A Festival of Mollusks, Music, and More

The 2012 New Orleans Oyster Festival is only a day away.  The festival is out of its infant stages and well into being a toddler with this being its 3rd year.  There is going to be several events to look forward to this year that have happened in the past.  On Saturday June 2nd, from 2:30pm - 3:15pm, P & J Oyster Company will be holding its Oyster Shucking Contest.  This event honors those who have mastered the craft of shucking oysters; last year’s winner was Gus Marshall from Desire Oyster Bar.  On Sunday, June 3rd, the rest of us get a chance to participate in a contest.  The Acme Oyster House will be hosting their oyster eating contest from 1:45pm - 3pm.  An hour and fifteen minutes sounds like a long time for an eating contest, but Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertolett ate 39 DOZEN oysters last year!  I think I would need a couple days to accomplish that feat.

As for the music side of the festival, the lineup has a lot of notable bands and artists.  My favorites include the Treme Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins, and Bonerama; if you want to see the full line-up click HERE.

This festival came into being to celebrate the businesses, their hard workers, and their families who bring New Orleans and the world the succulent, delicious taste that can only be found in a Gulf Shore oyster.  These people have taken tremendous strides since hurricane Katrina, and BP's disastrous oil spill that ravaged our coastline.  I am glad that they have their own festival to celebrate their passions and I can’t wait to take part in this year’s festival.

So Come on down to the riverfront in the French Quarter, enjoy some food, some sunshine, some music and support your community. You might just see some oysters, as well as people, dance right out of their shells!

The Time Between The Chapters

     A transitional period is always difficult to handle.  Its where we test ourselves, where we paint a better picture of who we are and who we want to become.  With Spring closing its door, and the summer causing us to open our windows, many young people are in this "Time Between The Chapters."  As graduations continue to press on, so do those who have graduated.  Many unfortunately, do not stay where they have been educated.  Instead, they move to where the high paying jobs are, their land of opportunities.  It is due to this "brain drain," that many cities are failing.

     I attended Michigan State University; as I am sure you know, Michigan is not a hotbed for high paying jobs the way it was years and years ago.  Due to this fact, many of my friends, classmates, and colleagues, have moved to greener pastures.  The majority of them moved to Chicago, with several others, like myself, dotted around the nation.  We do this because of the ever rising cost of higher education.  I went to a state school, which is significantly less expensive than a private college.  Cities, and States that house these private colleges must work extra hard to produce the high quality jobs these students, yearn for and learned for.  Otherwise, they will face the hard reality of losing members of their community.

     When you go to college, you become part of a group, part of a school, part of movement, part of an identity; it is these parts that create that community.  If a city or state does not put forth the effort to retain these community members, it is like you are taking the elders out of a village, and as you know, "it takes a village to raise a child." The absence of these past members only diminishes the education process for these students' development because their is no local example of what they can become, or what they can achieve.

      For how much potential New Orleans has as a major business hub, there is only 1 Fortune 500 company here in New Orleans.  The CBD does contain several very notable businesses such as, Whitney National Bank, Pan American Life Insurance, and The Receivables Exchange, but for major companies, the city of New Orleans can do better.  For New Orleans to change for the better, it must continuously address its level of "brain drain" and work to further its creation of high paying jobs for those who possess specialized talents and skill sets.

Thanks for reading,

Here's a link to the receivables exchange, to see how their business helps other businesses.
Also, look at one of my earlier post to find information about the Biodistrict.

The Receivables Exchange

Teaching Responsible Earth Education.

      Remember when you were a kid and your mom told you to go play outside?  Or if told her, "mom, I'm bored," the ever so occasional response was, "well, then go climb a tree."? As you know, momma knows best.  She told you those things because you can learn an unbelievable amount of information,concepts, and practical applications from studying the outside world.  Look at all the different discipline areas from the meteorologist who predicts the weather for a living, to the farmer who depends on the weather for his livelihood. We all need to learn about the effects the Earth has on us, the effects we have on the Earth, and what practices we can utilize to strike a balance between these effects.
     A local non-profit by the name of T.R.E.E., Teaching Responsible Earth Education, does just that.  They have four separate programs that teach kids sustainable practices, through hands on lesson plans that take place in an "outdoor classroom."

     The "outdoor classroom" that I had the opportunity to help teach in was Jean Lafitte National Historic Park & Preserve - Barataria. The program was called "Earth Keepers," and is a three day program for fourth graders.  I was a volunteer counselor for this program two years ago, and got a first hand look at its impact on the children and how they learned natural science concepts with ease and expertise.  It is always better to learn through doing then by sitting and reading a book, in action you have multiple senses aiding in the learning experience instead of just one.  These kids become so well informed, in such a short period of time, while having fun, that by the end of the second day I had multiple kids coming up to me and telling me everything they learned about the water cycle, food webs, and entropy with flawless accuracy as if they had been studying concept maps for the 20 minutes prior to our conversion.

     In addition to science concepts, the program teaches responsible environmental practices, such as the importance of recycling, something the city of New Orleans drastically needs more of, how to lower their consumption of water and electricity, and finally, that ultimately, they the student will be responsible for what happens to the environment around them.

    The city of New Orleans needs to give programs such as T.R.E.E., the press, the funds, and the resources necessary to increase its influence on molding the young minds of tomorrow to ensure that they change New Orleans for the better.

Click Here to Learn More about T.R.E.E. and How to Get Involved

Or Watch This Video To Learn More.

“Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi