Good Morning, Along the River – Kevin Chiri

There is a growing organization in LaPlace that is proving to be pretty beneficial to local businesses.

I attended a meeting this week of Business Network International (BNI), held at “Smitty’s,” which many of you probably know as the “Come Back Inn.” Smitty’s is the new name of the same spot.

At the meeting, I watched as nearly 30 business people from the area helped each other get contacts and referrals.

The organization is not just a civic group to help the community, but quite simply, a compilation of individuals who are there to get a boost to their own business.

Part of the meeting consists of handing out referrals to any others in the group, obtained from business contacts of your own during the week.

And believe me, the theory behind the organization works.

A financial report indicated that the previous week’s referrals had provided thousands of dollars of business, on average, for club members.

I was invited to the meeting by Laura Anthony of Time Warner. Many of you may know her from her days as the Advertising Department Director here at L’Observateur.

Of course my luck was that someone as talented as Laura got a better offer about two weeks before I showed up!

But talking to her at the club made it pretty clear why she was successful both for us, and for Time Warner, since she is one of the friendliest, most personable people I have met in LaPlace.

Annette Ray, assistant director for the local chapter of BNI, told the group that statistics show that any visitor who is brought to a club meeting can provide as many as 250 contacts for business men or women.

One of the funnier moments at the meeting was the portion when each member is allowed 60 seconds to stand and give a pitch for the week. Each pitch is usually followed by some kind of slogan.

How about this one from Dr. Charles Watkins, a local chiropractor from Watkins Family Chiropractic.

“Come see me at Watkins Chiropractic, where back talk is always allowed.”

Kent Lomax, fleet manager for Rainbow Chevrolet, reminded everyone that “if it moves, I sell it.”

If you are interested in getting involved in this group, call Laura at 652-6951.

Talk about a small world!

Shortly after arriving on the scene here in LaPlace, I got a letter from a gentleman named Jack S. Snowdy, emeritus managing director for the St. John Theatre.

Besides some background on the theatre, which is extensive and goes back to 1974, I was told that his cousin is a woman named Gilda Casella Perkins.

He mentioned that she once worked for a paper in Slidell.

Gilda was one of my longtime colleagues at the Slidell Sentry-News, where I spent almost 30 years before coming to this new position in LaPlace.

She was not only one of my best friends, but one of the best known individuals in Slidell as a longtime feature writer.

For your information Jack, Gilda finally retired a couple of years ago after threatening me with that for many, many years.

But she stays in touch since her husband John Perkins still works at the Sentry-News as the Entertainment Editor.

John Perkins may be remembered by some of you…let me say this carefully…old-timers, as a member of the group “The Crew Cuts,” which had a number one hit single called “Sh-Boom” many years ago.

John, now in his 70s, still delights everyone in Slidell singing at fairs, church gatherings and even recently as part of a PBS special on some of the groups of old.

I understand that feature with the Crew Cuts is supposed to run sometime in August on national television.

But anyway, thanks Jack for the note. And yes, I do believe I know Gilda pretty well.

KEVIN CHIRI is Editor and Publisher of L’Observateur. He can be reached at kchiri@bellsouth.net or 652-9545.