I knew someone would keep me informed.
Darryl Barrios, Deputy Grand Knight for the Archbishop Joseph Rummel Council of the Knights of Columbus has confirmed that the Knights will have a St. Joseph Altar this weekend also.
The times for their 6th annual altar: The Blessing will be at 1:00pm on Friday, March 18 with viewing to continue until 7:00pm. The saints will be fed at 11:00am on Saturday, March 19 and the public feeding will begin at noon and will last until 7:00pm.
And let's not forget the annual Louisiana Crawfish Festival sponsored by the Knights. Below is their press release with the times the Festival is open as well as the band schedule.
2005 Louisiana Crawfish Festival Press Release
IT’S ALMOST HERE!!!!
March 31 – April 3, 2005
2005 marks the 29th anniversary of the Louisiana Crawfish Festival. As in past years, the festival will be held on the grounds of the Frederick J. Sigur Civic Center (formerly the St. Bernard Cultural Center) located at 8245 W. Judge Perez Dr. in Chalmette, Louisiana.
The festival draws people from the entire metro area as well as from other states and even other countries! Food and fun for all ages are available. The festival will offer over sixty amusement rides for children of all ages, forty booths of games and attractions of all kinds will be there for your pleasure as well as a large selection of arts and crafts vendors. And of course the Louisiana Crawfish Festival will have plenty of what it is most famous for…CRAWFISH! The festival will feature over 25 different crawfish dishes. And for those who don’t like crawfish (Do those people really exist?) the festival will have a wonderful selection of non-crawfish dishes.
Also, the 2005 version of the festival is boasting one of the greatest entertainment lineups in the festival’s history. In addition to our great lineup of bands (see below) festivalgoers will have the opportunity to meet Miss Louisiana Crawfish Festival, Teen Miss Louisiana Crawfish Festival and Ms. Louisiana Crawfish Festival and the second annual Baby Miss & Master Louisiana Crawfish Festival pageant will be held on Saturday, April 2nd. And of course we cannot forget the World-Famous Crawfish Races!
The Louisiana Crawfish Festival is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. The Knights are a charitable organization that gives back to the community by helping such groups as Children's Hospital of New Orleans, public and parochial schools in St. Bernard, youth programs such as the Boy Scouts, summer camps for the local youths, the St. Bernard Battered Women’s Shelter and many more. Most of the proceeds will go back into the local community.
Come and bring the whole family to the Louisiana Crawfish Festival. Take I-10 to I-510 South (Chalmette exit). Continue south on Highway 47 (Paris Road) to Highway 39 West (Judge Perez Dr.). Turn right and go two miles to the Frederick J. Sigur Civic Center and the festival.
Festival Hours:
Thursday, March 31: 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Friday, April 1: 5:00 PM - MIDNIGHT
Saturday, April 2: NOON -MIDNIGHT
Sunday, April 3: NOON - 11:00 PM
Admission is Free!
Pay-one-Price Ride Tickets are just $16.00 per session
Entertainment Schedule
Thursday, March 31 5:00-7:00pm At Fault
8:00-10:00pm The Molly Ringwalds
Friday, April 1 5:00-7:30pm Christian Serpas & Ghost Town
8:30-11:30pm The Irene Sage Band
Saturday, April 2 Noon-1:00pm LA 46
1:30-4:00pm Andy Hoffman & B-Goes
4:30-7:30pm Lenny McDaniel
8:30-11:30pm The Chee-Weez
Sunday, April 3 Noon-2:00pm The Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band
3:00-6:00pm Amanda Shaw
7:00-10:00pm The Bucktown All-Stars
For more information contact Darryl Barrios, Publicity Director, at
LACrawfishFestPublicity@cox.net
Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
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posted by Westley at 3/17/2005 09:10:00 PM
Trains, Oil, Drugs, and Kiddie Porn
Whew! Just this heading is probably enough to have this post blocked at a lot of companies email servers. If you forward it to anyone and they don't get it, remember, it is always available on the website.
