A summer New Year’s party taught me we can always restart
I work at a nonprofit that orders its business by the fiscal year, a 12-month period that begins each July and concludes at the end of the following June. Every summer, though the calendar year is already at its halfway point, my fellow employees and I are turning a page and starting a new chapter in our work lives.
As our fiscal year ended last month and we prepared for another one, our staff decided to have a little fun with a workplace New Year’s party It was the first New Year’s celebration I’d ever attended in June, and maybe the best one. To prepare for the gathering, I ordered New Year’s party hats and festive noise makers. In a nod to summer, we brought in gourmet ice cream and watermelon for the refreshment table
With a knowing wink at our inside joke, we wished each other Happy New Year as we gathered in our conference room for summer treats.
While savoring sliced melon and frozen treats, we took a rare chance to catch up on each other’s lives. There was news of children, summer road trips and personal and professional challenges we’d navigated in recent months as a work family I was left with the thought that we should celebrate New Year’s every summer. When the traditional New Year’s Day arrives each January, I’m grateful for the chance to mark another milestone with friends and family But by the time New Year’s rolls around at the close of the winter holiday season, I’m often pretty tired. When viewed through weary eyes, Jan. 1 can seem like just another box I’m checking before I finally put the holidays away
Our June New Year’s party was much more relaxed, and it offered a welcome pause in the progress of the year
Many of us remarked at how surprising it felt that half of 2026 is already gone. It’s an abiding truth that as we get older, time seems to move more quickly That’s all the more reason to create small moments of reflection so that we can consider where we’ve been and where we’re going. Those respites don’t have to be solemn affairs. They can even be as frivolous as a New Year’s party on a sweltering summer day
What I liked best about our summer New Year’s party is that it gave us all a new beginning. The celebration reminded me that beyond New Year’s Day each January, each year is full of other beginnings There’s the start of spring, summer, fall and winter, the beginning of a school year, personal birthdays and wedding anniversaries.
Each offers a chance to think about the turning of time, our place in the world, what kind of people we want to be. Yes, the year might look a little shopworn right now But as my summer New Year’s party reminded me, we always have the power to start again. Email Danny Heitman at danny@dannyheitman.com.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer
Since 2002, Baton Rouge’s Main Street Market has been a pillar of the downtown community serving as a gathering space and a way for local businesses to gain exposure.
Last year, the market, operated by Big River Economic & Agricultural Development Alliance, underwent a $1.5 million renovation that included new floors, paint, furniture, a 250-gallon grease trap under the parking garage, four restaurants and a coffee shop.
Main Street Market is a gateway to the Red Stick Farmers Market, as each restaurant in the facility uses ingredients from local farmers and producers that participate in the alliance’s weekly farmers markets.
“The mission of BREADA is about three things,” said executive director Darlene Rowland. “That’s supporting small farmers, increasing food access and building community So everything we do with
La. horticulturist wins national garden club award
Mary Ellen Miller, of the Shady Oaks Garden Club, from left, stands with Joe Willis, holding the National Garden Club Award of Excellence, and his wife, Paula Barton-Willis.
BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer
Heitman
STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
Deidre Brown, aka Chef Victory, poses with a plate of rotisserie chicken, cauliflower rice, roasted Cajun potatoes and sauteed vegetables at Vivian’s Rotisserie and Grill in Main Street Market on June 24 in Baton Rouge.
Barista Stephany Johnson adds milk to a drink during the
rush at River & Roots coffee at the newly renovated Main Street Market.
California to institute Bruce Lee Day
Martial arts icon will become the first Chinese American in state’s history with an annual namesake day
By The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO Martial arts icon Bruce Lee, who was born in San Francisco, will become the first Chinese American in California history with an annual namesake day Gov Gavin Newsom signed a law Tuesday afternoon officially designating May 17 as Bruce Lee Day, according to the office of state Assembly member Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco. An 18-year-old Lee re-
turned to San Francisco on May 17, 1959, after spending his childhood in Hong Kong. Lee’s daughter, Shannon, who is CEO of the Bruce Lee Foundation, said the honor is a testament to her father’s enduring legacy as a bridge between cultures.
“From young people who found confidence and possibility in his philosophy, to families who finally saw themselves represented on screen, to athletes who still draw on his teachings of discipline and inner strength, his reach is profound,” Shan-
represented with strength and dignity,” he said in a statement.
