New Orleans: A Bowl of Distinction

The “Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo Festival”  is a free music festival, held each Spring on the banks of Bayou St. John. In order to keep the festival FREE, a fundraiser will be held on Friday November 2nd @ 7pm, at Studio 3 ( 3610 Toulouse St behind the American Can).

The fundraiser is themed around the Mexican festival “Dia de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead), and will celebrate with Mexican food and drinks, live music and a festival atmosphere. Admission is $40 per person, $75 per couple, and $375 to reserve a table for ten.
Tickets are available at: http://thebayouboogaloo.com/

Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association’s annual fundraiser and the area’s premier event.

Do you long for the days of the old Drive-In Movie Theatres?

Then you’ll love Fortier Park’s Movie Night.

Everything you could do at the Drive-In, you can do here.

Well, almost everything.

You see, Movie Night at Fortier Park is a family friendly affair.

But, you can buy hotdogs, popcorn, and drinks for a buck each and

all the proceeds go to charity.

Look for the next one on November 10th!

To Kill a Mockingbird was featured at the last Fortier Park Movie Night.

Proud to Call it Home!   http://www.viddler.com/explore/katrinafilm/videos/37/

Fortier Park is in the 3100 block of Esplanade

Sponsored by Friends of Fortier Park

and Asian Pacific Café 

This Saturday, October 20th at 7 pm

join your neighbors at Fortier Park

for the movie To Kill A Mockingbird

on Al’s big screen. 

Bring the kids, a blanket and a chair.

You can even buy hotdogs, popcorn,

and drinks for only a buck each.           

Officer Tran conducted the second FSJNA Neighborhood Watch program.

Officer Tran discussed personal safety.

Here are some of the points he made:

Have only the keys you really need on your key ring. 1 office, 1 home, 1 car. Keep all the other storage, file cabinet, and other keys inside the location where you are going. Having fewer keys will allow you faster access to your car, home, and office. It will also be easier to use those few keys as a weapon against an attacker. Go for the face and eyes.

Don’t pull too close to other vehicles at red lights or in traffic. If you do this, it makes it easier for attackers to box you in and rob you.

Never ever leave your purse or other valuables in plain view on the passenger seat.

Be aware when you go to the bank. Robbers will follow you home. If you believe you are being followed go directly to a Police or Fire Station. Do not go straight home.

When you arrive home, if you see a door open or a window broken do not investigate this yourself. Immediately call 911.

When you call 911, if the dispatcher is unresponsive or rude, immediately call back and ask for a supervisor.

Walking in the neighborhood: bring your dog, a whistle, and always go in a group of two or more. At night, always bring a flashlight with you.

Join us for the next Neighborhood Watch Walk which will begin at Soprano’s on Friday, October 26th. Look for more information soon!

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood?  Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?  Unless you’re the Terminator, for an instant you’re probably set back on your heels.  However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly that person can get back their focus on what’s important.  Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson.
I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened:
I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!  The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.
And I mean, he was friendly.
So, I said, “Why did you just do that?
This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!”And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.”Many people are like garbage trucks.  They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.  As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.  If you let them, they’ll dump it on you.   When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally.  You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.   You’ll be happy you did.  So this was it: The “Law of the Garbage Truck.”
I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, “I’m not going to do it anymore.”I began to see garbage trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.”   Well, now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don’t make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish
them well, and I move on.One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best.Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about. The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.  What about you?   What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?  Here’s my bet.
You’ll be happier.
Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so..
Love the people who treat you right.
Forget about the ones who don’t.
Believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance , TAKE IT!
If it changes your life , LET IT!
Nobody said it would be easy…
They just promised it would be worth it!**********************************************************************

Here’s a film just under two minutes about Deborah Langhoff:

http://tinyurl.com/yrws8u

Let’s elect someone who is real.
Someone who lives and breathes New Orleans.
A regular person who cares about us.

VOTE!

http://DeborahLanghoff.com

Community activist vying for House seat

She touts experience in helping city heal Friday, August 31, 2007

From staff reports

Deborah Langhoff, a community activist, has announced her candidacy for the 94th District state House seat.