Let's talk about trains. We've had a train accident in Chalmette not too long ago and Tangipahoa Parish had six people die in the past month or so.
Le me set the record straight for those that don't understand. It doesn't matter how big or small a vehicle you are driving, the train is going to win. Period. No questions, no exceptions, simple physics. Just the engine alone has enough steel and mass to ruin anybodies day.
I do believe it has already been concluded that the accident in Chalmette was the truck drivers fault. But that still didn't stop all of our local politicians from running around like Chicken Little.
After investigation, I'm sure it will be ruled that the drivers in Tangipahoa Parish failed to yield to the train. Of course, politicians in Tangipahoa Parish are running around like Chicken Littles.
For its part, the state Department of Transportation and Development has decided to use this to it's advantage. It has sent a letter to Tangipahoa Parish asking to close several train crossings in exchange the DOTD will put up flashing lights and gates.
The lights and gates are nice safety features, but common sense would negate the absolute need for them. Look at the train crossings in Arabi and Bywater. Some lights, but no gates and I don't recall hearing of a train accident at those crossings ever.
Oil. A major industry in Louisiana, especially here in Chalmette.
In case you didn't know, or forgot, Chalmette Refining LLC is a joint venture between ExxonMobil and Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). ExxonMobil provides the staff and PDVSA provides the oil.
Venezuela is currently ruled by President Hugo Chavez, a former soldier and now politician. First elected as President of Venezuela in 1998, his popularity has swung back and forth, so much so that was ousted from office for two days then promptly returned when the leaders of the coup couldn't muster enough support.
This article, by Emma Brossard, which was published by PetroleumWorld, explains the hatred Chavez has of President Bush and the United States and the attempts by Chavez to sell now only Chalmette Refining, but also Citgo, which has a refinery located in Lake Charles, LA.
While I'm on the subject of oil, anyone know Ken Ford, Director of St. Bernard Citizen's for Environmental Quality? He's the lead for this story, published in E/The Environmental Magazine.
Seems he's lived next to Chalmette Refining for forty years and now all his neighbors are dropping dead of cancer. Of course, Chalmette Refining is the sole reason for their deaths. I just wonder, how many of these neighbors of his smoked at any time in their life? What kind of jobs did they have?
I'm not claiming that Chalmette Refining is pumping out the cleanest air you could ever breathe, but it is a lot easier for an individual to move than for a refinery.
I know I've said it before, but the same principle applies. If you don't like the sound of jets flying over your house, don't move next door to an airport. It was there before you and will most likely be there long after you're gone.
It's always a nice feeling when I'm talking to folks and they mention how they heard about St. Bernard Parish on the news. Unfortunately, that feeling turns bad when they start talking about the teacher accused of having over 2400 images of child pornography and the St. Bernard Coroner talking about the number of prescription drug overdoses.
There's not a whole lot we can do about the child pornography other than count on Sheriff Jack Stephens finding those who engage in such acts and garnering enough evidence for District Attorney Jack Rowley to put them in jail for life.
The story with Kevin Carmouches, a fifth grade teacher at Joseph Maggiore Elementary School in Metairie, just seems strange. His father was arrested on the same charges a month ago. The two of them shared a house together. Did the Sheriff's office not gather all the images when the father was arrested? If he is guilty, is Kevin that stupid that he resumed his antics so soon after his father was arrested?
I've read some of the reports and interviews with parents who claim he was a fantastic teacher. All I can say is, I'm glad he doesn't teach at my kids school with the way he grooms himself. Just his appearance makes me leary of him to begin with.
As for the drug overdoses. The St. Bernard Parish Council is passing resolutions to limit the outburst of pain clinics within St. Bernard, which is a fantastic idea. Now I just think the medical community needs to step up to the plate.
