if you’re not scoring at least 50 points, you’re not doing your job right.”
 
Tell me what I’m going to experience when I come to a game.
 
5:14 3. It’s a special time for football in Shreveport-Bossier. We have Centenary bringing back football after more than 70 years of not having a team and in a little over a year we’ll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Independence Bowl. It’s such a wonderful opportunity to have a professional arena football team in our community. Heather, tell me about the Roux Krewe. And tell me some things that will help encourage families to come out and support the Shreveport Rouxgaroux.
 
7:08 4. Chase, I’ve heard you say, “I just really love to play football.” Tell me some about your football history. Where are you from and where all have you played? And how about the football history of some of your teammates?
 
10:10 5. I read about an arena football team in Wyoming. It’s a town of 37,000 that sells out a 5,000 seat arena every game. I also read, in preparing for today, that the Rouxgaorux contracts each of their players to do something in the community at least two times a week. And I heard that the Rouxgaroux players stay on the field after each game to meet kids and their fans.
 
So all that to say how can we make sure that this community adopts the Rouxgaroux as their team and ensures they are here for many, many years to come?

Episode 140 Morgan Walker - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week we highlight one of the many reasons we are so lucky to live here. You can find my full discussion with Morgan Walker, Executive Director of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:35 1. In the spring of last year you came to us from Paducah, Kentucky to take the reins as the Executive Director of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. Since 1948 Shreveport has been blessed to have a symphony. In fact, it’s the oldest continuously operating symphony in Louisiana.
 
We’re going to cover all kinds of aspects of the Shreveport Symphony today. But let’s start here. I know you do a lot of work with and in the schools. Tell me about some of this if you could.
 
2:55 2. Let’s talk some about your vision and initiatives. Tell me first about some of the things that will continue or stay the same with you at the helm?
 
3:41 3. And then let’s talk about some of the things that will be different or that are priorities for you to add or change.
 
5:37 4. What are the Symphony’s greatest challenges today and for those in our community listening, how can they best help you achieve your mission?
 
9:15 5. I once heard your great Music Director Michael Butterman say the following,
 
“We are all being rewired through our connectivity, through our devices and so on. We’re looking for the next ding, the next little stimulation. The idea of being multi-tasking and scattered is something that’s just kinda creeping into our very way of being. So that’s a challenge but it’s also an opportunity. What I mean by that is that more than ever I think people are looking for chances to kinda unplug. To transcend that kind of frantic pace. They might find it through prayer. They might find it through meditation. I suggest you can also find it through really losing yourself in great music like we play.”
 
You and I are a bit in a similar business. We are both selling quality of life enhancements to the community. How do you sell that to people when it’s not necessarily easy to quantify or demonstrate a ROI for?

Episode 139 Lindsi and Dany Martin - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week we are talking with one of our community's great couples who are filling gaps and doing hard things. You can find my full discussion with Lindsi and Dany Martin here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:34 1. Neither of you is from here yet both of you have contributed greatly to making our community better. Lindsi, for close to ten years you brought us the much beloved Well + Fed Louisiana restaurant. And Dany you are a Partner and Wealth Advisor at WFA, formerly Williams Financial Advisors.
 
Today I’m going to lean heavily on your perspective, because it’s so unique, and focus on some of the incredible things you’ve done beyond your professions.
 
Let’s start here today. Tell me a little about where both of you are from and who taught you this sense of caring about and service to your community.
 
4:06 2. All right, Lindsi, this one is for you. I have to ask because I am the Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana. Shreveport recently was rated the 6th most obese city in the United States in WalletHub’s 2025 rankings. As someone who owned and ran a vegan restaurant for nearly ten years, is Shreveport-Bossier becoming more health conscious? And, what are some things that we can do to continue to get listed lower in these national overweight and obesity rankings?
 
9:12 3. This podcast was created in response to what I saw as a growing sense of community apathy and low self-esteem. Both of you represent the exact opposite of that. As a couple who have done and continue to do so much for our community, what do you see as ways to get more people, like you, to focus more on WE than ME?
 
17:42 4. Dany, I heard you say in an interview that Lindsi describes the two of you and your community work as “gap fillers”. Share some of the story about how your family became bigger through your involvement with Common Ground.
 
30:20 5. Will each of you share a story of a preconception you had or a gap in understanding or awareness that you had that has changed since you became foster parents?

Episode 138 Jay Johnson - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week we talk with one of our community's largest and most important employers about how to keep more of our young people in town. You can find my full discussion with Jay Johnson of General Dynamics Information Technology here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:38 1. Jay, you are the Staff Vice President, Technology Shared Services, for General Dynamics Information Technology (or GDIT as many know it). GDIT is one of the largest and most important employers and companies that we have in our community.
 
