FAIRS, FESTIVALS AND EVENTS

The latest festival and event news from New Orleans and Louisiana

LITERARY EVENTS

Garden District Book Shop 2727 Prytania St. Tom Piazza discusses and signs "City of Refuge, " 5:30. Free. Call 895.2266.

Octavia Books 513 Octavia St. Amanda Boyden reads and signs "Babylon Rolling, " 6. Free. Call 899.7323.

History Ya-Ya Series Louisiana State Museum, Arsenal, 600 St. Peters St. Professor Joseph Frederick Stoltz III speaks on "Spaniards and British and Slaves, Oh My! Organizing the Defense of the Orleans Territory, " 6-8. Free. Call 225.936.4346.

The Jefferson Parish Council chose Coastal Waste Services for its lucrative and politically sensitive garbage contract Wednesday, but it remains be seen how high fees will rise for household collection.

The Mystic Krewe of Shangri-La has announced that it will not parade in 2009 for economic reasons.

LITERARY EVENTS

Octavia Books 513 Octavia St. Book launch, reading and signing for "City of Refuge" by Tom Piazza, 6. Free. Call 899.7323.

Hubbell Library Author Night Carriage House behind the Algiers Courthouse, 225 Morgan St., Algiers Point. Anthony Margavio is the guest author, 6:30. He discusses and signs his book "Bread and Respect: The Italians of Louisiana." Free. Light refreshments. Call 596.2640.

Illustration by Kenneth Harrison / The Times-PicayuneNew web tool allows you to upload your favorite city sounds onto a Google map.

A kid in a nearby park bangs the same rhythm on a metal pole almost every evening. The sound gets stuck in Heather Booth's head.

"It's so specific," she said. "I'm not sure it would speak to anyone else, except maybe the people in a one-block radius. But to me, it's the sound of my neighborhood."

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Toastmasters Meeting Latter Memorial Library, 5120 St. Charles Ave. New Orleans Toastmasters Club hosts an open weekly meeting to hone the arts of speaking, listening and thinking, 6. Call 251.8600.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup Breton Sound Marina, Hopedale. Champion fishing teams from around the country compete in the premier saltwater fishing competition, along with free tailgate parties with music, local seafood, children's activities, sports giveaways, 11 a.m.-5. Today'sevents include a 10 a.m. Mass at the harbor and 11 a.m. blessing of the fleet. Free shuttle buses will be available to take visitors from the St. Bernard Civic Auditorium complex, 8245 W. Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette, to the events, 9:15 a.m.-3. Call 278.4242., www.visitstbernard.com.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup Breton Sound Marina, Hopedale. Champion fishing teams from around the country compete in the premier saltwater fishing competition, today-Sun., along with free tailgate parties with music, local seafood, children's activities, sports giveaways, 10 a.m.-5. Shrimp-peeling competitions, paddle-decorating contests, a Splash Dog competition and other events are planned. Free shuttle buses will be available to take visitors from the St. Bernard Civic Auditorium complex, 8245 W. Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette, to the events, 9:15 a.m.-3. Call 278.4242., www.visitstbernard.com.

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneLynda Anderson posed for the AARP model search Friday outside the Riverwalk.

"Me, a model?" seemed to be the initial reaction of many who walked by a tent at Riverwalk Marketplace Friday (Aug. 15), where AARP The Magazine hosted a modeling search for men and women over 50 years old.

But a few gamely entered the tent, had their pictures taken and wrote a brief statement about why they represent "the face of 50+." The magazine, hosting the third year of its "The Faces of 50+: Real People Model Search," will choose several contest entrants from a range of age groups to win a trip to New York and be featured in a beauty or fashion spread in AARP The Magazine.