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THURSDAY JANUARY 1, 2015 H
JEFFERSON • NEW ORLEANS • PLAQUEMINES • RIVER PARISHES • ST. BERNARD THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
Lynne Jensen
THROW ME SOMETHIN’
Longue Vue events highlight seasonal changes Happy New Year! If you’re like me, you’re going over a list of things you meant to do in 2014. A visit to Longue Vue House and Gardens is on my list. Along the western edge of Orleans Parish at 7 Bamboo Road, Longue Vue is the former estate of philanthropists Edgar and Edith Stern. It includes an early 20th century house and eight acres of gardens, including a collection of Louisiana irises and a discovery garden for children. Hidden among trees and bamboo off Metairie Road, the Classical Revival-style house is a National Historic Landmark designed by architects William and Geoffrey Platt. It was the second home on the site for the Sterns: a New Orleans businessman and cotton broker and an heiress of the Sears department store family. The home’s diverse interior includes American and English antiques and Op-Art and kinetic art pieces. The gardens were patterned after the Gardens of the Alhambra in Spain and were restored by staff and volunteers from across the country after Hurricane Katrina. Often photographed are lyrical fountains shooting arches across a pool with the mansion as a backdrop. Longue Vue is a popular place for parties and meetings. Tours of the house take place Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The last house tour is at 4 p.m. Here is a list of events taking place during January. Hope to see you there. THE WINTER GARDEN: Wild garden expert Tyrone Foreman will give a presentation on “Native Now: The Role of Deciduous Native Shrubs and Trees in the Winter Garden” from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10. He will walk the grounds and discuss native shrubs and trees with an emphasis on natural form and bark and pruning and placement. The cost is $5 for members and $10 for others. For information, contact Edna Lanieri at (504) 293-4723 or elanieri@ longuevue.com.
Grants to IMPACT 48 nonprofits
GNOF, donors help area groups
1,200 adult and 600 child victims of domestic violence or sexual assault were able to find the help they needed. The New Orleans Family Justice Center is one of 48 orBY KIMBERLEY SINGLETARY ganizations receiving money in Special to The Advocate 2015 from GNOF, through its For the New Orleans Fam- signature grant-making proily Justice Center, this year’s gram. “Each year, we are entrusted IMPACT grant from the Greater New Orleans Foundation will with money by our donors to do literally help keep the lights on with as we see fit,” said Flint at a place where last year alone Mitchell, program officer at
GNOF. “Since 2009, this program has allowed us to give to a wide array of organizations in five categories: arts and culture, youth development, education, health and social services. Last year, we gave out $795,500. This year, it’s $960,000.” Mitchell says GNOF received 205 letters of intent from organizations in the summer. Each letter explained who the organization was, what need they
were hoping to serve, how they would serve the need and how they planned to evaluate their work. “From there, we chose about 50 to speak with further on the phone or by visiting their site,” Mitchell said. “We then made recommendations to the eight members of our grant committee.” This is the second year the New Orleans Family Justice Center has received an
IMPACT grant — $20,000 in 2013 and $15,000 this year. As with last year, the grant will go toward offsetting the costs of renting the space for the agencies and paying for their operational costs. “We are unique in that we have eight different agencies — all serving victims in different ways — all in the same location,” said Mary Claire Landry, äSee IMPACT, page 3G
Audubon opens
Watoto Walk
A Nigerian dwarf goat sticks its tongue out.
Advocate staff photos by REBECCA RATLIFF
Evan Sloan, 3, pets a domestic goat at the Audubon Zoo’s newest attraction Watoto Walk on Dec. 20.
Watoto Walk is a new petting zoo at the Audubon Zoo, a 3,000-square-foot enclosure home to Gulf Coast sheep, St. Croix sheep, Nigerian dwarf goats and domestic goats. The design is based on a Masai village, such as can be found on the plains of Kenya or Tanzania. Watoto is Swahili for “children.’’
The village includes a rounded thatched hut that will double as an education area. Watoto Walk is open from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. and is included with admission to the zoo at 6500 Magazine St. Audubon Nature Institute members are admitted free of charge.
Zoe Landry, 11, and Rene Dahn, 14, pet one of the Nigerian dwarf goats at the Audubon Zoo’s newest attraction.
The interactive village Watoto Walk resembles a miniature ‘boma,’ an African village, and children can get up close with Gulf Coast and St. Croix sheep, Nigerian dwarf goats and domestic goats.
ä See more photos of the Watoto Walk at theneworleansadvocate. com.
äSee THROW, page 3G
Metairie Arbor Day event to feature tree, bench dedications In an effort to encourage people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees, Jefferson Beautification Inc. will hold its 23rd annual Arbor Day celebration Jan. 7 at the Oswald–Dubea Arboretum at LaSalle Park, 6500 Airline Drive, Metairie. Beginning at 1 p.m., tree and bench dedications will be held inside the park. Trees will be dedicated in honor of JBI past President Anne Favret and Jefferson Parish Councilman Paul Johnston. Also, a pecan tree “for
Eva Jacob Barkoff AROUND JEFFERSON
the birds” will be donated by David and Florence Hatch. Trees will be dedicated in memory of Carla Michelle Belile, Roger Louis Corbeille, George Dubea, Lionel and Jackie Dubea, Raymond Du-
bea, Valerie Fitzgerald Gaffney and Alton D. Smith. Benches will be dedicated in memory of Rene Netto and Dr. Christopher Tremel Smith. A special bench will be dedicated and named “A Faithful Walker.” JBI is a volunteer nonprofit organized in 1990 to provide funding for tree planting and beautification projects on public green spaces in Jefferson Parish and to promote tree planting and beautification through education and public awareness.
Beulah Oswald-Soto is the executive director and acting president of JBI. For information, call the JBI office at (504) 737-7583 or go to www.jeffersonbeautification. org.
KBA donates to local groups
The Kenner Business Association recently awarded nearly $4,000 to five nonprofit organizations as part of the business group’s mission to improve quality of life in Kenner and the surrounding community.
The nonprofit organizations are the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children, Angels’ Place, Vineyard Church, Jefferson Dollars for Scholars and the Kenner Community Dream Builders. “In each of their unique ways, these organizations are making our community a better place to live and work,” said Mary Sharon Howland, president of KBA. “Their individual missions are important to our business leadership, and we are proud to play a small role in their success.”
The Metropolitan Center for Women and Children provides individual and group counseling for domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking survivors, and serves as a transitional shelter for battered women and their children. Angels’ Place assists families of children who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. Vineyard Church in Kenner provides a variety of minisäSee JEFFERSON, page 3G