Yummy! Blueberry Picking, Poplarville, MS

When: Saturday, June 27
Event: Blueberry Picking, Poplarville, MS
Where to Meet:  At Audubon Zoo Parking lot, (near main zoo entrance) to car
pool
Meeting Time: 7:30 am

Sierra Contacts:
You must register for all Sierra trips in advance by contacting either:
Vance Levesque 504-529-2089 mrkahuna@juno.com;  or
Barry Kohl at  504-861-8465, bkohl40@cs.com.

Our Third Blueberry Season:

Dig up your favorite recipe for bluberry pie or cobbler.  Join us as we
head over the Louisiana border into Mississippi to pick organically-grown
blueberries at a farm near Poplarville, MS.  We will visit the Tara Blueberry
Farm, hear a brief talk about the farm's organic operation, and then set you
loose to pick to your heart’s content.  The bushes are tall and there is
adequate shade early in the morning.

The weather is likely to be hot.   Please bring sunscreen, plenty of water,
and a hat that will keep you well shaded.  The farm does not recommend
wearing sandals while you are picking.  Also, they provide buckets to pick with,
so you need not worry about bringing your own.  The blueberry bushes are
quite high and offer shade when picking them.  The area is wooded with
blueberry meadows in between - a rather pleasant area of rolling hills.

Finally, the farm only accepts cash or check, so don't plan on using the
plastic!  It is $10 a gallon and it is best if you have the exact amount in
cash.   You may want to bring a cooler to store your blueberries for the trip
home if it is a hot day.

For those coming separately, we'll meet at the farm around 9 am.  We will
pick some blueberries and eat lunch (pack your own lunch and drinks) then
carpool back to New Orleans to arrive back to the parking lot at Audubon Zoo at
about 2pm.

The blueberries run $10 per gallon, so get out that blueberry pie recipe
and clear some space in your freezer. See website at:
http://www.pickaberry.com/

For more information about the farm:
Phone: (601) 403-8272
Tara Blueberry Farm
257 Langnecker Rd,
Poplarville, MS 39470

Group Program Sunday June 14: Wild India

Wild India: The Birds, Mammals and People of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Joelle Finley, acclaimed biologist and popular birder and world traveler, will speak and show her fabulous photos of her amazing journey in India, from lowlands to the Himalayas.

Sunday, June 14, Refreshments and snacks at 6:30 PM. Program begins at 7 PM. The meeting will be at the Audubon Zoo Nims Center (not the Dominion Auditorium this time but in the same complex). Go through the gate behind the Audubon statue at the front of the zoo and turn left. Parking is safe and plentiful. For more info call Charles Pfeifer, program chair at 504-780-8889.

Hike with Friends of Lafitte Corridor

Everyone,
If you're interested in a great hike in the city, this looks like one to take.
Wendy King

PRESS RELEASE/MEDIA ADVISORY
May 11, 2009

Contact:
Bart Everson, President, Friends of Lafitte Corridor
b@rox.com
Office: 504-520-5164
Cell: 812-391-0818

Fifth Annual Hike of the Lafitte Corridor

WHO: Friends of Lafitte Corridor is a local grassroots group advocating for the creation of a greenway along three miles of (mostly) decommissioned rail line in the heart of New Orleans

WHAT: a three-mile hike down the Lafitte Corridor

WHEN: Saturday June 6th, 10:00 AM (National Trails Day)

WHERE: The hike begins at the front gate of Armstrong Park and continues along the Lafitte Corridor (between Lafitte and Saint Louis Streets). We expect to be crossing Carrollton Avenue around noon, stopping for lunch at Massey’s Professional Outfitters and will finish at Canal Blvd around 1:30 PM.

WHY: Our annual hike is designed to raise awareness of the greenway project and demonstrate the widespread support it enjoys in the New Orleans community. This year we will be joined by Rebecca Leonard and Kurt Culbertson from Design Workshop, the firm recently awarded the greenway contract by the City of New Orleans.

A flyer with map is available here:http://b.rox.com/media/hike-5.pdf

May 17th Program: Coastal Louisiana Restoration: From Plan to Action

Amanda Moore, Coastal Louisiana Organizer for the National Wildlife Federation, will review coastal LA restoration goals including increasing community resiliency, expediting big, bold, restoration projects, and generating funding and political will to move projects forward. She is also the coordinator of the MRGO Must Go coalition and will review the latest developments with the MRGO closure and restoration, campaign goals, and upcoming campaign events.

Meeting is on Sunday, May 17. Refreshments at 6:30 PM. Program starts at 7 PM. All Orleans Sierra Club meetings are held in the Audubon Zoos Dominion Auditorium. Parking is free, plentiful, and safe. Call Charles Pfeifer, program chair at 504-780-8889 with any questions.

To find our meeting location go to:
http://louisiana.sierraclub.org/neworleans/meetinglocation.asp

Ivor van Heerden, who pointed fingers in Hurricane Katrina levee failures, fired by LSU

Ivor van Heerden, the outspoken coastal scientist who led the state's independent Team Louisiana investigation into Hurricane Katrina levee failures, has been notified by Louisiana State University that he will be terminated as a research professor in May 2010.

Read more in a Times-Picayune article by Mark Schleifstein on Nola.com:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/ivor_van_heerden_who_pointed_f.html

Bob Marshall the excellent outdoors editor for the Times-Picayune also weighs in:
http://blog.nola.com/guesteditorials/2009/04/worried_about_funding_lsu_oust.html