The spirit of Mardi Gras was alive in the streets of Mount Pleasant
Friday night in a crowd of people wearing masks made of feathers and
beaded necklaces.

Hoards of people came downtown on Main Street to join the fun and
make
a serious effort to help out with the hurricane relief, for the city
that gives them the inspiration for their own Mardi Gras.

Reed City junior Erica Campau, member of the CMU chapter of the
American Red Cross, said the community was eager to enjoy the festival.

“It has been a lot of fun down here today,” Campau said as a man
walked
up and put a $100 bill in the bin. “ … They are excited to give to
the victims and know they are helping with the real Mardi Gras.”

The parade ended at the corner of Broadway and Main streets, where
the
marching band came to a standstill. Some of the featured groups in the
parade were the CMU marching band, the basketball team and the baseball
team, as well as several other groups in the community.

Local businesses like The Bird Bar and Grill, 223 S. Main St., took
the
opportunity of this festival to make some money for the hurricane
victims and the community followed suit.

The Isabella County-based, Cowgirl Up 4-H group, was selling snow
cones
as a fund-raiser.

“The girls usually use the money they make in these fund-raisers for
their shows, but they decided to collect it today to donate it,” said
4-H leader Elise Pillote, mother of one of the members.

Sydney Morse who is one of the Cowgirl Up members from Weidman, said
they were doing really well and people were letting them keep the
change.

Pillote said she works for Countrywide Home Loans and any money they
raise for the hurricane relief, will be matched by Countrywide.

Local restaurants and bars had food and drink specials for the
festival
and there were vendors up and down the street selling food, beads and
they had games for children to play.

Some members of the community were taking an extra step to help.

Pastor Joe Wentworth from the Central Assembly of God chartered a
bus
for 50 people to go down to Waveland, Miss., and distribute food and
supplies to the victims there.

“I wanted Mount Pleasant to leave more than a financial fingerprint
on
Mississippi,” he said. “Plenty of people donate food and money, but we
will be there to distribute it.”

Wentworth said it wasn’t a church event and anyone in the community
is
welcome. The trip is Oct. 2 – 7 and they will be staying in a tent on
cots provided by the Convoy of Hope, an international group they
networked with to have this opportunity.

Despite the devastation of the hurricane that hit the heart of the
real
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Mount Pleasant community continued the
annual celebration and worked together to help in any way possible.

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