All Saints Day

I'm not a big Halloween freak, guess I don't have the imagination for it. Besides that, horror movies/costumes give me the heebee jeebees.

I do love the history that comes with All Saints Day, though. Living in the Bayou Liberty/Lacombe section of southeast Louisiana with its large population of creoles, All Saints Day is celebrated in quiet beauty.

DuBuisson Cemetery is a very old graveyard that dates back to the 1800's.


(photo courtesty of bonfouca.org)

Every All Saints Day, the graves are cleaned and small candles are lit right around dusk. Seeing this creates a most ethereal feeling. I haven't been there for several years and the last time I went I had to keep an eye on two young children who wanted to climb all over the graves. My daughter is now away at college and I'm thinking that perhaps hubby & I will visit Dubuisson Cemetery tomorrow evening and light a few candles.

an audio slide show on the lighting of the graves in Bayou LIberty



In the meantime, here's a couple of other links to the Bonfouca area

The Lee Galatas house and store on Bayou Liberty Road

Katrina's affect in this area

Bounfouca dot org website.


Bonfouca has many different pronounciations: "BON FOO KA" "BON FUCK A" "BONNA FOOKA". Take your choice. :)

A Rich Tradition

I'm not a big Halloween freak, guess I don't have the imagination for it. Besides that, horror movies/costumes give me the heebee jeebees.

I do love the history that comes with All Saints Day, though. Living in the Bayou Liberty/Lacombe section of southeast Louisiana with its large population of creoles, All Saints Day is celebrated in quiet beauty.

DuBuisson Cemetery (http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/sttammany/cemeteries/dubuiss.txt)is a very old graveyard that dates back to the 1800's.



Every All Saints Day, the graves are cleaned and small candles are lit right around dusk. Seeing this creates a most ethereal feeling. I haven't been there for several years and the last time I went I had to keep an eye on two young children who wanted to climb all over the graves. My daughter is now away at college and I’m thinking that perhaps hubby and I may visit Dubuisson Cemetary tonight.
 

Bonfouca has many different pronounciations: "BON FOO KA" "BON FUCK A" "BONNA FOOKA". Take your choice. :)

 

Tide's a turning.

In the past month or so many happy, crazy, wonderful events have occurred in the Gulf Coast area it seems as if - after 4.5 years - the tides are finally turning from "shit out of luck" to "wow, that was nice!".

The denizens of Southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have been witness to some of the most bizarre "good" scenarios since 2010 began. No one could make this stuff up! I hope someday somebody makes a movie out of what's happened so far!

Now, I'm not a writer or a big sports fan (you caught on to that, didn't you?). I'm just an observer of mankind in my home area. After the New Orleans Saints finished their regular season in an unprecidented winning season, I started paying attention and here's what I have found.


It all began with the New Orleans Saints unbelievable 2009 Season. They've been slowly building up to where they ended up this year since 2006 when Sean Payton and Drew Brees and company joined the Saints.

Because of the genius of Sean Payton, the Saints secured home advantage for the two playoff games.

Game number 1 was against the Azirona Cardinals and their great Quarterback Kurt Warner.



So many Saints heroes in this game. But as the Saints know, there's no "I" in "team".

This is the last game Kurt Warner will ever play. He retired shortly after this game. He's a class act

Playoff game 2 was against the very "sore losers" team, the Vikings and their
over the hill but still damn good "Brett Farve. Not a class act, but an egomaniac

I loved this game.


I think this was the first time in Saints' Fan History that a million tears of joy were shed....openly by men as well as women......not just because the Saints WERE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL FOR THE FIRST TIME, but for all of those fans who never lived to see this day. Yes, Katrina you bitch. They were there in spirit.

After the game ended there was an instantaeous eruption of fans - who were watching the game in the quarter - into the streets, hugging, high fiving and screaming with joy



Following that (well, there was a week or two to kill between games) came the ever popular Bobby and Buddy D Brawds in Dresses Parade. This parade proved that the male Saints fans are very secure in their masculinity to don a huge assortment of womens' dresses and parade from the Superdome to Bourbon Street in honor of Buddy Diliberto, a beloved legend in New Orleans sports broadcasting.



Buddy loved the Saints and one day said that if they ever went to the Superbowl, he'd wear a dress. Buddy died in 2005 but his followers remembered his words. A parade was basically thrown together in a week. It was a walking parade which grew into 85,000 strong. Unbelieveable. In the following clip, witness the "father of the Who Dat Nation", former Saints Quarterback Bobby Cajun Cannon Hebert, get into character (helped not doubt with some heavy alcohol consumption)



It was such an awesome day. Buddy D would've been happy.

On a side note, there are several NOLA bloggers who are die hard Saints Fans who held their own tribute to Buddy D that day. I love this. And these guys, even though we've never met.



Next came Superbowl week, with all it's hype. But two days before then, a wonderful thing happened:



Saints number 57 - Ricky Jackson - inducted into the Hall of Fame.

A day later Mitch Landrieu was elected Mayor of NOLA, effective in May. One of the best things to happen to the city since Katrina.



A day later, pigs flew, hell froze over. Our Saints won the Superbowl



I know people who drove for 2 hours to be in the French Quarter after the game.
I just went to bed extremely happy.



Two days later: The Lombardi Gras. Close to a MILLION people attended the
Saints Victory Parade.

this is a local TV station that doesn't allow embedding, but it shows the enormity of the crowd.

Mardi Gras starts in full throttle this weekend, weather permitting. It's gonna be nice to rest from so much excitement.

The Gulf Coast has had a wonderfully wild ride this month and a lot of people are feeling that this surge of positive activity shows that we are finally turning the corner from the pains of Katrina.

Yeee Haw!!!

November 1st - Special Down Here

November first is considered "All Saints Day" here in Southeast Louisiana.

