Green Monkeys visit Texas Road House and Survivor Oak Celebration

Green Monkeys and The Survivor Oak
Sunday September 20th 2009 the survivor oak, located in the field on the corner of bud st. and saul st. was the location for the survivor oak fundraiser concert. The goal of the concert/benefit was to bring together different groups which celebrate surviving against all odds. In the early 1900’s a hurricane knocked over a massive live oak tree which in turn grew a new tree from one of its branches and stands as a monument for perseverance and the indomitable spirit of life that refuses to end.
The Green Monkeys in attendance were John Pastor, Kent Labrey, Jason Doucet, Leah Abshire, Philippe Treguier, Charissa Borque and Johnny Miller. We spent the day in the sun with Frisbee throwing and dancing. The Drew Landry Band was playing their original songs of a easy melodic harmony and the crowd of blankets and festival chairs all swayed to the beats.
It was an amazing event for support and networking of everything from dragon boat racing to trees acadiana. Booths were set up on the parameter raising funds and awareness for all sorts of good causes.
The Louisiana Urban Forestry Council www.louisianaurbanforestry.org
Gulf Coast Restoration www.healthygulf.org grace@healthygulf.org
Le Dock sur le Bayou ledock@cox.net and www.ledock.com
Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise melissa@lite3d.com
Cajun Invasion Dragon Boat Team www.cajuninvastion.org or call Sharon Vernetti @ 337-984-7657
Trees Acadiana www.lsuagcenter.com
Written by John Pastor


Restaurants and the Environment
It was a Sunday and the television was on the saints game. The television had a bar right down the middle like the whole game was filmed from behind a goal post. The green monkeys met at Texas Road House on Johnston street at about 1pm. The place was buisy as usual and we were fortunate that the bar top was free. John Pastor, Johnny Miller, Leah Abshire, Kent LaBry and Philippe Treguier gathered to have lunch and have fun.
Stephen the manager, otherwise known as the teddy bear of the restaurant greeted us with a smile and made sure that everything was well taken care of. He is an unassuming person with a warm smile and not a bit of mean in his entire body. He has been a friend of the green monkeys for many years now. Working in the restaurant industry from adolescence his management skills are fine tuned and he is a venerated warrior of the lunch and dinner rush.
We were watching the saints game the evisceration of the eagles brought smiles to our faces and good times to all. We shared stories with the bartender and she told us about the boots for sale. The boot is a collectors item that you can purchase for $3 with a beer. However the ketch was that the boot was 12 ounces and you pay full price for refills while the normal mugs are 22 ounces. We figured it would probably be in our best interests to go with the 22 ounces and be more economical. We asked about the bar on the T.V. screen and she told us that the owner didn’t want to replace it until it was completely broken. Funny but I can see the point. The t.v. still works.
A sudden sound of clapping happened behind us and we were amazed to see a row of servers doing a line dance. Apparently on the hour every hour they do a cute little version of the boot scoot n boogie. We were so entertained and caught off guard that we started clapping with the crew. I know that pride and humiliation are all parts of any job and some people are hams for attention, but in a way it was kind of cruel. Still it added to the environment and it stuck in my memory. I asked Stephen what that was all about. He said that they do it on his command. Of coarse the idea hit me to have the green monkeys join in on the line dance and take pictures. He winked and said that he would do what he could. After we finished our food the sound of clapping began and came all around us… Stephen, you’re my hero… We jumped up and made the crew laugh at our poor rendition of their dance and had a blast doing it.
I pulled Stephen aside and told him who we are and what we do. He kind of shrugged about the notion that restaurants do anything environmental. Then it hit me. Restaurants produce more than 100 pounds of waste oil a week. All of the food you know and love from fries to chicken wings are cooked in vegetable oil. The question is where does the oil go? Hopefully not in the ground, I imagine. He nodded in agreeance that the oil is in fact recycled. Companies like mallard environmental. These companies do their best to use the recycled frying oil in an eco friendly way. They have huge oil trucks that come behind restaurants to the box called the grease trap. The oil gets transplanted to a huge processing plant where it is processed and filtered. Once filtered it is put into containers and sold. Most common uses are for fuel for lamp oil and also to fuel bio friendly engines.
Remember your fries and chicken wings are all part of the environment and when you eat them you are actually helping to fuel the world around you.
Written by John Pastor