St. Bernard Parish Announces Schedule of 10 Year Katrina Commemoration Events

Prayer Service, Recovery Project Tours, Memorial Service, Art Exhibitions, Community Celebration Set

St. Bernard Parish Government announced a slate of events that will be held in the parish during the month of August in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

“Nothing has affected our community more than Hurricane Katrina,” said Parish President David Peralta. “Though the storm destroyed our parish, we should be proud how we came back after the unprecedented destruction.”

“Because Katrina’s waters engulfed our entire parish, we made sure that the commemoration included events in every part of St. Bernard,” said Michael Bayham, Chairman of the SBK10 Commemoration Committee. Ten years ago, we all suffered. Ten years later we should celebrate the progress we have made in our recovery while also remembering what we lost.

The SBK10 Commemoration Committee is comprised of individuals representing various businesses, the Chamber, Nunez College, St. Bernard Parish Schools, St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office, St. Bernard Port, FEMA, GOHSEP, as well as employees of the Council and Parish Government.

Ten events have been planned, with most happening in the week leading up to the tenth anniversary of the storm making landfall on August 29th.

The first will be a special edition of the Elaine P. Nunez Community College lecture series on Monday, August 3rd at 7:00 p.m. centering on the hurricane and the response to it.

Then on Thursday, August 20th the Emerging Professional Council is holding a Day of Service on the feast day of St. Bernard at Torres Park from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

On Sunday, August 23rd at 6:30 p.m. a parishwide ecumenical prayer service will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Violet featuring New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond and local pastors.

Starting on Monday, August 24th and running through Thursday, August 27th there will be a series of “recovery tours” held at various public buildings, critical facilities and flood control structures across St. Bernard Parish that were repaired or built with funding from the federal and state government.

“The recovery tours are an important part of our commemoration as they serve to remind us how our countrymen helped rebuild St. Bernard through the investment of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars,” said Bayham.

On Wednesday, August 26th the Torres I Burns Trust and the Creative Alliance of New Orleans will hold an art exhibition titled The Spirit of St. Bernard: Portraits and Videos at the River House Museum in Poydras. The exhibition will begin at 4:00 p.m. and conclude at 7:00 p.m.

On Friday, August 28th at 8:30 a.m. the School Board will hold their annual Day of Reflection Breakfast at the Chalmette High School 9th Grade Academy. For information regarding tickets contact the School Board at (504) 301-2000.

Later that day Elaine P. Nunez Community College will open their ten year Katrina time capsule and hold a photo retrospective at 5:30 p.m.

On Saturday, August 29th there will be a memorial service for those who perished in the storm at the Katrina Memorial at Shell Beach at 9:00 a.m.

Studio Inferno in Arabi will be kickoff its Katrina art exhibition that will run through November 1st. The studio will open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 10:00 p.m.

The commemoration events will conclude on August 29th at Val Riess Park in Chalmette with a family festival from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. featuring refreshments, children’s entertainment, musical performances by Bobby Cure and the Summertime Blues and the Bucktown All Stars and a recognition of service to those civil servants and private citizens who engaged in search and rescue, provided assistance to stranded residents and played a role in the parish’s recovery activities.

While the anniversary of Katrina is a time for mourning for what we lost, it’s also an open house for St. Bernard; an opportunity to show the world that our parish is back, our flood protection is stronger and our public facilities and infrastructure are vastly improved and that St. Bernard is a safe and great place to live and raise a family

For more information call Mike Bayham at 504-278-1033 or visit: https://www.facebook.com/StBernardKatrina10