JEANERETTE — As part of the month-long celebration of February as Black History Month, First Church of God in Christ honored the 2007 Influential Pacesetters during services conducted by Pastor James W. Proctor Sunday.

Honorees this year include Alida M. Alexander, church business administrator; Mr. and Mrs. Lionel Collins, entrepreneurs; Porsha Evans, radio hostess; Edie J. Harrison, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals; and Ernie “Big Cat” Ladd, former professional football player and member of the World Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame.

In addition to her duties at the church, Alexander also is employed as an administrative assistant/receptionist for New Iberia lawyer David Groner.

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She is married to Jeanerette Police Chief Mormon Alexander and has two children Derrell and Delicia Marks and four stepsons Damon, Moranda, Javoni and Terrell Alexander.

As the church business administrator, Alexander serves as the pastor’s secretary. She also teachers college-age Sunday School, serves as an usher, is a member of the Outreach Team and is secretary of records on the Franklin District Church of God in Christ.

She said her passion is “helping others in whatever capacity I can, especially young people of all ages.”

The Collinses are owners/operators of City Pharmacy and Home Medical in Jeanerette.

Lionel Collins, a lifelong resident of New Iberia, and Savitra A. Collins, a native of Loreauville, have been married for 21 years and are the parents of two daughter, Arielle Marie and Raquelle Marie Collins.

Lionel Collins is a 1972 graduate of New Iberia Senior High School and received a bachelor of music education from Southern University in 1976. He later returned to Southern to earn a master’s degree in administration and supervision. He has been employed with the Iberia Parish School Board for the past 30 years, serving as band director at Loreauville High for two years, Jeanerette Middle for 18 years, Anderson Middle for six years and currently as the elementary itinerant band director for five schools in the parish.

Savitra Collins is the pharmacist at City Pharmacy and Home Medical. She graduated with honors from Loreauville High School in 1977 and also from Xavier University’s College of Pharmacy in 1982.

A 25-year veteran pharmacist, she served as director of pharmacy at Dauterive Hospital for 17 years and as director of pharmacy at Iberia Medical Center for a year. The daughter of a “treateur” and sister to a pharmacist, Mrs. Collins says “pharmacy is in my blood.”

Evans has been a radio broadcaster for more than 30 years. She is a 1976 graduate of Grambling State University, where she also was crowned Grambling’s first Miss Cover Girl. Her radio career began in the 1970s in her hometown of Lake Charles, where she is honored every year during Black History Month as the first black radio announcer in the city.

Evans is news director and talk show host at KVOL 1330 AM. In addition, she serves as a case manager for Katrina Aid Today with Volunteers of America, and also hosts and produces a weekly television program for the Lafayette Housing Authority.

Harrison is a native of Jeanerette and has been married to Terry Harrison for the nearly 18 years. They are the parents of three daughters, Terrielle, Deeyanna and Ambrechel.

She is a member of Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Jeanerette, where she served as a religious education teacher, member of the finance committee and KPC Ladies Auxiliary Junior Daughters Counselor.

A 1982 graduate of Jeanerette Senior High, Harrison received her Master Municipal Clerk certification through the International Municipal Clerks’ Institute/LSU Continuing Education Program.

Formerly employed with the city of Jeanerette for 18 years, the past 13 as city clerk, Harrison recently accepted employment with the Louisiana Office of Family Support, where she serves as a social service analyst.

Ladd was drafted in 1961 by the San Diego Chargers, with whom he played in three AFL championship games, helping the Chargers win the American Football League title in 1963 as a member of the original “Fearsome Foursome.”

He spent the 1966 season playing for the Houston Oilers before moving, in 1967, to the Kansas City Chiefs and winning another AFL title.

Ladd started wrestling in 1961 as a publicity stunt when wrestlers there challenged him to a workout. Before long, however, he was a part-time competitor in Los Angeles during the football offseason.

He retired from wrestling in 1986 and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995.