November-December 2012 Issue of Inside Northside Magazine

450

$

PONTALBA • HAUTE HOSTS • LADIES FOR LIBERTY • ROC PAUL

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 VOL. 27, NO. 6

November-December 2012

Vol. 27, No. 6

The community magazine of the northshore, serving St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes.

Publisher Lori Murphy ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Associate Publisher Poki Hampton Editor Jan Murphy

Art Director Brad Growden

Managing Editor Stephen Faure

Editorial Assistant Lauren Smith

Contributors are featured on page 16.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Business Manager Jane Quillin Advertising Account Executives Brenda Breck

Will Dwyer Poki Hampton

Candice Laizer Barbara Roscoe Intern Alexandra Wimley –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– For advertising information phone (985) 626-9684 fax (985) 674-7721 email sales@insidenorthside.com –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Please send items for Inside Scoop to scoop@insidenorthside.com.

Photos for Inside Peek, with captions, should be sent to peek@insidenorthside.com. Submit items for Inside Input or Dining Guide to editor@insidenorthside.com.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Contact Inside Northside P.O. Box 9148

Mandeville, LA 70470-9148 phone (985) 626-9684 fax (985) 674-7721 website www.insidenorthside.com

Subscriptions 1 Year $18 2 Years $30 email subscriptions@insidenorthside.com ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

On the cover Artist Carol Hallock –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– INSIDE NORTHSIDE MAGAZINE is published bi-monthly (January, March, May, July, September, November) by M and L Publishing, LLC, PO Box 9148, Mandeville, LA 70470-9148 as a means of communication and information for St. Tam­m any and Tangipahoa Parishes, Louisiana. Bulk Postage paid at Mandeville, LA. Copy­r ight ©2012 by M and L Publishing, LLC. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written consent of publisher.

Publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and artwork.

departments 12 Publisher’s Note 14 Inside Input 16 Contributors 22 Inside Scoop page 124

36 IN Better Health Bristie Smith.

86 IN the Arts Holiday happenings.

99 Insider Haydee Ellis.

100 Men’s Jewelry

108 Worthy Cause

East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity.

115 Flourishes Treasures for your pleasure.

20 IN Good Company 1

Ashton Noel, Richard LaNasa and Paul Spansel of NOLA Lending Group, LLC. 124 Inside Look Glitz and Glamour.

contents

32 IN Love and Marriage 1 Notable northshore weddings.

table of

features

page 64 page 38

page 74

18 En Plein Kayak Cover artist Carol Hallock.

38 Old and New The Barnett Tchefuncta home.

46 Pontalba America’s oldest apartment buildings.

56 Bouquets of Sunshine St. Timothy’s Flower Ministry.

34 IN the Spotlight 1 Couture for a Cause.

60 Winter Wonderland Amelia Dalseres’s Christmas village.

36 IN the Spotlight 1 Lee Financial Partners.

64 Charles Emery Cate The engine that drove Hammond’s prosperity.

137 Inside Peek

74 Roc Paul A journey through art and life.

82 50 Years of Growth

The East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce.

92 Haute Times with Haute Hosts Secrets of great parties.

02 Slidell Ladies for Liberty 1 Supporting the troops.

profiles 112 Louisiana Heart Hospital 153 Planet Kids Academy

42 1

IN the Spotlight Honoring IN cover artist James Michalopoulos and the artists of the Harvest Cup Polo Classic 2012.

46 Northshore Living 1 Bedico Creek.

154 IN Great Taste Culinary Kids, Martin Wine Cellar, Pinkberry.

155 Inside Dining 161 Ad Directory 162 Last Bite Cayman Sinclair of The Lakehouse.

November-December 2012 9

Clear the mechanism

by Lori Murphy

I am a huge fan of the baseball movie For the Love of the Game

with Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. In it, memories flood the mind of Costner’s character over the course of his last game in the majors.

On the pitching mound, as he pitches a no-hitter, everything slows down, allowing him to focus on what matters. He calls it “clearing the mechanism.”

I have discovered a beautiful place to do the same in my life. Or

perhaps I should say re-discovered. Walking the Mandeville lakefront with water lapping against the seawall and a breeze blowing is perfect for slowing everything down—a wonderful respite, as rejuvenating as a massage or a good nap.

When my daughters were young, I took them to the little playground

at the western edge of the lakefront park to swing and go down the slide.

We would stroll just over two miles along the water from the playground to the marina and back. Unfortunately, I got out of the habit.

They say it takes 21 days of doing something consistently to establish

a habit. I am working on re-establishing this one. I’ve even gone down the slide again. Wish me luck!

p.s. Happy holidays from all of us here at Inside Northside! My holiday wish for you is that you find your own special way to “clear the mechanism” during the hectic days ahead.

INput

Editor’s note: The following comment was made online at insidenorthside.com.

Regarding Steve Faure’s fascinating article on St. Louis Cathedral: The Jewel of New Orleans [IN, Sept.-Oct.], I would like to mention that the acclaimed 19th century architect who designed the Cathedral in its present form, Jacques de Pouilly, was my great-great-grand uncle.

His younger brother, Alexandre Marcel de Pouilly, was my great-great-grandfather.

Jacques de Pouilly was also noted for the design of St. Augustine Church, many if not most French Quarter buildings and residences, the creation of Exchange Alley as a convenient path to the Cathedral for Vieux Carre residents and many elaborate tombs in the city’s cemeteries. Many thanks for the story and accompanying photos.

Jan Lugenbuhl Mandeville Jan,

Thank you for the kind words. It’s great to hear from someone who has a direct connection with de Pouilly.

- Steve

Barbara, The article Coastal Chic [IN, Sept.-Oct.] is eye catching—cleverly arranged content and very well composed. While working on it with the Inside Northside team, I felt as if I was part of your family. It was a truly wonderful experience! I’m impressed all the way around. I must say, my house and I have never looked so good!

Eva Michelle Trader Izabella’s Villa Eva, We’re glad you are pleased with the article. Your home was picture perfect! Working in close partnership with our clients is always very important to us.

You made it easy!

- Barbara

photo: FIELDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Dear Lori, Heart of Fashion was a fabulous celebration—and obviously for a great cause!

Everything about it was fun— including putting my 10 favorite things together and having people bid on it, plus my winning someone else’s basket.

I was so happy to be involved in this effort to support the advancement of pediatric care at St. Tammany Hospital. This is incredibly important for me, for other parents and for all who appreciate the quality of life we enjoy on the northshore.

Thanks to the hospital, Saks, Inside Northside and everyone else who helped make Heart of Fashion a success on all levels.

Beverly McQuaid

Beverly,

Congratulations on being one of the lucky bidders!

We are so grateful to you and the other “northshore notables” who put together their 10 favorite things for the auction—and, of course, for those who bid on them. Heart of Fashion was a rousing success again this year only because of the dedicated effort of many, many people like you.

- Lori

Contributors Karen Gibbs Proud mother of three grown daughters, Karen Gibbs lives on the northshore with her husband, Mike, and her mom, Jackie. A frequent contributor to Inside Northside, she tremendously enjoyed writing this issue’s article on Charles Emery Cate (see page 64). Of particular interest was the handwritten 1873 diary of Cate’s wife, Mertie. “I was especially drawn into Mertie’s life while studying the diary. She was tenderhearted yet unbelievably strong and resilient, the perfect wife for her visionary husband.”

Lauren Smith Northshore native Lauren Smith followed up high school at Fontainebleau in Mandeville by completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Ole Miss (Hotty Toddy!). Having previously interned with IN, she was excited when an editorial position became available. Though she misses Oxford and having four distinct seasons, Lauren wanted to return to her native Louisiana because there just isn’t anything quite like it! Her long-time boyfriend, Kevin, proposed in April and they are currently planning their wedding and building a new home together in Mandeville.

Amanda M. Westbrooks Raised in Baton Rouge by Midwestern parents, Amanda Westbrooks attended cooking classes in New Orleans to learn how to make proper jambalaya before running off to Chicago. By turns frozen and tempered in the Windy City for more than a decade, Amanda has written for companies like The Pampered Chef; her work has appeared in Custom Homes magazine and the now-defunct Restaurants & Institutions. For the past six years, she’s been happily employed as the online editor for Restaurant Business magazine. Having recently returned home to thaw out, Amanda now lives on the northshore and spends her free time exploring the restaurant and bar scene here and across the country and yammering about it on her blog: FromTheDrink.com.

Contributors: Kaley Boudreaux and Alice Riley.

photo: STEPHEN FAURE

THE PICTURESQUE BAYOUS, swamps and marshes of South Louisiana attract all sorts of visitors, from ecotourists arriving from Europe to local residents taking a day trip in their own back yard. For those who can’t make the trip, there are artists like Carol Hallock who call the swamps and marshes home and

a lot of time lately in the marsh and swamps. In a novel twist that puts her right in the middle of her subject matter, she has been paddling out with her paints, brushes and canvasses, painting en plein air in her kayak.

“It’s very, very peaceful,” Carol says. She started

En Plein Kayak Cover Artist Carol Hallock

by Stephen Faure make their living capturing and sharing the area’s scenic beauty.

Carol and her husband, Jim, live in a home perched high on stilts. It’s on a canal that connects with Bayou Lacombe in the little town that shares its name with the waterway. Reaching Bayou Lacombe by boat in an area surrounded by a national wildlife management area, Carol can turn left, upstream toward the cypress swamps and pine forests, or turn right, down toward the marshes lining the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Both environments are rich with opportunities for the naturalist painter.

While she has painted a variety of subjects— portraits, still lifes, New Orleans street scenes and, most famously for IN, garden scenes dominated by lush, colorful banana leaves such as those appearing on her May/June 2006 cover—Carol’s been spending 18

Inside Northside

a few years ago, after noticing her neighbor across the canal paddling around. “I said, ‘Can I borrow your kayak to see if it’s as nice as it looks before I buy one?’ It was just as nice as it looked. So, I get in my kayak and find a scene to paint.”

While she may find kayaking peaceful and relaxing, it’s not without the hazards commonly found in the swamps and marshes, especially during summertime. “Usually, I butt myself up into some land so I’ll be steady. But there are a lot of alligators out there now; I may start bringing an anchor and staying in the middle instead of near the shore. In the winter time, of course, you don’t worry about it,” Carol says, as the gator population is either sluggish or in hibernation.

Recently, Carol’s been on a pelican painting kick, which follows a long infatuation with an egret called Geraldine. Actually, several egrets named >>

Meet cover artist

Carol Hallock and see some of her favorite works on display at

Rug Chic 4240 Highway 22 Mandeville, LA

Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 5:30-7:00 p.m.

For more information, call

626-9684

Everyone’s Invited!

November-December 2012 19

Geraldine. “When we moved here, egrets were everywhere, and my mom [her retired parents live a few doors down] names everything. Penelope is the squirrel; lizards are Albert; Charlie is the blue heron; and all the egrets are Geraldine. The egrets are beautiful and very peaceful. I don’t do as many as I would like because they all tend to have the same pose and the same setting.

I tend to wait for a little inspiration, because I want to make them all different.”

Her swamp- and marshscapes sell well, but she maintains a fondness for doing figurative work. “I like to do people, because their posture can tell a story,” Carol says. It’s a trait she is adept at displaying in her work with animals, as well. She points to a picture with her husband, Jim, taking a fish off a hook with a very interested dog in the background. “This is Cookie,

who died recently. Jim would always fish in the boathouse, and she’d go fishing with him. Notice she’s looking at the fish, not him. She loved, loved, loved fishing. She’d watch that cork go down, and if the cork didn’t go down, she’d paw at him!”

Plug, plug, plug While she’s been a professional artist for the past 15 years, for much of that time she kept working a “regular” job. When she appeared in IN in 2006, Carol had a part-time job. Since then, Carol’s been able to work full-time as an artist. Her secret to success? “It’s plug, plug, plug.”

That’s what she advises artists just starting out to do. “Plug, plug, plug—just keep going—and it gets stronger every year. It just takes time. Produce and promote. Nobody else is going to do it for you. If you keep plugging and people

see your stuff, it will start happening.

“I love to paint, but when you’re painting regularly there are other motivations. One is money. If I’m low on inventory, I’ll paint every day. But truly, I’m in the ‘art’ mode 24/7. If I’m not thinking about painting, I’m thinking about the business side of it. I say all of my paintings have a job. Their job is to be sold,” Carol says, laughing.

Loving Lacombe Bayou Lacombe, its waters and its wild denizens inspire Carol, but so does the town itself. Looking at a picture she’d painted of a pair of massive oaks standing on Main Street, she says, “Lacombe is still kind of undomesticated; it’s got all the beautiful trees and water. We like that.”

Her house up on stilts is a necessity, as, Carol says, “We flood at the drop of a hat.” But they’re used to it. It’s a small price to pay to be in the middle of such abundant subject matter that is either a paddle or a short drive away.

The pelicans Carol’s started taking an interest in (which, interestingly, her mom has never named—they aren’t around the house and not as much a part of everyday life, Carol says) congregate on the shore at the end of Lake Road, just a few minutes from her house. With the birds, the lake and extensive marsh, it is a favorite place for her to paint. “It changes color all day long,” Carol says. “And that’s a wonderful thing to share.”

Carol will be exhibiting her work at the Three Rivers Art Festival on Nov. 10-11 in Covington. Her work is also available through her website, carolhallock.com; in New Orleans at the Jean Bragg Gallery of Southern Art, 600 Julia St.; at Sofas and Chairs, 4116 Canal St.; and in Baton Rouge at Elizabethan Gallery.

10-11 Three Rivers Art Festival. Featuring 200 artists from more than 25 states in a juried show of original works.

INSIDE

Downtown Covington. 10am-5pm. Three Rivers Run 5K and

the definitive guide to northshore events and entertainment

November Y 1 Breastfeeding Support Group.

Breastfeeding your child. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. Noon1pm. Free. 898-4435. stph.org.

1 Les Toussaints les Lumieres des Mortes: All Saints, the Lights of the Dead.

All Saints Day tradition: blessings of graves and candle lighting ceremony. Various cemeteries in Lacombe. Call for locations and times. Lacombe Heritage Center, 882-7218.

1 Preparing for Childbirth Class. Lakeview Regional Medical Center, 95 Judge Tanner Blvd., Covington. 6:30-9:30pm. Free. Call to register, 1-866-4LAKEVIEW. 1-3 Specters, Saints and Spirits. NOMA 22

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1-mile races on Sat. Free. 327-9797. threeriversartfestival.com.

Art Exhibition. St. Tammany Art Association Art House, 320 N. Columbia St., Covington. Special event Nov. 2. Th- Fri, 10am-4pm; Sat, 11am4pm. Free. 892-8650. sttammanyartassociation. org.

1-30 Mandeville City Hall Artist of the Month. Fontainebleau H.S. Photo Club.

Mandeville City Hall, 3101 E. Causeway App. Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm. Free. 626-3144.

1-Sep 2013 Newcomb Pottery Exhibit. The Palm, the Pine, and the Cypress. Louisiana State Museum. Madame John’s Legacy, 632 Dumaine St., New Orleans. Tue-Sun, 10am-4:30pm. Free.

(504) 568-6968. crt.state.la.us.

Y 1, 8, 15, 29 New Baby Support Group.

STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 11:15am-Noon. Free. 898-4435. stph.org.

1-Dec. 1. Accidental Artist. Exhibit showcasing the works of late-in-life artists Milo Stephens, Mickey Asche, Kelly LandrumHammell, Kenny Bridges and Keith Dellsperger.

Slidell Cultural Center at City Hall, 2055 Second St. Wed-Fri, Noon-4pm. Sat, Dec. 1 9am-1pm.

Free. 646-4375. slidell.la.us.

2 Girl Scouts Centennial Luncheon and Women of Distinction Awards. Speaker Jenna Bush Hager. New Orleans. $100; $150 for luncheon and reception. Cerise McClendon, 800-644-7571.

2 Painting With a Purpose. Fundraiser for Camellia City Bark Park. Painting With a Twist, 2132 Gause Boulevard E., Slidell. 7pm. $45.

641-6433.

2-3 LeadHer Live. Northlake Christian

School, 70104 Wolverine Drive, Covington. 7pm. Free. Haelie Heard, (318) 918-8417. leadher.org/about-events.

2-4 Ponchatoula Trade Days.

Antiques and collectibles booths, fine arts and crafts, food and live music. Downtown Ponchatoula.

9am-5pm. Free. Mary Scandurro, 386-0026.

2-4 Pontchartrain Film Festival. Slidell Little Theatre, 2024 Nellie Drive. $5 per showing or $25 for all showings. 326-6822.

PontchartrainFilmFestival.com.

3, 10, 17, 24 Mandeville Trailhead Community Market. 675 Lafitte St., Mandeville. Sat., 9am-1pm. Free. mandevilletrailhead.org.

3, 10, 17, 24 Camellia City Market. Robert and Front Sts., Slidell. Sat., 8am-noon. Free. camelliacitymarket.org.

Y 3, 17 New Family Center Open House. Tour facility and meet staff. STPH Family Center, 1202 S. Tyler St., Covington. 10amnoon. Free. stph.org.

2-18 Bell, Book and Candle.

A romantic comedy. Playmakers

4 Celebrate the Legend: Ronnie Kole. Sunday brunch honoring Ronnie Kole with induction

Theater, 19106 Playmakers Rd., Covington. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sunday, 2pm (except Nov. 4). Adults, $15; students, $10. 893-1671. playmakersinc.com.

ceremony into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Slidell Municipal Auditorium, 2056 Second St. 1:303:30pm. $40. Tickets available at lmhof.org.

2, 24, 30 Parents’ Night Out! Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 6-9pm. $30 per child. Reservations required. 7275553. culinarykidsns.com.

4 Northshore Literary Society.

Featuring Virginia Howard. St. John’s Coffee House, 535 E. Boston St., Covington. 4-6pm. 8935553. northshoreliterarysociety.com.

Y 3 Baby Chat for Siblings.

Ages 3 and up with parent.

St. Tammany Parish Hospital, Covington. 10am-noon. Free. 8984083. stph.org.

4 St. Paul’s Open House. St. Paul’s Gene Bennett Sports Complex, 917 S. Jahncke Ave., Covington. 1pm.

892-3200. stpauls.com.

3 Breast Feeding Class.

Lakeview Regional Medical Center’s Magnolia Room, 95 Judge Tanner Blvd., Covington. 2-4pm. Free.

1-866-4LAKEVIEW to register.

3-28 Covington Farmers Market. Wed and Sat; Wed, Covington Trailhead, 419 N. New Hampshire St., 10am-2pm; Sat, 609 N. Columbia St., 8am-noon.

Free. 892-1873.

3-Jan 5 Juried Watercolor Show. Louisiana Watercolor Society. Christwood Retirement Community Atrium, 100 Christwood Blvd., Covington.

9am-5pm. Free. 554-1015. louisianawatercolorsociety.org.

4 St. Scholastica Academy Open House. 122 Massachusetts St., Covington. Sign-in, 12:30pm; open house, 1-3pm. 892-2540, ext.

132 or esimmons@ssacad.com.

4 Sunset Sundays. Terrence Simien and the Zydeco Experience.

Mandeville Trailhead, 675 Lafitte St. 4:30-6:30pm. Free.

Mandevilletrailhead.org.

4, 11, 18, 25 Carpentry Class. Primitive woodworking demonstrations. Otis House Museum, 119 Fairview Dr., Madisonville. 1-3pm. Free, with $1 park admission; 62 and up and children under 3, free. 792-4652.

5 Home Computer Security Class. St. Tammany Parish Library,>> November-December 2012 23

Inside Scoop Slidell Branch, 555 Robert Blvd. 9am-5pm; arrive at 8:45am. Free. Register at lajacc.org/training or 1-888-487-2700.

Y 5, 12 Children in the Middle. Simultaneous two-night sessions for divorcing parents and their children. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 7-9pm. Adults, $35/ person, $45/couple; members, $30/person, $40/ couple. Children’s series: $10/child (max $20/ family). 898-4435. stph.org.

5, 12, 19, 26 Cooking Class for Kids!

Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 5:15-7:15pm. $25 drop-in, $75/ month. Reservations required. 727-5553. culinarykidsns.com.

5, 12, 19, 26 Microderm Mondays. Azure Spa, 2040 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville.

Limited appointments available. $69. 727-7676.

5, 12, 19, 26 Mommy and Me! Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 10-11am. $25 drop-in, $75/month. Reservations required.

727-5553. culinarykidsns.com.

Y 6, 13, 27 Play and Learn. Parents/caregivers and children 16 months to 4 years. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 9:30-10:15am. Members, $15/month; nonmembers, $24/month. 898-4435. stph.org.

7 Opera on Tap. New Orleans Opera Association. Abita Brew Pub, 72011 Holly Street, Abita Springs. 7pm. Reservations recommended.

892-5837. neworleansopera.org.

Y 7, 14, 21, 28 Bereavement Counseling.

Hospice of STPH, 725 W 11th Ave., Covington.

10am. Free. 871-5746. stph.org.

7, 14, 21, 28 Botox Wednesdays. Dr. Kelly Burkenstock’s Skin•Body•Health, 2040 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville. Limited appointments available. $265/area, $665/whole face. 727-7676.

7, 21 Total Joint Replacement. Class conducted by a physical therapist. Lakeview Regional Medical Center, 95 Judge Tanner Blvd., Covington. 1-2pm. Free. 1-866-4LAKEVIEW. 8 Free Child Safety Seat Inspections.

STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida Street, Ste. B, Covington. 9am-noon. Karen Supan, 8984435. stph.org.

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8 Ribbon Cutting. Oil and Vinegar, 611 Pinnacle Pkwy., Covington. 11am. 809-1693. oilandvinegarusa.com.

8 St. Tammany Photographic Society Meeting. St. Tammany Art Association Art House, 320 N. Columbia St., Covington. 7pm.

892-8650. stphotosociety.org.

8 Upper School Open House. Christ Episcopal School Gym, 80 Christwood Blvd., Covington. 7pm. 871-9902. christepiscopalschool.org.

8, 9 Adobe Acrobat Class. St. Tammany Parish Library, Covington Branch, 310 West 21st Ave. 9am-5pm; arrive at 8:45am. Free. Register at lajacc.org/training or 1-888-487-2700.

8-11 History and Heritage. Behind the scenes at The National WWII Museum and tour points of interest in New Orleans. National WWII Museum, 945 Magazine St., New Orleans. 1-877-8133329, ext. 257. ww2museumtours.org.

8, 15, 22 Lamaze Childbirth Class.

Lakeview Regional Medical Center, 95 Judge Tanner Blvd., Covington. 6:30-9:30pm. Free. Call to register, 1-866-4LAKEVIEW. Y 8, 15, 29 Cuddle Buddies. Parents/ caregivers and infants 8-15 months. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 10:30-11am. $12/month; members, $6. 898-4435. stph.org.

9 Envision Our Library. Informational meeting sponsored by the St. Tammany Library Foundation.

602 Yupon Place, Mandeville. 11am-1:30pm. 8458727. sttammanylibraryfoundation.org.

9 Northlake Newcomers Luncheon.

Vintage Court, 75082 Hwy. 25, Covington.

10am. Reservations required. 792-4926. infonewcomers@aol.com.

9 Symphonic Brass Concert. Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Brass. First Baptist Church Covington, 16333 Hwy. 1085. 7:30pm. $20-$37. (504) 523-6530. tickets.lpomusic.com.

9, 10 Kids’ Shopping Day. Let your daughter make her Christmas wish list. Blossom Girl, 22 St. Ann Dr. No 1, Mandeville. Fri, 10am-7pm; Sat, 10am-5pm. 626-6280. >>

November-December 2012 25

Inside Scoop 9-11 Oil and Vinegar Grand Opening.

Special deals every day. 611 Pinnacle Pkwy., Covington. Fri-Sat, 10am-9pm; Sun, noon-6pm.

809-1693. oilandvinegarusa.com.

10 Fleur-de-Fall. Auction for Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 1501 West Causeway App., Mandeville. 7pm. Tickets 1/$50; 3/$100; 8/$200. maryqueenofpeace.org.

St. Tammany Art Association Art House, 320 N. Columbia St., Covington. Tue-Fri, 10am4pm; Sat, 11am-4pm. Free. 892-8650. sttammanyartassociation.org.

9, 16 Corks and Cooking for Adults!

Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 6:45-8:30pm. $49/person.

Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

10 Madisonville Art Market. Water Street in Old Madisonville. 10am-4pm. Free. 643-5340. madisonvilleartmarket.com.

10, 17 Hammond Farmer’s/Crafts Market. W. Thomas St. and S.W. Railroad Ave., Hammond. 9am-3pm. Terry Lynn Smith, 2775680. dddhammond.com.

Y 10 1, 2, 3, 4 Parents. Techniques and strategies to enhance parenting skills. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 9:30am-10:15am. $25/memebers, $35 non-members; $15 add’l for spouse.

Includes book. 898-4435. stph.org.

10 Cajun Dance. Dance lessons, live Cajun music, food and drinks for sale. Abita Springs Town Hall, 22161 Level St. 7pm. Free. (504) 583-8603.

10 Family Dinner Night! Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 5-6:30pm. $12/person. Reservations required. 727-5553. culinarykidsns.com.

10 Sibling Class. For children ages 3-12.

Includes a tour of Labor and Delivery. Lakeview Regional Medical Center, 95 Judge Tanner Blvd., Covington. 10am-2pm. Free. Call to register, 1-866-4LAKEVIEW. 10 Unleashed! Moonlight Gala. St. Tammany Humane Society Fundraiser. Music, food, silent auction, dog adoption and more.

I n s i d e N o rt h s i d e

11 Sunset Sundays. Evening concert.

Sgt. Pepper Beatles Tribute. Mandeville Trailhead, 675 Lafitte St. 4:30-6:30pm. Free.

Mandevilletrailhead.org.

Castine Center. 7-11pm. $100. sthumane.org.

10-11 Three Rivers Art Festival. Featuring 200 artists from more than 25 states in a juried show of original works. Downtown Covington. 10am-5pm. Three Rivers Run 5K and 1-mile races on Sat. Free. 327-9797. threeriversartfestival.com.

10-30 Crazy Eights. STAA member show.

26

10, 30 Rick Samson. Live at K. Gee’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar. 2534 Florida St., Mandeville. 626-0530.

12 Holy Ghost School Golf Tournament.

Carter Plantation. $100/player; $400/team; gold sponsors, add’l $100. 345-0977.

12-17 Silver Plum’s Customer Appreciate Week. Free Kids Craft on Sat. Silver Plum & 1,2 Buckle My Show, 2891 Hwy. 190, Mandeville.

674-4343.

13 NAMI St. Tammany Family to Family Support Group. Pastoral Conference Center of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, 69090 Hwy. 190 E. Service Rd., Covington. 7-9pm. Free.

Martha Benson, 626-6372.

E. Brent Dufreche Conference Center, Rm. B, 15790 Paul Vega, MD, Dr., Hammond. 7-9pm.

Free. Martha Benson, 626-6372.

17 Abita Opry. Tenth anniversary show. Abita Springs Town Hall, 22161 Level St. 7-9pm. $18.

Kathy Armand, 892-0711. abitaopry.org.

14 Bon Operatit! Puccini Bar at Four Points

By Sheraton (formerly The Inn on Bourbon), 541 Bourbon St., New Orleans. 7-9pm. Free. bonoperatit.com.

15 Philanthropy Day Luncheon. AFP Greater Northshore Chapter; speaker Jim Henderson. Benedict’s Plantation, 1144 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville. 11:30am1:30pm. $40. Alison Greffenius, agreffenius@ christepiscopalschool.org.

17 An Intro to Oils and Vinegars. With Pemmie Sheasby of Oil and Vinegar. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville.

