European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 8, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Gop ready for big easy by Kevin Mcgill associated press a re the republicans really ready for theall night bars the strip joints and the Cross dressers in full Beard and make up that have become synonymous with new Orleans the City does t fit the Blue suited buttoned Down image of a George Bush or the piety of a Pat Robertson. The standing joke around town is that the unabashed Baw Diness of new Orleans will be wasted on the gop. But ready or not the republicans Are coming. And if they look beyond the strip joints and obscene posters in the to shirt shops they la find that there is More to new Orleans than licentiousness and inebriation. We really want them to get under the skin of this City said Peggy Wilson the Only Republican on the City Council. It s not like other american cities. It has sort of a funny personality. We feel if people get to know it they la like it and want to come some 510 parties will be held to Welcome the republicans to new Orleans All but four by invitation Only the parties include one to celebrate the opening of the City s newest shopping mall a $100-a-person fund Raiser at the Audubon zoo designed to raise up to $400,000 to help the City defray convention costs and a $10-a-person prayer breakfast. The new Orleans museum of Art is sponsoring a picnic a grand party for the grand old party in City Park on aug. 12, the Friday before the convention begins. Among the other things new Orleans has to offer the delegates gluttony sometimes elegant gluttony. About 2,500 restaurants lie in a 50-mile radius. They Range from the Swanky splendor of commander s Palace which rests among the 19th Century mansions of the Garden District to the Back slapping camaraderie of scores of neighbourhood eateries. Seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is a Staple at most of these places. Creole cooking born of French and Spanish influences is also a specially As is cajun cuisine a legacy of French Canadian exiles who started settling the southwestern part of the state in the 1760s. About 200 restaurants Are so eager to please visitors that they will extend operating hours until after Midnight. Music. Jazz is the musical Staple of new Orleans. It s not As prevalent in the French Quarter As it used to be. But it s there at open air night clubs near the French Market under a Street lamp where a Lone musician plays his saxophone or at preservation Hall the Musty Hole in the Wall on St. Peter Street where traditional jazz is Home. Rhythm and blues and Rock Are readily available. Cajun bands play for dances. Some clubs Cater to contemporary jazz. There Are cabarets and floor shows. Classical music is hard to find however since the symphony hit on hard times and became inactive. History and culture. Museums and Century old buildings in the Garden District and the Quarter Are big tourist attractions. So Are the ornate above ground tombs in the City s flood prone cemeteries. The republicans Are lining up several guided Tours including trips to antebellum plantations up the Mississippi River. Shopping. Upscale Art galleries and antique shops share the Quarter with the strip joints and bars. Some fancy shops have relocated to Magazine Street closer to Homes in the Rich Garden District. Despite the area s depressed Economy new retail developments have been springing up. The River walk along the Mississippi opened a couple of years ago hosting tenants such As Abercrombie & Fitch. Saks fifth Avenue is downtown. Macy s and lord & Taylor Are part of a new Complex adjacent to the super dome. Animals. The Audubon Park zoo once derided As one of the worst zoos in the country has been transformed Over the last decade into a nationally acclaimed showcase. It s latest Pride and Joy a pair of rare White baby alligators. Sport. Well sometimes. The City lost it s pro basketball team in 1976 and major league baseball is still a dream. Delegates missed out on their one Chance to see football when the new Orleans saints winners last year after 20 years of losing moved a planned August exhibition game out of town so their Home stadium the super dome can play Host to the gop. The Dixieland Parade one of the oldest forms of jazz has traditionally accompanied funeral processions in new Orleans of right a View of the French Quarter. The new Orleans saints moved a planned August exhibition game out of town to make Way for the gop convention in their Home stadium the super dome. Tote bags and go cups for convention delegates by Janet Mcconnaughey associated press Ajun spices a 629-Page Creole Cookbook a bag of grits go cups and strands of cheap plastic beads fill the gift bags that new Orleans officials Hope will provide a taste of their City to Republican delegates. This effusion of corporate and institutional Goodwill is part of the Welcome for the 2,277 delegates and thousands of alternates who will descend upon new Orleans for the Republican National convention. I hate to put a Dollar value on Goodwill. But i would guess there ? about $300 to $400 Worth of stuff in each bag said Winnie Beuerman a staff member on the committee putting together the gift bags. In fact bottle stoppers hot sauces recipe cards pens binoculars two types of shampoo and hair conditioner key rings and even red White and Blue pompous forced the original Canvas tote bags to run Neth Over. A Container company stepped in and provided thousands of specially printed paper bags for grouping items in the 5,000 tote bags and the state office of tourism sent plastic bags. Among the items in the bags Are the famed go cups printed plastic cups that Are part of two of new Orleans most popular traditions drinking and Mardi gras. The cups first surfaced at French Quarter bars where patrons who departed before finishing their drinks discovered that in new Orleans you can take your liquor with you. Carnival Parade groups Riding the floats during Mardi gras soon began tossing out specially decorated go cups along with the famed strings of plastic beads. The most notable liquids in the gift bags Are the bottles of hot Pepper sauce provided by four separate companies enough to allow