Dec 6: Les Marche des Fetes

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landmarks-logo

1440 Moss Street | New Orleans | 504-482-0312

lemarchedesfetes

Join the fun Saturday, December 6th from 10:00 – 4:00
for Le Marché des Fêtes, a celebration of
the grapefruit harvest and creole holiday traditions.

Shop over 30 vendors for one-of-a-kind, handmade art and accessories, tasty local delicacies, as well as garden bulb varieties from the Pitot House parterre garden. Live entertainment will be provided by John Rankin, the 101 Runners, and Encore Academy Choir. Book-signings by Poppy Tooker and Bonnie Warren. Craft demonstrations on the grounds of the Pitot House and a visit from Papa Noël!

Join your friends at 1440 Moss Street in New Orleans on December 6th! Proceeds from this celebration support the Pitot House and its gardens, and further the work of the Louisiana Landmarks Society.

Learn more at: www.louisianalandmarks.org

Many thanks to sponsors Avis R. Ogilvy and Lyn Tomlinson.

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Parterre Garden Lecture and Tour
by Anna Timmerman, Pitot House Gardener

Saturday, November 22, 10:00—11:30 AM at the Pitot House

lemarchdesfetes1The parterre garden fronting the historic Pitot House has endured many changes, but the essential design can be traced back over 150 years. Gardener Anna Timmerman will provide examples of French parterre gardens from the fifteenth century to the present, as well as formal and contemporary examples here in New Orleans and abroad. A short garden tour and discussion of plans for future additions to the gardens and restoration of the Pitot House parterre will take place following a slide presentation.

The lecture is free for LLS members and $10 for non-members.
Tickets can be purchased at the door.

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pitot-book

To mark the 50th Anniversary of the acquisition and relocation of the Pitot House by Louisiana Landmarks Society, we are proud to announce the publication of The Pitot House: A Landmark on Bayou St. John.

Written by James Wade, with photography by Robert S. Brantley and Jan White Brantley, as well as a foreword by Eugene D. Cizek, this new book captures the history and beauty of the Pitot House. Buy your copy today!

 

Fair Grounds Racing Schedule

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Fair+Grounds+2012-13Thoroughbred+Racing+Calendar

goneworleans.about.com says,

“Thanksgiving day is a great day to enjoy the sport of kings at the Fair Grounds Race Course. It’s opening day at the Fairgrounds. The food is excellent and the horse racing is first class.”

Click below to see this year’s racing schedule:

Fair+Grounds+2012-13Thoroughbred+Racing+Calendar

Ostriches, Camels and Horses Oh My!

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By Jim Mulvihill, Communications & Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager

Ostriches, camels and horses, oh my! For one night only on August 18, Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots will present live racing with camels and ostriches along with live Zydeco music, a mascot race and a full program of American Quarter Horse races.

The family-friendly evening starts at 4 p.m. and features 11 Quarter Horse races, one camel race, one ostrich race and the chaotic local mascot race.

General admission is $10. Children 12 and under are free. There are no advance tickets for general admission, which must be paid at the door. General admission includes entry for live Zydeco music on the first floor of the air-conditioned Grandstand.

The Struthio Stakes for ostriches of all ages, named to honor the participants by their genus,is set for 7:10 p.m., and post time for the Dromedary Dash, named for the one-humped species of camel, is 8:40 p.m.

Fair Grounds jockeys will ride the ostriches and a roster of celebrities (to be announced) will pilot the camels. Both exotic animal races are non-wagering events.

The local mascot race, hosted by Fair Grounds’ own Gentilly Billy, will include fuzzy friends like Hugo (New Orleans Hornets), Boudreaux (New Orleans Zephyrs), Bones (New Orleans Voodoo), Monty the Lion (Hotel Monteleone), Havoc (Loyola University) and Gold Digga (Xavier University of Louisiana). Post time for the mascot race is 7:55 p.m.

The 11 Quarter Horse races will be run from 4 p.m. to 9:55 p.m., highlighted by the featured $40,000 Audubon Stakes for Louisiana-bred fillies and mares at 350 yards.