As a civic leader and small business owner, Langhoff said she has spent the past two years working with people who are leading the city’s recovery. It’s this experience, she said, that will serve voters.

As a homeowner and small business owner, Langhoff said she has felt the frustration citizens have with rebuilding, rising insurance, safety and politics.

“I’m running for state representative because I believe New Orleanians deserve a chance to be represented by an advocate for them,” she said.

For 16 years, Langhoff has been a public schools advocate. She serves on the founding board of the Neighborhood Partnerships Network, the 5th District Neighborhood Recovery Group Steering Committee and the New Orleans Energy Police Task Force, where she promotes urban tree canopy restoration.

Langhoff also serves as president of the Lake Vista Homeowners Association and revived the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization’s block captain program.

The 94th District includes the lakefront neighborhoods, City Park and parts of Mid-City, Gentilly and Faubourg St. John. The primary is Oct. 20.

A native New Orleanian, Langhoff graduated from John McDonogh High School and attended the American Ballet Theatre School in New York City. She and her husband, Alan, have three children.

 New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival

November 18, 12 noon - 6:00pm
Oak Street at South Carrollton

We are excited to announce the first annual New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival to be held on Sunday, November 18, 2007 from noon to 6:00pm.

The festival will be held along the 8100-8300 blocks of Oak Street between S. Carrollton Ave and Cambronne Street.

The first annual New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival will feature po-boy offerings from some of the city’s most famous restaurants.

Festival Judges will present the “Golden Loaf Awards” for the best tasting po-boys. Judges include Tom Fitzmorris host of “The Food Show” on WWWL-AM, and Lorin Gaudin, host of “All Over Food” on WRNO-FM.

The festival will feature 2 stages with live music, arts & crafts, a silent auction, a children’s section with games & prizes, a beer garden with a large screen TV to view the Saints as they play on their game day; and of course, the best po-boys in New Orleans.

At the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival, it’s all about food, fun and family; with great music, lots for kids to do and the arts.

The Music

Bands that will be performing at the festival include:

• Papa Grows Funk
• Walter “Wolfman” Washington
• Charles Farmer Group
• Kevin O’Day Band
• Delta Blue

Downloads

• Sponsorship Info
• Food Vendor Form
• Artist Contract
• Volunteer Info
• Press Release

About the Po-Boy Preservation Festival

Hosted by the Oak Street Association, the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival was founded as a celebration of the storied sandwich and the role it has played in New Orleans’ culinary culture.

“There’s a whole generation of young people out there who have grown up thinking Jared is the expert when it comes to making sandwiches” said Brad Wilkins, President of the Oak Street Main St. Association “But a po-boy is more than just a sandwich, it’s a part of our collective past.”

The collective past of which he speaks is the historic streetcar driver strike that crippled New Orleans in 1929.

History has it that a local shop owner who was formerly a streetcar driver began feeding the striking the workers for free. When a hungry worker would come in off of the picket line the call would go out: “here comes another poor boy!”

From those humble beginnings spring the many varieties of the po-boy sandwich; a New Orleans original of which there is no sub-stitute!

The Po-Boy Preservation Festival will also highlight the ongoing revitalization of the Oak Street corridor.

In 2006, Oak Street was designated a National Main Street^TM by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a Louisiana Main Street^TM by the Department of Historic Preservation which authorizes the program. The Main Street^TM program, that has been in existence since 1985 has been successfully revitalizing local neighborhood commercial corridors that have suffered from large scale malls and big box stores in the suburbs.

As a not for profit 501 C 3 organization the program has been raising funds through events, grants and corporate sponsorships. As a result new businesses have been popping back up on Oak Street and longtime shops have been given the chance to revitalize their existing businesses as well as freshen up and revamp their store fronts. The Main Street initiative has been steadily gaining steam, and Oak Street has seen a slew of activity as a result of the programs success.