6-7pm. $30/person. Reservations required. 7275553 or culinarykidsns.com.

Y 14 Helping Children Through Grief.

STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 6-7:30pm. $10; members, free.

898-4435. stph.org.

16 Concerts in the Courtyard. Jayna Morgan & the Sazerac Sunrise Jazz Band. The Historic New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal St., New Orleans. 6-8pm. $10; members, free. hnoc.org.

17 Brain Injury Connections. STPH Conference Center 1202 S. Tyler Street Covington. 9:30am. Ann T. Mejia, 640-0498. stph.org.

14-16 Franco’s Holiday Market. Open to the public. Fashions, home décor, accessories

16 Home is Where the Art Is. Gala art auction and 20th anniversary celebration for East St.

17 Holland Grill Demonstration. Outdoor Living Center, 2101 N. Hwy. 190, Covington.

and gift vendors. Franco’s, 100 Bon Temps Roule, Mandeville. 792-0270. myfrancos.com.

Tammany Habitat for Humanity. Dinner, open bar and live entertainment. Northshore Harbor Center, 100 Harbor Center Blvd., Slidell. 7:30-10:30pm. $50/person, $75/couple. 639-0656. esthfh.org.

9am-5pm. Free. 893-8008.

15 Chamber after Hours. Networking.

Hosted by the Villas at Carter Plantation and Organize and Redesign. 5:30-7pm. Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce, 386-2536.

15 NAMI St. Tammany Family to Family Support Group. North Oaks Health System,

16 Nutcracker Tea. Cast members from Ballet Apetrei’s The Nutcracker serve and entertain patrons. Vianne’s Tea House, 544 Girod St., Mandeville. 624-3622 or marla.fowler@att.net for more information.

17 Santa Arrives. Center Court, Northshore Square Mall, 150 North Shore Blvd., Slidell. 6460661. northshoresquareonline.com.

17 Thanksgiving Servolution. Churches partner with community civic organizations, student groups and volunteers to distribute aid in >> the Hammond area. 543-0600.

Inside Scoop Y 19, 20 Safe Sitter-Babysitting Training.

2-day program. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 19, 9am-4pm; 20, 9am-4:30pm. Members, $70; non-members, $80. 898-4435. stph.org.

19-21 Holiday Camp. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 9am-3pm (extended care available 8am-5pm). $190 for 3-day session. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

Y 21 Cancer Connection Support Group.

STPH Cordes Outpatient Pavilion, 16300 Hwy 1085, Covington. Free. 7pm. 898-4481 or dmiller@stph.org.

21 Opera on Tap. New Orleans Opera Association. Puccini Bar at Four Points By Sheraton (formerly The Inn on Bourbon), 541 Bourbon St., New Orleans. 7-8:30pm. Free. (504) 267-9525. neworleansopera.org.

22 North Shore Turkey Day Trot.

Benefitting the M.D. Anderson Network.

Terra Bella, 100 Terra Bella Blvd., Covington.

Registration 7am; 1 mile fun run, 8am; 5K to follow. Mike Dugger, 845-1948 or Marc Lombardo, 966-0659.

23 Black Friday Camp. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 10am-2pm. $55, includes meals. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

23-Dec 9 A Christmas Story. Directed

by Joel Rainey. The Slidell Little Theatre, 2024 Nellie Dr., Slidell. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. slidelllittletheatre.org.

23-Dec 16 A Christmas Carol. Southern Rep play with music featuring John “Spud�

McConnell as Scrooge. Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., New Orleans. For showtimes and ticket info, call (504) 522-6545 or visit southernrep.com.

24 Crafts and Cookies Workshop! Kids get a head start on making holiday gifts and cookies!

Noon-2pm. $30 per child. Reservations required.

727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

24 Country Market Open House. 10 E. Pine St., Ponchatoula. 9am-4pm. Free. 386-9580. ponchatoulacountrymarket.org.

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25 Musica da Camera. Free concert. St. Joseph Abbey Church, 75376 River Rd., Covington. 867-2299.

Y 26 Infant/Child CPR. Skills needed for choking and breathing emergencies. Not CPR certified. 6:30-8:45pm. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. Members, $20; non-members, $25; add’l couple, $10. 8984435. stph.org.

26 Microsoft Office Powerpoint Class.

St. Tammany Parish Library, Causeway Branch, 3457 Hwy. 190, Mandeville. 9am5pm; arrive at 8:45am. Free. 1-888-4872700. lajacc.org/training.

27 Microsoft Office Excel Class. St. Tammany Parish Library, Slidell Branch, 555 Robert Blvd., Slidell. 9am-5pm; arrive at 8:45am. Free. Register at lajacc.org/training or 1-888-487-2700.

28 Holiday Open House and Trunk Show.

Hand-carved and –painted Russian Santas, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and holiday cheer.

Arabella Fine Gifts and Home Décor, 3902 Hwy. 22, Mandeville. 5-8:30pm. 727-9787.

28 Ladies Night. Fill out wish lists and view new merchandise for Christmas. Champagne Jewelers, 1344 Corporate Square Blvd., Slidell.

6-8pm. champagnejewelers.com.

Y 29 Active Parenting for Stepfamilies.

STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 6-8pm. $50/members, $75/nonmembers. Includes book. 898-4435. stph.org.

30 Christmas Lighting Ceremony.

Downtown Ponchatoula. 6pm. Free. Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce, 386-2536.

30 SSA Royalettes Dance Team Dance Party. 122 S. Massachusetts, Covington.

6:30-10pm. $30 ($20 for each additional sibling).

Laurellski1@bellsouth.net.

30 The Nutcracker. Special school showing.

Ballet Apetrei. St. Joseph Abbey, 75376 River Rd., Covington. 10am. $8/student. 624-3622 or marla.fowler@att.net.

30-Dec 1 Madrigal Feast. Northlake Performing Arts Society. Benedict’s Plantation Restaurant, Mandeville. Wassail and seating, 6:30-7pm. Dinner, 7pm. $50. 792-1392 or contactnpas@npas.info.

>>

Inside Scoop 30-Dec 24 Christmas in Zemurray.

Zemurray Park, Hammond. 5-9pm. Rose Caprera. 277-5630.

December 1 Cajun Dance. Dance lessons, live Cajun music, food and drinks for sale. Abita Springs Town Hall, 22161 Level St., Abita Springs. 7pm.

Free. (504) 583-8603.

1 STAA Art Market. Bi-monthly art market.

Covington Trailhead, 419 N. New Hampshire St. 9am-1pm. 892-8650. sttammanyartassociation.org.

1-2 The Nutcracker. Ballet Apetrei. Bennett Hall at St. Joseph Abbey, 75376 River Rd., Covington. Sat, 2 and 7pm; Sun, 2pm. Reserved seating, $25; general admission, $15. 624-3622 or marla.fowler@att.net.

1-2 The Nutcracker. The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Delta Festival Ballet.

Northshore Harbor Center, 100 Harbor Center Blvd., Slidell. 2pm. $30-$50. (504) 523-6530. tickets.lpomusic.com.

1-24 Christmas in Zemurray. Zemurray Park, Hammond. 5-9pm. Rose Caprera, 277-5630.

1-29 Covington Farmers Market. Wed and Sat; Wed, Covington Trailhead, 419 N. New Hampshire St., 10am-2pm; Sat, 609 N. Columbia St., 8am-noon. Free. 892-1873.

1-Jan 5 Juried Watercolor Show.

Louisiana Watercolor Society. Christwood Retirement Community Atrium, 100 Christwood Blvd., Covington. 9am-5pm. Free. 554-1015. louisianawatercolorsociety.org.

1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 21-23 The Roosevelt’s Teddy Bear Tea. The Roosevelt New Orleans, 123 Baronne St., New Orleans. 10am, 1 and 4pm seatings. Children under 3, free; 4-11, $39-$54; all ages 11 and up, $59-$74. (504) 335-3129.

1-Sep 2013 Newcomb Pottery Exhibit.

“The Palm, the Pine, and the Cypress.” Louisiana State Musuem. Madame John’s Legacy, 632 Dumaine St., New Orleans. Tue-Sun, 10am4:30pm. Free. (504) 568- 6968. crt.state.la.us.

1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Camellia City Market.

Robert and Front Sts., Slidell. Sat, 8am-noon.

Free. camelliacitymarket.org.

1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Mandeville Trailhead Community Market. 675 Lafitte St. Sat, 9am1pm. Free. mandevilletrailhead.org.

Y 1, 15 New Family Center Open House.

Tour facility and meet staff. STPH Family Center, 1202 S. Tyler St., Covington. 10am-noon. Free. stph.org.

2 Hanukkah Workshop! Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App. Mandeville. 12:30-2pm. $30/child. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

2 Hammond Ballet Nutcracker Tea. Michabelle Inn and Restaurant, 1106 S. Holly St., Hammond. 2-4pm. $25-$35. hammondballet. com. 429-1654.

2-16 A Christmas Carol. Southern Rep’s adaptation with music featuring John “Spud” McConnell as Scrooge. Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., New Orleans. Showtimes and ticket info, (504) 522-6545. southernrep.com.

2, 9, 16 Carpentry Class. Primitive woodworking demonstrations. Otis House Museum, 119 Fairview Dr., Madisonville. 1-3pm.

Free, with $1 park admission; 62 and up and children under 3, free. 792-4652.

Y 3 Positive Discipline-“Who’s the Boss?” Interactive workshop. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington.

10:30am-noon. Free/members, $10/nonmembers. 898-4435. stph.org.

3-6 History and Heritage. Behind the scenes at The National WWII Museum and tour points of interest in New Orleans. National WWII Museum, 945 Magazine St., New Orleans. 1-877-8133329, ext. 257. ww2museumtours.org.

3-31 Mandeville City Hall Artist of the Month.

Mandeville Winter on the Water banner contest winners. Mandeville City Hall, 3101 E. Causeway App. Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm. Free. 626-3144.

3, 10, 17 Cooking Class for Kids! Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 5:157:15pm. $25 drop-in, $75/month. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

3, 10, 17 Microderm Mondays. Azure Spa, 2040 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville. Limited appointments available. $69. 727-7676.

Y 5, 12, 19 Bereavement Counseling.

Hospice of STPH, 725 W 11th Ave., Covington.

10am. Free. 871-5746. stph.org.

3, 10, 17 Mommy and Me! Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 10am11am. $25 drop-in, $75/month. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

5, 19 Total Joint Replacement. Class.

Conducted by a physical therapist. Lakeview Regional Medical Center, 95 Judge Tanner Blvd., Covington. 1-2pm. Free. 1-866-4LAKEVIEW.

Y 4, 11, 18 Play and Learn. Parents/caregivers and children 16 months to 4 years. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 9:30-10:15am. Members, $15/month; nonmembers, $24/month. 898-4435. stph.org.

5, 12, 19 Botox Wednesdays. Dr. Kelly Burkenstock’s Skin•Body•Health, 2040 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville. Limited appointments available. $265/area, $665/whole face. 727-7676.

5 Lakeview Regional Blood Drive. Lakeview Regional Medical Center, Magnolia Room, 95 Judge Tanner Blvd., Covington. 10am-4pm. Free.

1-866-4LAKEVIEW. Y 5 Single Parenting Workshop. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. $5/members, $10/non-members.

898-4435. stph.org.

5 Tom Ford Trunk Show. Emma’s Shoes and Accessories 3904 Hwy. 22, Mandeville. 10am6pm. 778-2200. emmasshoes.com.

Y 6 Breastfeeding Support Group.

Breastfeeding your child. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. Noon1pm. Free. 898-4435. stph.org.

6 Sip and Shop. Shop the latest in fashions and décor while enjoying cocktails, light hors d’oeuvres. Free gift wrapping! Arabella, Emma’s Shoes, EROS and H20 Salon. 3900 Hwy. 22, Mandeville. Noon-8pm.

6-9 Fostering Angels Holiday Classic.

Tennis tournament. Food, festivities and a silent auction to benefit foster children. Franco’s Athletic Club, 100 Bon Temps Roule, Mandeville. Jenn >>

Inside Scoop Thompson, 373-8223. fosteringangels.org.

Y 6, 13 Cuddle Buddies. Parents/caregivers and infants 8-15 months. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 10:3011am. $12/month; members, $6. 898-4435. stph.org.

Y 6, 13, 20 Active Parenting for Stepfamilies. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 6-8pm. $50/ members, $75/non-members. Includes book.

898-4435. stph.org.

Y 6, 13, 20, 27 New baby support group.

STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida Street, Ste. B, Covington. Free. 11:15am-noon. 8984435. stph.org.

7, 8 Mistletoe Market. Shop for crafts, jewelry, art and gifts. Christ Episcopal School Gym, 80 Christwood Blvd., Covington. Fri, noon-6pm; Sat, 9am-4pm. 871-9902. christepiscopalschool.org.

7-8 The Nutcracker. Hammond Ballet Company. Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, 220 E. Thomas St., Hammond. 7pm. $20$32. 543-4371. hammondballet.com.

7-8, 14-15 Holiday of Lights. Light up the Tammany Trace Trailhead. Kiddie rides, pictures with Santa and live music. 21490 Koop Dr., Mandeville. 6-9pm. Free. Tammany Trace Foundation, 867-9490. tammanytrace.org.

7-9 Holiday Home Tour. Preservation Resource Center tour features seven Garden District homes. Trinity Episcopal Church, 1329 Jackson Ave., New Orleans. Fri, patron party (call for ticket info); Sat and Sun, tour. $30-$40. (504) 581-7032 or prcno.org.

7, 14 Friday Night Lights. Shopping and Christmas lights. Downtown Ponchatoula. Stores open until 8pm. Free. Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce, 386-2536.

7, 21, 28 Parents’ Night Out. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 6-9pm. $30 per child. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

8 Ballet Hispanico and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. Mahalia Jackson Theater, 1419 Basin St., New Orleans. 7:30pm. $20. NOBA (504) 522-0996, ext. 201 or visit nobadance.com.

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8 Christmas Parade. Floats, marching bands, throws and Santa. Downtown Ponchatoula.

5pm. Free. Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce, 386-2536.

8 Glitz, Glamour & Giving Gala. Benefitting United Way of Southeast La. St. Tammany.

Northshore Harbor Center, 100 Harbor Center Blvd., Slidell. 6:30pm. $75, advance; $100, door.

778-0815. unitedwaysela.org.

8 Holiday Dinner Ideas. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 6-7:45 pm. $30/ person. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

8 Kiwanis Club Pancake Breakfast. New Covenant Presbyterian Church. 4375 Hwy. 22, Mandeville. 8-11am. $5. Steve Jacobs, 6303456. northshore-kiwanas.org.

8 Madisonville Art Market. Water Street.

10am-4pm. 643-5340.

8 Santa at the Silver Plum! Visit with Santa and receive a free Santa photo; enjoy treats and giveaways. 2891 Hwy. 190, Mandeville. 6744343.

8 Winter on the Water. Lakefront gazebo, Mandeville. Starts at 4pm; lighting at dark; boat parade from harbor to gazebo. Free. Alia CasbornĂŠ, 624-3147. cityofmandeville.com.

8-28 Golden Jubilee. Slidell Art League 50th Anniversary members-only show. Slidell City Hall Cultural Center Gallery, 2055 2nd St. Reception.

Dec 8, 7-9pm. Wed-Fri, noon-4pm; Sat, 9amnoon. Free. slidellartleague.info.

8-Jan 12 Wax On. Invitational exhibit of encaustic works. St. Tammany Art Association Art House, 320 N. Columbia St., Covington. TueFri, 10am-4pm; Sat, 11am-4pm. Free. 892-8650. sttammanyartassociation.org.

8, 15 Hammond Farmer’s/Crafts Market.

W. Thomas St. and S.W. Railroad Ave., Hammond. 9am-3pm. Terry Lynn Smith, 2775680. dddhammond.com.

9 Christmas at TerraBella. Free family event featuring Santa Claus, train rides, cookie decorating and more. TerraBella Village, Hwy. 1085, Covington. 3-6pm. terrabellavillage.com.

November-December 2012 33

Inside Scoop 9 Christmas on the Northshore. St. Timothy on the Northshore UMC. 335 Asbury Dr., Mandeville. 3 and 7pm. Free. 626-3307.

9 Holiday Tour of Homes. Junior Auxiliary of Slidell. $20 in advance, $25 on day of tour. Nancy Arce, 290-8219 or jaslidell.org.

9 Teddy Bear High Tea. The English Tea Room, 734 E. Rutland St., Covington. 2-4pm.

Call for reservations. 898-3988.

9, 14-16, 21-23 Royal Teddy Bear Tea. The Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon St., New Orleans. 11am and 2:30pm seatings.

Adults, $58-$68; kids, $43-$53; includes Royal Christmas Bear. (504) 553-2328. sonesta.com.

Y 10, 17 Children in the Middle.

Simultaneous two-night sessions for divorcing parents and their children. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington.

7-9pm. Adult series: non-members, $35/person or $45/couple; members, $30/person or $40/ couple. Children’s series: $10/child (max $20/ family). 898-4435. stph.org.

11 NAMI St. Tammany Family to Family

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Support Group. Pastoral Conference Center of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, 69090 Hwy. 190 E. Service Rd., Covington. 7-9pm. Free.

Martha Benson, 626-6372.

Y 12 Infant/Child CPR. Skills needed for choking and breathing emergencies. Not CPR certified. 6:30-8:45pm. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. $20/ members, $25/non-members, $10/add’l per couple. 898-4435. stph.org.

13 Chamber after Hours. Regions Bank, 301 W. Pine St, Ponchatoula. 5:30-7pm. Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce, 386-2536.

Meeting. St. Tammany Art Association, 320 N. Columbia St., Covington. 7pm. 892-8650. stphotosociety.org.

14 Dew Drop Jazz Hall Concert. Christmas show with Spencer Bohren. Dew Drop Social & Benevolent Jazz Hall, Lamarque St., Mandeville.

6:30-9pm. $10. 624-3147. dewdropjazzhall.com.

14 LPO Baroque Christmas Symphony.

St. Timothy on the Northshore UMC, Mandeville.

7:30pm. $20-$37. (504) 523-6530. tickets.lpomusic.com.

Y 13 Free Child Safety Seat Inspections.

STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 9am-noon. Karen Supan, 8984435. stph.org.

14 Northlake Newcomers Christmas Luncheon. Entertainment by the Mary Queen of Peace children’s choir. Beau Chêne Country Club, 602 N. Beau Chêne Dr., Mandeville.

10am. Reservations required. 792-4926 or infonewcomers@aol.com.

13 NAMI St. Tammany Connection. Family support group for adults living with mental illness.

Conference Center, Slidell Memorial Hospital, 1025 Florida Ave. 6:30-8pm. Martha Benson, 626-6372.

14 Wine Pairings for the Holiday Menu. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 6:45-8:30 pm. $49/ person. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

13 St. Tammany Photographic Society

14, 15 Mom’s Day. Fulfill your daughter’s

Christmas wish list. Blossom Girl, 22 St. Ann Dr. No. 1, Mandeville. Fri., 10am-7pm; Sat, 10am5pm. 626-6280.

under 12, free). Available pre-tour at Creole Delicacies, 533 St. Ann St. on Jackson Square. patioplanters.org.

14-16 A Covington Native in King Arthur’s Court. Written and directed by Frank Levy.

Playmakers Theater, 19106 Playmakers Rd., Covington. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. $8. 8931671 or playmakersinc.com.

16 Caroling in Jackson Square. Patio Planters of the Vieux Carré. Jackson Square, New Orleans. 6:30pm. Free. patioplanters.org.

Y 15 Brain Injury Connections. STPH Conference Center, 1202 S. Tyler St., Covington.

9:30am. Ann T. Mejia, 640-0498. stph.org.

15 Christmas Workshop. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. Noon-2pm, $40/child. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

15 Monte the Lion’s Children’s Holiday Party. Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal St., New Orleans. 10am, 2pm. Children, $40; adults, $55.

Reservations, (504) 681-4452. hotelmonteleone. com/monte.

16 Holiday Home Tour. Patio Planters of the Vieux Carré. 1 and 4pm. Tickets $20 (children

16 Nutcracker High Tea. Music and costumed servers. The English Tea Room, 734 E. Rutland St., Covington. 2-4pm. Call for reservations. 898-3988.

19 Cancer Connection Support Group.

STPH Cordes Outpatient Pavilion, 16300 Hwy. 1085, Covington. Free. 7pm. 898-4481. stph.org.

19 Opera on Tap. New Orleans Opera Association. Puccini Bar at Four Points by Sheraton (formerly The Inn on Bourbon), 541 Bourbon St., New Orleans. 7-8:30pm. Free. (504) 267-9525. neworleansopera.org.

20 NAMI St. Tammany Family to Family Support Group. North Oaks Health System, E. Brent Dufreche Conference Center, Rm. B, 15790 Paul Vega, MD, Dr., Hammond. 7-9pm. Free.

Martha Benson, 626-6372.

21 Winter Day Camp. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 9am-3pm (extended care available 8am-5pm). $70 single day. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

26-28 Winter Camp. Culinary Kids, 3441 E. Causeway App., Mandeville. 9am-3pm (extended care available 8am-5pm). $190 for 3-day session. Reservations required. 727-5553 or culinarykidsns.com.

27-28 Creole Christmas Home Tour. Visit five historic homes dressed in traditional Creole Christmas decorations. Friends of the Cabildo, 523 St. Ann St., New Orleans. 10am-4pm. $25.

(504) 523-3939. friendsofthecabildo.org.

Y 29 1, 2, 3, 4 Parents. Techniques and strategies to enhance parenting skills. STPH Parenting Center, 1505 N. Florida St., Ste. B, Covington. 9:30-10:15am. $25/members, $35 non-members; $15 add’l for spouse. Includes book. 898-4435. stph.org.

IN Better Health

by Kaley Boudreaux

with Bristie Smith ALTHOUGH BRACES ARE A COMMON adolescent rite of passage, Bristie Smith underwent more than basic orthodontic treatment at age 20. A junior at Louisiana State University, Bristie is being treated for a severe underbite by Dr. Jessica Brown Ulmer at Brown Family Orthodontics.

“I have had an underbite my whole life. Before treatment, my bottom jaw protruded. I had frequent headaches and problems chewing. I had jaw discomfort, grinding, clicking and popping in my jaw,” Bristie says.

Bristie’s underbite was so severe that her teeth could not be straightened with orthodontic treatment alone. Dr. Jessica determined Bristie would also need surgery to properly align the bones in her jaw.

36 Inside Northside

The first step was braces to prepare Bristie’s mouth for surgery. In August 2011, Dr. Jessica put braces on Bristie. “Because I had such a big gap, for me to be able to chew, my bottom teeth sunk in to try to meet my top teeth,” Bristie says. The braces were intended to straighten and level her teeth to make them as close to perfect as possible before the surgery.

After Bristie wore the braces for several months, Dr. Jessica added surgical hooks in preparation for the next step—surgery. Through recommendations and personal research, Bristie chose Dr. Michael Block at the Center for Dental Reconstruction as her surgeon.

“Dr. Jessica had worked with Dr. Block before, and she knew he was great,” says Bristie. “Both doctors were very accommodating and very flexible.

They were constantly conversing with each other about my case. I was happy knowing they were in sync with my procedures and my overall plan.”

The six-hour surgery required an overnight hospital stay and an eight-week liquid diet during recovery. After healing completely from surgery, Bristie returned to Dr. Jessica for the remainder of her orthodontic treatment. With Bristie’s jaws properly aligned, the final step was fine tuning her teeth with rubber bands and power chains. Dr. Jessica used both to help close the slight gap remaining between her top and bottom teeth.

“Bristie’s treatment turned out beautifully. We followed our timeline, and she healed up excellently from surgery. She is a different person. You can tell in her personality when she comes into the office.

She is a gorgeous girl, absolutely beautiful,” Dr. Jessica says.

My life has completely changed since treatment began,” says Bristie. “My face looks different now,

photo: FIELDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Health Concern: Underbite; jaw pain and headaches.

Treatment: Braces and jaw surgery.

for the better. My jaws are correctly aligned. I have absolutely no clicking or grinding of my jaws and no jaw pain.

I haven’t had one headache since the surgery, which is unbelievable to me—I had headaches almost every single day leading up to the surgery. I am extremely happy with the progress so far.”

Bristie has formed a friendly relationship with her orthodontist. “It feels like you are going to visit some friends when you go to the office. After her surgery, Bristie visited Dr. Brown to show her pictures. “She appreciated it. it is obvious she really cares about my case. I don’t feel like I am just another number to her,” says Bristie.

Serious surgery and heavy dental work are not easy for anyone to face alone. Fortunately, Bristie had the support of her parents every step of the way. “I am blessed that I have parents who could afford the treatment,” she says. “My mother has become an expert smoothie maker. She stayed by my side throughout the entire recovery process. I’m extremely grateful to both of my parents.”

Bristie is still wearing her braces, power chains and rubber bands. The surgical hooks were removed after her surgery. Dr. Jessica expects to take Bristie’s braces off in four to eight weeks. “Once this is over, the entire process will have lasted a little over a year. I know it will definitely be worth it,” Bristie says.

November-December 2012 37

Old and New Repurposed elements make this Tchefuncta home unique.

by Poki Hampton

Right: View of the exterior of the Barnett house, built with bricks from a parachute factory in Mississippi. Opposite: The dining room is a mix of antiques and reproductions with solid cypress beams and monumental stone pillars.

38

TODAY’S TCHEFUNCTA CLUB ESTATES and Tchefuncta Country Club are located on land that was originally a Spanish land grant. The land eventually passed into the hands of the Suter family. In the 1950s, businessmen Kent McWilliams, Charles Cary, Bill Vice, Sandy Saer and Damon Wingfield spearheaded the acquisition of the land and began developing what would be the first phase of Tchefuncta Club Estates.

On Aug. 20, 2005, just days before Hurricane Katrina, a second phase of Tchefuncta began, along with plans to build a new clubhouse.

Charlie Barnett, Brian Storm, Ricky Thomas, Jim Harp and Brian Pellissier put together a package to buy 167 acres from the Slaughter family. The new phase has the security of the Tchefuncta neighborhood, three new golf holes and 124 home sites, all with beautiful views.

Charlie Barnett was the first to complete his house and move in as part of Phase 2. At the same time, the new clubhouse was under construction.

Architect George Hopkins was the architect on both projects.

Charlie was very hands-on in the building of his house, which is a combination of old and

Inside Northside

new elements. He found an old church, c1840, in Bogalusa that was originally built by the Goodyear family. All the wood for the new house came from this church. Charlie crawled up and down the house, determining if and how he could use the cypress beams, floor boards, rafters and joists. The floor joists were so thick he had them milled to make two boards out of one. “Back in those days, 2 x 10s were 2½ inches thick and over 10 inches wide,” says Charlie. “The underside was left rough.”

The bricks were procured from a World War I parachute factory in Columbia, Miss. “When you look closely, you can see a purplish hue (patina) to the bricks, which tells us they were made in Slidell at the Chamale Brickyard around 1870,” says Charlie.

All of the bricks, both inside and out, are from the factory. “I hand selected the queen-sized bricks instead of the purple patina for the inside to be able to use a creamier color.” The stucco on the house was left the original, un-tinted color to age outside and retain its cream color inside.

Time-worn European antiques and classic antique oriental rugs fill every room, but because Charlie and his wife, Mary, have four children between them and always entertain lots of guests for >>

November-December 2012 39

photos courtesy: THE HOPKINS COMPANY, ARCHITECTS; CHAD CHENIER, PHOTOGRAPHER

football games, these spaces must be comfortable. In the entrance, a marbletopped burled chest, c1860, beneath a gilded mirror holds two gold-leaf candlestick lamps with stenciled brown silk shades and an antique marble clock.

