All FOC Members are invited to the the Cabildo (701 Chartres Street) at 6:00 p.m. (Annual Meeting and Speaker 6:30 p.m.-7:15 p.m.) with Champagne offered before and after to see the newest Louisiana Museum State Exhibit on the Marquis de Lafayette’s multi-day visit to New Orleans in 1826. Along with the annual meeting business exhibit curator Randolph Delahanty will speak on the exhibit. (fb)

Last week’s rum rendezvous in the Black Duck Room at Palace Cafe was a blast! Our thanks go out to the staff at Palace Cafe, Wildcat Brothers Distilling, Marsh House Rum, Myers’s Rum (Sazerac), Old Alker Distillery, Oxbow Rum Distillery, Atelier Vie Distillery, NOËL Family Distillery, New Orleans Distillery, Bayou Terrebonne Distillers, Jean Baptiste Spirits, Porchjam Distillery, and the unforgettable duo Matt Pietrek (The Rum Wonk) and Wayne Curtis (Garden & Gun Magazine) for joining us. We couldn’t have done it without our amazing Gold Sponsor: Bourgeois Bennett, LLC, and our equally fantastic Silver Sponsors: Red River Bank, Villere & Co., Dickie Brennan Restaurants, Terri Romano Marketing, Stirling Properties, and Sazerac Company, who all support the 2025 Rum Rendezvous and the Friends of the Cabildo. Mark your calendars for May 2026! (fb)