Photo by Frank Couch.
Parents and children participate in the 2016 Mardi Gras Parade at Central Park.
A charming New Orleans ritual comes to Central Park again on Feb. 28 with the return of the Homewood Mardi Gras Parade sponsored by the MOMS Club, Over the Mountain chapter, a support group for stay-at-home-mothers.
The lineup for the sixth annual kid- and mom-friendly event begins at 3:45 p.m. at the pavilion near the Central Park playground, and the parade begins at 4 p.m., according to Melanie Peeples Lewis, one of the parade’s founders.
And the event’s not just for moms and kids, or even dads and grandparents, she said.
“We invite the entire community to come participate, either in the parade — for kids and their caregivers — or watching from the sidelines, because we need someone to throw beads to,” Lewis said.
Participants “make a joyful noise with instruments or loudspeakers and music and walk around the park, tossing MoonPies and beads to everyone who’s there,” Lewis said. “We usually circle at least twice. Then if it’s not too cold, we all eat king cake or Mardi Gras cookies and let the good times roll.”
The kids are invited to bring musical instruments and are encouraged to make as much noise as they want, Lewis said.
The event breaks up the long gap between Christmas and spring break for stay-at-home moms and their kids, she said.
“It gives you a little fun thing to look forward to,” Lewis said.
Participants have fun even in the days before the parade, according to Lewis.
“Moms and kids decorate their ‘floats’ — and by ‘floats,’ we mean strollers, wagons and even boxes,” she said.
For information, go to freewebs.com/momsclubotm or to the “Moms Club of Birmingham, Public Page” on Facebook.
