Category: Podcast

Music Medley: Holes
Confetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.

This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:
- Iko, Iko – Buckwheat Zydeco
- Katrina! Katrina! – Mr. Michael’s Class
- The Lady is a Tramp – Jeremy Davenport
- Yellow Submarine – Papa Grows Funk
- Alligator Annie – Cajun Ron Black Guidry
- New Orleans, My City – a poem by Lily Bell
- Dors Dors – Megan Brown & Daniel Gale
The Confetti Park radio show and podcast, hosted by Katy Hobgood Ray, features music and stories spun in Louisiana. It showcases songs that kids love, songs created for kids, and songs created by kids. Sparkling interviews, in-studio performances, delightful music medleys, jokes, local author storytime, and a little surprise lagniappe make for an entertaining show!
Storytime: The Fifolet by Johnette Downing

The Fifolet by Johnette Downing

In this edition of Confetti Park, we have a very special reading by Louisiana children’s author Johnette Downing. This is a narration of her new book, The Fifolet.

The fifolet (or feufollet) is a very spooky Louisiana legend that appears frequently in Cajun and Houmas Indian folklore. The say that the fifolet are swamp spirits making lights deep in the swamps…… Great big eerie balls of light, that seem to float above the water, and beckon the watcher to follow! Interestingly, this kind of legend appears not just Louisiana culture, but around the world. (Ever heard of the will o’ the wisps in Europe or ghost lights in Japan?)

Different explanations blame supernatural spirits, or mischievous elves and fairies, or even the lost souls of pirates guarding lost treasures in the swamp. And some people say it’s nothing but phosphorescent swamp gas making the blue fire.

In her book, which was illustrated by Jennifer Lindsley, Johnette Downing tells about the fifolet through the experience of fisherman Jean-Paul Pierre, who has his heart set on finding the fifolet’s buried treasure.

“Through cypress trees and beards of moss, there is a fire spirit that you never want to cross. It will tease you and coax you and draw you near, but all the Cajuns know that you better beware.”

Worth noting is that the music to this story was also written and performed by Johnette. The music is actually from a song about another swamp creature known in Louisiana: the loup garoup, featured on her CD From the Gumbo Pot.
Music Memory from Annie Hardy Calais

Annie Hardy Calais of Cecilia, La.

Annie Hardy Calais was born in 1927 in rural Southwest Louisiana. She recently shared many true stories of her childhood growing up in Cajun Country with Confetti Park. Here is a great music memory:

“When I was 8 or 9 years old, I loved music….my niece had a radio at her home, but we had no electricity, so I had no music in my home, except for mom, who had a beautiful voice, and we’d sing at night.

But still, I wanted some radio music…. I heard music coming from a potato shed where men worked, and they had a radio on…. and I remember studying in science that water helped sound. So we had an old hand pump nearby, and an old washtub….”

What a clever, creative student!
Music Medley: Crawfish Holes

Confetti Park is a community radio program and podcast out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.   This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:

Wishing To Go Crawfishin’ – Terrance Simien
Old Dan Tucker – Jeremy Lyons
Love Bug – Johnette Downing
Wobble Cha – Los Po-Boy-Citos
The Shark and the Fish – Louis Ray
Pretty Purple Possums – Angela Mannino and the Louisiana Pollywogs
Bridge Street Lullaby / Lac Martin – David Greely, Joel Savoy & Sam Broussard

The Confetti Park podcast, hosted by Katy Hobgood Ray, features music and stories spun in Louisiana. It showcases songs that kids love, songs created for kids, and songs created by kids. Sparkling interviews, in-studio performances, delightful music medleys, jokes, local author storytime, and a little surprise lagniappe make for an entertaining show! We also broadcast weekly on WHIV 102.3 FM in New Orleans and KSLU 90.9 FM in Hammond.
Storytime: The Little WHO DAT Who Didn’t by Alex McConduit

Hey Saints fans! Football season is here! And we have a very special book to celebrate.

