Carnivalneworleans.com has always been a static site, featuring an elaborate History of Mardi Gras and loads of photos from Mardi Gras past. The photos cover the Mardi Gras gamete from the bawdy French Quarter to the Barkus dog parade , also in the French Quarter.

2010 Phunny Phorty Phellows

NEW ORLEANS — The Phunny Phorty Phellows had their annual streetcar ride Wednesday night to kick off the start of the 2010 Carnival season.

It was the first time since before Hurricane Katrina that the Phellows rode the St. Charles Avenue route.

Fate determines whom the Phellows select as their Queen and “Boss,” the krewe’s equivalent of a king: they pass around two king cakes with babies inside, and whoever gets them becomes royalty.

The Phellows were revived in 1981 after they ceased parading in 1898. Their parades focus on topical themes and satire.

The show will conclude three days before Fat Tuesday (February 16), which is the final day of Mardi Gras festivities that run for approximately two weeks with dozens of nightly parades highlighting the celebration.

The Executive Director of Domainer Mardi Gras, Michael Ward, said “Domainers stated that the inaugural show (2009) was a hit and wanted to see it happen again. We listened and are moving forward with putting together a larger than life domainer extravaganza. In addition to quality industry panel sessions, and plenty of networking opportunities, Domainer Mardi Gras will also provide over the top entertainment, all during Mardi Gras, that combined will make for an unbelievable experience.”

Domainers, publishers, registries, registrars, investors, domain parking companies, members from the ICANN community and others are all invited to attend the event. The theme and agenda for Domainer will be announced in the coming weeks.