Due to the influence of the the Creole and Catholics, I have found some beautiful traditions take place on November first.

One is the "Blessing of The Graves"

For a history of this tradition, visit  link: https://www.nola.com/news/communities/st_tammany/article_5f318a1a-f331-5e60-9c55-c9ed303a7be3.html

Here are two links to the Blessing of the Graves in the area surrounding my home:

 Here is a link that discusses the beauty  and tradition of All Saints Day in the small community of Lacombe, just north of the lake from New Orleans

A link from an old post here about the beautiful "lighting of the graves" in this portion of St. Tammany Parish

Additionally, November 1, 2016 marks the 50TH Anniversary of the birth of the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS!!!

Big thing down here in Who Dat Land!!!!

In celebration of the big five-oh birthday of the Saints, the website , a website dedicated to the celebration of 50 seasons of Saints football has been created.

Lighting of the Graves

I last posted about this two years ago .

This weekend, a beautiful tradition will carry on in the Slidell/Lacombe area. The day after Halloween, All Saints Day, is a day set aside by the locals to clean up the graves of their family members and "visit" with the departed.

From an article in the St. Tammany News Entitled Lacombe man trying to keep La Toussant tradition alive is the story of a seventy-two year old Lacombe man, Matthew Cryer.


Like he’s done since he was 6, Cryer is keeping the tradition of La Toussaint alive. Also known as “Lights of the Dead” or “Lighting of the Graves,” Cryer and about 200 people will help clean graves, light hundreds of candles and spiritually reunite with loved ones who have passed.



The day is similar to Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. And Lacombe is one of the only places in the country where the tradition, started in the 1880s by his Creole ancestors, exists.

“I’ve never missed one, and I don’t intend to start now,” Cryer said, sitting on a wooden chair outside his country home. “It’s our tradition.”

The tradition was launched in the 1880s when Choctaw Indians living in Lacombe lit ritual bonfires every November as beacons to guide ancestor spirits home. The Creole people, descendants of those Indians, eventually adopted the measure.

Now, other areas such as Slidell and Lafitte, and even Covington and Mandeville, perform similar rituals, but nothing like in Lacombe, where generations look forward to it every year, Cryer said. It’s a way of life.

And now he’s afraid it may be dying.

I hope he's wrong. It's quite beautiful.

Happy Bday, Saints

from WetBankGuy rt marienola On this day 1966, All Saints Day, NFL awarded franchise to New Orleans. calling team The Saints.

Happy 43rd Birthday Saints!

Reactions to Goodell's Slamdown of Payton

Well thought out posts regarding the harsh penalties against the Saints for "bounty-gate"


Dave Gladow - New Orleanian and Saints Supporter
excerpt
Root for the best, as ever. Support your team, as ever. The circling of the wagons by your average Saints fan is commendable on some level, though also certainly misguided in its attempts to #freeseanpayton. The team deserves your support right now, Saints fans, this is true. But let the individuals who created this mess pay for their part in it. If Payton needs to sit a year, let him sit a year. If the rest of the suspensions need to happen, let them happen.

Maybe then, we can all move past the mire.

From the blog Hurricane Radio
excerpt:
The Saints aren't supposed to win football games. And the people of New Orleans damn sure aren't supposed to make money selling black and gold items that included a fleur de lis or the words "Who Dat." The league came to remind the people of New Orleans that the NFL owned the colors black and gold, the fleur de lis, the term "Who Dat," and if New Orleanians weren't really respectful about stopping all this nonsense, they were coming after the paper bags, too. If there was any money supposed to be made off the sale of those items, that money should be coming to the league, where it is supposed to be. Stop screwing up the story line here.

But the people of New Orleans told the league to get the hell off their soggy lawns.


My cyberpal Amy Mueller's post on Nolafemmes about the over-the-top punishment given to Sean Payton
excerpt

If you look at the NFL’s roster, it’s full of DUIs, incidences of domestic violence, drug possessions, assault and battery, and weapons charges. The media rarely gives these incidences the attention that they have given the Saints and Bountygate, and Roger Goodell and the NFL CERTAINLY have not handed out the punishments for this behavior. In fact, it seems there exists a culture where they turn their heads, pretend these incidences didn’t happen, and hope that people forget about it come Sunday Game Day.


Cenlmar writes about an Unrepentant Saints Fan (that's what I am) at this link
excerpt:
Greg Williams, incidentally, has taken full responsibility for and ownership of the so-called bounty program, something he also, allegedly, employed while coaching for the Washington Redskins and the Buffalo Bills. Neither of those teams, by the way, have faced any scrutiny; no one is calling for those teams to place asterisks next to their wins. Before ever investigating whether this practice also occurred in other organizations, Goodell imposed stunningly draconian sanctions against the New Orleans Saints– and indeed, by extension, their entire fan base, specifically the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana, who directly subsidize the National Football League.



From Jason Calbos at New Orleans Rising blog

excerpt
Sean Payton has been handed a suspension that dwarfs Ben Roethlisberger’s for multiple rape accusations. Payton’s suspension is also longer than Micheal Vick’s suspension for dog-fighting, murdering dogs, and gambling. Payton’s suspension outpaces Ray Lewis’s for being part of a murder committed by his posse… longer than Michael Irvin’s for cocaine possession….. longer than Chris Henry’s for assaulting a teenager…… longer than Tank Johnson’s for his arsenal of guns and assaults… and longer than Plaxico Burress’s for illegally discharging a gun in a New York nightclub. If Goodell says he’s here to protect the integrity of the game I’m gonna throw up. If you play in the NFL it’s Apparently ok to rape women, do drugs, kill people or at least hold them while my buddies stab them, run over people crossing the street while drinking and driving, assault teenagers, own more guns than Ted Nugent and discharge weapons in night clubs. But, the moment you get caught continuing an unspoken tradition that is well-known in the NFL by its participants your hammered to the wall?

