Confetti Park Children's Workshop

Tag: louisiana

  • Music Memory from Annie Hardy Calais

    Music Memory from Annie Hardy Calais

    Annie Hardy Calais of Cecilia, La.
    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

    Music Medley: Crawfish Holes

    Crawfish CartoonConfetti 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 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

    Storytime: The Little WHO DAT Who Didn’t by Alex McConduit

    Who Dat who didn'tHey 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.

  • Music Memory from organist Louis Mayer

    Music Memory from organist Louis Mayer

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

    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?

    T-Boy and the Terrible TurtleMel 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

    Music Medley: Frogsy Wogsy

    Frog and flyConfetti 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 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

    Music Memory from Cynthia Girtley

    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 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

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

    Annie Hardy Calais of Cecilia, La.
    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

    Music Medley: Counting Things

    Let's count apples!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

    Storytime: Kiko & Kevin by Debbie Hardy LaGrange

    Kiki and Kevin, illustrated by Marguerite S. Hardy
    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
    Kiko sees a streetcar, illustrated by Marguerite S. Hardy
  • Interview: Rich Collins of The Imagination Movers

    Interview: Rich Collins of The Imagination Movers

    Imagination MoversIn this episode of Confetti Park, Katy Ray interviews Rich Collins of the Imagination Movers. The Imagination Movers are one of the most famous kids’ music bands in the world, and they hail from New Orleans!

    From their website: “In 2003, four New Orleans friends – Rich Collins, Scott Durbin, Dave Poche and Scott “Smitty” Smith – had an idea. They thought kids wanted and deserved music that spoke to them, not down to them. So, they started gathering after their kids’ bedtimes to write songs and brainstorm ideas about a children’s television show. Two years later, they had become the latest sensation of their musical city, attracting parents and children alike with an eclectic pop sensibility and lyrical turns about healthy snacks and playing catch and conquering childhood fears of bedtime. Lines to the Movers’ shows stretched for blocks.”

    Today, the Imagination Movers are ranked as the No. 1 rated major touring act for families, according to Ticketmaster. They’ve embarked on several world tours, have recorded nine albums, partnered with Disney on an Emmy-winning show, and now, they have another animated show in the works!

    Rich CollinsRich is the drummer (and the Scribble Sticks master!) in the television show. In real life, he is a super multi-instrumentalist and a great songwriter. Rich has a recording studio in his house where lots of the group’s brainstorming happens.

    Rich is a father of five children, and tells Katy about how the songs he and fellow Movers write are evolving as their kids are growing up. In their newest album just released this year, called Licensed to Move, the songs address such sophisticated topics as line cutters, messy rooms, and fingers coated in snack powder.

    Licensed to MoveRich points out that this album is also very high energy!

    “It is a rowdy record,” he says. “We’ve made probably 190 songs over the last eleven years and I don’t think any collection of music has been this energetic!”

    Rich also discusses the animated television show “Super Movers” currently in development with Toronto-based 9 Story Media Group. The series is tentatively scheduled for a 2016 debut.

    Listen to the full interview, full of musical treats, on this free podcast.

  • Music Medley: Stars & Stripes & Crabs

    Music Medley: Stars & Stripes & Crabs

    CrabConfetti 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: