BY: AMELIE LEBRETON

VCPORA fundraiser preserves French Quarter integrity.

Carol Gelderman, Ernesto Caldeira and Carol Lise Rosen Irving Rosen and Andrée Moss

The Sunday sunset set the scene for the Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates Annual Fundraiser at Ralph’s on the Park. This year’s venue moved the event out of the French Quarter, after Ralph Brennan donated the upstairs of his park-side restaurant and dinner for all.

 “It was a great thing to do on a beautiful Sunday night,” said Carol Gelderman, board member for the VCPORA. On April 6, attendees gathered for food and live music, which could be heard inside and outside on the balcony overlooking City Park. Dinner was served from a buffet of everything from roast beef to fish to salad.

“Anybody can come!” Gelderman said. “We hold this event every year. We have 800 members and people give as much as they can but it’s still a battle.”

Donations made this night, and all year long, allow the VCPORA to voice the concerns of Vieux Carré residents, and guard the integrity of the historic French Quarter. “I think people in New Orleans realize that the Quarter is [at times] in danger of turning into a Disneyland. And, if that happens, we’ve lost something very major in this city.”