Two Empire pedestals are topped with bronze urns. An antique Hamadan rug lies on the brick floor.

Huge cypress beams run across the 12-foot-high ceiling in the main living areas, making a big impact. In the dining room, a Welsh dresser, c1840, is filled with antique pewter plates and antique china. A French buffet holds two contemporary glass-and-bronze lamps. Charlie could not find an antique table to seat his many guests, so the expandable walnut table is from EMB Interiors. Surrounding the table are chairs upholstered in a floral-patterned chenille. Moss-green leather armchairs>>

Above: Charlie’s

in masculinity. Right: The kitchen cabinets are of old cypress from a church, c1849, in Bogalusa.

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Inside Northside

photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

“man cave” is a study

photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

sit at either end. The room is anchored by a semi-antique Heriz rug. Two monumental stone pillars create a divide between the living and dining areas, while still leaving an open feeling.

The wine cellar is every oenophile’s dream—just large enough to hold 600 bottles of red wine, with

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Inside Northside

photo courtesy: THE HOPKINS COMPANY, ARCHITECTS; CHAD CHENIER, PHOTOGRAPHER photo courtesy: THE HOPKINS COMPANY, ARCHITECTS; CHAD CHENIER, PHOTOGRAPHER

a wine cooler for white wines. An antique Kazak oriental runner covers the brick floor.

On a near wall between the living and dining rooms is a bibliotheca, which houses books behind its wire mesh doors. On top is a collection of antique pewter wine stoppers, a cut-glass wine bucket filled with corks and a collection of vintage vintners’ tasting cups. A Michalopoulos painting hangs above. On the

floor stands an iron Boston bulldog.

The living room’s view of the new golf course creates an expansive horizon that does not call for window coverings. The seating area is centered on a large brick fireplace with a pecky cypress mantel.

Comfortable chairs upholstered in velvet and a moss-green sofa make a cozy area. An antique handcarved duck sits on an antique chest of burled yew beneath another Michalopoulos painting.

The kitchen cabinets are cypress with oiled bronze hardware and granite countertops in Absolute Black and Tropical Brown. A mosaic of elongated sandstone tiles forms the backsplash. A Wolf gas stove sits beneath a custom stucco vent hood. The refrigerator sports custom-designed panels in cypress. Two topiaries and an antique dough bowl are on the bar. “We entertain a lot, and this house is perfect for guests,” says Mary.

Charlie’s “man cave” holds several trophies from his many safaris in Africa. Audubon prints hang above an antique English chest. A tufted leather Lancaster chair, two upholstered French arm chairs and a sofa with Kilim throw pillows make for a cozy retreat.

The rear entrance to the house is paneled in pecky cypress on the walls and up the staircase.

In the alcove next to the stairs, a blue wildebeest >>

Opposite, top: In the stairwell hangs a mounted blue wildebeest trophy from an African safari. Opposite, left: A James Michalopoulos painting hangs over an antique English burl yew chest.

Above: View of the front courtyard, a great place to entertain in cooler weather. Left: The cypress-paneled wine cellar holds 600 bottles of red wine, with a wine cooler for white wines.

November-December 2012 43

Top: The master bedroom showcases a king-size bed in carved walnut. Bottom: Books and memorabilia fill the painted-and-glazed bookshelves in the library adjacent to the

photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

master bedroom.

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Inside Northside

trophy hangs above a leather-and-copperframed mirror. Beneath the console table is a Plexiglas box with mounted Chinese wood ducks. An antique Kazak runner covers the floor. Up the cypress stairs, an iron railing leads to a grouping of Gould and Gould prints hanging at the stair landing. Two bedrooms on the second floor are for Charlie and Mary’s college-aged children.

Leading into the master bedroom is a small library with a French chair, upholstered in a tapestry fabric and painted glazed cabinets, which hold books and carnival memorabilia. A Garland Robinette portrait and a Robert Cook landscape hang in the room. A zebra rug, shot by Charlie, lies on the antique cypress floor.

The master bedroom showcases a kingsize bed in carved walnut, reminiscent of the Mallard beds that were so popular in the early 1800s. Two small chests with gold-leaf lamps flank the bed, which is covered in sage-green chenille accented with a rust-andcopper pillow. The kudu-hide pillow is also from Charlie’s trip to Africa. A walnut writing desk sits beneath the shuttered windows. At the end of the bed is a richly textured tribal antique Sarouk rug made of camel hair.

“Charlie and I got married recently,” says Mary. “My friends have asked what I would change in the house, and I say nothing at all.

Charlie put it all together, and it reflects who he is—and that is wonderful.”

Pontalba

by Stephen Faure

photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

The incredible story behind America’s oldest apartment buildings.

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Inside Northside

Courtesy of the Collections of the Louisiana State Museum.

SAY “NEW ORLEANS” to just about any person around the world and you can bet their mind’s eye immediately conjures up a vision of Jackson Square, with the cathedral as its glittering crown, the Cabildo and Presbytere its strong shoulders and the two massive red-brick Pontalba Buildings on either side as the square’s defining foundation—its soul.

Corralling the up- and down-river sides of Jackson Square, the Pontalba Buildings represent the culmination of one family’s public building spree that spanned two generations.

Don Andres Almonester y Roxas and his daughter Micaela parlayed their talents as shrewd real estate investors and developers with a sincere sense of civic duty to become, for all practical purposes, solely responsible for the vision of the city we see today.

As noted in IN’s previous feature stories on the St. Louis Cathedral, Cabildo and Presbytere, Almonester donated a new church and the Presbytere, intended to serve as home for the city’s clergy, and provided financing for a new government building, the Cabildo, in the 1790s. Almonester’s goal was to help the city recover from the devastating fire of 1788. The three structures facing the river, on the Chartres St. side of the then Plaza de Armas, as the square was known in

Almonester’s day during Spanish rule over Louisiana, became a welcoming sight to travelers at the end of their journey to the international seaport.

The land along the square’s side streets, St. Peter and St. Ann, was originally owned by the colonial government.

Almonester persuaded the town fathers to give him the ownership of both blocks in return for his promise to improve and maintain the streets and sidewalks in front of the buildings—at his expense, of course.

The St. Peter and St Ann blocks presented a mixture of commercial buildings, shops and rooming houses. The rents collected from these buildings over the years, along with those from properties all over New Orleans that Almonester owned or had an interest in, provided a handsome income to his family after his death in 1798.

Architecturally speaking, those two city blocks were quite mundane and run-down, when, in 1849, Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, arrived for her last visit to the city of her birth. Before her departure in 1851, she revitalized the old square by enveloping it with her vision of Parisian elegance. In what was becoming more and more an American city, the Baroness also spearheaded an effort to name the >>

Opposite: The Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba’s stately mid-19th century design has stood the test of time and remains a defining element of the French Quarter’s mystique.

Left: Portrait of the Baroness from the Louisiana State Museum’s collection.

Drawing courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

November-December 2012 47

the age of 15, on Oct. 23, 1811, she married Célestin Delfau de Pontalba in the most Creole of weddings in St. Louis Cathedral, which her father had built a decade before. Attended by the cream of Creole society, the ceremony was performed by Père Antoine, and the bride was given away by Bernard de Marigny.

Micaela and Célestin arrived at his family’s chateau, Mont-l’Évêque, near Senlis, France (about 50 miles east of Paris), in July 1812. She and Célestin had a relatively happy marriage, having four sons and a daughter together over the years. But, rather than an evil stepmother shattering this fairytale’s pleasant plot, it was her father-in-law who guaranteed that an atmosphere of misery and despair would surround Micaela until the day of his death.

It was all about money. As with many marriages between noble families, the union of Micaela and Célestin was developed more as a business transaction than a love affair. Micaela had inherited a tidy fortune from her father, and, as the only surviving child, she was also set to come into even greater wealth upon her mother’s death.

Célestin’s father, Baron Joseph Delfau de Pontalba, was never satisfied with the dowry. Although Micaela had agreed to turn over one-quarter of her inheritance to the Pontalba family, he would not rest until the remainder of her fortune, and that of her mother, who

square “Jackson Square” and transform it from a military parade ground to a formal garden.

The 1850 House,

State Museum, preserves one of the buildings’ residential apartments as it would have been furnished by its well-to-do tenants in the years just following their construction.

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The Baroness’ life story, literally the stuff of legends, has inspired plays, operas and novels.

Her biography, written by Christina Vella and appropriately entitled Intimate Enemies, tells the tale in astonishing detail.

Young ladies who dream of a fairytale life— of marrying a handsome nobleman and being swept away to a Disney-esque castle in the French countryside—might want to learn from Micaela’s story and think again.

Micaela had just such a fairytale beginning. At

Inside Northside

photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

An Extraordinary Life

an exhibit of the Louisiana

Drawing courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

died in 1825, became his. Wives had few property rights in early 19th century France, and for years, the Baron attacked his daughter-in-law’s estate through the courts in both Louisiana and France.

It all ended when, on a fall day in 1834, the Baron confronted Micaela. She was suing for a legal separation from Célestin and was living in one of the many properties in Paris she inherited from her mother.

Micaela was visiting the chateau when the Baron, wielding an elegantly matched pair of dueling pistols, shot her four times. It is reported that she screamed, “Don’t! I’ll give you everything!” after the first shot.

He is said to have replied, “No, you are going to die,” before shooting her again and again and again. He then locked himself in his study and, after several hours alone there, committed suicide, shooting himself twice in the chest with the same pistols.

Micaela miraculously recovered, although one hand and her chest suffered disfiguring wounds, and she continued for years to fight for her separation and control over her estate. She did build a spectacular home in Paris after the tragedy, the Hôtel de Pontalba, which today is the official residence of the U.S. Ambassador to France. She was personally involved in all aspects of building the mansion, experiences she took with her to New Orleans in 1849 when she began revitalizing her properties on the old Plaza de Armas.

Revisiting and Revitalizing The French political climate became increasingly restless leading up to the Third French Revolution. In 1848, Micaela (now the Baroness de Pontalba) made plans to return to New Orleans. Part of her plan was to deal with diminishing rents from deadbeat tenants

living in the decaying structures that comprised her properties.

When she and her sons Alfred and Gaston arrived in 1849, she was armed with a full set of set of architectural drawings, which she intended to see realized as soon as was practicable.

First, there was a matter of getting some concessions from the city. She asked the city for tax incentives, a common practice for developers today and, it turns out, not uncommon back in her day, either. She negotiated a 20-year waiver for paying property taxes for the apartments.

Within a year, the buildings were completed. Micaela supervised >>

Photographer Louis Sahuc’s career has been spent documenting New Orleans and the French Quarter. His apartment, above his art gallery on the first floor of the Lower Pontalba Building, is an example of modern living in the historic structure.

November-December 2012 49

The matching red-brick buildings faced each other across the square, soon to be re-named Jackson Square after much influence by the Baroness. She also provided some of the funding for Jackson’s planned monument in the center of the square, for which Old Hickory himself had laid the cornerstone in 1840 in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. Micaela fought with the Creole politicians over its landscaping. She prevailed, of course, and a double-row of trees that blocked the view of her new buildings was removed and the paved circular walkways we see today were put in.

The Baroness took advantage of a celebrity visit to garner a tremendous amount of buzz for her investment. When Jenny Lind, “the Swedish Nightingale,” visited New Orleans, she was the guest of the Pontalbas, who gave the singer use of one of the apartments during her one-month stay. The Baroness then auctioned off all of the furniture and household items Lind had used. Not long after, the family traveled back to France in 1851, and Micaela never visited New Orleans again. She died in 1874.

The 1850 House

1850 House piano is regarded as the first piano sold by the Werlein Music Co. in New Orleans; on exhibit in the 1850 House is a porcelain tea set made for John Slidell; an early toothbrush is part of a bath set found in the children’s room; detail of an ornately carved sideboard found in the 1850 House dining room.

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Inside Northside

photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

From the top: The

the construction and acted as her own vigilant general contractor, often fighting with the builder over materials and costs. Her use of visually appealing lacy decorative wrought iron railings set the style for balconies throughout the French Quarter. Famously, the railings feature the intertwined letters “A” and “P” signifying the two families, Almonester and Pontalba, who were so responsible for the face New Orleans presents to the world.

Her dual-use buildings anticipated “new urbanism” design by a century. Each building had 12 commercial spaces on the first floor and 23 apartments on the second and third floors. They quickly became the most fashionable and desirable rental properties in the city.

The Baroness and her sons promptly moved into No. 5 St. Peter St., in the up-river or, as it’s known today, “Upper Pontalba” building.

The Pontalba Buildings have stood since their completion, although they themselves eventually became old and unfashionable, faded in their grandeur. Passing out of the Pontalba family in the early 20th century, the Lower Pontalba is now owned by the Louisiana State Museum and the Upper by the City of New Orleans. >>

The State Museum maintains its visitor’s welcome center and gift shop at 523 St. Ann. The 1850 House consists of the apartments above the shop, which have been preserved and furnished to reflect Creole life during the 1850s.

Before the renumbering of the city’s addresses during the 1890s, the address of the 1850 House was No. 8 St. Ann. A few different families were known to have occupied the apartments. While the individual furnishings on display did not belong to the occupants, Tony Lewis, Ph.D., curator of visual arts, says, “The effort was to make sure that everything would be consistent with what would have been here in 1850.”

“We’ve researched similar locations, and everything here dates from the 1830s to the 1870s. You wouldn’t necessarily start with things bought in 1850, because people kept things,” adds Katie Hall Burlison, curator of decorative arts. She notes the arrangement of the living quarters roughly corresponds to the way the Cammacks lived, from 18531856. Amelia Cammack was a widow living with her son and four daughters.

Lewis paints a picture of what life would have been like for merchants, such as the Soria family, and for the banker and railroad president William G. Hewes, who also resided at No. 8 St. Ann during this time period. He says, “Most of the merchant and bankers likely had their offices over on Canal St. Every day, they’d get up and take their constitutional walk up to the office. I think that was the Baroness’ whole vision … to anchor the city’s revitalization. To make it a modern city, attract the most modern and up-to-date merchants.”

Royal St. was the most fashionable shopping district and home to many of the city’s wealthiest citizens. “Just as in Paris, the walk up Royal St. was characterized by a sort of fashion show;

Left: A postcardperfect view from Louis Suhac’s Pontalba balcony.

Below: Detail of the balcony’s design, featuring the intertwined

Drawing courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

letters “A” and “P,” signifying the union of the Almonester and Pontalba families.

you took your time, you saw your friends and said hello,” Lewis says.

Visitors ascending the charming staircase from the ground floor shop to the 1850 House first view the formal dining room, with its grand table setting under a large, elaborately decorated gasolier, evidence of the Baroness’ wish for the most modern of conveniences. “The difference between it and a chandelier is that the chandelier would have been lit by candles. You can see the little knobs [on the gasolier] to turn on the gas to each light. This building was fitted out with gas lines when it was built,” says Burlison. “That definitely represented something very modern.”

Of special note in the dining room is a porcelain tea set that belonged to John Slidell. While typical of the china sold on Royal St., the gilt monogram “S” on each piece is indicative of a custom order, says Burlison.

“A lot of things that were sold on Royal St. or Chartres

St. were sent over from France. Many advertisements from shops of this time period boast of ‘the best in European fabrics’ or ‘the best European furniture.’”

When not attending the opera, theatre or balls, the Creoles spent their evenings calling on their peers, perhaps for coffee and sweets, conversation, some music or a game of cards. The 1850 House parlor reflects this. “You have these separate areas for entertainment and activities,” says Lewis.

Near the front of the parlor, Burlison notes, >> November-December 2012 53

Caroling in Jackson Square For 66 years, crowds have flocked to Jackson Square to celebrate the holidays with shimmering candles and a hearty round of Christmas carols under the bedecked balconies of the Pontalba Buildings.

Caroling in Jackson Square is sponsored by the Patio Planters du Vieux Carré, a volunteer organization of French Quarter residents and property owners. Member Julie Hunt-Juneau says, “It’s a great event and lots of fun.

1850 House furnishings include

styles popular during the time period.

“Here is an area for musical entertainment with the harp and piano.” She points out an elaborately carved piano and says, “It’s called a ‘cocked-hat’ grand piano, which refers to the way the strings are arranged inside.” (The piano was made by Timothy Gilbert of Boston and is reputed to be the first piano sold by Werlein’s in New Orleans, in the 1840s. The music store would become part of life for generations of New Orleanians, with the last Werlein’s location closing in 2000.)

Paintings are Lewis’ forte, and the dining room and formal parlor walls of the 1850 House display a mixture of decorative landscapes and the finest examples of Creole portraiture. Artists Jacques Amans and Jean Joseph Vaudechamp were the premier portrait painters of Creole New Orleans. Having a portrait done meant you had arrived. “Vaudechamp supposedly made $30,000 his first year painting 54

Inside Northside

photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

Rococo, Gothic and Classical revival

caroling photo: COURTESY FRANK STANSBURY, LAFETENEWORLEANS.COM

Many families come year after year. We usually have local celebrities participate; for years, Archbishop Hannan led the crowd in singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Now they pick children from the crowd to come on stage and lead it.”

Volunteers, including local musicians, make it all happen, but to keep the event free, Patio Planters holds two fundraisers: a courtyard tour in October, Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré; and a white elephant and auction sale.

“Hotels, artists, galleries and other French Quarter businesses donate items for the sale,” says Julie. The fundraisers pay for the candles, the keepsake songbooks that are given to each participant and clean-up.

The group’s white elephant sale and auction will be held Saturday, November 10, at 10 a.m. at the corner of Royal and St. Phillip streets.

Caroling in Jackson Square will take place Sunday, December 16. Gates will open at 6:30 p.m. Participants are encouraged to come early if their children would like to help lead the crowd in singing Rudolph.

Visit patioplanters.org for more information.

here,” says Lewis. This was quite a fortune at the time. “Amans, a French neoclassical artist trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, came to New Orleans and painted as much as he could until he made enough money that he could buy himself a plantation.”

Vaudechamp’s portraits of Edouard Forstall and his wife and Amans’ painting of Gabriel Montegue overlook a room furnished in a variety of styles.

The 1850s were a period of revivals— Rococo, Gothic and Classical—and each is represented in period pieces from the most prestigious of New Orleans furniture suppliers, the firms of J. and J.W. Meeks and William McCracken among them. An upstairs bedroom is furnished with a six-piece set of armoires, dressers and half-tester bed attributed to Prudent Mallard’s shop.

Mallard’s furniture is perhaps most identifiable with ante- and post-bellum Louisiana homes.

The Past is Present on Jackson Square The Baroness’ architectural and monumental legacies and those of her father, Don Almonester—whether born of crass commercialism or pure philanthropy—have defined New Orleans’ visual character for over two centuries.

With care, they will remain its heart, soul and crown jewels for generations to come.

A and P, we salute you!

For the unabridged story of the Baroness’ dramatic life, as well as a thorough history of colonial and early 19th century New Orleans, Intimate Enemies

by Christine Vella is a must-read and was an indispensible resource for this article.

You can visit the 1850 House at 523 St. Ann St. in New Orleans, Tues. through Sun., 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. or call (504) 5686968 for more information.

November-December 2012 55

by Lauren Smith

Right: Mary Ellen Kilgore (right) pictured with Sandra Pecoraro, the Flower Ministry’s newest member.

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THE FLOWER MINISTRY at St. Timothy United Methodist Church in Mandeville is a little-known gem.

Started in 1999, the Flower Ministry brings joy to residents of seven nursing homes in the area by transforming the large flower arrangements that adorn the church’s altar every Sunday morning into smaller bouquets. The bouquets are delivered to one home each week, including Pontchartrain Health Center, Rouquette Lodges

Inside Northside

1, 2 and 3, The Windsor, Heritage Manor and Emeritus. The flowers are left with a member of the staff, who then gives them to those they think need a little bit of sunshine that day.

“It was my idea,” says Mary Ellen Kilgore. “I had worked as a volunteer receptionist down at Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans once a week for some time, and this is something that they did.

I just thought it was a neat idea.”

photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

Bouquets of Sunshine

Each Monday, a member of the Flower Ministry works in the church’s kitchen to produce between six and eight flower arrangements, sometimes more. Volunteers include Sandra Pecoraro, Dawn Burns, Thelma Kern, Virginia Dupree, Barbara and Jim Statton, and Renee Andrews.

One thing that attracted Sandra, the ministry’s newest volunteer, to the group was the chance to not only bring a smile to those in the retirement homes, but also the opportunity to work with flowers. “I’m a master gardener and I love having a garden myself,” she says. “This really is not a chore!”

Decorated with a pretty ribbon and card, the flower “vase” is actually a repurposed tennis ball canister.

“We first started using Enfamil baby formula cans, but then nobody had them anymore,” Mary Ellen says.

“Because they were metal, we were wrapping them in green florist paper, which took time. I finally decided that this was the right thing to do if we could get a good source, and the >>

Flower recipient and Windsor Senior Living Community resident, Dotty Reid.

November-December 2012 57

athletic clubs have been very good about it, very generous. If I can get to them in time when I know there’s going to be a big tournament, I’ll ask them to save the cans for me, because most of the time they’ll go from the tournament to the trash.”

The tennis ball containers usually come from Franco’s Athletic Club, Beau Chêne, Pelican Athletic Club, Stone Creek Club and Spa or any place that will save them for the church. The canisters are then stripped of any plastic and are sometimes recycled. “The Windsor and Rouquette recycle these containers for us,” Mary Ellen says. “Some of the people will bring them back. Every now and then we say, ‘Have you any cans for us?’ and they come out with a plastic bag full. So some of these have been used three or four times.”

The Flower Ministry originally began as a circle project, but it soon became more than that. “We had a 58

Inside Northside

Above: Beautiful red roses from the church’s altar bouquet before their transformation into smaller bouquets for the nursing home.

Right: Each bouquet is adorned with a small card.

new circle start up, and we needed a circle project,” Mary Ellen says.

“Pretty soon, the whole church was embracing it, so it just became one of the church care ministries.”

Thelma Kern has been a member of the Flower Ministry since its creation. “I really love it,” Thelma says. “When you take the flowers to the homes, the people are so thrilled.

They say, ‘Oh, they’re beautiful. Thank you so much.’ I just feel so happy that I can do something to bring them joy. To walk in and see the smiles on their faces … I just can’t explain it. It’s wonderful.”

Mary Ellen agrees. “It’s a really nice thing, because it’s a win-win for

everyone. It broke my heart to see flowers just sit on the altar and die.

Why not share them with somebody?

“It’s an amazing effort that brings smiles and warmth to everybody’s heart.”

For more information, call 626-3307.

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Inside Northside

photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

Every holiday season, Amelia Dalseres’s home is transformed into a breathtaking

ON A TRIP TO FLORIDA IN 1989 with her daughters Diane and Charlotte, Amelia Dalseres fell in love with a Christmas village house in the style of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. But it was priced at $100, and Amelia passed on it. Unbeknownst to her, Diane and Charlotte bought the house as a present for her next birthday. Thus began the Christmas village collection of a lifetime.

“Every year on vacation, I would find a little Christmas shop and add to my villages,” says 91-year-old Amelia. And add she did. What started out as a small grouping has taken over three rooms in her house and the glassed-in back porch. Complete with ice skating ponds, a working train, Ferris wheel and boats, the scenes are amazing to behold.

“Diane does all of the construction. She builds everything at her house and assembles it here.

Amazingly, it always fits,” says Amelia. “I paint the scenery, mountains and landscapes.” Every piece is put together and crafted by hand. The rocks for the façades of some buildings are glued on one at a time. Charlotte adds the finishing touches, like the iron fences and ice skating ponds, which are made of cotton under glass.

The water fountains work—with real water. A family friend, Shirley Hawkins, painted many of the little houses. Although she is now in a nursing home, Shirley still loves to paint the houses. >> November-December 2012 61

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photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

Amelia, who lives in Lacombe, has added some local touches throughout the collection, like alligators, a Katrina house, pirogues and lighthouses.

The display takes weeks to construct, but with the help of Amelia’s daughters and friends, the wonderland is completed just in time for the holiday season.

November-December 2012 63

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Inside Northside

Charles Emery Cate The Engine that Drove Hammond’s Prosperity

photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

by Karen B. Gibbs

YOU’LL DISCOVER HIS VISION in the leafy oaks that shade Hammond’s streets. You’ll sense his strength in the red clay bricks that peek out here and there from turn-of-the-century buildings. You’ll hear his heartbeat in the rhythmic rolling of trains along her railroad tracks. Indeed, the spirit of Charles Emery Cate awaits you in Hammond—the city he named, planned and developed over 150 years ago.

A New Englander by birth, a Southerner by choice and an astute businessman by anyone’s standards, Cate was born in 1831 in New Hampshire, the oldest of six children, two of whom died in early childhood. His penchant for business may well have been passed down from his father, Samuel, who ran a prosperous mercantile store in New Hampshire. A man devoted to family and dedicated to his job, Samuel died when Charles Emery (as he was accustomed to being called) was only 8 years old. In Louisiana, edited by Alcée Fortier in 1909, the passing of Samuel Cate was recorded in words that were both blunt and graphic. The article unceremoniously says that

he died suddenly while at work. “He had just written in his books these words: ‘Mr. Wilken’s oxen weighed 3,340 lbs,’ when he dropped dead.”

In later years, Cate cherished the aforementioned memorandum and had it and the old quill pen his father used to write it framed as a family heirloom.

Opposite: The bust Charles Emery Cate was not a stranger to of Charles Emery education, attending nearby public and private Cate overlooking schools as well as a literary institute and an Hammond’s Cate academy. With formal schooling under his belt, Square is the work Cate, then 15 years old, moved to Boston, where of Edward “Ned” he served a two-year apprenticeship in a dry goods Palfrey Dameron IV, establishment. Upon his return home, he and his noted sculptor and stepfather worked as partners in a country store, relative of Cate. but after four years, Cate grew tired of small-town During and after business. With a burning desire to become bigger the Civil War, Cate and better, he picked up roots and headed to New repeatedly risked his Orleans. There, he worked in dry goods for a few life traveling to New years before partnering in a shoe manufacturing Orleans to obtain business with Daniel Tillotson. food and supplies Cate also formed another, long-lasting for the beleaguered “partnership” while in New Orleans when he met >> people of Hammond.

November-December 2012 65

photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

The magnificent oaks along Hammond’s earliest streets were planted at Cate’s direction and expense. Cate used transplanted young oaks to line the newly laid-out streets.

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and married Massachusetts-born Mercy “Mertie” Ann Waterman, of Waterman Steamship fame.

Mertie had moved south because of a bad lung condition, a fortuitous decision for Cate, indeed.

The couple married (in either 1857 or 1858— sources give different years) and had six children, but three (Nellie, Susie and Charles) died at an early age. Their surviving children were Thomas, who worked in his father’s business; Lulu, who married E.P. Dameron, treasurer of the Illinois Central railroad; and Samuel, who became a professor of music and organist at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Montgomery, Ala. For the young couple, life in New Orleans was good until the spring of 1861, when a yellow fever outbreak, the threat of a Union attack on New Orleans and the loss of northern supply lines forced Cate to move both his family and business. Attracted

Inside Northside

to the ozone-rich air, natural spring water and lush timberlands north of Lake Pontchartrain, they settled in an area that was not much more than a railroad crossing amid a wilderness of pine trees.

Cate purchased land for 35 cents an acre from Peter Hammond, the area’s first settler; he also bought additional acreage from the state, ultimately acquiring an impressive 15,000 acres of property.

His first priority was to set up a sawmill on what is now the 100 block of E. Thomas Street to produce the lumber needed to build houses for himself and his workers and to construct other businesses.

Knowing the value of an educated workforce, he also built schools for his crew and their children.

