Ask the aquarium

Coastal Living
NEWS-TIMES
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014
1B
JENNIFER ALLEN, EDITOR
CAROL
BESSENT
HAYMAN
ON THE PORCH
Cold February,
warm memories
Merry minstrels lead the parade for freshly made gumbo during the 2013 Gloucester Mardi Gras at the Gloucester Community Club. This year’s
annual celebration is 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. (Dylan Ray photo)
L
Gloucester Mardi Gras
e t the good times roll
Down East during the
22nd annual Gloucester
Mardi Gras 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday at the Gloucester
Community Club.
Sponsored by Unknown Tongues CajunZydeco band, Gloucester Mardi Gras features
the largest gathering of Cajun-Zydeco bands in
the Carolinas as well as bluegrass, old time and
roots rock.
Live music and dancing goes on all day,
including a children’s King and Queen march
and dance around 3 p.m. to the Unknown
Tongues.
Gloucester Mardi Gras was named North
Carolina’s best February destination by Our
State magazine.
Gumbo and fried turkey are served in the
early afternoon, announced by the “Fool’s
Procession,” a parade of folks walking in costume.
Feathered mask and hat making are available for kids and grownups alike. Costumes are
welcome.
In the community spirit of Southwest
Louisiana’s rural Mardi Gras, this event is open
and free to the public, made possible by cash or
food donations.
Organizers ask that you leave the dogs at
home.
Barbara Garrity-Blake with the Unknown
Tongues said about the event that there would
be some special guests at this celebration.
“This year we are excited that some musicians from the Asheville Second Line community band, as well as our friends from the
Bulltown Strutters, will be in attendance to
add high-stepping merriment to our Fool’s
Procession,” she said.
“Also coming are some folks who were displaced by Katrina to the Triangle area, happy to
SCHEDULE
Friday
6 p.m. Gumbo preparation and a music jam will
begin the festivities at the
club.
Laney Danzeisen of Beaufort dances with friends as
music fills the air. (Dylan Ray photo)
have a Louisiana tradition right here in North
Carolina to help keep the Mardi Gras spirit
alive,” she added.
A portion of the proceeds goes to the
Gloucester
Mardi Gras’
grand fool
leads a parade
of colorful
compatriots
through the
Down East
community of
Gloucester.
(Dylan Ray
photo)
Inside Ask the aquarium
today
2B
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Saturday
11 a.m. Celebration
kicks off with music by
the Lost Girls, Haw River
Rounders, Gumbo Ya Ya
and more, there will be a
craft table for mask making, and cooking.
1
p.m.
Fool’s
Procession, leading to the
feast of seafood gumbo,
sausage chicken gumbo,
red beans and rice, deep
fried turkey, lots of sides,
ice tea.
3 p.m. King and
Queen’s march and
dancing to the Unknown
Tongues.
6 p.m. Mardi Gras
ends after a set from The
Family.
Gloucester Community Club’s Woodrow and
Mary Dudley Price Scholarship.
The Gloucester Mardi Gras began 22 years
ago as a way for the Unknown Tongues to thank
their fans and to provide a fun and colorful
event Down East in February.
The event was modeled after the rural Mardi
Gras in places like Eunice, La., where it’s all
about food, music and family.
The event has evolved from a covered-dish
gathering and a casual music jam to a major
feast with almost two-dozen deep-fried turkeys,
vats of gumbo, red beans and side dishes and
all-day performances.
If you want to support the effort, bring a side
dish, dessert or non-alcoholic beverage to share,
throw some cash in the on-site donation box or
visit the band’s website, www.unknowntongues.
com to donate.
The event will be held rain, snow or shine.
For more information, contact Ms. GarrityBlake or Bryan Blake at 729-8021 or visit www.
facebook.com/unknowntongues.
Library News................... 2B
Community News ............ 3B
Puzzles ........................... 3B
It is a February cold day.
February is not known for nice
weather. It is, after all, winter. Cold
days and colder nights are expected. Today is no exception. Our
coastal winter cannot, however,
compete with the snow, ice and
rain of states as we travel north.
Even though this has been one of
our wettest and coldest winters in
many years we still have lots for
which to give thanks.
I am remembering a warm,
breezy Saturday in early October
when my box elder tree seemed
all green and golden with falling leaves, and the mums I had
planted spread brilliant colors over
their walkway bed to my waiting side porch and steps. I love
porches and I am daydreaming the
afternoon away with my pen and
pad nearby to gather thoughts and
impressions.
From my chair I can see Front
Street and Pollock Street come
together, and Grayden Paul Park
appears with Taylors Creek where
I learned to swim. A few boats are
tied up and folks are enjoying the
beauty of the crystal blue waterfront as they walk past, keeping
an eye out for ponies on the shore
beyond and stopping only to take
pictures of the memorable day.
In my memory, parked cars line
the streets as folks take to benches,
pull out a favorite book and only
look up to savor the vision of
the afternoon sky with the sun
descending into the ocean beyond.
Memories are to me, a treasure, ever fresh, ever clear — an
appreciation of nature’s beauty,
whenever and wherever I am privileged to enjoy it. Yes, here come
the birds — the gulls over the
water and the redbird, my father’s
favorite, who likes my yard. I enjoy
them and the beautiful yellow butterflies. I feed the birds and admire
the gorgeous butterflies.
When evening begins to come
I always feel a need to pray. We
did not create this world, measure
and define the season, plan the
rivers, mountains, oceans, valleys,
make the birds and butterflies and
so many other things we are often
prone to take for granted or think
we made all by ourselves, and so
even on this cold February day,
there is much for me to smile
about.
My arthritis pain is not so bad
today. I received a note from a
friend and a phone call from my
daughter. My sister, the gourmet
cook, will bring me some of her
delicious beef stew for supper, and
though it’s cold and dusk is coming, my house is warm and snug
and I am blessed to be here. Yes,
it’s time to offer thanks and say
grace.
Have a safe and pleasant night
and a beautiful day tomorrow
— and hold onto your precious
memories of spring, summer and
autumn. They have a way of making even cold February days seem
warm. Here is a late Valentine for
all my readers.
Valentine
February brought the world a
valentine:
Trees edged in icy lace,
Blue velvet sky;
Winter bright veil of ruffles
Around the slender throat of
day,
And when dusk came,
The sable-coated arms of night
Reached out and placed one
perfect star
In heaven’s hair.
Published in Listen Magazine, Feb.
1979
Carol Bessent Hayman is poet laureate of Beaufort and Carteret County.
Don’t forget …
There is an American Red Cross blood drive
from 3-7 p.m. today at the Church Of Jesus
Christ Of Latter-day Saints on Harkers Island.