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<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><FONT size=2 face=Tahoma>----- Forwarded Message ----<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Amy Kirk <stjoankrewe@yahoo.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> stjoankrewe@yahoo.com<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Sun, December 27, 2009 8:41:47 PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> MEDIA ALERT: Joan of Arc Parade January 6th Twelfth Night<BR></FONT><BR>
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<P align=center>THE KREWE DE JEANNE D’ARC </P>
<P align=center>ANNOUNCES ITS SECOND ANNUAL ST. JOAN OF ARC PARADE</P>
<P align=center>ON JOAN’S 598<SUP>th</SUP> BIRTHDAY, JANUARY 6, 2010, AT 6:00 P.M. </P>
<P align=center>IN THE FRENCH QUARTER</P></FONT></FONT><FONT size=2>
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<P align=center>Meet at the Bienville statue near The Bienville House Hotel</P>
<P align=center>@ the corner of Decatur and Conti Streets </P>
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<P align=center>KREWE GATHERING 4:30 P.M. </P>
<P align=center>FIRE DANCERS AND MEDIEVAL MUSIC 5:00 P.M. </P>
<P align=center>PRESENTATION OF “MAID OF HONOR” 5:30 P.M. </P>
<P align=center>PARADE ROLLS 6:00 P.M. </P>
<P align=center>(Conti to Chartres, across Jackson Square to St. Phillip, to Joan statue @ Decatur)</P>
<P align=center>POST-PARADE PARTY AT THE GOLDEN JOAN STATUE 7:00-9:00 p.m.</P>
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<P>(New Orleans, LA-December 27, 2009) The second annual St. Joan of Arc parade strolls French Quarter streets again this year on Joan’s birthday (Twelfth Night,) with a new route and some new features, including 16 hand painted wooden swords which will be given out by their selected “Maid of Honor”, a local 16 year old female student chosen by the krewe to lead the parade on horseback as Joan. </P>
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<P>Unlike last year, when anyone in medieval garb could walk with the parade, this year the krewe does have a modest membership minimum fee of $50 to walk, which also gets you into the Jeanne d’Arc Krewe Party and Cabaret on Sunday, January 3<SUP>rd</SUP> at The Bienville House Hotel (the krewe’s sponsor hotel) from 7-9 p.m. For more information on this event, part of the otherwise free all-day Joan of Arts Fete, visit </FONT></SPAN><A href="http://www.joanofarcproject.org/" rel=nofollow target=_blank><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN lang=EN>www.joanofarcproject.org</U></FONT></FONT></SPAN></A><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=EN>. </SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P>Some St. Joan of Arc Parade highlights: </P>
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<P>--GIRL “MAID OF HONOR” LEADING THE PARADE: This year’s parade will be led by a chosen girl aged 16-19 years old (the age of Joan’s military pursuits) on horseback. This year’s Maid of Honor (selected from a pool of impressive local female student applicants; finalists were interviewed by a member of the French Consulate‘s staff) will be announced at the beginning of the parade and will then take her position at the head of the parade route, clad in a faux armor breastplate, white cloak, and carrying a white banner. Midway through the parade route, near St. Louis Cathedral, she will retrieve her sword, in a re-enactment of Joan’s finding her sword at age 16. The sword is a wooden sword decorated with historical accuracy according to Joan’s trial records and will be given to the “Maid of Honor” as a gift. This Joan will give out 16 wooden swords, hand-decorated with ribbons, glitters, and gems, to lucky parade-goers along the route.
