From Marketing to NOLA Happenings…
Tag: Raymond Reggie
When it comes to chicken, two fast food joints come to mind; Popeyes and Chick-fil-A. But, we have to ask, who makes a better chicken sandwich? As a New Orleans native I might be a little bit biased on the subject, but the folks at the New Yorker really got down to the meat of the discussion.
Read More: https://bit.ly/31QL6Al
I’d love to hear your choice for best chicken sandwich. Leave a comment on my Facebook by clicking here: www.facebook.com/RayReggieNewOrleans
Ray Reggie
I recently was interviewed about one of my favorite topics — food in New Orleans. Here’s an excerpt from that interview. I hope you enjoy and find my suggestions helpful.
Whether you’re planning a trip to New Orleans, or you’ve lived there your entire life, there’s always new and exciting restaurants to try, or maybe even established eateries you may have overlooked. In a city best known for its food, knowing where to eat can be quite challenging for an outsider like me. During my recent trip to New Orleans, I knew my best bet, was to ask a local for some advice. I spoke with long time friend and New Orleans resident, Ray Reggie, to get his take on the best food and dining in New Orleans. Ray is a certified digital marketing expert and consultant, but also a self-proclaimed New Orleans foodie.
Interviewer: So, let’s dig in. Let’s say someone is visiting New Orleans for the very first time and they want to have a truly authentic Louisiana experience. Where would you send them?
Ray Reggie: “That’s easy! I’d send them to Parkway for a po’boy. In New Orleans, it’s not a ‘sub,’ not a ‘grinder’, not a ‘hoagie’, and not just a ‘sandwich’, it’s a po’boy. A po’boy is a foot long sandwich served on crispy French bread. It was originally invented to feed “poor boys” using cheap leftover scraps of bread and meat. However, per usual of the New Orleans laissez-faire dialect, a few letters are often left out of words, and it’s simply pronounced, ‘po’boy’. I think the best place in the city for a po’boy is at Parkway, just a block from Bayou St. John, in the heart of Midcity. My favorite is their fried shrimp po’boy with just lettuce and Tabasco, or the hot roast beef po’boy, dressed.”
Interviewer: Did you say you order your po-boy “dressed”? What does that mean?
Ray Reggie: “Yes, I did. Here in New Orleans, ‘dressed’ means that your po’boy will come with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and pickles.
Oh! I forgot to mention, to get the full New Orleans experience, be sure to order one of our locally made Barq’s Root Beers to wash it down.”
Interviewer: That sounds great for a casual lunch experience, Ray, but let’s change gears. What if I’m looking for a nice night out on the town and a steak dinner? What’s the best steakhouse in town?
Ray Reggie: “This is a tough one to narrow down, so I’ll have to give you two answers. First, you have to check out Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Metairie. After all, New Orleans was where Ruth’s Chris got its start. For a more casual dining experience, sit at the bar and ask for Mark. He’s the Bar Manager and gives super attentive service. You can enjoy your dinner bar-side while chatting with locals, and Mark will make you an awesome, unique cocktail. If you’d prefer a seated table in the dining room, Marcia has been there for years and will make sure everything is perfect.
Another one of my favorites is Mr. John’s Steakhouse on historic St. Charles Avenue in Uptown New Orleans. The owner, Desi Vega, who was formerly with Emeril’s, runs an impeccable fine-dining steakhouse. Every server is awesome, and every meal is memorable. It’s definitely a must visit if you’re looking for a great steak in NOLA, but come hungry.”
https://www.mrjohnssteakhouse.com
Interviewer: Ray, you definitely know your restaurants, but I’m going to throw you a bit of a curveball. I know you’re Middle Eastern, so what about ethnic food in New Orleans? If you had to narrow it down to just one Middle Eastern restaurant in New Orleans, which would it be?
