A childhood music memory from Ms. Chocolate about spirituals

Wherever you’re watching the parades– whether it’s out in the parishes, Slidell, Metairie or along beautiful St. Charles Avenue–chances are you will need some shade and respite after a long day of truck floats. Find a tree, have a rest, look around, and enjoy the show. And keep your eyes peeled for the Mardi Gras trees! You know the ones… they glitter like rainbows, dedicated as bead catchers by the people passing by.

In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear the whimsical tale of The Mardi Gras Tree by Melinda Taliancich Falgoust.

“Laissez bon temps rouler! – let the good times roll! It’s Mardi Gras in New Orleans and everyone’s excited – including the little acorn who just can’t WAIT to grow into a great live oak and watch high over the parades. But as the Great Oak says, it’s not always about being the biggest or the best. “Whatever tree you grow to be, just be the best that you can be.” ​An endearing tale of growth and self-worth set against the colorful backdrop of one of New Orleans’ biggest celebrations.

You can order the book at https://www.waggingtalespress.com/picture-books
Melinda, thanks for sharing your story and your wonderful talent with Confetti Park!

In this episode of Confetti Park, we connect with the creative mind of Steven Scaffidi, a veteran of the entertainment industry.

For decades Steven has worked in film and television—writing, directing, and producing. Based out of New Orleans, Steven has deep connections to the industry in South Louisiana, but his work extends nationally as well. From commercials for restaurants, furniture companies, lawyers, etc., to full length feature films, TV shows and gritty documentaries, Steven has a vast amount of experience, connections, and know-how.

Lately, he has turned this experience and wisdom to a new industry—that of children’s book publishing. And Steven has lots of fearless opinions about how to publish books in 2021.

Summertime means road trips! In this episode of Confetti Park, we take a road trip with Papa Dude and his best friend Charlie Crab. They take us on a trip across America, and we get visit some of the most interesting and fun places the continental United States has to offer.

Who is Papa Dude? His real name is Steven Scaffidi, and he is a New Orleans creator who has a whole line of Papa Dude adventures, a character he based on his own father.

Says Papa Dude: “Ya know…I just love good food, good times, and a good story too. Some folks say that I know a little bit about a lot of things. Ha! Well maybe so but I can’t wait to share all that I’ve learned over the years with you!”

Through Papa Dude and Charlie Crabs eyes, we get to visit some amazing American attractions—both manmade, like the Hoover Dam and Mount Rushmore, and natural attractions, like Yosemite and Carlsbad Caverns. As we travel through bayous, beaches, deserts, mountains, and crisscross the great highways with Papa Dude and his sidekick, we think about just how vast and majestic is this country of America. What a great summer book!

In this episode of Confetti Park, Katy Hobgood Ray interviews Valerie James Abbott, a mother whose journey with her own daughter's hearing loss inspired a children's book called Padapillo.

Parents should be aware that hearing loss in young children can go undetected for quite a while. Do you know the signs?

"My daughter Bridget passed her newborn screening test at the hospital when she was born," Valerie tells Katy Hobgood Ray, host of Confetti Park. "It wasn't until she was about two-and-a-half years old—she'd been in preschool for six months—when the teacher said, 'Are you concerned with her speech?' And I said, 'Not really.' Yes, she was using strange words and language but we assumed that it was in the range of what's normal."

In fact, it wasn't....

In this episode of Confetti Park, we hear the children’s book Padapillo narrated by the author, Valerie James Abbott. Based on the true life events of the author and her family, Padapillo is the story of a family discovering the hearing loss of a child.

Happy Thanksgiving! Something we all should be thankful for is that, in this world, there are good people everywhere. Kindness and civility, thoughtfulness and helpfulness, these are qualities that exist in people in every town, city, and country.

Like Mr. Rogers said, “Look for the helpers.” They are everywhere, and we can learn from them about who to surround ourselves with (to feel one kind of joy) and how to model our own behavior (to feel another kind of joy). True friends and true neighbors make the world a better place.