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<P>--CROWNING A KING: Joan’s “crowning achievement” was obeying her Voices and ensuring that the Dauphin, Charles VII, was crowned King of France. As the culmination of the parade, a King will be crowned at the Joan of Arc statue at St. Phillip and Decatur Streets. Joan will crown him, and then he and she will assist in handing out King cake in celebration of his crowning, Joan’s birthday, and of course, Twelfth Night! </P>
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<P>--AUTHENTIC MEDIEVAL CART: The only thing resembling a Mardi Gras float in the Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc is an authentically made wooden medieval cart conceived, designed and made by Delgado Community College Building Crafts Apprentice Training Program students. A prisoner Joan dressed in white prison robe and heretic hat will ride the cart along with medieval musicians. You won’t believe the wheels on this thing…wait for it to rumble by…(volunteers are still needed to pull this along the 8 block route….it’s heavy and we need 3 strong men to pull it!We’ll waive krewe membership for muscle!) </P>
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<P>--JOAN’S BIRTHDAY: 598 numbered and krewe-labeled church candles will be given out to parade-goers along the route, signifying Joan’s birthday year. Recipients are encouraged to light these with the help of the Joan for Mayor matchbooks that will be given out…</P>
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<P>--BAGPIPES: Just as Joan of Arc was led into the city of Orleans, France, in 1429 by the sound of bagpipes and 60 Scottish men-at-arms, local bagpiper Bob Grubb from New Orleans Pipes and Drums will lead the Joan of Arc parade, including the very song that was then played in Joan’s honor.</P>
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<P>--MONKS FROM THE MIDWEST: Well, sort of. A group of volunteers from Lake Edge United Church of Christ in Madison, Wisconsin who have come to New Orleans annually each January to do recovery work happened to catch the parade last year and loved it. This year they took the time to visit their local monastery and create authentic 15<SUP>th</SUP> century Benedictine monk and nun costumes to wear as krewe members in our parade! Look for them..and listen for them..they’ll be blasting Gregorian chants from a boom box!</P>
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<P>--NO PLASTIC THROWS! The St. Joan Parade is proud to present handmade and hand-given parade souvenirs thematically tied to Joan of Arc, medieval culture, or French culture. These include: 100 hand-decorated boxes donated by <A href="http://saintsforsinners.com/" rel=nofollow target=_blank>Saintsforsinners.com</A> which each contain:a hand painted Italian medallion of St. Joan, a silver Joan of Arc necklace from Paris, and painted Joan of Arc coins. We will also have 50 handmade magnets of St. Catherine, St. Michael, and St. Margaret (Joan’s voices) hand made by Sister Rita of the local Poor Clare Monastery, as well as prayer cards, paper butterflies, and more. </P>
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<P>--FIRE DANCERS: Three fire dancers from the performance group SINGE will do their thing to medieval music before the parade begins. What else can we say???</P>
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<P>--LIVE MUSIC AT POST-PARADE PARTY AT THE MARKET CAFÉ: Following the crowning of the King, the post-parade party features one hour of music by local French gypsy jazzman extraordinaire Pierre Pichon & his Gypsy Swing Trio followed by one hour of Celtic folk music by lauded local bard Marc Gunn. The bands will play at the Market Café stage behind the Joan of Arc statue, at 1000 Decatur Street. </P>
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<P>-BYOB KING CAKE!….Parade goers are encouraged to bring birthday cake, cupcakes, and king cake to the statue to share with others to celebrate Joan’s birthday, the King’s crowning, and Twelfth Night. This was highly successful last year, with parade-goers--and local bakery Gambino’s--generously contributing all varieties of King cake to share with fellow citizens as a kick-off to Carnival season and a culmination to Christmas, the season of giving! </P>
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<P>MEMBERSHIP STILL OPEN: </P>
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<P>Despite the published member deadline of December 21 (which did result in a troop surge!), the krewe does not want to discourage new members from joining in the final hour. There will be a Last Chance Krewe Countdown membership table set up all day on January 3<SUP>rd</SUP> as part of the Joan of Arts Fete from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Bienville House Hotel with krewe members on hand to take membership dues and to assist with last minute costume ideas (a 12-4 p.m. workshop will be ongoing and free for those who want to make their costume on-site with the help of historians and costume designers). Visit </FONT></SPAN><A href="http://joanofarcproject.org/fete.html" rel=nofollow target=_blank><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN lang=EN>http://joanofarcproject.org/fete.html</U></FONT></FONT></SPAN></A><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=EN> for details. </SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=EN>JOAN OF ARTS FETE ALL DAY SUNDAY JANUARY 3RD: </SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=EN>A pre-parade celebration with panel discussions about medieval culture, a French language workshop, and an all day drop-in hands-on medieval costume consultation and creation session is free and open to the public January 3rd at The Bienville House Hotel. The fete is free but if you want to buy some krewe swag, you can get it in the form of limited edition Joan for Mayor t-shirts, “Proud to be a Maid” and “Proud to be a Bastard” (re: The Bastard of Orleans, Joan’s comrade) bumperstickers, as well as homemade baked goods and artistic items in the Joan of Arc silent auction. All proceeds from the silent auction will go to the krewe’s designated charity, Metropolitan Center for Women and Children. </P>
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<P>For additional updates, visit </FONT></SPAN><A href="http://www.stjoankrewe.blogspot.com/" rel=nofollow target=_blank><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN lang=EN>www.stjoankrewe.blogspot.com</U></FONT></FONT></SPAN></A><FONT size=2><SPAN lang=EN> and join the krewe’s Facebook page, The Joan of Arc Project. To arrange for an interview with the student Joan, or discuss any of the above details, contact krewe founder, parade and fete coordinator, and Joan of Arc Project executive director, Amy Kirk Duvoisin (504) 251-5046 or <A href="mailto:stjoankrewe@yahoo.com" rel=nofollow target=_blank ymailto="mailto:stjoankrewe@yahoo.com">stjoankrewe@yahoo.com</A>. </SPAN></FONT></P>
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