Krewe of Carrollton Mask Pin.

Green Mask, Purple KofC, Gold Outline

Krewe of Carrollton

P. O. Box 4042

New Orleans, LA 70178

January 2, 2010

Hope that everyone had a Merry  Christmas and I wish everyone a Happy New Year.  Please take some time and read this meeting notice as it contains a lot of detailed information and it is one of the last notices prior to this year’s parade. The next meeting of the Krewe of Carrollton will take place at our usual location and time (Metairie Lions Club-1627 Metairie Road behind St. Catherine at 7:30pm) on Tuesday, January 12th. As usual, one of our capable chefs will prepare dinner.

A quick note to answer the most asked question. The Krewe of Carrollton will parade on Super Bowl Sunday (February 7). We have agreed to the requests of the Police Department to move the start time to 11:00am. Only the Krewes of Carrollton and King Arthur (Following right behind us) will be parading on this day – we should have bigger than normal crowds.

Also jot down the date of Monday, February 1st– this is the night of our pre-parade meeting. We also look forward to having some of our out of town members join us for the festivities.

 Throws: Bead packages are still available. Please check with Ricky Catoire at the meeting regarding any throws that you may want to order. Purchasing your throws through the Krewe certainly helps. Besides that, we have GOOD prices. We will also have some fleur de lis and black and gold beads available to purchase at the open house. As a reminder to our Kings of Carrollton, the Kings will have their annual luncheon on January 16^th at the Colonial Country Club. Please contact Bill Williams to confirm your reservation. The Kings Roast is available to all members of the King’s Circle and this year will be held at Charlie’s Steak House on Dryades St. on Thursday, January 14th. Cost of this event is $65 per person but the opportunity to roast or hear others roast King Lenny (oops I mean King David – brother of Greg Bruce) is worth much more than the cost of the meal alone. Contact Greg Bruce for more details. The Royal Walk About will take place on Saturday, January 16^th at 7:00pm. The meeting spot is the Pharmacy Museum located at 514 Chartres. There will be food and beer, wine and soft drinks. More importantly we will be escorted through the Quarter on our Royal Walk under the direction of King David and his royal Court. Tickets for this event are $25 and $10 for children 12 and younger and will be available at the meeting. Please get your tickets early so we can have the proper amount of food and drinks available. It is possible that the Saints will be playing their first playoff game at the Dome on this afternoon-the Quarter will certainly be popping and we will have the rights to the streets. Sunday, January 17^th is Open House. As usual, the Den will be open to view the Floats from 10am-3:00pm. Throws, tickets for the Supper Dance, and Breakfast may be purchased and picked up at Fasteners on Dakin St (approx three blocks from the Den). There will be plenty to eat and drink. Gene Cambus will have the Carrollton store open to purchase 2010 shirts, hats, jackets etc. Kirk Leonard will have Krewe favors available for purchase and pick up. This year’s favor is a set of Krewe coasters. Don’t miss Frank Knecht to get your raffle tickets for next year’s dues. Tickets will also be available for the ice chest of liquor. I am also certain that the Ladies of the Circle will have their own ROUND (CIRCLE) table. Any and all financial responsibilities must be met on this day-please make sure to visit John White and make certain all your bills are paid.  Bead Package loading day is Saturday, January 30^th at the den. Start time is 9 a.m. See Ricky Catoire to volunteer.   Second reminder about our meeting on the Feb. 1st. This is the last meeting prior to the parade. Court rehearsal for the Ball will be held at the Hilton Hotel (Grand Ballroom) on Thursday, February 4th at 7:30pm. It is imperative that all members of the Court (King, Queen, Maids, Junior Maids and Dukes, Ladies in Waiting, Pages, and Officers all be in attendance. As a courtesy to all I ask that everyone be prompt. We only have one rehearsal so we need to make it a good one. A quick reminder also, that the night of the rehearsal is the night that our Maids and Dukes and Court exchange gifts. Supper Dance/Ball will take place on Friday, February 5^th at the Hilton Hotel. Please get your groups together and order your tickets either at the next meeting or the Open House. Tables are set for 8, 10, or 12 guests per table. Tickets are $100 per person and include dinner that will be served immediately following the presentation. Please show your support for the Court and the Carrollton weekend by attending the Supper Dance. Also, remember that this night is a formal affair and men must wear tuxedo and the ladies are to wear tea length dresses or longer (No Pants). Please inform your guests so that no one is embarrassed at the event. We have a beautiful Court led by Mr. David Bruce and Miss Rachel Cuccia as King and Queen Carrollton LXXXVI.  Naturally, no tickets are available at the door. Sleep late on Saturday, but not too late as you have from 9am till 3pm to load your throws on the floats at the Den. All Krewe floats will be in our Den. Please remember to bag your throws and eliminate as many boxes as possible (especially considering our Mayor’s cutback on garbage pickup following the parades. Please check with your float lieutenant prior to this day for your position on the float. Remember, parking at the Den is very limited so be courteous by unloading and moving so others can get close. You cannot wait until Sunday morning to load throws as the floats are pulled out very early to be escorted to the lineup. Don’t sleep late today!!! Sunday morning starts with the House of Blues Breakfast which begins at 6:30am. A shuttle bus will run from the Hilton between 6:30 and 7:30. Following breakfast the Krewe will second line from the House of Blues to the Hilton. It is important to order these tickets now as this event is always a sellout. For those not attending the House of Blues Breakfast, you should arrive at the Hilton by 8:30am to get ready for the parade. Costumes this year do include pants. Let me mention at this point about costumes- our costumes include a headpiece and a mask that is to be worn the entire route of the parade. Baseball caps (not even Saints caps) are NOT acceptable as a replacement for your headpiece. And again, YOUR MASK IS TO BE WORN THE ENTIRE PARADE. Thanks for your support of this last year-We looked great. At 9:30 there will be a toast with our King and his Queen and their Court for the members of the King Circle. Following the toast, the Captain will address the Krewe and we load the buses for the parade. We are parading at 11:00am due to the Super Bowl, therefore it is imperative that we speed up our preparade festivities. As a reminder all members are required to ride the buses provided in order to participate in the parade. Look for Queen Rachel and Her Court as they will be in the stands at the Sheraton on Canal St. (New location for our official reviewing stand)   I know this notice is awfully long but it is full of pertinent information. We have had a super year thus far. The crowning of David Bruce-brother of Greg at the Coronation was certainly exciting.  But the Carrollton Weekend is what we work for all year. Our floats look great and the costumes are some of the best in Mardi Gras. It is up to each of you and your families to participate and enjoy the entire Weekend. Lastly, a personal thanks to the officers, board of directors, float lieutenants and Krewe members for their efforts to make it all happen!!! Hope to see many of you on the 12^th   Dates to RememberTuesday, January 12 – Krewe MeetingSaturday, January 16 – Royal Walk AboutSunday, January 17 – Open HouseSaturday, January 30 – Bead Package loading at the DenMonday, February 1 – Pre-parade meetingFriday, February 5 – Supper Dance/BallSaturday, February 6 – Float loading at the DenSunday, February 7 – Breakfast and Parade 

