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Jewish Community Hero Award

Iray — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:45:14 GMT

You are allowed to vote once a day :) Share this / Pass it around , I appreciate your support. Iray http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/index.php/nominees/louisiana "The Jewish Community Hero Award honors those making strides to repair the world, starting in their own communities. Nominate someone in your community and come back often to vote for your favorite nominees." [ http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/content/main ; ] http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/index.php/nominees/louisiana When does voting open? How do I vote? Voting is open now through October 8. Click here to browse and vote for Heroes. What criteria will be used to pick the Hero of the Year and additional honorees? The essential criteria will be: 1. The nominee shows exceptional qualities and commitment in line with the mission of UJC/Jewish Federations of North America, strengthening the Jewish community, and the ideals of tikkun olam. 2. The nominee complies with the rules of the Jewish Community Heroes campaign. What will honorees receive? The Hero of the Year will be provided with $25,000 to be used as an investment in their community project or non-profit effort via his or her local Jewish Federation, or another recognized 501(c)3 charitable entity or Canadian equivalent, and he or she will be invited to and recognized at next year's General Assembly. The remaining four finalists will receive a smaller amount to be used as an investment in their community project or non-profit effort via their local Jewish Federations, or recognized 501(c)3 charitable entities or Canadian equivalent. http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/pages/about