Ray Reggie: “That’s a no-brainer for me! Being 100% Lebanese, I’m a huge fan of Byblos in Old Metairie. I can assure you that it’s great food and it’s authentic! It’s like eating at my mom’s or grandmother’s house. I love it!”
https://www.byblosrestaurants.com/
Interviewer: This might sound a little ignorant of me, but ever since I landed in the Big Easy I’ve heard people mention eating a muffuletta. I’ve never heard of that before, but I wanted to wait until I spoke with you to ask what all the fuss is about?
Ray Reggie: “Don’t worry, I can help with that! Muffulettas are uniquely New Orleans and I definitely recommend trying one while you’re here. A muffuletta is basically a sandwich from heaven! The best place to get a muffuletta is from where it was invented, Central Grocery & Deli on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. Tommy and Frank Tusa (the owners), have kept the generations-old tradition of serving the original muffuletta out of their historic grocery and deli. They start with the best handmade Italian bread, add piles of sliced meats and cheese, and top it off with their own blend of marinated olive salad. It’s the olive salad that really makes the muffaletta special. You can even buy jars of the olive salad there to take home. While you’re strolling the French Quarter, stop by Central and grab a muffuletta to go (and a Barq’s, of course). The river is just a few blocks away, and you can have a picnic lunch while watching the boats roll by.
Interviewer: That sounds like a winner! I’ll put it on the list, Ray. Now, let’s take a drive to your neck of the woods, the Northshore of New Orleans. What’s your number one restaurant suggestion for someone visiting the Northshore?
Ray Reggie: “Without a doubt, the best restaurant with the best service on the Northshore is Pat Gallagher’s 527. I’ve known Pat for 30+ years and he is a wonderful chef. Try the Oysters Pablo. Wow, they are good! Served as an appetizer, he bakes them with spinach, chipotle peppers, Romano cheese, and tequila! It’s such a creative dish you shouldn’t pass on. He also makes his own rendition of a baked crabmeat casserole, Crabmeat St. Francis, originally a recipe of another famous New Orleans’ restaurateur, Warren LeRuth. Of course, it goes without saying, that his steaks are phenomenal, too. After all, Pat was Executive Chef at Ruth’s Chris for many years. He learned a lot from them, but has also bettered their recipes. My favorite entree is the Mixed Grill Combo, which is two grilled Louisiana quail and two grilled Colorado lamb chops (off the rack), served on a super-hot plate of drawn butter. If you’ve never had quail before, Pat cooks the best quail in the world! He is a talented chef, attentive restaurateur, and I am proud and honored to call him my friend. If you find yourself north of the lake, try Gallagher’s 527, Gallagher’s Grill in Covington, or Gallagher’s on Front Street in Slidell. You will thank me later! I am positive you will love it!”
http://gallaghers527restaurant.com/
Interviewer: Well, Ray, it seems like we have a pretty good starting list of local spots to check out. Thank you so much for sharing your favorite picks for the best food and restaurants in New Orleans. I look forward to talking with you again and hearing about some of the places that didn’t make this list and the new places you find that will be on the next one.
If you’d like to learn more about Ray Reggie, or any of the restaurants mentioned in this article, please visit www.RReggie.com. I would love to hear about your favorite foods and restaurants, too. Ray Reggie
What SEO strategies and tactics will work and help you dominate in the SERPs and earn more revenue in 2020?
Here are 5 important trends you need to know in 2020 from Ray Reggie, a digital marketing expert and digital consultant.
What does your audience prefer – Video? Audio? Text?
Knowing this will all be more important than ever in 2020, according to trends and SEO professionals. Have a set plan for your business as you transition through Q3 and Q4 of 2019 and be ready to hit the ground running on January 1.
There’s rumors that Amazon and Apple may cut deeply into Google’s search dominance i 2020, right now is the best time to consider optimizing for other ‘engines’.
“In 2020, you have to at least consider optimizing for devices”, said Ray Reggie, digital expert and SEO consultant.
Use structured data whenever possible!