In his first year on the northshore, Cate put up housing and erected the shoe factory at the site of the current post office. He also built a brickyard and established a tannery to supply leather for shoes,

boots and saddles. Ironically, during the following year, Cate, a New Hampshire Yankee, produced an astounding 45,000 pairs of shoes for the Confederate Army. According to Stan Dameron, Cate’s greatgreat grandson and president of American Bank in Covington, Cate saw no conflict with a New Hampshire native manufacturing shoes for the

Confederacy. “It was just what you do,” says Stan.

“The Confederacy didn’t force him. He was in the South, and he thought that eventually there would be a North and a South, that there would be a split.”

When Union troops seized Hammond in 1863, one of the first things they did was burn down the sawmill and the shoe factory. They >>

Above: The C.E. Cate Lumber and Brick Company in Hammond pictured during the 1880s.

Left: The Cate Family. Siblings Thomas Waterman Cate and Lue Cate Dameron stand in the rear; their brother, Samuel Melzar Cate (left),

photos: COURTESY SUZY GRAHAM

and father, Charles E. Cate, are seated in front. The picture was taken after Mertie Waterman Cate’s death in 1897.

November-December 2012 67

did, however, spare the brickyard.

Suzy Graham, Cate’s great-great granddaughter, adds, “The Yankees were also going to burn down Charles Emery’s house, but when they found out he was from New Hampshire and Mertie was from Massachusetts, they changed their minds.” (The Cate house did burn down years later. Workers re-wallpapering the house set the old wallpaper afire only to have a gust of wind blow the flaming paper under the house, reducing it to smoldering cinders.)

Suzy heard many details of Cate’s life from her grandmother, Mertie Camilla Dameron Fourmy, who was Cate’s granddaughter. “My mom moved us in with my grandparents in Hammond during World War II, and we lived there about seven years. Even after we moved out, I lived with them 68

Inside Northside

every summer and for all the holidays. My sister and I actually considered this our home. We lived in the house across from the former homes of Lue Cate [Cate’s daughter] and Thomas Waterman Cate [his son].”

Despite the setback of losing his shoe factory, Cate rebuilt a smaller one and continued to produce shoes until the end of the war. At that time, Cate assessed the situation and knew that if he were to succeed in Hammond, Hammond had to succeed, too. To that end, one of his first orders of business was to survey and lay out its streets. Methodically, he named east-west streets after family members (among them, Charles, his deceased son, and another son, Thomas); and north-south streets for area trees, a tribute to his lumber business.

To build the streets, Cate hired AfricanAmericans who had formerly worked in his first Hammond shoe factory. This workforce, at Cate’s direction and expense, built the streets, lining those on the west side of the railroad with transplanted

young oaks from nearby forests. Many of these trees still stand today, a fitting and natural monument to Hammond’s premier developer.

Unfortunately, by the time he completed laying out and landscaping the streets, Cate was land-rich and cash poor. His finances greatly reduced, he was forced to return to New Orleans to earn more money. Selling his struggling shoe manufacturing business in Hammond to his partner, he parlayed the proceeds from that sale into another shoe factory and a wholesale and retail crockery partnership in New Orleans. Within 10 years, Cate sold these businesses, and, having amassed sufficient capital, returned to Hammond.

In her 1873 diary, Cate’s wife, Mertie, presents him as being ever involved in business, vocal in state politics and an extraordinarily loving husband and father.“Up by time to get the husband off on the six o’clock train. He seems really to enjoy the cozy breakfasts his wife gets together right here in our sanctum.” (January 2, 1873) She also tells of the political climate during the >>

Opposite: Charles E. Cate holds his greatgranddaughter, Mertie Lou Fourmy (Barnes).

photos: COURTESY SUZY GRAHAM

Above: Mertie and Edward Palfrey Dameron III. Left: Artificial pond which graced the gardens at the Cate home.

November-December 2012 69

Left: This stained-glass window in Grace Memorial Church is especially meaningful to Cate’s great-great-granddaughter, Suzy Graham, who served as a model for the pigtailed little girl on Jesus’ left. Below: Grace Memorial Episcopal Church was consecrated

Reconstruction. “Charles took the early train [to New Orleans] as this day demands the presence of every noble and true statesman. Poor Louisiana, may she have power to shake off the hounds that are sucking her life blood. Never had the colonies more cause for rebellion against their mother country than this downtrodden South has against Grant rule.” (Monday, January 6, 1873) Despite the politics of the time, Cate, a determined businessman, once again turned to sawmilling. This time, however, in addition to producing lumber for houses and businesses—he built at least 100 structures in the town—he expanded into manufacturing hewn timber and supplying wood to the Illinois Central railroad, something he continued for the next seven years. The small lumber 70

Inside Northside

plant burned down in 1894, but not before it earned the distinction of being one of the finest ever to operate on the Illinois Central railway.

Cate further developed his relationship with the railroad when, through a shrewd business agreement, he gave the railroad rightof-way through his property as long as they made Hammond a regular stop for all passenger trains passing through the area. This enhanced Hammond’s status from that of a railroad crossing, as negotiated by Peter Hammond years earlier, to one of a regular railroad stop.

According to Stan, “Cate’s whole thinking in having passenger trains stop in Hammond was that if they stopped there, then people would come. In order to build the city, he worked with

photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

in Mertie Cate’s memory in 1888.

Illinois Central, because what was good for IC was good for Hammond and vice versa.”

With the assurance of regular stops by all passenger trains, Cate launched a marketing campaign aimed at bringing new settlers to Hammond. Boasting of Hammond’s newly developed Iowa Addition, Cate visited cities in the Midwest, touting the rich soil, plentiful land, long growing season and snow-free winters of Hammond. His efforts paid off as Midwesterners traveled to the city to visit, many ultimately staying and setting up farms. Even today, the Prairie-style home architecture in the Iowa Addition reflects more of a Midwestern flavor than the Southerninspired houses in the rest of the town.

Cate’s rationale that the town would grow in proportion to its access to the railroad proved prophetic.

Railroad records confirm that in 22 years, income from the Illinois Central’s Hammond station rose from less than $500 a year in 1885 to $40,000 in just one month in 1907.

Figures such as these make it easy to understand Cate’s next business venture—finance. In 1906, he helped to establish the Hammond Building and Loan Association, serving as its president until his retirement.

Having laid out, named, developed and marketed the town of Hammond, it seems inevitable that Charles Emery Cate would be drawn to public service.

A zealous advocate for education, Cate served on the parish school board as well as the town council. He also accepted appointments from Gov. Nicholls and Gov. Foster to the state board of education—something family members feel he would have regarded as his greatest accomplishment.

Education for everyone— >> November-December 2012 71

regardless of race—was important to Cate. As great-great-grandson Stan explains, “Education was the underlying premise in Cate’s life.

People had to be educated. He built the first school in Hammond for white children, and he donated and built the first African-American school after the war. He believed in educating everybody, for he knew that if a person could read, write and do math, he would be a better worker.”

Religion played a major role in the Cate family, with Mertie conducting the town’s first Sunday school in her home in 1866. Mertie died on Dec. 7, 1887.

Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, built just blocks from the site of Cate’s home on land and with bricks and labor donated by him, was consecrated in Mertie’s memory in 1888.

The church’s exquisite stainedglass windows were dedicated to Cate family members. The baptismal window, depicting Jesus with the children, modeled the little ones after 72

Inside Northside

photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

Suzy Graham and her sister, Mertie. When Suzy first saw the window, she realized that she had been positioned on Jesus’ left hand while Mertie was on his right. “After hearing all my young life about how everything good was on the right hand of God, I realized I was on the wrong side of Jesus. From then on, I reasoned that I had to live an exemplary life in order to get into heaven,” she laughs.

Cate also donated land on J.W. Davis Drive for Hammond’s first African-American church, Greenfield Baptist. When Suzy was in college, church officials invited her and her family to their rededication service. A conservative Protestant, she was unaccustomed to the free-spirited worship there. “I remember that a well-dressed lady dropped to the floor during the service, and when someone went to pick her up, the preacher cried out, ‘Leave her lay where Jesus flang her!’” With a smile, Suzy adds that, since then, her family has been using that phrase to mean “Let it be the way God wants it to be.”

And, when it comes to Charles Emery Cate and his dreams for Hammond, it seems that’s the way

God wanted it to be, too. After spending much of his life building the city, Cate died in his beloved Hammond in 1916 at the age of 85. He and Mertie, along with other family members, are buried in the cemetery on the grounds of Grace Memorial Episcopal Church.

Top: Charles Emery Cate, (opposite) who died in 1916, and Mertie Waterman Cate, who died in 1887, as well as other family members, are

Inside Northside gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the LSU Library Archives in acquiring copies of Mertie Cate’s diary. The diary is included in the Charles E. Cate Papers, Mss. 2421; Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections; LSU Libraries; Baton Rouge, La.

buried in the white stone-and-marble Cate tomb located in the cemetery of Grace Memorial Church.

Continuing the Family Tradition Just as her great-great-grandfather Charles Cate was a driving force for greater good in his community of Hammond, Suzy Graham and her husband, John, have been very active in the Covington area.

in the establishment of Christ Episcopal School and Christwood Retirement Community.

AFP Chapter president Alison Greffenius, development director of Christ Episcopal, says, “There are many generous

In recognition of their charitable work, the couple

people in the northshore area, and it’s a special honor to

will be honored as the 2012 Outstanding Philanthropists

pick someone that embodies all the criteria set forth for

by the Greater Northshore Chapter of the Association

the nominees. We’re really pleased—and privileged—to

of Professional Fundraisers at the group’s fifth annual

choose the Grahams, for everything they’ve done for the

Philanthropy Day luncheon on Nov. 15.

community.”

The Grahams are being recognized for more than

The Greater Northshore Chapter AFP Philanthropy Day

35 years of leadership and generosity in the community,

celebration will be held Nov. 15 at Benedict’s Plantation

serving on the boards of and providing financial resources

in Mandeville; the speaker will be Jim Henderson. Tickets

to a large number of non-profits. They have faithfully

are $40; sponsorships are available. Contact Karen Carroll,

supported Christ Episcopal Church and were instrumental

kcarroll@starcla.org, to purchase.

November-December 2012 73

Roc Paul

by Stephen Faure

Artist Roc Paul stands by his painting, Rhodesia; a sampling of his sculptures cast in various media also grace the page.

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photo: STEPHEN FAURE

Roc Paul’s own transformations—and journeys— through life and art, from life in a very foreign country he left a long time ago, to a life in and under water and life as a family man and respected artist, proficient in a variety of media.

Roc speaks with a quiet and disarming accent, which at first one might think is the result of an Australian or New Zealand upbringing. A clue to the

a journey through art and life

One could say the little town of Abita Springs has undergone a few transformations in its day, from Indian gathering place around the mystical healing springs that gave the town its name to a busy resort town that played host to thousands of visitors seeking comfort in the cooling waters and “ozone” air rushing through the piney woods surrounding the town. After the springs were capped and the forests harvested, Abita became a less busy, but no less charming, slice of small-town St. Tammany that attracted another generation of newcomers, many of whom were artists.

Abita Springs became part of artist

Inside Northside

true source of his lilting accent is a very large and very angry-looking elephant, which appears to be charging out of the wall, providing a shocking greeting to visitors as they enter his studio. It’s a painting, of course; the elephant is placed in its native grassland habitat.

Roc says the painting is called Rhodesia, titled after his boyhood home, a country in southern Africa. It’s as far removed from Abita Springs as Australia and New Zealand are, and, like them, it is also a former British colony. After years of political unrest that led to his family’s leaving the country in 1976, Rhodesia became the country of Zimbabwe. Roc

says the angry elephant “depicts where the country is going. There’s still a lot of turmoil there.”

A journey in life and art So how did a kid from Africa end up raising a family in Abita? “I was 18 when we left Rhodesia. Dad is an American, so we came to the United States. I arrived in the country on Christmas Day in 1976.”

Roc enrolled in a commercial diving training school in California and completed the course in a few months.

Meanwhile, his father, who had been working for a construction firm in Kentucky, secured a job for him. “I met him in Louisville and ended up laying gas lines through the mountains,” says Roc. That work lasted a couple of years. “I saved up some money and bought a van.”

Readers may remember that in the 1970s owning a van was a big thing (with a CB radio installed, of course).

Another big thing in the late ’70s was the wildly active oil and gas exploration business in Louisiana. The industry needed many divers to maintain offshore operations, and that drew Roc to New Orleans.

Roc had no clue as to what New Orleans had in store for him. “When I first came, I parked my van on Bourbon Street—you could do that back then,” he recalls. Roc immediately had an only-in-New-Orleans experience. As he opened his van door to cook dinner on a camp stove, he says, “A clown came >> November-December 2012 75

Left: As he explores new techniques, including acrylic under-painting in the charging bull elephant, Roc shares them with his students.

Below: Roc creates raku ceramic pieces like this pear in a kiln fashioned from space-age insulating fibers.

and sat down to eat with me. I thought New Orleans was pretty wild. It was amazing; the flavor of the French Quarter was totally new and exciting to me.”

Things started happening very quickly for Roc. “I met my wife, Rebecca, on Bourbon Street the second night I was there; she was with her younger sister. She’s the daughter of a Baptist minister. Her dad doesn’t know that—he thinks we met at Café du Monde. That’s OK now,” he chuckles. “I hope.”

Within a few days, Roc had his first diving job.

“Rebecca tore a page out of the phone book, and I called around and got a job,” he says. His first duties were scuba diving “wheel jobs,” clearing cables

and other debris that had become entangled on the propellers of ocean-going boats. That was followed by a stint as a tender and then as a diver with a different company, doing deeper work in the river and offshore.

For those first few years in his new country and adopted city, Roc focused little on the native artistic talent he brought with him, an innate gift for drawing. He says, “I was an artist since I was a little >>

November-December 2012 77

One of Roc’s bronze pieces (above) and a wax maquette (below) ready for casting in bronze.

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guy. I could draw faces almost better than I can now, but I didn’t do it for 20 years or so.”

In the early 1980s, after his second son was born, Roc decided the diving game was a bit dangerous and difficult to manage while trying to raise a family. “When I decided to get out of diving, I worked with a cabinetmaker for a while making furniture,” he says. Roc also became more active with his art and got a license to sell his work on the fence at Jackson Square.

Inside Northside

A big break came in the decorative architectural arena with a commission to design columns, entablature and molding for the interior of The Balcony, a wedding hall in Metairie. The 18-month project transformed what Roc describes as a “gymnasium with chandeliers” into a classically appointed space.

That architectural work led to a large commission during the renovation of the Cabildo after the disastrous 1988 fire. A sculpted frieze at the top of the building had been wiped out by a hurricane many years before the fire, but its replacement was called for during the rebuilding. Roc was given the original architectural drawings from 1832 and reproduced the flags, shield and wreath adorning the building today in cast concrete.

Toward the end of his work on The Balcony, Roc and Rebecca joined his parents in Abita Springs, making a home in the piney woods for themselves and their three sons. “We heard a lot about the elementary schools in Abita—that they were some of the best in the country. That’s the biggest reason we moved,” Roc says. (Rebecca is now a teacher at Fontainebleau High School.) Later, he discovered there were many other artists living in the small town.

The first iteration of Roc’s studio, which he built out of logs, became the framework for a larger space when he expanded. He’s been improving on the

studio ever since and says, “I’ve got it pretty squared away now.” The studio has developed into a two-story space with a comfortable interior for painting and throwing pottery.

One of Roc’s self-taught specialties is lost-wax casting. It’s an involved process that starts with a clay model that is reproduced in wax and finally, bronze.

A large covered area surrounding the studio houses his kiln and a variety of tools and machinery necessary to support the heart of Roc’s operation, his gas-fired bronze foundry. “I started with bronzes about 20 years or so ago. I don’t do much of my own work nowadays, because it’s so expensive; I only do commissions and other people’s work,” he says. “They bring me their piece, and I make a mold and a wax and finish it for them. I like doing that, and it’s pretty good money.”

Africa’s wildlife and even wilder politics influence some of Roc’s work, but by no means define it. Artwork— bronzes, clay and wax models for future castings, paintings and pottery in various stages of completion, displayed on shelves and tables in his studio—are watched over by the vigilant eye of the Rhodesian elephant on the wall.

Subject matter ranging from nature and figurative works to industrial design, with a little sci-fi and fantasy thrown in for fun, are on display.

There’s a series of sculptures that evokes some of Roc’s experiences as a diver, albeit in an imaginative corner of his mind. Several statuary pieces depict a mermaid cavorting with an astonished-looking diver. Different >>

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November-December 2012 79

versions and poses of the diver and mermaid figures reflect visions inspired by Roc’s experience working underwater. While the bulk of his jobs took him to the river or other shallow and murky situations, Roc says, “When I went offshore, it was a real treat for me, diving in clear, blue water.

I could see all the fish. I once saw a grouper that was as fat as a cow; it had barnacles on it and seaweed streaming off it—it must have been a hundred years old.” The sense of wonder in his voice is apparent as Roc recalls his experiences in deep water, and it’s amazing to see that wonder translated into his whimsical sculptures.

A large angel hangs in the studio, a relic of one of the many commissions Roc has earned over the years producing statuary for a variety of churches. The angel was a model for one of six he made for St. Stanislaus Church on the Gulf Coast, and he’s produced angels, crucifixes and various statues of Christ for churches as far away as Texas and Florida. Close to home, the late Archbishop Hannan commissioned Roc to carve a 12-foot-high statue of the Virgin Mary at the Terra Mariae subdivision outside Covington. It was an assignment that came with a hazard, though. “It was made from an oak tree that had come down, and I just about cut my thumb off with the chainsaw,” Roc says.

Many northshore residents may be familiar with the life-size resin-andmarble statue of a mother holding her newborn child Roc created for St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s New Family 80

Inside Northside

Roc created this carving of the Holy Mother for Archbishop Hannan.

piece of oxygen and causes the metal elements to come out of the glaze,” he notes.

Since the pieces aren’t allowed to cool slowly in the kiln as with porcelain, many end up cracking in the process, sometimes beyond repair, making those few successful firings a satisfying accomplishment.

Grounded in St. Tammany

Center in 1992.

Roc’s latest endeavor is producing raku ceramics. Some he’ll craft in natural shapes—large pears, for instance, with metal stems extending off the pear covered in an off-white crackleture glaze. He also produces abstract shapes and often finishes them with a coppery metallic glaze. The process of creating different glazes out of an array of minerals, combined with a lot of trialand-error in the firing and finishing, never ceases to fascinate him. It’s a risky procedure, where the ceramic pieces are removed from the kiln while still glowing, then plunged into a container with pine straw or sawdust that bursts into flames as the work is put in and then quickly covered. “It starves the

Despite all his journeys through life and art, Roc and his family have remained grounded on the northshore and active in the community.

One way he has given back to St. Tammany is by volunteering in the public school system. Roc evaluates students for the talented art program, something he’s done for the past 20 years. He also helps rehabilitate kids who are at the highest level of risk, teaching art at the state’s juvenile correctional centers in Baton Rouge and Bridge City. “I teach them sculpture, painting. It’s important and fulfilling. They’re fun to teach—a crazy bunch of kids,” Roc says.

Sharing the art that brings such richness to his life with young people is a wonderful way to ensure his journey continues.

Roc Paul’s work can be seen at rocpaul.com. He is available for commissioned work; his phone number is 630-9579.

FIFTY YEARS AGO, when Gus A. Fritchie Jr., Lionel G. Pichon, George A. Broom, Michael E. Haas and W.T. Eddins established the Slidell Chamber of Commerce with 22 members and one employee, the town was on the verge of a transformation from the railroad age to the space age. It was 1962, and Gause Boulevard, West Hall Avenue and Robert Road were still gravel roads. There were no twin spans.

Everything was located in “Olde Towne,” with business wrapping up every day at 5 p.m.

The far-sighted civic leaders had perfect timing. In 1961, NASA had begun gearing up to build the massive Apollo moon rocket’s first stage at Michoud in nearby New Orleans East.

In 1962, the space agency turned what had been Slidell’s Neuhauser’s pasture into the Slidell Computer Complex (now Textron Land and Marine headquarters). In 1963, construction began on the Mississippi Test Facility (now the John C. Stennis Space Center). Slidell was poised—and the

50 Years of Growth

by Stephen Faure

The East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce

Long-serving chamber executive director Irma Cry (left) and a chamber employee display Slidell Trade Fair posters in 1984.

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Inside Northside

new chamber was ready—for rapid change as its population exploded with the engineers, scientists and workers from all over the county who found a home at the new crossroads of the space industry.

Fast-forward 50 years. The organization is now the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce, the name reflecting the phenomenal growth in population and commerce the Slidell area has experienced since the chamber’s

images: COURTESY OF THE EAST ST. TAMMANY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

founding. Now over 1,000 members strong, the chamber is led by John Smith, board chairman, and Dawn Sharpe-Brackett, CEO. The list of chamber leaders over the past 50 years is literally a “Who’s Who” of the Slidell business community.

Among the ranks of board presidents, chairmen and chamber CEOs are Judge Thomas Tanner, Judge Gus Fritchie Jr., Homer Fritchie, Ronald Guth, George Reine III, Irma Cry, Peggy Menard, Brian Deese, Darryl Warner, Suzanne Krieger, Warren Haun, Tom O’Conner, Rick Parr, Dudley Smith, Brenda Reine, Jamene Dahmer, Bill Newton and Jack Francioni.

The chamber lent its support to many infrastructure projects over the years as Slidell grew. Bond issues for water and sewerage improvements, November-December 2012 83

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Inside Northside

images: COURTESY OF THE EAST ST. TAMMANY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

access roads and interchanges along I-10; road paving and widening projects in the city; the revitalization of Olde Towne; improvements to the airport; and, of course, supporting businesses during the long and difficult recovery following Hurricane Katrina.

In 2011, the East St. Tammany Chamber was recognized as being among the elite chambers in the country—in the top 1 percent—when it received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 5-Star Accreditation. Other accolades include National Chamber of the Year for 2010, the first Louisiana chamber to receive the national award; Louisiana Small Chamber of the Year in 2009; and, this year, Louisiana Large Chamber of the Year.

Dawn was named CEO in 2007, after serving on the board of directors for four years and as vice chairman of the executive board. Alongside Dawn are the members of the chamber’s staff, all of whom serve unique roles that help the chamber fulfill its mission.

The staff includes JoBeth Kavanaugh, marketing and events

Rick Swartz, 1990 board chairman, and hospital administrator David Bell at an after-hours chamber event.

director; Kendra Hamrick, publications and technology director; Ann Bowser, executive assistant; and the newest member of the team, Juliette Bloomer, membership director.

The chamber offers different levels of membership, based on size and number of employees. For more information on the chamber and any of its services, call 643-5678 or go to the website at estchamber.com.

Save the Date!

Please join the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce as it honors the 2012 Chamber Awards winners and celebrates its 50th anniversary. “Starry, Starry Nights in the East” will be held Jan. 18, 2013, at the Northshore Harbor Center. To sponsor a table or register to attend, visit estchamber.com.

For more information, call 643-5678 or email info@estchamber.com.

The chamber’s past chairmen and CEOs at an event in 2007.

VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS swirl around the heads of all northshore children as we anticipate the coming holidays! Caroling, The Nutcracker ballet, plays, symphonies, choirs, Teddy Bear teas, exhibits of art and pretty, pretty pottery, as well as the celebration of a local music legend, await our adventuresome souls.

NUTCRACKERS!

Ballet Apetrei performs The Nutcracker at St. Joseph Abbey’s Bennett Hall in Covington.

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Growing in popularity year after year, The Nutcracker ballet was first performed in Russia in 1892. A young girl dreams as she falls asleep on Christmas Eve cradling a special gift, a nutcracker decorated as a toy soldier. In her dream, everything comes to life as the Mouse King battles toy soldiers, the nutcracker turns into a prince and…we don’t want any spoilers now, do we?

The Nutcracker was adapted from a German story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Tchaikovsky, the celebrated Russian composer, wrote the score for the ballet. Not an immediate sensation, it wasn’t performed in its entirety in the United States until Christmas Eve 1944 in San Francisco.

It’s gone on to become an American holiday

Inside Northside

tradition, introducing generations of children to the world of ballet. The Nutcracker is performed every year across the country by the youngest students of the smallest of small-town ballet schools to the most celebrated international dancers of the most renowned metropolitan dance companies.

At home, we have annual performances by Ballet Apetrei (their 24th year of performances) at St. Joseph Abbey’s Bennett Hall in Covington.

In Slidell and on the southshore, it will be Delta Festival Ballet’s 32nd year performing the classic for local audiences; the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra will again perform Tchaikovsky’s score for performances at the Northshore Harbor Center in Slidell and later in December at Dixon Hall on the Tulane University campus. Clara, the Mouse King and Sugar Plum Fairy will grace Columbia Theatre in Hammond as the Hammond Ballet Company performs The Nutcracker as well.

Ballet Apetrei at Bennett Hall, St. Joseph Abbey: Fri., Nov. 30, student showing at 10 a.m.; Sat., Dec. 1, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 2, 2 p.m. Student show tickets $8 per student; on Dec. 1 and 2, $25 for reserved

photo: FIELDING PHOTOGRAPHY

INthe Arts

seating, $15 for general admission.

Available at Pineapple Gallery, 829 Asbury Dr. in Mandeville and online at Eventbrite.com. Call Ballet Apetrei for more information, 624-3622.

Delta Festival Ballet at the Northshore Harbor Center, Slidell: Sat., Dec. 1, at 4 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 2, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $30 to $50 and are available at LPOmusic. com or by calling (504) 523-6530.

Delta Festival Ballet at Dixon Hall on the Tulane University campus: Fri., Dec. 21, at 7 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 22, at 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 23, at 2 p.m. Visit deltafestivalballet. com or LPOmusic.com for more information on the Dixon Hall performances.

The Hammond Ballet Company’s performances will be Dec. 7 and 8 at 7 p.m. at the Columbia Theatre in Hammond. Tickets are available through the theatre’s box office, 220 E. Thomas St. in Hammond or by calling 543-4371. >>

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One of the oldest buildings in New Orleans, the architectural landmark Madame John’s Legacy, hosts its first major exhibit since Katrina, spotlighting the Louisiana State Museum’s extensive collection of world-renowned Newcomb College art pottery. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

“The Palm, the Pine, and the Cypress: Newcomb Pottery of New Orleans” will run through September

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THE OLD AND THE NEW Both old and new Christmas story traditions hit the stage this season on both sides of the lake.

The Southern Rep puts on the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, a musical adaptation starring local personality John “Spud” McConnell as Scrooge.

photo: COURTESY LOUISIANA STATE MUSEUM

NEWCOMB POTTERY EXHIBIT

2013. Visitors can enjoy more than 50 examples of the highly collectible decorative ceramics produced by the college between 1894 and 1940, when the program ended.

“Inspired by Louisiana’s native flora, Newcomb’s female artists created some of the most distinctive expressions of the Arts and Crafts movement in America while advancing the role of women in American society,” says Katie Burlison, the museum’s curator of decorative arts.

“This exhibition explores their achievements from aesthetic and social history perspectives.”

Madame John’s Legacy is located at 632 Dumaine St. in New Orleans; open Tues.-Sun., 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; closed Mondays and state holidays.

(504) 568-6968.

photo: COURTESY CITY OF SLIDELL DEPT. OF CULTURAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Performances Nov. 23 through Dec. 16 at the Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St. in New Orleans. Call (504) 522-6545 or visit southernrep. com for show times and tickets.

On the northshore, watch in wonder as young Ralphie Parker goes on a holiday quest for the one, true “Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action TwoHundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle.” Beset by bullies, a frozen flagpole and a scary department store Santa, will Ralphie find success without shooting out an eye? Find out at the Slidell Little Theatre’s production of A Christmas Story.

