Dr. Charlotte Pipes is presenting a one-hour lecture on French Colonial Louisiana to the monthly meeting of the Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Whitney Bank – Metairie Rd. branch
1441 Metairie Road
Metairie, Louisiana.
The meeting starts at 7:30pm and is free and open to the public.
The topic will be “A Casket Girl of New Orleans.”
Casket Girls arrived in New Orleans from France in the early 18th century.
They came here to become brides for Louisiana settlers.
Charlotte traveled to France (no, not to become a bride)
but to document exactly the process by which young women in France
signed contracts, boarded sailing ships and crossed the Atlantic to marry.
We’re on for Saturday! Join us as we Hike the Lafitte Corridor (and future Lafitte Greenway) on Saturday, May 18, 2013 starting at 10 am at Louis Armstrong Park’s Congo Square! The Hike is FREE and open to the public with a suggested donation to help us to continue this annual event. Please register in advance here: http://folchike2013.eventbrite.com/
Saturday May 18:
9:00 AM: Bike Easy will host a FREE bicycle safety workshop in Congo Square at Louis Armstrong Park! Please pre-register for this workshop by selecting the FOLC Hiker & Biker ticket type.
9:30 AM: Meet at Congo Square to complete registration.
10:00 AM: Hear from speakers and start the hike! The hike will be guided by FOLC Greenway Ambassadors, who will lead groups and share the history of the Corridor area and future of the Greenway.
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM (approximate): Lunch stop! Parkway Bakery & Tavern will provide po-boys for participants and we’ll have music by Warren Easton.
1:00-1:30 PM: Finish at Bud’s Broiler at City Park Avenue across from Delgado! We will have a shuttle bus to bring folks back down to Congo Square — or you can walk/bike back to the Bayou for some Bayou Boogaloo fun!
The annual hike is roughly 3 miles long, and parts of the path are overgrown and weedy. Please dress accordingly (i.e. no flip-flops!) and bring sunscreen. Water will be available throughout the hike. As in previous years we will offer free bike valet. It is also possible to walk your bike the length of the hike!
Questions? Call 504-373-9191.
FOLC’s Hike the Lafitte Corridor event has been made possible thanks to our generous Community Sponsors: Bud’s Broiler, Faubourg Lafitte, Louisiana Himalayan Association, Parkway Bakery & Tavern, Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center, and Stirling Properties. Plus many thanks to Massey’s, Coca-Cola, People United for Armstrong Park, Bike Easy, and Urban Conservancy for their support!
Bike Easy Presents: Community Bicycle Workshop at the Friends of the
Lafitte Corridor 9th Annual Hike!
Bike Easy will be hosting our Community Bicycle Safety Workshop at the Friends of the Lafitte Corridor 9th Annual Hike!
Participants are invited to bring their bikes and learn to ride safely and confidently for health, transportation, and recreation before leaving on guided walks of the Lafitte Greenway.
Our instructors will be there to answer questions about riding safely with traffic, bike fit, and basic maintenance. We will also have Bicycle Valet, and can keep an eye on your bike while you hike!
When: Saturday, May 11, 2013 | 9-10am: Bicycle Workshop | 10am: Guided walks along the greenway begin
Where: Armstrong Park – Meet at Congo Square | North Rampart and Saint Peter Street
For more information about the workshops, visit www.bikeeasy.org
SAVE THE DATE: Friends of Lafitte Corridor will be hosting their ninth annual Hike the Lafitte Corridor on Saturday, May 11th at 10 am starting at Louis Armstrong Park and ending at City Park Avenue.
The annual hike is free to the public and a great way to meet fellow Greenway enthusiasts and to learn about the history of the Corridor and the future plans for the Lafitte Greenway. E-mail info@folc-nola.org if you want to get involved as a FOLC Ambassador or sponsor.
$368,000 for 200 North Alexander to bidder #5. A well-known Faubourg St. John resident who lives on the bayou and a man from Chicago were rumored to be the back-n-forth bidders.
$280,000 for the Laurel Street Firehouse by bidder #21.
No bids were received for the other 4 properties in today’s City auction.