Community Center of St. Bernard

Iray — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:11:52 GMT

Community Center of St. Bernard www.CCSTB.org I arrived as a volunteer in New Orleans from NH January 2006, expecting to stay only about 3 weeks. After working at the Made With Love Cafe and seeing first-hand the devastation,I made a long-term commitment to helping with the recovery effort.I have served as volunteer Executive Director of the Community Center since its inception in April, 2006,I also serve as Vice-Chair of Unified Nonprofits of Greater New Orleans, Vice-Chair of St. Bernard Community Recovery and am a member of St. Bernard Parish Citizens Recovery Committee. Iray COMMUNITY CENTER OF ST BERNARD 1107 LeBeau Street CellPhone: (504) 617- 2580 Arabi LA 70032 Phone: (504) 281- 2512 www.CCSTB.org Fax: (916) 675- 7827 The Community Center of St Bernard is located in St. Bernard Parish, directly next door to New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward, at the epicenter of devastation from Hurricane Katrina. We are a community based grassroots 501 (c) (3) nonprofit that strives to meet the needs of hurricane survivors in St Bernard Parish and surrounding areas. Our mission is to empower residents seeking to rebuild their lives and their communities by providing them with local access to the recovery resources they need in a safe and all-inclusive environment. We address emergency needs immediately through our Mustard Seed Distribution program (Food Pantry, Clothing Bank), and hot meals. Other direct services include free internet, computer classes, faxing and phone service to enable residents to seek employment, keep in contact with family members now scattered across the country, and find applicable federal, state and local aid programs. And in collaboration with partner agencies, we provide local access to free medical care, legal aid, housing assistance, case management, prenatal care, socialization opportunities (dances, community celebrations, workshops), disability advocacy, senior citizen employment training, and stress reduction resources from across the greater New Orleans area. The Community Center is dedicated to serving the least well-off and the disenfranchised who are still struggling to recover more than 3 years after Katrina. During 2008 our Mustard Seed Food Pantry gave out 245,787 lbs of food to 2,033 unique low-income families. Those families included 1,797 children ages 17 & under. Many of these are among the most vulnerable of members of the community. 43% of these families have a head of household who is unemployed; 31% contain a physically or mentally disabled individual; 29% are headed by single parents. And 98% of these families are making less than $25,000 per year. In fact, 62% of them are struggling to survive on less than $10,000 annually. Unfortunately the current economic crisis is taking a terrible toll on these low-income families. At the Community Center, our staff are now processing up to 10 intake requests every day for the Mustard Seed Food Pantry, as compared to about 2 requests daily a year ago this time. During January 2009 alone, 243 new households met the income requirements (total income less than 130% of the federal poverty limit) to be added to our client list. This is more than double the 116 new households who qualified during the previous month (December 2008). Typical among these new clients are people like Rebecca Muscarello, a Food Pantry participant whose story was featured in the New York Times. Ms Muscarello had made a good living as a secretary, so she never imagined that at age 35 she would be left with no choice but to take her two young children to a food pantry to get groceries. But like a growing number of Americans whose jobs have evaporated in a shrinking economy, Ms. Muscarello ran out of money and then food, so she turned to the Community Center in order to feed herself and her children (www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11...11FOOD.html The need for other basic services provided by the Community Center is equally urgent: • Every week more than 200 families get free clothes at the Mustard Seed Clothing Bank. • During 2008, the Community Center served 3,855 free hot dinners & 4,029 free hot lunches. • The Community Center has 10 public computers with free printing, as well as 3 phones for making free local and long distance phone calls. During October 2008 alone, these computers were used 615 times. • And during 2008, 142 people have signed up for the free computer classes offered at the Community Center. • During 2008, the Community Center passed out 27,023 informational flyers, forms and brochures to help clients find the help they needed, including 3,760 applications for Emergency Food Stamps after Hurricane Gustav. • During this same time, our office staff made 2,399 referrals to help clients find resources and other assistance. • The 2008 St Bernard Thanksgiving Celebration organized by the Community Center served more than 500 turkey dinners with all the trimmings to area residents. • And our 2008 Toy GiveAway provided more than 2,000 toys to 685 area children. More information about the various events presented by the Community Center during 2008 is available at www.ccstb.org/sidebar/news/index.html However, in order to effectively fulfill our mission of providing necessary recovery services to hurricane survivors, the Community Center goes beyond simply acting as a direct service provider and has developed a unique two-fold approach. We actively work to form strategic alliances with a variety of resource agencies from across the greater New Orleans 5-parish area rather than attempting to meet all needs ourselves. By providing these partner agencies with client-meeting space at our centralized location in St Bernard Parish, the Community Center avoids duplication of services while facilitating the ability of local residents, many of whom still have limited transportation options in the wake of the disaster, to become aware of and access the various types of assistance that are available to them. Specific partner agencies currently providing services at the Community Center of St Bernard include: New Orleans Legal Assistance Clinic, Daughters of Charity New Orleans (Mom & Baby Mobile Health Clinic), Talk It Out Van, St Anna's Medical Mission, BlueStone Ministries, Families Helping Families of Southeast Louisiana, Louisiana Department of Social Services Office of Family Support (Food Stamps), Louisiana Spirit, Swan River Yoga, Jefferson Parish Council on Aging, Milestones Mental Health Agency, and Road Home. The local need for these services is clearly evidenced by client-participation data. Each month approximately 40 senior citizens seek job training through the Senior Community Service Employment Program, and more than 100 families sign up for the federal food stamps program at the Community Center. Our networking-based method of providing services allows the Community Center maximal flexibility so that we can readily adapt our available services to meet the changing needs of our clients as the recovery progresses simply by modifying our partner agencies. This regional networking strategy is being developed as a model for other intermediate- to long-term disaster response agencies that need to assist clients after the initial shock of the catastrophe has passed, but while crucial sections of social infrastructure (public transport, schools, libraries, hospitals) are only minimally functional and in the process of being rebuilt.

What is East of New Orleans ?

