225BatonRouge.com

I’ll take ‘The Hillary’

Holly Grace, a 29-year-old stylist at The Gallery, was chosen to style Sen. Hillary Clinton’s hair before her speech at the National Conference of Black Mayors last month. Grace says she was told to be at the Hilton Capitol Center at 7:15 a.m. with her gear, but she was so nervous she arrived a half hour early and waited with a dozen secret service agents. “I have scissors in there because I’m a stylist,” she told one. “That’s all right,” he replied. Grace says Clinton was extremely kind and talkative, asking her lots of questions about her husband and family. “All right, what are we going to do?” Clinton asked her. Grace says she had done Internet research the night before and knew exactly what would look best. “She was impressed by that, so she said ‘Do what you want,’” Grace says. “She made me feel comfortable because she was so comfortable, though her assistant was like a ball of nerves.” Grace finished in less than 30 minutes, and left with a great story to tell and a generous tip from the presidential candidate.

Is B.R. getting a new Buddy?

Word is the lease is up soon on bluesman Buddy Guy’s Legends club in Chicago. Mayor Holden ran into Guy (pictured) at the House of Blues recently and brought him to Baton Rouge where he performed with Tabby Thomas at FestForAll. Our sources tell us Holden is trying to convince Guy to open a new club in Baton Rouge.

Lame duck shoots turkey

Gov. Kathleen Blanco recently shot her first gobbler on a hunting trip in Livingston Parish. Blanco says her entire party was so elated the excursion ended early to celebrate her first turkey. “Pretty soon it’ll be in our fryer,” Blanco told a small group at the Governor’s Mansion. She also hinted, in a thinly veiled jab at Republicans who disagree with her policies, that she was now an expert at taking care of “turkeys.” Blanco’s 2-year-old bird had a 9-inch beard and 3/4-inch spur.

New discount carrier on standby

Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport director Anthony Marino says he wants to secure another discount carrier for the city before the end of the year. Word is AirTran is the prime candidate. But the airport is still in negotiations with various airlines and no announcements will be made until all the papers are signed. AirTran serves Boston, Denver, Little Rock and Nashville among other Central and Eastern cities.

Got a Whisper you want to share? E-mail editor@225batonrouge.com.