2011 Carrollton Weekend Feb. 25-27 

2010-2011 Meetings

• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, March 23, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, April 13, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, May 11, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, June 8, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, July 13, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, August 10, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, September 14, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, October 12, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, November 9, 2010
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, December 14, 2010 
• Krewe Meeting - Tuesday, January 11, 2011
• Pre-Parade Meeting - Monday, February 21, 2010

2010- 2011 Events

• Coronation Dance -
  • Date to be announced
  • Location - to be announced
  • Coat and Tie - (Tuxedo King Circle) - Coctail Dress
  • Tickets Required - Open to all 
• Tableau Ball & Supper Dance -
  • Friday, February 25, 2011 - 8:00 PM –2:00 AM
  • Tuxedo and Long Evening Gowns
  • Tickets Required - Open To All 
• Float Loading -
  • Saturday, February 26, 2011 -10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
  • Oak St and the River 
• Breakfast -
  • Sunday, February 27, 2011 -7:00 AM
  • House of Blues
  • Tickets Required - Open to all 
• Parade -
  • Sunday, February 27, 2011 -12:00 Noon

New's to come shortly

King Circle -- Events.

  Dates to remember:

• Christmas Party -
  • Saturday December 5, 2009 - 7:00PM
  • Location Plimsoll Club
  • Tuxedo and Coctail Dresses - Members and Spouses 
• King's Dinner -
  • Thursday, January 14, 2010 - 7:00 PM
  • Charlie's Steak House
  • Coat and Tie - Members only
• Royal Walkabout -
  • Saturday, January 16, 2010 6:00 PM
  • Pharmacy Museum - Chartres St New Orleans 
  • Casual - Open to all
• Open House -
  • Sunday, January 17, 2010
• Carrollton Weekend - February 5,6,7, 2009

 2009 King's Circle Board of Directors

Chairman - Greg Bruce; 1st Vice Chairman - Joe Excinious; 2nd Vice Chairman - David Bruce; Scribe - John White; Treasurer - Lee Catoya; 1Yr Board Members - Jim Blackmon & Mike Chiasson; 2 Yr Board Members - Tom Quintini & Joe Larocca; 3 Yr Board Members - Frank Knecht & Roch Eschelman.

 King's Circle -- What it's all about!

The King's Circle is a group of members (a maximum of 60) from the Krewe of Carrollton who's express purpose is to provide the Krewe with a King for its annual parade and Ball.  This group of men pay a seperate dues that is set by the King Circle Board of Directors.  This dues is used for the following functions: The Annual Seafood Party, The Drawing Party, and the Annual Christmas Formal.  Another use of this dues is given to the Parent club to help defray the expenses of the King. 

The King also provides a party for the King's Circle members 6 weeks after the parade, as a start of the next Mardi Gras Year.  This Group also gets together for addittional Pay-As-You-Go functions throughout the year.  Most of these functions include spouses or guest.  Over time this group has been seen as one of the foundations of the Krewe. 

An offshoot of this group has been started by the wives of the King Circle members.  The Ladies of the Circle have gotten together to get to know each other and to add addittional fun and activities throughout the year.

