If you have already received your formal invitation to the 6th Annual DGA Family and Friends Crawfish Boil, you may be wondering why the heck your wristband says "High Water Friends."
Well, as those of you who were at last year's DGA crawfish boil know, the theme for that boil was "Soul is Waterproof." It was on the wristbands, we had some snazzy Dirty Coast t-shirts, and of course Doug gave a welcoming address on the soul is waterproof theme. If you did not get a chance to hear it, it will be track 1 on the CD which will be finished and in the mail soon.
We enjoyed the Soul is Waterproof theme so much that we have decided to give all of the DGA Family and Friends Crawfish Boils a theme, and this year the theme is High Water Friends.
Now, you might still be wondering what the heck "High Water Friends" means. We chose High Water Friends to be our theme this year for a few reasons, but the most important one is that the boil will not be held at Friends Coastal Restaurant this year.
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| It is a shame to see it go |
The DGA Family and Friends Crawfish Boil has been held at Friends Coastal Restaurant every single year. It is traditional. We love Friends, we love the people there, the location is perfect, and Madisonville is charming. We had to change locations this year because Friends was so severely damaged in Hurricane Isaac last year that the building has to be torn down.
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| Category 1 doesn't matter when the thing is just so big |
Some of you may not remember Hurricane Isaac because it was quickly eclipsed by Superstorm Sandy which devastated the East Coast so badly it made Chris Christie give a shout out to President Obama. Well, Hurricane Isaac did a number on Louisiana. Not only was there deadly flooding in the Greater New Orleans area, but the unusually slow moving storm caused such a prolonged storm surge that most of the rivers on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain flooded severely, including the Tchefuncte River which Friends was built on.
Friends took more than six feet of flood water in addition to severe amounts of rain water from a damaged roof, and ultimately the foundation shifted, causing the building to be condemned.
But here in New Orleans Soul is Waterproof, and Friends Coastal Restaurant is far more than just a building. This year our theme is High Water Friends because even though the building is destroyed, Friends Coastal Restaurant survives! We cannot have the boil in the same building this March, but we are sticking with Friends. We got in touch with Tim Reese, co-owner of Friends, and he arranged a temporary location for us just down the street from Friends. He and his staff will be doing all of the boiling, catering, and serving as well.
And Tim gave us some other great news! Friends Coastal Restaurant is coming back bigger and better. Tim and his co-owner have raised funds to completely rebuild the restaurant on the same site! The new restaurant will be larger and more modern, with the ability to host events of up to 300 people! And of course it will be just a few feet higher than the old building.
So this year our theme is High Water Friends because our location for the boil is High Water Friends. This year, 802 Water Street is our Friends away from Friends; our home away from home. High Water Friends is our theme because a true friend sticks with you through fair weather or foul, through low water and high water. The DGA Family and Friends Crawfish Boil is about family and community and the traditions that bind us together and make us who we are as a group. It is about remembering that no matter who we are as individuals, we are always stronger when work together. This year in particular the crawfish boil is about remembering to always be a high water friend.
Tim has assured us that the new building will be finished by the fall of this year, so next year the boil will be back at Friends Coastal Restaurant with enough space for all of our out of town friends to come down to 'Nawlins and have a damn good time!
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