Domainer Mardi Gras

*ALL INFORMATION SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Wednesday, JANUARY 6TH
• Phunny Phorty Phellows – New Orleans
SUNDAY, JANUARY 17th
• Claude – Slidell 1:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 24th
• Slidellians – Slidell 1:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 30th
• Krewe du Vieux – French Quarter 6:30 p.m.
• Bilge – Slidell 12:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 31st
• Little Rascals – Metairie 12:00 p.m.
• Perseus – Slidell 1:00 p.m.
• Pearl River Lions Club – Pearl River 1:15 p.m.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5th
• Oshun – Uptown 6:00 p.m.
• Excalibur – Metairie 7:00 p.m.
• Atlas – Metairie 7:30 p.m.
• Cleopatra – Westbank 6:30 p.m.
• Eve – Mandeville 7:00 p.m.
• Hercules – Houma 6:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6th
• Pontchartrain – Uptown 2:00 p.m.
• Shangri-La – French Quarter 2:00 p.m.
• Sparta – Uptown 6:00 p.m.
• Pygmalion – Uptown 6:45 p.m.
• Caesar – Metairie 6:00 p.m.
• Chocktaw – Gretna 11:00 a.m.
• Adonis – Westbank 11:45 a.m.
• Push Mow – Abita Springs 11:00 a.m.
• Olympia – Covington 6:00 p.m.
• Mona Lisa & Moon Pie – Slidell 7:00 p.m.
• Tee Caillou – Chauvin 12:00 p.m.
• Aquarius – Houma 6:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7th
• Carrollton – Uptown 12:00 p.m. CHANGE- ROLLS 1 HOUR EARLY
• King Arthur – Uptown 1:15 p.m. CHANGE- ROLLS 1 HOUR EARLY
• Barkus – French Quarter 2:00 p.m.
• Rhea – Metairie 1:00 p.m. CANCELLED
• Centurions – Metairie 5:30 p.m.
• Alla – Westbank 12:00 p.m. CHANGE- MOVES TO SATURDAY
• Knights of Nemesis – St. Bernard 1:00 p.m.
• Dionysus – Slidell 1:30 p.m.
• Hyacinthians – Houma 12:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10th
• Thor – Metairie 7:00 p.m.
• Ancient Druids – Uptown 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11th
• Babylon – Uptown 5:45 p.m.
• Muses – Uptown 6:15 p.m.
• Chaos – Uptown 6:30 p.m.
Krewe of Proteus, 2006 Mardi Gras
photo by mardigrasparadeschedule.com
FRIDAY, February 12th
• Hermes – Uptown 6:00 p.m.
• Krewe d’Etat – Uptown 6:00 p.m.
• Morpheus – Uptown 7:00 p.m.
• Selene – Slidell 6:30 p.m.
• Orpheus – Mandeville 7:00 p.m.
• Aphrodite – Houma 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, February 13th
• Iris – Uptown 11:00 a.m.
• Tucks – Uptown 12:00 p.m.
• Endymion – Mid-City 4:15 p.m.
• Isis – Metairie 6:30 p.m.
• NOMTOC – Westbank 10:45 a.m.
• Bush – Bush 9:00 a.m.
• Salt Bayou – Slidell 2:00 p.m.
• Mardi Gras – Houma 6:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, February 14th
• Okeanos – Uptown 11:00 a.m.
• Mid-City – Uptown 11:45 a.m.
• Thoth – Uptown 12:00 p.m.
• Bacchus – Uptown 5:15 p.m.
• Corps de Napoleon – Metairie 5:30 p.m.
• Grand Isle Independent- Grand Isle 5:30 p.m.
• Tchefuncte – Madisonville 2:00 p.m.
• Terreanians – Houma 1:00 p.m.
• Montegut – Houma 2:00 p.m.
MONDAY, February 15th
• Proteus – Uptown 5:15 p.m.
• Orpheus – Uptown 6:00 p.m.
• Zeus – Metairie 6:30 p.m.
• Cleopatra – Houma 6:30 p.m.
MARDI GRAS DAY, February 16th 2010
• Zulu – Uptown 8:00 a.m.
• Rex – Uptown 10:00 a.m.
• Elks Orleans – Uptown11:30 a.m.
• Crescent City – Uptown after Elks
• Argus – Metairie 10:00 a.m.
• Elks Jefferson – Metairie after Argus
• Jefferson Trucks – Metairie after Elks
• Lions – Covington 10:00 a.m.
• Covington – Covington, after Lions
• Grela – Gretna 11:00 a.m.
• Bes – Gretna 12:00 p.m.
• Houmas – Houma 12:00 p.m.
• Kajuns – Houma follows Houmas
• Bonne Terre – Houma 3:00 p.m.
• Skunks – Lacombe 1:00 p.m.
• Chahta-Ima – Lacombe 1:30 p.m.

More Carnival Parades Move To Avoid Super Bowl
Alla Moves To Saturday; Carrollton, King Arthur Roll Early

NEW ORLEANS — More Carnival krewes are making changes to their plans for Super Bowl Sunday, with parades moving dates and times to avoid rolling during the big game.

WDSU has learned that Alla will move its parade from Sunday, Feb. 7, to Saturday, Feb. 6, and will follow the Choctaw and Adonis parades on the Westbank.

In addition, the Carrollton and King Arthur parades schedule to roll uptown that Sunday will start one hour earlier — beginning at 11 a.m. — to accommodate the Super Bowl.

These are the latest changes caused by football’s biggest game, which is looking more and more like it may include the New Orleans Saints.

Jefferson Parish’s “Family Gras” event, which was scheduled for that entire weekend, has been canceled for this year. The krewe of Rhea canceled its parade because of the game, and Centurions moved its parade to the Friday before Mardi Gras.

by Dominic Massa / Eyewitness News

NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Ray Nagin’s decision to cancel the construction of reviewing stands for the parades is not sitting well with some Carnival krewes.

The reviewing stands at Gallier Hall would be among the casualties of the mayor’s cutbacks, which he announced last week, saying the budget passed by the City Council left him no choice.

Many Carnival krewes toast their royalty at Gallier Hall, and the captain of at least one parading organization said the decision not to build the stands is “a low point in diplomacy for the city’s relationship with Carnival.”