In this episode of Confetti Park Storytime, we hear the tale of “Why He Carried the Turkey,” which documents the kindness of John Marshall, (September 24, 1755 – July 6, 1835) an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 to 1835. Marshall remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longest serving justice in Supreme Court history, and he is widely regarded as one of the most influential justices to ever sit on the Supreme Court.

This tale was penned by James Baldwin. It is a simple story, but it teaches a lessons. You may decide: is this a tale about humility, about kindness, about being a good neighbor? Maybe is all these things.

It's almost Halloween, the time of year when the doors between the living world and the spiritual world are open wide. Soon we will observe Allhallowtide, when we remember the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

It's the perfect time to cozy up to a fire and hear tales of the supernatural. You decide... truth or fiction?

In this episode of Confetti Park Storytime, Kathleen Welch shares with us the legend of the Loup Garoup as found in Acadiana French-Canadian, Acadian, and Franco-American folklore.

Loup garoups are also knows as rougarou in Louisiana, most famously, as werewolves, are a form of night creature.

"The belief is that sinners may be transformed into black bears or dogs, in which shape they wander each night until someone draws blood from them, thereby breaking the curse," says Welch.

Listen in for a spooky thrill!

In this episode of Confetti Park Storytime, we hear about Le Lutin, a fairytale figure and a trickster spirit! Contributor Kathleen Welch shares some of the legends about this hobgoblin who has a knack for pranking.

Le lutin could change his appearance whenever he wanted. So you never know when you are seeing a lutin. But legends say his natural form was a little man with a long beard. He was especially fond of children and horses.

According to the Houma, Louisiana newspaper, "If you’ve ever lost your car keys or misplaced one of your socks, you just may have been pranked by a lutin."

Some stories are darker. This tale of Le Lutin, from an 1870 text from France called The Fairy Mythology by Thomas Knightly, says:

The other legend named Le Lutin tells how seven little boys, regardless of the warnings of their old grandmother, would go out at night on various affairs. As they went along a pretty little black horse came up to them, and they all were induced to mount on his back. When they met any of their playmates they invited them also to mount, and the back of the little horse, stretched so that at last he had on him not less than thirty little boys. He then made with all speed for the sea, and plunging into it with them they were all drowned.

So, how to get rid of a lutin if one of these little hobgoblins is plaguing you? According to Knightly:

"The best way, it is said, to banish a Lutin who haunts a house, is to scatter flax-seed in the room that he most frequents. His love of neatness and regularity will not allow him to let it lie there, and he soon gets tired of picking it up, and so be goes away."

Thanks to Kathleen Welch for sharing this bit of French folklore. She gives credit to The Red Housewife Blogspot.

Hi everybody, it’s Rosemary the Garden Fairy, and I’m here to share fun gardening tips and interesting information about the natural world around us.

Have you ever heard the phrase ‘the early bird catches the worm’ ? For people who like watch birds, the early birder catches the bird!

Between the time the first gray light of day appears and the sun peeps over the horizon, the mockingbirds make some of their most beautiful music. Those who have heard it say the birds are greeting the sun with an anthem of joy. Others say they are singing to mark their territorial boundaries: “Stay off my property!”

There is a great deal of activity as birds fly from their roosts to feed in the cool dawn.

One morning, you should try to wake up very early, with the sun. Go outside into the morning air with your family, and sit quietly.

How many birds do you see? What are their colors, and what are they doing? How many different bird songs and calls do you hear?

“Follow me to the garden! Let’s check out the magic of nature!”

Learn more about bird songs and calls at A Beginner’s Guide to Common Bird Sounds and What They Mean.

Listen to the sounds of the Northern Mockingbird at All About Birds.

Rosemary the Garden Fairy’s adventures and teachings are inspired by Gypsy Damaris Boston and her books such The Rainbow Fairies and Dear Louisiana, Love Gypsy.

In this episode of Confetti Park Storytime, we hear some sweet excerpts from Lucky Enough: A Year of a Dad's Daily Notes of Encouragement and Life Lessons to His Daughter, in the voice of the author Dr. Chris Yandle.