Hey Blake,

I was born in Slidell and now live in Jacksonville, Fla. I miss Elmer's Heavenly Hash and Gold Brick Eggs. Every Easter I run from store to store looking for them. I would like to have a little taste of my childhood. I can enjoy the Sweetheart boxes of Elmer's any time, but I really would like to have just one more taste of the candy I can't get here. I am unable to travel, so I can't come home.

Connie

Dear Connie,

I know what you mean, dear. It's hard to imagine Easter without these treats that have been a New Orleans tradition since 1855. There are many folks who have moved away from the Big Easy and are pining for a taste of home. However, the candy is not available even here all year, only January through Easter.

There is a way for you to get your heart's desire. I have been told that Winn-Dixie in Jacksonville carries the eggs during the Easter season. Or you can order them online. The company has a Web site: www.elmercandy.com. And now that it's January, you can put in your order and the Elmer's Easter Bunny will hop over to Jacksonville.

Hey Blake,

What happened to the remains from the Cypress Grove Cemetery #2 that were found under Canal Boulevard and sent to be analyzed by Louisiana State University and the Smithsonian Institute?

Linda Z.

Dear Linda,

It is my understanding that the remains are still there, either on display or under the care of a curator.

As many will remember, there used to be two Cypress Grove Cemeteries. The first one at the intersection of Canal Street and City Park Avenue was established in 1840 and the second in 1853. However, Cypress Grove Cemetery II has been gone since 1986.

In 1985 there was a project to widen and repave a section of Canal Boulevard and put in a new storm drain. And it was here in the 5100 block of Canal Boulevard that the remains of the old cemetery were discovered. Construction work stopped for a while so that anthropologists could study the site and collect specimens.

Dr. Richard Beavers of the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Orleans was the principal investigator. He and other experts produced a report of their investigation: Burial Archaeology and Osteology of Charity Hospital/Cypress Grove II Cemetery. You can find it in the Louisiana Collection of the UNO Library.

Located behind and to the right of Greenwood Cemetery, the property for Cypress Grove II was purchased by Charity Hospital in 1849. It was their intention to create a new cemetery as it was sorely needed. During the 19th century there were many outbreaks of yellow fever and cholera. The hospital began using the property in 1853 because at least 8,000 people died between May and December in one of the worst yellow fever epidemics in New Orleans.

Cemetery records contain the names of 35,000 people who were buried in Cypress Grove II. Some of them were both Union and Confederate soldiers, but the archeologists believed that the soldiers' remains were probably removed after the Civil War and taken to their hometowns or national cemeteries for their final resting place.

When the project began, some of the remains were moved to a modern city cemetery. Then about twenty anthropologists spent many hours removing bones from 154 coffins. The experts believed that Charity Hospital had arranged to bury the indigent and unidentified there, and this excavation provided an opportunity to investigate an urban cemetery.

Hey Blake,

I am trying to find out where are the streets named Carnation Avenue, Rose Avenue, Violet Street and Jasmine Street. Were any of these streets renamed Franklin Avenue?

Tiffany Stirgus

Dear Tiffany,

There is a Jasmine Street that crosses Franklin Avenue near Gentilly Boulevard, and we have Rose Avenue in Chalmette and Rose Street in Metairie. There is a Violet Street in Metairie and a Violet Street in East New Orleans. And there is a Carnation Avenue in Metairie, but New Orleans has never had a Carnation Avenue. None of these streets were renamed Franklin Avenue, which has always been Franklin Avenue.

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• While there are plenty of streets in the area named after flowers, contrary to one reader's thoughts, none of them were renamed Franklin Avenue which has always been Franklin Avenue.