If you are looking for more interaction with the Krewe, the King's Circle is probably the best place to start. Please see the King's Circle Chairman for information. 

The Krewe of Carrollton has a long and storied history. Formed by a group of Oak Street businessmen in 1924, the Krewe's modest beginnings over 80 years ago have been the foundation of a Carnival organization both widely known as a significant participant in the Carnival season, and was itself instrumental in fostering and assisting new organizations which adopted many of the Carrollton practices.

In 1924, a group calling itself "The Seventh District Carnival Club," presented its first parade on Mardi Gras day of that year with J.W. Fordyce as its King.

Parading down Oak Street and around the Carrollton Avenue area of New Orleans, this club would continue to grow and eventually, in 1947, become known as the "Krewe of Carrollton".

Carrolton is the Fourth oldest Carnival parading organization, behind (in order) Rex, Proteus, and Zulu. Even in its humble beginnings, Carrollton itself as an organization with bold and talented leadership. Carrollton's original floats were built on the frames of garbage wagons bought from the City of New Orleans when the city started using motorized trucks.

The Krewe made a lasting place in history for itself when in 1933, with rain forcing the cancellation of almost all parades in New Orleans, including Rex; Carrollton was the only daytime parade of that Mardi Gras season.

The Krewe fell on hard times in the late 1930's and coupled with the start of WW II, where Mardi Gras was cancelled in it's entirety, the Krewe almost disbanded. However after the war, in 1947, the surviving members reunited and returned to its place in the Mardi Gras lineup. In 1948, Carrollton switched to parading on the First Sunday of the Mardi Gras Season. Carrollton has been famous over the years for many traditions and practices started by the Krewe.

The original parade route, starting from its Den on Oak Street remained for many years. In 1974, the starting point was changed to Canal Street in the Mid City area of New Orleans, to avoid having the floats going over an over pass. The route changed again in 1977 to the basic Canal Street route. In 1995 the parade was allowed to once again start from its den and travel the Uptown route. Since that time the route used has been the traditional Uptown Route.

Carrollton held onto many longtime traditions and practices, one of which was pulling a flatbed truck in its parade of floats, full of stuffed animals, which they dropped off for the children at Charity Hospital. That tradition stopped only after the parade route was changed again in 1977 and no longer passed in front of Charity Hospital.

In a tragic accident during the 1970 parade, an extremely high gust of wind toppled a float on top of the Jefferson Davis Parkway overpass, causing a krewe member to fall from the float and off that overpass and receive injuries from which he died. Coupled With that and other injuries due to that accident, all float riders in all parades are now required to wear safety belts.

Many other continuing Mardi Gras traditions and innovations began with Carrollton. One such milestone in its rich history was when Carrollton along with a few other Krewes bought and started using farm tractors to pull the floats instead of mules. In 1950, Carrollton was the first parade to ever be pulled by tractors. These 50 plus year old tractors are still in use today.

In order to make sure that our Royalty has a memento to remember their special year as reigning King and Queen, Carrollton started yet another tradition that remains today. The Krewe presents each King, Queen and Captain with a porcelain doll that is dressed in an exact miniature replica of their costume for that year. This tradition was started many years ago and continues today. The public can view one of the original sets of these dolls as it is on permanent loan to the City of Kenner's Rivertown Mardi Gras Museum as one of their exhibits.

This Krewe has been instrumental in helping other parading organizations get off the ground. In 1957, the krewe assisted another notable parade, the Krewe of Zeus get started. Zeus was one of the first suburban parading groups, and recently celebrated its own 50th Anniversary.

Another notable parade had its beginning with the help of the Krewe of Carrollton. In 1967, the Captain of the Krewe of Carrolton helped a fledgling Krewe get started, the Krewe of Endymion. Carrollton's Captain assisted the Endymion Captain in many aspects, from writing the krewe's charter to the format of its printed Ball Program. Carrollton also rented its fleet of floats to Endymion for its inaugural parade. Endymion has gone on to be one of New Orleans "Super Krewes".

Carrollton's membership has expanded like the Krewe and now boasts of membership from across the country ranging from Boston to California.

Some of Carrolton's newest membership was recently signed up while serving their country in Iraq with the Louisiana National Guard.

Even more recently, after hurricane Katrina devastated many of the Carnival organizations, the leadership of Carrollton was instrumental in not only producing one of the few first class parades "post Katrina" but also in assisting others to parade. Additionally, several key Carrollton members from outside of Louisiana lead a financial assistance drive to help needy members from New Orleans hurt badly by the storm.

Lead by its 4th Captain since 1947, the Krewe of Carrollton parades today on the second Sunday before Mardi Gras Day. Its membership is over 350 strong, owning and parading its own floats and Den. Although the route has changed over the years from a neighbor hood event in the Carrollton section of town, to the Mid City section of town, to its current traditional Uptown New Orleans route along St Charles Ave to Canal Street, the Krewe has maintained its identity and its image of being a Family Parade. The weekend that the parade rolls has become known as "Carrollton Weekend".

We would like to cordially invite everyone to come and join us, and view our parade as we celebrate Mardi Gras, -- "Carrollton Style".