Happy New Year and Welcome Carnival Season 2015!
Darlings, This morning, Mayor Mitch Landrieu hosted his annual King Cake party in which the original art work of the 2015 Mardi Gras Proclamation by Rex and the original work of the 2015 Zulu by talented Terrance Osborne, Mayor Mitch Landrieu was joined by city officials and representatives from Carnival organizations at Mardi Gras World where they welcomed the start of the 2015 Carnival season during "Kings Day."
Carnival season begins on Jan. 6th and culminates on Mardi Gras, Feb. 17, 2015. Tuesday’s event included a celebratory cutting of king cake. Rex and Zulu's Royalty were introduced. The original work were reproduced as limited edition posters for sale to their membership.
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Personally, I was happy to see 2014 go by. It was not my favorite year since I went back to the art world and bought a gallery based on “location, location, location” (on Royal Street), only to see the building sold out from under me after two months. Needless to say, I was devastated.
As I look ahead to 2015 I think that experience has made me stronger and I look forward to the challenge of a new location for Casell-Bergen Gallery at 1305 Decatur Street.
My social life has not changed and I feel very honored to have been included in the Times Picayune's Hall of Fame for the 2014 Partygoers List.
This year is looking great already. After spending a very peaceful New Year's Eve at home with my darling Chiquita Linda, a bottle of Veuve Cliquot Rose and 12 grapes, I was cheering for the new year of 2015 and it what it will bring me.
I was invited on New Year's Day to the lovely wedding of my darling friends Cari Roy and J.C. Jaime’s at the Spring Fiesta House on St. Ann Street. The setting was beautiful as well as the wedding. Unfortunately, I had to go back to work that day.
Saturday night was a whirl of social soirees.The first one was at my darling Sammy Steele's Safe Haven for the Arts Gallery where talented artist Anne Cicero was showing her work along with Mary Moore Soniat's beautiful oils
— with Anne Cicero and Mary Moore Soniat.
Carnival Season came a little early for me since on Saturday. I was invited to the annual Twelfth Night Mystic Krewe of Satyricon Gala at the lovely home of Harry Greenberger and Marshall Harris on Bayou St. John.
Congratulations to King and Queen-Elect Marshall Harris and Becky Allen. This is one Ball that I do not want to miss on Friday, January 30.
My next soiree was the annual British Dinner at the home of Don Rees and his wife, talented cabaret singer Suzaune Yee McKamey . The invitation read:
“Your presence is requested at the 8th Annual British Christmas Dinner to be held in Metairie, by Prince Donald Rees, Princess Suzaune Yee-Rees (née McKamey), Queen Mother ~ Helen of Cincinnati, and Sir Roland Hendy ~ Lord of Bedford, who has extended his stay in the colonies so that he may grace us with his presence at this auspicious occasion.” As in the past it was quite a delicious feast.https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152455718940870.1073742393.581200869&type=1&l=2676c9c3b8
Last night I invited by my darling friend Patrick van Hoorbeeck to a lovely reception in honor of the upcoming Krewe de Jeanne D’Arc Parade. The setting was Patrick's Bar Vin in Hotel Mazarin.
This year's King Charles VII is Patrick Van Hoorebeeck, owner of Patrick's Bar Vin, and the is Simone Bruni Crouere, owner of Demo Diva. The king and queen are selected based on community leadership contributions.
The delicious food was provided by two former Kings: Chef Jacques Soulas of Cafe Degas, (Cafe' Degas), Chef Rene' Bajeux (GW Marriot)and Chef Agnes Bellet (Hotel Mazarin)
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Darlings, Tuesday, January 6 is Epiphany Day and there will be not just one, but two parades that will herald the Carnival Season. Mardi Gras will come early this year (Feb. 17), and the Carnival Season officially starts on 12th Night, or the Feast of the Epiphany, on Jan. 6. Parties, balls and festivities are held throughout the season leading up to Mardi Gras week, with the culmination on Mardi Gras Day.
