How did LARF fare after Gustav?

[Queen Bonnie]

 Hope all is OK???
Let us know! We care!

[Escarlata]

Queen Bonnie, I've not seen any reports yet since the storm passed.

Before Gustav was scheduled to make land, the faire owner posted in his newsletter that they were opening the site for New Orleans residents who wanted someplace close to go early so they wouldn't have to be stuck on the interstate when/if the evac orders came in.

[Jean Pierre Dewell]

 Bonjour all!
On the LARF site this is what rick had to say about the site...

We are happy to announce that the Renaissance Festival site
suffered almost no damage from the hurricane and will
open on schedule on November 1st.

Awsome news indeed!!

[lordwriothsley]

Huzzah that the LARF site suffered no damage from Gustav.I was quite worried about that myself since I have some friends who are cast for the festival.

[UrsulaChandler]

We're all fine and the cast members are reporting in from various locations to our message board on Yahoo.

The grounds suffered minimal damage, as from Katrina. During Big K a stage backdrop was knocked down. It might have been knocked down again by Gustav except that a spring thunderstorm took care of that earlier this year and we haven't put it back up yet.

The Chandler weathered out the storm in Hammond (mundane job is at local utility company and I was on call to report to Little Rock if our office was destroyed) by the light of many sweet smelling beeswax candles.

Baton Rouge was hit bad--on the level with the devastation of New Orleans 3 years ago only without the flooding and the photo ops of people stranded on rooftops.  I don't have any TV yet so I don't know how well the media is covering it.  Reports from coworkers and LRF cast members is that the city is under curfew and supplies are very limited.

Recovery is going to be slower from this storm since the work force is limited due to storms hitting Florida and the east coast at nearly the same time. That's the word from my utility company.

Hammond is a very convenient staging area for recovery efforts in Southeast Louisiana. Hotel rooms may be booked up for the next few months. Guests to LRF should definitely call ahead to check for rooms or plan to camp.

Ursula Chandler
LRF Cast

[lordwriothsley]

So now the question is is "Will LRF still go on as planned in October?"

[UrsulaChandler]

Yes, LRF will go as planned.  I guess people are worried because we are quickly approaching opening day. I'd like to remind everyone that in 2005, the Katrina year, we had yet another Cat 4 storm the last week of September and it didn't delay the festival at all.

You know, we had a lot of rumors in 2005 that LRF had been washed away. I suppose we'll have a recurrence of that this time. Please help me to spread the word that LRF is unharmed and on schedule.

Thanks,
Ursula Chandler

[lordwriothsley]

I'm not a member of LRF but count me in.I will do what I can to help spread the word that LRF will go on as planned.

[Drouzin]

Got my fliers in the mail a while back and left them out and about in Da Parish   Just wanted to thank Rick and friends for the offer of staging for evac return.  It was pretty darn awsome of ya'll!!