Happy Birthday New Orleans Saints

The National Football League awarded its 16th franchise to New Orleans on November 1, 1966. Appropriately, it was All Saints Day. In mid-December, 28-year-old John W. Mecom Jr., a successful Texas and Louisiana businessman, became the majority stockholder.

Happy 46th Birthday, Saints!

Finally, the Tenth Anniversary is Over

It's been a whirlwind of remembering ten years ago: TV, Radio, Internet, Books.

But people who lived through, witnessed the storm and the aftermath, don't feel happy about all of the hoopla. Only Chris Rose can described how we feel.

Taken from the website Vice, is a Chris Rose original:


August 29, and Hurricane Katrina has reached critical mass in New Orleans.

But when I tell you about a storm hitting south Louisiana right now, I am not talking about August 29, 2005, the day that wet, wide mess of a storm whipped across our coast and kicked our asses.

This is not a reenactment, a retrospective, nor a documentary. This is now. Right now, today, the howling, gale force winds are blowing hard down here and the flooding is catastrophic, again.

The flooding is of memories in this town, none of them good, some of them haunting people to the brink of collapse, like the levees. The hard winds of emotion are reducing some residents to fits of agony. The "remembrances" and "observations" and "celebrations" from that time and since are so intense that some residents have packed up and left town this weekend to get away from the media maelstrom and relentless sorrowful nostalgia that is now filed under the name: Katrina, Ten Years After.

Related: The Lower Ninth Ward,Ten Years After Katrina

OK, this is also a time of metaphors gone wild around here. Of total loss of perspective. Of holding on tight, to something or someone—anything or anyone. I am no less guilty of that than any other.

New Orleans is an all-Katrina, all-the-time carnival of excess right now. Every newspaper headline. Every talk show. Every art gallery, playhouse, even every nightclub because every band has a Katrina song. Some have entire albums.

All the famous people are here, from presidents to the pundits. The American fetishizing of anniversaries has hit this town like a Category 5. And although you can look around and see a city standing tall and tough, physically—with all our new hotels and hospitals and malls and even our new levees—the damage here now, at this most poignant date on the Gulf Coast calendar, is emotional, psychological, and just plain mental.

It's not to say that these are not better days in New Orleans—the Crescent City, the Big Easy that isn't so big and never was as easy as most folks think. Our economy is ripping. The recession of the past ten years was, for us, a windfall. We got so much federal, corporate, and charitable money that no one in the world has any idea exactly how much.

We have a lot to be thankful for. We have, for the most part, blossomed into that big, bright, beautiful, rebuilt, reborn, and re-imagined shining city on the hill. Except for the hill part. There are no hills here. But you get the point.

Numbers tell the story: In fiscal year 2014, the city collected over $46 million in revenue from hotel occupancy fees, and this year is on pace to be even higher. According to the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOCVB), 9.52 million people laid their heads down to rest in our 39,000 hotel rooms last year—both of those the largest numbers on record.

And here's a fetcher for you: Prior to Hurricane Katrina, there were 809 restaurants in the city of New Orleans. Now, there are 1,408. Of course, since I started writing this story, two or three more probably hit the market.

I mean, everyone knows we love to eat down here. But 600 more restaurants than before? With 10 percent fewer residents?

This country is hungry for some New Orleans right now, to be sure.

According to Katrina 10, a Rockefeller Foundation think tank and the city's primary source for economic statistics and analysis, New Orleans is among the most vibrant small business environments in the country now.

"Entrepreneurial activity in New Orleans is 56 percent above the national average, painting a rosy picture for the business climate," reads one recent analysis. "Fueled by an engaged community, strong financial incentives, and an unmatched culture, one of the fastest growing startup hubs has grown out of the recovery of New Orleans."

The publisher of Forbes magazine described the city's economic growth since Katrina as "one of the great turnarounds in American history."

So, like I said, these are better days. We should be walking on sunshine, right?

And many are. Lots of folks—maybe even most—are feeling just fine around here about what this city has become. It's cleaner, smarter, and prettier—if that were possible.

But it's also still a dangerous place to walk around at night in some neighborhoods. And beyond the veneer of national coverage, we have more broken streetlights than some cities our size have streetlights, total. Our streets—paved upon a wet, sinking foundation—are in a constant state of upheaval (literally, not metaphorically).

And the truth is, for all the tax dollars this country has poured into rebuilding our levee system—the previous incarnation of which collapsed the first time it was ever tested and killed 1,600 of us—we have no idea if the new one works. There is no way to know if it will work until millions of pounds of water get hurled into the rock again like last time.

We are living now, as we lived before all this, on blind faith.

So for all the good and bad, we flutter back and forth about what terminology is appropriate for this occasion that looms over us. Is it an anniversary? A remembrance? Mourning? Observation? Celebration? Eulogy? Commemoration? You tell me: What are you calling it?

Truth is, they're all appropriate. In a larger communal sense, this is a time to raise a toast to the triumph of the human spirit and a recognition of the resilience of the people of New Orleans. But there is a strong undercurrent bubbling up this weekend, flushed out by the endless stream of imagery and remembrance and observation and celebration and media lights shining down on us, which has some folks running for cover.

And not the metaphorical kind. Wounds have been re-opened here. Scabs ripped away. Memories a lot of people had managed to escape for ten years have come flooding back like, well... a flood. (I warned you!)

Like I said, it is the anniversary of metaphors, ten years since Katrina, the glorification of which we have managed to avoid for, well, ten years.

There are many here wishing hard and fast for this to go away, for the date to pass, for the attention to wane, for the conversations to switch to the weather, the Saints, the elections, anything but this.

Jesus, even Donald Trump would be a welcome distraction.