Iray — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:07:25 GMT

The media continues to do a great disservice to hurricane victims in the greater New Orleans area by referring to what transpired here as a natural disaster. In truth what happened in this region was not natural, unlike the Hurricane Katrina damage in eastern Mississippi and the Hurricane Rita damage in western Louisiana and Texas. The damage done by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Orleans and St Bernard Parishes of Louisiana was a direct result of the failure of the Federal government's flood control infrastructure (levees and pumps), combined with the fact that the man-made Mississippi Gulf River Outlet (MRGO) served as a deep water conduit and allowed an unimpeded storm surge of up to 30 feet tall to completely inundate everything in its path. The result? Destruction on a scale that passed well beyond disaster and into the realm of the catastrophic. In St Bernard Parish, the epicenter of devastation, fully 93% of owner-occupied homes were rated as "severely damaged" or "destroyed". Why did this happen? When the Army Corps of Engineers built MRGO they destroyed 168 miles of wetlands and removed 4 natural barriers (ridge lines). Oil and gas companies in the region have also dug numerous canals in the wetlands in their ongoing search for petroleum reserves; these canals are not required to be backfilled when they are taken out of use. Together the canals and MRGO allow the infiltration of brackish Gulf waters which have decimated the once thriving cypress groves that formed a natural barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and the New Orleans region. If the wetlands and cypress groves that existed in 1965 had been intact when Katrina made landfall it never could have caused the horrific destruction that it did in St Bernard Parish and the New Orleans region as a whole. St. Bernard Parish itself is located directly next to New Orleans lower Ninth Ward. This peninsula is about 3 miles wide by 30 miles long and runs from the Industrial Canal on the Western side to the Gulf of Mexico on the East. It pains me deeply that St Bernard Parish, unlike the lower Ninth Ward, remains all but completely forgotten. This is the only Parish (county) in the history of our country to have been completely inundated by flood waters causing catastrophic devastation, and the Parish was also the site of the Murphy Oil spill (the largest domestic residential oil spill in US history) caused by hurricane damage to the Murphy Oil Refinery. Yet few outside the New Orleans region are even aware that it exists, much less of the ongoing recovery struggle that continues every day here, more than 2 1/2 years after the hurricanes. The Community Center of St Bernard is a community-based grassroots 501 (c) (3) nonprofit. Our mission is to assist local residents in their return to their homes, and to help normalize life in these trying times. We are dedicated to providing a wide range of necessary community services, including free food, clothes, internet access, free long distance and local phone service, computer classes, hot meals, and community events such as after school programs and workshops. The Community Center facility also serves as a meeting place for many local groups such as the St Bernard Parish Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Old Arabi Neighborhood Association, Arabi Neighborhood Block Watch and various Masonic lodges. And we actively seek to form collaborations with partner agencies to bring additional needed services to St Bernard Parish residents, including free medical care, legal assistance, crisis counseling, and rent & utility assistance. More information about the various programs and services available through the Community Center is available at our webpage www.ccstb.org There remains so much to be done here -- for many of the clients we serve, this is NOT a recovery but merely a later stage in an ongoing crisis. Though numerous celebrities and aspiring politicians (Oprah, Amy Goodman, Brad Pitt) have come as close as New Orleans, they are unlikely to ever venture beyond the Lower Ninth Ward, so they will remain in the dark about the lives and struggles of the people in St Bernard. Thank you for anything you can do to help us - it is much appreciated! Sincerely R.M. "Iray" Nabatoff CCSTBP@yahoo.com 504-617-2580 Cell 504-281-2512 Office 916-675-7827 Fax ccstb.org

Community Center of St. Bernard lists schedule of upcoming events to be held and assistance offered

Iray — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:00:07 GMT

Community Center of St. Bernard lists schedule of upcoming events to be held and assistance offered August 7 , 2007 Steve Cannizaro The following are the schedule of upcoming events and assistance offered at the Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., Arabi, just off St. Claude Avenue, around corner from the new Dollar General Store. Office & Media lab hours 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Mon - Fri Tuesday Community Supper / Family movie night Meal: 5:30 – 7 p.m.; movie begins at 7:30 p.m. Schedule of community dances held in cooperation with New Orleans Musicians Clinic: Aug. 11 Billy Ding and the Hot Wings Aug. 25 Kaya Martinez Quintet Sept. 8 Slewfoot , Cary B & Alabama Slim Sept. 22 Dr. Bones & the Hepcats Acorn Housing Corporation Assistance with Road Home issues/appeals: Thursdays 2 - 5 PM Aug. 16 , 23, 30 Sept. 6, 13, 20, 27 Legal assistance by New Orleans Legal Assistance & Pro Bono Project, Tuesday, 10 a.m. - 12 noon Aug. 21 Sept. 4 , 18 Oct. 2, 16, 30 Nov. 6, 20 Dec. 4, 18 http://sbpg.net/au707b.html