AI is becoming increasingly important for Google, structured data is becoming more important as well. If Google wants to move from a mobile-first to an AI-first world, structured data is key. No matter how good your AI is, if it takes too long to ‘crawl’ the required information, it will never be great. AI requires a fast processing of contents and their relations to each other.
Google algorithm updates in 2018 and 2019 revealed that Google is intensifying its focus on evaluating content quality and at the depth and breadth of a website’s content.
If you’re still creating content just to keep your blog alive, that won’t be good enough moving forward. Take your time and put out content that actually has value!
Establishing and growing your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness – better known as E-A-T in Google’s search quality rating guidelines – will be another key trend in 2020.
Although the E-A-T guidelines are written for Google’s algorithm raters, rather than Google’s algorithm itself, it helps us to understand where Google is heading in the short term. You cannot rank so easily writing authoritative content unless you are already an authority on a given subject.
If you’d like to contact Raymond “Ray” Reggie or have questions, please visit his website at www.RReggie.com.
Like it or not, Millennials are the current generation your dealership needs to be focusing on. Now in their 30’s, Millennials are one of the key demographics for purchasing both new and pre-owned vehicles…but they’re a different type of customers.
According to a new study, in which almost 75 percent of American Gen Z and Millennials told researchers that they prefer to talk with other people via text message–as opposed to actually talking with them. So basically, if your sales team and BDC do not understand the importance of being able to close deals via chat systems, you’re missing out on sales.
My son for example ordered his last vehicle site-unseen, and didn’t even want to take the vehicle for a test drive because he did the research and knew exactly what he wanted (all the way down to the trim level). Millennials are smart, educated, and often have money burning a hole in their pocket. In short – don’t overlook this key demographic.
So what do you need to do besides close the deal? Well, for starters get their attention. Quality social media management for your dealership means unique content focused on the community, people, and social events – not sales. You don’t really need to “sell” this age group because they know what they want before they even reach out to you. The best part is though, when they show buying signals, you know they’re (usually) serious about that specific vehicle they inquired about. Don’t be pushy, don’t be salesy, just keep it casual and conversational. 9 times out of 10 the deal will manifest itself.
My best advice for selling to Millennials is to connect with them in any way possible that allows them to skip phone calls and skip the showroom as much as possible. They don’t want to sit in your expensive customer lounge or eat at your dealership’s cafe. They want to be in and out just like Amazon or the self-checkout line at Target.
Ray Reggie
www.RReggie.com
Raymond “Ray” Reggie began his career in the automobile business in 1983 as
a salesman and has worked at practically every position in the business. He is
recognized by peers in the auto and media industries as a leader in marketing,
branding, e-commerce, and sales training. Lecturing throughout the country on
how to effectively start and operate Business Development Centers (BDC), Ray
delivers his signature series of training programs directed at optimizing website
traffic through branding, marketing, and traditional advertising.
Ray’s extensive advertising experience dates back to 1991 when he started a
national based media placement company that grew into a $65 million annual
business. Ray relies extensively on the marriage of Quantitative and Qualitative
data when building marketing campaigns. This “Q & Q” methodology is a
fundamental staple in every media campaign that he designs in the arenas of
direct response, automotive, and political campaigns. He has also developed and
implemented strategic multimedia campaigns to drive heavy traffic to web sites.
Utilizing advanced and proprietary web traffic reports to constantly monitor,
tweak and change his campaigns, Ray ensures optimum success and cost-
effectiveness.
Ray Reggie was one of the first media buyers in the country to incorporate cable
as a utilized medium for political campaigns. Ultra-Target messages are directed
to the exact intended audience to maximize effectiveness and generate an
optimal return on investment. In addition to paid media, Ray is routinely retained
to garner and manage earned media and crisis communication for clients ranging
from independent enterprises to Fortune 500 companies. His public relations and
media skills and experience have made him an in-demand lecturer at colleges,
universities, media outlets, trade groups, as well as many national and state
associations.
When Ray is not working, he enjoys traveling, spending as much time as he can
with his two wonderful children in New Orleans, entertaining friends and cooking.
