Mardi Gras brings festival atmosphere to downtown Mount Pleasant

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The CMU fight song filled downtown Mount Pleasant Friday evening as monsters, cheerleaders, clowns and other characters came out to play.

People gathered on the streets, enjoying the sights and sounds of the annual Mardi Gras parade, which kicks off Mount Pleasant High School’s homecoming. These types of events are what make Mount Pleasant such a welcoming community, said city resident Amy Ramsdell.

“I always enjoy the parade and I always try to make it out every single year,” she said.

Residents, students and friends from neighboring cities came together during the festival. The streets of downtown Mount Pleasant were filled at 6:30 p.m. as Mardi Gras celebrators watched the parade.

The lively parade was one of many activities that marked the annual celebration.

“My favorite part is just meeting all of the people and talking to everybody and having a community event,” said Vice Mayor Bruce Kilmer.

The day was filled with activities for all ages. Mask-making, face painting, arts and crafts, rock climbing, clowns, caricatures, children’s inflatables, food and more were all made available for free.

Stanton “Snicklefritz” Black, a clown, was a fixture for children at the event.

“Someone said I was really good with kids, acting like a clown,” Black said. “So I said ‘Hey, a clown I’ll be.’”

Other activities

Friday night was filled with live music, along with dance performances and an acoustic brew.

Attendees were also encouraged to watch “National Lampoon’s Animal House” at the Broadway Theatre. Admission was $5 or free for anyone wearing a toga.

One of the hot spots was the teen foam dance party at Heartstrings and Fun Things, 209 W. Broadway St.

“We get kids coming out to play in the foam pit anywhere from ages 4 to college seniors,” said foam party organizer Charlie Cline. “You can dive into the foam and hide, everyone always has a ball.”

Cline has come back to Mardi Gras for the last five years to see kids sing and dance along with the parade.

“Family is important when coming out to parades and celebrating being together,” said Jose Delcastillo, the owner of Jose’s Pig Gig in Shepherd. “Every year we look forward to Mardi Gras, it’s nice to see all of the locals and students coming together.”

Setting up and taking everything down is an important task and helping out the community is just a start to everything one can do, said Kyle Karczewski, a National Parks and Recreation intern.

“We’ve been out here selling shirts and helping set up for a few hours now,” Karczewski said.” “I’m so glad this is fun work.”

Mount Pleasant resident Mike Meakin attended the festival dressed in a Darth Vader costume, hoping to gain some attention from the audience.

Meakin said dressing as the notorious Star Wars villain has been a dream of his since the series’ debut in 1977.

“I came out here to show off my costume and so far I’ve had at least a hundred people take pictures with me,” he said. “It’s so entertaining and such a good time. It’s just nice to see people in the community get out and entertain others.”