New Orleans Volunteer Orchestra offers a free holiday concert ä 6G
THE C ESCENT CITY
ADVOCATE
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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 9, 2015 H
JEFFERSON • NEW ORLEANS • PLAQUEMINES • RIVER PARISHES • ST. BERNARD THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
Lynne Jensen
Eva Jacob Barkoff
GLAM ’70s fashion helps children in Honduras
Remembering lost loved ones during holidays
AROUND JEFFERSON
THROW ME SOMETHIN’
Help the children of La Ceiba, Honduras, by joining designer Carolina Gallop for her GLAM ’70s fashion extravaganza from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Blue Nile, 532 Frenchmen St. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door or $10 with a donation of a toy or clothing for the children. Advance tickets are available at www.eventbrite.com. Gallop will ship toys, clothing and sneakers to Honduras before Christmas, and a sister living there will distribute them. More items will arrive in May when Gallop visits La Ceiba. “I’ve always collected adult clothing and feminine products in the past,” Gallop said. “You’d be surprised how much we take for granted here. But when I go (to La Ceiba), there are so many children who come up to me looking for candy and stuff. … I want to bring them clothing and shoes, underwear and socks.” La Ceiba “is innocent — untouched by the outside world,” she said. “I love it.” The event will feature fashions by Gallop and emerging New Orleans designers including John Delgadillo, of Cutting from Cutting Edge Diva; Keno Watson, of Keno Kouture; De’Andre Beverly; Jonathan Woods, of Calamity; and *BEAU*APOC*. Entertainment will include singer-songwriter Ben Hunter, Kynt Bryan’s Flash Mob, illusionist Princess Stephaney and Raven, and DJ Pablo Zaldivar. Nikki Reyes and Ranord Darensburg will emcee, and there will be hors d’oeuvres and drink specials. Donated items are accepted for local children and those in La Ceiba year round at All Souls Episcopal Church and Community Center, 5500 St. Claude Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; and 10 a.m. to noon on Fridays. Gallop is inviting teens interested in design to the event, and she teaches sewing. For information, contact Gallop at carolinagallop@gmail.com.
Holiday caroling
The Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association will äSee JENSEN, page 9G
Advocate staff photo by MATTHEW HINTON
Pastry chef Deborah Heyd of the Roosevelt Hotel is constructing a gingerbread house that’s a replica of the hotel. It is on display in Teddy’s Cafe.
A SWEET JOB
All-night program
Chef’s gingerbread hotel offers all the decorative amenities BY KAREN TAYLOR GIST kataylor@theadvocate.com
Deborah Heyd puts more detail into her gingerbread houses than the average dabbler in holiday-inspired edible architecture. For most of us, having four walls that stay upright and are roughly parallel would do the trick, but her justcompleted creation is a replica of the Roosevelt Hotel, the place where she works as head pastry chef. “I just rolled out the sugar dough to make the bay windows,” she said. “It’s almost like a hard fondant I’m using so that I can put it on the building and it hardens, and I can put lights through it. Gingerbread won’t hold up to all the decorating.” Because Heyd’s mini-Roosevelt is about 5 feet tall and
INSIDE: Chef Deborah Heyd shares her recipes and building tips ä 9G
about 6 feet wide, it started with a wooden frame. She’d already baked the gingerbread, let it cool and glued it to the wooden walls. “I did two colors, white and dark gingerbread, because both sides of the building are different. The lobby side is white marble; the other is brown brick. Then the decor can match the building and not cover it.” Now it was down to the fun part: decorating. Within a couple of days would come the finishing touches — sidewalks, plants and tables around the pool. And maybe people, or at least gingerbread men. Surely the challenges are
The funeral homes of L.A. Muhleisen and Son and MilletGuidry will sponsor the 16th annual “Christmas Service of Remembrance” at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Belle Grove Plantation Ballroom of the Pontchartain Center in Kenner. The guest speaker is Wally Pontiff, who will relate the events following the unexpected death in 2002 of his son, LSU baseball standout Wally Pontiff Jr. A graduate of Jesuit High School and a Metairie resident, the younger Pontiff was 21 when he died of a genetic heart disease. “This remembrance service honors the memory of lost loved ones in our community,” said funeral director Edward Muhleisen. “We know that the holidays are not festive for everyone, especially those families who have experienced a recent death. This is why we encourage anyone who has experienced the loss of someone special to attend the service and pay tribute to their memory.” The event is free and open to the public. For information, call (504) 466-8577 or (985) 536-7700.
Associated Press photo
Advocate staff photo by JOHN McCUSKER
The exterior of the iconic The massive gingerbread replica of the Roosevelt Roosevelt Hotel many when trying to reproduce a complicated building. But the artistry seemed to come easier to Heyd than the engineering. “The bay windows are the hardest part — I’m not an architect. I waited until the last minute to decide on how I’m going to construct them (to make them) stay on.” Like an artist who favors an emphasis on the raw ma-
terials, Heyd likes to leave some gingerbread showing. “I like to use as much candy and decoration as I can but show the gingerbread itself so people can see that it’s edible. I try not to use a lot of fondant to cover the baked gingerbread.” There will be fondant piping aplenty, though, to replicate moldäSee SWEET, page 9G
The Nineveh Baptist Church and Jonah Group Outreach Community Development Inc. invite parents and their children to the 11th annual “Up All Night and Drug Free” event beginning at 8 p.m. Friday at the church, 1009 Wilker Neal Ave., Metairie. The all-night program will include motivational speakers, singers, dancers and other performers. There also will be puppet shows addressing the issues of education, living a drug-free life, having selfrespect and dealing with anger constructively. There will free food and refreshments as well as door prizes. For information, email jonahgroupinc@gmail.com
Photography tips
If your photos of Mother Nature never quite capture the beauty you hoped for, local photographer Mike Murphree will provide some tips from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, 6588 Barataria Blvd., Marrero. The program is free, but space is limited.
Mardi Gras Indians offer a day of reading, rhythm Advocate staff report
Mardi Gras Indians are known for their call-and-response chants, but at Moton Charter School in New Orleans recently, they were all about reading and response. Students were treated to Mardi Gras Indian performances, story readings and lessons in conflict resolution as The Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame, Guardians
Institute and Basin Street Station joined to present the 11th annual Mardi Gras Indian Holiday Book Program. Students were given books in memory of Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr. from his widow, Herreast J. Harrison, co-founder and director of Guardians Institute. The program aims to increase achievement in reading. More photos ä 4G
Advocate staff photo by MATTHEW HINTON
äSee BARKOFF, page 9G
Mardi Gras Indian Wildman Vincent Carter, left, and Wildman John Ellison, right, dance onstage at the Moton Charter School as the Guardians Institute, the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame and Basin Street Station give books to students on the anniversary of the 1998 passing of Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr. Big Chief Roderick Sylvas, second from left, of the Wild Tchoupitoulas, dances in his suit.