{"id":59757,"date":"2022-02-21T13:00:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T18:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=59757"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:20:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:20:42","slug":"big-easy-mopar-association-lets-the-good-times-roll-in-their-mopar-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/owners-clubs\/2022\/02\/big-easy-mopar-association-lets-the-good-times-roll-in-their-mopar-vehicles.html","title":{"rendered":"Big Easy Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> Association Lets the Good Times Roll in Their Mopar Vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A common French phrase in New Orleans is Laissez les bons temps rouler <\/em>(let the good times roll), something that the Big Easy Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> Association (BEMA) takes to heart. But for this club, the good times aren\u2019t just about cruising around town or hosting Mopar shows \u2026 they are also about the food that is part of these events. The DodgeGarage team spoke with BEMA President Eric Keller to learn more about their club\u2019s passion for both cars and cuisine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric has been a member for 15 years, though the club\nwas founded in 2001. \u201cAfter going to the Crusin\u2019 the Coast<\/em> with a\nfriend, I decided I needed a Mopar so I could be part of events like this. So I\npurchased a 1970 Go Green Dodge Dart, which I nicknamed The Green Lizard.<\/em>\nI\u2019ve owned nothing but Mopars since. I drive a Ram as my everyday vehicle, and\nI also now have a 1964 Polara.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BEMA\u2019s monthly activities include meetings and cruise nights. While both are used as opportunities for club members to socialize, the meetings are often leveraged for planning the club\u2019s larger activities. Meetings take place at a different local restaurant each month, and the cruise nights feature various food trucks. \u201cWe are centered around food a lot \u2013 it IS<\/strong> New Orleans after all,\u201d Eric elaborated. The cruise nights feature fun for enthusiasts of all ages, including a Hot Wheels race for the kids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Their first big show of the year occurs each March \u2013 The New Orleans Mopar Show. Things kick off on Friday with a tour of the city, which highlights different sights each year. The real fun happens that evening when the club cooks a traditional Cajun dinner for hundreds of out-of-town guests. The meal features fried shrimp, red beans and rice, jambalaya, hurricane drinks, and, of course, king cake for dessert. As if that wasn\u2019t enough food, there is also a culinary-inspired contest each year which could be anything from Cajun food eating to crawfish peeling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Oh yeah, and then something with cars happens on Saturday\u2026 Well, more than just \u201csomething\u201d – 200 Mopar vehicles fill the Frederick Sigur Civic Center. Noted American Pro Stock drag racer Herb McCandless, aka Mr. 4-Speed, is always in attendance as it is one of his favorite shows. Over 500 spectators spend the day checking out the Mopar vehicles and \u2026you guessed it \u2026enjoying some food. At the end of the show, like many clubs, honors are given out. But you will not find any stock awards, no no. \u201cOur members take New Orleans-themed objects like fake alligator heads, shrimp boats or seafood boil pots and customize them into unique trophies that are very popular with our attendees since the awards are so unique,\u201d Eric explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next up, merely a month later, is MoparFest at the Battleship. The two-day event kicks off on Friday with tours of the USS Alabama, a World War II battleship. A post-tour Cajun dinner cooked by the club and served on the deck of ship allows one lucky attendee, drawn at random, to display their Mopar on the deck as well. On Saturday, 300 Mopar vehicles participate in the show, along with music, a 50\/50 raffle, door prizes, food trucks and a swap meet, making it one of the largest shows in the South. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It should be noted that the club\u2019s cooking is so\npopular during these events, they have been asked to take their kitchen on the\nroad and cook for other shows. Members travel to various cities at their own\nexpense. Donations raised from the meals served are given to Children\u2019s\nHospital of New Orleans, which is also the charity supported by the club\u2019s\nother activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the perfect Mopar\/food pairing (crawfish and Chargers, jambalaya and Jeep\u00ae<\/sub> Brand vehicles, Plymouths and po-boys), plan a trip to the New Orleans area and check out The Big Easy Mopar Club<\/a>. The visit is sure to delight your passion and palate. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A common French phrase in New Orleans is Laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll), something that the Big Easy Mopar\u00ae Association (BEMA) takes to heart. But for this club, the good times aren\u2019t just about cruising around town or hosting Mopar shows \u2026 they are also about the food that is part of these events. The DodgeGarage team spoke with BEMA President Eric Keller to learn more about their club\u2019s passion for both cars and cuisine. Eric has been a member for 15 years, though the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":59770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2624],"tags":[547],"class_list":["post-59757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-owners-clubs","tag-mopar"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/BEMA-Header.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59757"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59933,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59757\/revisions\/59933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}