Tails & Ales Presented by Abita Beer in the Clubhouse

Also that evening, the inaugural Tails & Ales Presented by Abita Beer, a tasting featuring a variety of craft and specialty beers from around the world, will be held on the fourth and fifth floors of the Clubhouse. An exclusive VIP premium tasting with exclusive craft beers not available in the general tasting area, plus hors d’oeuvres by WOW Café & Wingery, PJ’s and City Diner, will be on the fifth floor.

Tails & Ales Presented by Abita Beer is a production of Blue Deuce Entertainment, organizers of the popular New Orleans International Beer Festival at Champions Square.

Admission for “Tails & Ales,” which includes live racing admission, is $30 in advance through Ticketmaster.com or $35 at the door. The VIP experience – which includes an exclusive “VIP Hour” with entrance before the general public from 4-5 p.m. – is $60. Discounted “Designated Driver” admission is available for $15 (General Admission) or $25 (VIP). “Tails & Ales” tickets are limited so fans are encouraged to purchase online in advance.

Private suites are available for groups by calling Fair Grounds Group Sales at (504) 948-1285.

photo and article courtesy Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
http://www.fairgroundsracecourse.com/content/camel-ostrich-racing-coming-august-18-tails-ales-beer-tasting-debuts-same-night

FAIR GRINDS VOTED BEST

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I’ve got some news that is even hotter than the coming summer weather, and it has been very hard to keep it a secret until now, but (big drum roll…), thanks to your support and votes, and many others, Fair Grinds Coffeehouse for the first time has been named by the Times-Picayune as the Readers’ Choice 2012 Best Coffeehouse in New Orleans! When you pick up your Langiappe section in what used to be the daily paper, you will see us right there in the catbird seat at #1!

That’s not all either.

Friends and faithful coffee drinkers at Fair Grinds have also voted Fair Grinds Fair Trade Coffee as the #2 Readers’ Choice Best Cup of Coffee in New Orleans. We’re not getting the big head at Fair Grinds, but I can also assure you that we won’t rest until the people in the Greater New Orleans area find out that we actually have the best cup of coffee in town. We’re setting our sights, and you will enjoy the journey.

Speaking of great fairtrade coffee, we had a ball rolling out the coffee carts (ok, that wasn’t as fun as we had hoped, but thanks to our customers for helping us get across Esplanade Avenue!) over to Cabrini High School to give the young women exam takers a “jolt of justice,” serve up hot and iced “good luck” coffee, and give the girls some good information on the importance of fairtrade. We’re crossing our fingers that we can do this on a regular basis and that the girls cry for more.

We had fun the other day with a book signing in the Fair Grinds Common Space with Lawrence Powell signing his new book about New Orleans, Accidental City, for our good neighbors, Maple Street Bookstore, and we are definitely going to put Larry on our Fair Grinds Dialogue calendar later in the year as more of us make it through the book. The Fair Grinds Dialogue is up in the air for June because our friend and regular tea drinking customer, Jerome Smith, legendary civil rights organizer and long time director and founder of Tambourine & Fan, has been out of pocket so we haven’t been able to tighten him down. Keep an eye on the bulletin board because this still may happen in June or we may have to push it off if Jerome is tied up, but whenever he’s ready, I know this is going to be something the Fair Grinds community will deeply appreciate. This is on the calendar for Tuesday, June 19th at 7PM, but, as I say, stay tuned!

Rising temperatures simply mean that the music has to heat up to keep up and the patio is sometimes cooking so hopefully that will be what you hear in June:

Self Evidence – Friday June 1st 7PM

LNJ Music – Saturday June 2nd 730PM

Benjamin Booker and You’re So Cool – Saturday June 9th 8PM

Andrea Bush – Sunday June 10th 730 PM

Issac Bramblett, Singer & Songwriter – Tuesday June 12th 730 PM

Open Mic with Robert Eustis – Tuesday June 14th 7 PM

Lips & Trips – Friday, June 15th 7pm (Are you coming?!?)

Brian Nebel – Monday June 25th 730 PM

Keep up with the events calendar on our website for any other groups that may be late additions. There are also some nice surprises like the book event for parents and children by Tomas Moniz, the editor of Rad Dad, which I have to admit sounds fascinating to me.

