A Note from Bev – We’re Back!
We’re back with our new redesign for St. Charles Avenue magazine celebrating our 25th Anniversary and it’s over the top! Thanks to Ali Sullivan and Morgan Griffith for all their hard work! We’re featuring new columns and have reworked everything – content, fonts, colors and more! Thanks also to our fearless leader Todd Matherne for all his support through the pandemic!
As I look back to our first year, when Terri Havens was publisher and I was Editor, we had a job to do to sell this brand-new magazine that was the brainchild of Bill Metcalf. Terri and I would walk into stores and of course buy something, so we could tell them about Avenue, the magazine spotlighting the A-List, the movers and shakers who put on the fabulous fundraisers for which New Orleans is known! This new magazine spotlighted New Orleans society, celebration and style, and we still do that today.
We are so excited to be back and to spotlight on our cover the 43rd “Hancock Whitney Zoo-To-Do” September 17 and “Zoo-To-Do for Kids sponsored by Children’s Hospital New Orleans” September 10! Thanks to our cover models: 2021 “Hancock Whitney Zoo-To-Do” Chair Leslie P. Gottsegen; 2021 “Zoo-To-Do for Kids sponsored by Children’s Hospital New Orleans” Chair Betsy T. Laborde; Surgeon-in-Chief of Children’s Hospital Ellis Arjmand M.D., MMM, Ph.D.; Vice President of Corporate Banking of Hancock Whitney Lindsey Wands; and Audubon Commission President J. Kelly Duncan! Put on your mask and enjoy a night under the stars, complete with fabulous food and drinks and entertainment, all to support conservation, our zoo and the whooping cranes! Visit ZooToDo.org and KidsZooToDo.org for tickets and information.
We can’t wait for you to see our new features showcasing designers, Philanthropic Faces, fashion and hosting tips, our new arts calendar, the return of Diane Sustendal’s social column, our 25th Anniversary feature, the “Registry of Charitable Events: September-December,” What’s Hot for our 25th Anniversary and so much more!
Again, my sincere thanks to Morgan Packard Griffith who’s one of a kind! She’s smart, stylish, funny and one of my best friends. She makes this magazine work!
And thanks to all of you who read Avenue! If you’ve received this magazine, you’re on our A-List and are a positive New Orleanian who’s making our city a better place! Keep it up and please get your vaccination and wear your mask; we’ll get through this!
Bev Church
On the Cover
Surgeon-In-Chief of Children’s Hospital New Orleans Dr. Ellis Arjmand M.D., MMM, Ph.D.; “2021 Zoo-To-Do for Kids presented by Children’s Hospital New Orleans” Chair Betsy T. Laborde; Vice President of Corporate Banking of Hancock Whitney Lindsey Wands; “2021 Hancock Whitney Zoo-To-Do” Chair Dr. Leslie P. Gottsegen; and Audubon Commission President J. Kelly Duncan for “2021 Hancock Whitney Zoo-To-Do” and “2021 Zoo-To-Do for Kids presented by Children’s Hospital New Orleans” benefiting Audubon Zoo. Photographed by Jeff Johnston
This year’s “2021 Hancock Whitney Zoo-To-Do” and “2021 Zoo-To-Do for Kids presented by Children’s Hospital New Orleans”will look slightly different from years past, but still promise to be the “Wildest Parties in Town.”
This year’s events will celebrate whooping cranes. Audubon has long been a leader in the conservation of these majestic birds and continues to work on their behalf through the Alliance for Sustainable Wildlife, Audubon’s conservation breeding partnership with San Diego Zoo Global.
Audubon Zoo serves as an important source of inspiration and passion for whooping crane conservation by offering opportunities for guests to see these graceful creatures in person at the whooping crane habitat, where a pair of cranes serve as ambassadors for their species.
The 32nd “Zoo-To-Do for Kids presented by Children’s Hospital New Orleans” on September 10 will feature live entertainment for kids of all ages including music, crafts, strolling characters, a toddler play area and kid-approved snacks and drinks.
The 43rd “Hancock Whitney Zoo-To-Do” on September 17 will be more intimate than in past years, but will continue to be an outdoor, social distancing friendly event at Audubon Zoo. This year will feature specialty food, signature cocktails and local entertainment by Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, Electric Yat Quartet with Andre Bohren and the Cajun Music Preservation Society. There will also be a raffle to win a 2021 LEXUS UX 200 donated by LEXUS of New Orleans, as well as several luxury raffle items.
To learn more and purchase your ticket today call 504-861-5107 or visit KidsZooToDo.org and ZooToDo.org.
Special thanks to Audubon Nature Institute’s Director of Development Events Stephanie Vega for her invaluable assistance.
The 1997 editorial staff of St. Charles Avenue working hard shooting photos for the article “Fridays at Galatoire’s.” Shown here are photographer Chris Granger, then-Managing Editor Sue Strachan, Bev (me) and Alexis Swanson who wrote the Nostalgia column.
A Note from Morgan – Reflecting On a Redesign
Have you ever looked at something you’ve written so many times that even a simple word, like “that,” or in our case “Avenue,” starts to look misspelled, clunky and begins to lose all meaning?
