Al Copeland's family is planning one last Christmas bash to cap off more than three decades of plush Copeland soirees and raise money to fight the cancer that claimed the flamboyant restaurant mogul's life in 2008. The fete is Saturday at the Algiers location of Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, 233 Newton Street. The patron party runs from 6...
Al Copeland's family is planning one last Christmas bash to cap off more than three decades of plush Copeland soirees and raise money to fight the cancer that claimed the flamboyant restaurant mogul's life in 2008.
The Al Copeland mansion in Metairie, seen here during the 2006 winter holidays. It was demolished earlier this year.The fete is Saturday at the Algiers location of Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, 233 Newton Street. The patron party runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The gala starts at 7 p.m. and lasts until 2 a.m.
Copeland hosted extravagant holiday parties for decades in conjunction with the elaborate light displays he installed seasonally at his mansion on the Metairie lakefront. The family held a final party there, a fundraiser for Merkel cell carcinoma research, in 2008 after Copeland died of the disease. Then the family donated his vast collection of lights and props to Lafreniere Park and held a fundraising gala there last year.
This year the family demolished the Metairie house and donated many of its materials to Habitat for Humanity.
Saturday's holiday party will be the last of its kind before the Al Copeland Foundation turns to other fundraising strategies. Money raised at the gala will go toward endowing a chair for neuroendocrine cancer research at the LSU Health Sciences Center.
The gala will include food, drinks and music by Rockin' Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters, Sha'on and the Girls with Success and Bag of Donuts.
Tickets ranging from $50 to $95 are on sale at www.alcopelandfoundation.com or 800.401.0401.