Meet Tom & Heather LaGarde

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The LaGarde family

Tom LaGarde was literally skating through his life after basketball stardom when he met his wife Heather. Tom played for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the mid 1970s, won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 and finished the decade in the NBA. He was running a program for at-risk kids in New York City that involved playing basketball while Rollerblading. Heather was in the crowd at one of these roller basketball games, their eyes met across the crowded court and they've been together ever since.

Heather, a filmmaker, grew up in Chapel Hill. On a visit back to the Tar Heel State the La Gardes fell in love with a farm a few miles from the old mill town of Saxapahaw, NC. They bought the place and moved down. They redeveloped the old mill, started a farmer's market and outdoor concert series and this Friday night, they will open the Haw River Ballroom, an elegantly rustic, three story music and events venue that can hold up to 700 people. Tom and Heather LaGarde join host Frank Stasio to talk about community building, music and basketball.