Proceeds from the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival will go towards the Oak Street Association’s work to promote, preserve, and revitalize Carrollton’s historic Oak Street neighborhood and commercial corridor.

A portion of proceeds from the festival will go to support the Abeona House Child Discovery Center. Abeona’s purpose is to support families through high quality childcare for their young children by fostering a sense of community, and respect for the capactiy of children, their teachers and parents.Located in the Riverbend area on Oak Street, Abeona House is a full time, year-round, not for-profit child care center. They serve children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 5 years.

Louisiana Main Street Press & Articles

• Main Street News, June 2007

For more information on the Louisiana Main Street: Main to Main event check out the website at: www.louisianamaintomain.org

For more information on the Oak Street-Main Street program check out their website at: www.onlyonoak.com

For further information, please contact Marilyn Kearney, Program Manager at oakstreetnola@bellsouth.net or by phone at (504) 228-3349

New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival Sponsors

The New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival would not be possible without the generous support from the following companies and organizations, in addition to the many people that have volunteered their time and skills.

Party Size Sponsors

• Cox Communications, Inc.
• Louisiana Main to Main

Whole Loaf Sponsors

• Alto Audio
• The Idea Village
• Leidenheimer Baking Company

Additional Sponsors

• Haase’s Shoes
• Zatarain’s

Steve Chaplain of Mid-City Pay Phone Company and Robert Thompson of Fair Grinds have teamed up to produce Mid-City’s first cell phone booth.    Steve had a 1940’s style phone booth in his garage and has allowed Fair Grinds to borrow it so coffee patrons can chat on their cell phones without disturbing others.

The cell phone booth is in need of some restoration but has brought a smile to everyone who encounters it at Fair Grinds.    Go check it out and look forward to using it soon! 

Pay phones still exist!     

If you want one at your business call Steve at 488-1996.

Photos taken January 6, 2006 

Chalmette resident sees her house for the first time after it was gutted. 

Historic funeral home to be reborn as a bookstore

STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER

The exterior of the old Bultman Funeral Home on

St. Charles Avenue. The building is being converted

into a Border’s bookstore.

By Greg Thomas
Real estate writer

Borders has leased the former Bultman Funeral Home on St. Charles Avenue with plans to gut the iconic structure and convert it into a 24,000-square-foot bookstore.

The store, expected to open in November 2008, will be the first national bookstore chain in Orleans Parish since BookStar closed its 12,000-square-foot French Quarter store in 2003.

The retail project, which promises to revitalize a deteriorating yet high-profile Garden District intersection, already has the support of neighborhood groups and preservationists.

But independent bookstores are girding for a battle much like the one that unfolded in “You’ve Got Mail,” the 1998 movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. In the movie, Hanks plays a chain bookstore magnate who drives out of business the small independent store owned by Ryan’s character.

“It’s a deliberate, predatory move against independent bookstores,” said Tom Lowenburgh, owner of Octavia Books. “They’re a 500-pound gorilla, and it’s not an accident” that Borders is situating itself between Octavia and the Garden District Book Shop, another well-established local store, he said.

Commonly known as the House of Bultman, the site Borders is leasing operated as a funeral home under some version of the Bultman family name for more than 120 years. It hosted services for many historical figures ranging from Confederate President Jefferson Davis to 1950s actress Jayne Mansfield. In recent years, funerals for oil tycoon Patrick Taylor and poet and painter Stan Rice, the husband of author Anne Rice, were held there.

But the funeral home was closed in August 2006, when the Alderwoods Group Inc. of Toronto put it up for sale along with several other local funeral homes.

STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER

William Ryan, left, of Ryan Companies, and Lewis Stirling III, of Stirling Properties, sit in the main foyer area of the historic Bultman Funeral Home on St. Charles Avenue.

It was acquired by a group of developers including Lewis Stirling of Stirling Properties and William Ryan of the Ryan Family Trust. Stirling is managing the property and signed a long-term lease with Borders on Wednesday. Stirling said chain book sellers have been trying to crack the Garden District/Uptown market for 20 years. The neighborhood’s large professional class and proximity to universities make it appealing for such retailers, he said.

