NORDC HIRING LIFEGUARDS TO WORK AT 15 POOLS AROUND NEW ORLEANS ä Page 5G
THE C ESCENT CITY
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THURSDAY APRIL 9, 2015 H
JEFFERSON • NEW ORLEANS • PLAQUEMINES • RIVER PARISHES • ST. BERNARD THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
Lynne Jensen
THROW ME SOMETHIN’
Opus Ball channels big band era
MAKINGA STAND Lemonade Day events to help entrepreneurs Advocate staff report
The annual Opus Ball will feature a concert of standards including “My Funny Valentine,” “Ain’t Misbehavin” and “I’ve Got the World on a String” by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra led by Carlos Miguel Prieto at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at the Sheraton Hotel, 500 Canal St. The elegant evening of music, food and dancing appropriately takes place in the Armstong ballroom, with featured guest Kermit Ruffins paying tribute to Louis Armstrong and his legacy as a symbol of New Orleans culture. Ruffin’s musical contributions will include the popular “What a Wonderful World,” and dinner and an auction will follow the concert at 7:30 p.m. The event will benefit the LPO and tickets begin at $250. Event chairs are Paulette and Frank Stewart. Online reservations are available at LPOmusic.com. For information call (504) 523-6530, ext. 302.
Volunteers from the New Orleans Saints, Junior League of New Orleans, Raising Cane’s, as well as local universities and nonprofit organizations helped stuff backpacks in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the 18,000 children expected to participate in the fifth annual Lemonade Day Louisiana in the greater New Orleans area. Lemonade Day Louisiana is a free, fun, experiential learning program that teaches children how to start, own and operate their own business — a lemonade stand. The backpacks will be free and will contain detailed supporting materials, such as an Entrepreneur Workbook, Marketing Tips and Mentor Guide, to help participants establish their own lemonade stand.
All hail Amanda
Amanda Marie Kiefer, 18, recently was crowned this year’s Colleen for the Algiers Irish Association. She is the daughter of Alison Faust Kiefer and Kris Kiefer. Kiefer Greatgranddaughter of Jimmy and Zelma Killeen, Amanda joins a family line of Colleens, including her grandmother Janice Killeen Faust; her aunt Glenda Killeen Heine; her mother and sisters
äSee LEMONADE DAY, page 2G
Advocate photos by VERONICA DOMINACH
ABOVE: Jennifer Macias helps stuff backpacks with hundreds of other volunteers on March 28. RIGHT: Shelbi Varnado, 8, helps stuff backpacks in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
äSee THROW ME, page 3G
Dominican junior designs costumes for ‘Cats’
Parkway Promenade event celebrates with ‘Night in Rio’
Advocate staff report St. Mary’s Dominican High School tapped the talents of one of its students to design and create the costumes and wigs for its upcoming production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical “Cats.” Gabriella Holmes, a junior at Dominican who is also in the musical as Etcetera, designed the wigs and costumes for the 48 cats in the upcoming production. Armed with a sketchbook with all of her designs from the early stages to final work, Holmes and her fellow students have completed the costumes for performances planned over two weekends. Dominican presents the musical “Cats” along with a Fine Arts Festival on Friday and Saturday and April 17 and 18 in the school gym at 7701 Walmsley Ave. A gallery of artwork created by more than 400 students at Dominican also will be on display. Performances are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday both weekends, as well as a 1 p.m. matinee on April 18. Tickets are $15 for
Advocate staff photos by SHERRI MILLER
Gabriella Holmes helps Kris Plunkett with a wig for the upcoming production of ‘Cats’ at St. Mary’s Dominican High School in New Orleans on March 26. Costume and wig design sketches from Gabriella’s sketchbook
adults, and $10 for Dominican For tickets and information, students and children 12 and visit stmarysdominican.org or younger. call (504) 865-9401, ext. 4158.
Jefferson Beautification will hold its annual Parkway Promenade from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 19 at Chateau Golf and Country Club, 3600 Chateau Drive, Kenner. This year’s theme is “Parkway Promenade Goes to Brazil – A Night in Rio.” The event will include Brazilian cuisine, an open bar and music by Julio and Cesar. There will be a live auction featuring “Toucans,” an oil painting by internationally renowned artist Hunt Slonem, the artist who designed the Toucan sculpture on Veterans Memorial Boulevard and Clearview Parkway in Metairie. There will be prizes as well as a samba dance exhibition and a paso doble dance exhibition. Parkway Promenade provides funding for the projects of JBI including tree planting, beautification and environmental education projects on both the east and west banks of Jefferson Parish. Since 1990, JBI has completed projects totaling over $1.9 million on public green spaces in the parish. JBI’s
Eva Jacob Barkoff AROUND JEFFERSON
featured project this year is installation of the gardens surrounding the long awaited Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $75 per person. Prior to the event, a patron party will be held at 4 p.m. at Chateau. Tickets to that event are also $75 per person. For those wishing to attend both the patron party and the event, tickets are $125 per person. For information, call Charlotte Ruiz at (504) 887-8992 or visit www. jeffersonbeautification.org.
Wreath ceremony in Gretna
The Jefferson Parish Historical Commission and the Jefferson Historical Society of Louisiana will hold the annual Thomas Jefferson Wreath Ceremony beginning
at 10:30 a.m. Friday in front of the Thomas Jefferson statue at the General Government Building, 200 Derbigny St., Gretna. The ceremony, which marks the 272nd anniversary of Jefferson’s birthday, is held his honor. He was the third president of the United States, an author of the Declaration of Independence and the orchestrator of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty.
Guild fundraiser set April 22
The Leading Ladies Guild of the Jefferson Performing Arts Society will sponsor its Promenade Luncheon at 10:30 a.m. April 22 at the Audubon Tea Room, 6500 Magazine St., New Orleans. In addition to the luncheon, there will be a fashion show by Dillard’s, a parade of prizes and a cash bar. Tickets are $55 per person. For ticket and information, call Lynn Skidmore, vice president of the Leading Ladies Guild, at (504) 780-1788 or send an email to leskidmore@ yahoo.com. äSee JEFFERSON, page 3G