Carnival expert explains thesignificance of ourbiggest celebration
Arthur Hardy has forgotten more about Carnival than most peoplewill ever know.Such is thedepth of knowledge, and the passion, ofa New Orleans-born boy whose fascination with our signature celebration began sometimeduring theEisenhowerAdministration.
ACarnival buff myself, I’ve followedArthur sincemyown youth. Hisfirst Mardi Gras Guide was published in 1977 andmyfirst copy of themagazinewound up in my hands only afew years later.Tothis day release dateofArthur Hardy’s Mardi Gras Guide remains among themost-anticipated events of my year These days —with me afew years past the half-century mark andhenearing 80 —we make it apoint to meet regularly to talk about any old thing, Carnival included.
Here’sone such conversation, held only days after aterrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleansleft 14 dead and dozens more injured. It was amuch more sober conversation than mostwe’ve enjoyed in thepast, but we both found rays of hope, and happiness, piercing through thepallor of the particular day
FARMER: How is the greatest free show on Earthgoing to be impacted by this horrible attack, Arthur,, even though it had nothing to do withCarnival?
When the city received aTier 1rating, meaning you’re apossible target forterrorists, you’ve requested the highest level of protection from the federal government that you can get.
HARDY: Theeffects will be very long-lasting and very dramatic. The question in New Orleansis“Who’sincharge?”
The good newsisall kinds of resources will be brought to bear bomb-sniffing dogs, drones, etc. How do you makethe parade route safer? There wastalk of having only one parade route, but that’sapparently not going to be the case. But you know the discussions are going to continue. And frankly, Ithinkthere are manymore questions than answers right now Certainly,noone is saying
“Tohell with safety.Don’tmess with my parade.” But everyone is asking how much safer CAN you makeit? We’ve been doing this since 1857 and with remarkably fewincidents. We had the drunk driver that ran into the crowd at Endymion a fewyears ago. But other than that, there has been no other major incident Iknow of that was anywhere near what happened on Bourbon Street on New Year’sDay Have we been lucky? Yes, but Idon’tthink it’spossible to makethis celebration completely safeorfoolproof Youand Ihavetalked about this a hundredtimes —anyonecan throw a parade,haveMardi Gras. Manyhave tried.Very fewhavesucceeded.And no onereally comes close in this country to the largesse of what south Louisiana
PHOTOSBYGRANT THERKILDSEN
Ribbons of Hope
ABOVE: Libba Daniel, goalkeeper forthe St. Scholastica soccer team, stands with someteammates before amatchagainst Newman on Jan. 16 near Covington. Daniel, with the helpofher teammates, was instrumental in organizingapairofrecent fundraisers for mental health awareness, including one that saw players wear red ribbons in their hairduring the match. The ribbons were asign of solidarity forKatie’sSave Foundation, which raises moneyand awareness for mental health awareness in the name of former Stanford University star Katie Meyer, whotook her own life in 2022.
LEFT: Lori Sercovich and Sara Daniel host abake saleatthe St. Scholastica AthleticComplex on Jan. 16. Proceeds benefited the Katie’sSaveFoundation. Daniel’sdaughter,Libba, is the goalkeeper for SSA’s soccer team.
BoardOKs evaluation method forJabbia
Metric matchesstrategic plan putinplace last year
BY KIM CHATELAIN
Contributing writer
Anew metrics systemfor evaluating the performance of St. Tammany Parish Schools Superintendent Frank Jabbia was approved by theSchool Board on Jan.16. Thesuperintendentevaluationinstru-
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
Jabbia
ment for the year 20242025 is designed to match astrategic planthatwas institutedbythe school district last year.The new evaluation tool essentially ties Jabbia’s performance goalstothose of thedistrict. The boardapproved theevaluation
Thepresident of aprivateutilitycompany that provides water to thousands of residents in St. Tammany Parish defended his company’swork at atense community meeting at theHarbor Center near Slidell on Jan. 14. The Missouri-based company,Central States Water Resources, rehabilitates failing private water and wastewater systems around thecountry,including in St. Tammany,where there is aproliferationofwaterand sewerage systems ownedbyprivate companies.
Butsome St.Tammanyresidents have complained that their bills doubled or even tripled under the company,which operates as Magnolia WaterinLouisiana,evenas their water usage has remained the same. Josiah Cox, president and founder of Central States Water Resources, told acrowdof agitated residents at the meeting that Magnolia has“fixedmore systems than anybody else in Louisiana history.”
