New Orleans becoming a Halloween haunt

Laboring black men

As I was leaving the house on my way to the gym this morning, I saw my neighbor dressed up as a bumble bee. At least, I think she was a bumble bee. It was not her normal attire.

I'm not sure what exactly was going on downtown, possibly nothing special, but a number of costumed folks stood waiting for the St. Charles Avenue streetcar around 10 a.m. A Black Men of Labor second line, postponed from Labor Day, was planned on St. Claude in the afternoon, but that was hours away.

Wearing a costume any time of year is undeserving of a second glance unless there's some degree of nakedness involved and even then. The average New Orleanian has a closet devoted to costume elements, which can be assembled in different combinations on a moment's notice.

New Orleanians are not particularly shy nor self-conscious about their self-images.

When I lived elsewhere, somebody with whom I was performing in a review commented: "You really get into it." (I considered this a criticism.) I thought, I'm onstage, so I'm going to hold back? In retrospect, perhaps I was going with my early training here where nobody ever holds back. We're uninhibited.

Even Uptown, stately homes are decorated in ghastly style for Halloween. Note these garish and ghoulish decorations surrounding an otherwise gorgeous estate. You can drive up and down State Street and St. Charles and one is worse than the next. (In this case, worse means better just like "bad" really means good.)

I jumped out of the car with my camera to snap some pictures of this lawn ornamentation, but I wasn't the only one. This mansion has become a tourist destination to compete with Al Copeland's Christmas displays.

The decorator used a lot of tasteless puns to add to the horror.

A bit more restrained.

A simple pumpkin plus spiders

Superdome costume party may set Guinness World Record

The Times-Picayune
By Dave Walker

NBC Sports will have a Guinness World Records representative at the Louisiana Superdome on Sunday night to officially certify the New Orleans Saints-Pittsburgh Steelers game as the world’s largest Halloween gathering. 


Sunday's Saints game in the Louisiana Superdome appears to be a slam dunk to set a record for largest Halloween gathering.
Let’s hope the Saints dress as defending Super Bowl Champions.

In addition to the matchup, which pits the past two Super Bowl winners, Halloween night and the prospect of costumed fans was one of the big appeals for NBC in lobbying to carry the game on “Sunday Night Football,” the network’s national prime-time NFL showcase.

“Halloween night in New Orleans was too rich to pass up,” said Fred Gaudelli, “Sunday Night Football” producer. “I think America has never seen anything quite like this, and we intend to take full advantage of it.”

An addition to cutaway shots of Who Dats costumed as Snooki and The Situation in the Superdome stands, NBC will also dedicate online resources to covering the scene.

A special “costume cam” is planned for SNF Extra, an electronic game-coverage supplement at www.NBCSports.com that allows users to surf additional camera angles and participate in in-game chats.

Further fueling the Halloween finery inside the dome will be a Saints-sponsored costume contest Sunday afternoon at Champions Square, prizes to include team merchandise and pregame field passes. That event is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. sharp, but early arrival is suggested.

According to contest rules on the team’s website, costumes must be Saints-related, so the Aaron Brooks costume Drew Brees wore last week would qualify.

No matter what, the Guinness record appears to be a lock. According to the measurement-mad organization’s website, the existing Halloween-gathering record was set last year in a Bloomington, Ind., bar.

The total, sure to fall: 508 costumed participants.

In the Superdome, that many will be standing at any one time in ladies-restroom lines.

Picnic in a graveyard for All Saints Day

The Times Picayune
View Point by Jon Kemp

The Society of the Dearly Departed will make its debut, not in a ballroom, but in a cemetery on All Saints Day.

Picnicking in the graveyard might seem weird, but not in New Orleans, where loved ones are toasted with wine and good food, enjoyed while talking about the deceased.

All are invited to join the Society of the Dearly Departed at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 on Monday from 10 a.m. to noon, said Lloyd Sensat, who co-founded the society with Gene Cizek.

The goal of the society is to perpetuate the traditions of All Saints Day in historic cemeteries of New Orleans, said Donna Wakeman, editor of the Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association newsletter.

Some time-honored traditions include placing flowers on graves, lime washing tombstones, draping tombs in black cloth, adopting neglected graves, attending Mass and hosting family reunions.

A jazz band will play during the gathering and famous Creoles will be resurrected in period costumes. Barbara Trevigne will play Voodoo queen Marie Laveaux; Barbara Robichaux a Storyville lady; Greg Osborne is Apollinaire Perrault; and Sensat is Bernard de Marigny.

Marigny's great-great-great-great grandson, William de Marigny Hyland, will appear in the flesh and a wreath will be placed on the grave site where Peter Patout planted antique Louis Philipe roses. Robert Florence's Friends of New Orleans Cemeteries will replace the blue note on the Musicians' Tomb, decorated in authentic 19th century mourning by Anna Ross Twichell.

A noon Mass for the Society of the Dearly Departed will be celebrated by the Rev. Tony Rigoli at the Mortuary Chapel. Now Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 401 N. Rampart St., it was built in 1826 and was originally a mortuary chapel when funerals from St. Louis Cathedral were forbidden by city ordinance because of yellow fever.