Here’s who we’d invite if we could entertain this month’s most interesting visitors, locals, and newsmakers.

Kathryn Gustafson
The American Academy for Arts and Letters recognized Seattle’s greenest thumb for excellence in landscape architecture—that’s designing fountains and lawns, or maybe trimming topiary into animal shapes.

Michelle Bufano
With the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit tentatively set for a May 21 grand opening, the new ­executive director and local arts pro needs to remember just one thing: Don’t drop anything.

Jason Franey
After giving ­Canlis a swift kick into the twenty-first century, no one’s surprised the chef was nominated for a James Beard Award the hot minute he was eligible. By early May we should know if his beginner’s luck pans out.

Sue Bird
She’s trying for her third Olympic gold medal in London this summer, but first the Seattle Storm MVP must recover from a preseason ­broken nose—also her third. What a baller. (Season opener May 18)

Kathleen Flenniken
The state’s new poet laureate used to work as a civil engineer at former nuclear plant ­Hanford Reservation; in her new gig the possibility of a workplace meltdown is probably a lot less terrifying.

David Leck
Boston Seafood’s national oyster-shucking competition seems like a fast track to a bloodbath, but Taylor Shellfish’s master shucker won with all 10 ­fingers intact.