We here are stuck in an endless cycle of Katrina—a name many here still refuse to speak. And despite the profound, inescapable and triumphant leaps of recovery and rebirth we have experienced, there's no two ways about it: This is tough as shit to go through again, to relive on a local level the exposure of our national nightmare and disgrace.

To see how far we have come yet how far we still need to go. It's a national discussion being played out in a city of lore that looms large in the American imagination but is actually, truthfully, a pretty small town. Considering.

Nevertheless, New Orleans is shouldering once again the burden of our unfinished—and in some cases unstarted—national conversations. Race. Poverty. Income Inequality. Energy. Rising seas. Loss of the wetlands.

And that's fine. We love conversation down here. We love talking as much as we love eating. In fact, all we talk about when we're eating is what we're going to eat next.

But I stray. Everyone here has a story to tell. And over this weekend, unless you unplug, disconnect, and go off the grid, you just might hear every one of them. But we're OK. We're gonna make it. And we're gonna stay here and keep making our way through this wild ride, trying to find our way back home.

There is nowhere else for us to go—even though many in the media, clergy and Congress told us we should find another place ten years ago. But maybe they have learned, at long last, at this most painful and triumphant juncture, what we here have always known: The longer you live in New Orleans, the more unfit you become to live anywhere else.

That's the one true crazy thing about all this. Here, at the nation's first geographical front against disaster, subsidence, evaporation and extinction: We're still here, ya bastards.

Chris Rose is a New Orleans-based freelance writer, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of the New York Times bestseller 1 Dead in Attic.some aspects.

Katrina Memories Website

Called "Love, Write, Light", this website contains and will accumulate first person stories of Hurricane Katrina victims. It is a crowdsourcing campaign in anticipation of Katrina’s anniversary. Funds raised will be used to help light up statues erected in 17 locations, called “evacuspots,” around the city, so they’re visible 24 hours a day. People needing help in evacuating are supposed to gather at those spots. This is the brainchild of the website Evacuteer.org .

What originally brought me to this site was a piece written by a writer who resides in New Orleans, Chris Rose .

Chris is loved by many, not loved by a some due to his personal problems after Katrina. He wrote articles in the post-Katrina world that are contained in his book "One Dead In Attic" .

Here is his letter to America in the weeks following Katrina:

"Dear America,

I suppose we should introduce ourselves: We’re South Louisiana.

We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that, but we never were much for waiting around for invitations. We’re not much on formalities like that.

And we might be staying around your town for a while, enrolling in your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted to tell you a few things about us. We know you didn’t ask for this and neither did we, so we’re just going to have to make the best of it.

First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water, your food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has come to our rescue.

We’re a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don’t cotton much to outside interference, but we’re not ashamed to accept help when we need it. And right now, we need it.

Just don’t get carried away. For instance, once we get around to fishing again, don’t try to tell us what kind of lures work best in your waters.

We’re not going to listen. We’re stubborn that way.

You probably already know that we talk funny and listen to strange music and eat things you’d probably hire an exterminator to get out of your yard.

We dance even if there’s no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we’re suspicious of others who don’t.

But we’ll try not to judge you while we’re in your town.

Everybody loves their home, we know that. But we love South Louisiana with a ferocity that borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our dead in LSU sweatshirts.

Often we don’t make sense. You may wonder why, for instance – if we could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our journey to your state – why in God’s name did we bring a pair of shrimp boots?

We can’t really explain that. It is what it is.

You’ve probably heard that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is, many of us cannot fathom a life outside of our border, out in that place we call Elsewhere.

The only way you could understand that is if you have been there, and so many of you have. So you realize that when you strip away all the craziness and bars and parades and music and architecture and all that hooey, really, the best thing about where we come from is us.

We are what made this place a national treasure. We’re good people. And don’t be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It happens all the time.

When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.

But don’t pity us. We’re gonna make it. We’re resilient. After all, we’ve been rooting for the Saints for 35 years. That’s got to count for something.

OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at inappropriate times.

But what the hell.

And one more thing: In our part of the country, we’re used to having visitors. It’s our way of life.

So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay to you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in this season of our despair.

That is our promise. That is our faith."

As a follow-up to that letter, read his letter written 10 years later.


Chris Rose can be reached at noroses@bellsouth.net.

Christmas 2006

Merry Christmas to all.

It has been a good day weatherwise for Christmas. We've experienced some years where it was 80 degrees outside, so we enjoyed spending the day inside, away from the cold wind. I hope all those who are still living in FEMA trailers stayed warm somehow.

My redneck neighbors are shooting off fireworks - aerial ones at that - on Christmas night. My cats are freaked out.

Got a digital camera for Christmas and played with it inside all day....click on photos to enlarge>
GizmoSweetPea

>Midnight
>Oreo
>Meeko

R.I.P. to The Godfather of Soul.
James Brown passed away at the age of 73. Thanks for the wonderful memories, Mr. Brown.

THANK YOU SAINTS!!!!

FESTIVALS THIS WEEKEND

 

 

