Saint Joseph Abbey Retreat

Covington, Louisiana 

June 26 -28th

Immaculée shared her miraculous story of how she survived during the Rwanda genocide in 1994 during a retreat at the Saint Joseph Abbey Monastery.

It’s an amazing story.  Immaculee was 22 years old and home for Easter Break from her second year of college when the Genocide began. She survived by hiding in a Pastor’s tiny bathroom 4′ x 3′ feet for 91 days with seven other starving women.

After reading her book, Left to Tell which is life altering, I was inspired to create a piece of jewelry for her as a reminder of her spirit, mission of love and forgiveness.

The piece is called “Jewel of Africa”, consisting of a silhouette of Africa in gold with a diamond set in Rwanda.

Engraved on the back are the names of her father, mother and two brothers who were killed during the genocide.  I was moved to tears when she turned the piece over and read their names from her heart.

Immaculée shows us how to embrace the power of prayer, forge a profound and lasting relationship with God, and discover the importance of forgiveness and the meaning of truly unconditional love and understanding — through our darkest hours.

Master diamond cutter Gabi Tolkowsky best known for cutting the Centenary Diamond which in its rough weighed 599 carats and is classified as being the highest color grade.

Gabi told me the Centenary Diamond is known for its excellent quality yet another diamond deserved much attention…

…the largest diamond ever cut he faceted… a stone that did not get as much attention the “Unnamed Brown” or the “Ugly Duckling” became known as “The Golden Jubilee”.

In Gabi’s hands it became “The Magnificent Swan.”

JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show

Educational Workshop

Thursday May 28, 2009

JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show

Join Anne Dale and learn how this socially minded independent jeweler developed a unique market niche by creating cause related jewelry designs that raise money, awareness and the spirits of people in need.

Jeweler for a Cause emerged from the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina as a collection of original jewelry designs by New Orleans jeweler Anne Dale.

Anne’s designs include the Facing Autism Collection™, Self-esteem pendant™, the military Star of Hope Collection™, the New Orleans Louisiana Collection, Perseverance pendant, PAUSE pendant and continues to grow with inspired works. Each item comes with a short essay explaining the cause and inspiration behind the original Anne Dale design.

The Jeweler for a Cause Collection is available nationwide through a network of charity associations and retail jewelers while being proudly Made in the U.S.A.

Other Panelists at this JCK workshow:
David Rocha - Jewelers for Children
Russell Simmons - Diamond Empowerment Fund

New Orleans a major port of entry for Sicilian immigrants during the late 19th century like the French Canadians, Africans, Irish, and Germans they brought a unique set of (Italian) traditions and values with them. It is this collective history and heritage in New Orleans that makes up such a rich and diverse culture of people. The Feast of Saint Joseph a cultural tradition that has deep roots within the hearts of people in South Louisiana.

The annual Saint Joseph Altar at Anne Dale’s jewelry store continues the New Orleans tradition while honoring our family’s Catholic Italian ancestry of Ferrara, Catanese, Maestri and Labadini names.

The altar open to any visitor who wishes to pay homage, no need to be Italian, Catholic or a native of New Orleans. Join us and try some great Italian cookies, pasta, get a blessed New Orleans “lucky bean” and enjoy the culture.

In the traditionally of the Saint Joseph Altar in which the food is distributed to charity, a donation box for non-perishable food items as well as a place for monetary gifts, all of which will go to the Covington Food Bank is on site. The Covington Food Banks collects and give assistance with food, clothing, shelter, and other essentials to those that meet the Federal Poverty Guidelines in the tri-parish communities of St.Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington Parishes. 

Saint Joseph’s Day is also celebrated in other American communities that have larger populations of Italians such as New York, Chicago and Rhode Island but it is best known here in the Big Easy. 

KidSense Sensory Playground March 2009

Anne Dale with the amazing LeAnne Cantrell of KidSense the force behind the Nation’s first public-school motor sensory yard for special needs children.

Located in Mandeville, Louisiana between Pontchartrain Elementary and Tchefuncte Middle School, the playground has many purposes.

It is a sensory integration playground designed to help children with autism, ADHD and special needs regain self-control and concentration—and play like everyone else.