Tuesday, January 6 is the Krewe de Jeanne D’Arc in the French Quarter 6:00 p.m., celebrating the birthday of St. Joan of Arc, patron saint of France.
Visit www.joanofarcparade.org for route map, and other parade details.
And then there’s the Phunny Phorty Phellows taking their annual streetcar ride, kicking off the Carnival Season, starting Uptown at 7:00p.m. January 6. My darling friend Pat Jolly has been selected to be this year’s Queen.
This week also marks the bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans won by the Americans over the British at the conclusion of the War of 1812. It was the last time a foreign army had invaded American soil and there will be celebrations all this week at the Chalmette Battlefield off of St. Bernard Highway in Chalmette.
There will be reenactments of the battle, guided tours of the Chalmette Battlefield and other festivities commemorating this historic event, especially between January 8 and January 10. And it’s all free! For more information go to
On January 9, I have been invited to the Pussyfooter's Blush Ball at Generations Hall. A portion of proceeds will go to benefit Metro Center for Women and Children. There will be performances by Big Sam's Funky Nation, Quicky Mart, MC Fresh Johnson, and The Pussyfooters.
That evening is also the Louisiana Museum Foundation’s Victory Ball, Battle of New Orleans at the Cabildo.
On January 10, Friends of the Cabildo, the support organization for the Louisiana State Museum, is proud to announce a symposium in conjunction with the Bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans. Held at the Old U.S. Mint, Dr. Alan Taylor, 2014 and 1996 Pulitzer Prize Winner in History and University of Virginia Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History, will present on the War of 1812 and his newest book The Internal Enemy: Slavery and the War in Virginia, 1772-1832.
Symposium speakers include a panel discussion on the role that the Battle of New Orleans has played in Southern Culture with Dr. Lawrence Powell (Tulane) and Dr. Clarence Mohr (University of South Alabama) moderated by Dr. Charles Chamberlain (Historia, LLC). Dr. Lo Faber (Princeton), visiting Loyola-New Orleans professor, will present on a global perspective of the battle and Dr. Shelene Roumillat (Tulane) will present on the role that women played in the battle. Dr. Joseph Stoltz(United States Military Academy) rounds out the speakers and addresses the 200 years of celebrating the battle.
And finally, wrapping up a great week will be the multi-Grammy Award-winning American banjo master Bela Fleck performing two concerts with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (in New Orleans and Covington on Thursday and Friday) and with a chamber music quintet on Saturday. The pieces to be performed are Fleck’s original compositions for banjo and full orchestra, as well as with just strings.
The LPO concerts will be Thursday and Friday, Jan. 8 and 9, at the Mahalia Jackson Theater and First Baptist Church of Covington, both at 7:30 p.m. Maestro Carlos Miguel Prieto will conduct. The chamber quintet with Bela Fleck will be at the Contemporary Arts Center on Jan. 10, also at 7:30 p.m. We are honored to have such a talented, internationally renowned musician as a soloist with our local symphony orchestra.
Darlings, have a great week!
Tuesday, January 6 -
Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc Parade
A walking parade with 7 horses and approximately 250 participants will present a theatrical procession honoring Joan of Arc's 603rd birthday tonight at 6:00 p.m. in the French Quarter.
The Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc (established 2008) produces the annual spectacle, complete with three ceremonial stops: First at the Historic New Orleans Collections' Williams Research Center at Conti and Chartres for a toast to the royalty and krewe; Secondly, at the St. Louis Cathedral for the blessing of Joan's sword; Thirdly, for a king crowning ceremony at the end of the parade route at Washington Artillery Park, where two firedancers will also perform. The public will join in Joan's birthday celebration by singing Happy Birthday and joining in the season's first king cake after King Charles VII, portrayed this year by Patrick van Hoorebeek, is crowned.