“I was given such a great gift. It’s a miracle that never stops amazing me and reminding me to give thanks, every day. Having a wife and daughter gives me a lot more purpose. I was much more selfish before, but now I think about what kind of role model I’ll be. I just want to be a better man.” – Jake Owen
Learn about Ray Reggie (Raymond Reggie) here: https://about.me/rayreggie
Auto dealers owe a big shout-out and many thanks to Alexander Graham Bell. Yep, that Alexander Graham Bell; the father of the telephone. We owe Mr. Bell a huge thank you, as his invention dating back to 1876, will be the number one tool used in every automobile dealership in 2017.
The newly released Reuters survey clearly shows another increase in internet traffic coming from mobile devices. That projected increase is confirmed by Mega Digital Ad Buying Group, Zenith, projecting 75% of total internet use in 2017 will come from mobile devices. Mr. Bell’s device is in every prospects hand and they are empowered to use it every day, all day.
Cellular service providers held on as long as they could, charging consumers for data usage and exorbitant fees for data usage overages. Those days are gone as we now enter a Mobile Dominated Marketplace (MDM). Car dealers need to embrace MDM and embrace it now! MDM is here and it will be the future! Every auto dealer needs to direct it’s marketing to the MDM. The traditional pushing of a prospect to a form-filled “tell me more” Call-To-Action (CTA) is rapidly being replaced with Mr. Bell’s brainchild, the telephone. The dealers that strategically place CTA’s (in the form of Click-To-Call buttons) will see significant more conversion than the tradition lead-gen forms. That means, dealers will see less form-filled leads! Get ready, but don’t panic. Conversions will increase, but it will be via telephone and less with the traditional, soon to be old-school, forms that require a prospect to give their name, address, phone number and email address just to get the dealer’s best price, or to check availability. This is a good thing for dealers!
Ask a salesperson at any dealership, would you prefer a complete form-filled lead with a prospect’s, name, address, phone number, email address and what type (or exact) car they think they want, or, a telephone call on line 2 with a live prospect calling them. The salesperson that is embracing the new media push of the phone, that “new” tool that has been around since 1876, will convert at a much higher percentage and will be more successful.
As clearly confirmed in the recently released study 75% of TrueCar prospects never spoke/emailed with more than one salesman/dealership during the shopping process. That is a two-fold problem. Salespeople are like fisherman. They make a couple phone calls (casts, and they send a few emails (more casts), and if they don’t get a bite, they are on to the next fishing spot (next prospect). The national average from the time a prospect makes their original contact with a dealership; is another 27 days before the sale is completed. The majority of salespeople working leads have long gone from that prospect. Car salespeople no longer follow a prospect until they buy or die. This is just not happening anymore. The other prong of that two- fold problem is consumers are much more attentive and focused on time management and they won’t answer the phone, knowing it is a salesman calling, until they are ready to speak! They would rather work via text message and email. If you don’t believe that, ask any parent of a teenager or millennial today, their son/daughter will text all day and night, but try to get them on the phone, that is a real challenge.
With that said, be ready and embrace the phone. Be ready when it rings! Don’t make the prospect press 1 for this and 2 for that, and don’t answer the phone “Thanks for calling XYZ Motors, hold please!” That is a complete turn-off. Just like the silly recording that says, “Your call is important to us…” if it really was important, you would answer my call, NOW! The phone is ringing… Be ready and be prepared to convert that phone call into an appointment.
-Ray Reggie
New Orleans, Louisiana
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It may have started with female-friendly chainlets like STK in the early 2000s, but lately chefs and restaurateurs all over the country are redefining the steakhouse in new and unexpected ways. Below, we’ve rounded up some of the most notable carnivorous trends of the last year – and shared our picks for the best places in the country to try them yourself. Vegetarians, turn away now.
I found this article from http://www.Zagat.com about the 8 Hottest Steak Trends Across America and I wanted to share it with you.