The foundation and various Asian American organizations hope Lee will be celebrated every year with voluntary commemorative activities around the state such as cultural exhibits, public events and classroom lessons.
non Lee said in a statement.
Haney called Lee the epitome of the best of California.
“At a time when Asian
Americans were too often absent from or stereotyped on screen, Bruce Lee helped generations see themselves
Born in 1940 to Chinese parents who were touring with an opera, Lee was allowed to have birthright citizenship. A few months later the family returned to Hong Kong where Lee became a child actor and began learning Chinese kung fu. He moved back to the U.S. in 1959 and enrolled in the University of Washington in Seattle two years later
He dropped out and threw himself into practicing and teaching martial arts. In the 1960s, Lee found work in Hollywood, most notably as Kato in the TV series “The Green Hornet,” but studios wanted him to play racist stereotypes and paid him less than his white counterparts. He pivoted back to Hong Kong and soon became a megastar of martial arts flicks, including “The Big Boss” and “Fist of Fury.” Lee died in 1973 at 32 after an allergic reaction to pain medication.
Lee’s name and likeness remain popular Fans gather on his birthday A treatment for a proposed TV action series he wrote inspired the HBO Max show “Warrior.”
uses and sells local ingredients seen at the farmer’s market Rowland said.
Right beside the ordering counter is the farm fresh fridge, stocked with produce from the farmer’s market so that people can have access to the market all week long. Shelf stable items are included in the mix such as local honey, jams, jellies and pickles.
“All of the milk served in your latte or cappuccino is from our local dairy farmer, Feliciana’s Best Creamery,” Rowland said. “They are one of our vendors at the Red Stick Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, right outside the main doors there.”
The menu includes espresso drinks, specialty drinks, teas, drip coffee, cold brew and Mexican hot chocolate There are also seasonal green teas depending on what’s in season like the “Blueberry Hills,” a green tea that uses a syrup made from local blueberries.
Vivian’s Rotisserie & Grill
Deidre Brown, also known as Chef Victory, operates and owns Vivian’s, which Brown opened in honor of her grandmother who used to work at the longtime Poor
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Boy Lloyd’s downtown.
“I was paying homage to her,” she said. “For hard work she put into downtown for many years.”
All of the food is cooked from scratch, and about half of the menu is registered with Eat Fit, a health program by Ochsner that partners with local eateries to identify healthy menu items.
There are also vegan and vegetarian options like the fresh greens with collards, turnips, mustards and kale. Though there’s no meat in it, there’s still a lot of flavor Brown said.
ings and often helps the members with their gardens, as well as educating the general public on gardening and plants.
“Joe is a uniting force,” said Miller, who credits Willis for the Shady Oaks Garden Club’s flower show at the New Orleans Spring Garden Show in April.
“We’re trying to lean toward more of a healthy lifestyle and help people that want to eat healthy,” she said. “Give them some good, healthy flavor for options.”
One of the popular items is the salmon bowl (also a shrimp option), served over cauliflower rice, carrots and teriyaki sauce. There’s also the Creole stuffed portobello with quinoa, spinach, onion, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, thyme, Creole spice and balsamic glaze.
Creole Creations
a fungus and helped the club take everything out and replace the soil. “We thought he would win at the state, because he’s so good, and he cares so much,” Miller said. “But he didn’t just win state he won for the Deep South and then the national. He has definitely earned it and made all this education of horticulture really accessible to everybody.” Willis said that when he found out he won, he reflected on all of his work as a part of his job, outside of his job and working with people and plants.
In 2018, owner Chisolu Isiadinso started Creole Creations, a familyowned business Today, Creole Creations operates a stall inside of Death Valley and a food truck.
“We come from a cooking family where our goal is to offer Louisiana food for the soul,” Isiadinso said.
At Main Street Market, the menu is stocked with Louisiana staples and comfort foods. Daily specials include red beans and rice on Mondays, baked chicken and candied yams on Tuesdays, seafood pasta on Wednesdays and étouffée on Thursdays.
Also on Thursdays is a new item: crawfish étouffée fries called “Crawfete Fries.”