Same outside, new inside

Borders will leave the exterior of the sprawling, mansionlike Bultman building largely intact, although some demolition will occur in the rear to make way for elevators to the second story. Parking is planned to increase from 38 to 60 spaces, exceeding code requirements. The building’s interior will be reinforced with concrete and steel to support the heavy weight of books and the elevators.

Borders already has a store on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie. The St. Charles Avenue store will reflect its surroundings, offering recordings of local musicians and showcasing Louisiana books and authors. It also will include a cafe with outdoor seating along St. Charles Avenue.

The St. Charles Avenue deal has been brewing for more than a year and has enjoyed strong support from Borders President and Chief Executive Officer George Jones, who owns a second home in the French Quarter, said Borders spokeswoman Anne Roman.

This won’t be the first time Borders has renovated an old building to make way for a new store, said John Sappington, Borders real estate director.

Though Borders normally builds stores from the ground up, the chain has done many adaptive reuse projects, including several historic buildings in Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; and Boston.

Has the company ever put one in a funeral home?

“No, but we do have one in a old church in California,” Sappington said.

Hoping to co-exist

Donna Allen, owner of the Maple Street Book Store, said she has been hearing rumors about Borders moving in for some time.

“I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed that the deal wouldn’t go through,” she said. “How do (independent bookstores) compete? More personal service. We know our customers by name and we know what they’re interested in,” Allen said. “And our employees read.”

But Stirling thinks independent book sellers won’t suffer from Borders’ presence.

“Our ZIP code analysis shows that (New Orleanians) are going to Metairie and the West Bank to shop Barnes & Noble and Borders,” Stirling said.

Britton Trice, owner of the Garden District Book Shop, thinks he’ll be able to weather Borders’ arrival.

“We welcome the competition. People will always go and check it out (when Borders opens), but I believe in the loyalty of our customers. I have customers that were children of customers” after 20 years of operation.

“We’ll all get through this with excellent customer service, excellent book knowledge and knowing our customers,” Trice said.

Trice, who also is president of the New Orleans Gulf South Book Sellers Association, said the independents can help one another — and have in the past — with joint advertising campaigns. Local stores might work together again as they adjust to the new competition from Borders, he said.

Little red tape for store

Despite its longtime presence on St. Charles, Bultman comes under the purview of the Historic District Landmarks Commission but has no architectural historical landmark status that prevents its demolition.

Converting the site to a Borders requires no variances or approvals for the project, but Stirling said he knew that saving the building — at least its exterior — was a sure-fire way to garner support, particularly on a St. Charles corner that was rapidly deteriorating. His strategy seems to be working.

Walter Gallas, a local representative of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, supports the deal.

“The trust’s position is that we’re delighted a building (that) for so long a time stood on that corner and completed the historic streetscape is going to be retained,” Gallas said. “There’s so many examples on St. Charles, from the 1960s and 1970s, where we lost a lot of old buildings for unfortunate development.”

Getting the building restored and in commerce is critical because it’s located in a commercial corridor that seems to be in decline, Gallas said.

“Once you lose a corner in a historic neighborhood, it works like a cancer works, spreading along side streets and into the (historic) district,” Gallas said.

Boost for intersection

Laura Shields, 2007 president of the Garden District Association, met with the development team as early as January.

“We really are pleased to see an economic infusion at the site. It’s a gateway for new development,” Shields said.

The other three corners of St. Charles and Louisiana avenues contain a recently reopened Rite Aid, a closed bakery, and a shuttered, collapsing gas station.

The one thing that the Garden District Association would not have put up with was demolition of the Bultman site, something the owners could have applied for because the building has no historical protections.

“We would not have been in favor (of a project) that didn’t maintain the historical significance of that site,” Shields said.

Greg Thomas can be reached at gthomas@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3399.

Many thanks

to everyone

who came out

to help with

planting along

Bayou St John

***********