The Morris Recreation Center held its 5th annual Mardi Gras celebration on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 5 p.m. in the gym. The event, which falls on Fat Tuesday each year, gives students the opportunity to mix and mingle while safely celebrating the holiday, Commerce style.
This year’s event theme, “A Stroll Down Bourbon Street,” offered students a taste of traditional New Orleans fair, with a plethora of food, prizes, live music, and of course, Mardi Gras beads.
Free T-Shirts were given out and designed by junior animal science major, Sarah Cunningham, who spearheaded the event.
“We started planning the event in December,” Cunningham said. “I love planning things and decorating. This has been very exciting for me.”
Mardi Gras commenced at 4 p.m. with a parade that included six floats made by various organizations and fraternities. Starting at the science building, the floats looped around campus for 30 minutes as organization members threw beads and candy out to those scattered about the campus.
“The UPD [University Police Department] came out and hit their sirens as the floats went around the campus,” MRC Coordinator for Facility Operations Bill Miller said. “We then had judges vote on each float and choose winners for different categories.”
The Kappa Sigma Fraternity’s float won Best Fraternity while the Collegiate Future Farmers of America [CFFA] received the award for Best Organization among other winners.
The food for the event was catered by the Cajun Crawfish Company. Students enjoyed red beans and rice, corn on the cob, fresh crawfish, potatoes and jambalaya.
For dessert, the recreation center provided Baskin-Robbin’s ice cream and a giant Lousiana-style king cake that nearly filled a whole table.
The king cake is a ring of twisted dessert colored with purple, green and yellow. Traditionally there is a trinket hidden within the king cake.
“This is my first time to the Mardi Gras event but I see myself returning,” sophomore sociology major Gerlisa Harding said. “I like that everyone is coming together as a community to have fun.”