New Orleans Songwriters Festival/Songfest Nov. 10th - 13th, 2010 This, the 3rd year's event will kick off Wednesday November 10th, 2010 with our "Massive Open Mic" at The BLUE NILE New Orleans Songwriters Festival's mission is to promote the composition of original music in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region as well as advance the careers of the area's writers and musicians by providing performance opportunities in front of publishing and music industry center professionals that will be at the event. Event proceeds will be donated to area music- and musician-related charities. Last year's charity recipient was the New Orleans Musicians Clinic. (More)   Destrehan Plantation Fall Festival Nov.  13th - 14th, 2010   Artists and Craft Vendors from throughout the United States will offer a variety of wood crafts, pottery, jewelry, quilts, ceramics, prints, oil paintings, dolls, stained glass, clothing, baskets and much more.  The Cajun and Creole Food Park will feature over 20 chefs preparing local dishes such as fried seafood, gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice and other favorites sure to please all in attendance.  The antique area will feature 12 dealers inside the unique 1840's Mule Barn as well as additional vendors adjacent to the barn.  (More)   5th Annual N. O. Po-Boy Preservation Festival Nov. 14th, 2010 About the festival: This festival was founded as a celebration of the storied sandwich and the role it has played in New Orleans' culinary culture. The festival also highlights the ongoing revitalization of the Oak Street business corridor, which was designated a National Main Street in 2006 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a Louisiana Main Street by the Department of Historic Preservation, which authorizes the program.(More)   Congo Square Rhythms Festival Nov. 14th, 2010 Drums ancient and modern beat at the third annual Congo Square Rhythms Festival, presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation on Sunday, Nov. 15, at Old U.S. Mint. This free, day-long festival celebrates the historic role of Congo Square as the birthplace of American music. It was there that African slaves gathered on Sunday afternoons to practice their ancestral traditions - influencing all of the styles that would emerge from New Orleans' cultural melting pot.(More)   That's all folks!   Have a fabulous month, and if you know of any festivals happening in the Greater New Orleans Area that we have left out, please contact us at contentmgr@neworleans.com. Advertise with us! Please contact Robin Evans at robin@neworleans.com. Copyright 2010 NewOrleans.Com Media LLC All Rights Reserved 839 St. Charles Ave., Ste. 305, New Orleans, LA 70130   2009 Po-Boy Festival   Click here for more photos from our Festivals gallery!     Margarita has plenty of reasons to toast to her beloved New Orleans Darling friends, Another fabulous week has gone by. The city is enjoying the glorious autumn weather, a big Saints victory against the Panthers and hosting thousands of Realtors. Last week, I had plenty of reasons to toast to my beloved New Orleans. Among the many events that I attended were the opening night of "Rain" - A Tribute to The Beatles at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts.  Prior to that event I attended the fabulous opening of Gallery 329 on Royal Street, followed  by an evening of chefs, cocktails and camo to celebrate the publication of WILD ABUNDANCE ritual, revelry & recipes of the South's finest hunting clubs at the at The American Sector, National World War II. I also attended writers and TV personalities Jan and Bob Carr's release of their  book "Raising Our Children On Bourbon: a French Quarter Love Affair" at Chris Owens Bourbon Street nightclub. The Carrs will be my special guests at my Round Table Luncheon on Wednesday, November 10 at noon at Begue's. (More)     Click here for more information on Greater New Orleans' Fall Festivals!

 

NewOrleans.com | 839 St. Charles Ave., Ste. 307 | New Orleans | LA | 70130

I love where I live

I love Louisiana, the Gulf Coast. It's one of most culturally rich, beautiful places in the world. Granted, I haven't done too much travelling in my life, but I do know I'm happy to live here, despite the known and unknown hazards.

This came to me this morning as I was driving home from Rouses, eating my Hubig's apple pie (not a healthy breakfast, that's why I go to the gym 3 x a week).



The sky was clear and blue, the temps in the mid 40's and there was no snow in sight!




While at Rouses I bought a Louisiana Festival Calendar so hubby and I can start planning our Festivals. Looking at February, while the rest of the country is shivering through their winters, we'll be going to over 20 Mardi Gras Parades .




Before the parades begin we have Superbowl Sunday. The Saints didn't "Two Dat" this year, but we still carry the sweet memories of last year. And if we want, we can buy our own license plate to commemorate it!



And we have that Sunday last January where hundreds, if not thousands of male Saints fans donned dresses to honor the late, great Buddy Diliberto because our team was going to the Superbowl!!



I mean where else would you find the 610 Stompers? "Ordinary men with extrodinary moves" :)



Three days after Mardi Gras is the St. Patricks parade in the French Quarter, followed that weekend by the Irish-Italian-Islenos Parade, the Irish Channel Parade. Later on in March are all of the St. Joseph Day Altars, which is an incredible amount of work for those who put on the Altars.

Right after the St. Jospeph Altars is the Mardi Gras Indians' Super Sunday, this year on March 20th.



I've never been to one, but the work that goes into the costumes is immense. All the sewing and feathers and the pride that these folks have for their heritage is touching.

The last week of March festivals include the Smokin' Blues Barbecue Challenge in Hammond, the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans, Chalmette's Crawfish Festival, the New Orleans Spring Fiesta, Oak Alley Spring Arts & Crafts Festival, a Bluegrass Festival in Oak Grove and this is just the month of March!




Yes, in Louisiana we no shortage of corrupt officials. But we are not alone in that category.

Some people view Louisiana citizens as lazy and stupid. It's too bad that these people are so closed minded. They base their opinions on what mainstream media feeds them. They're probably unaware of the hard working fishermen, of the men that are trying to save the young black boys in New Orleans thru mentoring. They are probably unaware of the myriad of intelligent bloggers right here in the New Orleans area. That's their loss, isn't it.

I can't imagine having to live in the cold and snow, as I did for the first 20 years of my life.

ugh

I know I wouldn't like the humungous interstates in California.



Granted, the scenery is second to none, but all those people. ~shudder~

I like the scenery around me right here in Louisiana, thankyouverymuch.

Vote Saints for a Cause

The Campbell Soup contest is up and running again this year. The NFL team with the most votes gets Campbells soup donated to their local community food banks. The Packers have won the last three years - let's NOT make it 4 years in a row. You can vote once per day from the same computer. Be sure to share with all your "Saints" friends.
Follow link below and vote for the New Orleans Saints. We are in 8 th place and need to beat the Packers who are in 1st place and are 3 time champs.

Click here to vote

Still Not Okay

Coming up on two years post Katrina. A lot of people think everything back to being "hunky dory" down here (a phrase my from my Mother's generation). If it's not on Nightly News, it's forgotten.