Buy this May 17th (TODAY)
2552 St. Philip
article courtesy City Business
Six city properties will be sold at auction next week, with officials looking to put unused real estate back into commerce.
Four former fire stations, a former police station and a visitor’s center are included in the auction set for 10 a.m. May 17 at City Council chambers, 1300 Perdido St.
Registration for bidders begins at 9 a.m.
An open house for all the properties will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. Interested parties must bring valid ID and sign a “hold harmless” agreement with the city.
The fire stations on the auction block include 4877 Laurel St., 200 N. Alexander St., 6038 St. Claude Ave. and 7311 Chef Menteur Highway. The police station is at 2552 St. Philip St., and the community center is at 7450 Paris Road.
The city said in a release that it has determined the properties are no longer needed for public purposes. All properties are vacant and in poor condition. Most suffered damage during Hurricane Katrina and have been declared blighted properties.
The city’s Home Rule Charter requires the properties be sold at public auction. The purchaser will be required to rehabilitate the property in a timely manner, taking into account any historic elements.
Winning bidders must deposit 10 percent of the winning bid amount with the city’s Real Estate and Records Division within one hour of the auction’s completion. The deposit must be in cash, certified check or money order and is non-refundable. Additional costs over the winning bid must be paid to complete the sale, including appraisal, clerk of court costs, city notary fees and possible resubdivision fees.
Upon purchase of the property, the new owner must clean and repair the property within 60 days. A certificate of occupancy from the Department of Safety and Permits must be received within 18 months.
To learn more about the properties being auctioned off, click here.
Reporter Robin Shannon can be reached at robin.shannon@nopg.com.
article courtesy City Business
Six city properties will be sold at auction next week, with officials looking to put unused real estate back into commerce.
Four former fire stations, a former police station and a visitor’s center are included in the auction set for 10 a.m. May 17 at City Council chambers, 1300 Perdido St.
Registration for bidders begins at 9 a.m.
An open house for all the properties will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. Interested parties must bring valid ID and sign a “hold harmless” agreement with the city.
The fire stations on the auction block include 4877 Laurel St., 200 N. Alexander St., 6038 St. Claude Ave. and 7311 Chef Menteur Highway. The police station is at 2552 St. Philip St., and the community center is at 7450 Paris Road.
The city said in a release that it has determined the properties are no longer needed for public purposes. All properties are vacant and in poor condition. Most suffered damage during Hurricane Katrina and have been declared blighted properties.
The city’s Home Rule Charter requires the properties be sold at public auction. The purchaser will be required to rehabilitate the property in a timely manner, taking into account any historic elements.
Winning bidders must deposit 10 percent of the winning bid amount with the city’s Real Estate and Records Division within one hour of the auction’s completion. The deposit must be in cash, certified check or money order and is non-refundable. Additional costs over the winning bid must be paid to complete the sale, including appraisal, clerk of court costs, city notary fees and possible resubdivision fees.
Upon purchase of the property, the new owner must clean and repair the property within 60 days. A certificate of occupancy from the Department of Safety and Permits must be received within 18 months.
To learn more about the properties being auctioned off, click here.
Reporter Robin Shannon can be reached at robin.shannon@nopg.com.
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) is excited to announce the Bayou Saint John Wetland Creation Project, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build ½ acre of native marsh in the city of New Orleans. LPBF is a non-profit group that has been working for southeast Louisiana’s people and environment since 1989 under the banner, “Save Our Lake, Save Our Coast.” http://saveourlake.org
We came up with the plan to build wetlands as an add-on to a dredging project that was already scheduled for this spring. This opportunity came up quickly, and we have scrambled to draft plans, secure permits, and find partners before construction starts in mid-May 2013.
We are reaching out to everyone who loves New Orleans and cares about the vanishing Louisiana coast. Together we can rebuild a patch native habitat and bring some nature back to the Big Easy.
We feel so strongly about this project that we committed to it without having all funding in place. We are raising money to cover construction costs, and then to fund ongoing maintenance and monitoring. If we raise more than we need for immediate costs, we will do more scientific research and add signage, wildlife viewing access and other improvements. Our ultimate goal is to make the Bayou St. John marsh a destination for education, recreation, bird watching and fishing.
