New Miami Heat star Chris Bosh has some close family friends happy to have him in town

They’re breaking ground at The New Avenue “S” Church of Christ in Riviera Beach on Sunday, so services were bound to be upbeat.

Now, the joy just might bubble over.

Chris Bosh is joining the Miami Heat, and why a church in Palm Beach County would get caught up in it is a story rooted in one fifth-grader smiling at another many years ago.

In fact, without that story, there would be no Chris Bosh.

Shelia James, paralegal administrative assistant for the city of Riviera Beach, is a lifelong friend of Freida Bosh, Chris’ mother – so much so that she takes credit for introducing Bosh’s parents at a party. Along with sister Rita James, choir director at the church, Shelia also helped arrange for Bosh to make three appearances in the area, stressing to kids that excelling in both athletics and academics can indeed be cool.

Today, the James sisters think Bosh joining the Heat is cool, too.

“No! Really! Wow!” Shelia said when informed of the news early Wednesday afternoon. “It’s going to be great for the area. We’ll get to see him more.”

Rita: “Are you kidding me? Absolutely wonderful. I’ve been praying and praying a long time. Yes, sir.”

Shelia’s friendship with Freida Bosh began when she enrolled at Freida’s elementary school in Dayton, Ohio.

“I was the new kid on the block and walked in the classroom,” Shelia said.

“She was there, bright and shiny and saying, ‘Hey, how you doin’? Let’s be friends.’ And we’ve been friends ever since.”

They attended college together in Texas, attended church together and partied together. Shelia said she introduced Freida to her husband, Noel, at one such party on the hunch that they were “a good match.”

“As a result, we have Chris,” said Shelia, who served as a bridesmaid in the wedding and considers herself “like an aunt” to Chris.

There was a time when Rita pictured Bosh in the Heat’s red, white and black, but that dates back to when Bosh was entering the 2003 NBA Draft. She accompanied him to Miami for a pre-draft visit with the Heat and thought there was a match.

Except Toronto grabbed Bosh with the fourth overall pick, one spot before the Heat selected Dwyane Wade. But Bosh did come to South Florida, only it happened over three summers, when local children were encouraged to read by a pro athlete who not only went 40-0 his senior season of high school in Texas, but also maintained a 3.5 grade-point average.

“Speaking correctly and having good grades were things I got made fun of for, but some kids believe that doing the right thing is wrong,” Bosh said during his visit six years ago this week. “Often, what you don’t want to do is exactly what is good for you. I had to learn that.”

The day, called “Balling with Bosh,” included speeches by Chris and his mother, a basketball clinic and autograph signing. The next day, he joined the Jameses at their church, and later donated money to the church. The facility was destroyed by a hurricane later in 2004, but is about to be rebuilt, starting Sunday.

Bosh also was introduced to Floyd Andrews, a member of the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame who coached Derek Harper at North Shore High, back in 2004.

“It makes me very happy to see him come to this area and get with Dwyane Wade and the Heat,” Andrews said. “I know Heat fans, our fans, deserve that kind of combination. … That team, to me, could be as good as the (Lakers) team was with Kobe and Shaq.”

Cleveland’s LeBron James, the first pick in ’03, is scheduled to announce his intentions at 9 p.m. Thursday. That worries Andrews.

“If the three of them get together, I don’t know how I’m going to get some tickets to go down there,” he joked.

During an interview on ESPN, Wade and Bosh said details of their contracts hadn’t yet been completed. Rita James knows there’s one signing bonus not even Pat Riley could serve up, but James’ mother can.

“He enjoyed her sweet potato pies,” she said.