The diverse group of bloggers living in New Orleans are doing a fantastic job of keeping the city on the radar, covering all aspects of their hell on earth, from runaway crime to national opinions of our local politicians and "working women "; from our undying love for the Saints to the evil, money grubbing bastardly judges who give the city a black eye ; from the state of necessary and unnecessary housing demolitions in the city to the camraderie that Katrina created among those talented people, the NOLA bloggers are truely awe inspiring.
One NOLA blogger, who writes in a style that makes you see, smell and hear his visions writes about life in Debrisville in late July 2007.

On this side of the lake, I'm beginning to construct a chronicle of what we that live here view as progress.
Here in the Bayou Liberty area, we are seeing positive progress


as well as negative progress

the construction of an I10 interchange, two years late

The depressing sight of people still living in those FEMA trailers

Debris trucks are still an every day sight SOMEWHERE in our daily commutes

In the Bayou Liberty Marina, new boat slips are being constructed.

Nope, things won't be "Okay" for a long time. To all of you who've been down here, working on helping please know that we will always be appreciative.

We love living here. We pay the price of our love.

Why, Drew?

Written by Chris Rose, this reflects what's in my heart about Drew's choice of endorsing a hate group:

“Oh, Drew. Why, Oh fucking why? I speak for myself and no one else but, godammit Drew: I am old and beat down but there beats in my chest still the heart of a 10-year-old boy who loves sports and nostalgia and heroes and I get goosebumps when I walk through a stadium tunnel and see for the first time the green field below and my eyes go wide as saucers and the roar of the crowd washes over me and I cry when the National Anthem comes on and I have been in that number that cheers you, loves you -- truly, madly, deeply.

And I'm not saying politics has no place in sports, nor that sports no place in politics. It's all an open marketplace of ideas, platforms for social change, education, enlightenment, progress. At its best, sports is healing, a unifier, a community, as we all witnessed after Katrina.

But I am lamenting more than I can even articulate how down right surprising, shameless and shitty is your endorsement of the mission of Focus on the Family, one of the most hateful, prejudiced, divisive, repugnant organizations in our country.

Maybe you weren't aware of their agenda: Convert, ban, deport or imprison the gays. Not much in their platform about climate change, health care, economic equality, international diplomacy or even shortening the NFL preseason. It's just about hate. And you signed on And that sucks.

Actually, it hurts. Because somewhere in the dregs of my sorry soul there is that little boy who looks at guys like you as heroes.

Maybe you didn't know what you were getting into. Maybe you have your own blithe and naïve streak of We Are The World in you. Maybe you didn't realize that when you became a spokesman for Focus on the Family, you became a free agent for hate, prejudice and division.

Drew, I hope none of your kids are gay. Because you just endorsed the worst thing that could happen to them. An organization that will stop at nothing to humiliate, degrade and disregard them. In the name of Jesus. And Drew Brees,

Look, man, I got no brook with bringing Bibles to school Do it every day. Like weed and weapons -- just keep them in your back pack and don't use them to intimidate, frighten, delegitimize, alienate or lord over (pun intended) other classmates.

Unless that is, of course, you're cool with the other students insisting that your kids take some time to read the Torah, the Qoran or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Although, actually, that would be cool. Imagine children with open minds discovering the infinite fields of thought, exploring the vistas of the intellect and imagination.

Or imagine a hateful self-proclaimed "Christian" movement to eradicate the perceived heathens in their midst; Jews, Muslims, Hindus, gays, lesbians, trans....and the still undecided among their ranks.

Since you have made your statement, I will make mine: Using your celebrity, fame and standing in this community to endorse the agenda of Focus on the Family is a slap in the face, a poke in the eye and a kick in the balls of anyone who believes in tolerance, unity, community, science, love and freedom.

It sucks to see this. Just fucking sucks. I don't have a lot of sports heroes who are younger than me. Cal Ripken Jr., Simone Biles. Serena Williams, Colin Kaepernick and you, to name a few. But I am unsure now.

I've done my own wrongs -- too many to recount here. I've stumbled, fallen, made mistakes that rive my soul and pound my skull at night. I'm a flat-out colossal fuck up. I've hurt people. A lot of them. But I can say this with dignity: It was never in the name of hate.

I've got my own work to do, my amends to make. But I welcome into my community and my life anyone with honest beliefs, good intentions, a kind heart and a willing to listen, understand and tolerate.

On a final note, I would be remiss if I didn't thank you for building a football field and installing lights at my kids' high school. And for the so many boosts and joys you have given this community. But when you align yourself with the entrenched and bitter haters, the accusers, the science deniers, the willfully ignorant, the prejudiced, the judgmental, the divisive, the hypocritical and the persecutors, well.....you acted upon your own beliefs.

I suppose. I can respect that.

But not you. Not now. But go Saints still, now, forever. Because I'm still that stupid little kid who loves the love of the game and Sundays in the fall and inevitable heartbreak that it means to be a member of the Who Dat Nation.” - Chris Rose

September 4, 2019

A Saintly Christmas Gift

From the advocate dot com website

PORT ALLEN — As the big white moving truck made a right turn down Village Street followed by a shiny black Cadillac truck with tinted windows, residents of the Village Street Apartments let out a roar.

They knew who was driving the Cadillac even though they couldn’t see inside.

It was Port Allen native and second-year New Orleans Saints cornerback Tracy Porter returning to the city he grew up in to deliver gifts to the children from his old neighborhood, known as The Village.


“Feels good when you put a smile on kids’ faces,” Porter said as one young man jumped on his new bike and sped off without saying a word.

“This is a struggling area,” Porter said. “To come back here and see all these kids so happy just warms me up.”



Deshawn Raymond, 12, watched the scene from the side of the street sitting on top of his brand-new lime green bike.

“I feel special,” Raymond said. “Especially because it came from Tracy. He used to stay back here and baby-sit me.”

The event, was sponsored in part by the Baranco-Clark Branch YMCA in Baton Rouge.

Earlier in the day, before the bike giveaway, Porter was at the YMCA, where he worked as a lifeguard and summer camp counselor during his summer breaks from Port Allen High School.

In the past two years, Porter has donated $25,000 to the facility. On Monday, the YMCA returned the favor holding a small dedication ceremony in the facility’s newly revamped weight room dubbed the Tracy O. Porter YMCA Wellness Center.

His mentors and former coaches Curt Richardson and Grover Harrison were on hand at both events to help out and poke some fun at the football player.

“He’s a little guy but he’s always thought he was big,” Harrison said, laughing.

“When he was in high school, he wanted to run a (recreation) center like the YMCA and then go to the NBA. Now he’s in the NFL, and he’s giving back,” Harrison said.

Katrina Events

With info gleaned from the T.P., here are upcoming events commemorating Katrina. I have provided
links where I could find them.


Tuesday, August 22

LEVEES.ORG to observe Anniversary of the Worst Engineering Disaster in U.S. History

4:00 p.m., Poydras Street Courtyard, Hale Bogg's Building, Magazine at Poydras

Purpose is to release a report card on the performance of the U.S. Corps of Engineers since August 29, 2005 and to release a commemorative poster made from photos of flag-draped flooded homes.
For more information contact Sandy Rosenthal at 504-616-5159 or sandy@levees.org

Wednesday, August 23

New Orleans Council on Aging: Katrina Theater

10:00 a.m., 2020 Jackson Avenue, temporary home of New Orleans Council on Aging

Recognition of one-year anniversary. For more information, contact Howard Rodgers, primemin3@aol.com or 504-827-7843.

National Coalition on Black Civic Participation Listening Tour

10:00 a.m., Loew's Hotel, 300 Poydras 202-659-4929

The purpose of the Listening Tour is to learn what it means, not only to live through the life-altering affects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but also how women directly impacted by the storms have survived one year later. Further, by hearing from the voices of women, the NCBCP and our partners can better identify and assist in facilitating relief, recovery and rebuilding priorities through our Rebuild Hope Now Campaign (RBHN).

Friday, August 25

New Orleans One Year Forward: The City Council's View

Gallier Hall

Led by Councilwoman Stacy Head, includes a presentation by New Orleans demographer Greg Rigamer highlighting the progress New Orleans has made during the past year. Representatives of industries including the port, oil and gas, banking, real estate, tourism and preservation will report along with district council members.

For more information, call 504-658-1000.

One Year Later: What Have We Learned?

9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Loyola University College of Law, Broadway Campus, 526 Pine St. 504-865-2011

Remembering Katrina Observance

7:00 p.m., Ashe Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

With former Mayor Marc Morial and friends. For more information, contact Gail Glapion or Mtangulizi Sanyika, 504-242-8353 or 713-376-3364, or e-mail: wazuri@aol.com.

Saturday, August 26

Rising Tide Conference

8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m., New Orleans Yacht Club, 403 N. Roadway St., New Orleans

8:00 - 9:00: Keynote Address: Christopher Cooper and Robert Bloch, authors of Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security.
9:15 - 10:15: Panel Discussion: Personal Viewpoints moderated by Mark Moseley, including bloggers who stayed through the storm.
10:30 - 11:30: Think New Orleans by Alan Gutierrez.
1:00 - 2:00: Panel Discussion: New Orleans Politics moderated by Peter Athas.
2:15 - 3:15: Panel Discussion: Influence of Journalists and Bloggers moderated by Maitri Venkat-Ramani and Mark Folse, with NOLA.Com editor Jon Donley.
3:30 - 4:30: Panel Discussion: Bloggers & Neighborhood Associations moderated by Morwen Madrigal and Peter Athas , with blogger/neighborhood activists representing the Gentilly, Mid-City, Northwest Carrollton and B neighborhoods.
For more information, contact: Mark Folse 504-872-0091.

One Year Later: Tour

9:00 a.m., Holy Name Church, Loyola Main Campus, 6363 St. Charles 504-865-2011

The Art of Healing

9:00 a.m. - Noon

Young people will present their feelings through painting, poetry, dance and theater. The activity is being coordinated by public, private, charter and parochial schools. The council also is sponsoring "Finding Hope Beyond Katrina," an essay competition for middle school and high school students. First-, second- and third-place winners will receive savings bonds.

For more information, call 504-658-1000.

Hands around the Dome

Noon - 3:00 p.m., Louisiana Superdome

For more information, contact Gail Glapion or Mtangulizi Sanyika, 504-242-8353 or 713-376-3364, or e-mail wazuri@aol.com.

ACORN Tour of Hope

2:00 p.m. Leaves from ACORN office, 1024 Elysian Fields Ave.

Illustration of the progress made in our neighborhoods.
Pre-registration required, call 504-943-0044 x114

ACORN Katrina Memorial

6:00 p.m. Location TBA

Gathering with ACORN members and friends to memorialize Katrina and thank those who have helped ACORN through this difficult year.

Sunday, August 27

The Kazanjian Jewels for Charity silent auction

>In 1957, the family established the Kazanjian Foundation to support a wide range of scientific, artistic and cultural causes, with an emphasis on programs for disadvantaged youth.

The Kazanjian Foundation sells the jewelry at its full appraised value. Seventy percent of the proceeds are passed on to Childrens Hospital, which determines the gift annuity based on this amount. The remaining 30 percent goes to a charity chosen by the jeweler or store that facilitates the sale.

The Kazanjian Foundation underwrites all expenses.
Click here for more info

Noon - Midnight, Harrah's Casino

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

A Memorial Tribute to the Victims of Hurricane Katrina

1 p.m., Claiborne Avenue and Tennessee Street
Tribute by members of the Lower 9th Ward Neighborhood Council.
For more information, call 504-658-1000.