Free legal assistance / assistance with Road Home program

Iray — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:47:07 GMT

Free legal assistance available Tuesday, July 17 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at Community Center of St. Bernard at 1107 Lebeau St. in Arabi; assistance with Road Home program offered every Thursday from 2-5 p.m. July 16, 2007 Steve Cannizaro The Pro Bono Project in conjunction with New Orleans Legal Aid Clinic will offer a free legal aid clinic on Tuesday, July 17 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., just off St. Claude Avenue in Arabi. The clinic will address St. Bernard residents’ legal concerns in the areas of family and consumer law. Clinics are staffed by attorneys and students working in these organizations. Also, assistance with the Road Home programs from the non-profit group A.C.O.R.N. is offered Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Community Center, located next to the Andrew Jackson Masonic Lodge. Officials of the Community Center also said the Andrew Jackson Lodge is working on getting an air-conditioning system running at the center in time for its next Community Dance Series which resumes on Saturday night, July 28. http://sbpg.net/jul1607.html

Community Center of St. Bernard Mustard Seed Distribution program announces new director, times / dates for distribution

Iray — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:07:20 GMT

June 5, 2007 Steve Cannizaro The Community Center of St. Bernard - Mustard Seed Distribution program, which distributes household goods, non-perishable foods and hygiene products to residents while offering specialized equipment for those with special needs, has a new director and has released dates and times for distribution. “Mama” Sue Collins, who headed the program for the past 16 months, has left the project. We want to welcome our new director Martin Huber, a 19-month veteran of working for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Huber comes from N.O where he was a volunteer leader at Hands On New Orleans. The Mustard Seed operates with goods which are donated to the Community Center and often acts as a referral service to provide links between residents and local agencies to address unmet needs. Distribution of products will be made at the following locations, dates and times: Community Center of St. Bernard 1107 Le Beau St. in Arabi Tuesday: Noon to 5 p.m. Friday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mustard Seed Distribution Center At Camp Hope at the Willie Smith Elementary School in Violet Thursday: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. http://sbpg.net/jun507a.html

Community Center Family dance series and barbecue dinner

Iray — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:23:46 GMT

Pictures of the first Community Center Family dance Saturday May 19

Community Center Family dance series and barbecue dinner

Iray — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:22:30 GMT

Pictures of the first Community Center Family dance Saturday May 19

Community Center Family dance series and barbecue dinner

Iray — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:21:38 GMT

Pictures of the first Community Center Family dance Saturday May 19

Community Center Family dance series and barbecue dinner

Iray — Wed, 30 May 2007 20:20:26 GMT

Pictures of the first Community Center Family dance Saturday May 19

Community Center Family dance series and barbecue dinner

Iray — Sat, 12 May 2007 16:43:52 GMT

Family dance series and barbecue dinner to start Saturday, May 19 at Community Center of St. Bernard in Arabi May 11, 2007 By Steve Cannizaro The Community Center of St. Bernard, with funding from the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, will begin a free summer family dance series and barbecue dinner on Saturday May 19 at 1107 Lebeau St., Arabi, at the old Masonic Lodge function hall, just off St. Claude Avenue. The events will continue through the summer, being held about every other Saturday night, giving all sectors of the community a place to come together and dance to the sounds of bands that regularly play at venues throughout the greater New Orleans area. A barbecue dinner will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and the music kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and goes until till 10:30. The band on May 19 will be Mike Hood & the Frenchmen Street All Stars On June 2, the band will be Pete Braddish’s Foot & Friends. Braddish a drummer/vocalist with 25 years in New Orleans, offers music influenced by blues, bluegrass, country, folk, gospel, rock, early R&B, and early New Orleans music. Other dinners and dances will be offered: June 16, with music to be announced; June 30, July 14, July 28, August 11 and August 25. http://www.sbpg.net/may1107f.html