"Sunshine" and "Can't Stop the Beet" are two new offerings at Fairgrinds
Besides the expanding red and orange and gold paint starting to brighten up Fair Grinds another little housekeeping matter in June will be a bit of a shift around the counter. Katie Murphy, who brightens the day for many in the mornings, was a key ingredient in making the new Fair Grinds work when we turned the key on the lock for the first time on October 15th, and she will still be doing so with a smile, but her art has called her so she’s stepping aside as manager to listen to her muse as well in June, and Kami Ownbey, who has been the night manager, is stepping up her game for the whole coffeehouse. Theirs have been the shoulders I’ve gotten to lean on in learning from the cup up, so this transition has been as smooth as silk. Give them some thanks as we head for the summer!

There’s a lot more, but come by Fair Grinds, and we’ll keep trying to surprise you.

Best!

Wade Rathke

Ps. Ok, yes, that means that granitas and more cold drinks are going to be debuting in June, so let us know what you think, and we’re very close to starting to bring the juicer up to the front and make it while you watch. How about that?

Exams Get Fair Trade

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Article from the Cabrini High School website

Seniors have been enjoying coffee before their exams from Fair Grinds Coffee Shop. The Fair Grinds coffee cart is stationed in the breezeway near the cafeteria each morning and not only provides a pre-exam perk, but helps promote fair trade – an important element of Catholic Social Teaching.


Fair trade products ensure that the farmer/artisan receives a just wage; concepts like micro-finance, sustainable farming practices and community (co-op) organizing are also supported by the fair trade movement. Fair Grinds Coffee Shop is a 100% fair trade coffee shop.

By partnering with them, Cabrini helps to support fair trade as well as our local community. Please be sure to abide by the usual handbook rules: no beverages outside of the cafeteria area, no littering, etc. The Fair Grinds coffee cart will return next week for all students to enjoy each morning before their upcoming exams! Hot and iced coffee is available for $2 per cup.

Intel and Dell at Fair Grinds

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At Fair Grinds we love the opportunity to meet new friends from all around the world and see how our community adapts good-naturedly to all of the crowds and chaos. What is with the shorts and Hawaiian shirts? Is that a uniform of some kind? Aloha from Fair Grinds!

We debuted our Fair Grinds Coffee Carts to make sure we could handle the crowd and keep everyone supplied in hot fair trade coffee and iced cold coffee. The first day we sold out of iced coffee by 11 AM. Ok, we’re learning lessons by the minute during the first weekend, so look out on the second weekend.

Speaking of the second weekend, we have some wild surprises for both visitors and our own Fair Grinds community for Saturday, May 5th and Sunday, May 6th. We have partnered with two companies, Dell Computers and Intel and our friends at Participation Agency, to have live streaming of the Jazz Fest shown on huge screens at the end of our patio and in the large common space rooms on the 2nd floor from 12 noon until 9 PM on those dates. Visitors will also be able to use the Dell computers upstairs to send emails back home and rest their “dogs” while enjoying the Fest from Fair Grinds.

On Saturday, May 5th, there will be a special surprise visit from one of the members of the band, My Morning Jacket, which is playing the main stage that same evening. Wow, huh?!?

[See invite above!]

Jazz Fest only happens once a year though, so I’m actually even more excited about a partnership we are forging in our own community of Faubourg St. John with Cabrini High School on Esplanade based on our shared belief in the value of fair trade coffee. As a special treat for the young women and a special educational opportunity for Fair Grinds Coffeehouse and Cabrini High School, Fair Grinds is going to serve our great coffee for a change both hot and iced before the seniors take their exams for three days in early May and again later in May for all of the students during exam week so that they get a jolt of justice on their way to great grades! If you see Katie and I pushing the Fair Grinds Coffee Carts across Esplanade at dawn, give a shout out during May, that’s what’s happening.

Once you make it past the first Jazz Fest weekend, you will notice the first Tuesday is May 1st or May Day so appropriately the Fair Grinds Dialogue will be on the topic of Solidarity. Helene O’Brien, the President of SEIU Local 21LA, dynamic local representing New Orleans city workers among others, will be speaking about what solidarity means and the efforts of her local union and others to build this kind of relationship uniting labor and community efforts. The Dialogue will be from 7 PM to 9 PM and for a change we are going to hold it in the main room downstairs so more people can take advantage of the event.

