Maroon

              SPECIAL MARDI GRAS ISSUE T EM RO N "For a Greater Loyola." ESTABLISHED 1923 VOL. 77 NO. 16 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12. 1999 Loyola University New Orleans m PARADE STAFF PHOTO BY PIERCE PRESLEY Three Scotties pay tribute to Sean Connery and other Bonds during the seventh Mystic Krewe of Barkus parade "007 — To Barkus With Love." Fat Tuesday Tidbits What are doubloons? Doubloons are coin-like, aluminum objects with the parade's theme on one side and the specific krewe's insignia on the other side. Rex first threw them to the crowds in 1960. What is king cake? A king cake is an oval or ring-shaped pastry cake covered with sugar and/or icing. Every cake hides a small plastic doll (usually called "the baby"). Tradition holds that the person who finds the baby is considered "king" for the day — and must buy the next king cake. King cake season always begins with Carnival, on the feast of the Epiphany. What are throws? Throws are trinkets thrown by the krewe members. Throw items include plastic cups, doubloons, frisbees and beads. Street wisdom dictates the best way to get throws is to yell, "Throw me somethin'. mister!" or simply, "Beads!" —Compiled by Mall Mistretta What do Mardi Gras colors mean? The Krewe of Rex chose the colors purple, green and gold for its parade in 1872. These colors were eventually adopted as the official Mardi Gras colors. Purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power. When is Mardi Gras? Mardi Gras is the last Tuesday before the start of Lent, falling between Feb. 3 and March 9. "Mardi Gras" means "Fat Tuesday," the last day to feast and celebrate before the fasting time. What is a krewe? It is the general term for all of the Carnival organizations in the New Orleans area. NO MAROON The Maroon will not be published Feb. 19 because of the Mardi Gras holidays. We will resume publication Feb. 26 Carnival uere WKp* ROBERT TREADWAY Editorial Editor Mardi Gras. a celebration that New Orleans calls its own, is in fact not unique to the Big Easy. The holiday was started in Europe long before the founding of the Crescent City. 'JifiSfc The festival started as an observance of the Catholic Church. In fact, the date of "Fat Tuesday" is decided by the Church and always celebrated 47 days before Easter. ■Mh In 1699, French-Canadian explorers Pierre Ia- Moyne. Sieur d' Iberville and his brother, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, camped out with their crew 60 miles south of the  w future site of New Orleans. In tribute to the holiday being celebrated that day (March 3) in their -* homeland of France, Iberville named the spot "Point du Mardi Gras." 'tSIT Soon the French started celebrating this holiday in the New World. Mardi Gras was observed by masked balls and bawdy street processions in New Orleans as early as the early 1700s. New Orleanians festablished organizations, calling themselves krewes. These krewes put on the first forms of parades and masked halls. By 1806, the festivities had gotten so rowdy that city officials forbade Mardi Gras celebrations of any kind. The festivities were declared legal again in 1823. In 1838. the Mystick Krewe of Comus held pKr the first modem street procession of maskers in carnages and on horseback. In the late 1800s. Rex paraded and instituted the traditional carnival colors: purple representing 5" justice; green standing for faith; and gold for power. Mardi Gras has been celebrated annually since 1838 except in times of war. Fat Tuesday was not observed during the Civil War, World War I or World War 11. Also, Carnival festivities were interrupted in 1979 due to a New Orleans Police Department strike. 'n Pasl half century, Mardi Gras has moved into the spotlight as the city's biggest HKI tourist attraction, making a $923 million economic impact per year — a long way ~"|S£L from the quaint religious celebrations that started in France years ago. Celebrities such as Louis Armstrong, Bob Hope and Vanessa Williams have appeared as grand marshals of larger parades. 1° 1992. an anti-discrimination ordinance by New Orleans councilwoman Dorothy Mae Taylor drew backlash from many krewes, resulting in the withdrawal of superkrewes Comus and Momus from the parade schedule. Since then, the number of parades has increased, the crowds are bigger than ever and local hotels are reserved for years in Jk advance. Parades roll regularly two weeks before Fat Tuesday and draws millions of tourists to the New Orleans area every year.