A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

Please don't throw the throws back!
Thursday, February 15, 2007

If you attended the Gautier Mardi Gras parade last night, then you know that it was a great parade and a good time was had by all.

As the wife of a member of a local Mardi Gras Krewe, I am fortunate that I have the opportunity to ride in each of the Mardi Gras parades. This is one of the activities I look forward to every year. Riding the float and giving throws to the parade goers is great! All the smiles, cheers, dancing and children screaming "Throw me something" is magical. It is a fun time for the whole community.

However, it has become more and more frustrating for the people riding the floats. Some people evidently think that it is funny and cool to throw beads and other items back at the people riding the floats. Not only does this damage the float, but it also causes injury to the people being hit. If you have ever been hit in the face with beads, you know what I mean. We as parade riders spend a lot of money purchasing the items that we are giving you at the parade. Please, do not insult or injure us by throwing it back. If you don't want to keep the throws, then don't pick them up. Or better yet, pick it up and hand it to the child standing next to you.

This past Saturday night, a young man in the crowd was hit in the chest with a few beads. This young man was standing on the parade route, seeming to be having a good time. When the beads were thrown to him, he made no attempt to catch them. He simply stood there. He then proceeded to pick the beads up off the ground and threw them back at the parade rider. Now, if you are going to attend the parade and stand on the parade route, please understand that we have to assume that you want our throws; otherwise, you wouldn't be there. Please, show us that you appreciate all the time and money that goes into making the parades happen -- and let's all have a great time! Happy Mardi Gras!

Brandi Devers

Well, another Winter Whirl has come and gone for another year. The Lion's Club of Pointe Au Baril would like to thank everyone that came out to any of the many events that took place this past weekend. They would especially like to thank all the many sponsors of the Whirl in the area. I would like to thank Whirl chairperson Ruthann Muma for her cool, calm leadership despite having to cancel the on-ice activities because of the lousy conditions. Wait until next year. Anyways, here’s what went on this past weekend.

It all started Thursday night with the annual dart tournament. First place went to the team of Ralph and Dot Johnson and Dave and Wendy York. Second place went to the team of Terry Zimmer, Donna Longlad, Kelly Higman and Chuck Tonge. Donna also took home the prizes for both high score and high out for the ladies. Chuck took home the prize for high score, while Ralph had the high out. Chuck was also the lucky door prize winner. Though long, a good time was had by all.

Thanks to Larry's Tavern for hosting the event.

Friday night saw the euchre tournament at The Haven. We’d like to thank them as well. It was Ruthann who came out on top. Second place went to Renee Karwaski. Tied for third were Simone Grimes, Gordon Lamore and Doug Finch. Donna Longlad won the door prize, while Anna Peter got the prize for most lone hands.

Door prize winners included Jurgen Tietz, Claudette Brisson and yours truly. Once again, a good time was had by all.

For many, music was a part of our youth and remains an inextricable part of our lives. Some never grow past the songs of their teens, the soundtrack of our delinquency, the score to the scores. Certain songs will always remind us of certain situations and the person/people we were with at the time.

I suppose the love and music connection has been the way of things for centuries. The Lone Ranger wasn't the first to ride to Rossini's William Tell Overture. Wigs flipped and bodices ripped over Mozart's Magic Flute, and many were handled by Handel. Beethoven's Fifth probably accompanied uncounted firsts.

Benny was a Goodman that wasn't hard to find on the boat-shaped home radios of the '30s and '40s. The sound was big bands along with the emerging upstart music genres of blues, jazz and country.

It may have been a horse and buggy and a ukulele, but transportation and mood music have long been potent weapons for the amorous. The cheap - maybe I should say affordable - marriage of romance and music for the masses came along with the internal combustion engine. It was the car radio that put people together with the time, place and mood altering tunes. Henry Ford didn't invent mass reproduction, but he did his part.

Hank Williams may have been so lonesome he could cry, but company became easier to come by. So was privacy. Many young couples fell into Johnny Cash's burning Ring of Fire. An Unchained Melody was so righteous, brother. Elvis sang Love Me Tender and helped make mockeries of millions of white weddings. We were All Shook Up.

Who could resist when Claudia Church asked just the right question at the right time, "Will You (Still) Love Me Tomorrow?"

Of course they would, the check was in the mail, and young men were Glad All Over along with the Dave Clark Five. The Beatles loved us, yeah, yeah, yeah - and everybody wanted to love somebody.

OK - it wasn't love, but it wasn't bad. Maybe it was a Third Rate Romance and a low rent rendezvous, but a good time was had by all. Stephen Stills articulated what most of us couldn't: If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. We did. Doors were opened, our fires were lit, and we rode a Led Zeppelin into a Whole Lotta Love.

Decades have passed, but some women reading this still remember which songs were playing each of the 15 times they lost their virginity. They can turn to their mates and wistfully say, "Honey, they're playing our song" and know every word and how it made them feel.

I have to assume that a number of modern-day kids lose and find it while hip-hop-rap blasts. I'll bet they sing along when their special song is played, too. It's fun to recapture romantic moments. Sing along:

"Well, you !#$@, you nasty #$@, get down here and $#%* my ( %@%* you $#, you %#&$, you worthless %*%#$@#&*&' hoochie, do it before I pop a cap in your @## along with the next &%@#$ cop that %$#s with me!"

It has to bring tears to their eyes. It would if they knew any better.