Even after Jazz Fest we have some great music that will be playing at Fair Grinds in May:
Kim and Sharon Apres-Fest – Sunday, April 29th 8PM
Open Mic with Robert Eustis – Tuesday May 10th 7pm
Jacob Green – Friday, May 11th 730 PM
Lips & Trips – Friday, May 18th 7pm
Jeanne Jaubert and Cello Solos – Saturday, May 26th 7pm

Keep up with the events calendar on our website at www.fairgrinds.com for any other groups that may be late additions.

Before I let you go, let me share something else with you that I think will make you as proud as it does me. We are really adding to the number of groups that are using the smaller and larger rooms that compose the Fair Grinds Common Space upstairs. Just to give you some flavor of the diversity of users, let me list a few: the Archdiocese Fair Trade Committee, Melissa Harris-Perry and Maple Street Bookstore, a new Men and Feminism group, the New Orleans Fruit Tree Project, and Re-Bridge here in the neighborhood. As importantly, the groups have embraced the cooperative nature of the space and the need for all the users to pitch in and pass the hat to support maintenance, cleaning, and utilities so that more and more groups can use the space: that’s community! By the way, thanks to Dell and Intel for painting the common space as part of this cooperative spirit over the coming week!

Speaking of paint, I hope everyone notices that red and gold are going to be putting a new face on Fair Grinds. Peek upstairs to the second floor, and you’ll see a “brighter” future for Fair Grinds with new colors coming, slowly but surely.

Here’s to a great May!


Wade Rathke

PS: Thanks to all of you who went on-line or mailed in your ballots to the Times-Picayune, and voted for Fair Grinds Coffee and Fair Grinds Coffeehouse in the Best of New Orleans voting. Muchas gracias! And, in that spirit we’re running a special now on Fair Grinds Fair Trade coffee so that you can enjoy it at home, when you can’t get by and visit with us.

Fair Grinds Gets Jazzed Carts

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by Wade Rathke

I am writing this from Tegucigalpa having just returned from three days in the coffee mountains of Honduras in the world famous high altitude growing regions of San Juancito and Marcala. We have been meeting with lots of small and large cooperatives that grow organic and fair trade certified coffee to see if we can negotiate the “next step” improvement in the relationships between producers and consumers: direct trade.

In direct trade all sides benefit by cutting out the middlemen brokers who suck up a huge percentage of the “profit” benefitting neither side of the chain. We are getting a good reception and bringing back 30 pounds of coffee from various cooperatives (COMUCAP, RAOS, and COMISAJUL for example) so that our roaster can test them for our special Fair Grinds Coffeehouse blends. Then we will try to make a final deal, which won’t be easy, and in fact might not be possible this season except in a micro-lot for our own store, which unfortunately might make the whole proposition more expensive, since we would only be buying 2 tons of coffee for Fair Grinds. (Yes, you drink some coffee every year and more every day – muchas gracias!). We are hoping to find some partners to buy more and lower the price, but we will see. I’ll have more to report on this in coming weeks. It is very exciting, hugely educational, and heartwarming and heartbreaking experience, but the devil is in the details when our limited resources are part of the equation along with our desire to hold on to our prices to our community of coffee drinkers.

Katie put a postscript on a report the other day that, yes indeed, the new turkey sandwich is flying off the shelf. Many of you have probably noticed that we expanded the number of quiches and enlarged the empandas to make them a more substantial meal. Our suppliers have been our heroic partners in helping make Fair Grinds rock on the food side!

In April get ready for some surprises around Fair Grinds Coffeehouse and the greater New Orleans community as we debut our coffee “pop-ups” around the city and for Jazz Fest. We had two new coffee carts built, and we are finishing the last touches on the branding and so forth, and then rolling them out to areas where our customers have told us about “coffee deserts” that are desperate for Fair Grinds coffee at different times of the morning and afternoon. Hoping this works! We’re jazzed!!! Oh, and, yes, to accommodate the Jazz Fest crowd and our usual customer load, we’re going to have both carts set up in the patio and out front so we can operate several lines during the Festival and keep the crowds caffeinated and moving.