In this episode of Confetti Park, Alexander Brian McConduit narrates his original story, The Little WHO DAT Who Didn’t, which is all about one little boy’s love/hate relationship with his favorite team.

The book takes you through the Saints’ amazing Superbowl season and tries to put into words what THAT season was like through the eyes of Buddy.

All of the characters are named after Saints players & figures, pre & post. Follow Buddy, his family, friends & the city of New Orleans as we relive one of the most memorable times the citizens of New Orleans have ever seen.

The story is scored with accompaniment by the Confetti Park Players, a kids chorus based in Algiers.

Thank you Alex for reading The Little WHO DAT Who Didn’t for Confetti Park! What an emotional rollercoaster that season was—and so is this book!

You can buy the book at Amazon.com. Learn more about Alex and his other children’s books at http://bigbootbooks.com/about/.

And check out Alex reading Thorn in My Horn and Snoballs for All for Confetti Park.

Thorn in My Horn by Alex McConduit

Snoballs for All by Alex McConduit
Music Memory from organist Louis Mayer

Louis Mayer playing a Golding and Woods pipe organ at First English Lutheran Church in Metairie.

Louis Mayer has been a church organist for over 45 years. From a very young age, Louis had a fascination and love for organs.

In this Music Memory for Confetti Park, Louis, who grew up in New Orleans, recalls taking piano lessons at Werlein’s Music Store at 605 Canal St. (today the site of Palace Cafe) and how happy he was whenever he got to view the organs. Says Louis:

“When I was eight years old, Saturday mornings my mother would take me to Werlein’s on Canal Street. A lot of times it was like dragging me…..but if I did well, my music teacher would take me up to the 5th floor of Werlein’s, where they had the organs. And that was the greatest thing for me, to be able to play on those organs. I wasn’t big enough to reach the pedals.”

Today, Louis is the organist and choir director at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Slidell (his instrument there there is an electronic Allen organ). In the photo at left, he is playing a Golding and Woods pipe organ at First English Lutheran Church in Metairie.

Thank you, Louis, for sharing this childhood music memory!
Storytime: T-Boy & the Terrible Turtle by Mel Lecompte, Jr.

T-Boy was just a Louisiana kid. One with a terrible turtle that ran away! Oh yes, he did… but exactly where did that pet run off to?

Mel LeCompte, Jr. narrates his original story, T-Boy and the Terrible Turtle, a delightful adventure that doubles as a fun geography lesson of the Bayou State, for Confetti Park!

In T-Boy and the Terrible Turtle, Mel keeps track of T-Boy as he searches along the state looking for clues of where his darn pet turtle went! North, south, east, and west our protagonist travels, looking for the runaway reptile in Louisiana’s largest of cities and smallest of towns, gathering interesting tidbits about the places he visits along the way.

Mel, who lives in Westwego today, has traveled all over Louisiana, and spent many years living in Natchitoches and Prairie Ronde. Mel is an award-winning journalist/ editorial cartoonist (Associated Press/ Louisiana Press Association), children’s entertainer, and social studies educator. He has written several other books, including another children’s book called The Ice Cream Cow, a bedtime reader for little ones.

You can purchase T-Boy and the Terrible Turtle on Amazon.

Learn more about Mel’s creative projects at https://www.facebook.com/TheTerribleTurtle
Music Medley: Frogsy Wogsy
Confetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians.

Songs featured in this episode, in order:
- Go to Camp – Ph Fred
- Jambalaya (On the Bayou) – Papillon
- Froggy Went a Courtin – The Radiators
- Little Red Caboose – Buckwheat Zydeco
- Hush Little Mockingbird – Nancy Tabb Marcantel
Confetti Park is a children’s media workshop, podcast, and weekly radio program based out of New Orleans. We gather and tell stories, through music, art, puppetry, animations, and more. We are particularly inspired by the unique culture of Louisiana.

