Mary Staes

Mary Staes is Digital Content Lead for Very Local. She works with our freelancers and crafts content for our social media platforms and website. Before Very Local, she worked with CBS affiliate WWL-TV as a web producer and weekend assignment editor for about 4 years. She has also handled broadcast coverage for 160 Marine Reserve training facilities while she served as an active duty Marine. As a native New Orleanian, she takes being "very local" to heart. She loves being intertwined with the culture and figuring out how there are less than two degrees of separation between us all, whether we're natives or not.

Krewe of Krampus: Welcome to the dark side of Christmas

By Mary Staes / November 30, 2018

“Krampus knows when you’ve been naughty, and he doesn’t care if you’ve been nice.”

Shopping for those Christmas gifts? Geaux local!

By Mary Staes / November 29, 2018

We know it’s tempting to go to big box retailers and sites for your gifts, but there are plenty of amazing gift ideas from local shops and entrepreneurs.

Help break a Guinness world record at a Supa toy giveaway!

By Mary Staes / November 29, 2018

Social media moguls Jessica Dupart and Wazzam Supa are shooting for a Guinness World Record so big it has to be in the Supa-Dome!

A guide to Reveillon dinners in New Orleans

By Mary Staes / November 28, 2018

The word reveillon comes from the French word for ‘awakening.’

A beignet burger? Disney does its own take on New Orleans cuisine, again.

By Mary Staes / November 28, 2018

Between two circular pieces of fried dough and powdered sugar sits a burger, dressed with cheese, bacon jam, lettuce, pickles and onions.

Get Brunchfaced: Messina’s Airport Cafe

By Mary Staes / November 21, 2018

From the cafe’s logo to the barstools inside the restaurant, the place has a ‘Casablanca’ feel to it.

Local Black Friday 2018 shopping guide

By Mary Staes / November 21, 2018

We’ve gathered up a list of local shops having Black Friday specials so you can start grabbing those gifts for your loved ones.

Want to take a break from Thanksgiving cooking?

By Mary Staes / November 20, 2018

Take a break from the kitchen and preparing all that food for Turkey Day. Here’s a freebie to make it easier.

Know Your NOLA: Loyola’s new studio brings artists like Lil Wayne, A$AP Ferg, G Easy to Uptown campus

By Mary Staes / November 19, 2018

Word is that national artists have been visiting the new studios at Loyola University, built as part of its new degree program in urban and electronic music production. The program is the first of its kind in the nation, and people from across the country are taking notice.

Drew Brees has his own cookie, and it’s the G.O.A.T.

By Mary Staes / November 16, 2018

Haydel’s Bakery is celebrating our beloved QB’s hot streak with a specialty goat-shaped cookie that’s sporting a #9 jersey for the rest of the season.