I’d love to hear from you on trends in preparing and presenting steaks and what’s you favorite steak restaurant and any tricks you utilize when cooking a steak.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Ray Reggie
Mandeville, LA
@rayreggie
http://www.RayReggie.com
In case you missed this. This is a very interesting article about the Causeway Bridge. I hope you enjoy it.
on November 08, 2013 at 5:06 PM, updated November 08, 2013 at 8:11 PM
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which has long enjoyed bragging rights as the “World’s Longest Bridge,” can now put itself in the company of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Washington Monument as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The honor, celebrated Friday morning at a ceremony near the Mandeville end of the 24-mile bridge, has nothing to do with the span’s monumental length, however.
Instead, the Causeway’s original span earned the distinction because of the innovative techniques used in construction and the pioneering engineers who worked on the project that was completed in 1956, linking Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes and leading to the explosive development of the north shore.
“It is a symbol for the whole country of the American ingenuity spirit,” said Phil Jones, deputy assistant secretary of the state Department of Transportation and Development. “It stands as a source of pride for the entire state.”
View full sizePlaque noting Lake Pontchartrain Causeway’s status as a civil engineering landmark. (Robert Rhoden, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) A small marker noting the designation stands in a grassy area between the Mandeville toll plaza buildings and the lake.
The first Causeway span, which now carries southbound traffic, was the first bridge ever to be constructed using 54-inch in diameter hollow, cylindrical prestressed concrete piles to support a span, the Louisiana chapter of the civil engineering organization said. The pilings were larger and stronger than the norm, allowing fewer of them to be used and reducing costs, officials said.
Prior to the Causeway’s construction, the standard practice for bridge construction was to use solid square or circular concrete piles of 24-inches or less in diameter, the organization said.
Also unique at the time was the manner of construction. “The Causeway Bridge is the first bridge ever to employ mass-production, assembly line techniques in fabricating and assembling a bridge,” organization noted.
The Louisiana Bridge Co. built a state-of-the-art concrete casting plant on the shore of the lake in Mandeville, just east of the Causeway, where bridge components were built and then sent by barge to the construction site. This method replaced the standard cast-in-place construction method.
“The assembly line process significantly reduced both the construction cost and the installation time,” the LASCE said. The bridge was completed in 14 months from the time the first pilings were driven.
The civil engineering organization lauded the engineers on the Causeway project, designed by Palmer & Baker Inc.
Among them were Maxwell Upson, chairman of Raymond Concrete Pile Co., who was an innovator in the field of prestressed concrete. He came up with the method to achieve higher concrete strengths that were used in fabricating the pilings for the Causeway.
Also cited were Walter Blessey, another innovator and a Tulane University professor who served as a consultant and provided technical research leading up to the application of prestressed concrete on the Causeway project, the engineering group said. Civil engineer Henry LeMieux, who attended Friday’s ceremony, was recruited by Upson to be the New Orleans district manager for Raymond Concrete, and his work to bring key parties together was instrumental in the project, it said.
Henry LeMieux, left, and Peter Gitz, right, stand next to a plaque designating the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers on Friday. LeMieux was district manager for Raymond Concrete Pile Co. and Gitz worked on an engineering crew for Louisiana Bridge Co. during construction of the Causeway. (Robert Rhoden, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) LeMieux said of the Causeway’s national historic recognition: “It’s marvelous.”
Madisonville Mayor Peter Gitz, who was part of a Louisiana Bridge Co. engineering crew that worked on actual construction of the bridge, also was at Friday’s event. He said that he worked on a barge and was involved in pile driving and taking measurements as the bridge components were assembled.
The work and dealing with the elements was difficult, he said.
“It was cold. It was hot. And the water was rough.”
More than 250 civil engineering projects worldwide have been given National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark status by the ASCE.
Three Louisiana sites carry the designation: the Huey P. Long Bridge, Eads South Pass Navigation Works in Plaquemines Parish and the McNeill Street Pumping Station in Shreveport.
