2005 People to Watch

In 225’s inaugural People to Watch, we tasked you a staggering 50 people to watch.

Sure, in hindsight, that was a lot. But hey, we were new. The city was changing fast so we overreached.

Turns out plenty of our initial 50 didn’t disappoint, though.

Here’s a random sampling of what some of them did or didn’t do in 2006.

Justin Galatoire-Frey: Routine abdominal surgery nearly took the life of the man who runs Baton Rouge’s sister to the New Orleans landmark restaurant. Galatoire-Frey proved himself a fighter, surviving a spell in ICU and has returned to running the restaurant.

Seimone Augustus (left) led the Lady Tigers deep into the NCAA playoffs then was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft. She now plays for the Minnesota Lynx where she was named Rookie of the Year and was the second-highest scorer in the league.

In the year or so since he made our list of Ones to Watch, interior designer and HGTV personality Kenneth Brown (right) hasn’t disappointed. While the fourth season of his reDesign airs, Brown is taking some time to rebuild his private design practice and work on a series of interior design books. There’s another show in the works, and while he can’t give too much away right now, he promises it will tell “an interesting story, along with how a design comes together.”

Jeremy Johnson (left) stirred the cultural pot in Baton Rouge when he and some friends created Q, the Baton Rouge gay and lesbian film festival. In 2006 he moved to New York to work for Rosie O’Donnell’s charitable foundation, For All Kids.

Dave Remmetter (right) packed up and closed the old Chelsea’s Café to make room for new development near LSU. His new location under the Perkins Road overpass is by all measures a smashing success, where he keeps a steady flow of hot touring bands on stage and savory food on the tables.

Greg Phares of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and Baker Police Chief Sid Gautreaux both started campaigning for sheriff. An election is expected in 2007 to fill retired Sheriff Elmer Litchfield’s unexpired term.

We said Robert Wooley would find himself in the hot seat in 2006. So hot, in fact, he got out, resigning from his post as Insurance Commissioner. What followed was an ugly campaign to replace him, with Jim Donelon surviving the mud-bath and winning the election in November.