This project will give lots of benefit for relatively low cost. Since it piggybacks on an existing dredge project, the earth moving is free. Construction uses all local materials and new technology that is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than traditional methods. Several partners are providing material and technical support, including the Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Restore the Earth Foundation.
Why are we so excited about this project?
Building wetlands where there is now a concrete wall will benefit the local wildlife, the city’s residents and visitors, and the imperiled Louisiana coast.
•Improves aquatic habitat for fish, crab and waterfowl.
•Traps sediment and improves water quality.
•Protects adjacent bulkhead and levee.
•Enhances the historic urban waterway and the Lafitte Corridor.
•Provides a living classroom and wildlife viewing in an urban area.
•Demonstrates new nature-based technologies that can help restore the Louisiana coast.
Every dollar donated will go directly into constructing, maintaining and enhancing these wetlands, and then studying them scientifically and developing them as a resource. This is an opportunity to help build something tangible that you can visit to experience nature in the city. The habitat you help build will support more birds for you to see and fish for you to catch.
Please consider helping build the Bayou Saint John wetlands. Tell everyone who loves New Orleans about this opportunity to restore its environment and support its culture.
Sculpture taking shape. Lightning struck tree on Bayou St. John being transformed into local landmark. iPhone photo taken by Charlie Lonodn at 6:15 a.m. on May 14, 2013.
You can thank the Mothership Foundation which is the force behind the Bayou Boogaloo for contacting artist Martin Miller who made this happen. Jared Zeller is the Director.
***
The old dead oak on Bayou St. John is being transformed into a local landmark. Look for seagulls to be part of the sculpture soon!
This sculpture by Martin Miller is a project of the Mothership Foundation which produces the Bayou Boogaloo. Jared Zeller is the Director.
Work on the sculpture produced a lot of cut up oak logs and branches free for the taking!
Click on the photos by Charlie London for a larger view.
***
below by Doug MacCash
Friday’s endless rain didn’t help artist Marlin Miller. Miller, a Florida wood sculptor has begun carving a dead oak tree on Bayou St. John near Orleans Avenue. As of noon Saturday (May 11) Miller had transformed one branch of the tree into a flying egret. He plans to carve more birds, plus a few musical instruments into the tree in time for Bayou Boogaloo, which takes place May 17 to 19. Bad weather tightens his already tight schedule.
Though Miller and I had never met, I knew some of his work. Those wooden wildlife totems along the coast road leading to the Ohr-O’keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi are Miller’s. Since Hurricane Katrina, he’s specialized in chain sawing dead coastal trees into monumental statues.
Standing in the soupy grass beside the bayou, Miller said his art was part of a campaign, sponsored by Bayou Boogaloo, to restore the trees along the historic waterway. Miller said that his 30- ft. tree had been killed by lightening strike during Hurricane Isaac. As I left, Miller used a mechanical man lift to elevate himself into the lower limbs. The sound of a chainsaw rattled in the bayou breeze.
Chain saw artist Marlin Miller transforms tree for Bayou Boogaloo, New Orleans
Doug MacCash, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on May 13, 2013 at 11:34 AM, updated May 13, 2013 at 1:13 PM
I have a certain criteria and this tree right here just absolutely capped every one of my criteria — Marlin Miller
Wood chips flew like sparks as sculptor Marlin Miller used the tip of his roaring chain saw to carve feathers into the wings of an oaken seagull. As he worked, Miller stood in the basket of a yellow spiderlike mechanical lift – the sort of thing used to change street lamp bulbs. The coarse saw dust from his carving fell at least 30 feet before it settled on the damp grass beside Bayou St. John. On Sunday afternoon (May 12), Miller, who lives in Florida, had less than a week to finish his oak tree sculpture in time for the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo, a neighborhood festival that takes place May 17-19.
Miller, wearing mirror glasses, hazard orange work pants and a T-shirt advertising the chain saw company that sponsors him, said he was born into an artistic family. His mother, grandfather and great-grandfather were painters, he said. But he was drawn to sculpture.