The captain of Sparta, who by tradition is masked, said his krewe is having to make plans for another spot to toast the queen and court.

“Mardi Gras does not ask from this city. We give to this city. We take back very little,” said Sparta’s captain. “And certainly we feel that the erecting of these very traditional stands is a very small gift that the city can give back to Carnival to say thank you for all that we feel we do for the city.”

Sparta’s captain said he was also insulted to receive an invitation to the mayor’s traditional king cake party to celebrate the Carnival kickoff on Jan. 6. He said he’s heard from several krewe captains who say they will decline the invitation.

Phunny Phorty Phellows
Start/End: Willow Street at Carrollton Avenue, Uptown, 7 p.m.
A free event

The Phunny Phorty Phellows board the streetcar and began their ride to “Herarld the Arrival of Carnival” down the St. Charles Ave. Streetcar Line. The Phellows are an historic Mardi Gras organization that first took to the streets 1878 through 1898. They were known for their satirical parades and today’s krewe members’ costumes often reflect topical themes.

St. Joan of Arc Parade
Start: Decatur and Conti Streets, French Quarter, 6 p.m.
End: St. Philip and Decatur Streets, French Quarter
A free event

This second annual parade walks on Twelfth Night, Joan of Arc’s birthday, in celebration of her story and the golden statue that graces the French Market at New Place de France. The post-parade party features free live music by Pierre Pichon and Marc Gunn beginning at 6:45 at The Market Cafe©, 1000 Decatur Street.

Route: Begin at Decatur & Conti Streets; up to Chartres, across Jackson Square, continuing on Chartres to St. Phillip, up to Joan of Arc statue at St. Philip and Decatur Streets in front of Market Cafe©

The Joan of Arc Fete was a one day festival celebrating the life and legacy of St. Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans. The festival featured panel discussions, a free French class, songwriting and costume workshops, a silent auction, a cabaret-style arts showcase of Joan-related chamber music, original songs, and theater excerpts. The Festival ran on Sunday, January 3, 2010 from 10 am to 6 pm at the Bienville House Hotel, 320 Decatur Street in the French Quarter.

King Cake season arrives with Carnival, with local bakeries and groceries selling their version of King Cakes, many of them filled. Varieties include cinnamon, strawberry, cream cheese, blueberry,
lemon, pecan praline, apple, raspberry, plain, and many, many more flavors. King Cakes are shipping around the world, some with Mardi Gras packages including beads & doubloons; purple, green and gold decorations; and masks.

King Cakes come in numerous sizes and fillings

A Ponchatoula man has been arrested for running a Ponzi scheme in which he bilked at least 200 investors out of more than $11 million and allegedly used the money to pay for Mardi Gras krewe memberships and plastic surgery, among other personal expenses.

William J. Chaucer Jr. was booked in the Tangipahoa Parish Prison on charges of felony theft, selling unregistered securities, making material misrepresentations in the sale of securities and operating as an unregistered securities dealer, according to Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s office, which investigated the case with the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office. Chaucer’s bond has not been set.

william_chaucer.jpgRoger Zettler, The Advocate/The Associated PressWilliam and Cheryl Chaucer were photographed in September 2008 at a banquet celebrating her selection as Miss Louisiana Senior America at Carter Plantation in Springfield, La.

Chaucer was the principal of several financial companies, according to Caldwell’s office: Chaucer Holding Company, Chaucer Financial Services, American Credit of Hammond, American Credit of Covington and City Credit of Ponchatoula. The companies closed in September.

A Ponzi scheme works by juggling money among a stream of investors, using cash from new clients to create the appearance of profits on existing accounts. In Chaucer’s case, clients were told that their money was being invested in one of his loan companies. Individual investments ranged from $10,000 to $417,000, according to Caldwell’s office.