A Christmas Story runs Nov. 23 through Dec. 9. For reservations, call 641-0324, or go to slidelllittletheatre.org. The theatre is located at 2024 Nellie Dr.

RONNIE KOLE Musician and philanthropist Ronnie Kole will be honored as he’s inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. On Sunday, Nov. 4, the City of Slidell and the LMHOF will present “Celebrate the Legend: Ronnie Kole,” a Sunday brunch and ceremony to welcome

Ronnie into the Hall of Fame.

1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Slidell Municipal Auditorium at 2056 Second St. Tickets are $40 and are available at lmhof.org. >>

November-December 2012 89

HOLIDAY TEAS A special way to share holiday joy with your kids or grandkids is to attend any of the wonderful holiday teas. Santa and his helpers are on hand for tea and snacks in elegant surroundings at the English Tea Room in Covington and at the Royal Sonesta, Monteleone and Roosevelt hotels in New Orleans.

English Tea Room Teddy Bear High Tea Santa will be paying a visit to Covington on Dec. 9 at the English Tea Room, a Britannic oasis on oak-lined East Rutland Street.

Tea begins at 2 p.m. Call 898-3988 for reservations.

lights as they make their way to the ballroom for the Teddy Bear Tea. A family favorite during the holidays, guests and their children enjoy a special tea party featuring children’s menu items, with adult beverage and menu items available. Santa, Mrs. Claus, elves and helpers will be on hand, and each child receives a special stuffed Teddy Bear and photo with Santa.

Saturdays and Sundays during December, 1-2, 8-9, 15-16 and 21-23; seatings at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

(1 p.m. only on Dec. 2; 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. only on Dec. 1 and 21). Children under 3, free; ages 4-11, $39 ($54 VIP seating); ages 11 and up, $59 ($74 VIP seating). Call the Roosevelt’s holiday line for reservations, (504) 335-3129.

The Roosevelt New Orleans’ Teddy Bear Teas

Monte The Lion’s Children’s Holiday Party

Children will walk with wonder through the Roosevelt’s grand lobby, transformed into a canopy of white birch branches and thousands of twinkling

There will be lots of treats for kids and grown-ups, too, at the Hotel Monteleone’s holiday celebration. Take pictures with Santa and meet Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, the

trumpeters and the elves. Monte the Lion will entertain you and give every child a souvenir Monte stuffed animal.

Sat., Dec. 15, seatings at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Children, $40; adults, $55. Call (504) 681-4452 or visit hotelmonteleone.com/monte for reservations.

Royal Teddy Bear Tea The Royal Sonesta Hotel and your hosts Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Sugarplum Fairy, Rudolph and the Royal Teddy Bear, welcome everyone for Royal Teddy Bear Teas.

Dec. 9, 14-16 and 20-23. Seatings at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Children, $42$58; adults, $53-$68. Call (504) 5532328 for reservations.

the afternoon before caroling begins.

Five beautiful and festively decorated French Quarter homes open their doors to visitors. The Nov. 10 sale begins at 10 a.m. in the school parking lot at the corner of St. Phillip and Royal streets; the auction is at noon.

Holiday Home Tour times are 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available at Creole Delicacies, 523 St. Ann St. in the Pontalba Buildings on Jackson Square.

CHRISTMAS AND MORE ON THE NORTHSHORE

Join in a tradition that’s been going strong for more than 60 years! Caroling in Jackson Square is sponsored annually

There’s singing and symphony to bring in the holidays at St. Timothy on the Northshore United Methodist Church.

On Dec. 9, join the St. Timothy Choir and special guest performers for “Christmas on the Northshore.” Classics, carols and contemporary pieces will be performed, with shows at 3 and 7 p.m.

The Louisiana Philharmonic

by the Patio Planters of the Vieux Carré.

Carolers are given souvenir song books and candles for the event. Sun., Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m.

To keep Caroling in Jackson Square a free event, Patio Planters holds several fund-raising events, including a White Elephant Sale and auction on Nov. 10 and the Holiday Home Tour on Dec. 16 in

Orchestra arrives at St. Timothy on Dec. 14 for a special performance of classical selections, “A Baroque Christmas,” at 7:30 p.m.

St. Timothy on the Northshore UMC is at 335 Asbury Dr. in Mandeville.

“Christmas on the Northshore” is a free event, call 626-3307 for more information.

Tickets for “A Baroque Christmas” are $20$37 and are available at LPOmusic.com.

CAROLING IN THE SQUARE

Haute Times with

Haute Hosts Whealdon.

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WE’RE LUCKY IN SOUTHEAST Louisiana to have warm weather leading up to the holidays (and sometimes, through the holidays), so there’s the option to host parties both inside and outside.

Whether it’s a tailgating party or a formal Christmas party, nothing gets in the way of a good time with family and friends.

Two northshore couples share their secrets to a great party and offer up some of their most popular recipes. Take a cue from these hostesses and their husbands when planning your next party. It’s sure to be an unforgettable one!

photo: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

Jay and Phoebe

by Lauren Smith

Jay and Phoebe Whealdon When Jay and Phoebe Whealdon throw their bi-annual Christmas party in Mandeville, it’s a chance to dress up (black tie optional) and celebrate the holiday season in style. Phoebe started hosting an annual Christmas party in her apartment before she met Jay and kept up the tradition after moving to Louisiana. Another thing that remains the same: Phoebe personally meets each guest at the door with a glass of champagne.

“I set up a table at the door, and I greet everyone who comes in with champagne,” Phoebe says. “Or sparkling cider if they don’t drink. That I’ve always done. Some winters, it’s been cold and I’ve been on the porch in my coat; others, it’s been 100 degrees and you’re out there sweating. I just think it makes the party get started before you come in.”

Through the years, the Whealdons have experienced some pretty funny things at their parties. “One year people kept coming, and this couple came to the door. I knew I didn’t know them, but I said, ‘I’m so glad y’all came. Y’all come in!’ So they came in. A little later, they said, ‘We think we’re at the wrong party. We’re looking for Kurt and Virginia.’ Well, Kurt and Virginia are our dear friends; our yard backs up to theirs.

The couple saw all the cars and the Tiki torches and all the lights, so they pulled in. They were so mortified! I said, ‘You’re welcome to stay. If Kurt and Virginia’s party is not fun, just come back!’ We knew they were going over to our friends’ house saying, ‘You’re not going to believe this. We just had a drink at another party before we realized we didn’t know anyone!’”

They’ve also had people arrive on the wrong night for a party. “We had a couple arrive on the wrong night, and they stayed! It didn’t matter that they were early. So I said, ‘Well, do y’all want a cocktail?’ And they said yes! They stayed for a couple of hours; we had a four-person party.”

Whether you’re at the wrong party or a day early, you’re going to be served a drink at the Whealdons, and it’s going to be a good one.

Phoebe shares her recipe for Phoebe’s Pholly, also known as Mardi Gras Madness. Phoebe’s husband, Jay, contributes one of their most popular recipes,

New Orleans Crab Dip. Phoebe is known for her love of candles. “I love candles, and everybody knows that,” she says.

“That’s probably one of my signatures—white lights and candles are going to be everywhere, inside and out. One year, a guest smelled something burning. One of the candles on a bookshelf had been pushed back and burned one of the shelves.

We had to replace it! Now, someone is always following behind me, checking.”

One of Phoebe’s best party tips is to take notes after a party to see what food was eaten and what was not. That way, you can make sure to either increase the amount of a more popular item or do away with an unpopular dish

November-December 2012 93

all together. Another tip—when you don’t have a huge amount of space, put the bar on the porch or in an outdoor area. This will draw people outside, and it’ll feel less cramped inside.

Jay and Phoebe highly recommend having music at a party.

“It’s worth the expense,” says Phoebe.

At the couple’s last Christmas party, Mike Morris sang Frank Sinatra songs and the women did the New York, New York jazz dance.

PHOEBE’S PHOLLY 1 fifth white rum 2 (6 oz) cans frozen limeade concentrate, thawed 3 (6 oz) cans frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed 10 to 12 cups water

Combine the rum, limeade concentrate, orange juice concentrate and water in a large plastic container with a lid. Freeze, covered, for at least eight hours. The alcohol will keep the mixture from freezing solid. To serve, stir the mixture and place in a pitcher for serving; keep the remainder in the freezer until ready to serve. If the mixture becomes too liquid, just return to the freezer. Serves: 15 to 20 Phoebe’s note: This is great to serve for festive occasions. You may add food coloring to fit the occasion you are celebrating!

NEW ORLEANS CRAB DIP 8 green onions, chopped ½ cup chopped parsley 6 tbsp butter 2 tbsp flour 1 cup half-and-half 4 oz cream cheese 6 oz Swiss cheese, grated 1 tbsp sherry 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 94

Inside Northside

Lance and Judy Lyons.

½ tsp horseradish 2 tsps lemon juice Salt to taste Red pepper to taste 1-1½ lbs crab meat

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sauté the onions and parsley in the butter. Stir in the flour and continue cooking for an additional minute. Slowly blend in the half-and-half and stir until thickened. Add the remaining ingredients, except the crab. Mix well. Fold in crab. Bake in a Pyrex dish for 30 minutes or until hot. Serve with toasted baguettes.

Jay’s tip: Even though this recipe seems labor intensive (and is), it’s well worth the wait. Like any good Southerner, Jay sprinkles in some Tony’s—so you should too!

photos: THOMAS B. GROWDEN

Lance and Judy Lyons Lance and Judy Lyons of Covington are well known for their frequent themed parties. “A good party is exciting,” says Judy. “Exciting family, friends, libations and dancing. We take videos at our party, so everybody gets really crazy.”

The Lyons’ parties usually include a DJ, a dance floor and lots of games, like Bocce ball, horseshoes and

dominoes. Sometimes even badminton. But what makes their parties really stand out is Lance’s cooking. “Lance is known for his steaks and grilled veggies,” says Judy. “We like to use a lot of fresh vegetables from the garden.” Lance says the key to the veggies is to let them marinate about 30-45 minutes. “And don’t over cook the steaks!” he warns.

“It’s all about timing.”

And of course, there’s always the occasional surprise.

“One year, we had an unknown Easter bunny pop up at our Easter party,” says Judy. “We never did find out who it was, and that’s OK!” For Lance’s 50th birthday, the couple went all out and almost got busted! “We had a big 50th birthday celebration for Lance and the police came,” says Judy. “We were very loud. It just caught us off guard—typically, no one complains. We were actually winding down when the cops showed up!”

Judy says the secret to a great party is preparation. “To me, it’s all about preparing. Prep in advance,” she says. “Get your table set the day before. Come up with a menu to suit different lifestyles. And you have to have fresh flowers, too. I drink wine, wear hats and have flowers everywhere. People who know me know that!”

Good parties call for good food and drink. Judy shares her November-December 2012 95

>>

frozen Tiger Punch and Tiger-Bait Dip recipes, which are perfect for your next football party!

FROZEN TIGER PUNCH 24 oz 100%-natural mango-peach juice 12 oz coconut rum 12-16 oz ice 1 tsp cherry juice (optional)

Put all ingredients into blender, blend and enjoy!

Judy’s note: You may use 12 oz rum and 12 oz mango-peace juice. Adjust ice accordingly.

TIGER-BAIT DIP 1 lb lean ground beef 2-4 whole jalapenos, seeded 2 large tomatoes, peeled and seeded 6 green onions, sliced 10 sprigs of parsley 2 lbs Velveeta cheese

SautĂŠ ground beef over medium heat for three minutes. Add diced jalapenos and cook an additional five minutes. Add sliced green onions and diced tomatoes; cook five minutes.

Add finely chopped parlsey and cook five-seven minutes. Drain excess grease from meat mixture. Melt Velveeta in 96

Inside Northside

microwave at 50% power until soft. Fold meat mixture into Velveeta. Serve with tri-colored tortilla chips for a nice burst of color!

Judy’s tip: It’s best to use jalapenos, tomatoes, green onions and parlsey fresh from the garden if you can!

Don’t Forget the Flowers Phoebe and Judy know that a party doesn’t seem like a party without flowers and candles. They make any occasion more festive, whether it’s a formal holiday gathering or a casual football get-together.

For Christmas decorating, Jon Nicholson of Florist of Covington likes to mix seasonal greenery with gilded fruit and magnolia leaves. “You can gild in gold, silver or bronze, depending on the style of the house.

Gold and bronze are more traditional and sophisticated, while silver leans to the contemporary side.” Gilded fruit can be used in pieces for mantels, tabletops and over-the-door décor.

Pineapple over-the-door boards, which were the mainstay of the Williamsburg holiday decorations for years dating from the 1700s, are making a comeback. “The pineapple is the middle of the piece, and apples are added in an arch around it. Magnolia leaves frame the sides, bottom and top,” says Jon. “Pinecones and berries can be added for a lush look.”

If organic is your style, Jon suggests adding natural grasses, tallow berries with stems in bunches, pinecones and >> November-December 2012 97

greenery such as cedar, pine boughs or fir. For this, he recommends a looser, unstructured arrangement on the table and mantel. Use raffia and burlap ribbon—and perhaps a bird’s nest!

Use plants with greenery on the tops of cabinets, built-ins or armoires. Blooming azaleas, amaryllis berries and magnolia leaves are perfect for topping large pieces of furniture.

Orchids in a silver bowl surrounded by ivy or spathiphyllum make a simple but elegant arrangement. Poinsettias in glass tubes can be

put into greenery, as well.

Candles are a wonderful addition to any party—especially for Christmas. Several big pillar candles surrounded by ornaments and greenery look great on a silver tray. Place tea lights in votive cups around the room. Just remember they burn down fast, so don’t leave them unattended!

For a casual occasion, such as an LSU football party, Jon suggests an informal centerpiece using a white pumpkin filled with sunflowers, yellow lilies and purple liatris, purple dahlias and purple statice.

Or make a table runner out of natural greenery and use a megaphone as a cornucopia, with fruit and flowers spilling out of it. Add pom poms for more color. Mason jars filled with similar flowers can be scattered about the party.

As with all party arrangements, planning is key.

Take containers to the florist a week or two before the event with ideas and pictures from magazines.

Finally, have the flowers delivered to take one thing off the “to do” list.

And when the “to do” list is all done, relax— and then enjoy!

photo: FIELDING PHOTOGRAPHY

Insider

Meet Haydee Ellis

by Kaley Boudreaux

A LOVER OF BLUEGRASS and old country music, Haydee Ellis and her now-dispersed band, Southern Comfort, were among the first to perform at the Abita Springs Opry in the early 1990s. “Back then, it was called the Piney Woods Opry,” says Haydee. “I sang and played the bass and keyboards.”

Born to a New Orleans jazz pianist, music was in Haydee’s blood long before she knew how to talk, much less sing or play the guitar. Haydee began performing in her church in the early 1960s. By 1968, she had formed Southern Comfort and was appearing at parties and in music clubs all over New Orleans.

In 1980, Haydee married Judge Ellis and moved to the northshore. After taking a 10-year break from Southern Comfort, Haydee and her band reunited in 1990 and continued to play throughout the state. In 1998, they performed at Jazz Fest and disbanded for the second time shortly thereafter.

A longtime friend of music legend Fats Domino, Haydee played a big part in his return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Fats Domino’s world was turned upside down when his lower Ninth Ward home and priceless memorabilia were destroyed.

He moved to Texas temporarily, and Haydee and her husband helped him find a home and rebuild his life in Louisiana. She organized his show and assisted in reuniting his band. In 2007, Fats Domino performed at Tipitina’s nightclub in New Orleans. “He was helping the cause of bringing the people and music back to New Orleans,” says Haydee.

“Fats performed that night for the first time since his devastation from the storm. I wanted to help him through that.”

As if having musical talent weren’t enough, Haydee is also a painter, creating mostly landscapes and portraits of musicians. Some of her artwork is displayed at St. John’s Coffee House in Covington; most of her pieces are for sale.

Haydee spends her days painting, listening to live bands and spending time with her family, friends and husband of more than 30 years.

Although she no longer plays music professionally, Haydee still enjoys singing and playing the piano, especially with her children and grandchildren. “Music means everything to me,” she says.

“Music is the best thing.”

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1. Black-and-gold stainless steel watch, $90. DeLuca’s Expressions in Gold, Covington, 892-2317. 2. 14kt yellow gold

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ring with 1.15cttw princess and baguette diamonds, $3,395.

Moseley’s Jeweler, Mandeville, 626-5098. 3. White sterling silver Water Meter cuff links, $140.

Champagne Jewelers, Slidell, 643-2599. 4. Retro-modern watch with Swiss-made quartz movement, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, stainless steel case and bracelet, butterfly clasp; water resistant up to 330 feet, $550. Lowe’s Jewelers, Mandeville, 845-4653.

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4

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5

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5. Bracier series sports-style elegant chronograph from ESQ by Movado with brushed finished, hinged crown protectors and date display, $417.80 Northshore - Southshore Clocks, Watches & Knives, Slidell, 778-9592. 6. Brass twin skulls-and-black Rondelle elastic bracelet by Ettika, $95. Izabella’s Villa, Slidell, 649-5060.

7. Silver tie clip, $40. JoS. A. Bank Clothiers, Mandeville, 6244067. 8. Diesel XLG Red watch with round case and bracelet, $120. Dillard’s Northshore Square Mall, Slidell, 646-0664

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November-December 2012 101

IN 2007, NINE SLIDELL PTA MOTHERS “adopted” the soldier son-in-law of one of the women and his entire unit. They soon expanded into Slidell Ladies for Liberty, a group dedicated to supporting local men and women deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Their slogan, “Home of the Free BECAUSE of the Brave,” speaks volumes.

The group meets monthly to pack and ship care packages to the service personnel on its list, which fluctuates on a monthly basis. Every month, those on the list each receive three care packages, which averages about 125 boxes a month. In December 2011, more than 200 were shipped. Since it began, SLFL has supported 272 members of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard.

stuffs Zapp’s potato chips and snack bars in a box to be shipped overseas.

Right: Annette

Supporting the troops Slidell Ladies who support us

Hall and soldier Trevor Abney on a recent packing day. Opposite: The Ladies proudly display their awards at every packing day, including the Amerian Patriot Victory Award they received earlier this year.

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for Liberty

by Lauren Smith

Putting the “Care” in Care Packages The care packages were originally put together in member Annette Hall’s home. She had to move the furniture out of her living room to make room as the group grew. Thanks to a local church that offered one of its buildings, SLFL was able to move to a larger location. “We’ve grown from nine to about 45 people,” Annette says. “I couldn’t hold that many people in my house!” (Of the original nine women, five remain, including Annette; Cheryl Backes; Libby

photos: STEPHEN FAURE

Top: Wendy Harpster

Guidry, mother-in-law of the first adoptee; Debbie Miller; and Kay DeLuca.)

Local school children decorate the boxes that the care packages are packed in, something suggested by Slidell postmaster Ray Phelan. If there’s a holiday coming up, the boxes tend to reflect that, perhaps with a “Happy Mardi Gras” or a “Merry Christmas.” The schoolchildren are also pen pals with the recipients. In addition to the coloring, every box packaged by the SLFL bears a sticker in honor of member Debbie Miller’s nephew, Sgt. Patrick Oliver Williamson, who

was killed in Afghanistan on Oct. 27, 2008.

The three packages sent each month include a box of hygiene items; a box of various snacks and drink mixes; and a box containing six pairs of socks and entertainment items.

Donated items include toothbrushes and toothpaste, socks, pillows, DVDs and magazines. The troops also get a taste of home through the donation of local products, like Cajun seasonings from Louisiana Fish Fry and Zapp’s potato chips. For the female troops, “girly” items like nail polish are included.

“We ask for gently used current DVDs, magazines and paperback books,” says Annette. “We mail them big boxes of books and magazines [to read during their downtime].”

November-December 2012 103

Stamps, Stamps, Stamps By far, the group’s largest expense is postage. In the last five years, SLFL has spent more than $65,000 on postage.

According to Annette, a typical month’s postage is more than $1,500; during Christmas time, it can be $2,600.

Annette now orders the boxes and postage forms online, which helps cut down on the time it takes to get the packages out the door. There is a lot of form-filling-out involved! Laura Swearns, Annette’s “right-hand man,” works for Thrivent Financial. Her boss, Terry King, is very generous, buying the paper and mailing labels and allowing Laura to print them at work. “It’s a lot of paperwork,” she says.

A Warm Welcome Home SLFL partners with Southside Café in Slidell for “Welcome Home” luncheons for returning troops. The joint effort began when the original group members lunched there. They knew the restaurant had military connections, so Annette showed the owners a scrapbook.

And the rest, as they say, is history. “If it wasn’t for Southside, we’d be out of business,” Annette said. “They donate items for the boxes every month.”

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photos: STEPHEN FAURE

Recognition for Giving Back

At the “Welcome Home” luncheons, the mayor of Slidell presents the returnees with an award, and the local Knights of Columbus gives them a check for $100. Everyone in the café is given an American flag to wave and cards to fill out to thank the returning soldiers for their service. The restaurant is decorated in red, white and blue. “The honorees are usually so overwhelmed,” says Laura. “They’re just speechless.”

Soldiers are also presented with a flag at the luncheon that is signed by all members of SLFL who help on packing days. The Ladies have been given many flags that were flown in the organization’s honor overseas, so the group decided to sign a flag to give to the soldiers to fly in their honor.

“We’ve gotten so many flags, so we’ve started having flags at our packing days for all to sign with messages like ‘best wishes.’ Then we give them to the soldiers,” says Annette.

The Ladies get others to write thank-you notes to the soldiers at “Welcome Home” luncheons, but they too receive their own thank-you notes, as does Southside Café. The group has scrapbooks filled with letters and emails from the soldiers, their wives, mothers and grandmothers, thanking them and letting them know how much the recipients look forward to a package from home.

“The best part is the thank-you notes,” says Chris Legrand of Southside Café. “It’s a privilege for us to be able to do that for them. These guys sacrifice so much.” Above: Jahneed For their efforts, earlier this year, the members of McBrayer (left) packs SLFL were awarded the highest civilian honor given boxes with Terry Farr during wartime, the American Patriot Victory Award, (right). Left: a packed by the U.S. Army National Guard. The award was box ready to be taped. presented to them by returning solder Trevor Abney. Every box shipped Trevor, 24, was deployed in Iraq for a year and was includes a small flag welcomed home Dec. 20, 2011. At his homecoming, the men and women Trevor gave the Ladies the award and also the can carry in their command flag signed by members of his unit, which pockets and postcards is now always displayed at their packing days. written from local “They pretty much sponsored our whole schoolchildren who platoon,” says Trevor about SLFL. “We had to get are pen pals with the more people to go pick up the mail, there was so soliders. Opposite: much.”

Linda Mejias picks out A recent article published in U.S. Army Guard books to include in Magazine about SLFL reached a quarter of a million the care packages.

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Above: The five remaining original members, Kay Deluca, Annette Hall, Libby Guidry, Debbie Williams and Cheryl Backes pictured with Anita Barham (second from left). Opposite: Jean Hayerdale squeezes as many magazines as she can into a box.

Paying it Forward When asked what has changed in the last five years, Annette and Laura say the community involvement has increased. “The community has really stepped up,” says Laura. “There’s more networking, more awareness.”

Annette continues to spread the word about SLFL, even though it

sometimes involves one of her least favorite activities: public speaking. “I used to hate public speaking, and now I look for places to speak.”

“Passion, that’s what it is,” says Laura. “This is something I look forward to doing.”

The Ladies gladly accept donations to include in the packages. Donations can be made at four locations in Slidell: Cross Gates Firestone on Military Road, Gulf Coast Bank by the Harbor Center Thrivent Financial, at 100 Mission Drive by Airport Road, and the Capitol One Bank on Gause Boulevard. Packing days are the third Wednesday of every month, excluding the holiday season. Upcoming packing days: Nov. 21 and Dec. 12 at 9 a.m. For more information on the Slidell Ladies for Liberty, visit slidellladiesforliberty.com or find them on Facebook.

photos: STEPHEN FAURE

people. People from 11 communities called Annette to ask about setting up something similar in their town. Annette has taken on the new role of giving advice and furnishing a “blueprint” on how to set everything up.

“It’s so much more than organizing and putting things in boxes,” Chris says.

Just recently, the Slidell Inner Wheel Rotary Club chose SLFL as its charity of the year and will help pay for the group’s postage for the next year.

Other ways to help Here are some of the many other local and national organizations that support our troops. Give to one, or give to all!

Operation We Care A group of family and friends of local military personnel ship care packages overseas. Operation We Care has shipped more than 18,000 care packages since its creation in 2003. Visit operationwecare.com to add your loved one’s name to their recipient list or to make a donation to help with the cost of postage. Items for the care packages are also gladly accepted. P.O. Box 8542, Mandeville. 892-9700.

Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts of America/Soldiers’ Angels Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America are both partnered with Soldiers’ Angels in supporting wounded soldiers and sending care packages overseas.

Visit scouting.org, girlscouts.org or soldiersangels.org to learn more. (504) 889-0388 or (504) 733-8220.

Operation USO Care Package USO is a national organization that organizes care package drives for active duty personnel and hands out care packages at airport USO stations around the country. Sponsoring a care package allows you to include a personal message to the troops. For every $25, the USO will send a care package with both needed and requested items to a deployed man or woman. Go online to uso.org to sponsor a care package.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Don’t get caught without insurance or you could be left out in the cold.

North American provides protection for: • General liability • Buildings & business personal property • Business income & employee dishonesty • Contractors’ equipment • Computer equipment • ERISA compliance • Valuable and strategic documents reproduction

• Flood/excess flood • Accounts receivable reproduction • Money and securities theft • Employee benefits liability • All types of marine and auto coverage • Workers comp • Umbrella coverage

2255 N. Hwy. 190 • Covington • (985) 871-5480 • (800) 229-2789 www.naiala.com November-December 2012 107

Worthy Causes

East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity

by Kaley Boudreaux

Building More Than Homes EAST ST. TAMMANY HABITAT for Humanity has been helping families purchase their own homes for over two decades. Celebrating its 20th birthday in 2012, this Christian organization builds safe, affordable houses for families that are unable to attain a conventional mortgage.

The East St. Tammany chapter of Habitat for Humanity was started by a group of residents in a bible study. Wanting to address the need for decent, affordable housing in East St. Tammany Parish, they formed an official partnership with Habitat International in 1992. The first home was built in 1994. Through the help of volunteers, ESTHFH has built a total of 130 houses in Slidell, Lacombe, Pearl River and Alton since it was formed.

“It makes a big difference in a family’s life to be able to own a home,” says CEO Debbie Crouch, who, along with the rest of the staff and volunteers, is committed to helping the people in her community >> 108

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Fostering Angels Netchex Holiday Classic

$5,000 Money Tennis Tournament • Benefitting Fostering Angels Hosted by Franco’s Athletic Club • December 6-9

Great food, festivities, a fabulous silent auction and, of course, great tennis!

Corporate Sponsors:

Netchex, Inside Northside, Franco’s Athletic Club, I’land Pedi Spa, NOLA Lending

Event Sponsors: Abita Beer, The Dorothy L. Blossman Foundation, The Kramer Foundation, Loeb Law Firm, Schneider Paper

Food Sponsors: Pinkberry, Abita Beer, K. Gee’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar, Rouses’s Supermarket, Fresh Market, Great Harvest Bread Company, Evamor Water, PJ’s Coffee

Silent Auction Sponsors: Acquistapace’s Covington Supermarket, Gretchen Armbruster, Andy Smith, Arabella Fine Gifts, Azure Spa, Boudreaux’s Fine Jewelers, Chris & Melissa Cretin, Melaleuca, deCoeur, DeLuca’s Expressions in Gold, Entergy, Designs in Windows, Downtown Chic Salon, EMB Interiors, English Tea Room, Fitness Expo, Florist of Covington, Glen Dautrel, Grapevine, Henderson Park Inn, Izabella’s Villa, Karen Redd, Kent Jacob Salon, Martin Wine Cellar, Mary Ellen Lozano, Melange by kp, Oil & Vinegar, OSpa, Paisley, POSH Boutique, Precision Sewing, Private Beach, Purple Armadillo Again, Schroeder Chiropractic, Shoeffle, Jim Seitz, Tennis Shop of Mandeville, Tiger Tuff, The Wine Loft, Zelden Physical Therapy and MANY MORE!

