Voices Foundation members, Will Schneider, Barry Lemoine, and Katherine Lemoine speak with students at Archbishop Molly High School.

Last week, Stanners affected by Hurricane Sandy, as well as a supporting cast of friends, gathered in the Ralph DeChiaro Theater for a visit from Barry and Katherine Lemoine, William Schneider and Alex Le Pres of The Voices Foundation. Made up of Louisiana natives who survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005, this non-profit organization and performing theater group often travels to areas affected by the forces of nature to discuss the effects these events have on survivors and how they can best cope with their new realities. One of the main points of the presentation was the importance of neighbors coming together to help one another. In the face of hardship, relying on each other can be the best method toward perseverance. William recalled his story, in which he was forced to move to a completely different city and accept food, shelter and clothing from complete strangers. While telling his tale, he was nearly brought to tears at the thought of these men and women, whom he had never met, unconditionally coming to his aid. Some happiness did come to Barry through tragedy as he revealed that serendipity not only brought the three of them together, but even resulted in his marriage to Katherine. “Remember that there is always life after tragedy,” said Barry. “With life comes hope. Things will come together in time.” In the cases of Barry, Katherine and William, they forced the change in their own lives by taking up theater, creating the production Voices of Louisiana and hitting the road to perform topical comedy shows to help ease people’s heartache. “Comedy is universal,” said Barry. “We wanted to spin some positivity and be ambassadors for our own people. We also wanted to show that there has been a rebirth in Louisiana, which is encouraging to others who have seen their own hometowns destroyed.” What led Barry, Katherine and Will back to Molloy in 2013 was not just the opportunity to help after Hurricane Sandy. Barry revealed that Voices of Louisiana had performed their comedy show at Molloy in February 2006, and 7 years later they were honored to be able to share their thoughts and experiences with Molloy students affected by Sandy. Special thanks to The Voices Foundation and Molloy’s Guidance Department for helping to set up this informative visit for our students.

Last August, a dozen brave seniors took to the stage at Nunez Community College for the Silver Linings Variety Show. Last month, nearly two dozen seniors performed at the Chalmette Cultural Arts Center for this year’s production of Senior Moments, an hour-long medley of sketches, monologues, and music.

Ruby Micheau returned as one of the hosts for the afternoon, while Jim Turner made his debut as a co-host. Other returning performers in standout roles included Albert and Gerry Avenal, Shirley Campbell, Gloria Ciaccio, JoAnn Constance, Rita Corcoran, Judy Gutierrez, and Judith Landwehr.  Making their Silver Linings debut were Robert Corcoran, Leona Galley, Arlene Hughes, Rosemary Merwin, and Loriana Risey. 

Another new component this year was the Silver Sneakers, the Silver Lining’s dance team. The squad consisted of Carolyn Armstrong, Celey Cruz,  Leona Galley, Judy Gutierrez, Arlene Hughes, Judy Landwehr, Sherry Malbrough, Rosemary Merwin, Loriana Risey, Elaine St. Angelo, and Janet Towns. 

Doing any kind of theatre is always a collaborative undertaking. The COA provided the talent pool and the rehearsal space, the Meraux Foundation provided the funding, and the Voices Foundation produced the show with the help of the tech crew at Chalmette High School. Kudos also go out to Jason Rusk and his Silver Linings Orchestra – Kaleb Lambert, David Duplessis, Joseph Kiechem, and Tyler Seube – and special thanks to my two assistant directors, Katherine Lemoine & Katie Carmicheal. None of this would be possible without you all. The idea to write and direct a show with senior citizens happened several years ago, when I first saw the film, Young at Heart. It tells of a musician who organized a chorus of senior citizens, and it inspired me to want use my time and talent to do something positive for the seniors of our community. And thanks to Rita Gue of the Meraux Foundation and Doris Voitier and Wayne Warner of the St. Bernard School System, we not only produced a good show, we were able to do so in the best venue around. And best of all, because this venue allows our actors to wear microphones, everyone in the audience could hear!

In the lobby after the show, one of the adult children of a Silver Linings actor told me how happy she was for her mom.

“You just don’t know how much she looks forward to doing this. Instead of her watching my kids, we were all watching her.  It’s just great,” she said.