Ecumenical Worship Service
2:00 p.m. Congo Square
With Cyril Neville. For more information, contact Gail Glapion or Mtangulizi Sanyika, 504-242-8353 or 713-376-3364, or e-mail: wazuri@aol.com.

Gospel concert
3:00 p.m - 5:00 p.m., Ernest N. Morial Convention Center auditorium
Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

Katrina Memorial Concert

3:00 p.m. Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, 1235 Louisiana Ave.
Free concert commemorating the first anniversary of the catastophe. Featuring performances by sopranos Phyllis Treigle, Thais St. Julien; flautist Louis Hackett; organists James Hammann, Marcus St. Julien; and th New Orleans Musica da Camera.

New Orleans is the Soul of her People

4:30 p.m., St. Louis Cathedral
Poet Brenda Marie Osbey and others from the Faulkner Society, including concert by Davell Crawford and other gospel singers. A reception and book signing follows in the Cabildo.

Candlelight ceremony for Katrina victims

8:30 p.m., Algiers Point

Candles will be lit for each person who died during Katrina.

For more information, call 504-658-1000.

Ambassadors of Swing talent search

9:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m., Harrah's Casino theater

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

Monday, August 28

The Kazanjian Jewels for Charity silent auction

Emeril Lagasse Foundation Cooking With Music Event

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

An educational program for children featuring Emeril Lagasse and Wynton Marsalis.

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

Exclusive Food Experience

6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., various New Orleans restaurants

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

Tuesday, August 29

DecaFest

LGTB community marks Hurricane Katrina anniversary with a seven-day festival beginning with a reunion Tuesday evening and continuing through Monday, Sept. 4, with theater performances, a film series, special literary and political colloquies, and myriad New Orleans tours.

For more information, contact Melinda Shelton, Communications Director, at 504-458-9761 or email mshelton@DecaFest.org.

Storm anniversary events - St. Bernard Parish

7:00 a.m., Our Lady of Prompt Succor Catholic Church, Chalmette

Special anniversary mass

8:30 a.m., St. Bernard Unified School

Day of Reflection breakfast

Time TBA, Liberty Plaza, St. Bernard Civic Center

Bell-ringing ceremony

Prayer breakfast

8:30 a.m., Asia Baptist Church, 1400 Sere St.

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com"

Ringing of the bells
To signify the first levee breach.

9:38 a.m., City Hall

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

Wreath layings
9:38 a.m., various locations throughout the city

Each council member will lay a wreath in one of the most devastated neighborhoods in his or her district.

For more information, call 504-658-1000.

Memorial ceremony and march

10:00 a.m., 9th Ward Levee Break, Jourdan and N. Galvez Sts. www.peopleshurricane.org

March to be sponsored by a coalition of grass-roots organizations, which includes the African-American Leadership Project, the Causeway Concentration Camp Foundation, the Lower 9th Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association, New Orleans Worker Justice Coalition, the People's Hurricane Relief Fund, Common Ground and the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond.

Shell Beach memorial dedication ceremony

10:00 a.m., Shell Beach, St. Bernard Parish

An illuminated, stainless steel crucifix and stone monument bearing the names of the 129 St. Bernard Parish residents who died in Hurricane Katrina will be dedicated as part of daylong remembrance activities.

Desire Street Academy Memorial Service

10:00 a.m., Desire Street Ministries and Desire Street Academy, 3600 Desire St.

With former Saints Quarterback Danny Wuerffel, students, faculty and friends.

For more information, contact Marcia Peterson, 866-633-0070, mpeterson@desirestreet.org

Monument dedication

10:30 a.m., Mississippi River Heritage Park, 1100 block of Convention Center Blvd.

The City Council will dedicate a granite monument at the Mississippi River Heritage Park.

For more information, call 504-658-1000.

Hospice Memorial service for the Terminally Ill who were evacuated
On Aug. 29 To provide an appropriate bereavement activity for those who need one; free counseling also available.
11:00 a.m., 1221 S. Clearview Pkwy., Metairie

For more information, contact Jerry Pesses 504-975-7878, or email jpesses@cox.net or jpesses@canonhospice.com.

Ecumenical prayer service

Noon, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center auditorium

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

Kazanjian Jewels for Charity silent auction from

noon - Midnight, Harrah's Casino

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com"

Commemoration Program

1:00 p.m. Congo Square, Louis Armstrong Park, N. Rampart St.
Culmination of march from site of the Lower 9th Ward levee break.

One New Orleans jazz funeral procession

2:00 p.m., Convention Center to the Superdome
Led by Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré and honoring first responders, lives lost in Katrina and the rebirth of New Orleans.
Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

Pre-concert community event
3:30 p.m, the Louisiana Superdome

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

New Orleans: Rebuilding the Soul of America . . . One Year Later

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., New Orleans Arena

Televised concert. Participating channels TBA.

Those interested in participating should contact Emeline Desse at edesse@mayorofno.com.

Lakewood Homecoming

7:00 p.m., Beacon of Hope, 5475 Bellaire Dr.

For more information, contact Nancy Plough, nplough@bellsouth.net, or Judi Greer, jzginnola@hotmail.com.

Official Interfaith Prayer Service

7:00 p.m., St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square

Members of 12 faiths, including Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu will participate in this service. The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra will play in Jackson Square from 8:00-8:55, and at 8:55, the Katrina bell (twin to the 9/11 bell in New York City) will be rung to commemorate the lives lost in Katrina.

For more information, contact M. Dubuisson, 504-592-5691 or 504-905-1070, or email mdubuisson@archdiocese-no.org

Hurricane Katrina Rememberance Ceremony

Heritage Park, Slidell
6:00 - 7:30 pm