The yards are designed with rubber, safety-tile surfacing, making them ADA-accessible. Numerous Braille mosaics also dot the site, large enough to accommodate a full-size “typical” classroom, along with the students from special education classes.

Through the sales of the Facing Autism pendant the Jeweler for a Cause Fund was able to make a generous donation to this worthy project.

Learn more

 Pay It Forward

Hurricane Katrina survivors thank volunteers by keeping of kindness going

Most of us will never forget the images of Hurricane Katrina that are burned into our memories. One such person is small business owner Anne Dale, of Anne Dale Jeweller in Mandeville, La.

Anne and her family were among the millions affected by Hurricane Katrina’s destruction. All of the members of her family were able to escape the devastation relatively unharmed. One of her sisters had to be rescued by boat; another sister had over 2-feet of water in her home, and Dale’s business was damaged by water. She also had no electricity in her home for over a month and had no water for quite some time.

Nevertheless, the damage did not stop them from lending a helping hand to less fortunate members of the community.

Soon after the Hurricane died down, Dale starting dancing with the idea of creating some jewelry designs to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

It started with a lapel pin that she designed specifically to hand out to some of the heroes of Hurricane Katrina, the first responders. Dale said she initially cast about 17 of the pins and drove to a nearby police station to give them to the police chief.

“As I was driving back to the store, I got a phone call from the Police Chief, Peter Dale,” Anne said. “He told me that he had someone in his office and that this person wanted to buy my Katrina piece. Little did I know, it was Dan Akroyd and he wanted to purchase 500 of them. I told him I could definitely handle that.”

In addition to the lapel pin, Dale designed other jewelry pieces to create an entire New Orleans Louisiana Collection, with which she raised over $175,000 in hurricane relief money.

Dale has since established a collection called “Jeweler for a Cause” which features a growing number of jewelry designs that raise money for a variety of non-profit causes. Among the pieces featured in that collection are the “I Believe” self-esteem pendant, raising money for the Vascular Birthmark Foundation; the Silver Star of Hope pendant and pin, raising money for various soldiers/veterans organizations; and her next, which is an Autism piece.

Dale added that she’s been overwhelmed with the response that she’s gotten from the “cause pieces.” “People would come into the store and there would be a line to buy these pieces,” she said. “Without speaking a word, you look at these people that are coming in and you know they’ve been through it, too. It helps with the healing process as well, as people will stop them when they are wearing the jewelry and ask them what it is. Everyone is always willing to share their Katrina stories.”

Because Amy Sins knows the healing power of food, this Hurricane Katrina survivor felt compelled to bring some Cajun cooking to the victims of the 2008 Midwest flood victims.

Sins led a group of 15 volunteers, calling themselves New Orleans Cooks, from Louisiana to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they were able to serve over 1,700 meals, thanks to over 1,500 pounds of food donated by local restaurants, food manufacturers, grocery stores, and residents.

“We had this great group from a church in Pennsylvania help us gut our home and get back on our feet after the hurricane, so I felt like I wanted to do something to give back,” Sins said.

Before Hurricane Katrina hit, Sins, a cooking enthusiast, spent every Sunday evening eating dinner with her mom and grandparents. Sins said she was devastated by the loss of her collection of handwritten recipes, passed down from family and friends.

“The first thing that I went to look at when we first went back to the house was my cookbooks and recipe cards,” Sins said. “The first ones that I was able to locate were just a disaster. We had so much mud in the house that almost all of them were completely destroyed and not readable. I felt like they were more than just recipes, when you consider that they were written in my grandmother’s and great-grandmothers handwriting.”

Another positive thing that came out of Sins’ Katrina experience is her book, titled Ruby Slippers Cookbook: Culture, Family and Food After Katrina.

“One thing about Louisiana is that everyone has the perfect recipe for something,” Sins said. “I would drive around and ask people if they had any family recipes that they wanted to share. I was fortunate enough to get a lot of really great recipes. The experience for me was really more than just about writing a cookbook; it provided me an opportunity to talk about the resiliency and the kindness of the people of Louisiana.”
Lynn Celmer

Issue: Sep/Nov 2008
Section: Best Neighbors

 Source: America’s Best Magazine

Anne Dale
By WGSO
Wednesday, May 07 2008

Rating 5.0/5

A real Southern lady, jewelry designer Anne Dale can be heard Saturday mornings on WGSO’s The Anne Dale Show. Anne is the daughter of famed New Orleans Jazz drummer Paul Ferrara playing with Al Hirt over 25 years and Louie Prima for 2 years. Anne has a rhythm all her own; besides owning Anne Dale Jeweller in Mandeville she has developed a line of jewelry to help people in need – Jeweler for a Cause.