The doctors who are running these pain clinics need to have their licenses revoked so they can no longer write these prescriptions. And, the rules need to be changed in the hospitals so they overdose patients are no longer given a higher priority.
Some may view me as uncompassionate, but my feeling is, if they are going to swallow twenty pills out of thirty, let me help them by giving them the other ten.
It is no secret that I have family members who have overdosed on drugs. Personally, I think the rest of the family would be better off if they wouldn't have been saved.
At the least, Chalmette Medical Center is joining the medical boom within the metro area and is in the midst of a $12 million expansion that will add 84,000 square feet to the hospital.
Before I forget, two last items. Received an email asking about St. Joseph Altars in St. Bernard Parish. I don't have a definitive list, but I do know St. Mark Church will have their Altar open Friday, 7:00 - 8:00 PM, with the Blessing at 7:30 PM.
Mass will be at 9:00 AM. The saints will be served around 11:30 AM with the public invited to eat from 12 noon until 7:00 PM. The main section of the Altar will remain open for viewing until after the noon Mass on Sunday.
I believe the Knights of Columbus Rummel Council on Paris Road has an Altar, although I'm not positive.
If you know of any Altars, please let me know and I'll send it out so everyone gets it.
Second item, if you've been wanting to learn Linux but just didn't know what book to buy, I'm getting a special shipment autographed copies of Linux for Dummies, 6th Edition written by Dee-Ann LeBlanc. Dee-Ann is a business associate of mine, we are both founders of AnswerSquad, your online tech support. She has been updating the book after every major Linux revision and is a certified Red Hat instructor as well as a columnist for Linux World Magazine.
As soon as I get the books in, I'll place a link so you can get your autographed copy for less than half the cover price.
Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
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posted by Westley at 3/16/2005 11:00:00 PM
Crowded Streets
There is no doubt about it, the annual Irish/Italian/Islenos Community parade, founded by Senator Walter Boasso four years ago is good business for St. Bernard.
Google has sent me newspaper articles touting the parade from
Lafayette, LA. to
Birmingham, AL. This kind of positive publicity is very hard to come by and I'll gladly welcome all we can get.
But, as always, there are some negative aspects.
I realize everyone wants to get a good spot to see the parade, but is it really necessary to park your car on the side of the road a day before the parade? Should businesses located along the parade route block all access in front of their businesses?
Personally, I think the St. Bernard Parish Council needs to pass a ordinance against parking on the side of the road of a parade more than 12 hours before the start of the parade.
What happens with all these cars parked is that you can no longer see if there is any on-coming traffic when trying to pull through an intersection. I find it troubling enough when folks going to a bank have to park in the street instead of pulling into the banks parking lot (I'm not picking on banks, it's just more prevalent with banks in my observations), but it is compounded when there are four and five cars all parked in a row. Even worse is when a touring bus or camper is parked on the side of the road.
The other problem with all of these cars parked on the side of the road is that it leaves very little space for visitors to find a place to park and take in the festivities. One of the reasons for the parade is to show off St. Bernard Parish, but it does no good if St. Bernard residents are the only ones that see it.
By limiting the parking to 12 hours before the start of a parade gives everyone a fairer chance at finding a spot to see the parade and helps ensure public safety in the days leading up to the parade.
As for businesses blocking their the area in front of their store fronts, I think those owners need to think of their customers and potential customers. Keeping the public out of their parking spaces is one thing, but blocking the street in front of their establishments is just bad manners.
I do have to give kudos to Steve and Karen Fecke of Jubilee Foods. I didn't see any move on their part to block non-customers from using their parking lot while viewing the parade. It did make it a little harder on me when I made a quick run there, no place for me, a paying customer to park, but I also expected that when I made my decision to take my shopping there instead of someplace off the parade route.
Be good to yourself,
Westley Annis
westley@da-parish.com
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AnswerSquadFeel free to forward this to anyone you think is interested.
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posted by Westley at 3/13/2005 09:05:00 PM