Everything at Creole Creations is made from scratch, Isiadinso said
“We don’t have any shortcuts. Nothing is from the can. Even the watermelon pineapple lemonade I make. I juice all the fruits, and there are no artificials and additives,” she said. The boudin balls are a big seller so far, she said, and her personal favorite item on the menu is the shrimp po-boy
Sapor Indian Fusion
Sapor serves spiced Indian fare with both breakfast and lunch options. The menu has rotating items like
“I remembered that when I started this position 10 years ago, Mary Ellen had contacted me and asked me to be part of a tour bus group through the gardens of New Orleans to talk about the plants. From the very beginning, I’d been working with the garden clubs, and it came full circle,” Willis said. Popular in the New Orleans area for his regular appearances on Fox 8 WVUE-TV and WWL, the community calls Willis “Dr. Joe,” for his gardening diagnoses and solutions. He says he gets recognized
breakfast wraps and masala omelets. For lunch, there are bowls and plates featuring Indian cuisine like butter chicken, chili chicken and chicken korma. Each plate or bowl is also served with naan and rice.
The Cozy Griddle
Though the original Cozy Griddle location is at 11445 Coursey Blvd. in Baton Rouge, the restaurant now occupies a space in the market downtown.
At Main Street Market, the menu features a variety of breakfast options: customizable egg and cheese handhelds, biscuits and gravy, chicken and waffles and a bayou brunch bowl with shrimp and grits.
Owner Tarick Johnson’s goal is to provide high-quality food and service and incorporate the local community
“We do get some things from the farmer’s market as far as fresh ingredients, so we try to support the local economy,” Johnson said. The Cozy Griddle also serves three to four rotating lunch items every day Included in the rotation are stuffed chicken breasts with green beans, spaghetti and meat sauce, grilled pork chop, blackened shrimp pasta and more.
A popular menu item is the griddle stacks.
“Our griddle stacks are so amazing,” Johnson said “They’re so
in public, and people approach him with questions about their gardens.
“Essentially I want to make it easier for people to have success and fun in their gardens and in their landscapes and garden clubs,” Willis said. His words of advice for anyone planning to start a garden are to “plant the right plant at the right place at the right time.” Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS
Patrons greet each other while walking by River & Roots Coffee at the newly renovated Main Street Market on Dec. 6
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO BY JEFF CHIU
A man walks past a mural showing Bruce Lee and a dragon in San Francisco in 2020
Deidre Brown, aka Chef Victory, garnishes a piece of salmon before serving at Vivian’s Rotisserie and Grill in Main Street Market on June 24
Fewer still have survived the wars, economic downturns and disruptions of e-commerce over the past century without making major changes to their operations.
But Gem Printing has been selling custom party and wedding stationery in much the same way it always has — printing in-house and on-site — since it was founded in 1918 by the great-grandfather of its fourth-generation owners Tommy Cousans, 44, and Melissa Cousans Mortillaro, 45.
From an unassuming storefront in a Metairie strip mall Cousans and Mortillaro have defied the odds and the broader market forces of evites and Amazon — to keep their family business afloat by building on customer loyalty diversifying into a broader array of party supplies and holding fast to a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround time that dates to the store’s founding.
“The one-day service is obviously a blessing,” Cousans said. “I silently curse my grandfather for that every once in a while, but it’s probably one of the biggest reasons that this business is still around.”
Storied history
Photos on a store wall trace the company’s history back to 1918, including one of Cousans and Mortillaro’s great-grandfather, Sidney Cousans, wheeling around a wooden cart with a Gem Printing sign. He sold business cards printed from a small hand press and offered to shine customers’ shoes.
Another picture shows the company’s brick-and-mortar storefront on St. Charles Avenue, opened by their grandfather Sidney Cousans Jr sometime after he took over the business in the 1930s — when he was just 14 years old. His grandchildren today credit him with carving out Gem’s niche in the wedding and party invitation category and also for coming up with the one-day service guarantee.
Today, Gem operates from a bridal-white brick storefront on Veterans Boulevard near Bonnabel Boulevard that has been its home since 1976, with eight fulltime employees.
Though Cousans and Mortillaro, who are brother and sister, declined to provide company revenues, they say Gem regularly sees year-over-year sales growth of 5%-10%.
Customer service and loyalty
The siblings attribute their longevity and steady growth to several factors, chief among them being their quick turnaround time.
On the second floor of Gem’s otherwise unassuming 5,000-squarefoot storefront, the company has a printing studio that holds more than a dozen presses and modern digital printers, the key to fulfilling one-day orders.
While the store’s hours run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week, the team prints products overnight, often working on Sundays and Mondays — their typical days off.
