Buy Saving Mr. Bingle Online & Help Save Mr. Bingle!
Saving Mr. Bingle is helping to save Mr. Bingle once again! This holiday season, one dollar from the sale of every copy of Saving Mr. Bingle sold online at www.neworleansstories.com as well as from every eBook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com will be donated to help maintain the Mr. Bingle display at City Park of New Orleans’ Celebration in the Oaks.
“Saving Mr. Bingle is all about preserving this unique cultural icon for future generations of New Orleanians,” says Sean Patrick Doles, the book’s author. “So it’s only fitting that sales of the new eBook will help maintain the display at Celebration in the Oaks.”
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Funds from sales of the printed version of Saving Mr. Bingle have already paid for the creation of a tombstone for the unmarked grave of Oscar Isentrout, Mr. Bingle’s original puppeteer and voice, at Hebrew’s Rest #3 Cemetery.
In 2004, Doles also led an effort that included Char Schroeder of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (site of the original Maison Blanche), WWL’s Spud McConnell and Lauren Brown of MrBingleFans.com to lobby Dillard’s Department Store to return the original Mr. Bingle mannequin to its original home on Canal Street. Instead, Dillard’s donated the mannequin, which had fallen into disrepair, to Celebration in the Oaks. So the mission was ultimately accomplished.
Since the Mr. Bingle display debuted at Celebration in the Oaks in 2005, its ongoing preservation has depended upon admission fees, sponsorships and charitable contributions.
“Mr. Bingle is one of the most popular attractions at Celebration in the Oaks,” says Julie LaCour, Celebration in the Oaks’ Executive Director. “But there is a significant cost of upkeep due to regular wear and tear. We appreciate Mr. Doles’ generosity and welcome all efforts from the community to keep Mr. Bingle in good shape.”
Celebration in the Oaks is open Nov. 25 – Jan. 1. Admission is $7 per person, and children under three get in free. More information is available at www.CelebrationInTheOaks.com.
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011