Other attendees at Friday’s event included Causeway Commission Chairman Larry Rase, bridge General Manager Carlton Dufrechou, former General Manager Bob Lambert, St. Tammany Parish Councilman Reid Falconer, Jefferson Parish Councilwoman Cynthia Lee Sheng, ASCE New Orleans Branch President Stephen Johns, ASCE National past-president Thomas L. Jackson and Louisiana Section President Robert Jacobsen.
Lambert, addressing the crowd, marveled at the accomplishment of those responsible for building the first span back in 1956.
“People right here in our community did that,” he said. It changed the entire region. It changed how bridges are built.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind. That’s why we’re here today.”
Link to the article: http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2013/11/lake_pontchartrain_causeway_na.html
@rayreggie
Ray Reggie
Mandeville, LA
November 4, 2009
New Orleans – Four Years and Counting: Talking with Ray Reggie
By Joan Brunwasser
Welcome to OpEdNews, Ray. You’re the president of the board of Just the Right Attitude, (http://www.jtra.org/) the New Orleans food bank/soup kitchen (http://www.FoodBankNola.org) But right now, I’d like you to switch hats. There is still so much to be done to rebuild your fine city. As a reminder, I’m collecting and sharing Katrina stories. I understand that you have a humdinger. Can you tell our readers a bit about it.
“>Looking back four years ago to when Hurricane Katrina’s waters poured into New Orleans, I have this constant image of my first of many rescues. This first rescue was the worst. It was just hours after the flood waters began to rise when I heard the loud, repeated barking of a large dog at my front steps. My house at the time abutted the 17th Street canal – the canal that failed and flooded so much of New Orleans.
When I approached the door, I saw a large black dog barking profusely. I realized something was wrong. I grabbed two brooms and jumped in a commandeered small boat (pirogue) and paddled to my friend Web Deadman’s house. I knew the dog belonged to Web and that something must have been wrong.
When I got there, I realized Web was in bad shape – in the water and having a hard time breathing. I was able to pull him up on his lawn and out of the water but was unsuccessful in keeping him breathing. He passed away. All I could do was to go back to my house. I brought a sheet and wrapped his body in it after I propped him up on a pillow from his couch and wrote his name and my information on his arm for identification purposes. I sprinkled Web with holy water from my church and blessed salt and prayed for his soul.
Sadly, Web would remain on his front lawn for several days until I could get a body bag from Acadian Ambulance and place him in it and get the ambulance to take him to the makeshift morgue in St. Gabriel. It would take me over a week to make contact with Web’s relatives and let them know that my first rescue was a failure.
I had failed at saving my neighbor’s life. It is a horrible memory – one that appears in my mind often and especially when the anniversary of Katrina approaches. It made me so much more determined to never fail again while rescuing. I question myself often.
What could I have done differently to have saved Web? I beat myself up hard often and can only pray for his soul. I keep telling myself that I did everything I could, even though it was not enough. I will always remember that dark, eerie, quiet night, when Web’s dog was barking non-stop and will continue to question why. Why did he have to die? Why couldn’t I have saved him?
What a powerful and very personal story. You did your absolute best and it just wasn’t enough. But, what happened to your neighbor didn’t put an end to your attempts to rescue others. So you obviously didn’t climb into bed and pull the blankets over your head. What happened next? Was your own home underwater?
While I was saddened and depressed, it made me more determined to rescue as many people as I could. At daylight the next morning, I went to Ms. Dru, my 90+ year old neighbor and demanded she leave. She said she would stay. I had to tell her that Web had passed away and that I was insisting she leave. She finally agreed. I helped her in a boat that I was able to “borrow” and floated her out of the neighborhood on a route that wouldn’t allow her to see Web laid out on his front lawn.