Clowns Without Borders to give free performance on Tuesday, April 24 at the Community Center of St. Bernard

Iray — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:12:42 GMT

Clowns Without Borders to give free performance at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24 at Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau Street, Arabi, after free community supper open to public Clowns Without Borders-USA (CWB), a group formed in 1993 to use humor for psychological support for individuals and communities that have suffered a crisis, will give a free performance at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24 at the Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., Arabi, at its weekly free community supper held each Tuesday from 5:30-7 p.m. Both events are open to the public. Clowns without Borders was founded in Barcelona in July 1993, starting from a request on the part of a collective that carried out the project Education for Peace to invite an artist, Tortell Poltrona, to perform in a refugee camp in Croatia during the Yugoslavian civil war. This performance, which was seen by more than 700 children, proved the use of a clown in these situations where humor serves as a psychological recourse or support for individuals and communities that have suffered some kind of crisis. Clowns Without Borders-USA (CWB), http://www.clownswithoutborders.org., brings humor and laughter through volunteer artist performances as well as workshops with children and with educators. CWB offers laughter to relieve the suffering of all, especially children, who live in areas of crisis. The Clowns Without Borders-USA (CWB) Katrina Expedition-April-July. 3 will see separate expeditions travel between the end of April and July to offer performances and workshop in communities still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina. ### Beginning this April in cooperation with the New Orleans Musicians Clinic http://www.neworleansmusiciansclinic.org the community center will offer an on going all age community dance night series two Saturdays a month from 7:30 to 10:30 PM featuring regional artists. Dates and bands to be announced shortly. April 26 12:00 - 3 PM Acorn Housing will councilors availlable to answer questions as well as help with any Road Home issues To become involved or for further information, please contact the Community Center of St Bernard. By email: ccstbp@yahoo.com By phone: 504-617-2580. our address is 1107 LeBeau St, Arabi, La,70032 Map / Directions http://maps.citysearch.com/map/view/4411013 April 10, 2007 Steve Cannizaro http://www.sbpg.net/apr1007a.html

From the Times-Picayune Filling in the Blanks By Kim Gritter

Iray — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:42:08 GMT

Friday, March 23, 2007 ARABI SOCIAL Family, friends and neighbors of Arabi are invited to a social on Monday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., Arabi. Organized by Arabi resident Barry Lemoine, the social will be a chance to catch up with old friends and meet new neighbors. Refreshments will be provided. For information, call Lemoine at (504) 301-8770. SUPPORT GROUP The St. Bernard Parish Community Support Group, a confidential gathering to share ideas, feelings and friendship with others, will meet March 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., Arabi. The meeting is free and open to St. Bernard Parish residents. For information, call Julie Landry, a licensed clinical social worker, at (504) 481-9464. http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-2/117462883034580.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

St. Joseph Day Altar Photos

Iray — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:08:06 GMT

St. Joseph Day Altar Photos

Iray — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:06:09 GMT

St. Joseph Day Altar Photos

Iray — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:05:27 GMT

St. Joseph Day Altar Photos

Iray — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:04:43 GMT

St. Joseph Day Altar Photos

Iray — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:03:36 GMT

St. Joseph Day Altar at Community Center

Iray — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:41:17 GMT

Community Center of St. Bernard in Arabi to have St. Joseph Altars on Sunday, March 18 and Monday, March 19 Mary Ann Pearce and friends and family are holding an altar at the Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., Arabi, on March 18 and March 19. The altar will be open for viewing from 1-7 p.m. on Sunday. On Monday, children will be fed at noon and the rest of the public from 1-8 p.m. Volunteers are being sought to make cookies or cakes and serve food on Monday. For more information or do donate cakes or volunteer, call Mary Ann Pearce at 277-8106. STEVE CANNIZARO PHOTO Joelle Satterlee, holding one twin daughter, Remi, and standing with the other, Reilly, looks over a St. Joseph altar Monday, March 19, that was made by Satterlee's great-aunt, Mary Ann Pierce and her friends, and held at the Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., Arabi. At least two other St. Joseph altars were open Monday in St. Bernard Parish to celebrate the Catholic feast of St. Joseph's Day, with plenty of food served.

