Page 6/At Ease/Thursday, February 18,1988
/Vtardi Gras means more than having fun
By Ashley A. Bailey
Static excitement fills the air as the
magnificent parades approach, and
every face gleams with anticipation as
the Jazz bands begin to play on the
car-jammed streets. It is time once
again for one of the greatest shows in
America.
The Mardi Gras season has arrived
and the partying has begun.
Joey Quinlan, a freshman in the
Corps of Cadets and a native of Baton
Rouge, La., says that he has attended
Mardi Gras with his family since he
was about 2 years old, and it is more
fun each time he goes.
“Carnival is for everyone, and it’s
good for you,” he says. “It’s for
forgetting about your troubles. ”
The best thing about Mardi Gras,
he says, is the temporary release
people get from mental, social and
religious constraints. Being able to
party for two weeks is nice, too, he
says.
The Carnival is not just one day or
one parade. It’s an entire season of
no-holds-barred merrymaking. It is a
combination of nonstop parades,
pageantry, folk drama and feasting.
Mardi Gras marks the arrival of the
fasting days of Lent. As a celebration
usually held in Roman Catholic
countries, the holiday is a way for
people to indulge in excessive eating
and drinking before the strict Lenten
season begins.
Lent is a religous season in some
denominations that is marked by
fasting and abstention. Ash
Wednesday starts the 40-day Lenten
period preceeding Easter, which
represents the biblical 40 days that
Jesus wandered in the desert and
fasted while being tempted by Satan.
But before this religious period
comes a period of festivities, ending
with the Tuesday preceding Ash
Wednesday. In modern times, the
celebrations accompanying this period
is known as Mardi Gras, which
translates from French to mean “Fat
Tuesday.”
In the Episcopal Church, this day is
called Shrove Tuesday. Shrove
means to have heard confession and
give absolution. In Germany, the
festival is called Fasching. The holiday
has its roots in pagan rituals and
fertility rites concerning the coming of
spring and renewal of vegetation.
These traditions, celebrated
throughout the centuries, eventually
became so ingrained in the culture
that it could not be eliminated by the
Catholic church. Thus the Church
began to controll and restrict the
sometimes bawdy celebrations. Popes
sometimes even served as patrons in
order to maintain control over the
festival.
Notable Mardi Gras celebrations
take place in Belgium, Italy, France,
Canada, Mexico, Brazil and the
United States. Celebrations are held in
cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Nice,
Cologne, Galveston and, of course, in
New Orleans.
Catherine Boyer, assistant director
of public relations for the New Orleans
Chamber of Commerce, says that the
floats are paid for and made by their
“krewes.” The term “krewe” means a
band or group, and it was coined by
the originators of the New Orlean’s
Mardi Gras parade, the Mistick Krewe
of Comus, in 1857.
One of the largest and most
splendid floats belongs to King Rex,
the Mardi Gras king, and his krewe,
which was formed in 1872, she says.
Boyer says that the King Rex Krewe
introduced one of the biggest
innovations in the history of Mardi
Gras.
”In 1960 Rex introduced new
souvenir throws in the form of
doubloons, and now they are
collector’s items,” she says. “Some of
the first Rex doubloons are worth
about $2,000 now.”
Doubloons, or coins, are made
mostly of aluminum and are produced
in all colors, Boyer says. Some other
common throws are colored plastic
beads, trinkets and cups.
Quinlan says that getting the
souvenirs is easy.
“All you have to do is yell ‘Throw
me sumthin’, mistuh!’ and the trinkets
start flying,” he says. “Then if you
scramble fast enough you might be
lucky and get some.”
Boyer says that the krewe on each
float funds the throws they toss to the
crowds.
“Each krewe member spends
about $200 to pay for their throws,”
she says, adding that that the money
for the floats and throws is well-spent
because Mardi Gras is a big asset to
New Orleans’ economy.
“Mardi Gras will bring over 1
million people — tourists and
residents — out into the streets of New
Orleans,” she says. “It’s a wonderfully
exciting time for everyone. ”
Student helps A&M celebrate Mardi Gras
By Barbette Foley
Determination has a great deal to
do with success. Some people base
their success on how their actions will
benefit the less fortunate.