April again also looks like it’s going to be a musical month. Here’s the tentative schedule of coming musical attractions including local groups and talent from this area as well as folks from around the country. Check the Fair Grinds calendar at www.fairgrinds.com for more details on each performance.

Laura Stevenson and the Cans (Seattle) — Monday, April 2nd 8PM
Tom Maron and Daron Douglas – Friday, April 6th 8 PM
Open Mic with Robert Eustis – Thursday, April 12th 8PM
Jonathan Roniger – Saturday, April 14th 8PM
Joe Barbara – Thursday, April 19th 7:30 PM
Lips & Trips – Friday, April 20th 7:30 PM
Snail Party (Canada) – Saturday, April 21st 8 PM
Gallivan Burwell – Friday, April 27th 8PM
Kim and Sharon Apres-Fest (Mass) – Sunday, April 29th 8PM

Gotta run! One last cooperative meeting in minutes, so crossing my fingers that the price is right, because I love this group and its manager!

Stay well and see you soon at Fair Grinds!

Saludos!
Wade

Ps. You are missing something if you are not seeing the updates on our website and Facebook sites where we keep folks current! New features on history of coffeehouses and the real story behind chicory should be up in April along with MORE!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

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inspired by Brenda London
In the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, the character George Bailey is shown how things in his town might have been different had he never been born.

The quaint town of Bedford Falls gets transformed into an anything-goes commercial enterprise called Pottersville.

My wife reminded me that “It’s a Wonderful Life” here in Faubourg St. John. One can easily draw comparisons between Bedford Falls and Faubourg St. John especially when zoning issues come up.

Zoning issues are by their very nature, contentious. A developer wants variances to do what they want and the neighborhood association wants to protect the interests of the residents.

Which begs the question: What if the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association had never been born? The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association has been around in one form or another since the 1920’s. The association was officially registered with the State of Louisiana in 1977.

In 1978, the Fair Grounds wanted to build a barn next to homes near their property. The smell alone from the barn would have negatively impacted the quality of life for those residents not to mention the runoff during rainstorms. The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association represented the neighbors’ interests and the barn was not built. You can read all about it in the Times Picayune’s
articles below:
Click here to read the article in the June 15, 1978 issue of the Times Picayune.
Click here to read the article in the June 20, 1978 issue of the Times Picayune.
Click here to read the article in the October 31, 1978 issue of the Times Picayune.
Click here to read the article in the November 18, 1978 issue of the Times Picayune.

In 1979, the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association took issue with the parking problems associated with Jazz Fest. The fight continued for years. The result was that Faubourg St. John has a security patrol paid for by the Fair Grounds that operates 24 hours each day. While parking during Jazz Fest is still an issue, imagine what it would be like if the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association had never been born?
Click here to read the April 7, 1979 article in the Times Picayune.
Click here to read the April 20, 1979 article in the Times Picayune.

In 1980, the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association addressed a zoning issue on Esplanade Avenue.
Click here to read the December 22, 1980 article in the Times Picayune.

In 1981, the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association continued to protect its interests and the Fair Grounds agreed to provide better sanitation and security.
Click here to read the May 1, 1981 article in the Times Picayune.

In 1983, the Fair Grounds wanted night racing. If the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association had not been around we would very likely have horse racing well into the wee hours of the morning right now.
Click here to view the December 4, 1983 article in the Times Picayune.
Click here to read the December 11, 1983 article in the Times Picayune.

An April 6, 1984 article in the Times Picayune details an incident where a former Mayor of New Orleans almost came to blows with a Faubourg St. John representative over night racing at the Fair Grounds. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

