GRIT, GATORS, AND Generosity

from Social Eastern Shore | March 2023

THE 2022 AWARD WINNERS

STORY BY LIESEL SCHMIDT PHOTOGRAPHY BY YANCEY LEETH

Beads, music, Moon Pies and revelry—Mardi Gras is a season filled with excitement and fun. Not to mention parade after parade and countless parties. While kids get in on some of the action, it’s really more for the adults. Which is where the inspiration for the Mystic Order of Gators began…

“Back in the late ’80s, there were several families who gathered to picnic at the parades in Mobile before returning to my mother’s home in Lake Forest to sit on the deck and visit,” says Mary Day Lantaff, who holds the title of Mother MOG. “The children hadn’t caught that much at the parades, so I grabbed up throws from previous parades and threw them over the balcony of our deck to the kids playing in the yard as the adults visited. Squeals of joy and laughter erupted from below as the children scrambled to grab Moon Pies and beads.”

Interestingly, the MOGs is the only parade on the Gulf Coast that remains stationary while the crowd moves. And, of course, the organization has a mascot: Bubba the Alligator. “The first Bubba was 21-feet long and constructed from papier-mâché and chicken wire. “Bubba was born in 1994, and his name originated from our theme song, ‘Bubba Loves Moon Pies,” which all of us ladies on the balcony danced to, of course. The idea originated from seeing the alligators in the lake from the balcony, and the story goes that Bubba crawls out of the lake once a year to reign over the balcony parade.”

More than three decades later, the MOGs is still a small group—there are roughly a dozen members—but the heart of what they do is expansive.

“From its beginnings as a simple pastime to entertain the children in our group of friends, MOGs has become a ‘party with a cause,’” Lantaff says. “In 2003, the ladies in the organization decided to make our balcony parade a fundraiser for a child at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital battling terminal cancer. Over the next eight years, we sponsored a child fighting cancer to help the family with the expenses that come along with the disease. Of the eight children we dedicated our parade to, three lost their battle with cancer, but their memory lives on with us. Eventually, it became too difficult to pick just one family to support; so since 2012, our funds have been donated directly to USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital to provide immediate aid available through the social service department to families in crisis. A portion of our donation is also allocated to Bay Area Grief, which provides free grief counseling to children who have lost a sibling, parent or someone else close to them.”

The Mystic Order of Gators held its 35th annual balcony parade in Daphne. This “party with a cause” also included raffles and a cajun luncheon. Proceeds from fundraising at the event are donated to USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital for the benefit of children who are battling cancer and other chronic illnesses.