Crisis Leadership Forum

Iray — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:30:48 GMT

Iray Nabatoff was invited to participate in a crisis leadership forum by the Center for Creative Leadership held March 13,14,15 at their Greensboro Nc. campus Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) is the leading nonprofit institution dedicated exclusively to leadership. CCL integrates cutting-edge research with innovative training, coaching, assessment and publishing to create proven impact for leaders and organizations around the world. http://www.ccl.org Crisis Leadership Forum The forum will bring together a small group of key informal and formal leaders from Hurricane Katrina, as well as leaders who have expertise pertaining to public health, terrorism, and disaster-related crises. The objective is to engage in robust dialogue to: Explore role of emergent or informal leadership in a crisis. Examine the relevance of "soft"/human side of crisis leadership. Distill insight from the sharing of experiences and connection of themes. Develop and subsequently disseminate a body of knowledge based on learning from the forum to help in future crises. Hurricane Katrina participants will help us take an in-depth look at roles and responsibilities of formal and informal or “emergent” leaders in this specific crisis. Each participant will have the opportunity to tell his or her story and participate in discussion and activities to help distill lessons from the frontlines. The forum discussants will help us take a broader look at leadership in times of crisis and in particular how emergent leaders operate in a crisis --that is, leaders who may emerge more spontaneously during a crisis, in addition to those with direct responsibility and accountability for taking action. The discussants will observe and weigh in on the Katrina-related conversations to help the group draw connections and distill lessons based on their own crisis leadership experience and perspective. All of the discussants will also have an opportunity to share their own stories and experiences with the entire group during the forum.

Community Center of St. Bernard Community Supper/Family Movie Night

Iray — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 17:02:02 GMT

February 21, 2007 Steve Cannizaro -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 27, the Community Center of St. Bernard in Arabi will hold a free weekly community supper from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., with meals for more than 100 people, prior to its family movie night. The movie begins at 7:45 p.m. The public is invited but all children must be accompanied by a parent. “It is our goal to offer supper and a movie every Tuesday night and expand our community meals to other week-day nights as soon as possible,’’ said Iray Nabatoff, executive director of the Community Center, at 1107 Lebeau St., Arabi, just off St. Claude Avenue in the old Masonic Lodge function hall on the side of the former Rite-Aid Pharmacy. Visitors are asked not to park on Lebeau Street in order to leave space available for the Masonic Lodge. Also, the center is interested in holding computer classes for beginners, Nabatoff said. A sign-up sheet is available at the community center for residents interested in learning how to use a computer and navigate the Internet. “We plan on scheduling classes shortly,’’ he said. For more information please stop by the center. http://www.sbpg.net/feb21.html

free series of workshops for St. Bernard residents on filmmaking

Iray — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:53:39 GMT

February 17, 2007 Steve Cannizaro Video production teacher to offer free series of workshops in St. Bernard on filmmaking for residents who want to document life in the parish; introductory meeting is at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Community Center of St. Bernard in Arabi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Susan Hamovitch, who came from New York to the New Orleans area last year as a volunteer for hurricane relief and is now living in St. Bernard Parish, said she wants to help residents express themselves and document life in the parish for a possible film. Hamovitch, who teaches video production at Manhattan’s The New School University and is affiliated with the New Orleans Video Access Center, will offer a free series of 8-10 workshops on documentary filmmaking. An introductory meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at the Community Center of St. Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., just off St. Claude Avenue in the old Masonic lodge function hall located on the side of the former Rite-Aid Pharmacy. Space is limited, said Hamovitch, who can be reached at 1-917-443-9266. Those who can’t make the first meeting can come the next week on Feb. 28 but should call to confirm, she said. The series of workshops are for people who want to “learn the art and craft of filmmaking but don’t know where to start,’’ said Hamovitch, who said she would like to help residents express themselves and document life in St. Bernard Parish. “The people can document their own lives and those of their friends,’’ she said. “I’m hoping we’ll have good material and compile it into one film - something to show the outside world about St. Bernard Parish.’’ Residents who own video recorders should bring them, Hamovitch said, but there will also be available three cameras borrowed from the New Orleans Video Access Center. http://www.sbpg.net/feb1707.html