Other highlights and new elements include:
NEW 2015 PARADE ELEMENTS: JOAN OF ARC PARADE
1. NEW GROUPS IN THE KREWE: Approximately 20 people are in each of the following groups, joining the parade for the first time this year. Each group is responsible for creating their own medieval themed costumes and making or purchasing their own handmade krewe throws. The Marian Servants will be dressed as the Knights of Orleans...look for them in the Lady's Knights Auxiliary at the front of the parade; The Amazons will be in gold armor breastplates as part of the Lady's Knights Auxiliary; Skinz andBonez will be in their signature black and white, playing percussion for both the Trial and Flaming Heretic sections of the parade.
2. NEW LARGESCALE PROP: The Gates of Orleans. Representing Joan of Arc's entry in 1429 to Orleans, France, where she lifted the Siege of Orleans and was forever after known as the Maid of Orleans. The gate is 10 feet tall by approximately 8 feet wide; four men dressed as "walls" will carry the towers. The gates consist of a wood frame covered with a photo realistic medieval wall skin and handmade cloth banners.
3. QUEEN'S ENTOURAGE: Queen Yolande of Aragon's entourage will have 24 people invited by the 2015 Queen Yolande of Aragon, Simone Bruni. They will be dressed as various ladies in waiting, knights and other castle courtesans and will be handing out flower seeds, chocolate coins, and other thematic throws for all ages.
4. THE CAKE SAYS IT ALL: Joan's birthday cake will lead the parade!! We will have jesters carrying Joan's "birthday cake"...parade goers are asked to follow the parade and place the distributed L.E.D. tealight candles at the cake to honor Joan's 603rd birthday. The king cake shared by Charles VII with Joan at the end of the parade at the King's Crowning and King Cake Ceremony represents both her birthday cake and the first king cake of the season, offered after Joan crowns the Dauphin in a simple gesture to represent Charles VII's 1429 crowning. Happy birthday is sung in one of the most interesting convergences of history, tradition, and art of the Mardi Gras season, due to Joan's birthday falling on Twelfth Night.
5. LIVE THEATER: Actress Stacey Maxwell, traveling to join the parade from South Carolina (after stumbling across the parade last year and falling in love with it), will be performing scenes from Joan of Arc's trial, using Joan's own well-documented words. She is the Trial Battalion towards the end of the parade, and will be accompanied by another woman portraying Guilaume Marchon, the notary who transcribed Joan's trial. She will hand out handwritten quotes jotted down as she walks next to Stacey; those are her parade throws!
For a link to the parade route and other Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc information, please visit www.joanofarcparade.org.
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January 6
As an official event of the Bicentennial Commission, this years "Pakenham Final Supper" in commemoration of the Bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans will be more dramatic and spectacular than in the past! With a full bar, specialty "Wassail" cocktail, a period dinner and dozens of costumed actors participating, the dinner will provide guests with an experience of a lifetime. On Tuesday Jan 6, 2015 at 6pm at the historic Orleans Ballroom at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel of the New Orleans Hotel Collection. Cost is $149 inclusive of wine, dinner, entertainment, taxes, gratuities and full bar. Reservations are made online at www.neworleanshotelcollection.com/1812
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Thursday, January 8
Franco-Irish-American Ceremony for French-Irish Hero at Battle of New Orleans
St. Louis Cemetery No1 in New Orleans on Thursday, 8 January 2015, at 12noon. The Consul General of France, Mr. Gregor Trumel, and the Consul of Ireland, Judge James McKay III will be taking part in an international ceremony unveiling a commemorative plaque in honor of French General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert. The ceremony has been organized by a group of 18 French Napoleonic-era reenactors, the 3eme Battalion des Chasseurs des Montagnes, based in southern France. We are coming to New Orleans specifically for this ceremony and to take part in the bicentennial reenactment of the Battle of New Orleans the weekend of 9-11 January 2015. We will perform the ceremony in our full dress French uniforms.