We’ve been at work on this particular issue since at least March, when our fearless leader Todd Matherne suggested that a) it had been far too long since this magazine had a refresh and b) now, during a pandemic when there just weren’t as many nonprofit events to cover, would be the perfect time.
The first step was probably the hardest: Why are we here? We weren’t talking about the existential meaning of life but rather, why does this magazine exist? What purpose does it serve? Whom does it serve? (If you’re interested in that answer, be sure to read our 25th anniversary feature!)
Once we were in agreement on that, then we could move on to what content we wanted to include, who would write it, who would take the photos, how we wanted it to look, what fonts, what colors, how thin or think should the vertical lines be in the logo, etc., etc., etc.
What you’re holding in your hands or looking at on a screen is the culmination of thousands of hours of work, sleepless nights, seemingly endless debates and a renewed passion to continue to do what we do best with an updated, classic and clean look.
I want to profusely thank our Art Director Ali Sullivan for being a passionate, considerate, kind and understanding friend and coworker whose talents can be seen in every inch of this publication.
I also want to thank the writers and photographers who are part of this historic issue. Some of you have taken on new roles and some of you are returning old friends; thank you for your trust and your talents.
Bev and I would also like to thank the staff of Renaissance Publishing, particularly Todd Matherne, Errol Laborde and Kate Henry for their work, their guidance and their trust.
And we want to thank you! Thank you for reading this magazine, caring about its content and, even more so, caring about the nonprofits that work every day to make our city a better place to live.
You’ll see even familiar things, like our Philanthropic Events and Snapshots sections, have an updated look, as well as totally new columns, such as Philanthropic Faces, Design, How to Host and What to Wear. You’ll see returning faces, like Sue Strachan and Diane Sustendal, as well as new ones, like Stephen Maloney and Melissa Coleman. And while Ali, Bev and I are still here, we have some new Account Executives whom I hope you welcome into your stores and companies as warmly as you do us.
Along with all of that, we also have our 25th anniversary feature and our quarterly Registry of Charitable Events: September-December 2021, which features more than 70 nonprofit fundraisers!
Now I’m going to take a deep breath before we send this to the printer (and maybe even a nap)! I can’t wait to hear your reactions to the “new Avenue;” I hope you love it as much as I do!
Morgan Packard Griffith
Trombone Shorty & New Orleans Avenue with CIMAFUNK! will bring the Treme Threauxdown 6 to The Saenger Theatre on October 9 at 7 p.m. Guest stars are still being announced, but the past five installments have included Usher, Dierks Bentley, Nick Jonas and Andra Day. SaengerNola.com
SEPTEMBER
now Through 26
CAC Artists-in-Residence: “SOLOS” Exhibition Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 504-528-3805, CACNO.org, Twitter.com/cacno
Behind Every Beautiful Thing: Encountering Bodies, Wresting the Human Condition, Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 504-528-3805, CACNO.org, Twitter.com/cacno
The Gris Gris Lab, Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 504-528-3805, CACNO.org, Twitter.com/cacno
2-6
Southern Decadence, French Quarter, SouthernDecadence.net
2
StudioV with Su Ecenia, Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 504-528-3805, CACNO.org, Twitter.com/cacno
9-11
Memory Wars: World War II at 75 and Beyond, National WWII Museum, 945 Magazine St., 504-528-1944, NationalWW2Museum.org
9
Panel Discussion: “Behind Healing and Wholeness: Art + Health,” Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 504-528-3805, CACNO.org, Twitter.com/cacno
13-14
New Orleans Burlesque Festival, Civic Theater, 510 O’Keefe Ave., 504-272-0865, CivicNola.com
17-18
The CAC’s Inter[SECTOR] programs, Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St., 504-528-3805, CACNO.org, Twitter.com/cacno
18
The New Orleans Pancakes & Booze Art Show, Howlin’ Wolf, 907 S. Peters St., 504-529-5844, TheHowlinWolf.com, Facebook.com/howlinwolfnola
20 – October 1
The Rise and Fall of Hitler’s Germany, National WWII Museum, 945 Magazine St., 504-528-1944, NationalWW2Museum.org
24-26
Flyaway Productions: The Wait Room, a CAC Inter[SECTOR] Program, 200 Morgan Street Parking Lot, Algiers Point, CACNO.org/thewaitroom
24
Leanne Morgan Big Panty Tour, Saenger Theatre, 1111 Canal St., 504-525-1052, SaengerNola.com
25
Beignet Fest, Festival Grounds at New Orleans City Park, BeignetFest.com
25
Williams Lecture Series: Clemmer and his Contemporaries, Historic New Orleans Collection, 520 & 533 Royal St., 504-523-4662, HNOC.org
October
Now Through 10
Louisiana Contemporary, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, 925 Camp St., 504-539-9650, OgdenMuseum.org, Facebook.com/ogdenmuseum
1-3
Escape to Margaritaville, Saenger Theatre, 1111 Canal St., 504-525-1052, SaengerNola.com
8-24
Dear Mr. Williams, Le Petit Theatre, 616 St. Peter St., 504-522-2081, LePetitTheatre.com