Brett Powell, director of Mardi
Gras ’88 which was sponsored by
Off-Campus Aggies, says Mardi Gras
was fun last year, but its goal was
very abstract.
This year Powell wanted to make
a difference by having the profits
from Mardi Gras donated to the
Brazos Animal Shelter.
“Too much money was spent last
year on Mardi Gras, and it had no
purpose,” he says. “This year we
decreased costs, turned a profit and
we supported a good cause.”
Powell, a senior economics major
from Alice, Texas, says he was
heavily involved in high school. He
was in the National Honor Society,
the newspaper graphics editor, on
the golf team and in the drama club.
Powell believes fate brought him
to Texas A&M.
“I had made plans to go to
Baylor,” he says. “I had been
accepted and everything, but I ended
up here. However, I’m very glad I’m
here. Isn’t everyone?”
With such a diverse list of activities
in his background, Powell had
enough “spunk” to tackle the task of
planning the Mardi Gras parade this
year.
Powell has been living off campus
for three years and has been working
diligently with OCA for two years, he
says. He was an Apartment Council
President last year.
“Most complexes have ACPs,” he
says. “We’re like the contact
between on-campus activities and
off-campus Aggies. We keep the
apartments informed by posting fliers
and planning parties. ”
Even though he has never been to
Mardi Gras, he took on the task of
organizing the local celebration.
“This is all new to me,” he says.
“I’m basing this year’s
accomplishment on last year’s
experience.”
There weren’t many major
problems in the planning of Mardi
Gras, Powell says, except the
possibility of rain.
“This year we didn’t have the help
of the Corps because they went to
Mardi Gras in New Orleans,” he
says. “But the hardest thing we had
to swallow was not having the Aggie
Band to march in the parade. ”
Powell says he started making
plans for Mardi Gras in the summer.
He had ideas about the fliers, dates
and time.
“In the spring of ’87, OCA was
looking for a full-time director of
Mardi Gras for the next year,” he
says. “I decided to give it a try, to see
how bad I could mess things up. ”
Under the Mardi Gras committee,
there were four sub-committees,
including the parade, dance, fund
raising and public relations
committees. Powell was a co-
chairman of the parade committee
last year.
“I came to OCA meetings and I
saw the need for help, ” Powell says.
“I thought that helping a local charity
was a good idea. I came up with the
idea of Mardi Gras benefitting the
animal shelter because one of the
workers came to one of our
meetings.
“Also, I thought having the party
at Graham’s was a good idea,
because they play a mixture of
country-western and rock music. We
wanted to make it a more well-
rounded affair. ”
Powell says he had more control
over the committees once he
became director.
“I worked with the fund-raising
committee and the Aggie Beach
Club for the Mardi Gras t-shirts,” he
says. “I worked with each committee
individually.”
Powell says Nancy Thompson,
OCA adviser, helped him
tremendously.
“I think she helped me the most,”
he says. “She was my right arm and
she gave me that extra boost. She let
me run the event pretty much the
way I wanted to. ”
Before Mardi Gras, Powell says
the committee members had a
meeting at least once a week. During
the week before the big event, he
says it took even more meetings and
time.
“Everyday I was doing something
for Mardi Gras,” Powell says. “If-1
wasn’t doing something for Mardi
Gras, people would call me while I
was studying, asking lots of questions
about it. ”
Although he put so much time in
Mardi Gras, Powell says he still did
well on his first round of exams.
“Honestly, this month I spent
more time with Mardi Gras than
studying,” Powell says. “However,
the busier my schedule, the better I
do, and I haven’t missed a class yet.
The only thing I procrastinate about
is studying. ”
After Mardi Gras is over, Powell,
who plans on graduating in August,
says he has one main goal.
“My main goal is to rest now that
it’s over,” he says. “I need a nice,
peaceful break. ”
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nAum aR^s * nAkm aRAs * nAkm bras * rumn • fURfii bras * mar