General Humbert led a French expedition of 1000 French troops that landed in Ireland in 1798 (the “Year of the French”), roundly defeated, with the help of Irish forces who united with his men, a British army at the Battle of Castlebar (ever since known as “the Castelbar Races”), established the first free republic in Irish history (the Free Republic of Connaught) but was ultimately defeated in this effort to liberate Ireland from the English. In 1813, he moved to New Orleans and fought with General Andrew Jackson at Chalmette before passing away in New Orleans in 1823. He is buried in St. Louis Cemetery N° 1.
WYES-TV'S LATEST DOCUMENTARY COMMEMORATES THE 200 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN VICTORY AND ONE OF THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD MILITARY ENGAGEMENTS IN OUR COUNTRY'S HISTORY
New Orleans, LA - That 8th of January morning in 1815, General Andrew Jackson and his U.S. soldiers joined by the so-called 'rag-tag' force of Louisiana white Creole and free men of color militia, Barataria pirates, Choctaw Indians, and Tennessee and Kentucky riflemen prevailed in the Battle of New Orleans and it was a meaningful victory. It also drew the War of 1812 between the Americans and the British to a close.
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS: A MEANINGFUL VICTORY explores how the British misjudged their opponent and miscalculated the complexities of the battle ground. It also describes why the multi-cultural population of New Orleans and Louisiana proved the naysayers wrong about their loyalties to a young nation. WYES-TV/Channel 12 will air the hour-long documentary commemorating the 200 year old battle on Wednesday, January 7 at 8:00 p.m.
The War of 1812 was not over, the treaty not ratified and the British not likely to retreat if victory had been theirs, which some argue could have been the case if the British had continued their successful assault on American defenses on the West Bank of the Mississippi River, across from the main battlefield in Chalmette on the East Bank.
Instead, the American triumph over the British built a sense of national pride and confidence the young nation had not yet experienced. It propelled America to its 19th century destiny as a burgeoning global presence.
Life in the city and areas south along the Mississippi River and Lake Borgne is also described. Historians interviewed are: Jason Weise, Associate Director, Williams Research Center and John Magill, Curator/Historian, both with the Historic New Orleans Collection; Ron Chapman, Nunez Community College professor of history and author, Battle of New Orleans: But For a Piece of Wood; Ron Drez, historian, lecturer and author, The War of 1812, Conflict and Deception; William de Marigny Hyland, St. Bernard Parish historian; Joyce Miller, Museum Historian and Polly Rolman-Smith, Curator, Science and Technology, The Louisiana State Museum; Alvin Jackson, The Historic Treme Collection; Shelene Romillat, PhD, Battle of New Orleans researcher; G. Howard Hunter, President, The Louisiana Historical Society; Eberhard 'Lo' Faber, PhD, Visiting Professor, Loyola University New Orleans; Emelie Leumas, PhD, Archivist, Archdiocese of New Orleans and Tim Pickles, owner, Historical Military Productions/Historical Consultant.
Interviews were conducted on-site at locations in existence during the time of the Battle of New Orleans including The Pitot House on Bayou St. John, Mary Plantation in Plaquemines Parish, Madame John's Legacy and the Old Ursulines Convent, both in the New Orleans French Quarter and the Sun Oak Museum and Guest House in the Faubourg Marigny. The Historic New Orleans Collection Williams Research Center, built in 1915, also provides an interview setting. Additional on-site taping was done at The Meraux Foundation's 'Docville' in St. Bernard Parish, just a few miles down river from the January 8th British assault.
But the featured location in the documentary is the Chalmette Battlefield in St. Bernard Parish, the actual site of the Battle of New Orleans, now part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve with the National Park Service.
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS: A MEANINGFUL VICTORY is produced and hosted by Tom Gregory and Marcia Kavanaugh. Editors are Tom Gregory and Lenny Delbert. Supervising videographer is Paul Combel.
The program is made possible by The Meraux Foundation and The Historic New Orleans Collections.
New Orleans, LA - That 8th of January morning in 1815, General Andrew Jackson and his U.S. soldiers joined by the so-called 'rag-tag' force of Louisiana white Creole and free men of color militia, Barataria pirates, Choctaw Indians, and Tennessee and Kentucky riflemen prevailed in the Battle of New Orleans and it was a meaningful victory. It also drew the War of 1812 between the Americans and the British to a close.
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS: A MEANINGFUL VICTORY explores how the British misjudged their opponent and miscalculated the complexities of the battle ground. It also describes why the multi-cultural population of New Orleans and Louisiana proved the naysayers wrong about their loyalties to a young nation. WYES-TV/Channel 12 will air the hour-long documentary commemorating the 200 year old battle on Wednesday, January 7 at 8:00 p.m.
The War of 1812 was not over, the treaty not ratified and the British not likely to retreat if victory had been theirs, which some argue could have been the case if the British had continued their successful assault on American defenses on the West Bank of the Mississippi River, across from the main battlefield in Chalmette on the East Bank.
Instead, the American triumph over the British built a sense of national pride and confidence the young nation had not yet experienced. It propelled America to its 19th century destiny as a burgeoning global presence.
Life in the city and areas south along the Mississippi River and Lake Borgne is also described. Historians interviewed are: Jason Weise, Associate Director, Williams Research Center and John Magill, Curator/Historian, both with the Historic New Orleans Collection; Ron Chapman, Nunez Community College professor of history and author, Battle of New Orleans: But For a Piece of Wood; Ron Drez, historian, lecturer and author, The War of 1812, Conflict and Deception; William de Marigny Hyland, St. Bernard Parish historian; Joyce Miller, Museum Historian and Polly Rolman-Smith, Curator, Science and Technology, The Louisiana State Museum; Alvin Jackson, The Historic Treme Collection; Shelene Romillat, PhD, Battle of New Orleans researcher; G. Howard Hunter, President, The Louisiana Historical Society; Eberhard 'Lo' Faber, PhD, Visiting Professor, Loyola University New Orleans; Emelie Leumas, PhD, Archivist, Archdiocese of New Orleans and Tim Pickles, owner, Historical Military Productions/Historical Consultant.
Interviews were conducted on-site at locations in existence during the time of the Battle of New Orleans including The Pitot House on Bayou St. John, Mary Plantation in Plaquemines Parish, Madame John's Legacy and the Old Ursulines Convent, both in the New Orleans French Quarter and the Sun Oak Museum and Guest House in the Faubourg Marigny. The Historic New Orleans Collection Williams Research Center, built in 1915, also provides an interview setting. Additional on-site taping was done at The Meraux Foundation's 'Docville' in St. Bernard Parish, just a few miles down river from the January 8th British assault.
But the featured location in the documentary is the Chalmette Battlefield in St. Bernard Parish, the actual site of the Battle of New Orleans, now part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve with the National Park Service.
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS: A MEANINGFUL VICTORY is produced and hosted by Tom Gregory and Marcia Kavanaugh. Editors are Tom Gregory and Lenny Delbert. Supervising videographer is Paul Combel.
The program is made possible by The Meraux Foundation and The Historic New Orleans Collections.
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS: A MEANINGFUL VICTORY repeats Thursday, January 8 at 7:00 p.m.; Friday, January 9 at 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, January 10 at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, January 11 at 9:00 p.m.; Sunday, January 18 at noon; and Monday January 19 at 9:00 p.m.
January 9, 2015
Louisiana Museum Foundation presents a Battle of New Orleans Bicentennial Celebration
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS BICENTENNIAL VICTORY BALL
6:30P.M. – 10:00P.M.
Cabildo, 701 Chartres St.
ATTIRE: Formal, Modern Day Black Tie, Evening attire for Ladies
Andrew Jackson portrayed by Dave Fagerberg
(504) 558-0493
January 9
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