A taco bar, pizza, 50/50 raffle, gift raffle and live music will help the Greater New Orleans Foundation with oil spill recovery.

Jennifer Green, a Point Place resident, has been working with some friends to make the fundraiser happen. It will take place from 6 p.m. to midnight Aug. 6 at Wet Willie’s Boat House and Saloon, 5044 Suder Ave. Admission is $5, and all of that will go to Greater New Orleans Foundation, earmarked for its Oil Spill Fund.

“I think I was just sick of people pointing fingers instead of just trying to find some sort of aid,” Green said.

Cassi Schrader, who’s helping plan the fundraiser, said she’s heard the band play in the area on several occasions. Second Wind is a rock and roll band, she said, and “they decided they were down to help us with entertainment.”

They volunteered to play for free, Green said.

More than 50 items, including gift cards to local restaurants and businesses, will be raffled off, Green said.

The Greater New Orleans Foundation helps in a variety of different ways, giving aid to fishermen and helping to protect wildlife and ecosystems affected by the oil spill.

“I was devastated, and I still am, but any little thing we can do, we’re going to do,” Green said.

Tags: oil spill, Point Place

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 5th, 2010 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Arts and Life, Fundraiser.
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In a stunning “Did I say that out loud?” moment, Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP for the remarkable inconvenience of actually having to put money in an escrow account to pay for the incredible havoc it has wreaked on the Gulf Coast region. This was apparently a bit too embarrassing for Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, as they were quick to disavow Barton’s statements as not representative of the Republican Party’s feelings on the subject.

It was deemed to be beyond the pale even for these two “we’ll say anything to discredit Obama” characters. But does it really represent their true feelings? I think not. I believe this is truly what a large proportion of the GOP really does believe. The prevailing belief in the GOP is that these companies’ interests should always trump the interests of, as the head of BP quaintly called us, the “small” people. Their actions time after time show this.

Let’s look at the current subject for starters. Notwithstanding the leadership’s quick disavowal, one need look no further than the statements made by the Republican Study Committee the day before Barton made his comments. The RSC has 115 members, or as Eugene Robinson pointed out, about two-thirds of the Republican House members. it stated: “BP’s reported willingness to go along with the White House’s new fund suggests that the Obama administration is hard at work exerting its brand of Chicago-style shakedown politics.

“These actions are emblematic of a politicization of our economy that has been borne out of this administration’s drive for power and control. It is the same mentality that believes an economic crisis or environmental disaster is the best opportunity to pursue a failed liberal agenda. The American people know much better.”

I have several beefs with this statement. The first is that it is the same pap and twaddle that they have been laying out for years instead of trying to actually help solve any problems that arise. The second is that if anyone is being shaken down, it is the American people, who they constantly claim to speak for. We’ll just call it “liberal” and condemn it outright, while we look out for the best interests of our major contributors.

These types of comments are not limited to just the legislative arena. We also have the Repub propaganda machine chiming in. Tea Party darling Rand Paul calls it un-American to hold BP responsible for a mistake that could have happened to anyone. The usual suspects, like Michelle Bachman, several other right-wing senatorial candidates, and the King of Crap himself, rushed to back Barton’s apology. Rush stated on his show “It was a shakedown pure and simple, and somebody had the audacity to call it what it was, and now everybody’s running for the hills.” I’m sorry, I just don’t understand these thought processes, or lack thereof. That is why I believe that these kinds of events, whether economic, environmental or whatever, lead the current crop of right-wingers to act as apologists for whatever industry interest’s crisis du jour.

These are the same people who, shortly after the BP rig blew up, blamed it on left-wing environmental terrorists who snuck out there and blew it up to stifle offshore drilling. These are the same people who tried to lay the burst of the housing bubble on poor people taking out loans for mansions. It couldn’t have had anything to do with anything the finance industry did. As for unemployment, why don’t the 15 million or so people who haven’t had a job in a year or two just go get a job? So what if you can’t find one that pays a livable wage. The fact that such a relatively large, though I certainly hope not a major, portion of the population actually gives any credence to these simplistic views of complex problems, is downright scary.

We seem to have lost much of what made this country great, the ability to solve great problems in a logical manner, looking out for one another and not allowing others to foist their views on us to our own detriment. As I’ve said before, these people don’t have the interests of the average citizen at heart in these situations. As long as the corporate interests continue to tell us (the small people, remember?) what is good for us, we’re going to continue to get the short end of the stick. Are we going to allow this country to become a corporate holding or are we going to return to the real country we once were? Pay attention!

E-mail columnist Don Burnard at letters@toledofreepress.com.

Tags: BP, oil spill, The Hot Corner

This entry was posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion, The Hot Corner.
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The effects of the BP oil disaster are spilling over into the wedding industry of the Florida panhandle. Some wedding businesses are reporting as many as 60 percent of their weddings being canceled.

“By this time last year, I booked half of my weddings. Now, I don’t have any booked for next year. Brides are too scared,” said wedding coordinator Shelby Peaden of Shelby Peaden Events based in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. “I used to receive 30-40 inquiries a month. I haven’t received any.”

Fulfilling a bride’s dreams and desires is how many wedding professionals along Florida’s west coast make their living.

But the oil spill is causing them to re-think their future on the Gulf.

“One of my florists lost $60,000 in cancelations. I know photographers who have considered moving to the East Coast or another state and starting over. But that is very hard to do for a coordinator,” Peaden said.

Wedding professionals are reaching out. Natural disaster clauses are a standard for Florida wedding professionals who are used to dealing with hurricanes. But the BP oil spill is man-made, which makes brides who cancel accountable for the balance.

So they are bringing in the pros with Florida’s largest legal law firms.

“We are trying to be compassionate toward our brides”, Peaden said. “We will have to make a claim to BP to get our money back.”

Back at home, the beaches of Ohio’s Lake Erie Coastal Trail offer refuge to a bride’s destination dream. Locations such as Maumee Bay State Park, Catawba Island and Headlands Beach State Park offer natural beaches and spectacular sunsets.

Maumee Bay Resort, which has recently received many last-minute bookings, is seeing increased business resulting from the tragedy down South.

“We just booked an August bride who was looking forward to going to Florida, but didn’t want to chance it,” said Sara Sander, event sales manager for Maumee Bay Lodge.

The proof is in the picture. You don’t need to go far for sun-setting splendor.

“Create the destination feel by choosing a site where you can all stay together and be a family”, said Kim Koluch of Considering Lilies Photography. “Having that togetherness [is more important] rather than where you are. You can’t fake that. A beach isn’t going to make that happen.”

But for brides holding strong to their plans, there are many websites that update beach conditions daily.

“There are still many places that are untouched,” Peaden said. “We know what it looks like today, but we don’t know about tomorrow.”

Brittany Craig is the principal event designer and coordinator for Crowning Celebrations. She specializes in wedding and social celebrations. Follow her Eventista blog at www.crowningcelebrations.blogspot.com.

Tags: BP, Eventista, oil spill

This entry was posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Arts and Life, Eventista.
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