a taste testing for the Brave or Foolhardy. A fifth company sent Barbecue sauce. A half dozen different companies sent spices generally All purpose cajun mixes. Many of those companies also included recipe cards. For the Cooks interested in More detailed recipes than open Jar and shake the times Picayune newspaper provided its 629-Page Creole Cookbook a clothbound annotated reprint of a Cookbook it originally published in 1901. A local gallery also has Given donated lithographs by two Post impressionist artists. Some of the companies apparently gave thought to what might be useful in the immense super dome. Those whose seats Are far from the podium can use the binoculars while anyone who does t have a sign or an american Flag can shake the red White and Blue pompous. If the chock full bags Are still not enough delegates can choose from a vast collection of souvenirs being offered for Sale including to shirts baseball Caps sweaters scarves hankies and even Bobby socks with the gop or convention logos. One to shirt bears the drawing of an animal half pachyderm half reptile and carrying a Pennant that says Louisiana elevators never forget to there Are Sterling Silver add an elephant necklaces each $15 link a gop logo and a Chunky White Bracelet and earrings bearing the logo. Suspenders with the words Republican convention also Are available. Believe it or not we be got Boxer shorts said David Rains vice president of sports novelties inc. Of Duncanville Texas. One of them has the logo All Over. Another would Embarrass me to Tell you about. It s a comic sports novelties inc. Is screening those companies who want to use the logo or to sell their wares in a convention marketplace to be set up in and near the super dome. Perhaps the most expensive souvenir is a Gold and Silver version of a wooden child s Puzzle showing an elephant charging out of a map of Louisiana. The map is Blank except for the super dome which Marks new Orleans. It s going to be 14-Karat Gold and Sterling Silver. The tusks will be Gold the feet Gold said Fanny m. Berdugo of sports novelties. The Puzzle will retail for $2,500. She said there will be 200 of those puzzles made and 1,000 Sterling Silver puzzles Selling for $150 each. The 6,000 wooden ones will sell for $40 each. Some retailers however lost so much Money on souvenirs for the 1984 world s fair and Pope John Paul h s visit last year that they Are shying away from souvenirs at the convention. We Are not going to carry the Republican convention souvenirs. We have no space for it said John Salles manager of a gift shop just Down the Block from some of the biggest hotels on canal Street. To allay concerns sports novelties is modifying Many of its usual policies. For instance stores can buy As few As 36 to shirts or a dozen glasses rather than the usual minimum orders of 144 to shirts or a Case of 36 glasses. And about 30 items can be delivered on three Day notice Rains said. New Orleans officials have a reason for supporting sales of official souvenirs Money from those sales will help the City meet its $5.5 million share of convention expenses. Programmed for Republican revelry by Kevin Mcgill associated Pressw Ith its european sensibilities and native accents closer to Broo Lynese than a gone with the wind drawl new Orleans hardly fits the image of a Southern City. The contrasts Are obvious in the French Quarter where France founded la Nouvelle Orleans in 1718, and where nearly 200-year-old, wrought Iron adorned Brick buildings stand today a reminder of european style. On Bourbon Street police have been known to watch quietly As College students stumble past the strip joints Beer in hand. The conservative american South is not always prevalent in new Orleans. As the republicans arrive for their National convention aug. 15-18, perhaps expecting a typical Southern City other contradictions will be evident. Hearty drinking is a favorite pastime Rich food is a reason for living and pre lenten Mardi gras Street parties draw a million people a year with parades a passion there were 281 of them in 1987. All that revelry is tempered by an economic depression that gripped the City in 1985 and has t let go. Joblessness hovered around 10 percent for three years. The homeless number about 8,000. In the Central business District gleaming skyscrapers Tower Over the super dome and on the Mississippi riverfront a glitzy new shopping mall shines. Uptown in the Garden District the wealthy reside in stately 19th Century mansions lining St. Charles Avenue. But deteriorating Row houses Are a Short walk away and the City s Low income housing projects Are plagued by crime and a burgeoning drug Trade. The Good news is that recent signs indicate the worst of the bad times May be Over. Local experts say the Economy shows signs of a slow fragile recovery. A decline in business at the second largest port in the nation levelled off last year and joblessness appears to have peaked. It fell to 9.3 percent in june. The Republican convention is expected to help the recovery by spurring $137 million in spending prompting the democratic leadership of this democratic stronghold to Welcome the gop. Republican nominee to be George Bush will be greeted by mayor Sidney Barthelemy a Jesse Jackson supporter running a City where registered democrats outnumber registered republicans 189,741 to 34,853. In addition a bipartisan welcoming committee has been working for More than a year to ensure that the republicans visit goes smoothly still conventioneers will do Well to remember a few facts it Rains almost every Day in August. The High humidity makes the 90 degree highs feel like 100 jokes about the once hapless new Orleans saints football team Are no longer in Vogue. They went 12-4 last fall for the first winning season in their 21-year history. Pinch the tails and suck the Heads is a reference to the Best Way to eat boiled crawfish some of the women strolling through the French Quarter Are men. Native cuisine is extremely spicy. Chicory laced Coffee is extremely Strong. The Hurricane rum punch at Pat o Brien s on St. Peter Street tastes As innocent As Kool Aid but Don t be fooled. Page 14 the stars and stripes monday augusts 1988 the stars and stripes Page 15