“Your rates are the secondary effect of the investment,” he added. One of the company’sfirst investments in the parish was in 2019 in Eden Isles, a
ä See WATER, page 4A
STAFFPHOTO BY SOPHIA
CARNIVAL
“A krewe likeZulu, not being able to parade on Jackson Avenue, would be totally unacceptabletothe club AND the neighborhood, not just the parade.”
ARTHUR HARDY, speaking on potential increased safety measures balancing with open natureofmanyCarnival events
ANGLE
Continued from page1A
does everyyear.And it’sthe authenticity of how we do it, right? It’sthis laissez faire, open-air wayofhow the celebration stretches from block to block, with no price of admission, nothing cordoned off.Anyone canjoin the partyfor free.That’swhat makes it special But clearly, all of that freedom has to be considered when talking about people’ssafety.AmI wrongonthat? People from outside this area cannot possibly understand the depthofthe tradition we have here, where the routeofa parade is almost as important as theparadeitself. Akrewe like Zulu, not being able to paradeonJackson Avenue, would betotally unacceptable to theclub ANDthe neighborhood, not just the parade. Then huge events like Endymion Extravaganza,the Bacchus Rendezvous. There are tens of thousands of people at those parties. How about the thousands of ice chests people are bringing to each parade route? Are we going to examine each one? Are we going to have each float examined by bomb-sniffingdogs in theformation area? How long will that take? Theramifications are endless. No one is against increased safety. Authorities say,“If you see something,say something.”Well,Isee aguy in amask, carrying abag and stickingitona float.I don’tknow what was in the bag and Idon’t know if he’sarider.That’sMardi Gras. Riders put things on afloat,underit, three days before the parade. There’sathousand floats and each one is an opportunity for some bad stuff to happen.
It’sabig puzzle, but that doesn’tmean we can’ttry to tweak it, to make it safer and make it better New Orleans certainly has ahigher profile than St Tammany, butthings have grown here so much, our local authorities and residents would bewellservedtobe as vigilant as our friends in New Orleans, yes? Absolutely.And in some ways, it could be argued that aplace like St. Tammany is an easier target. Why? I’m predicting this will be the safestMardi Gras in NewOrleans’ history because there will be so much attentionon it,somany more police on thestreet, the National Guard, State Troopers. But really, it’ll be the things we don’tsee that make itsafer.Homeland Security isn’tgoing to
one of
tell us everything they’redoingtokeep the badguys away Iknow that police on thenorthshorealwaysdoagood job handling thecrowdsin St.Tammany.And yes, they’ve gotten bigger and events like the one on New Year’s in New Orleans could bring even more folks to the northshore. It might be safer than ever in thecity,but theperception is what happened on the morning of Jan. 1. That could move even more people to northshore parades, especially families.
best in all of
Ithink Icounted 20-something parades across the parish this year.That might be the most we’ve ever had. How does the quality of our parades stand up to other areas?
There are some really great krewes in St. Tammany. Unfortunately,Ididn’tget the chance to see theSt. John Fools of Misrule in Covington this year.But that’sone of the best groups in all of Carnival. It’s just such a fun night.
The Krewe of Poseidon in Slidell is hav-
ing its 10th anniversary in afew weeks. They’ve just gotten bigger and better every year.And they do it right. They didn’t scream “We’re gonna be as big as Bacchus in Year 1!” They’ve let it grow naturally, and they let their parade do the bragging forthem.They are as good aparading kreweasthere is, top to bottom,inthe New Orleans-area. In Covington, the Bogue Falaya tradition
ä See ANGLE, page 3A
STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER
Zulu Social Aid and PleasureClub Zulu Tramps dance during the annual mayor’sMardiGraskickoff to theCarnival season at MardiGras WorldinNew Orleans.
STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD
The St.John Fools of Misrule ramble throughdowntown Covington during their 14th annual paradetokick off the northshore’sCarnival season Jan. 11. Stilt walkers, flambeaux,skulls, pirates and Victorian-dressed Fools(the men) and Jewels (the women) marched from aColumbia Street bartothe Covington Trailhead,where king cakewas served. The one findingthe baby wascrowned the Lord of Fools. Arthur Hardydescribes thegroup as
