The New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to benefit hospitality industry members, produces Tales of the Cocktail annually. Its mission is to preserve the rich history of the restaurants and bars of New Orleans and the unique culture of dining and drinking famous to the city, while educating locals, visitors, and the hospitality industry about this culinary heritage.

The New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society has developed a program for 2007, to educate the hospitality industry, the greater community and its visitors about New Orleans’ culinary history. Save Our Cemeteries will present a course on the history of prominent restaurant proprietors in New Orleans buried in historic Metairie Cemetery. Upon completion of the course, tour guides will develop a tour script on the topic and will provide guided “culinary history tours” of Metairie Cemetery. The New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society will underwrite and promote these complimentary tours during the 2007 event, a collaborative effort by the two 501(c)3 non-profit organizations.

SAVE OUR CEMETERIES, INC.

MISSION STATEMENT
Save Our Cemeteries, Inc., founded in 1974, is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the historic cemeteries of Louisiana, and to fostering a public appreciation for the architectural and cultural value of these cemeteries.

RESTORATIONS
Save Our Cemeteries conducts cemetery restoration work each year as part of its mission.  Grants, donations, tours and fundraisers support these projects.  Projects include restoring abandoned tombs, landscaping, and making capital improvements.  Cemeteries where we have recently conducted work include St. Louis No. I, St. Louis No. II, Lafayette No. I and Valence Street Cemetery.  We also provide tomb owners and cemetery operators with information outlining proper restoration techniques suitable for historic tombs.

EDUCATION

• Lectures - Four lectures, open to the public, are held throughout the year with topics ranging from jazz funerals, to voodoo, to yellow fever.
• Cemetery Tours - Our guided tours of Lafayette No. 1 and St. Louis No. 1 allow the visitor, both national and international, a glimpse into our city’s past.  The participant gains a greater knowledge of the events that shaped New Orleans’ unique heritage.  
• Tour Guide Training - Each year, SOC holds a two-day seminar covering a wide range of topics to educate tour guides in giving historically accurate cemetery tours.
• Cemeteryscape - This event is a juried photography exhibit and sale, with 40% of all sales going to Save Our Cemeteries.  This collaborative effort encourages amateur and professional photographers to focus attention on the aesthetic beauty of our outdoor museums.

CLEAN-UPS
The purpose of this program is to help keep the cemeteries clean and visitable through volunteer clean-up events.  SOC encourages community participation from individual volunteers, church, school, corporate and civic groups.  Clean ups can be designed as three hour or three day initiatives that target certain needs at a given cemetery.  Donated supplies and equipment help SOC maximize the impact of these events.

FUNDRAISERS
To support the above projects and programs, Save Our Cemeteries offers the following events as opportunities for the public to support the preservation of the historic cemeteries of our state:

• Experience Endymion with SOC – Mardi Gras Season
• All Saints’ Soirée - October
• A Run Thru History- November
• Uncorked: A Taste of Canal Place - November