On January 6th 2020, at 7:30PM The Societé des Champs Elyseé will make its fourth Twelfth Night ride on the still new Saint Claude, Rampart & Loyola line. The festivities begin at CARNAVAL at 5PM with a performance by the White Star Line Orchestra led by Catie Rodgers. At 7PM, there will be a short second line to the Elysian Fields street car stop, led by the Elysian Brass Band and Big Chief Kevin Goodman & The Flaming Arrows,. Following a ride across Canal, past the Dome to Union Station, and all the way back to the end of the line at Elysian Fields, there will be a short perambulation back to CARNAVAL for a Masked Ball with music by Gina Forsyth’s Mid City Aces, and appearances by Dancing Man 504, and Al Johnson.
This year’s theme is Titanic!, for the Gods that dwell on the Elysian Fields are the Titans.
Reigning as Oceanus & Tethys, the water gods, for Carnival 2020 are Joann & Lisa Guidos, who love nothing better than a seagoing cruise ship.
Born in the Chicago suburbs, Lisa spent her formative years in Arkansas, graduating from the State University, after which, she married, and joined the Navy where she taught at the nuclear power school, went to North Pole, helped build 2 new nuclear subs in Groton, CT and ended her service in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. After retiring, she returned to Arkansas where she earned a BA in Sociology, and a Bachelor of Nursing Science.
She transitioned in 2006 and moved to New Orleans where she met and married Joann Guidos
Joann was born in Chincoteague, VA and moved to Metarie near Lake Pontchartain, spending hours with her brother fishing, crabbing, and exploring the “wilds” of Bucktown, where she attended St Louis King of France Elementary School. She played football and ran track at Cor Jesus (now Brother Martin), earned her BS in Math at USM where she married, and had son and a daughter. She owned 2 Hallmark stores in New Orleans, installed medical equipment, and worked as video poker tech. In 1999 she bought a building on St Claude, and began transitioning the seedy block in to a safe welcoming area. This was followed by her own transition in 2001. Kajuns Pub opened December 2004 and, famously stayed open during Katrina.
This is an excerpt from the New Yorker article which led to the book, musical, and recording, “9 Lives”
“A big, tough-looking woman was obviously the one in charge. She introduced herself as JoAnn Guidos, and even in these extreme circumstances she was wearing makeup and painted nails. She also had a .38 revolver jammed in the back of her jeans and a long-barreled shotgun standing nearby. She served me an ice-cold can of Pabst and asked me for a dollar.
A dollar!” I cried. “You could be charging twenty dollars!” Finding tepid tap water was a challenge. Ice-cold beer was the elixer of the gods.
“I ain’t takin’ advantage,” JoAnn responded in the peculiar New Orleans accent that is much more Sopranos than Gone With the Wind. “And I ain’t leavin’ my people. They got no place else to go and I’m not leavin’ ‘em.” She walked off to attend to the generator.
“JoAnn’s something, ain’t she?” the guy on the next barstool said. “She’s got all those guns and she’s telling the cops fuck you and she’s taking care of all these people and you know what? She’s got a dick.”
“Yeah, but these are real!” JoAnn called from across the room, taking her large breasts in both hands. “Forty-two double-D! I got good genes. I got the hormone therapy all done but just ain’t had the time or the money for the surgery!”
This Spring, Joann & Lisa, and our 2019 King & Queen, Matthew & Jennifer Hobaugh Johnson, bought Siberia Lounge and have turned a once dark rock club in to the extremely colorful Brazilian themed restaurant, Carnaval, www.carnavallounge.com for nightly live music, dining, and dancing. They have christened the back dining room the Champs Elysee Room in honor of the Krewe. The room is decorated with costumes, memorabilia, posters, and photos of the Societé’s past royals and soireés. The Champs Elysee Room is used for Krewe events and is available for private booking, but is otherwise open to Carnaval patrons.
SdCE is proud to support two churches on our street car route, Saint Mark’s and Saint Augustine’s, and their good works feeding the poor and hungry of the neighborhood, and the Amazon Benevolent Society’s work with women doing the cancer dance.
A few memberships seats are available. Tickets for the ball are $20 at the door. Costume and mask required.
For more information Captain David Roe @ (504) 525-1973
http://rhrphoto.samexhibit.com/sdce-2018 http://www.rhrphoto.com/carnival-2019
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClvwcjhXIT8&t=60s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5kOd9nhUYI&list=PLvXUU5sx-EcY9vn3H3hI0BQjStmPgqkad&index=36&t=579s