The Confetti Park podcast, hosted by Katy Hobgood Ray, features music and stories spun in Louisiana. It showcases songs that kids love, songs created for kids, and songs created by kids. Sparkling interviews, in-studio performances, delightful music medleys, jokes, local author storytime, and a little surprise lagniappe make for an entertaining show!
Music Memory from Cynthia Girtley

Cynthia Girtley is a wonderful traditional gospel singer from New Orleans

Cynthia Girtley is a well-known gospel singer and music minister in New Orleans. Raised in a family with strong spiritual beliefs and church traditions, Cynthia started singing at age three and joined her church’s gospel choir when she was four.

In this music memory, Cynthia talks about how it was that she came to be a church singer at such a very young age!

If you’d like to listen to more of her music, check out A New Orleans Tribute to Mahalia Jackson and It’s In My Heart on CDBaby.

Confetti Park is a children’s media workshop, podcast, and weekly radio program based out of New Orleans. We gather and tell stories, through music, art, puppetry, animations, and more. We are particularly inspired by the unique culture of Louisiana.

The Confetti Park podcast, hosted by Katy Hobgood Ray, features music and stories spun in Louisiana. It showcases songs that kids love, songs created for kids, and songs created by kids. Sparkling interviews, in-studio performances, delightful music medleys, jokes, local author storytime, and a little surprise lagniappe make for an entertaining show.
Storytime: Childhood in 1920s Cajun country

Storytime: Childhood in 1920s Cajun Country
Vignettes from Annie Hardy Calais

Annie Hardy Calais of Cecilia, La.

“My name is Annie Hardy Calais. I was born on July 26, 1927… The year of the great flood, the same day as St. Ann, that is the day of her feast.”

So begins this lovely memoir of Annie Hardy Calais, who shares many true stories of her childhood growing up in Cajun Country in Louisiana.

Annie, who lives in Cecilia today, was the youngest of 12 children of French descent. Deeply devoted Catholics, the family was large and loving, and the family remains close today. They extend throughout Acadiana.

Annie shares memories of her beloved mother, her tante (Cajun term for aunt) who lived with them, and the adventures of her brothers and sisters growing up in rural Louisiana in the 1920s and 1930s. One memory brings a chuckle:

“After our old house was flooded in 1927, the floorboards constricted. The planks were left with big cracks between each. When we looked down at this floor, we could see the chickens, the dogs, and the cats walk past. Mama gave each child a can of corn kernels, to drop the corn through the cracks and feed the chicks. The grandchildren loved it.”

Annie has a remarkable memory, and clearly has always had a gift for recognizing the beauty in the mundane—even as a small child. Her childhood memories of life in rural Louisiana are endearing and enrich our own understanding of this unique place.

Thank you, Annie, for sharing your wonderful stories on Confetti Park.
Music Medley: Counting Things

1, 2, 3, 4, 5….10! Counting things!

Confetti Park is a community radio program out of New Orleans. We feature local storytellers and songs that kids love, songs created for kids, or created by kids, right here in Louisiana.  This medley of kids music shows the diversity of Louisiana musicians. Songs featured in this episode, in order:

Kick Rocks – Wardell Quezergue
Twenty Bees – Johnette Downing
Ten Green Bottles – Jeremy Lyons
Frere Jacques – Swing Setters
Hey Little Girl – Jason & Layla
Walking in the Woods with my Parrain – Cajun Ron Black Guidry
Storytime: Kiko & Kevin by Debbie Hardy LaGrange

Kiko and Kevin, illustrated by Marguerite S. Hardy

Debbie Hardy LaGrange of Arnaudville, La., narrates this original trilogy about the adventures of a Louisiana dog named Kiko.

Told in playful rhyme, this is a story that delivers the tough message that life isn’t always a perfect picnic. But, with a little help from our friends, we can abide! The messengers are Kiko, a black lab, and her friend Kevin, a precocious eight-year-old who is obsessed with costume changes.

Kiko in the Country
Kiko in the City
Kiko Gets Her Cake

Debbie Hardy LaGrange is a native of Arnaudville, and says she writes for the pure joy of it! These stories are based on the real life adventures of her friend Kevin, an artist who lives in New Orleans today.

Kiko sees a streetcar, illustrated by Marguerite S. Hardy