NEW ROADS - When most people think of historic Mardi Gras celebrations, you likely think of New Orleans. The folks living in New Roads want you to know that carnival parades date back nearly ten decades.Mardi Gras Day is filled with the sounds of marching bands, festive costumes, and people holleri ng to get noticed for their favorite carnival throws.Two parades roll through the city of New Roads on Fat Tuesday. One of them is a Mardi Gras tradition that dates back over 100 years."In 1922, a man named Jimmy Boudreaux from the African American community started a parade. He had one mule-drawn float and a brass band, and I'm one of his great-granddaughters," Community Center of Pointe Coupee's Historian, Cassandra Will, said.Will says Boudreaux, his family, and friends would all parade through the streets of New Roads. Two parades: one on Lundi Gras, and another on Mardi Gras day. Those parades continued until Boudreaux passed away in 1949."And it said that the people mourned for two years, and they didn't do anything for Mardi Gras. So then a group of black business people, community leaders, school teachers from the African American community, got together and resurrected his idea," Will said.During the 50s, the Mardi Gras organization called "Community Center Carnival Club" formed."We've been in existence here in Mardi Gras, its our 105th year. The organization itself is 70-something years old, but Mardi Gras in New Roads is over 100 years old," Will said.The Lions Club also sponsors a parade that rolls during Mardi Gras Day afternoon."We do some things jointly by sharing bands and floats and sometimes dance groups together, and then you know there are some other things that we each do separately," Will said.A fun- filled, family-oriented Tuesday, rich in history, with thousands of people from New Roads and surrounding areas coming out to experience a true small-town Mardi Gras."Mardi Gras is just so much more than just beads and throws here. It's a driver for our local economy; it fills our hotels, it fills our restaurants; gas stations are busier. It actually gives our businesses a chance to promote, you know, with signage and advertisement and all the things," Executive Director of Pointe Coupee Chamber of Commerce Emily Bueche said.Typically, Mardi Gras Day in New Roads brings around 60,000 people out. In 2022, organizers estimated over 100 people attended."Our crews are amazing; they put on two amazing events, and it's such an amazing opportunity to show people what New Roads is, and represent our culture, and our history, and all of the things, so I just hope it continues to be what it is," Bueche said.A tradition that lives on as much a part of this community as floats, throws, and fun.Permalink| Comments ...read more read less