Friday, February 17, 2012

Ask Elnora--About Mardi Gras??? Lenora Worth

Hello, my little revelers. It's Mardi Gras season down in Louisiana. This is a time of fun and frolic before we get serious about Lent and Easter. Elnora loves Mardi Gras because we get to go to parades and catch pretty beads and bling. Upstate, Mardi Gras isn't as wild and crazy as what you might have heard about New Orleans. We are more family-oriented and not as frantic, but we still manage to have a good time. Big Daddy and I used to go to a lot of Mardi Gras balls when I worked for a local magazine and covered all the social events. That meant dressing up in our fancy duds and usually, it meant sore feet from high heels and dancing. (Or rather, I had sore feet. Big Daddy was smart and wore comfortable shoes.) Now that I'll be moving to Florida soon, I've become fascinated with Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama. It actually started there before it became so big in New Orleans. So I hope to experience Mobile's celebration one day, too. This year, I'll miss out on most of the celebration due to deadlines, the still-bad back and packing for the big move. But that's okay. I've had fun with Mardi Gras for many years now. My only complaint abou the whole thing is that it comes in the middle of winter and sometimes it's just too cold to go out and catch beads! Mardi Gras is full of tradition and mystery and good times and sometimes, a bit of over-indulgence. But the history and tradition of Mardi Gras is never boring, that's for sure. But all this Mardi Gras talk got me to thinking---what kind of celebrations do you have where you live? Festivals, mullet throws, carnivals, county fairs? What kind of fun happens in your neck of the woods? Let's discuss celebrations! I believe humans are always up for some good, clean fun and celebrations are a fun part of life. What do you enjoy when you want to have fun?

15 comments:

  1. I used to live in NH, and there's small town called Deerfield that holds a huge fair each fall. Stock pulling, 4H kids doing shows, craft and floral displays, even a Miss Deerfield Fair pageant.

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  2. That sounds like fun. In my hometown in Georgia, they have a Wildlife Festival in the fall. Art and crafts and good food!!

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  3. I love your photo, Lenora!

    There are lots of great festivals here in Georgia (as you know!). I couldn't even name them all. Crafts, flowers, watermelons. :)

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  4. TOO COLD??? We just had Cruiser Fest in northern WI where all the snowmobilers congregate on the frozen lakes and race each other.

    The only complaint was--NOT ENOUGH SNOW & TOO WARM.

    Don't ask me if I attended. :-)

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  5. I've always wanted to go to M.G. Here in AZ, we're celebrating 100 years of Statehood. Last week Mike and I went to a parade.

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  6. We have the Mule Festival in Benson, the Hollerin' contest in Spivey's Corners, and the Pickle Festival in Mount Olive!

    Those are the ones that strike me as unique at the moment!

    Peace, Julie

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  7. Such wonderful festivals. Wish I could visit all if them. But Lyn, I don't like the cold!!

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  8. A small town near me holds the International Brick & Rolling Pin Throw each summer. The town is called Stroud and so, in conjunction with other Strouds - in Gloucestershire, England; New South Wales, Australia; and this one in Oklahoma, they compete to see who can throw a brick (or a rolling pin for the ladies) the farthest. Is that a hoot or what?

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  9. Linda, that sounds like fun!! Throwing things us good therapy!! Here we holler "Throw me something, Mister!". It's amazing how grown people chase down beads and plastic cups!!

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  10. I have to say Mardi Gra here brings not as good association. here it seems to be taken over by the gay and lesbian sector and they have these big parades in Sydney and some other cities with Sydney being the major city. I had the misfortune of going to a conference on that weekend and some of the people on the plane well the less said the better.

    I have learnt Mardi Gra in ohter places is a celebration before lent and isn't the same as here.

    where I am we have a country show everyo year but it doesn't have the parade etc. We do have a christmas pagent in our town but in the big city they have a big Christmas parade with floats etc.
    Have to say not cold here going for around 98 today. of course for use easter is in autumn.

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  11. I'm oringinally from Portland, Oregon, where we have the Rose Festival each June. So much fun! Lots of parades, carnivals, flower shows, royalty chosen to reign over the festivities, and it was every high school girl's dream to be a Rose Festival Princess.

    Here in New Jersey, we have some fun local events like Kite Day, Apple Festivals, and lots of fun events around Christmas time.

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  12. I live near Milwaukee and all summer there are different festivals on the Maier Festival Park grounds on the lakefront (Lake Michigan). Summerfest is a huge music festival held for one week each summer. Those same grounds are then used for other ethnic festivals throughout the summer. The "fests" represent some of the most prevalent ethnicity groups in the area. We have: Polish Fest, German Fest (those are the two main groups that settled in WI years ago), Festa Italiana, African World Festival, Irish Fest, Mexican Fiesta, and Milwaukee Highland Games (Scottish Fest) and Indian Summer Festival.

    Now that I write all of that, I should take my kids to some of those!! They are Polish and German from me and Scottish from the hubby.

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  13. Carrie, we had that back in Georgia. I rode on several Rose Parade floats but alas, was never queen! Thomasville, Georgia is known for its roses! I think roses speak a universal language of love and celebration.

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  14. Oh, good food and fun all year long! I'd have to eat my way through each one of those, Tracy!

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  15. I'm a day behind but couldn't resist joining in! Several of you have already mentioned Georgia, but I wanted to add a couple of events that happen every year near my home. We live near the small town of McDonough (and also not far from Chick-fil-a founder Truett Cathy's home). Five minutes from my house is Truett's Grill--a wonderful diner that even offers vegetables (in addition to Chick-fil-as)! Anyway, every New Year's Eve they have the great Nugget Drop, to count down to midnight! It's very family-oriented, and that huge "nugget" always looks so funny to me! ~ On the McDonough town square we have a Geranium Festival every year in May (always on a Saturday). There are arts, crafts, food, and TONS of gorgeous geraniums! I love small towns! ~ Blessings, Patti Jo

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