My first king cake of the year

In the event that you prefer to wait for your first slice, don’t miss the King Cake Kick off party on Sunday, January 29th from 12:00-4:00p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Algiers Point.

There will be hot dogs & chili, baked beans, king cake (of course!), soft drinks, local beers and live music from Benny Grunch and Da Bunch.  Open to the public, it’s a family friendly event perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

Trinity Lutheran is located at the corner of Eliza & Olivier Streets

From the office of John Young, Jefferson Parish President:

Jefferson Parish is preparing for its 22nd Annual Christmas Tree Marsh Restoration Project.

All Jefferson Parish residents, including unincorporated areas, the Town of Jean Lafitte, Gretna, Harahan, Kenner and Westwego, wishing to participate in the program are asked to remove all lights, tinsel, garland, ornaments, tree stands and plastic bags from their Christmas trees and leave them on the curb for collection.   Artificial, flocked or painted trees are not eligible for the program.

Residents are advised to place trees curbside on the evening of Wednesday, January 11, 2012, whereas in years’ past, trees were typically collected on the second scheduled garbage collection day.   Garbage trucks will make one pass through each neighborhood to collect trees within the dates of January 12, 13, and 14, 2012.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Fire Departments of the West Bank Presidents and Chiefs Association will again this year offer the use of their boats and personnel, and the 24th Judicial District Court, State Probation and Parole as well as other parish‐related justice programs are assigning court‐ordered community service workers to participate in supporting coastal restoration.

The New Orleans Fire Department is also supporting the Tree Marsh Restoration Project as will several Jefferson Parish municipal Police Departments.  Fire Department and law enforcement personnel will use boats to transport recyclable Christmas trees, using this as a training exercise for maneuvering shallow‐draft boats in tight quarters to specific GPS coordinates, while court‐ordered community service workers will load trees into boats.  Court‐ordered participants will have their service hours tracked and submitted to the appropriate justice program by employees of the Operations division of the Parish President’s Office.

“The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources eliminated funding for Christmas tree marsh restoration programs throughout the state, but because of the generosity and cooperation of the 24th Judicial District Court, Sheriff Normand, and our Fire Fighters, we are continuing the vital work of saving our coastline,” said Jefferson Parish President John Young.

Trees will be placed into pre‐constructed shoreline fences in Goose Bayou, near the town of Jean Lafitte.  Project Coordinator Jason Smith added that “A monitoring study by Louisiana State University found that these tree fences dramatically reduce the rate of shoreline retreat and, by effectively trapping sediments, result in higher accretion rates in nearby marshes.   Sediments carried over and through the fences by wave action are slowly accreting and building land between the shoreline and the fences.”

Bids will be taken shortly for the planned extension of the bike and walking path in Algiers.  With construction expected to begin this spring and be completed before the end of 2012, the path that currently runs from the Gretna ferry landing to the Algiers ferry landing will be extended all the way to the Chalmette ferry landing on the West Bank.

Plans include benches, water fountains, places for people to clean up after their pets and historic markers that share some of the history of Algiers.  There is already a shell path on the top of the levee, but the addition of a 10 foot path and several access ramps along the route will make your walk, run or ride even more enjoyable.  Additionally, the section of the levee that was closed to restrict access to the Naval Base is now open and will be included in the path construction.  Just that one change makes the entire path more appealing since it no longer dead ends into a restricted area, which forced people off of the levee and around the base.

I can’t wait to see the new improvements as they are completed!

Recent article about the bike path at nola.com

Our friends at Petite Cupcakes are, as you might know, military owned.  So they are proud to be taking a part in the Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign for Christmas.  A new, unwrapped toy will get you a free cupcake from the display case and man, are they delicious!

There is a limit of one cupcake per day, but feel free to donate multiple times through the holiday season and put a smile on a child’s face this year.

Petite Cupcakes is located at 2766 Belle Chasse Highway, Gretna LA.  Call (504) 233-3020 for hours of operation.

This weekend is the annual Orange Festival in Plaquemines Parish and I’m looking forward to getting out to Fort Jackson in Buras LA to explore, eat, listen to live music and just enjoy the sights and sounds of another local tradition.

The carnival starts on Friday with pay-one-price armbands available.  The full festival opens on Saturday, with the raising of the colors at 10am.  Get there early for the  Ride and Bike Rodeo Saturday morning with registration starting at 7:30 am or the 5k Run, also on Saturday morning, starting at 9 am and a full slate of live musical entertainment the whole weekend.

Hope we see you there!

Orange Festival website

From the Hubbel Library:

The Hubbell Library’s annual Christmas Tree and Holiday Gift sale will take place Saturday, November 26^th from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, November 27th, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.  This event is a major fundraiser for the historic Algiers Point library, and it features absolutely beautiful trees and wreaths fresh from North Carolina.  The trees are great value, and 100 percent of profits support the library.

Algiers Point’s beautiful Cita Dennis Hubbell Branch is the oldest library in the city, a New Orleans treasure.  It’s 104 years old, and part of the Carnegie legacy.  Due to termite damage and lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina, the library has been closed for years.  Friends of the Hubbell Library have been working hard to make it possible for this very special branch to be restored and reopened, and the tree and gift sale is a big part of that effort.