My only regret for this year’s show was that Evelyn Hawkins, one of our original troupe members, was not able to participate because of health reasons. But while she was not with us on stage, Evelyn was with us all in spirit. We look forward to seeing her and all of you at next year’s show.
 
As is often the case in teaching, you learn more from your students than you actually teach them. From our troupe members I learned some invaluable lessons about aging gracefully. About hardship and heartache. About teamwork and gentleness. About friendship and family. And when it was over, to see them so proud of themselves made the journey worthwhile.

Spending time with these special people each week at the COA was incredibly rewarding and each person shared their life lessons. About appreciating each day and being thankful for what you have, but more importantly, for whom you have.  

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to work with our Silver Linings and thank all of you who supported this effort.
  
On stage our seniors also gave some good advice. To live, laugh, and love because the more you love, the luckier you are. And of course, if none of that works, you can always just play the slots

In addition to learning some of the history and techniques of stained glass, students also had the opportunity to create an original piece of mosaic stained glass under the direction of workshop leader and artist, Rose Sand.

Twelve middle school students from schools across St. Bernard took part in the program that was hosted at the Docville Farm, the Meraux Foundation’s educational center. Sand said she was pleased with the turnout, the receptive attitude of the young artists, and the inspiring setting.

“It was really a good experience,” she said. “Docville is a really beautiful background and the students were very eager to create.”

Sand said working with stained glass panel can often be daunting and expensive task.

“Cutting glass pieces to fit into a design requires practice and skill, but creating a mosaic stained glass project is easier to accomplish. Smaller pieces of stained glass can be used, and breaking and shaping is easy. A beginner student can create a small project in a couple of classes, and learn skills on which to build to make advanced projects.”

Over the course of the workshop, the students learned the fundamentals of breaking stained glass with nippers, designed a project, used adhesive products to secure glass, and applied grout to their piece.

“Each student created a small project to fit on an easel, using stained glass, mirror and tile pieces,” Sand said.

At the end of the workshop, students got to showcase their work to family and friends.

Bill Haines, a Meraux Foundation board member and a talented artist as well, said the stained glass workshop is just one of several scheduled at Docville this year.

“We want Docville to be a place for learning and fun and this kind of workshops fits in well,” he said. “We look forward to working with other artists in bringing learning to life here at Docville.”

WHAT;  The Complete Works of Shakespeare, abridged.  Directed by Shine
Production’s Barry Lemoine and starring Christian Bordelon, Will
Schneider and Barry Lemoine.

WHERE:  Dubuisson Gallery, 300 Robert Street, Olde Towne Slidell

COST:  $20 per ticket
TIME:  7:30 pm – Happy-Half Hour of wine and conversation
8:00 pm – Show Time

CONTACT:  Rose Marie Sand, rose@voicesoflouisiana.org, 504.666.1220;
voicesoflouisiana.org

The distance between St. Tammany and St. Bernard parishes is spanned by more than a five mile bridge – both parishes share commonalities
that have broadened since the storm.  The Voices Foundation wants to ‘abridge’ the distance even more with a presentation of “The Complete
Works of Shakespeare, abridged,” on May 18 and 19 at DuBuisson Gallery.

“The Voices Foundation has enjoyed a presence on the North Shore for the past 6 years, in no small part due to the efforts of Slidell’s
Rita Stockstill O’Sullivan,” said Voices board member Rose Marie Sand. “In 2006, we toured the country with a show called ‘The Voices of
Louisiana,’ and Rita helped book shows as we traveled.”

When O’Sullivan passed away in 2008 the Foundation began a scholarship in her name, and has presented awards to nine high school students in St. Tammany, as well as ten Milton Sand Memorial Award to St. Bernard seniors.  The show at DuBuisson Gallery will be performed by St. Bernard’s Shine Productions Barry Lemoine, Christian Bordelon and Will Schneider, and proceeds will expand the Foundation’s scholarship program.

This project is an outreach to St. Tammany Parish, to help fulfill the stated mission of the non profit.  The Voices Foundation’s mission is
to preserve the history and the culture of St. Bernard Parish and the surrounding areas.