The team prides themselves on fast sometimes instant service.
“We’ve had people pull up in limos and run out in bow ties, going,
‘I need a pillow right now,’ and they get to skip the line and grab a ring pillow and head to their church and get married,” Mortillaro said.
That customer service has helped fuel loyalty in a traditional market in the Deep South and a pervasive party culture.
Customers who designed wedding invitations with Gem come back for anniversaries, christenings, birthday parties, all the way up to condolence cards. The tradition is often passed down. Parents recommend Gem to their children, then grandchildren.
“I’m the fourth generation helping sometimes the fourth generation of a customer’s family,” Cousans said. “It’s kind of crazy that it’s a family tradition on both sides of the counter.”
Over time, Gem’s customer pool spread around the country, particularly after many New Orleans natives moved following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Those customers are “constantly ordering” quintessential New Orleans items, including second-line handkerchiefs, party cups and feather-trimmed umbrellas, Mortillaro said.
The company ships dozens of orders a week all over the country Gem also benefits from New Orleans being a party town, Cousans
said. The shop stays busy during August through February during holiday and festival season.
“I don’t know if printers in Jackson, Mississippi, get a Halloween rush, but we get a Halloween rush,” Cousans said. The business has also diversified by growing its party supplies line over the years. Lately, that’s meant learning how to print matchbooks. Wedding cake toppers currently displayed in-store, popular in the ’80s, are also making a comeback among younger generations. The team also learned how to print onto tambourines, another wedding favor reclaimed in recent years.
Planning for the future
As a kid, Cousans remembers watching Mardi Gras parades pass by the store windows. Mor-
Note pads celebrating the 108-yearold Gem Printing Co.’s milestones were recently uncovered from storage.
tillaro recalls making netted rice bags for weddings, which Gem used to sell for 10 cents. In high school, they both started working in the shop. By college, they realized they couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
The biggest challenge Gem faces today is navigating fluctuating material prices, Cousans said. He vigilantly checks prices to purchase materials at a low cost, but due to inflation, their team has had to eat higher prices to avoid raising costs for customers.
While Gem has largely leaned on word-of-mouth referrals, the company is also making a concerted effort to bolster its social media presence to attract younger consumers, Mortillaro said. Cousans and Mortillaro hope to pass on the business to the fifth generation — possibly Mortillaro’s kids. Her 11-year-old daughter has already shown an early enthusiasm for the career: For a school career day, she wore business casual clothing and a name tag that read, “fifth-generation Gem Printing manager.”
“It’s definitely in our minds to keep this going. I want this to be a fifth-, sixth-generation business,” Mortillaro said. “When it comes to planning for the future, it’s honestly just watching the trends and making sure that you’re servicing the next generation.”
Email Grace Mayer at grace. mayer@theadvocate.com.
“I am honored and excited to take on this newrole.Shell Norcoisanimportant site with alonghistory and areputation forhavinggreat people and astrongculture.” AlexMarkos, Shell NorcoVP
VP
ShellwelcomesAlexMarkosasthe newlyappointed Vice President of theNorco site. Markoshas worked in severalcountries in avariety of roles. Most recently,his leadership at Shell Polymers MonacainPennsylvania and theSarnia Manufacturing Centre in Canada prepared himfor balancingthe demands of large-scale operations with theimportanceofculture, trust, and visible leadership. At Norco, he steps intoaworkplace widely recognized within Shell forits strong culture.“There’sa real senseofpride here,”hesays. “People care about thesite, about each other,and about doing thingsthe rightway.You can feel that immediately.”
At thecoreofhis leadership philosophyisthisprinciple:safety comesfirst. “Nothing is more important than making sure everyperson who comesto work goeshome safely,” he says.His focus alsoincludesenvironmental performance reliability, anddeveloping thepeople who keep thesite running. “You havetodeliver today while preparingfor tomorrow.”
ShellNorco is one of themostimportant sitesinShell’sU.S. operations.The only Shell refinery in thecountry integrated with chemicals manufacturing, Norcoplaysa centralrole in thecompany’soperations and remains astrong economic engine forthe Gulf Coast.
Mortillaro sorts through metal type.
STAFF PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRANGER
Siblings Melissa Cousans Mortillaro and Tommy Cousans are fourthgeneration owners of Gem Printing Co. in Metairie.