Because the library is closed, this year’s sale will take place three blocks away, at Gulf Pizza, the old Gulf Service Station at 446 Pelican Avenue in Algiers Point.  The Gulf station, at the corner of Pelican Avenue and Verret Street, was the site of the first tree sale held to benefit the library, over thirty years ago.

In addition to gorgeous Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands, the sale will feature a terrific selection of holiday gifts – cookbooks and other great local-interest books from Pelican Publishing, jewelry from local artists, plus other local arts and crafts.

Special events include:

• Photos with Santa
• An Arts Market
• Trees, wreaths and garland available while they last, 9am to 9pm Saturday and 9 to 7 Sunday

This is a great opportunity to support our neighborhood library – help us ensure that it will be repaired and reopened – while getting the most beautiful Christmas trees and great holiday gifts from local artists and businesses.  Plus, it’s a fun event right in the middle of Algiers Point, where you can also sample our great restaurants, cafes and bars, as well as Rosetree Glass – another source of great Christmas gifts.

 

For more information, please contact Amy Hubbell at 504-322-7479 or amyhubbell@aol.com.

The Sunshine Club has been helping the needy since the early 1930′s and they continue that tradition today, providing baskets of food during the holidays.

Their annual fundraiser is a Turkey Bingo.  If you haven’t seen folks playing bingo in an attempt to win a turkey, you haven’t seen a really fun bingo game yet.  A family friendly event, this year the bingo will be Tuesday, November 22nd at the KC Hall in Gretna (475 Franklin Avenue) starting at 7:30 pm.  Food, drinks and sweets will all be available for purchase during the event.  Feeling extra generous?  Bring a sweet to donate to the table!

In addition to the bingo games, the club is raffling off a 19″ flat screen TV and a turkey fryer.  Raffle tickets are just $1 each or 7 for $5 – what an inexpensive way to not only take a chance on what would be a great Christmas gift for someone on your list, but also to help a neighbor that might otherwise go hungry.

As we all prepare to sit down to a table full of food this week, don’t forget that part of being a member of a community is reaching out a hand to those who need one.  The Sunshine Club excels at this and I hope that they are able to help more people than ever this year.

For raffle tickets, please contact Rody Landry at 504-368-9440.

November 26, 2011 marks the second annual Small Business Saturday – a day we should all come together and support our local businesses by keeping our shopping dollars here in our own community.  Although started by the folks at American Express, it truly has little to do with a credit card company and loads to do with how we can each have a positive impact on our local economy while doing the shopping that we all need to get done at this time of year.

You are welcome to join the Amex Facebook page for Small Business Saturday, but the true focus needs to be on making the effort to help our friends and neighbors that own local businesses…whether it’s an art gallery, a small home based craft business or even grabbing a gift certificate to a West Bank restaurant, we can all find ways to keep our holiday budget dollars right here in our own community.

Need a place to start?  Visit StayLocal! for a list of businesses that are owned by Louisiana residents.

Do you have a small business in the New Orleans area?  Feel free to leave your information in the comments so all of our readers will know about you!

I’m awed and humbled by the sacrifices that our military makes every single day of every single year.  While a free meal or a discount for a day may not seem like enough in exchange for what they give, I’m appreciative of these local business that are saluting our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard with Veterans Day specials in the New Orleans area.

• Applebee’s Restaurants are all offering a special free menu for both veterans and active duty military.  See the menu here
• Chili’s Restaurants are offering a special free menu from 11am-5pm.  See the menu here
• All day on Veteran’s Day, Hooters is offering 10 free wings to active duty or veterans.  Get store locations here
• Outback Steakhouse is offering a free bloomin’ onion along with your choice of Coca-Cola beverage.  More about how Outback supports the military here
• Texas Roadhouse has a special free lunch menu from 11am-2pm.
• T.G.I. Friday’s has a buy one entree get one free offer.  More details here
• Petite Cupcakes in Gretna offers a military discount every day, not just Veterans Day!  More details here on this military owned business
• All Big Lots! and Dollar General stores are offering 10% off your entire purchase on Veterans Day.

Just a reminder that a military ID or proof of service will be required to take advantage of these offers.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart to all who have served in the past and those who are currently keeping us safe, especially those stationed locally at NAS JRB New Orleans.  You guys rock!!

Apparently, I create a lot of paper that shouldn’t be thrown in the recycle bin, but should be shredded instead and it overwhelmed my little purchases from Office Depot.  As a result, I have stacks of files and paper in my office that I can’t just toss.

Kudos to the Algiers Economic Development Foundation (AEDF) for partnering with the AARP to host a community shredding event in Algiers on Saturday.  The event will take place at the JoEllen Smith/Algiers Clinic parking lot at 4422 General Meyer.  Here’s some more of the details from the AEDF:

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing types of white collar crimes in the U.S. Experts say it’s costing businesses about $48 billion annually and $5billion for consumers (Louisiana Department of Revenue). Fortunately, there’s help. AEDF is partnering with AARP’s Fight Fraud—Shred Instead! initiative—a national campaign that’s prompting communities across the U.S. to get rid of sensitive documents via shredding. AARP Louisiana will host a community shredding event in Algiers on Saturday Nov. 5 from 10AM to 1PM at the JoEllen Smith/Algiers Clinic parking lot located at 4422 General Meyer Avenue. Individuals are encouraged to shred a maximum of 5 bags or medium sized boxes worth of documents. To volunteer for the event, call 1-866-448-3620.

Now, to get all of that paper boxed up….