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

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.

Because this is a salute to members of the community of the entire River Parishes, we solicit your recommendations for groups or individuals to be considered for inclusion.

This week we salute:

• The staff at Edible Enterprises in St. Charles Parish, who are assisting dozens of local small business owners and entrepreneurs in getting an assortment of locally produced food products on store shelves. The food industry business incubator recently received a $50,000 from state agencies.

• St. John the Baptist parish government officials for their commitment to improving recreation for all ages. The parish recently opened the doors to a $2.2 million gymnasium at Regala Park in Reserve that will be used by various parish recreation teams and other community groups.

• The LaPlace Lions Club for their efforts to collect old eyeglasses for those individuals who cannot afford them or cannot access them. The group set up a collection box in front of the CVS Pharmacy on Airline Highway in LaPlace and has collected more than 5,000 pairs of glasses.

• Departing council members in both St. John and St. James Parishes, where final council meetings for 2011 were recently held. In St. John, Council members Haston Lewis, Charles Julien, Danny Millet, Ronnie Smith, Steve Lee

and Darnel Usry are leaving the board, while in St. James, council members Wilson Malbrough and Elwyn Bocz are leaving public service.