1984: Night Racing and Off Track Betting
January 19, 1984 article in the Times Picayune concerning night racing.
February 8, 1984 article in the Times Picayune concerning off-track betting.
February 23, 1984 articles in the Times Picayune concerning night racing.
March 6, 1984 article in the Times Picayune concerning night racing.
April 6, 1984 article in the Times Picayune concerning altercation between Mayor Dutch Morial and FSJNA representative Alvin Bordelon over night racing.
April 7, 1984 article in the Baton Rouge Advocate concerning altercation between Mayor Dutch Morial and FSJNA representative Alvin Bordelon over night racing.
April 7, 1984 article in the Mobile Register concerning altercation between Mayor Dutch Morial and FSJNA representative Alvin Bordelon over night racing.
April 9, 1984 article in the Times Picayune concerning the neighborhood celebration of the end of the racing season. The party also included a demonstration against night racing. That’s Nelson Savoie with the peace sign and Warren Guidry next to him. Warren got a permit way ahead of the start of racing season for a block party on Mystery St. for the last day of racing. This essentially blocked entry to VIPs accustomed to using the Mystery St. gate. It called attention to the disregard for the neighborhood by the Fairgrounds. Nelson’s brother Sterling, brought his band, started up, police came, the permit was declared legitimate and neighbors who had been afraid of the Fairgrounds joined the party. Nelson’s brother played music under a tent in the driveway at 1509 Mystery St. There was great media coverage. The Fairgrounds had just hired a consultant to determine why they were doing so poorly and the number one issue was public relations. The notoriety of our actions brought the Fairgrounds to the table for the first time and an ordinance was the outcome.
April 19, 1984 article in the Times Picayune concerning night racing.
May 25, 1984 editorial in the Times Picayune stating night racing is unfair to the neighborhood.
November 16, 1984 article in the Times Picayune noting changes in the racing season.

In the link below check out the 1986 article about Zack’s yogurt. It would have been located where Santa Fe restaurant is today… https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.167/end.894.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Zoning-ZacksYogurt-1986dec9.pdf

The yogurt shop was originally approved by the City but the decision was overturned in Civil District Court.

Just one year later in 1987, Whole Foods proposed making the property where Santa Fe restaurant is today into an eight car parking lot. Please visit the link below to read more about it: https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233.167/end.894.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Zoning-Giovannis-1987july18.pdf

Imagine how different that area would look today if the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association had never been born.

The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association was also busy watching out for you in 1988:
April 7, 1988 article in the Westbank News section of the Times Picayune concerning off-track betting.
April 7, 1988 article in the Metro section of the Times Picayune concerning off-track betting.
April 20, 1988 article in the Times Picayune noting resolution of issues with Faubourg St. John.“Leaders of the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association say they are pleased with the Fair Grounds’ agreement to reduce night outdoor lighting, provide free on-site parking and take other steps to avoid disrupting nearby residents.”

It’s easy to forget all the great things the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association has done through the years to prevent our “Bedford Falls” from becoming “Pottersville”.

Think about Voodoo on the Bayou, the annual fundraiser that was held each year for 25 years! And, how ’bout the association’s work to keep Faubourg St. John in the same council district as the Fair Grounds and like-minded neighborhoods?

What about all the home tours done during the 80’s and 90’s? And, what about all the abandoned cars the association has worked to get out of the neighborhood?

1992: Remember Christmas in October? Faubourg St. John neighbors painted and fixed several houses occupied by the elderly.

2008: Who could forget all the time, work, and money neighbors put into making the childrens’ play area at Stallings Playground what it is today?

Your neighborhood association has worked tirelessly for decades to keep fast-food outlets from locating here. All that is done by your neighbors who take care of things because they care. It isn’t about the money ’cause we all do this for no remuneration.

Noticed graffiti or bandit signs lately? That stuff doesn’t get removed by itself. The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association makes it happen!

There are so many more things the Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association has done for the area. What do you remember? Send it to info@fsjna.org

Bourbon Street is the classic example of “Pottersville”. It was once populated by Jazz Clubs. Would you want to live on Bourbon Street now?

Those that live in Faubourg St. John know that it much more resembles “Bedford Falls”. The Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association’s mission is to keep it that way.

FAUBOURG ST. JOHN
“Where Big Dreams Grow!”

Klaus Weiland to Play at Fair Grinds Friday

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FAIR GRINDS COFFEEHOUSE
3133 Ponce de Leon
New Orleans, LA 70119
(just off the 3100 block of Esplanade in beautiful Faubourg St. John)

Hope some of y’all who remember Klaus can make it to Fair Grinds on Friday. And, if you weren’t around back in the day, come support live folk music and get an earful of some of the finest playing you’ll ever hear! An Evening with Guitar Wizard Klaus Weiland.