Additional sponsorships available.

For a tournament registration form, please go to www.fosteringangels.org.

To become a sponsor,­please contact Jenn Thompson at 985-373-8223.

Fostering Angels is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping foster children assimilate with their peers through participation in sports and extracurricular activities, giving them a sense of pride and accomplishment. Fostering Angels is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

build better lives.

Crouch notes that a popular misconception about ESTHFH is that the houses are free. “Our families work very hard for their homes. They put in 250 hours of sweat equity and pay a down payment of 1 percent of the cost of the house and the closing costs,” she says. In order to be selected, the family must be able to repay the standard no-interest mortgage. Part of the sweat equity hours includes a financial fitness class and homebuyer training classes, which helps them learn to budget and how to maintain a home.

It takes approximately four months for a home to be completed. On move-in day, sponsors and participants in the building process are invited, along

with the extended families of the homeowners, to witness the dedication celebration.

“It can be a very moving ceremony,” says Crouch. “You have gone through the whole process with the homeowner. It is very fulfilling to watch.”

She adds, “I cannot imagine not being part of this wonderful organization. I have a love for the Habitat mission and a passion for the work. I am right where I am supposed to be.”

How You Can Help East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity 20th Birthday Celebration and Art Auction.

Home is Where the Art Is Friday, November 16, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Northshore Harbor Center Auction of original works by local artists such as Adam Sambola, Phil Galatas and Tami Curtis-Ellis. $50 per person; $75 per couple. Includes dinner, open bar and live entertainment.

ReStore, an ESTHFH thrift store, sells low-cost building materials and home furnishings to the public. Donations of new or slightly used items can be dropped off or scheduled for pick up.

Home building takes place every Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Volunteers meet just before 7 a.m. at the Slidell office for coffee and fellowship before being assigned to worksite.

ESTHFH and ReStore are located at 747 Old Spanish Trail, Slidell. To purchase tickets for the art auction or for more information on donating or volunteering, call 6390656 or visit esthfh.org.

November-December 2012 111

Louisiana Heart Hospital Award-winning heart care… and so much more.

Medical Center revenues grew threefold while delivering superior care at lower costs. Jacobson’s vision can be summed up in one word: integration.

Imagine a place where your primary care

LOUISIANA HEART HOSPITAL (LHH) had already

physician considers herself your healthcare team

established itself as a leader in cardiovascular care,

leader. She can fast-track appointments for a

spine care and orthopedics, and boasted the largest

specialist or screening; coordinate treatment plans

emergency room on the Northshore when new

with the referred physician and other ambulatory

owners Cardiovascular Care Group (CCG) took over

caregivers; and have shared access to all those files

last year, giving them a shot in the arm. As good as

to create an ongoing health maintenance program

“the Heart Hospital” was, CCG envisioned so much

for you. That kind of integrated delivery system is

more. Looking to the future they

part of the “so much more” that

made a pledge, and put it in writing.

LHH is amassing.

“Louisiana Heart Hospital …and so much more” could be found on

M.P.H, is that kind of primary

billboards, in newspapers, on the

care physician. She is part

radio and the web.

of Louisiana Heart Hospital’s

But what, exactly, is so

MPH, ABFM, ABIHM.

integrated delivery possible.

performance. Independent

“Amazing things can happen

quality rating service Carechex

when lines of communication

now places Louisiana Heart

between hospitals and

Hospital as #1 on the Northshore

physicians are opened. LHH’s

not only for Patient Satisfaction*

experience helps us with the

and Heart Attack Treatment,

business so we have more time

but also for Spinal Surgery, Patient Safety/

to spend with the patient,” says Knight. As a holistic

Major Neurosurgery and Patient Safety/Major

practitioner, she believes the patient is not best

Orthopedic Surgery. And Carechex ranked them

served by simply treating individual symptoms.

#1 in Louisiana for Vascular Surgery.

She relies on their expertise about themselves

Inside Northside

combined with her own expertise to find a path

excellence, the LHH system fosters a concept

to wellness for the whole person. “Speaking with

that seeks to reform the healthcare system under

the patient like a friend to address lifestyle and

the direction of CCG CEO, Harry Jacobson, MD.

personal issues allows me to empower them to

During his tenure as CEO of Vanderbilt University

take care of themselves. Being a part of Louisiana

*Full service hospitals over 50 beds.

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Family Practice, which makes

much more? It starts with top

Along with embracing multi-specialty

Candice L. Knight, MD,

And Candice Knight, M.D.,

M E D I C A L

P R O F I L E

Heart Hospital’s integrated delivery system gives

him to spend more time with his older patients. “As

Left: David R. Persaud,

me a toolbox to deliver higher quality care to them.”

we age, we react differently to medications and

MD, ABFM.

often require multiple medications. It’s crucial for

Below: Brian J. Galofaro,

information technologies and providers needed

me to take time and listen to all the issues a patient

MD, PhD, ABFM, ASH.

throughout all stages of patient care, including

has so I can better manage their treatment to

diagnostic, acute care, rehab and prevention,

maintain their independence and quality of life.”

By bringing together the personnel,

integration can provide

Because the ratio of

coordinated teams that improve

primary care physicians to

patient care and outcomes, and

population is below the national

increase efficiencies. The key is

average in St. Tammany, LHH

that the physicians, from family

is committed to growing its

care to specialist, are made true

Family Practice with those who

partners in the process.

value an integrated vision.

“When physicians are given

Like Brian Galofaro, M.D.,

the ability to influence their work

who shares not only office space

environments and connect with

with Knight and Persaud but also

other physicians and service

their collective expertise. “We

providers, patients receive better

use each other as resources.

quality care and take their rightful

We cross-consult. When you

place at the center of a circle of caregivers,” explains LHH CEO Steve Blades.

With the benefit of 35+ years in healthcare

come here, you’re really going to three doctors,” says Galofaro. He adds a focus on hypertension to the group. As for his

administration, Blades also believes that using

relationship with patients, Galofaro

partner physician input in hospital decisions, such

considers himself their quarterback.

as expanding technology, is much more effective

“Specialists play an important role

than when hospital administrators make those

in patient care but I want to make

decisions in a vacuum. With just such input, LHH has

sure the patient is considered as a

invested in areas crucial to comprehensive patient

whole. I’m here to see the big picture

care, including a $5 million upgrade to the Cath

and move beyond just treatment into

Lab, making it state-of–the-art. Additional imaging

measureable outcomes that lead to a

resources are planned related to women’s health

lifestyle of well-being and prevention.”

along with upgrades to MRI, CT scan and ultrasound technology.

A major component of integrating physicians

Louisiana Heart Hospital is making good on its promise made last year: a better delivery system,

into a delivery system is the development of

better technology, better physician/

sophisticated IT systems. LHH has just invested $4

staff efficiencies and better communication

million in a new medical information system that,

among teams of caregivers encompassing

when finished, will allow information to be easily

multiple specialties – all resulting in award-

accessible to the patient’s team of caregivers.

winning patient satisfaction …and so much more.

David Persaud, M.D., another LHH Family Practitioner in the same office as Knight, agrees that accessibility to a team is a big advantage.

“Sharing patient information makes the flow across different stages of care easier and direct access to their specialists improves the on-going care that

Louisiana Heart Hospital Physicians Group

we can provide.” With a certification in geriatrics,

2190 N. Causeway, Suite 150, Mandeville, La

Persaud values the efficiency of the office enabling

985.624.3468 • www.LouisianaHeart.com November-December 2012 113

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1. Wet your palate. Block 627 Cabernet Sauvignon: grapes from the famous Napanook Vineyard, $26.99. Martin Wine Cellar, Mandeville, 951-8081. 2. Warm up your holidays! Warmer, $19; pumpkin vanilla drizzle melts, $6.50. Other scents available. deCoeur Gifts & Home Accessories, Covington, 8093244. 3. Keep your whisky cool in style. Two Avva Tumblers and a set of six whisky stones, $52.

Accents & Things, Slidell, 649-4273. 4. Hark little angel! 16’’ wood-toned resin angel, $49.99. Florist of Covington, Covington, 892-7701. 5. Healthy hair is beautiful hair. L’Oreal’s Professional Mythic Oil collection, $30 each. Air Blow Dry Bar and Salon, Mandeville, 626-1402. 6. Enjoy comfort and mobility. Hickory Chair Eton Swivel, $1,680. Berger Home, Mandeville, 624-3433. 7. Diamonds by the pound! Diamond nuggets are a contemporary alternative to gas logs, 10 pounds/$75. Outdoor Living Center, Covington, 893-8008. 8. Make salad the main course. Nambé’s acacia wood Anvil salad bowl, $165.

Simplee Gourmet, Covington, 892-8370.

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1. Local landmarks. Hand-painted northshore

5. Insulate drinks in style. Black ruffle insulated tote,

treasures by artist Jax Frey, $40 each. Rug Chic,

$28.80. Pine Grove Electrical Supply, Mandeville, 893-

Mandeville, 674-1070. 2. Slice in style. Classic French-style carving set made

4003. 6. ’Tis the season. Handcrafted St. Nicholas

of high-polished stainless steel by Claude Dozorme, $175. Arabella Fine Gifts

figurine by a Russian craftsman, $269.

& Home Decor, Mandeville, 727-9787. 3. Dip into deliciousness. The Pagoda

St. Joseph Abbey, Covington, 892-7652.

two-piece bottle filled with extra virgin olive oil from Tuscany and aged

7. Whimsical, primitive and nostalgic.

balsamic vinegar from Modena, $29.95. Oil & Vinegar Louisiana,

European child’s rocking horse with

Covington, 809-1693. 4. Elegant service.

worn paint and shabby-chic edges,

Pewter and iridescent glass

$450. Lynn Stirling Antiques, Mandeville,

serving bowl, $325. EMB

626-7704. 8. The fragrance of your favorite wine.

Interiors, Mandeville, 626-1522.

Rewined Candles; inspired by wine varietals in hand-crafted repurposed wine bottles. Pinot Grigio,

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$28; refresh glass flameless candle holder, $32.

Niche Modern Home, Mandeville, 624-4045.

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1. Stylish yet practical. iPad cover made in the USA by Stephanie Dawn, $27. The Grapevine, Covington, 893-2766. 2. Cuddle up. Peacock Alley’s Bella feathered throw and pillow. Throw, $585; pillow, $300. Hestia Linens, Covington, 893-0490. 3. Ho, ho, ho! Candy cane shaped traditional king cake.

Various sizes. Small, $16.95; medium, $19.95; large, $28.95. Nonna Randazzo’s, Covington, 893-1488. 4. Perfect mix of oil and vinegar.

Faith Basket with extra virgin olive oil, 7

balsamic vinegar, pour spouts, gourmet dip mix and focaccia crisps, $35. Infusé Oils & Vinegars, Mandeville, 778-0903. 5. Sleep like 5

a baby. Polyester-cotton blend Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit, $39.95. Comes in pink, yellow and blue. Laurier, Covington, 8750823. 6. It’s your lucky day! Bless This Home horseshoe, $95. Melange by kp, Mandeville, 807-7652. 7. Unite products add shine to your hair. Shina, $24.99, Shina-Mist spray, $21.95.

Downtown Chic, Covington, 809-3860.

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September-October 2012 119

IN Good Company

by Kaley Boudreaux

WITH OPERATIONS ALL OVER the New Orleans area and the Gulf South, it’s easy for someone to assume NOLA Lending Group takes its name from the city. It was actually chosen by founders Ashton Noel and Richard LaNasa in 2002 as a play on their last names that had a coincidental geographic hook.

Paul Spansel joined NOLA Lending as the third owner shortly after.

NOLA Lending specializes in home purchases and refinances. The company celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2012, a spectacular milestone when gauged by the phenomenal growth it sustained through some of the toughest times the real estate 120

Inside Northside

and mortgage industries have ever known.

“Ten years. What a ride it’s been in this crazy market!” Ashton says. “This has not been a dull 10 years. Look on the top of my head—I’ve got a lot less hair.”

The firm’s first office was in Mandeville.

Richard recalls how it all began. “We started with four employees. At the time, we saw a major gap in the service level in this industry. Today, we have grown from a 12-by-12 office space to 29 locations throughout the Gulf South. From our inception, we made quality loans versus our competitors, who were pushing the envelope as far as they could. We

photos: FIELDING PHOTOGRAPHY

with Paul Spansel, Ashton Noel and Richard LaNasa of NOLA Lending Group, LLC

stuck to what we knew best, and that’s how to make good loans,” says Richard.

The constantly growing company had a 50 percent increase in size from 2011 to 2012.

“That’s all because of the people in this local market that believed in us, that gave us a chance and put our name on the map,” Ashton says. “Now we have offices in Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi and are licensed in Georgia, Arkansas and Texas as well.”

NOLA Lending takes pride in being first mortgage specialists—doing only one thing, and doing it really well. It is able to offer better rates than the big banks and can give customers better service by having a finger on the pulse from “hello” to close.

Everything is processed in-house by locals who know their community and the local market, from processing the application to underwriting. “We go to every closing and write a personal thank-you letter to the customer and to all of the real estate agents that were involved,” says Ashton.

Paul adds, “The end result is that our customers enjoy the best rates in the market and the quickest loan closings. Realtors and borrowers prefer to do business with NOLA, because we typically close loans in a much shorter time frame than 30-45 days.”

Going that extra mile in serving

>>

November-December 2012 121

customers means two very important things. NOLA gets many referrals for new business from past customers and has a high percentage of repeat customers—key aspects of NOLA Lending’s 10 years of success, which is best exemplified by the closing of approximately 2,900 loans in 2011.

“People are coming back to us because we make it a smooth, hasslefree closing, and they are sending their friends and families,” says Ashton. “Most of our business is from people who have used us in the past.”

One of those referral customers is first-time homebuyer Danielle Spinosa.

“The thought of buying a house terrified me. I knew nothing about getting a mortgage and was expecting a mess, but the process was easy,” Danielle says about her recent experience with NOLA Lending.

Danielle was pleased with her NOLA loan officer. “I emailed [my loan officer] at 9:30 on a Saturday morning with a question, and before I could close the window, she responded.”

Ashton says, “What sets us apart from other lending agencies are the relationships we have with our customers. We meet with clients and keep them informed and comfortable throughout the entire process.

“People call us all the time. We give them advice. For example, sometimes those who want to re-finance really don’t need it,” he says. “We’ve been able to give good advice to the community; it’s not just about getting a loan.”

And NOLA Lending goes further than just giving advice. It is important to the owners that the company gives back to the local community. A sponsor of the Harvest Cup Polo Classic 2012, the St. Tammany Parish Hospital Foundation, Fostering Angels and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the firm financially

supports many school teams and church organizations as well. NOLA also sponsors two large tennis events every year to benefit charities like Boys Hope Girls Hope and Habitat for Humanity.

The 2011 November tennis match raised over $32,000 for Boys Hope Girls Hope.

“Where do we spend money as a company? We give back, not only to organizations like the Junior League, but we support youth sports: football teams, soccer teams and Little League,” Ashton says. He and his wife, Lendon, are personally involved with the St. Tammany Parish Hospital Foundation’s efforts, particularly the Heart of Fashion and Night of Fashion fundraising events focused on pediatric care. “My wife’s been the chairperson for Heart and Night of Fashion for the last two years,” Ashton says. “We’re very passionate about the hospital and what it brings to the community as a whole, not only pediatrics, but Mary Bird Perkins, the Parenting Center and all of their other facilities.”

The dedication of—and the company’s dedication to—its employees is something that cannot be stressed enough when examining NOLA Lending’s 10 years of success.

“We have more than 160 employees now,” Ashton says. “Many of them left national companies and regional companies to work for Richard and me. They believed in us and still work for us to this day. When we hit some tough times, we didn’t let anybody go.

Some years, profits suffered, yet we kept everyone employed and with a paycheck. [That] makes you feel good when you own a company.”

For information on NOLA Lending Group’s locations and services, visit nolalending.com or call toll-free, (866) 872-5399.

November-December 2012 123

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GLITZ AND GLAMOUR 1. Cuff bracelet by Evocateur accented with restyled vintage jewelry metal and enamel, $480. Emma’s Shoes and Accessories, Mandeville, 778-2200. 2. Updo accessories.

Orchid tongs or rhinestone ponytail holder. Tongs, $48; ponytail holder, $24. H2O Salon, Mandeville, 951-8166. 3. 18kt white gold 2.05cttw cushion cut diamond earrings with 0.27cttw diamond dangles by Tacori, $14,995. Boudreaux’s Fine Jewelers, Mandeville, 626-1666. 4. Fully sequined strapless gown from Adrianna Papell, $280. Columbia Street Mercantile, Covington, 809-1789. 5. Gold-and-silver metal pleated halter dress with bow in back by Laundry, $225. The Villa, Mandeville, 626-9797. 6. Children’s shoes by Lelli Kelly, $62. Available in pink, silver and blue glitter. Silver Plum & 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe, Mandeville, 674-4343.

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GLITZ AND GLAMOUR 1. 2.7cttw pendant features a round-cut sapphire-colored

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stone surrounded by pave diamonds set in sterling silver finished with pure platinum; 16’’ chain has a 2” extender, $140. Purple Armadillo Again, Slidell, 643-2004.

2. Jessica Simpson Bansi T-strap heel in luxe suede, $98.

Shoefflé, Covington, 898-6465; Baton Rouge, (225) 7611105. 3. Real leaves preserved in 24kt gold. Necklace, $81.50; earrings, $33. The Lifestyle Store at Franco’s, Mandeville, 792-0200. 4. Navy dress with silver-sequined

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hemline, $84. Paisley, Mandeville, 727-7880. 5. Gown with full-sequined bodice, sweetheart neckline and front slit; $438. Available in silver or gold. Southern Bridal, Mandeville, 727-2993. 6. Spangly sequined skirt by Bianca Nero, $305. Fleurt, Covington, 809-8844.

7. Hand-beaded bracelet from Miguel Ases in Spain, $400. Saint Germain Designer Shoes and Accessories, New Orleans, (504) 522-1720.

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GLITZ AND GLAMOUR 1. Christian Louboutin Decorapump in black suede with hand-set Swarovski crystals, $3,895. Saks Fifth Avenue, New Orleans, (504) 524-2200. 2. Faux-gold hoop earrings with clear stone rings, $19.99. Private Beach, Mandeville, 2376040. 3. Sequined racerback dress from Laundry by Shelli Segal, $295. Laurier, Covington, 875-0823. 4. Sequined one-shoulder dress by Jessica Simpson, $148. POSH, Covington, 898-2639. 5. Blue-and-silver peace sign shoulder purse 1

by Fashion Angels, $15. Blossom Girl Tween Gift and Accessories, Mandeville, 626-6280. 6. Crystal beaded cuffs by Elly Preston, $38 each. the french mix, Covington, 809-3152. 7. Pleasure State Bloom bra and panties with Swarovski crystal elements. Bra, $115; panties, $80. Bra la Vie!, Hammond, 662-5065.

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GLITZ AND GLAMOUR 1. 2.23ct round natural blue sapphire lady’s ring with 1.75cttw side oval diamonds and round brilliant-cut diamonds set in 18kt white gold, $15,325. De Boscq Jewelry, Mandeville, 674-0007. 2. Pillowshaped Swarovski crystal pendant necklace with small pear teardrop

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accents, $325. Olivier Couture, Mandeville, 674-6994. 3. Maria Bianca Nero sequined mini dress with cowl and open back, $333.

The Mix, Mandeville, 727-7649. 4. Sleeveless beaded light gray dress with ruffle bottom by Alice + Olivia, $495. Eros Home and Clothing, Mandeville, 727-0034. 5. Textured Lurex jacquard dress by Nicole Miller, $595. Izabella’s Villa, Slidell, 649-5060. 6. Antique platinum bar pin featuring round brilliant, marquis cut, emerald cut and triangular cut diamonds; $5,000. Symmetry Jewelers, New Orleans, (504) 8619925. 7. Cocktail handbag with rhinestone accents, $34.99. Available in gold, pearl and silver. Mandeville Party Co., Mandeville, 674-1605.

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Durham-Crook

photo: DAVID STUBBS

L O V E

A N D

M A R R I A G E

The marriage of Jessica Durham and Benjamin Crook, solemnized outdoors among the Teton Mountains in Jackson Hole, Wyo., was followed by a reception at The Shooting Star Barn. The bride is the daughter of Tracy and Suzanne Durham of Hammond. She wore an ivory Fawn Vera Wang gown with Chantilly lace appliqué and a soft tissue organza blossom flange. Her veil was handmade by Dami Behlar. The ring bearer was Draka, Jessica and Ben’s chocolate lab, who wore the bride’s organza sash around her neck; it was adorned with flowers matching the bride’s bouquet. Flowers were placed in loving memory of Hunter Durham and Kada, Jessica’s German Shepherd. Jessica and Ben honeymooned in Costa Rica and now live in Lander, Wyo.

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Skinner-Madden Bonnie Marie Skinner and Tucker Lendon Madden were united in marriage at Trinity Church in Covington. A reception followed at the Maritime Museum in Madisonville. The bride wore a lace gown with a sweetheart neckline, a beaded sash and a keyhole back. Her bouquet was a cluster of white hydrangeas, yellow spider mums, Solidago, white stock, blue thistle and sprigs of wheat, all backed with seeded eucalyptus. Guests danced the night away to music by Countdown Sound. The couple enjoyed a honeymoon in Disney World and now live in Ruston, La.

Summers-Guillot

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photo: WILL JACKS

photo: KAYLA ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Jenny Claire Summers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Ryland Summers, and Gavin Hodges Guillot, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Carlton Guillot III, celebrated their marriage at St. Patrick’s Church in New Orleans. The Reverend Frank Hampton Davis of Lafayette celebrated the Nuptial Mass with four concelebrants. Preceded by her eight bridesmaids, the bride walked down the aisle wearing a silk dupioni gown from Southern Bridal featuring a sweetheart neckline and crystal accent around her waist. White flowers with undertones of soft pink adorned the church and accentuated the bride’s bouquet of blush pink peonies and roses. Following the exchange of vows, the guests joined the bride and groom for a reception at the Orléans Club.

The couple honeymooned in Europe and now live in Uptown New Orleans.

November-December 2012 133

IN the Spotlight Couture for a Cause

For the fourth year, St. Tammany Parish Hospital, Saks Fifth Avenue New Orleans and Inside Northside presented the Heart and Night of Fashion in support of the advancement of pediatric care at the hospital. Approximately 500 glamorous guests at Tchefuncta Country Club were treated to the northshore’s only true New York-style runway show, surprise giveaways, fabulous gifts and an outstanding “10 Things I Can’t Live Without” auction.

The more than $224,000 raised for the St. Tammany Hospital Foundation included proceeds from all appointments during the Look of Fashion, a day of services at H2O Salon.

Highlights of the Heart of Fashion luncheon were a cocktail hour with the signature “Stiletto” drink, a silent auction and the vibrant runway show by Saks Fifth Avenue. After dark, the Night of Fashion featured a cocktail hour, delicious cuisine, an exciting live auction and a second runway show. The evening was enjoyed not only by the elegant ladies of the northshore, but by their debonair men as well!

Guests at both events received fantastic gifts and Saks giveaway baskets of Jo Malone fragrances and La Mer skincare products.

New this year was the addition of the amazing Christopher Louboutin prize drawing, which included a pair of Louboutin shoes valued up to $1,000 and an invitation to a personal appearance where Louboutin will autograph the winner’s shoes!

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Inside Northside

2012 Special Thanks!

Swag Bag Donors (“Fabulous Friends”) Gretchen Armbruster, Artist Arabella Fine Gifts & Home Décor Blaise Ernst with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Vizzini–Paula Lowe EMB Interiors Guice Offshore Hestia Linens Kathy Seiden, Artist Kent Jacobs Salon H2O Salon Lift Training Studios PJ’s Coffee & New Orleans Roast Pelican Athletic Club Paretti Mazda Republic National Distributing Company Saks Fifth Avenue – La Mer Saks Fifth Avenue – Jo Malone Simplee Gourmet Simply Southern Stone Creek Club & Spa Water Street Pottery The Villa A very special thank you to committee members Monica Ernst and Missy Guice for their hard work and efforts in arranging the exceptional swag bags and specialty gifts for the Heart and Night of Fashion sponsors!

Proceeds from the Heart and Night of Fashion benefit St. Tammany Hospital Foundation in support of pediatric advancement at St. Tammany Parish Hospital.

Presenting Sponsors

November-December 2012 135

IN the Spotlight Lee Financial Partners, LLC Annual Client Appreciation Event Spotlights Giving Back to the Community

Jim and Mary Lee of Lee Financial Partners, LLC, hosted an effervescent event with a meaningful message. The sun-glinted waters of Lake Pontchartrain offered a picturesque backdrop to an early August afternoon at The Lakehouse where patrons enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and viewed a sampling of artwork from St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s Healing Arts Initiative.

This annual event to honor their clients began in 2006, the year after Hurricane Katrina. “It was a reminder that, for all the things that were washed away and lost forever, we were still here for them,” Mary says. A tradition was born.

The 2012 event focused on the importance of investing in your community and spotlighted a few of the Lees’ favorite causes. Speakers included Diane Winston, chairman of St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s Healing Arts Initiative; Jesse Hartley, executive director of Children’s Advocacy Center/Hope House; and Jim and Mary Lee, sponsor family for Tulane University’s NROTC Midshipman Program and founders of “Little Rembrandts” (an art mentoring program made possible by a partnership between the St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce and the St. Tammany Parish School Board). Jim Lee also spoke on the last 10 years of investing and on financial security for the future.

The heart-warming effect was infectious, and one guest after another approached the Lees to find out how they could get involved with these worthwhile causes.

Jim Lee offers his opinion on giving back to the community, “It’s the best investment you can make.”

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INside Peek Musician Ke rmit Ruffins gets ready to start his set at the Covington Tr ailhead.

ndrieu and Sen. Mary La e on hand er w y rd Arthur Ha f Covington’s to help kick of ivities at the st fe al bicentenni ailhead.

Covington Tr

Kevin and Kim Foltz with friends Do rothy and Don Lagard e at the Sage Café for th e United Way’s Annual Night of Distinction awar ds.

ny Jason Cobb, To Chief SO ST d an s am Ad z. nt Le Deputy Tim

ellen and Joe, Mary anode at K e n Katheri y Sports it the Vars eries.

Summer S

Diana King, Dr. Ke lly Burkenstock and Kim Melvin at Lakeview Regional Medical Center’s H2U Month ly Resource Meeting.

d Kerri Chris an lebrate e c s Parson -year n the o e ry of a rs e iv n an Girl m o Bloss ifts and Tween G ories. e Acc ss

Matt Faust, Chris Ka ufmann and Shirleen Carter, Un ited Way’s executiv e director, with John O’Neil, St. Tamman y fire services director, who received the Volunteer of the Ye ar Award at the United Way Night of Distinction.

Covington’s Ro bin Murphey, lucky winner of North Shore Square Mall’s $500 Fa cebook Shopping Spre e, and her daughter, Ha nnah, are ready to sh op!

including Family and friends, d Lolita ise rpr su é, her son Jos thday.

