11 minute read
Social Events
SOCIETY
29 | Ascension DePaul Foundation New Orleans Keeping Our Promises Gala 30 | Liberty’s Kitchen Come Grow With Us
31 | You Night Ribbons Rock the Runway 32 | BK Historic House & Gardens Soirée in the Vieux Carré
33 | City Park Conservancy Magic in the Moonlight
Written by Sue Strachan
Independence Day was among the many things to celebrate at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana’s Excelencia Gala on Sept. 16.
The event was also a kick-off for Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and a time to honor outstanding individuals and corporations for achievements, leadership, inspiration and active engagement with the Hispanic community.
Honorees included JPMorgan Chase, Corporate Partner, accepted by George Acevedo; Tito’s Ceviche and Pisco, Small Business of the Year, accepted by owners Tatiana and Juan Lock; Lisa Ochomogo, Young Professional; Telemundo/ KGLA 1540, President’s Choice, accepted by Ernesto Schweikert, president and CEO; and United Way of Southeast Louisiana, Community Partner, accepted by Michael Williams and the United Way team. The United Way also surprised the chamber with a $25,000 grant. In addition to recognizing leaders in the community, this fundraising event is important to the chamber’s success in helping advance its mission. Funds help provide essential programs and services to further Hispanic equity and inclusion, and in turn economic development.
Some of these programs include capacity building and educational workshops; procurement and networking opportunities; digital and financial literacy; trade-related symposiums; and workforce and technical assistance through its Bilingual Workforce Training and Business Development Center.
Held at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans Hotel, Chef Aarón Sánchez was the gala’s honorary chair.
FUN FACT: Attendees were treated with a special tango show by Ector and Christine.
Instagram: @hispanicchamberla
1. Ronnie Mains, Jenny Mains 2. Paula Duplantis, George Acevedo, Raiza Pitre 3. Michael Williams, Charmaine Caccioppi, Lisa Ochomogo, Rivers Frederick 4. Bill and Mary Hines, Mayra E. Pineda, Ronnie Slone 5. Anselmo Rodríguez, Taslya Mejia, Tatiana and Juan Lock 6. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Hammer, Teresa Lawrence 1
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6 T he Inspired Cross Award is given annually by the Ascension DePaul Foundation New Orleans to organizations and individuals who share the group's vision to provide high-quality comprehensive, affordable health care for all members of the community.
On Sept. 24, the foundation bestowed the award to Southeast Louisiana Legal Services' Executive Director LauraTuggle.
Held at The National World War II Museum’s U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, the ninth annual “Keeping Our Promises Gala” presented by Louisiana Healthcare Connections included a silent auction, food, drink and entertainment from violinist Shaun Ward, as well as Clark Knighten and 4X4 Connection.
Ascension DePaul Services of New Orleans continues the work of its founders, the Daughters of Charity, who have provided compassionate health care in New Orleans for 185 years. Eleven health centers, operating asDePaulCommunity Health Centers are located in Algiers, Bywater, Carrollton, Gentilly, Gretna, Kenner, Metairie, New Orleans East and Prytania.
Co-chairs of the event were Bishop Fernand Cheri of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and retired Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson.
FUN FACT: Some of this year’s silent auction offerings included New Orleans Saints memorabilia, including an autographed Alvin Kamara jersey and football, an autographed Drew Brees football, as well as four one-way passes on Southwest Airlines and a custom Luca Falcone two-piece men’s suit.
Instagram: @ascensiondepaulfoundation
1. Dr. Hafiz Usama Ghafoor, Dr. Aleena Shahiryar, Jessica Marloff, Grayson Marloff 2. Retired Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson, Sister Bonnie Hoffman, DC 3. Sister Patricia Huffman DC, Sister Isabel Fierro, DC, Sister Irma Vargas, DC, Sister Patricia Dunne, DC 4. Kathy Conklin, Bob Angelico, Frank Folino 5. Joe Tidwell, Laura Tuggle, Michael G. Griffin, MSPH, D.Sc. 6. Krystal Howard Henry, Dr. Robert Post, Lauren Ryan
Liberty’s Kitchen Come Grow With Us
If you attended Liberty’s Kitchen Come Grow With Us on Sept. 30, you were among those who delighted in one of the most delicious events of the year.
The party at the Ace Hotel paired 14 New Orleans restaurants and chefs with 21 Liberty’s Kitchen’s trainees and alumni to help prepare and serve dishes to event guests.
What was on the menu? Some food choices included: beet-cured trout with crème fraîche, fried capers and salmon roe; salmon tartare with soy ailoi, yuzu ponzu and heirloom tomatoes; crab and camembert ravioli butternut squash with veloute and toasted hazelnut, crispy pancetta herb salad; and roasted delicata squash, chanterelle mushrooms and black truffles with hot parmigiano reggiano foam.
And it wasn’t just about food: the event honored Kennedy Roberts and Isaiah Talbert with the Janet Gorence Davas Youth Achievement Award; Charlie Fontenelle, Outstanding Volunteer Award; and Amanda and Isaac Toups, Calvin Johnson Food Justice Advocate Award.
Liberty’s Kitchen was founded in 2008 to provide ways for New Orleans young people to create and achieve their vision of success.
While youth workforce development training takes place in a culinary setting, not all graduates pursue positions within a restaurant or kitchen, with some taking their training and skills and applying them to careers in healthcare, hotels and construction.
Co-Chairs were Michael Hecht and Aaron Motwani; and Chef Amy Mehrtens of Copper Vine was the Honorary Culinary Chair.
FUN FACT: Liberty’s Kitchen’s Refresh Project at 300 N. Broad St. is planning to reopen the café in the spring 2023.