“I was always, like, three-dimensional,” he said. “I messed around with clay and wire sculpture and I got involved with wood and I just kept taking it to a higher and higher and bigger level. It’s what moves me.”
Miller said he has a thriving career selling portable wooden sculptures from several galleries, but producing monumental carvings from trees that remain deeply rooted in the earth is his passion. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he said, he has had plenty of opportunities to transform trees killed by the storm and flood into sculpture. Anyone who’s traveled U.S. 90 through Biloxi, Miss., has seen his works rising from the median.
The tree Miller is carving on Bayou St. John did not die in 2005. It had survived the wind and water of Katrina, only to be killed by lightning during Hurricane Isaac in 2012. Money raised during the upcoming Bayou Boogaloo celebration will be used to plant more replacement oaks around the somewhat bare south end of the bayou – a few young trees already are in place. Calling in Miller to produce a carving from the remaining dead tree is meant to focus attention on the replanting.
“I get offers from all over the country many times a year,” he said. “I’m unfortunately not able to do most of the those projects. But I have a certain criteria and this tree right here just absolutely capped every one of my criteria. It’s got to be a big tree. It’s got to be an oak or a hard wood. It has to be on a public piece of property in a highly visual area, and the last thing it has to have is, it’s got to have some emotion. That’s this tree perfectly described.”
The emotion of the tree had to do with the history of the area in the distant and more recent past, Miller said. He had been told that almost 300 years ago, the bayou was the entryway for the French founders of New Orleans. He had been told that small boats used to move supplies along the waterway. He had been told that a helicopter had crashed not far from the tree during the 2005 flood evacuation. All true. Someone will certainly mention that the tree is a witness to the splendor of Mardi Gras Indians, who gather in its shadow for annual parades.
Miller said that other chain saw artists might have chosen to lop the large branches off of the top of the tree at the start of the project, using the massive trunk alone as raw material for a totem-like carving, but he wanted to “keep this sculpture looking like a tree.” To take advantage of the relatively narrow branches, he chose to carve delicate birds in flight.
“I decided to leave the branches (in place) and put in a lot of the birds that are indigenous to this area, the seagulls, the herons and the cranes and egrets, and a pelican. I think I might be able to sneak a little owl in there somewhere. And if I have time, I’m actually going to try to incorporate a school of trout in the base of the trunk.”
Miller said he had been told that the ecosystem of the bayou was changing since it had been better opened to Lake Pontchartrain, which raised the salt content of the water, possibly allowing trout to ply the waters.
Miller, whose face is perpetually coated in feathery wood residue, said the chain saw company that sponsors him covers his expenses, and he donates the art-making for free. The old oak, he said, is almost as hard as rock. He has 100 spare chain saw chains. His first day of work, Friday (May 10), had been completely rained out. He said he was blessed with a cool breeze and an overcast sky on the second day, as he stripped the tree of small branches. By Sunday, the sun was beginning to peek through the clouds, promising hot work ahead. The process is a labor of love.
“This is way too much work for money,” he said. “You have to have something way more powerful than money behind you to climb up a tree, 35 feet, and deal with these conditions.”
High in the branches of the tree, Miller petted the splintery surface of a diving gull as he explained that the coarse chain saw carving was only the beginning. Later, he would return to each bird, burning the carved lines with a torch to produce dramatic shadows. Then he would use a wood grinder to smooth the carving and brighten the surface of his enormous sculpture. He planned to varnish the entire tree and to treat the base with termite repellant to lengthen the life of the sculpture.
As Miller descended in the mechanical lift, a man appeared on the far side of the bayou, shouting and gesturing enthusiastically in his direction. When the man got close enough to be heard, he announced that he, too, was a chain saw operator, who had worked on construction sites across the city. The shouted conversation wasn’t about art; it was about the bond between chain saw aficionados everywhere.
Lots of people pass by the tree to offer Miller encouragement. Many, Miller said, recount their storm, flood and recovery experiences. Most probably appreciate Miller’s efforts to give the old oak a few more years.
“It makes me feel really good as an artist that maybe we can stick something out here that maybe people can reflect on.”