The Anne Dale Jeweler for a Cause Collection rose out of the flood waters of hurricane Katrina with her I Love New Orleans jewelry designs. This expanding collection includes jewelry items for many causes raising money and awareness for people in need. The Anne Dale Jeweler for a Cause Collection is available to over 40,000 jewelry outlets nationwide, Made in Louisiana and has raised nearly $200,000.00 proceeds to help people in need.

Listen in Saturday Mornings to learn more about jewelry design, diamonds/gemstones romance/relationships as Anne offers interesting conversation and interviews with local and national movers and shakers.

Anne Dale is owner of Anne Dale Jeweller in Mandeville, former director of Gem-A USA (the U.S. branch of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain), a well respected gemologist within the jewelry industry, a public speaker on diamonds/gemstones and expert witness for the Internal Revenue Service.

Anne is a past recipient of The Diamond in the Rough by the Association of Women Gemologist, elected to the Republican State Central Committee District 74B, Woman of the Year by the Business and Professional Women of Saint Tammany, and voted Best Jewelry Store on the North Shore in 2007.

Source: WGSO Website

By Chad Ruiz
St. Tammany News

Patriotic.

That’s how best to describe Mandeville jeweler Anne Dale.

While sitting in one of the plush chairs in her jewelry shop at 12 Saint Ann Drive, she cradles a sterling silver star pendant close to her heart as she professes her dedication to the service personnel who have and are serving in the U.S. military.

Tears collect in her eyes when she defines our role as Americans.

“If the decision is made to go to war, as Americans, we are obligated to support our soldiers who are fighting for our freedom,” she said.

To honor military personnel, her latest addition to her Anne Dale’s Jeweler for a Cause Collection is the Silver Star of Hope.

She said the collection contains about 10 handcrafted jewelry pins or pendants that promote different themes, including several New Orleans pieces, a self-esteem pendant and now the newest member, the Silver Star of Hope.

The collection is for a cause, because a percentage of the proceeds from each piece is gathered and donated to various nonprofit organizations.

She handed over the silver pendant while explaining the meaning behind the solid sterling silver star brandishing a bow attached to its middle.

She said the star represents the Silver Star which is the third highest award given for valor to a member of any branch of the armed forces. The bow symbolizes the yellow ribbon which, when displayed, is a sign of loyalty for loved ones participating in the military.

“Some have cried,” she said, recalling some of the emotions expressed when people saw her pendant for the first time after it reached the shelf earlier this year.

She extracted a small slip of paper from the nearby case of the pendant.

“Each star comes with this,” she said, describing a poem titled “The Soldier” written by Father Dennis Edward O’Brien.

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.”

Made in the U.S.A., the can be purchased in Dale’s store, online at www.annedale.com or at one of more than 40,000 retail jewelers nationwide as a pendant, to wear as a necklace or bracelet or as a pin.

A portion of the proceeds from each star gets deposited into Dale’s fund until enough is collected to distribute to an organization devoted to helping soldiers or veterans.

Dale said their most recent donations using monies earned included giving to the nonprofit organizations Support Our War Heroes and Soldiers’ Angels.

Since the star was created, Dale has received an autographed picture and thank you letter from First Lady Laura Bush.

Dale said they have sold nearly 300 stars to date and average five to 10 purchases per day.

Source:

Saint Tammany New 4/30/08 

Join us in a celebration of a great

New Orleans Italian Tradition

* Anne Dale Jeweller will be closed for business on this Saturday 

Your voice has been heard. Your votes for favorite Northshore people, businesses, places and services have been tallied for Sophisticated Woman’s 2007 Northshore’s Best survey.

The results are featured in a special pull-out section of Sophisticated Woman’s April 2008 issue.

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