Tell me about GDIT and some of the work that they do locally.
 
2:23 2. Tell me some about your position at GDIT and some of what it entails.
 
5:10 3. What can local parents do to ensure that their kids are properly prepared to have a career in STEM and/or cybersecurity?
 
15:45 4. Lastly, what do you see that we can do as a community to bolster your efforts at GDIT to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest?

Episode 137 Archer Frierson - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week we talk all about what it means to be a good steward of the land, and as an extension, of your community. You can find my fascinating discussion with Archer Frierson here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:42 1. Let’s start here today.
 
Your family came to Louisiana from South Carolina. Can you tell me about this?
 
7:19 2. Your family and you, for lack of a better phrase, had a front row seat for the Haynesville Shale. Talk to me some about this experience if you could.
 
14:48 3. You were an integral part of Centenary deciding to bring football back to the university. Take me behind the scenes of some of this process and decision.
 
21:44 4. The Independence Bowl has a special place for you and your family. Talk to me some about that.
 
24:45 5. First Presbyterian Church and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary also have special places for you and your family. Would you mind talking some about that?

Episode 136 Sylvia Goodman - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Ever wonder how huge additions to our community, like the Sci-Port Discovery Center and the Robinson Film Center, happen?  You can find my full discussion with Sylvia Goodman here.
 
1:34 1. Sci-Port Discovery Center
 
37:28 2. Robinson Film Center

Episode 135 Janet Miller - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

This week's episode is all about communication and collaboration. We look at one of our community's best examples of how to tackle some of our most complex issues - the way that CADA and numerous others are working together to reform the local crisis response system. You can find my full discussion with Janet Miller here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:36 1. In March of 2024, you were named the new executive director of the Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse (or CADA as most people know it).
 
Prior to CADA you worked for 25 years at the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling, 10 of those as the director.
 
CADA has been serving our community since 1958. In a little while, I want to talk about the CADA Mobile Response Team and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that you signed in November with the Shreveport Police Department as you work to reform the local crisis response system.
 
But let’s start just with some foundational knowledge. I know from preparing for today’s discussion and taking in all the information on your website that CADA offers a number of different programs. Talk to me about 2-3 of your key substance abuse services and programs.
 
3:38 2. Louisiana is one of the top ten states in the nation for opioid-related deaths. One in ten high school students admits to regularly using prescription opioids for non-medical purposes. More than 225,000 Louisiana residents admit to regular heavy drinking and around 6% of the Louisiana population abuses alcohol.
 
One of the major new initiatives CADA has implemented since your arrival has been its new Mobile Response Team. Tell me what this is and why it is such an important new addition to the services that CADA provides.
 
12:10 3. According to LSU Health Shreveport, in 2023 there were 299,939 emergency 911 calls in Caddo Parish. Each of these calls required a law enforcement or emergency medical services response. Many of these calls, however, did not involve criminal behavior or medical needs, placing a disproportionate burden on first responders.
 
Talk to me about this MOU that you signed with the Shreveport Police Department and how it will significantly improve our ability as a community to provide crisis response.
 
20:00 4. People in our community generally understand that we have a shortage of police officers and that jails are overcrowded. What a lot of people don’t know is that our emergency rooms are overcrowded too. As far as you know, is that accurate and talk to me about how the reforms CADA is part of making to our crisis response system will help relieve some of the burden our emergency rooms are facing?
 
29:33 5. What are CADA’s greatest challenges today and for those in our community listening, how can they best help you achieve your mission?

Episode 134 Maria Sermons - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

I love talking about the Hispanic community which has grown and contributed so much over the last few decades to our city. You can find my full discussion with Maria Sermons, Vice President of Total Yard Care and President of the Hispanic Heritage Association, here.
 
Here are the questions I asked:
 
0:32 1. Your father started Total Yard Care with only his children as employees and now it’s a successful company with more than 30 employees. Tell me about how the business got started and some of the services you offer today.
 
10:06 2. You have been an integral and active part of our local Hispanic community. Your family are a bit of Mexican pioneers in this area. Talk to me about how you have seen the local Hispanic community evolve and change over the years?
 
15:32 3. What are some steps you feel could be taken to further integrate the Hispanic community into the greater Shreveport-Bossier community?
 
22:00 4. As you look out at our community in general, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
26:03 5. What gives you hope that our community as a whole is headed in a positive direction?