But Chaucer was actually using the cash to bankroll an extravagant lifestyle. Caldwell’s office said Chaucer spent $400,000 on Mardi Gras krewe memberships and krewe-related expenses for his family, $5,500 in plastic surgery and $11,800 in cosmetic dental work for Cheryl Chaucer, who competed in beauty pageants. Chaucer also allegedly spent $5,558 for tickets and ads to the Senior America Inc. pageant, along with $14,275.74 in photos, $20,905.74 in jewelry and “thousands more dollars” on expenses related to his wife’s pageant career.

A telephone listed in the name of William Chaucer at an address in Ponchatoula has been disconnected. Donald Hyatt, listed with the attorney general’s office as an attorney for Chaucer, did not return several telephone calls seeking comment.

The Web site for Senior America Inc. lists Cheryl Chaucer as “Ms. Louisiana Senior America 2008.” A biography on the site describes her as a talented singer who has performed with the likes of Fats Domino, Pete Fountain and the Neville Brothers. Cheryl Chaucer is also credited with serving on the boards and committees of a variety of major New Orleans institutions, including the New Orleans Opera Association, New Orleans City Ballet and Audubon Zoo. The Web site also describes the Chaucers as members of five Mardi Gras organizations. Cheryl Chaucer has reigned as Queen of Mercury, according to the site.

She and her husband were scheduled to reign together as King and Queen of Excalibur in 2011, but the couple resigned from those posts in August citing “business problems,” said Diane Brown, captain of the Metairie parading organization.

Chaucer is not the first Louisianan charged with running a Ponzi scheme. In August, former Metairie resident Judith Zabalaoui received an eight-year prison sentence for operating a Ponzi scheme that stole $5 million from clients in the New Orleans area.

About 1,700 Louisianans may have lost a combined $500 million in investments with R. Allen Stanford, the Texas financier who has been charged with stealing $7 billion in an international Ponzi scheme. Stanford has pleaded innocent of the charge.

Not wanting to compete with the biggest game in football, and potentially the biggest game in New Orleans Saints history, Metairie’s Krewe of Rhea has canceled its 2010 Carnival parade on Feb. 7, Super Bowl Sunday.

Rhea captain Anna Marie Soto said Wednesday that krewe members concluded turnout would be low, whether the now 8-0 Saints are in the game or not. They expect turnout to be zero if the Saints are indeed playing.

“That would’ve affected our riders and people coming in the street,” Soto said. “If the Saints get in the playoffs and in the Super Bowl, we wouldn’t have anybody out there.”

Rhea normally rolls in the early afternoon two Sundays before Mardi Gras and has been parading on Veterans Memorial Boulevard since 1969. Soto said she worked with Jefferson Parish officials to find another date in 2010, but the only options were evening time slots that didn’t appeal to krewe members because the parade attracts entire families with children.

“We really just have to sit out this year,” Soto said, adding that members didn’t want to risk spending the money to produce the parade only to find the streets and floats sparsely occupied.

Another Metairie krewe that has long paraded immediately after Rhea, the Krewe of Centurians, anticipated the Super Bowl conflict and switched its 2010 date a year ago, said captain Norman Bourgeois Jr. Centurians moved forward five days to Friday, Feb. 12, partly because of the game and partly because the krewe was already interested in making the move, Bourgeois said.

By parading on Friday night of Carnival’s final weekend instead of the preceding weekend, he said, the krewe hopes to increase member participation and crowd sizes and boost that day’s Friday’s Carnival activities in Metairie, which Bourgeois described as inconsistent in recent years.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a really good parade on Friday,” to compete with the offerings in New Orleans, he said.

New Orleans officials have not heard any concerns from krewes scheduled for Feb. 7 about competing with the Super Bowl, said James Ross, spokesman for Mayor Ray Nagin.

While the Super Bowl was part of the decision for Centurions, Bourgeois said, krewe officials had no idea at the time they sought their date change that the Saints would be making an historic run.

But the team’s bright prospects halfway through the regular season seem to validate the decision, he said.

“I don’t think anybody would want to miss that opportunity” to watch the Saints’ first Super Bowl, Bourgeois said. “We’ve got to dream.”

. . . . . . .