Friday Night December 30, 2001
8:00 pm

Fair Grinds Coffee House
http://fairgrinds.com/
3133 Ponce de Leon St. New Orleans
$10.00

Klaus Weiland is the best guitarist you’ve never heard of, and he’s returning to the New Orleans area to play for the first time in thirty years.

Habituees of the Quarter and New Orleans coffeehouses may remember the flamboyantly attired German musician with the English accent who killed us softly with his acoustic guitar in the late 70s and early 80s. Whether jamming with Charmaine or Little Queenie, with New Leviathan’s Eric Glaser or just hanging out with a mandolin, Klaus always brought fluency and craft to his playing.

His cds include: Pebbles, Acoustic Passion, Listen to the Sky, and Cathedral Forests. An EP, Lotte, is available on iTunes.

His web site: www.klausweiland.com

Performance Videos from the UK’s New Music Express:
http://www.nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/M3XLaH3zZUY/search/klaus-weiland

See Klaus Weiland Is Back in Louisiana on Facebook
(we’re just dying for you to “LIKE” him)

“Your music regulates my breathing.” Art Neville

“The best guitarist in Europe.” Finbar Furey, Dublin

late 80’s Conceived, built (500 auto tires, 20,000 plastic soda bottles, 12miles of lobster trapline, all rescued from the environment) and sailed with my brother Chris “Bubbles” Weiland, together with a wonderful bunch of volunteer eco-adventurists in Key West.

Fair Grinds Welcomes Community

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Wade Rathke 628-8050 wade@fairgrinds.com
Dine’ Butler 287-9841 dine@fairgrinds.com

Fair Grinds Coffeehouse announces a “Community Welcoming” on Saturday, December 10th from 10AM to 2PM at 3133 Ponce de Leon Street near Esplanade (www.fairgrinds.com) to introduce the community to the many new changes over recent months with new management and new ownership of the oldest exclusively fair trade coffeehouse voted by the readers of Gambit as the #1 coffeehouse in New Orleans for 2011. The welcoming will include an art auction, display and demonstration of biodiesel conversion by the New Orleans BioDiesel Project, coffee roasting demonstration on the new, local fair trade coffee brewed by Fair Grinds, new menu featuring local bakers and chefs as well as fresh juices and sandwiches for the first time, music by local musicians, rides on becaks (Indonesian rickshaws), and more!

Over recent months the 10-year old New Orleans coffeehouse which was the first to offer exclusively fair trade products has changed ownership and management from Robert Thompson and Elizabeth Herod to Wade Rathke. Their legacy will be memorialized at the “welcoming” with a special dedication at noon of the Social Justice Table. This celebration is in line with Fair Grinds new logo, two cups linked together joining the worlds of producers and consumers in common cause and new motto: Great Coffee for a Change. Rathke has previously announced that Fair Grinds is a special “low profit limited liability corporation” or L3C under Louisiana law and as a “social venture” business is dedicating part of its weekly gross and its net product to support community development and community organizing in the slums that are homes to its coffee exporters in Honduras, Mexico, Peru, and elsewhere.

In one of the most significant changes all of the fair trade coffee being brewed at Fair Grinds is now being sourced from the Port of New Orleans to benefit New Orleans commerce and the unionized longshore workers of New Orleans and their livelihoods. Additionally the coffee is now also locally roasted in special blends for Fair Grinds by Coast Roasters of New Orleans and Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The Fair Grinds New Orleans blend is a first, combining Honduran fair trade coffee with chicory grown in Nebraska. Fair Grinds has announced that after this current harvest much of its fair trade coffee will come directly from COMUCAP to New Orleans through a partnership with this all women’s coffee and aloe vera growing cooperative in Marcala, Honduras. Fair Grinds has weighed in on its concerns about the disputes over fair trade certification between Fair Trade USA and Fairtrade International and argued for a more direct engagement that assures benefits to both producers and consumers, rather than the current system which seems to favor corporate coffee and the certifying groups themselves (www.acorninternational.org and/or www.chieforganizer.org).

The Fair Grinds Community Welcoming is an opportunity for Fair Grinds to say thanks to the Mid-City and New Orleans community and introduce all of the small, but significant changes being made to make New Orleans best coffeehouse even better, as well as showcasing the work, workers, and changes to come.