Chuck writes a eulogy for St. Bernard Parish:
St. Bernard Parish. (1788-2005) It’s gone, pretty much. The Isleños arrived from the Canary Islands, and settled in Delacroix, Yscloskey, Hope Beach, Reggio and Shell Beach. People migrated from New Orleans to “da Parish”, to Chalmette and Arabi, Violet, Podyras and Meraux. The thick Nint’ Ward accent got even thicker in Chalmette and Arabi. Local food, especially of the Creole-Italian and fried seafood variety, flourished there. It has a rich history as well, being the site of the legendary Battle of New Orleans in 1814…
And now it’s gone. And I miss them all so much already.
Click through, he’s got pictures of Rocky & Carlo’s from before the hurricane.
There are so many stories like this, of so many neighborhoods. But St. Bernard’s suffering has been outside the public eye, because only the locals really grok the concept, and only the locals know how badly the parish was hammered.
Recent Comments