Instagram: @libertyskitchen
1. Bivian Sonny Lee, Chef Amy Mehrtens, Bernadette Lucas, Calvin Johnson 2. Jenelle Sloblof, Neal Cohen, Kara Johnson 3. Jeff Good, Melissa Sawyer 4. Tiffany Harvill, Stephen Hanemann, Jenn Hanemann 5. Jimmy Meyer, Hope Meyer, Charlie Fontenelle 6. Aaron Motwani, Ayesha Motwani 1
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You Night Ribbons Rock the Runway
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4 It was a runway show like no other with women dressed in gowns and other chic fashion for You Night’s Ribbons Rock the Runway on Oct. 1.
What made this catwalk different was the models, cancer survivors and nurses who wore clothing in the ribbon colors representing 19 women’s cancers. In a month when pink is the dominant ribbon color for breast cancer, You Night wanted to highlight other cancers that affect women. Among the other hues were white for lung cancer and burgundy and white for head and neck cancer.
Founded in 2013, You Night is one of the few organizations of its kind that fuses therapy and a variety of creative arts that help women find a strong tribe and path forward after a cancer diagnosis.
Among You Night’s empowering initiatives include its “Runway Empowerment Program,” in which participants are given several months of professional runway training and therapeutic activities. The event is central to the organization’s mission as You Night participants are joined by their family members, friends, doctors, nurses and other medical staff, as well as the general public, to celebrate together and emphasize that everyone is in this fight, recovery and healing process together.
The event at the Sugar Mill benefited You Night’s nonprofit, “We Lift You Up” fund.
FUN FACT: Ribbons Rock the Runway broke the Guinness World Record for the most models in a fashion show with 430 models. The event beat the previous record of 421 models held by a modeling agency in Spain.
6 1. Ashley Domec, Mitch C. Davis 2. Deliah Hampton, Carl Mack, Holley Haag 3. Enjanique Miller, Bryan Elzy Jr., Cayden Irvin, Gretchen IrvinElder 4. Jeff Beach, Daisy Camacho, Joyce Sergi, Michael Holmes 5. Caroline Graham, Dr. Jimmy Ellis, Lisa McKenzie 6. Peter Klett, Terry McDermott
BK Historic House & Gardens Soirée in the Vieux Carré
BK Historic House & Gardens couldn’t have planned for a better night than the one for its Soirée in the Vieux Carré.
The fete, held Oct. 9, had a glamorous crowd inside the house — built in 1826 — and outside, as the felicitous weather drew guests to the parterre garden and courtyard.
This year’s soiree, as well as previous years, have benefited the historic property’s multiyear, multi-phase capital campaign with funds raised dedicated to specific projects, such as improving the exterior of the main building, one facade at a time. The 2022 soiree funds go towards the courtyard facing facade restoration, which will begin in early 2023 and is tentatively scheduled to be completed by end of summer.
The soiree was also a time to honor Dr. and Mrs. Richard L. Strub for their generous contributions to BK Historic House & Gardens over the years, in particular the restoration of the rear dependency building in 2021. The late John Geiser III, a board member and a volunteer for 50 years, was also celebrated at the event.
Co-Chairs were Mia and Minor Jahncke, Taylor and Martin Pospisil and Permele and Garner Robinson.
FUN FACT: BK House is the first building documented by the Historic American Building Survey, a program of the WPA that recruited out-of-work architects to document the nation’s most important buildings. BK House was selected because it was considered important and was the most in danger of collapse.
FUN FACT, PART TWO: Have you watched the AMC series “Interview with a Vampire?” If so, you would have seen BK Historic House & Gardens’ courtyard and interiors.
Instagram: @bkhousenola
1. Ann Strub, Dick Strub, Cynthia LeBrenton 2. Annie Irvin, Michael Harold, Wendy Lodrig Bart 3. Hal Williamson, Permele Robinson, Garner Robinson, Larry Schmidt 4. Sweet Dupuy, James Cole 5. Jenny Cole, Minor Jahncke, Mia Jahncke 6. James Douglas, Ann Masson 1
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City Park Conservancy Magic in the Moonlight
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6 T here is no better setting to fete al fresco than in the New Orleans Botanical Garden, which cast a spell on partygoers attending City Park Conservancy’s Magic in the Moonlight, presented by the Oscar J. Tolmas Charitable Trust, on Oct. 14.
While the garden’s flora and greenery bewitched guests, they were also captivated by the gorgeous tables highlighted by flowers provided by Dunn & Sonnier and arranged by the Garden Study Club of New Orleans.
No one could resist the night’s menu created by Chef Eric Cook of Gris-Gris, who concocted hors d’oeuvres of sugarcane-glazed beef tenderloin, fried oyster “BLT” and smoked salmon with dill cream cheese and caviar, among other savories, as well as the three-course meal: fig and prosciutto bruschetta with burrata cheese and fresh arugula topped with aged balsamic; redfish Courtbouillon with Louisiana popcorn rice and charred lemon, and finished with fried bread pudding topped with a white chocolate rum sauce, sugarcane syrup and powdered sugar.
Music was performed by the Raphael Bas Trio; DJ Ann Glaviano: Heatwave! did the honors for the after-party.
Magic in the Moonlight co-chairs were Kay and John Colbert, and Laura and Sonny Shields. Proceeds benefit the continued improvement, preservation and future of the New Orleans Botanical Garden.
FUN FACT: The 10-acre New Orleans Botanical Garden contains more than 2,000 varieties of plants from around the world.
1. Sonny and Laura Shields, Kay and John Colbert 2. Jim Woods, Tlaloc Alferez 3. Muffin Balart, Catherine Makk, Sarah Feirn, Liz Sloss 4. Richard and Vivian Cahn 5. David and Dessa Giffin, Barbara and David Waller 6. Vincent Giardina, Cara Lambright, Eric Cook
