Taylor Swift performs at Blue Cross Blue Shield in 2006 | Entertainment/Life

Encounters with someone on the path to superstardom leave a lasting impression.

In 2006, when Taylor Swift was 16, she made her way to Baton Rouge and helped deliver pizza as a prize to a conference room full of Blue Cross Blue Shield employees.

The now almost unbelievable series of events occurred because Beth Ferguson, who worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield, called country radio station WYNK at the right time.

“What happened was that WYNK was hosting a St. Jude’s Telethon here in Baton Rouge,” Ferguson said. “And they had a competition for lunch for your office.”

The radio station announced that anyone who donated to St. Jude at a certain hour would be entered into a drawing. Ferguson donated and later received a call from Sam McGuire to tell her she had won the luncheon for her office.

Ferguson explained that she has a large office. WYNK said that was cool, the more the merrier.

Debbie Calkins, one of Ferguson’s colleagues at the time, ended up having pizza lunch that day in the summer of 2006.

“This has been a story at Blue Cross for years,” Calkins said. “Those of us who were there have our own memories.”

Calkins said there were about 15 to 20 people there.

Ferguson recalled it was closer to 40.

“Obviously when it happened we had no idea it would be memorable,” Calkins said. “WYNK shows up that day. They had already confirmed that we had won the pizza lunch. Then earlier, the day of, they said, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re sending a girl over with the pizza.’ She will play and sing a few songs on her guitar for all of you.”

Calkins said the radio station people showed up with the pizza, a teenager with a guitar and her mother.

“One thing I remember is that she wore the cutest boots. I say, ‘Sweet.’ “They were spectacular,” Ferguson said, adding that she thought the boots were red. “Her mother was sitting with us. Sam McGuire from the radio station was there along with people from the radio station. He was thrilled that we had so many people to listen to her.”

It bears repeating that between 15 and 40 people attended the pizza lunch/Impromptu concert – and that the radio station was thrilled with the turnout.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield people ate the pizza with their guests. Someone moved the tables, and then a young Swift sat in a corner, playing guitar and singing four songs.

Sitting and listening, Calkins couldn’t help but compare the blonde conference room artist to her own son, who is four months younger than Swift.

“I was very close. I thought, ‘Your 16 is a lot different than my son’s,'” Calkins said. “She and her mother drove to country radio stations that summer to see if the stations would play Taylor’s records. Taylor was serious about her music. If that’s what it took to get her music out, she and her mother were obligated to do it.”

Although both Calkins and Ferguson have closely followed Swift’s career since 2006, neither said they were part of the ticket rush required to attend the Eras concert, including upcoming concerts on the 25th, 26th and 2006 October 27, which will take place in New Orleans.

When Ferguson and Calkins think back to that summer day in the conference room, they remember the details. Calkins remembers the singer’s hands, for example.

“I remember looking at her hands and thinking, ‘Those are the hands of a musician. These are not manicured hands.’ “She wasn’t flashy or super made-up, certainly not very modest,” Calkins said.

Ferguson remembers her demeanor and how humble the young singer was. She recalls Swift’s mother sharing that the attention her daughter received in 2006 was overwhelming for the teenager.

And yet, with the eyes of the world on her for so many reasons over the past few years, the entertainer seems to have not only done well but thrived.

“I remember she kept thanking us,” Ferguson said. “She was so grateful that she could make her music and that people liked her. Her mother was sitting at the table with me and a few other people. We talked about Taylor. She said, ‘Taylor is just a simple girl. All of this attention to her is overwhelming.’”

After Swift sang, Calkins said the teen’s mother invited everyone to line up to sign 8-by-10-inch glossy photos for her.

“We didn’t want to seem ungrateful, so we all lined up and took photos for our kids or ourselves,” Calkins said. “I got two signed pictures for my sons.”

At least one of Calkin’s sons still has the signed photo, complete with her myspace.com URL address and contact information for Big Machine Records, the record label from which Swift famously split and which has since re-recorded songs for her fans she can buy it so she can buy the music and own it.

Ferguson remembers that the girl (who is now perhaps the biggest celebrity in the world) brought two guitars into the Blue Cross Blue Shield conference room that day.

“It was just her and her guitar,” Ferguson said. “The intimacy – about 40 people in the room. The fact that she’s become the superstar that she is because she’s a fucking superstar, to have that kind of experience with someone who’s a superstar now was incredible.”