Tercero on her bir

Send your submissions to peek@insidenorthside.com.

November-December 2012 137

INside Peek Hayley Taff, Leslie Welsh , Jamene Dahmer, Saul Rubio, Vicki Blazevich, Fa ye Ivaneski, Sherry Beall and Br yan McMahon enjoy the grand op ening of RO X in downtown Po nchatoula.

s demy clas lastica Aca o h Sc . r St The s 30-yea lebrated it of 1982 ce the Seiler at 4 1 ly Ju . reunion on Covington in ourtyard Bar and C

Lacey O’N eill, Sonya Lauderda le and M andy Pourciau at ROX.

Terry O’Neill, Hart Brian Shirey, Glen d an on Bordel e th ith w ck la A at the Saintsations opening. d an gr X RO

Northshore ZTA Alum nae 2012 officers, fr -13 om left, C hristine G Raven Mo erace, ore, Leann e Caruso, Johnson, Becky Melissa M eraux and Stiles at th Helen e group’s Kick-Off b Benedict’s runch at Plantation .

Send your submissions to peek@insidenorthside.com.

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Center’s The Parenting elcomes w n Karen Supa and Jim ll Hi ul Pa ’ ks Hugwor e Rev. Th as ), Newton (seated Charley d an alb lzh Steve Ho in.

Strickland join

Jill uillin and an, Jane Q g o ilgate o C Ta e im at K the Ultim y jo en b. k n Burbri ountry Clu hefuncta C Party at Tc

Jill and Joel Champagne with Dana an d Greg Quinl in tailgate at Tc hefuncta.

John Elling hausen, Lo ri Murphy Windhors and Ricky t rock the house.

nd allard a Scott B ce. n a Kyle Fr

INside Peek

phanie Borja, Tracy Giselle Cuccia, Ste leman and Brooke Co el Duhon, Raqu ok of Fashion.

Arthur get the Lo

Heather Mahon ey, Lendon Noel an d Chris Lombard o at the Look of Fash ion.

Mark Berry , CJ Ladner and Keith at the Mar Ladner y Bird Perk ins Cancer Benefits of Center’s Home Gala at Franco’s .

Norman, Kim Shelly Berry, Louie Cindy Martinez. d an Norman Javier

esident’s North Shore Pr Randy Kinchen, ncer Ca s ary Bird Perkin Council for M onne.

Yv , ife w s hi an, and Center chairm

ves Cam resentati enter) p re e id u (c ore T e Morea Northsh e and Juli pter of th a h C Mayfield r fo e rd th a w m a the ision fro received na tate Div ri S b fa o S t’s u O tion Year for ft). i Associa a Alumn rk Roberts (far le Alabam a M d n a g Keatin

The Mand eville High student council off icers for 20 12-13 are Madison St ewart (histo rian), Amanda M cInerney (t reasurer), Bridget Pric e (vice pre sident), Kathryn Ja mes (presid ent), Dennis den Hartigh (sec retary) and Paulin a GonzalezQuiroga (parliamen tarian).

Jamal Washing ton, Hayes Jone s, Carson Mendel, Natalie Zimmer, Derek Smith, Bethany Price, Lindsay Blouin, Elise Ferrer, Catherin e Ragon, Alex Tryforos, Olivia Waguesp ack and Ziwei Su n were door prize win ners at Mande ville High’s Skipper Scholar Breakfast recogn izing students with a 3.5 and higher GPA.

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IN the Spotlight Inside Northside Meet the Artist Party

Champagne Beverage was the setting of the Inside Northside Meet the Artist Party for the September/ October issue. Highlighting the evening was the display of nationally recognized paintings by IN cover artist James Michalopoulos and the work of artists who donated to the Junior League of Greater Covington’s Harvest Cup Polo Classic 2012 silent auction.

The Polo artists included 2012 poster artist Mary deSliva, Jim Seitz, Marcia Holmes, Gretchen Armbruster, Jenna Lee Baker, Dr. Bob, Susan Brechtel, Nicole Dorignac, Sally Dunn, Jax Frey, John Goodwynne, Christie Hughes, Elizabeth Impastato, Lissa Lee, Susan Morgan, Stephen Rue, Stephanie Schoen, Lori Seals and Susan Sharp.

Music by the Rick Samson Project, with Ricky and Jan Windhorst from Four Unplugged, was enjoyed by the guests, as was great food from The Lakehouse, K. Gee’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar, Carreta’s Grill, Café Giovanni, Pardos, Saia’s and Lakeview Regional Hospital. Outdoor Living Center cooked up treats on the Big Green Egg. Beverages were provided by Champagne Beverage and Old New Orleans Rum. Participation by author Jane Harvey and St. Tammany Hospital Foundation added to a wonderful evening.

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INside Peek

e Tammy Bride-to-b hter d her daug an sa u n Gen couple’s Alexis at a y d in Tamm el h er w sho honor. ’s ea h ’S O and Pat

and Roscoe Barbara . ith Molly Sm

Ryan O’Sh ea with groom -tobe Pat O’S hea.

Molly Coo tes and Shannon O ’Shea.

any Swimmer Britt r Pierce with he e th m fro medals 2012 AAU Jr. es in Olympic gam Houston.

Nessa and Bobby O’N ea with Rick Sm l ith.

on, Robbie Robins d Mo Clary. an r no Ze l Ca

ond Bob and Sam Rosam e redfish lac t-p firs the hoisting tat d’E e from the Le Krew . eo rod fishing

The new prov isional class of the Junior A uxiliary of Sl idell.

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INside Peek Stephanie Pagliaru lo, Janet Hines and Jessica Gilmore celebrate the opening of Emma’s Shoes and Accessories in Mand eville.

iles while Mary Grace Gitz sm er, turns her nif Jen r, the mo r he s Ring Mass. ring following SSA’

Extraordinar y Ministers of Holy Communio n Remi Lan dry and Haley Kenn y were par t of their Ring Mass celebration .

LaNasa toast Ashton Noel and Richard h anniversary.

10t s up’ Gro g din NOLA Len

herine fler and Cat Andrea Kop ! ie V la Bra Monica from ktail gaging Coc attend An En Old e th at Event Party Bridal l.

State Capito

SSA seniors sh ow off their ne w class rings after the Ring Day cere monies.

Send your submissions to peek@insidenorthside.com.

ers Yvette t Club offic SSA Paren athy meritus), K O’Krepki (e ancy N , u ose Bea Lacoste, R et and d Le n ly o Hewitt, Car Romain.

Melita St.

Seniors Camer on Smith, Bret Reinhart, Perre Carter and An thony Depreo durin g St. Stanilslaus’ sc hool orientation.

St Paul’s senior s Chris Dufour, Peter Baricev, Ross Ledoux, Al ex Autin, Chris tian Neal, Brett Pellissier, Zander Smith and T.J. Jenkins after th traditional Mar e ch Through the Arch ceremony.

“Sing for a Honda” winner John Bertucci and Laura Wellen.

olarship morial Hospital sch Honoring Slidell Me Sandy O CF H SM , k Boullion winners are Patric COO Bruce H Mariah Dunbar, SM Badinger, winner Bill Davis, O CE H SM , Lekita Page Clement, winner inters.

W cca and winner Rebe Carol McCullough

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Northshore Living

Bedico Creek BEDICO CREEK IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE neighborhood. In fact, it’s not a neighborhood at all.

Bedico Creek is a conservation community. Located on 1,000 acres of preserved land, it brings nature to your backdoor with the help of developer David Waltemath.

Originally, the land was earmarked by the Poole family to be turned into a golf course community.

That never came to fruition, and the family sold the property to a land developer who also wanted to do a 146

Inside Northside

golf course development. “They started it, and it was very successful from a sales standpoint,” David says.

“They sold probably 50 lots at well over $100,000 a piece. So the market was interested and really grasped on to this area and the property.” But the recession that hit not long after, coupled with the debt load, took the golf course under.

“That presented me a terrific opportunity—a very great and rare opportunity—to take such a beautiful piece of property and re-mold it to what I >>

photo: CHAD CHENIER

by Lauren Smith

Twin ponds with sugar kettle fountains and native Louisiana plants flank the entrance to Bedico Creek Preserve.

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photos: CHAD CHENIER

character of Bedico Creek Preserve.

The natural materials and architectural style of the gatehouse reflect the nature preserve feel of Bedico Creek Preserve.

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thought it should have been in the first place: a conservation community,” David says.

“When the property went under with the land developer, I was able to buy it from the banks, which is the negative side of the story.

The great side is where it’s going from here.”

And boy, is it going!

“We bought it with no debt, so we don’t

have the burden of the debt that they had before, and we have a real, long-term strategic look at what we’re going to do with the property,” David says. “In a nutshell, we’re going to have a series of neighborhoods, just kind of dropped in, with different parks, lakes and conversation areas.”

At over 60 percent green space, Bedico Creek is unique. “I’d venture to say that unless there’s one out there already permitted that I don’t know about, there’ll never be another thousand-acre master plan community in West St. Tammany. We will be the last one,” David says.

Since purchasing the property two years ago, David has invested a lot of money in the project, transforming the nine holes of golf that were there into a park system, installing a gate and entry and also adding an amenity package. Amenities include a fishing pier; a lakehouse party pavilion; Sunset Point, where residents can watch the sun go down; and toddler play areas. More >>

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Part of the Bedico Creek Rod & Paddle Club, the fishing pier is one

amenities, such as a swimming pool and an area for beach volleyball, are still to come.

In addition to the amenities, Bedico Creek features over three miles of walking and biking trails, 50 acres of maintained parks and 20 acres of beautiful lakes, all of which flow in and around the stunning homes to make up the 377-acre nature preserve.

David, whose developments include the English Turn Golf & Country Club in New Orleans, sees the potential effect Bedico Creek will have. “It’s completely new, and we’re going to make an enormous economic impact in West St. Tammany,” he says. “We are permitted for up to 900 units in this collection of neighborhoods. So you’re talking about $270 million in homes 150

Inside Northside

photos: CHAD CHENIER

of the most popular amenities.

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that’s going to be in this development. That’s a huge impact.

People have already decided that this is what they want. We’ve had a tremendous amount of people who have said, ‘OK, I see the vision; I understand the vision; I love the vision’ and have been buying properties and houses here.”

Lots are priced from the $40s-$160s and home pricing starts in the mid-$200s and goes up to over $1 million. Three existing neighborhoods—Garden, Estate and Manor—are available now; they are three different neighborhoods with three different price ranges and three different products. Two new neighborhoods, Longview and Preserve, are now complete— and lots sell quickly!

Bedico Creek resident Debbie Williams was sold on the idea of the conservation community, and most importantly, so were her kids. “My kids and I come from the country, and this allows us to enjoy that with the city setting nearby,” she says. “When we were looking, we looked at many different areas, and the kids had big opinions. When I took them to Bedico Creek, what they loved the most was the privacy and the feeling that we were safe here. It’s about the land, the peacefulness and the environment. There’s nothing else like this on the northshore.”

Another Bedico Creek resident, Dr. Bob Hancock, knows exactly what Debbie is talking about. “Everything is so quiet, peaceful and natural. It’s truly modern living while enjoying the beauty of the outdoors. So many places to fish, hike, bike and explore—you never really feel like you’re in your backyard!”

For more information, visit livebedico.com or call 845-4200.

Magnificent sunsets appear daily at Bedico Creek Preserve, and “Sunset Point” is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the setting sun.

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ACTIVITIES Horseback Riding Swimming Ropes Course Tennis Canoeing Golf Basketball Gymnastics Dance Archery Arts & Crafts Outdoor Living Campfire Fun Rope Swing Volleyball Soccer Riflery Aerobics Chorus & Drama Trip Day Counselors-In-Training Climbing Tower River Water Blob Cheerleading Flag Twirling Sports Riverview Camp for Girls is a community where your daughters grow in confidence and maturity - all while having a great time in a safe, carefree and wholesome environment.

Susan and Larry Hooks, Owners and Directors • For more information, call (800) 882-0722. Riverview Camp for Girls, P.O. Box 299, Mentone, AL 35984 www.riverviewcamp.com

“CHILDREN ARE SUCH A GIFT. I want to celebrate them each day,” says Beverly McQuaid. Her Planet Kids Academy does

P R O F I L E E D U C A T I O N

Planet Kids Academy

inclement Southeast Louisiana weather.

Inside, the lobby, known as the “heartbeat” of the

just that—by taking excellence in early childhood education to

school, features unique craftsmanship, elevated ceilings and

an exceptional level that raises the bar for childcare statewide.

an area decorated with the children’s artwork.

For Beverly, opening Planet Kids in 1996 filled a gaping hole in childcare options on the northshore. “I had visited and observed

Each classroom has its own washroom, changing station and sink area. The Art and Science Lab is specifically

many ‘day cares,’ and the term truly fit what was happening

designed to maximize the

there. Children were often being babysat or watched without any

use of natural light and

development. I knew these little minds wanted so much more.”

the beautiful landscape to

Planet Kids Academy is not your typical childcare facility.

encourage the children’s

It’s a full-day child development program that focuses on

creativity. The facility also

individualized attention from a staff of experienced and

includes a Computer Center,

seasoned teachers, co-teachers and administrative personnel.

Movement and Music Studio

Special emphasis is placed on progress in multiple areas,

and an Amphitheater.

including emotional and social development as well as preparation for academic skills.

“Our desire is for each and every child to have fun

The primary mission of Planet Kids is to provide a fun and nurturing climate for

adventures and exciting experiences but also to be academically

children to grow and learn. For Beverly, it’s personal. “I take it

challenged on their developmental level,” says Beverly. Involving

to heart how you can make a child come alive by getting eye-

the students’ families is a large component of Planet Kids’

to-eye with them, giving them a big smile and a gentle touch.

success. “We communicate daily with written reports on each

Stimulating them with fun, creative activities challenges them

child and we send home report cards twice a year. We do

to reason, think creatively and problem solve on their individual

parent-teacher conferences for each and every child.”

level. For us, their successes are truly the riches of our hearts!”

Voted The Northshore’s Best Childcare Facility five years in a row, Planet Kids Academy is housed in a 7,000-squarefoot building located on two acres of land in Madisonville.

There is an abundance of indoor and outdoor spaces, including a reflecting pond and fountain and a porte-cochère.

“The serene and natural surroundings lend themselves

Planet Kids Academy operates from 7:30am – 5:30pm and

to a calming and peaceful feeling for our students to grow

offers full-day and morning-only programs on a three-, four-

and learn as they explore the great outdoors,” says Beverly.

or five-day-a-week basis for ages 12 months to 5 years. For

Currently, she is planning an upgrade to the play area that will

more information or to register for the 2013-2014 school year,

make it even easier for students to play outdoors in the often-

visit planetkidsacademy.com or call 845-0377.

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IN Great Taste

Culinary Kids In a culture where family time is a rarity, Sherri Hansen, owner of Culinary Kids Northshore, brings back the concept of a wholesome family meal where kids and their parents connect in the kitchen. With more than 15 years of nutrition and youth education experience, Sherri invites children of all ages—and adults—to enjoy the art of cooking. The “Corks and Cooking” class for adults is a fun night out centered on delicious food by local executive chefs. Culinary Kids is available for birthday parties, field trips, scouting programs and summer camp.

Culinary Kids is located at 3441 E. Causeway App., Ste. G. in Mandeville. 727-5553 or info@culinarykidsns.com.

Martin Wine Cellar Holiday season means parties, dinners and lots of football watching as college bowl games and the NFL playoffs roll around. Help your friends and loved ones be the best hosts they can be by giving them the gift of holiday spirit(s). Martin Wine Cellar’s Kevin Raborn has put together a list of “The” unique gift libations to help liven up the season and welcome in the New Year.

“The” Bourbon: Willett Pot Still Reserve: ($64/1.75 ltr photos: FIELDING PHOTOGRAPHY

bottle). The bottle is shaped like Willet’s pot still, and the bourbon is fantastic!

* “The” Vodka: Stolichnaya Elit ($60). Billed as the best vodka in the world, it’s made using a freezing process to separate and remove impurities.

“The” Scotch: Deanston 30 year-old ($250 - $280). This single-malt Highland whisky is Kevin’s favorite Scotch.

“The” Rum: Angostura 1824 ($50-60). Don’t miss this extra-aged rum from Trinidad and Tobago.

“The” Red Wine: 2009 Vintage Bordeaux ($25 - $400).

Reviewer Robert Parker rates it the best vintage since 1982; there are many other good wines in all price ranges.

“The” White Wine: Ramey Chardonnay ($50-65). Look for these single-vineyard chardonnays from Ramey: Hudson Vineyard, Hyde Vineyard, Platt Vineyard and Ritchie Vineyard.

“The” Champagne: 2004 Louis Roederer Cristal ($180).

Comes out on top and ahead of Dom Perignon in every blind tasting Kevin has held.

Martin WIne Cellar’s Mandeville location is in the Village Shopping Center, 2895 Highway 190; 951-8081. martinwinecellar.com.

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Pinkberry Pinkberry is home to Swirly Goodness®. Inspired by European gelaterias and yogurterias, Pinkberry’s distinctive yogurt flavors are expertly crafted to complement its high quality, daily fresh-cut fruit and dry toppings. The irresistibly tangy, incomparably refreshing taste is so light it leaves you craving more.

Pinkberry is located at 3460 Hwy. 190 in Mandeville; 612-7306.

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INside Dining MCC: Major credit cards accepted ME: Menu Express delivery RR: Reservations recommended

ABITA SPRINGS Abita Barbecue, 69399 Hwy. 59, 8920205. Ribs, brisket, chicken, pulled pork and boudin. MCC. Abita Brew Pub, 72011 Holly St., 8925837. On the Trace. Good food, great beer. Lunch, dinner. abitabrewpub.com.

MCC. Abita Springs Café, 22132 Level St., 867-9950. Southern cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tues-Sun. MCC. Breakaway Cafe, 71667 Leveson St., 809-8998. Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm.

Camellia Café, 69455 Hwy. 59, 8096313. Traditional seafood and New Orleans cuisine. thecamelliacafe.com. MCC. Mama D’s Pizza & More, 22054 Hwy. 59, 809-0308. Great pizza, sandwiches, pasta, fresh homemade bread. Lunch, dinner. mamadspizza.com.

COVINGTON Acme Oyster House, 1202 Hwy. 190, 246-6155. Established 1910 in New Orleans, 1995 on northshore. Seafood, sandwiches, local favorites. Lunch, dinner. mamdspizza.com. MCC. Albasha, 1958 Hwy. 190, 867-8292.

Mediterranean cuisine. albashabr.com. MCC. Annadele’s Plantation, 71518 Chestnut St., 809-7669. Yellow fin tuna, domestic lamb & much more. annadeles.com. MCC, checks.

Bear’s Restaurant, 128 W. 21st St., 892-2373. Best po-boys in the world.

Buster’s Place, 519 E. Boston St., 809-3880. Seafood, po-boys, steaks.

Lunch, dinner. MCC. Carreta’s Grill, 70380 Hwy. 21, 8716674. Great Mexican cuisine and margaritas served in a family-friendly atmosphere for lunch and dinner. Kids eat free every Wednesday! Private events and catering also provided. carretasgrill.com. MCC. The Cheesesteak Bistro, 528 N. Columbia St., Covington, 875-9793.

Original cheesesteak sandwiches, soups, salads, gumbo and super spuds. Breakfast, lunch. All under $10. MCC, checks.

The Chimes, 19130 W. Front St., 892-5396.

Lunch and dinner. thechimes.com. MCC. Coffee Rani, 234-A Lee Ln., 8936158. Soup and salad specialists. coffeerani.com.

Columbia St. Seafood, 1123 N. Columbia St., 893-4312.

Seafood platters and po-boys. columbiastreetseafood.com.

Columbia St. Tap Room & Grill,

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434 N. Columbia St., 898-0899. Daily specials, appetizers, sandwiches, salads, soups and burgers. Live music Thurs-Sat nights. Lunch, dinner. covingtontaproom.com. MCC, ME. Copeland’s, 680 N. Hwy. 190, 809-9659.

Authentic New Orleans cuisine. Lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. Online takeout orders at copelandsofneworleans.com.

MCC, ME, RR. Dakota Restaurant, 629 N. Hwy. 190, 892-3712. Contemporary Louisiana cuisine using local and seasonal ingredients. thedakotarestaurant.com.

MCC, RR. Del Porto Restaurant, 501 E. Boston St., 875-1006. Northern Italian cuisine. delportoristorante.com. MCC, RR. Di Martino’s, 700 S. Tyler St., 2766460. Great food and reasonable prices.

Lunch, dinner. dimartinos.com. MCC. DiCristina’s Restaurant, 810 N. Columbia St., Ste. C, 875-0160.

Conveniently located next to the new Covington Courthouse. Italian and seafood. dicristinas.com. MCC. Don’s Seafood Hut, 126 Lake Dr., 327-7111. Lunch and dinner. donsseafoodonline.com. MCC. El Portal, 1200 Business 190, 867-5367.

The English Tea Room, 734 Rutland St., 898-3988. Authentic English cream teas. Special event teas, English scones, crumpets and cakes. Serving breakfast and lunch. Mon-Sat, 7:30am-6pm. englishtearoom.com. MCC, RR. Four Seasons Chinese Buffet, 600 N. Hwy. 190, 893-3866. MCC. Gallagher’s Grill, 509 S. Tyler St., 892-9992. Lunch and dinner, Tues-Sat. gallaghersgrill.com. MCC, RR. Isabella’s Pizzeria, 70452 Hwy. 21, Ste. 500, 875-7620; 1331 Hwy. 190, 809-1900. Salads, gourmet pizza, sandwiches, paninis, calzones and pasta. isabellaspizzeria.net.

Italian Pie, 70488 Hwy. 21, 871-5252.

Pizza, salads, pasta, sandwiches. Dine in or carry out. italianpie.com. MCC, checks.

Jerk’s Island Grill & Daiquiri Bar, 70437 Hwy. 21, 893-1380. jerksIslandgrill.com.

Lola, 517 N. New Hampshire St., 892-4992. Lunch, Mon-Fri; Dinner, Fri-Sat. Closed Sundays. Daily lunch specials, local produce, Louisiana seafood, everything housemade. lolacovington.com.

Mattina Bella, 421 E. Gibson St., 8920708. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. MCC, checks.

McAlister’s Deli, 206 Lake Dr., Ste. 15, 898-2800. Great sandwiches, salads, overstuffed potatoes. mcalistersdeli. com. MCC, checks.

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Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers, 1645 Hwy. 190, 327-5407.

Salads, pizzas, calzones. MCC. mellowmushroom.com.

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, 104 Lake Dr. #1, 898-6362. menchies.com.

New Orleans Food and Spirits, 208 Lee Ln., 875-0432. Grilled fish, smothered rabbit and voodoo crawfish rolls. Family owned and operated. neworleansfoodspirits.com. MCC. Nonna Randazzo’s Italian Bakery and Caffè, 2033 N. Hwy. 190, Ste. 5, 893-1488. Full service, year-round bakery. Luncheon salads, panini, catering, donuts, kingcakes, cupcakes and wedding cakes. Tues-Sun, open at 7am. nonnaskingcakes.com. MCC. North Island Chinese, 842 N. Collins Blvd., 867-8289.

Northshore Empress, 31 Louis Prima Dr., 871-6975. northshoreempress.com.

Osaka 21 Japanese Restaurant, 70340 Hwy. 21, 809-2640.

Osaka West Japanese Restaurant, 804 N. Hwy. 190, 871-8199. osakawest.com Pardos, 69305 Hwy. 21, 893-3603.

An American bistro with a blend of multi-cultural cuisine with local flair.

Frutta del mar pasta, rosemary-grilled shrimp, roasted chicken. Lunch, TuesFri; Dinner, Tues-Sun; Happy hour, Tues-Fri, 4-7pm. Private parties and catering. pardosbistro.com. MCC. Pat’s Seafood Market and Cajun Deli, 1248 N. Collins Blvd., 892-7287.

Jambalaya, gumbo, stuffed artichokes.

MCC, checks, ME. Peck’s Seafood & Grill, 70457 Hwy. 21, Ste. 108, 892-2121. Po-boys, seafood, burgers and lunch specials. MCC. PJ’s Coffee & Tea Co., 70456 Hwy. 21, 875-7894. Catch your morning buzz at this convenient drive-thru!

Catering. MCC. Pizza Man of Covington, 1248 N. Collins Blvd., 892-9874. Checks, ME.

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Schwing’s Restaurant, 1204 W. 21st Ave., 893-1899. Fresh seafood and home cooking. schwingsrestaurant.com. MCC. Sicily’s Pizza, 301 N. Hwy. 190, 8930005. Pizza, lasagna, salad bar, dessert pizzas. MCC, ME. Sweet Daddy’s, 420 S. Tyler St., 898-2166. Pulled pork, brisket and ribs. sweetdaddysbarbq.com. MCC, ME. Thai Chili, 1102 N. Hwy. 190, 809-0180.

Thai Spice, 1581 N. Hwy. 190, 8096483.

Thai Taste, 1005 N. Collins Blvd., 809-7886.

Thai Thai, 1536 N. Hwy. 190, 809-8905.

Tony Bosco’s at TerraBella, 141 TerraBella Blvd., 612-7250. Authentic Italian cuisine. Lunch, dinner, private meeting room, catering. tonyboscos.com.

Vasquez Seafood & Po-Boys, 515 E. Boston St., 893-9336. Cuban sandwiches and more. vazquezpoboy. com. MCC, checks, ME. Yujin Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, 323 N. New Hampshire St., 809-3840. Japanese cuisine and sushi in a casual atmosphere. MCC. Zea Rotisserie & Grill, 110 Lake Dr., 327-0520. Inspired American food. zearestaurants.com. MCC. HAMMOND Adobe Cantina & Salsa, 1905 W. Thomas St., 419-0027. Fine Mexican cuisine, good spirits, great friends and fun. Ceviche (marinated fish) and Mexican pasta. Live band. adoberestaurant.com. MCC. Brady’s, 110 SW Railroad Ave., 5426333. bradysdowntown.com.

Cocoa Bean Bakery and Cafe, 910 E. Main St., 345-2002.

Specialty cakes, pastries. Serving breakfast and light lunch. Specials. thecocoabeanbakery.com. MCC. Don’s Seafood & Steak House, 1915 S. Morrison Blvd., 345-8550. donsseafoodonline.com. MCC.

Renaissance Antiques & Gifts with the Original Soda Fountain & Café Cabaret, 322 N. Florida St., 892-7220.

Nostalgic soda fountain for lunch and after school, six days a week.

Jacmel Inn, 903 E. Morris St., 542-0043.

Casual fine dining including Creole, Italian, Caribbean and Southern cuisines. Handtrimmed steaks, seafood and specialties.

Dinner, Tues-Sun; Lunch, Wed-Fri; Sunday Brunch; Closed Mondays. jacmelinn.com.

MCC, checks.

Sage Café, 501 N. Hwy. 190, 8010092. Breakfast, lunch and dinner prepared from scratch with attention to detail. Drink specials. MCC.

Kirin Sushi, 221 E. Cate St., 5428888. First Japanese sushi restaurant in Hammond! Dragon roll, Kirin roll, sake. kirinjapanesecuisine.com. MCC.

Sala Thai, 315 N. Vermont St., 2496990. Special salads, spring rolls, soups, noodle and curry dishes. SunThurs, 11am-9pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-10pm.

Lunch buffet weekdays, 11am-3pm. salathaibysu.com. MCC.

La Carreta Authentic Mexican Cuisine, 108 N.W Railroad Ave., 4199990. Festive Mexican atmosphere, fresh food from traditional recipes, outstanding service and value. Live music. Lunch and dinner seven days a

i week. carretarestaurant.com. MCC. Old MacDonald’s Smokehouse, 1601 N. Morrison Blvd., 542-7529.

