FAMILY STYLE CELEBRATIONS IN CAJUN COUNTRY

By CINDA CHAVICH

(LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA) - “Trow me sumpin’ mistah,” a small boy lisps, his bead-laden arms stretched skyward as flat-bed floats snake down main street in the Lake Charles Children’s Parade.

This is small town Louisiana, off the beaten track, far from the usual debauchery of Fat Tuesday in the city streets of New Orleans.

There’s no public drunkenness, no bared breasts, no crazy crowds. But it’s Mardi Gras season all the same, complete with parades, squeeze box contests, gumbo feasts, and dancing in the downtown parks.

Low key, low down, low country fun.

Today’s celebration begins at dawn outside Elton, with a Mardi Gras tradition that’s unique to the rural parts of western Louisiana, and something you’ll never see in the city. In a field along a quiet country road dozens of young men, dressed in crazy costumes, gather for the annual Courier de Mardi Gras or Chicken Run, a tradition rooted in local Cajun communities.

To celebrate the season, masked men once raced from farm to farm, on horseback and on foot, begging and playfully coercing donations of chicken, boudin sausage, vegetables and rice for the community gumbo pot. Today they travel between more far flung farms on flatbed trucks but when they arrive at pre-arranged corners along the route the chaotic scene is the same at it might have been a century ago – a motley crew of revelers dancing to traditional Acadian accordion music, playing tricks and racing across the muddy fields in hot pursuit of a chicken released for the chase.

“Every year it’s a little less because the kids are gone and only people my age remember the grandparents and the old Mardi Gras,” says Maxine Guthrey, recalling a time when more than 100 relatives would gather on the family farm for the annual chicken run, as she offers chunks of warm boudin sausage to the group.

If there’s debauchery in the pre-Lenten traditions here in rural Louisiana, this is it. But despite the beer-fuelled revelry, the anonymous “runners” keep the mood playful, and it remains a spectator sport, fit for families.

Here in Cajun country, there are Mardi Gras parades in several small towns including Jennings, Vinton, Lake Arthur and Elton, leading up to Mardi Gras Day. But Lake Charles has the second largest celebration in the state.

This small city, hugging the bayou near the Texas border, was hit hard by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, in 2005, and again by storm surges in 2008, but is rebounding with a $5.6 million downtown revitalization project and a new airport. The city’s downtown historic district has some interesting new shops and restaurants, and makes a good vantage point to watch the grande finale Krewe of Krewes Parade.

The celebrations are ongoing for the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras Day, this year Feb. 24.

Plan to take the family to the local Mardi Gras museum, which sprawls through the old hallways and classrooms of the circa-1912 Central School. Here you’ll find the massive plumed headdresses, elaborately-constructed costumes and sequined gowns of former Mardi Gras kings and queens, retired here by the local krewes over the past 30 years.

Then hit the Delicious Donuts Bakery to taste a cream-filled Mardi Gras King Cake, and browse through the local Party Time Store for your own glittery disguise.

On the eve of Mardi Gras, in the local civic centre, the royal courts of more than 40 krewes gather in all of their finery for a glittering promenade at the Lake Charles Gala.

A group of 12th Night Revelers dressed like court jesters lead the parade through the darkened arena while fans crowd the bleachers. The mood is festive, the music jazzy, as kings and queens strut their stuff, bejeweled trains and a parade of colourful courtiers following in their elaborate wakes.

The youngest Miss Mardi Gras princess, in her peaked rhinestone crown and royal ermine cape, nods and slumps into her throne, fast asleep, as the parade of local “royalty” streams by to bow before her.

Many of us feel the same way after a long day of celebrations that began at dawn, but there will be another king cake, another party and another parade somewhere in southernwestern Lousiana tomorrow.

Let the good times roll!

IF YOU GO:

Fly Continental Airlines into Lake Charles Regional Airport then head south into Cajun country on Interstate 10, for the rural Cajun experience. Stop at the tourist information centre in Jennings – set in a restored 18th-century Acadian cottage– for details about the small town Mardi Gras chicken runs, parades, gumbo cookoffs and Cajun music in the region (Jeff Davis Parish Tourist Commission – 1-800-264-5521) Or visit the Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras site at www.swlamardigras.com (1-800-456-7952)

FAMILY FRIENDLY FOOD

Breakfast biscuits at Majestic Grocery, 609 Ryan St., Lake Charles, 337-439-5992

Steamboat Bill’s for traditional Cajun cuisine – This is crawfish central, with crawfish pistolette, etouffee, gumbo and piled of steamed crawdads. 1004 North Lake Shore Drive, Lake Charles, 337-494-1070

Crawfish and oyster Po’Boy sandwiches at Neptune’s Café, 1010 Main St. A , Elton, 337-758-4326

Mardi Gras King Cakes at Delicious Donuts & Bakery, 2283 Country Club Road, Lake Charles, 337-479-2986

FAMILY FRIENDLY MARDI GRAS SITES

Cajun Mardi Gras exhibit at the Zigler Museum, 411 Clara St., Jennings, LA, 318-824-0114

Learn about the history of Mardi Gras, see costumes and climb up on a parade float at the Mardi Gras Museum, 809 Kirby St., Lake Charles

Elton Children’s Mardi Gras run and parade, Feb. 14, 2009

Lake Arthur Mardi Gras Parade, Feb. 14, 2009

Jennings Mardi Gras Festival and Parade, Feb. 21, 2009

Elton Courier de Mardi Gras, Feb. 21, 2009