“The boat didn’t have a plug in the drain so Ms. Dru had to bail the water out with a small bucket while I pulled her to a staging area. Then, I was able to get her on the back of a dump truck and on her long long journey to Lafayette. I was able to make contact with her niece and nephew in Oklahoma and they immediately started driving down to pick Ms. Dru up and bring her to their home, where Ms. Dru started volunteering, just like she did all her life in New Orleans. One of the best days of my life was seeing Ms. Dru coming down our street months later – she had returned! The neighborhood would never be the same without Ms. Dru
I continued rescuing every day in my neighborhood until I was certain that I had every neighbor out safely. I have one more very challenging rescue that still gives me chills. It was Wednesday after Katrina. I was at the bridge on Metairie Road over the 17th Street Canal when a thin, young woman walked up to me. She asked if I was in charge. I explained to her that no one was in charge.
“She then started crying and asked me to help her by rescuing her baby. She went on to tell me that her 28 day old son was left in her home on Hamilton Street in the Hollygrove area of New Orleans. She explained to me that she couldn’t swim and that she didn’t know what to do, as her mom didn’t even know she had a baby.
I was lucky enough to get a boat owner to take me on his airboat to the house. While he stayed on the boat, armed to protect it, I went through the now dark and flooded home to find the baby boy in a closet on a pillow, wearing only a diaper. He was not in the flood waters yet. I grabbed him and had to dunk him in the water to get him out of the house as the water was so high. I washed his face off with water from my water bottle and we rushed this tiny baby to an ambulance and with the grace of God, the baby was taken to a hospital in Baton Rouge. I was unable to find the mother of the baby for over four weeks.
“When I found her, she hugged me and we both sat there and cried and cried and cried. The baby boy made it, thanks to the help of the generous boat owner who risked his life to safe this baby boy. I say risked because the gunfire on Wednesday was horrible and his boat was a hot commodity. We were both determined to save the boy. Especially after losing my neighbor Web, I wanted to save this 28 day old boy!
We were blessed not to have had flood waters in our home. We did have a fire that burned our den down the month after Katrina when Entergy was working on the power lines and a surge blew out of electrical boxes and started a fire.
Wow. I’d forgotten all about the gunfire. I’m sure your exploits made you a neighborhood legend. Did most of these folks eventually return and rebuild?
“A lot of residents returned to the three streets that make up that neighborhood. Although several people (me included) have sold and moved for various reasons, it was and is the best neighborhood in the city! A very close knit group of caring, fun loving people. Katrina brought the neighborhood closer and more connected especially when my friend Gibbons Burke set up a neighborhood-exclusive Google group email service – one that allows only neighbors to communicate. That was key when people were spread out across the country all looking for information.
That group email later became a helpful tool when people attempted to find a repair man, contractor, baby sitter, or report suspicious activity. Today, thanks to Gibbons, that group email is used daily by the neighbors to communicate. That has also been a bond to bring people together – as communication is a key and Gibbons had the foresight to see that we needed it four years ago as well as today.
That’s a great idea. Someone should take it to the mayor or governor for the future emergency planning. Anything you’d like to add, Ray?
Not having to evacuate once this hurricane season was such a relief. I hope that we can get the flood protection we need to make New Orleans safe and never have another Katrina wreck our city and lives again. Thank you, Joan.
Amen to that.Many people were lucky indeed to have you as their neighbor during Katrina. Thanks for sharing your story, Ray. It was a great one to kick off this series.
Reposted by Ray Reggie as we approach the 2013 Hurricane season in New Orleans.
It should be noted that I just attended Ms. Dru’s 100th Birthday celebration! What a God send she is! We enjoyed the day talking about funny times and the day I forced her to evacuate after Katrina. She is blessed to have wonderful nieces and nephews, who, like me, love Ms. Dru very much!
Original Posting: http://www.opednews.com/articles/New-Orleans–Four-Years-a-by-Joan-Brunwasser-091104-201.html
@rayreggie https://twitter.com/rayreggie
Ray Reggie New Orleans, LA
Raymond Reggie
Ray Reggie's Blog 