BBQ brisket, ribs, chicken and sausage. oldmacdonaldsmokehouse.com. MCC, checks.

Tommy’s on Thomas, 216 W. Thomas St., 350-6100. Pizza, pastas. Lunch, dinner. tommysonthomas.com. MCC, checks.

Tope là, 104 N. Cate St., 542-7600.

Contemporary delights. topela.com. MCC. Trey Yuen Cuisine of China, 2100 N. Morrison Blvd., 345-6789. Innovative quality Chinese food served in Imperial surroundings. treyyuen.com. MCC, checks.

VooDoo BBQ & Grill, 2108 W. Thomas St., 345-1131. “Taste our Magic.” voodoobbq.com. MCC. Yellow Bird Café, 222 E. Charles St., 345-1112. A great place to start your day. Breakfast, lunch. MCC, checks.

LACOMBE Janie Brown’s Restaurant, 27207 Hwy. 190, 882-7201. Casual dining with a great atmosphere. MCC, checks.

La Provence Restaurant, 25020 Hwy. 190, 626-7662. Owner John Besh combines hospitality with French cuisine and welcoming hearths. Dinner, Sunday brunch. laprovencerestaurant.com.

MCC, checks. RR. Sal & Judy’s, 27491 Hwy. 190, 882-9443. Great food and line of retail products. Family-owned for 27 years. Veal is the house specialty. salandjudys.com. MCC, RR. MADISONVILLE Cafe Madisonville, 410 Covington Hwy., 792-4506. Soups, salads, sandwiches and lunch specials.

Coffee’s Boilin’ Pot, 305 Old Covington Hwy., 845-2348. Boiled seafood in a family atmosphere. coffeesboilingpot.com.

Friends Coastal Restaurant, 407 St. Tammany St., 845-7303. Key West meets New Orleans in this island casual dining atmosphere. Lunch, dinner. friendscoastal.com. MCC. RR. Frog’s Pizzeria, 302 Hwy. 22, 8459500. frogspizza.com.

Keith Young’s Steakhouse, 165 Hwy. 21, 845-9940. Steak, crab cakes. Lunch, dinner, Tues-Fri. keithyoungs.net. MCC. Morton’s Boiled Seafood & Bar, 702 Water St., 845-4970. Relaxed atmosphere, seafood, daily specials.

Lunch, dinner. MCC, checks.

Water St. Bistro, 804 Water St., 845-3855. Casual ambiance on the Tchefuncte. Lunch and dinner, WedSun. mortonsseafood.com. MCC. MANDEVILLE The Barley Oak, 2101 Lakeshore Dr.,

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727-7420. Serving 130 styles of beer, call and premium liquors. Lunch and dinner. thebarleyoak.com. MCC. Bear’s Grill & Spirits, 1809 N. Causeway Blvd., 674-9090.

Bear’s po-boys and more. bearsgrillandspirits.com. MCC. Benedict’s Plantation, 1144 Lovers Ln., 626-4557. Traditional New Orleans cuisine. Dinner, Sunday brunch. benedictsplantation.net. MCC. Bosco’s Italian Café, 2040 Hwy. 59, 624-5066. boscositalian.com.

Broken Egg Café, 200 Gerard St., 624-3388. Excellent choice for brunch!

Pasta, specialty salads, sandwiches. anotherbrokenegg.com. MCC. Café Lynn Restaurant and Catering, 3051 E. Causeway App., 624-9007.

Casual fine dining for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch by Chef Joey Najolia.

Catfish remoulade, pasta du jour. TuesFri, lunch: 11am-3pm. Dinner, 5pm.

Catering provided. cafelynn.com. MCC. Casa Garcia, 800 N. Causeway Blvd., 951-8226. Redefining Mexican food one meal at a time. MCC. Causeway Café, 527 N. Causeway Blvd., 626-9997. MCC. Chili’s Bar & Grill, 3420 Hwy. 190, 727-2771. Fajitas and the Awesome Blossom. Lunch, dinner. chilis.com.

MCC, ME. Coffee Rani, 3517 Hwy. 190, 6740560. Soup and salad specialists.

Coscino’s Pizza, 1817 N. Causeway Blvd., 727-4984. New York hand-tossed pizza and Italian foods cooked on stone using the finest ingredients. MCC. Country Kitchen, 2109 Florida St., 6265375. countrykitchenrestaurants.com.

Fat Spoon Café, 68480 Hwy. 59., 809-2929. Breakfast, lunch, TuesSun. 7am-2pm. Breakfast served until 10:30am on weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday. Reserve Fat Spoon Cafe for your next party. fatspooncafe.com. MCC. Fazzio’s Seafood & Steakhouse, 1841 N. Causeway Blvd., 624-9704.

Fresh fish daily, aged beef, traditional Italian. Lunch, dinner. fazziosrestaurant. com. MCC, ME, RR. Franco’s Grill,100 Bon Temps Roule, 792-0200. Fresh organic foods for breakfast, lunch and takeout. myfrancos.com/dining. MCC. George’s Mexican Restaurant, 1461 N. Causeway Blvd., 626-4342. Family owned. Fajitas, George’s nachos, Carne al la Parrilla. Best top-shelf margaritas in town. georgesmexicanrestaurant.com.

MCC, ME. Gio’s Villa Vancheri, 2890 E. Causeway App., 624-2597. Sicilian specialties by 5-star chef Gio

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Great food and margaritas. Lunch, dinner, catering. MCC.

Hong Kong Restaurant, 2890 E. Causeway App., 626-8222. MCC.

Monster Po-Boys, 1814 N. Causeway App., 626-9183. Lunch, dinner.

Isabella’s Pizzeria, 2660 Florida St. (in the Florida Street Market), 674-5700. Salads, gourmet pizza, sandwiches, paninis, calzones and pasta. isabellapizzeria.net.

N’Tini’s, 2891 N. Hwy. 190, 626-5566.

Steaks, martinis. Lunch specials. Mon.Sat. ntinis.com. MCC.

Italian Pie, 4350 Hwy. 22, 626-5252.

Pizza, salads, pasta, sandwiches. Dine in or carry out. italianpie.com. MCC, checks.

Izumi, 2660 Florida St., 624-8664. Sushi, Japanese specialties. izumi.com. MCC. Juniper, 301 Lafitte St., 370-8713.

Progressive Creole cuisine. Lunch, dinner, brunch. juniperrestaurant.net.

MCC, checks.

K. Gee’s, 2534 Florida St., 626-0530.

Featuring Louisiana seafood with raw oysters 1/2 price on Tuesdays. Express lunch and daily lunch specials under $10. Mon-Thurs, 11am-9pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-10pm. kgeesrestaurant.com. MCC. La Carreta Authentic Mexican Cuisine, 1200 W. Causeway App., 624-2990. Festive Mexican atmosphere, fresh food from traditional recipes, outstanding service and value.

Live music. Lunch and dinner seven days a week. carretasrestaurant.com.

MCC. La Madeleine French Cafe, 3434 Hwy. 190, 626-7004. lamadeleine.com.

The Lakehouse, 2025 Lakeshore Dr., 626-3006, events 807-5014.

Special events venue open 7 days for private events. Call for reservations. lakehousecuisine.com. MCC. Little Tokyo, 590 Asbury Dr., 727-1532. littletokyosushi.com.

Louie & The Redhead Lady, 1851 Florida St., 626-8101. louieandtheredheadlady.com.

Macaroni Grill, 3410 Hwy. 190, 7271998. Penne rustica, pasta Milano, other Italian favorites. Lunch, dinner. macaronigrill.com. MCC, ME.

Pal’s Ice Cream and Yogurt Shop, 2201 Eleventh St., 626-0293. “Only 8” all-natural no-fat yogurt, banana splits, smoothies. Soups, sandwiches. MCC. Petunia’s Place, 2020 Hwy. 59, 6743436. petuniasplace.com.

Pinkberry, 3460 Hwy. 190, 612-7306.

Sun-Thurs, 11am-10pm. Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm. Pinkberry is the original tart frozen yogurt that is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy paired with high quality, fresh cut fruit and premium dry toppings. pinkberry.com.

PJ’s Coffee & Tea Co., 2963 Hwy. 190, 674-1565. Catch your morning buzz at the convenient drive-thru!

Catering. pjscoffee.com. MCC. Rip’s on the Lake, 1917 Lakeshore Dr., 727-2829.

Ristorante Carmelo & Pizzaria, 1901 Hwy. 190, 624-4844. Family-oriented Italian cuisine. Lunch and dinner. MCC. Rusty Pelican, 500 Girod St., 778-0364. Lunch, dinner. rustypelicanbythelake.com. MCC. Sake Gardens Japanese Restaurant, 1705 Hwy. 190, 624-8955.

Sesame Inn, 408 N. Causeway Blvd., 951-8888. Finest Chinese cuisine.

Shuck & Jive, 643 Lotus Drive, 6261534. shucknjivemandeville.com. MCC Smoothie King, 1830 W. Causeway App., 626-9159. Smoothies. smoothieking.com. MCC, checks.

Mandina’s, 4240 Hwy. 22 in Azalea Square Shopping Center, 674-9883. Seafood, Creole and Italian. Lunch and dinner, Mon-Sat. mandinasrestaurant.com.

Subway, 1665 Hwy. 190, 674-0733.

Sandwiches, salads. Low-fat available. subway.com. MCC.

Megumi Japanese Cuisine, 4700 Hwy. 22, Suites 11 and 12, 845-1644.

Yakimono and sushi bar. Lunch, dinner. megumirestaurant.com.

MiMamacita’s New Mexican Cuisine, 2345 Florida St., 674-1400.

Inside Northside

Old Mandeville Café (formerly Kickstand Café and Bike Rental), 690 Lafitte St., 626-9300. kickstand.bz.

Mande’s, 340 N. Causeway App., 6269047. Serving breakfast and lunch, daily specials.

Maw Maw’s, 1461 N. Causeway Blvd., Ste. 11, 727-7727. Soups, salads, stuffed potatoes, sandwiches, po-boys.

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Nuvolari’s, 246 Girod St., 626-5619. In Old Mandeville. Gnocchi, escargot, filet mignon, linguini fruta di mare. Dinner.

Open seven nights a week. MCC. nuvolaris.com.

Taqueria Noria, 1931 Hwy. 59, 7277917. Lunch, dinner.

Times Bar & Grill, 1896 N. Causeway Blvd., 626-1161. Famous hamburgers, starters, steaks and more. Lunch, dinner. timesgrill.com. ME, MCC. Trey Yuen Cuisine of China, 600 N. Causeway Blvd., 626-4476. Quality China cuisine with Louisiana flair. Lunch, dinner. treyyuen.com. MCC, checks.

i Vianne’s Tea House, 544 Girod St., 624-5683. A full café menu with over 120 loose leaf and speciality teas.

Breakfast, lunch. viannes.com. MCC. Vigroux Po-Boys, 2625 Florida St., 231-7314. Lunch, dinner.

VooDoo BBQ & Grill, 2999 Hwy. 190 E., 629-2021. “Taste our Magic.” voodoobbq.com. MCC. PONCHATOULA Middendorf’s Seafood Restaurant, 30160 Hwy. 51, 386-6666. middendorfsrestaurant.com.

Rox, 147 N.W. Railroad Ave., 370-0930. Crafted cuisine and martini bar Open 7 days a week. roxrestaurant.com. MCC. Sister’s Coffeehouse & Cafe, 18440 Hwy. 22 E., 370-9424. Warm, friendly atmosphere, unique food, gourmet coffees, teas. MCC, checks.

Taste of Bavaria Restaurant & Bakery, 14476 Hwy. 22, 3863634. Charming Bavarian bungalow, European-style breakfast, German-style lunch. tasteofbavariastaurant.com.

MCC, checks.

SLIDELL A Touch of Italy Café, 134 Pennsylvania Ave., 639-0600. Seafood, veal, steaks, daily specials. Lunch, dinner. kathrynandcompany.com. MCC, checks.

Assunta’s, 2631 Hwy. 190 W., 6499768. Italian food, extensive wine selection. Dinner. assuntas.com. MCC, checks.

Bear’s Grill & Spirits, 550 Gause Blvd., 201-8905. Po-boys and more. bearsgrillandspirits.com. MCC. Bistro de la Reine, 2306 Front St., 288-4166. Sunday brunch, live entertainment, fine wines and spirits. Open seven days a week. bistrodelareine.com. MCC. Bonnie C’s, 1768 Front St., 2885061. Home-style Italian, seafood, and barbecue.

Camellia Cafe, 525 Hwy. 190, 649-6211.

Traditional seafood and New Orleans cuisine. thecamelliacafe.com. MCC. Carreta’s Grill, 137 Taos St., 847-0020.

Great Mexican cuisine and margaritas served in a family-friendly atmosphere for lunch and dinner. carretasgrill.com. MCC. Eddie D’s, 39510 Hwy. 190 E., 847-1000.

KY’s Olde Towne Bicycle Shop, 2267 Carey St., 641-1911. Casual dining in former bicycle shop. Kids’ menu. Lunch, dinner. kysoldetowne. com. MCC, checks.

La. Pines, 1061 Robert St., 641-6196.

Meet under the water tower for Ahhhfullwaffles, Sugar Watcher specials.

Breakfast, lunch. lapinescafe.com.

MCC, checks.

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Michael’s, 4820 Pontchartrain Dr., 649-8055. Steaks, seafood, veal, duck, eggplant au gratin. Extensive wine selection. Dinner.

Nathan’s Restaurant, 36440 Old Bayou Liberty Rd., 643-0443. Seafood, steaks and pasta.

Nola Southern Grill, 1375 Gause Blvd., 201-8200. Burgers, ribs, steaks, pasta, sandwiches and seafood. MCC. Palmettos on the Bayou, 1901 Bayou Ln., 643-0050. palmettosrestaurantslidell.com.

Peck’s Seafood Restaurant, 2315 Gause Blvd. E., 781-7272. Po-boys, seafood, burgers and lunch specials.

MCC. Phil’s Marina Café, 1194 Harbor Dr., 641-0464. philsmarinacafe.net.

Shenanigans Irish Pub & Restaurant, 2165 W. Gause Blvd., 288-5286.

Authentic Irish food, drink and entertainment in a traditional pub atmosphere.

Smoothie King, 150 Northshore Blvd., 781-3456. Low-fat health drinks. smoothieking.com. MCC, checks.

Steak Out, 1325 Gause Blvd., 6458646. Eat in or delivered to you. steakout.com. MCC. Tacos and Beer, 2142 Front St., 6414969. Lunch, dinner and late-night.

Times Bar & Grill, Front St., 641-4969.

Famous hamburgers, starters, steaks and more. Lunch, dinner. timesgrill.com.

ME, MCC. The Wine Market, 2051 E. Gause Blvd., 781-1177. Deli restaurant, lunch, 11am-3pm. Sandwiches, soups, salads, wraps. MCC and checks.

Young’s Restaurant, 850 Robert Blvd., 643-9331. Steaks, seafood, nice wine selection. Dinner. youngssteakhouse.com. MCC, checks.

NEW ORLEANS/SOUTHSHORE Café Giovanni, 117 Rue Decatur, (504)529-2154. Chef Duke’s New World Italian Cuisine. Dinner, Sun-Thurs, 5:30-10pm.

Fri-Sat, 5:30-11pm. Live Entertainment Wed, Thurs, and Friday Evenings. Perfect Catering for next social or business event.

Cafegiovanni.com. RR. Criollo Resturant and Lounge at Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal St., (504)523-3340. hotelmonteleone.com/criollo/.

MCC, RR R’evolution, 777 Bienville St., (504)553-2277. Located at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. Offering modern, imaginative reinterpretations of classic Cajun and Creole Cuisine. Triptych of Quail, Gulf Shrimp, Grits “Villages de L’est and Oysterman’s spaghettini.

Revolutionnola.com. RR.

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Directory of Advertisers ADVERTISER...........................CONTACT INFO PAGE 10/12 Properties.................... 985-626-8200 160 Accents & Things.................... 985-649-4273 114 Agena, Dr. Gary M. - OBGYN.... 985-845-7121 71 Air Blow Dry Bar & Salon........ 985-626-1402 98 Al’s Plumbing Co.................... 985-845-9390 80 American Factory Direct.......... 985-871-0300 110 Arabella Fine Gifts.................. 985-727-9787 118 Armbruster Artworks Studio.... 985-630-6295 121 Artistry of Light...................... 225-247-8963 4 Askhimbooks.com..............askhimbooks.com 123 Aspen Clinic........................... 985-809-3240 23 Asset One.............................. 985-727-2834 79 Azure Spa.............................. 985-727-7676 91 Bedico Creek Preserve............ 985-845-4200 138 Bella Cucina........................... 985-626-7886 114 Benchmark Investment Group... 985-635-0770 104 Berger Home.......................... 504-733-4141 19 Berry, Dr. C.M......................... 985-345-2555 7 Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights... 985-249-6040 21 Blossom Girl........................... 985-626-6280 125 Boudreaux’s Fine Jewelers...... 985-626-1666 Gatefold Bra la Vie! ............................. 985-662-5065 126 Broussards Pianos.................. 504-621-1749 83 Brown Family Orthodontics..... 985-626-8297 57 Café Giovanni........................ 504-529-2164 155 Café Lynn............................... 985-624-9007 158 Carreta’s Grill........ 985-871-6674, 847-0020 Gatefold Champagne Beverage Co.............................. ............................. champagnebeverage.com 11 Champagne Jewelers............. 985-643-2599 72 Christ Episcopal School........... 985-871-9902 19 Christwood Retirement Community............... ......................................... christwoodrc.com 42 Columbia Street Mercantile.... 985-809-1789 121 Culinary Kids.......................... 985-727-5553 96 De Boscq Jewelry................... 985-674-0007 Gatefold deCoeur...................................... decoeur.net 133 DeLuca’s Expressions in Gold.... 985-892-2317 129 Designs in Windows............... 985-209-1689 160 Downtown Chic..................... 985-809-3860 103 DR Horton.............................. 225-270-1078 8 Dr. Burkenstock, Skin Body Health.................. ............................................. 985-727-7676 91 East St. Tammany Chamber... estchamber.com 111 EMB Interiors......................... 985-626-1522 25 Emma’s Shoes and Accessories... 985-778-2200 Gatefold English Tea Room, The............ 985-898-3988 157 Eros Home & Clothing............ 985-727-0034 Gatefold Etan Enterprises..................... 985-966-7042 30 Eye Care Surgery Center......... 985-892-4858 6 Fairway Medical Surgical Hospital.................. ......................................fairwaymedical.com 68 Fielding Photography.............. 985-626-7549 145 Fitness Expo........................... 985-624-9990 68 Fleurt..................................... 985-809-8844 131 Florist of Covington................ 985-892-7701 32 Fostering Angels...............fosteringangels.org 109 Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter.......... ............................................. 800-535-7891 72 Franco’s Athletic Club............. 985-792-0200 117, BC french mix, the....................... 985-809-3152 85 Galerie d’Art Francais............. 504-581-6920 144

ADVERTISER...........................CONTACT INFO PAGE George’s Mexican Restaurant.... 985-626-4342 159 GNO Property Management... 504-525-2985 151 Grapevine.........grapevinegiftsandgallery.com 114 Guastella Institute.................. 504-780-8007 23 H2O....................................... 985-951-8166 Gatefold Hestia Luxury in Linens........... 985-893-0490 133 Hold’em for Heros.................. 917-716-8470 96 Honda of Covington............... 985-892-0001 IFC Honey Hive............................ 985-662-6029 160 Huntington Learning Center... 985-727-0000 80 Infusé Oils & Vinegars............ 985-778-0903 160 Integrity Builders, Inc.............. 985-626-3479 97 Istre Hearing Care.................. 985-845-3509 87 Izabella’s Villa........................ 985-649-5060 3, 16 Jim Stone Co.......................... 985-882-5907 62 Jos. A. Bank............................ 985-624-4067 123 K. Gee’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar... 985-626-0530 156 KentJacob Color Salon............ 985-845-8011 139 Lake After Hours..................... 985-375-9979 75 Lakehouse, The....................... 985-626-3006 159 Lakeside Shopping Center...... 504-835-8000 45 Lakeview Regional Medical Center................. ............................................. 985-867-3800 52, IBC Latter & Blum, Jennifer Rice.... 985-892-1478 151 Laurier................................... 985-875-0823 129 LCI Workers Comp.................. 985-612-1230 88 Lee Financial Partners, LLC...... 985-624-4860 136 Louisiana Custom Closets....... 985-871-0810 28 Louisiana Heart Center........... 985-649-2700 58 Louisiana Heart Hospital 13, 15, 112, 113 ............................ louisianahearhospital.com Lowe’s Jewelers..................... 985-845-6453 33 Lynn Stirling Antiques............. 985-626-7704 29 M. Celeste Lagarde, MD......... 985-898-0589 97 Mandeville Party Co................ 985-674-1605 117 Martin Wine Cellar................martinwine.com 26 Mary Bird Perkins...............marybird.org/stph 89 Mélange by KP....................... 985-807-7652 114 Michalopoulos Gallery............ 504-558-0505 24 Mix, The................................. 985-727-7649 125 Money Hill Golf and Country Club.. 985-871-6963 27 MoreSmiles-Dr. Jim Moreau ... 985-809-7645 31 Moseley’s Fine Jewelers.......... 985-626-5098 14 Newman Comprehensive, OB/GYN................ ............................................. 985-246-1224 25 Niche Modern Home.............. 985-624-4045 59 NOLA Lending Group, LLC...... 985-951-8479 10 NOMA........................................... noma.org 71 Nonna Randazzo’s Bakery...... 985-893-1488 158 North American Insurance Agency.................. ............................................. 985-871-5480 107 NORTH Institute, The.............. 985-871-4114 51 North Oaks Health System........northoaks.org 55 North Shore Square Mall........ 985-646-0664 141 Northshore Academy of Dance... 985-893-1143 37 Northshore Dermatology ....... 985-792-5959 84 Northshore-Southshore Clocks, Watches & Knives ............................................. 985-778-9592 103 N’Tini’s................................... 985-626-5566 157 Ochsner Medical Center - Northshore............ .................................................. ochsner.org 41, 94 Oil & Vinegar.......................... 985-809-1693 90

ADVERTISER...........................CONTACT INFO PAGE Olivier Couture, A Bridal Boutique.................. ............................................. 985-674-6994 125 Outdoor Living Center............ 985-893-8008 94 Paisley................................... 985-727-7880 126 Pan American Power............... 985-893-1271 55 Pardos................................... 985-893-3603 155 Paretti Jaguar... 866-751-0237, 504-456-7558 83 Perino’s Garden Center........... 504-834-7888 20 Pine Grove Lighting & Electrical Supply.......... ............................................. 985-893-4003 117 Pinkberry.................................pinkberry.com 156 Plaisance, Dr. Kevin M............. 985-893-3777 107 Planet Kids Academy.............. 985-871-9400 153 POSH Boutique...................... 985-898-2639 131 Precision Sewing Machines..... 985-249-6156 118 Preservation Resource Center.... 504-581-7032 62 Private Beach......................... 985-237-6040 101 Purple Armadillo Again.... purplearmadillo.net 131 Rab, Dr. Tahseen..................... 985-340-7868 150 Rehab Dynamics .................... 985-871-7878 104 Resource Bank...............bankonresource.com 75 Riverview Camp for Girls........ 800-882-0722 152 Roosevelt Hotel of New Orleans, The.............. ............................................. 504-335-3190 37 Rox Restaurant....................... 985-370-0930 63 Royal Sonesta........................ 504-586-0335 81 Ruffino Custom Closets.......... 985-809-7623 57 Rug Chic................................ 985-674-1070 35 Saint Germain........................ 504-522-1720 125 St. Joseph Abbey Gift Shop............................ .................................. saintjosephabbey.com 24 St. Paul’s School..................... 985-892-3200 33 St. Stanislaus.......................... 228-467-9057 79 St. Tammany Parish Hospital... 985-898-4000 149 Saks Fifth Avenue................... 504-524-2200 5 Scott Sandage........................ 985-542-2724 106 Secure Access......................... 225-206-4366 150 Shoefflé.....................................shoeffle.com 126 Shofstahl Law Firm................. 985-674-1801 160 Silver Plum and 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe, The...... ............................................. 985-674-4343 129 Simplee Gourmet................... 985-892-8370 28 Slidell Memorial Hospital........ 985-643-2200 76 Snow Financial Group............ 985-792-5232 87 Southern Bridal...................... 985-727-2993 129, 133 Southern Pain Center............. 985-727-7275 63 Southland Plumbing Supply, Inc... 985-893-8883 34 State Farm Insurance, CJ Ladner... 985-892-5030 118 Stone Creek Club and Spa...... 985-801-7100 17 Stone Source.......................... 985-892-0695 117 Studio MV.............................. 985-867-5601 123 Symmetry Jewelers................. 504-861-9925 133 Terebella................................ 985-871-7171 84 Three Rivers Art Festival................................. ..............................threeriversartfestival.com 32 Tran, Dr. David........................ 985-893-1070 12 Villa, The................................ 985-626-9797 126 Village Executive Office Suites, The................. ............................................. 985-727-6700 118 Witt, Dr. Victoria..................... 985-643-5145 101

November-December 2012 161

Cayman Sinclair of The Lakehouse

ROSY SUNSETS. A BEAUTIFUL LAKEFRONT VISTA. Cool breezes. The tranquil atmosphere that surrounds the two-story Greek revival plantation that is now home to The Lakehouse makes it the perfect setting for any occasion or special event.

The Mandeville site is long remembered as the home of Bechac’s, a family-owned and -operated restaurant that occupied the space for more than a century. “It was the Commander’s Palace of the northshore,” says Lakehouse owner Cayman Sinclair. “I ate here as a boy. We used to come for the fried chicken and soft-shelled crabs.”

Born in New Orleans, Sinclair came to the northshore with his family in 1965. After college, he worked at The Dakota Restaurant in Covington until he opened Louisiana Grill with his brothers.

In 2009, Sinclair left Louisiana Grill, leased the stately old lakefront property and began the realization of his dream to cater special events.

“I had always wanted this building to do events,” says Sinclair. “We were really successful with parties, and then the spill happened.” A 2008 FEMA contract in the wake of a Texas hurricane launched Sinclair’s off-site catering service. This experience with disaster relief landed him a contract with BP and the U.S. Environmental Group to make 1,200 meals a day for seven months at staging and cleaning sites from as close as Fort Pike to the Mississippi border.

The resulting surplus of catering equipment and fleet in the wake of the disaster led Sinclair to take on catering projects for the growing Hollywood presence in Louisiana. “Feeding a film crew is much more challenging,” he says with a laugh. “We’ve learned a lot about food from the experience. They have specific ideas and concepts that they bring here from California.” The result has been more local sourcing of vegetables, chicken and soon, beef, for the restaurant, in addition to a number of new dishes on the menu. “The Pork and Portobello Cannelloni and the Roasted Butternut Squash with Orzo Pasta and Gruyere Cheese have been really popular,” says Sinclair. The fall menu will include Mulligatawny Soup, which both Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley especially liked.

For now, you can look forward to enjoying the view in the cool fall weather. A newly-expanded patio and outdoor seating section will re-open in October, including a new oyster grill. Stay tuned for more infromation about the upcoming party season.

Call ahead for hours of availability. The Lakehouse is open for special events. Reservations are recommended; call 626-3006. For special events, call 807-5014. Visit the Lakehouse’s Facebook page or lakehousecuisine.com.

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Inside Northside

by Amanda Westbrooks

photo: FIELDING PHOTOGRAPHY

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