“With the growth of St. Tammany and St. Bernard, it’s perhaps more important now than ever,” said Sand, “to join our parishes in an
entertaining way.  We’ll invite former St. Bernard residents as well as St. Tammany residents who’d like to meet and mingle for a fun
evening of laughs and conversation.

“The people of St. Tammany have opened their arms to us.  This show is a way to show our appreciation, and to invite those who consider both parishes home to meet and share some laughs.  This show is fast paced and irreverent, and the actors have been compared to “The Three
Stooges” doing Shakespeare,” said Sand.

The show marks the troupe members return to the North Shore, having performed at Minicappeli’s Dinner Theatre pre-Katrina.  The charming ambiance of DuBuisson Gallery in olde towne Slidell will add to the evening’s entertainment.

Among other venues, they performed this play at Rocky & Carlo’s in Chalmette and Minicapelli’s in Slidell, and received this review from Al Shea, of WYES “Steppin Out:”

“In less than two hours, three young and super energetic clowns take us on a whirlwind jaunt through many of the Bard’s great works. It is all performed like a speeding bullet, with the boys playing all of the parts, falling over each other to enter and exit with and without wigs and funny hats. It is reminiscent of the Three Stooges. The audience loves their silly shenanigans and laughed out loud from start to finish.”

Doors will open at 7:30, with a ‘happy half hour’ of wine and conversation in the courtyard of DuBuisson’s Gallery.  Show time is 8
pm.  Tickets available by calling Rose Sand at 504.666.1220.  For more information, email rose@voicesoflouisiana.org, or visit
voicesoflouisiana.org.

The spirit of the people of Saint Bernard is perhaps no more evident than in the family traditions of tried and true recipes from our diverse culture. “To know it is to love it” applies both to the parish, and to our food.

With this thought in mind, the Voices Foundation announces the fourth printing of our book called “Serving St. Bernard.”  Project director Ronda DeForest explained that the book contains both recipes and histories of the diverse ethnic makeup of the parish.

“Serving St. Bernard is an example of cultural diffusion.  Many dishes diffuse from the original culture of origin, making our regional cuisine unique – a pinch of this and a taste of that keep our dishes, and our lives, interesting and exciting,” DeForest said.

Through a generous grant from the Meraux Foundation, a sixth printing of Serving St. Bernard is in the works.

Photographs of St. Bernard parish landscapes by Rose Marie Sand are included in the pages of the book, along with documentation of the journey of each ethnic group to the parish.  Each ethnicity begins with a ‘server’ – someone from that ethnicity who serves St. Bernard.  Many of these servers are well known in our community and will be familiar faces.  Others may not be well known, but they serve our community every day, making a difference in more subtle ways.

Proceeds from the sale of “Serving St. Bernard” will fund a culinary arts scholarship.

One of the most popular features of the book are the anecdotal stories given by contributors about their memories of family traditions built around the recipes they shared.

“I couldn’t put the book down, and read it from cover to cover the night I bought it,” said Anna Weidenhaft.  Miss Weedy, as she is also known by the scores of students she taught at Andrew Jackson, said she will be submitting a recipe for the next edition of the book.

Check our “Projects & Productions” page for more information.

August 26 – 28th at Nunez Community College Auditorium.  Tickets are available at PJ’s Coffeehouse in Chalmette, or by calling 504.301.8770.

The Voices Foundation offers several items for purchase and all proceeds help fund our scholarship program.  Please drop us an email or call a board member to order:

• EVACUATION THEATRE TROUPE performance of VOICES OF LOUISIANA at Southeastern University’s Fanfare – $15 plus s/h
• DOCUMENTARY – THE VOICES FOUNDATION ROAD TOUR – $15 plus s/h
• SERVING ST. BERNARD COOKBOOK – available at Rocky & Carlo’s Restaurant in Chalmette or through mail order.  $12 plus s/h
• ST. BERNARD POSTERS – three different posters available – $15 plus s/h

Three posters – “From the Parish, and Proud of It,”  “Historic Past, Promising Future,” and “St.Bernard Parish Pride,” showcasing different scenes, are available.  All proceeds from these art posters fund the Voices Scholarships.  Photos and graphics by Rose Marie Sand.