After Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras, one welcomes Lent, a time to make a little sacrifice and do a bit of improving. For years, I have given up Popeye’s during Lent—yes, even when I lived in New York (one was just up the street, so it wasn’t as easy as you think). I try to be a bit nicer, too.

Which is why I want to recognize some of the good, talented organizations. Save Our Cemeteries gets a boost in the form of a grant (one of five) from Tourism Cares and its Globus American Icons Program for its work at St. Louis Cemetery No.1, the oldest in the city. Built in 1789, there are some 600 tombs located within its walls. Did you know SOC can tell you the names of all those buried in St. Louis Cemeteries 1, 2, 3 and other historic burial sites in the city? 

Mosaic treasures from the Vatican have traveled exclusively to New Orleans for  “An Evolution of the Human Spirit as Seen through Mosaic Art,” which is on display until June 1 at the Old Ursuline Convent in the French Quarter. All monies raised from the exhibition go directly towards the preservation and restoration of the St. Louis Cathedral and the Old Ursuline Convent, the oldest and most historic property in the Mississippi Valley. At the kick-off soirée at the convent on Chartres Street, the garden was just a tad soggy from torrential rains, but not the spirits of attendees.
 
Gerrie Bremermann and Nell Nolan at an event hosted by the New Orleans Opera Women’s Guild.


That was the same evening as the Carter Jahncke and Claiborne Perrilliat III wedding, where applause broke out for both the newlyweds and their parents! The wedding, at Trinity Episcopal Church, was the last performed by Rev. Dabney T. Smith,who has moved on to become the Bishop of Florida. What a sweet touch to have the flowers dedicated to the memory of grandparents and say prayers for our city and our New Orleans Saints. After the ceremony, everyone went to the Orléans Club, where Ellis Frater oversaw every detail, including displaying the Jahncke burgee.

The Orléans Club has welcomed Marjorie Gehl to its staff. Gehl was spotted at a New Orleans Opera Women’s Guild event in the ballroom of the Andrew Jackson building, which was filled with music, dance, drinks and dinner. Mary de La Barre, caught off-guard the night before with a surprise birthday party at the same location, gives applause for a delightful evening. The opera’s spring season starts in March with “Lucia di Lammemour” and its revs up for uber romantic “Der Rosenkavalier” opera ball on April 28. Time for ballroom boot camp to get those waltz steps in time.

Literary Leanings
Playing catch-up on a little reading? Pick up a copy of Joshua Davlin’s newest book, which he signed over cocktails this past January at the Windsor Court Hotel. Peggy Scott Laborde and John Magill’s “Canal Street: New Orleans’ Great Wide Way” signing took place at tea at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, formerly Maison Blanche. People swooned as the writers individually reminisced about meeting under the clock at D.H. Holmes and eating hot cashews at Woolworth’s. “A House in the South” by Francis Schultz and Paula Wallace, founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, features the homes of Roger Ogden and Mary Ferry Bigelow. Design maven Gerrie Bremermann was full of information in a recent issue of Southern Accents, as was Suzanne (Stamps) Rhinestein’s back page in InStyle.

Carolyn Leftwich and Michael Valentino at the AIA/New Orleans Chapter 2007 Design Awards ceremony.


Building Blocks
The American Institute of Architects/New Orleans Chapter passed out its 2007 Design Awards recently to Perez, APC; Eskew+Dumez+Ripple; Wayne Troyer; Holly and Smith; Waggonner & Ball; and Wayne Troyer/Lloyd Bray for projects as diverse as Isidore Newman’s lower school building; a sushi restaurant in Hammond; and the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Park. Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu, who was a speaker, says “Good architecture makes good business.” AIA president Michael Bell couldn’t agree more. Also on the podium were Michael Valentino and Carolyn Leftwich talking about the Bywater, Michael Lopez of Global Green talking about sustainable programs—I was inspired. Poor Dick Fullerton, an AIA board member, missed the whole event—he got stuck because of airport delays and missed his connection. No one mentioned “Brangelina,” but their home purchase in the Quarter hasn’t hurt, nor his interest in architecture or enrolling their children in schools here.

Peggy Scott Laborde and John Magill at the booksigning at the Ritz-Carlton for “Canal Street: New Orleans’ Great Wide Way.”


All you need is love
Did I mention Valentine’s Day? Nell Nolan and Steve Kelley reprised their reading of A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” at Le Chat Noir with proceeds benefiting the Contemporary Arts Center’s Performing Artists Fund. Nell’s family has seen a lot of Brad Pitt, since much of his movie was filmed at the Nolan family home in the Garden District. Nell is off to New York with Loyola University’s College of Music. A graduate will perform in “Turandot” at the Met.

Alas, Nell was not the one receiving the Louis Vuitton wallet, travel document case and duffle bag as a Valentine’s Day present. One lucky woman I know got this gift, with the document case holding a first-class round-the-world ticket that was tucked inside before Saks wrapped it so beautifully.

I know I haven’t reported much on Mardi Gras. Thought I’d give my pearls a rest and think about it next month when I’m dreaming of Easter and Popeye’s.



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