It’s a good thing we all like each other.. because we sure do spend a lot of time together!  I think the pictures are much more entertaining and descriptive than what my limited vocabulary can express… therefore, scroll down for scenes from the last and final work day! Looking ahead, I have a tres busy week:

MON:   Mandatory Riders Meeting  /  Free load a hot meal off my parents  /  Then home to update blog and sort through Mardi Gras throws

TUES:  Meet girlfriends to see “27 Dresses”  /  Home to piece together Mardi Gras gift bags for friends that are throwing parade parties, riding in parades, or coming to float loading

WED:   Load Beads  /  Centaur Mardi Gras parade at Merrill Gardens (where my Memaw resides)  /  Then go eat with my float

THURS:  Indy Bowl Appreciation Party  /  Home to prep parade party setup**

**I help my friend Dina each year… she sets up on the Parkway).  I supply the stakes and flags to rope the area off.  I also have the  much needed Port-A-Potty lock, the giant Krewe of Castlewood Banner, and the propane grill.

FRI:  Float Loading party (the beads are loaded already and the public comes to get them)

SAT:  *Parade Day* 

5 AM - Head out with Dina to rope off the area where her Porta-A-Potty is.

12 PM - Have a big party until the floats roll.  People are pretty rowdy by the time the beads start flying.  Then come back and have a post-parade party. 

4:30 PM - Parade Rolls

6 PM - Approximate time that our float will actually roll - we are close to the end of the lineup

SUN:  Clean our junk off the float - somebody has it rented and it needs to be clean!  /  Home to SLEEP!

I visited some of my Centaur friends on other floats yesterday.  In addtion to seeing them, I got to see the progress on the floats.
 

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Animal Planet - This float is next to my float.  It is most certainly loaded with neat people!  The legendary plane is now flying over the arctic; it has a peguin named “Eileen” sliding side to side on the top.

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Popeye - This float is down a bit from my float.  It is full of my Indy Bowl friends and their wives (my bunco buddies).  This is the float hat has a rider DJ’ing throughout the entire parade.

Robert and Patricia, friends and fellow float riders, host a Hurricane Party each year prior to parade day.  They serve King Cake, Hurricanes, and fabulous hors d’ourves!  Each guest brings a wrapped specialty bead.  At the end of the party, everyone draws a number and takes a bead.

Robert and Patricia are neat folks and LOVE Mardi Gras.  They met through the Krewe and continue to keep our float group festive.  They have the neatest Mardi Gras room in their house with souvenirs of parades past.  This room features a “Bead Wall”… an entire wall of beads!

All Hail Centaur!  Centaur held its Bal this past Saturday night. 

My friend Karen joined me… she’s a Duchess for the Krewe of Justinian. 

FYI:  At the area balls, it is customary for the Royalty from the other Krewes to attend.  The Bal consists of lots of libation, much socializing, a TABLEAU, breakfast served at 10 PM and dancing!  The TABLEAU is the highlight.  It’s an elaborate, formal presentation of the Royalty. 

 <<  My friend Karen, the Justininan
      Duchess!  
 

Twelve days after Christmas, January 6^th, is “TWELFTH NIGHT”… the start of Mardi Gras season!

In Shreveport-Bossier, all the area Krewes collaborate to throw a large Twelfth Night soiree.  This year’s event was at the Bossier Civic Center on December 29th.  I couldn’t tell you what went on there – I was AWOL.

Actually, I was with about twenty other Centaur members – all of us working together to staff the four Independence Bowl Hospitality Rooms (for players and coaches and VIPs).

We all decided to bring a little Twelfth Night to our guests!  We brought King Cakes and beads… good beads!

I was in the Colorado VIP room which is for coaches and staff and spouses.  I brought a large king cake and tons of beads.  I gave some really big black and gold football beads to give to Coach Hawkins and Mrs. Coach.  I brought some lite-up beads, medallion beads, and even a few raunchy beads.  The staff and assistant coaches were so funny in all their trading.

It definitely wasn’t a traditional Twelfth Night, but it was nonetheless memorable!

Oh yeah!  I was there.  20 rows off the field.  My uncle got three of the best seats in the house - although I would have sat in the rafters if I had to.  My dad and uncle and I were part of one of the greatest days in Louisiana history since the Piano Bar at Pat O’s opened in 1933.

Thank you, Jesus, for (1) my seats, (2) a very convincing win and (3) a number ONE ranking in the AP and BCS polls.     AMEN

One of my favorite people, former Notre Dame football player Jack Lee (a man rarely seen without a Notre Dame logo on), reveals his super-hero alter-ego… “Tigah Fan Man”.

By the way… Jack and his wife, Kay, ride on the Animal Planet float.

Over the past couple of weeks, the members of my float (Gilligan’s Island) and the float next to ours (Animal Planet) have been working on our floats for this year’s parade.  I am including photos so you can see the fun that goes along with the work!  Both floats are lucky to have several engineers riding – they really help with the “special effects” of the floats!I love that we have food and drinks and loud party music and lots of socializing while we work… makes it fun, not tedious.

Bead Design - check
Cup Design - check
Float Design - check
Riders assigned to our float - check

What’s left?  Get our float ready for the parade!  This consists of food, drinks, and everyone working on the float after they’ve had a lot of food and drinks.  Work isn’t so bad if you don’t remember doing it the next day, right?

Seriously, we are fortunate to have a great variety of talented people that contribute to our fabulous float every year.  We have several engineers, a couple of very artistic people, some detail-oriented people, lots of strong people, several that aren’t afraid of heights, one or two that don’t mind creeping underneath the float, and one dude that is brave enough to work on our indoor plumbing.

Our Gilligan costumes came in - wahoo!  I have been running all over the state to various Mardi Gras places buying up special throws so that we have plenty of GOOD stuff for everyone  :-)   “What kind of throws are we talking about”? {you ask}  We try to keep in line with the theme of the float as best we can.

    - Flashing bouncing balls
    - Big flashing whistles
    - Huge sunglasses
    - Stuffed animals
    - Footballs
    - Little visors with animal faces on them
    - HUGE beads
    - Large flowers
    - Styrofoam swords (they won’t hurt anyone)
    - Specialty Beads

Sound enticing???  Come to float loading or the parade and catch some!

Thought I’d share a photo of this year’s royalty.  This is from the recent coronation on August 11th.  The names and titles of this year’s royalty are listed below.

Captain:   Billy Watson
King Centaur XVII:   David Johnson
Queen Centaur XVII:   Barbara Zerrahn
Duke of Fantasy:   Dennis Hebert
Duchess of Fantasy:   Janet Burns
Duke of Food:   Russell Lillard
Duchess of Food:   Lorie Kerns
Duke of Frolic:   Louis Thompson
Duchess of Frolic:   Kim Price
Duke of Fun:   Danny Mullen
Duchess of Fun:   Dena Howell
Princesses:   Abigail Marie Arledge, Calley Douglas, Lindsey Gleason, Brielle Goeders, Piper Sage Griffis, Meagan Elizabeth Lambrecht, Jennifer Claire Nasser, Rebecca Robillard, Ellen Sweeney, Karmon Vines

To learn more about Centaur’s history and rich traditions visit the Krewe History page. 

Membership is open to the general public so reserve a place at the party and on a float today! For membership information, check out our Membership Page.