A Tale of Two Garden Districts
by Sheri M.B. McKee & Lisa Haviland

New Orleans traditionally anglo-friendly Garden District is the perfect place to experience what the Chinese refere to as "xing," a revelation brought on through juxtaposition.

"The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Crack-Up”

On Saturday October 14, the place and party to be at was Belle Reve’s fundraising gala, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” sponsored by the Mystic Krewe of Shangri-La. I was actually still in the process of painting my Katrina damaged home when I opened up the beautifully adorned invite, and began to ponder the thought of fundraisers and galas this fall being just another form of normalcy in New Orleans. Although receiving an invite may have reminded me that the social scene of New Orleans is coming back as strong as ever, it also reminded me of the need to help bring back the normalcy to our community by supporting organizations such as Belle Reve through financial donations and volunteering since they were hit just as hard, if not harder than individuals themselves.

I’m taking my groceries in one weekday morning when a cracked-out man sporting a tiny orange construction vest, sans shirt, stumbles up to me and begins spewing sentence fragments concerning my neighbor.

“I was looking at my car, you know, it’s broken, couldn’t get it started, and he come up talking to me like I’m some—just a straight up nigger, ya know? So I’m out here looking for him.”

“I don’t know anything about that,” I reply.

“I’m just waiting for him to get home from work—my car, it’s abandoned, right here, see? ‘Cause I can’t get it to start, so I’m just gonna let him know, wait right here for him to get home from work.”

“I don’t know anything about that,” I reply, “but I’ll let him know.”

Belle Reve volunteers and committee along with the Mystic Krewe of Shangri-La transformed the Parks-Bowman home in the Garden District, 2705 Chestnut Street, into a setting for heavenly hedonism and decadent delights for this year’s fundraiser. The general chairmen of this not-to-be missed fall event were Mr. Juan M. Barona and Mrs. Mary Katherine Lonatro-Tusa, with Mr. Robert J. Monroe acting as honorary chairmen. At the gala, patrons enjoyed divine Southern food like shrimp grits, crab dip, pulled barbeque pork, and petite banana cream pies from Chiqui Collier of Catering by Chiqui. There were also some wickedly tasteful drinks being served that evening along with sinfully good music that led up to live drag queen performances of “Dolly Parton, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Streisand, and Gloria Estefan,” along with an auction of diabolically desirable prizes including a beautiful signed Michalopoulos framed lithograph. The décor was incredible with touches of apples and lighted fig trees with snakes in them representing the “Garden of Eden,” the skeleton reminders of Day of the Dead, and most of all, the devil statue and greenery throughout the bathroom with the hookah nearby.

An hour later, he and a cohort are stalking up and down my block, prowling. Cohort is wearing the ever-popular long, loose, white T that may or may not conceal a piece.

“What color was the first man’s shirt?” the police dispatcher inquires, actually sounding interested after I mention that two dudes are staking out my neighbor—a sane neighbor at that. Had they been seeking my now-former Meth-head, trespass-constantly-on-my-porch neighbor or, prior to his arrival, the junkie who repeatedly exposed himself to me before being remanded to court, I might simply have looked the other way, as so many do here in New Orleans, pre- and post-Katrina.

“No shirt—just an orange construction vest.”

All proceeds from the gala went towards providing much needed funds for Belle Reve New Orleans, whose mission is to provide permanent housing and full support services to adults and families living with AIDS or HIV-related infections. Belle Reve New Orleans is located on Royal Street in the Bywater area of New Orleans and serves as a vital part of the New Orleans community. Concern for quality of life and equal availability of services are the founding principles of the Belle Reve agency which also provides outreach programs to assist non-residents by providing services such as initial screenings, mental health and case management, social activities, and follow-up contact. Some of Belle Reve’s services to the community include monitoring medications, assisting with daily activities, meal preparation, and transportation. Volunteers enhance the available services by adding energy and diversity to the program and social activities.

Later that day, at the corner of Race and Magazine, I encounter ‘Nam Throwback for the first time. He has parked his wheelchair in the middle of the intersection, straddling the yellow line while screaming that he is holding his ground, goddamnit, as cars carefully pick their way around him. I’m about to go over and ask him if he knows Darter, the elderly man who rolls unexpectedly off side streets onto St. Andrew, angry eyes daring drivers to play chicken and/or hit the cripple, when a garbage truck pulls up alongside him and N.T. slowly yet frantically rolls out of the road, ceding said ground.

“You have a dollar for me?” a heavyset woman and her sidekick are shouting at me from ten feet away, as I insert my card into the Capital One ATM on St. Charles Avenue at 4 P.M.

“Hey, I said: you have a dollar for me?”

“You got a dollar—I need a dollar!”

“NO.”

They draw closer and closer, even more insistent on extracting a dollar from me.

“It’d be best if you backed up,” I announce, pulling my pepper spray out. They retreat, looking at me like I am one Godzilla bitch. Even if I was inclined to throw away money, what would they have me do? Given that, generally speaking, ATMs do not dispense ones, would we all then hop into my friend’s car, maybe hit a gas station and get some change? Or would the extra $19 be a loaner?

This was the first year that the Mystic Krewe of Shangri-La sponsored the event, which will most likely continue to get even bigger with each year that passes. The lovely ladies of the Mystic Krewe of Shangri-La is a vital part of community service in the NOLA area and prides themselves in working generously within the community, especially in cleanup after Hurricane Katrina. The captain of Shangri-La, Mary Katherine Lonatro, is the longest continuously serving carnival captain, who will be riding in her 34 year this carnival season; and definitely knows how to throw an incredible bash in New Orleans.

Here in the hospitable American South, would-be robbers mask their criminal intent in the form of smiley faces, the “friendly request” school of coercion. They also make some interesting, if impractical, acquisitions, such as the two small planter pots that went missing off my porch last night, while a pair of dirt mounds topped by purple mums was left behind with the other, larger and clearly less desirable plants.

“What are you doing here in the nuthouse?” the bug spray man, making his monthly rounds, asks me the next morning.

He’s referring to the cast of characters that have inhabited my building: Meth-head; progressively unclothed junkie; their shared sugar daddy, recently evicted for renovations that are unlikely to occur; the shady, shifting gang of rent-gouged roofers downstairs; the sparrow-man and his sister, ceiling banger, who formerly occupied that apartment; and old, cigar-smoking, sometimes wheelchair-bound Arthur, who passed away several summers ago, and, like me, didn’t much care for the lot of ‘em.

The nuthouse, however, extends beyond this building, beyond my block and beyond the Lower Garden District, especially now, so I can only shrug and say, “I don’t know.”

For more information on how to get involved with the Mystic Krewe of Shangri-La, you can go to their official website by clicking here . To find out more about the services that Belle Reve offers or to volunteer, you can contact Belle Reve at (504) 945-9455.

Sheri McKee and Lisa Haviland are regular contributors to NOLAFugees.com.