Each Wednesday, L’Observateur recognizes individuals and businesses in the River Parishes who have gone “above and beyond” in their efforts to make this a better place to live, work, play and raise a family.

We believe an integral part of a community’s wellbeing is an attitude and arena where people who do good things … who work to improve life for others … who try to make a difference … are recognized and saluted.

This week we salute:

• Retired Grambling State University Mathematician Dr. Lawrence Woodward for his enlightening speech during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally at the Percy Hebert Building in St. John the Baptist Parish. Woodward spoke of more engaged parenting and asked for more respect from the youth of the area to their elders.

• Jamar Pierre, an Edgard native and professional artist who assisted students at West St. John High School in creating a hallway-sized mural for the school. The mural, titled “All that Jazz and more…” was created by students in the school’s visually talented art program.

• LaPlace resident Jordan Dorsey for wowing the judges during his audition for the Fox network’s American Idol competition. Dorsey, a piano and vocal teacher in the area, sand a smooth Jazz rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that gave judge Jennifer Lopez “goosebumps on top of goosebumps.”

• St. John the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom

and Judge Sterling Snowdy for their work as a “Featured Servers” at New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood Co. in LaPlace. The pair helped to raise money for the St. John Theatre in Reserve in an effort to create a more visible presence in the community.