Gretna

Shout out to Shreveport, Louisiana.

We were marching at a Gretna parade and it was 12 miles.

So that was a lot for me as a high schooler freshman.

And then you and I did a walk for MS that was 10 miles.

So there's Orleans Parish that houses the city of New Orleans and the French Quarter and everything people know of, think of when they picture the city of New Orleans.

I live right on the line in Jefferson Parish in a city called Gretna, Louisiana.

I live in a little historic district.

It's very New Orleans-like.

Mel has a lifetime batting average of .316, and has batted in more than his share of runs for the Giants.

Born in Gretna, Louisiana, bats left and throws right.

Playing left field for the National League team this afternoon, Joe Medwick of St. Louis.

Wherever Ducky Medwick has a good day for the St. Louis Cardinals either at batter or field, the folks back in Cataract, New Jersey get that satisfied look on their faces.

It is a night blooming cirrus.

It's been in my family since the mid 1950s on my grandmother's porch in Gretna, Louisiana.

And it's a family heirloom plant.

And I have a cutting of a cutting.

The city itself seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the next scream to shatter the silence.

And in March 1919, a scream would come, not in New Orleans, but across the river in Gretna, where an entire family would become the Axeman's next victims.

The Massacre in Gretna.

By the spring of 1919, the Axeman had become more than a murderer.

He had evolved into a nightmare, whispered about in boarding houses, grocery stores, and police stations throughout southeast Louisiana.

Every unexplained noise after dark sent families reaching for lamps, firearms, or prayer books.

Then, during the early hours of March 10, 1919, the killer crossed the Mississippi River into Gretna.

Charles Cortemiglia, his wife Rosie, and their two-year-old daughter Mary slept peacefully inside their modest home on Jefferson Avenue.

George and Irene Sr., they probably would have never have met, but she traveled from Savannah to New Orleans to take in the sights.

Before Irene Sr. could even finish her trip, the two had hopped over to Gretna, Louisiana and had a quick civil marriage ceremony.

Irene's tales of her childhood would hint at a life lived, in her words, on the edge of respectability.

This was part of her persona.

Mel has a lifetime batting average of .316, and has batted in more than his share of runs for the Giants.

Born in Gretna, Louisiana, bats left and throws right.

Playing left field for the National League team this afternoon, Joe Medwick of St. Louis.

Wherever the Ducky Medwick has a good day for the St. Louis Cardinals either at batter or field, the folks back in Cataract, New Jersey get that satisfied look on their faces.