RL Reeves Jr – Writer documenting life in New Orleans 9th Ward. I'm eating 500 po boys at 500 different restaurants, gas stations, corner stores and cafes in New Orleans

Bunny Matthews Day In New Orleans

The Historic New Orleans Collection is celebrating the life of cartoonist Bunny Matthews with a new book and exhibition, Bunny Matthews: His Life, Art, and Obsessions by Alison Fensterstock and Michael Tisserand.

There will be an author talk and book signing, a lecture on the iconic “Yat” accent, and a Vic and Nat’ly costume contest.

Free party y’all.

Sept. 19, 2026, Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres St. in New Orleans

11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Costume contest at 520 Royal St. running 3-4 p.m.

A members-only opening reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. Promises to be pretty swanky as it’s just for the fatcats.

Dolly Parton Memorial Second Line and Celebration of Life in New Orleans

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On September 12, 2026

In Second Line Culture in New Orleans

Dolly Parton Memorial Second Line and Celebration of Life in New Orleans

Dolly Parton had a long and rich history with Louisiana and New Orleans.She recorded her very first single, “Puppy Love,” at a studio in Lake Charles when she was just 13. She rode a bus 30 hours to get there and take a shot at stardom.

Dolly rolled with the Krewe of Endymion in 1988, joining Smokey Robinson and Heather Locklear on Feb. 13 for a parade themed “New Orleans, This Is Your Life.” The after-party festivities included a sold out performance at the Superdome.

Dolly loved New Orleans. Our old town was a bedazzled floozy aunt drunk on sherry wine before the US even became a republic. Now it’s our time to shine with the nation’s only Dolly second line. Y’all come on out.

New Orleans Dolly Parton Memorial Second Line

Dolly Parton Memorial Parade Schedule

4:00 PM: Line up at Armstrong Park entrance
5:00 PM: Procession begins
6:00 PM: Mayoral Proclamation and special announcements at New Orleans Jazz Museum
6:30 PM: After Party Celebration of Life at Blue Nile NOLA

Field Report: 2026 Ice Divas Social and Pleasure Second Line

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On September 11, 2026

In Field Reports, Second Line Culture in New Orleans

2026 Ice Divas Social and Pleasure Second Line

In all my born years I never thought I’d see a social and pleasure club come out of the highly refined and fancy New Orleans Museum of Art. But this past weekend that is exactly what happened as Ice Divas danced and promenaded out of the grand old museum that’s well over a century old.

more to come, super busy right now

Barney McBee Texas Barbecue Goat Sauce Recipe

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On September 2, 2026

In Recipes

Barney McBee Texas Barbecue Goat Sauce Recipe

I had a 20-some-odd-year judging the World Championship BBQ Goat Cook Off out in Brady, Texas. The shootout started back in 1974 with a handful of men trying to raise money for the Jaycees of McCulloch County.

Field Report: 2026 Valley Of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On August 23, 2026

In Field Reports, Second Line Culture in New Orleans

2026 Valley Of Silent Men Social and Pleasure Second Line

It was 108° on Sunday at 3pm when Valley of Silent Men Social and Pleasure began their roll in the Hoffman Triangle neighborhood of New Orleans. We are not sure why the club decided to wait til the hottest part of the day to fire off their parade but it’s their party – their rules.

90 minutes into the four hour second line we tapped out and came home to the 9th. But what a time we had during our brief sojourn uptown. This is what we saw

RL Reeves Jr Recipe For Dry Cured Guanciale

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On August 21, 2026

In Recipes

Grandpa Big Jim Sullivan would’ve considered guanciale (unsmoked, cured pork jowl) production unthinkable.

Field Report: 2026 Satchmo Summerfest Second Line in Treme

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On August 2, 2026

In Field Reports, Second Line Culture in New Orleans

2026 Satchmo Summerfest Second Line in Treme

While the annual Satchmo Summerfest parade is not the official kickoff of second line season that’s what we have come to regard it as over the past decade or so. Along with 9X and Buckjumpers this is our favorite street parade of the year. We rolled upriver to 6th Ward this weekend to honor Louis Armstrong. This is what we saw:

Join Me On Bluesky

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On July 27, 2026

In Uncategorized

Did anyone else migrate to Bluesky after Twitter largely shuttered?

If so please join me.

It might just remind you of the early days of our old ‘town hall’.

Fun, freewheeling, and not a lot of politics either.

Come over and say howdy

RL Reeves Jr

2026 American Cured Meat Championships in Milwaukee

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On July 18, 2026

In Uncategorized

2026 American Cured Meat Championships in Milwaukee

Over the past 77 years cured meat artisans and purveyors have gathered together once a year to crown their kings or queens of ham, bacon, mortadella, baloney, and every kind of sausage under the sun.

In the early days, beginning in 1949, it was just a few dozen men having fun, eating meat, drinking beer and enjoying the camaraderie that comes with being butchers, farmers or rural charcuterie experts.

Bragging rights were at stake.

The Life and Times of the Luzianne Tea Tin

By rlreevesjr2@gmail.com

On July 6, 2026

In Uncategorized

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans) 1941

To tell the story of a brand’s packaging it’s often useful to examine their advertising campaigns from days of yore. I began a recent research journey through Luzianne tea packaging history by examining when and why they shifted from metal tin packaging to paperboard, a thicker, stiffer version of paper (made from wood pulp or recycled paper fibers).