Vermont puppet theater troupe to hold free performance at Nunez College

Iray — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:56:56 GMT

Vermont puppet theater troupe to hold free performance in Nunez College auditorium at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9 The Old-World use of papier-mache and cardboard street theater art - in parade and pagentry so common in early New Orleans festive life and in local Carnival celebrations - will be featured in a free performance by the Bread & Puppet Theater troupe and St. Bernard residents at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9 in the Nunez College Auditorium in Chalmette. Chalmette High School art students, some of whom will participate in the performance and some who may walk in the Knights of Nemesis parade on Sunday in Chalmette, have been making papier-mache art work in class this week with help from members of the the Vermont puppet group. Shown with papier-mache heads and fists are, from left, Charles Hall, Dana Smith, Holly Fitzgerald and Cali Traina. The puppet troupe, and local artist Luis Colmenares, will perform with residents in a special program presented by the Community Center of St Bernard ,a United Way agency in collaboration with the St. Bernard Parish public school system and the St. Bernard Art Guild. This program is supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council as administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans. STEVE CANNIZARO PHOTO.

Vermont puppet theater troupe to perform at Nunez College

Iray — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 23:10:00 GMT

February 2, 2007 Steve Cannizaro Vermont puppet theater troupe to hold free performance in Nunez College auditorium at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9; group also to host workshops Feb. 5-9 at Community Center of St. Bernard for residents who want to perform in the show The Old-World use of papier mache and cardboard street theater art - in parade and pagentry so common in early New Orleans festive life and in local Carnival celebrations - will be featured in a free performance by the Bread & Puppet Theater troupe and St. Bernard residents at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9 in the Nunez College Auditorium in Chalmette. The Northeast Kingdom, Vt., puppet troupe, and local artist Luis Colmenares, will perform with parish residents in a special program presented by the Community Center of St Bernard in collaboration with the St. Bernard Parish public school system and the St. Bernard Art Guild. In a series of workshops scheduled for Feb. 5-9 at the Community Center of St. Bernard, Bread & Puppets will assist and instruct St. Bernard residents in theme and script development and in creating the props, costumes and backdrops in order for them to perform in the Feb. 9 show. There will be an informational meeting about the workshops and scheduling on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. at the Community Center of St Bernard, 1107 Lebeau St., just off St. Claude Avenue. Workshops are open to St Bernard residents. Participants of the workshops will also take part in the Community Center's participation in The Knights of Nemesis Parade on Sunday February 11. For more information contact R. M. “Iray” Nabatoff at 504-617-2580, or via email at ccstbp@yahoo.com. The workshops and Feb. 9 performance are made possible by the following sponsors: Arts Council of Greater New Orleans; Louisiana Division of the Arts; St. Bernard Parish Government; St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Department; and the United Way of Greater New Orleans.

COMMUNITY CENTER OPENING CELEBRATION 1 31 07

Iray — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 07:18:26 GMT

January 31, 2007 Wednesday The newly opened Community Center of St. Bernard, at 1107 LeBeau St. in Arabi just off St. Claude Ave., held its grand opening on Wednesday, Jan. 31, featuring a ribbon-cutting, music by the Chalmette High brass band and refreshments. A non-profit group, it offers free Internet access and will provide performance space for local musicians and artists, adult education services such as computer literacy, space for neighborhood gatherings and support groups.