It was a glorious night for a party as area residents and many out-of-town guests filled Spanish Springs Town Square for the annual Mardi Gras Festival on Thursday.
Derrick Hau and Rachel Hoyt, from Portland, Oregon, were happy with the stuffed giraffe they had just won playing skee ball. They were in The Villages visiting grandparents along with siblings and friends — and were wearing flip flops, oblivious to the chill wind. “This is a really neat place,” Derrick said. “We’re having so much fun. We definitely want to come back here often.”
Judy Saeger, from Belvedere Village, had just struck up a friendship with Allan and Jeanne Pender, Canadians who spend several months each year at their second Villa Sonoma home. “The Penders had their golden doodle, Cooper, in tow. Cooper sparked the conversation, since Saeger has a dog who looks just like Cooper at home. “We live near Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side,” Jeanne Pender said, “in a small town called Welland. We have locks there to equalize the water levels by the Welland Canal, which is where Lake Ontario and Lake Erie come together.”
Country Club Hills Villager, Gail Rippy, and her friend from Mira Mesa Village, Jane Vonk, were sampling the fried dough and soft pretzels — trying not to get the powdered sugar on their faces. “We love The Villages,” Vonk said, “the warmth, all the swimming pools, and I’m into glass fusion. We make some beautiful things. There’s a long waiting list to join that club.” “We just don’t like cold weather any more,” Rippy added.
“You Florida people all have jackets on,” Linda Small said. “This isn’t cold at all. When I left Scherville, Indiana, we had just gotten more than a foot of snow.” Small, plus Denise Crepeau, from nearby Cedar Lake, and Mary Margaret Flanagan from Dyer, were all visiting their friend, Kathy McGrath, who retired from Lansing, Illinois, to Bonnybrook Village. The gals had just snapped a souvenir photo of Mary Margaret with the sequined Mardi Gras stilt walker couple. “Just say you’re from Chicago,” Kathy suggested. “That’s close enough. Nobody knows were Dyer or Cedar Lake are.” “We’re having a great time,” Mary Margaret said. “We’re in no hurry to go back to the cold.” Crepeau owns a drapery business, and the other three gals are retired teachers.
Bob Tomasi, from Village Rio Grande Two, and Winifred Villager Roger Kirkpatrick, were playing their baritone horns as part of The Villages Dixieland Band. A little while later, the Preservation Jazz Band picked up the tune on Alvarez Avenue and the Zydecats played lively Cajun music for line dancers and listeners seated in the large white Del Mar tent. The strollers were treated to a show by the Aloha O’Ka hula dancers, the Prime Time Twirlers and other lively performers. The lines for games, souvenirs, food and libations grew steadily longer as the evening moved along.
Perhaps the best seats at the festival were occupied by members of the Parrot Heads Club, a large group of charitable individuals who love to party. Dozens upon dozens of Parrot Heads were seated at long balcony tables outside the Cattle Baron’s Club restaurant above Katie Belle’s Saloon, feasting and drinking colorful concoctions. El Santiago Villager, Ann Blanchard, was showing off her green feathers and glittery face art. Kathy and Dick Subers, also from El Santiago, Kathie Actis, from Liberty Park Village, and all of their table mates, were decked out to the hilt and having fun. “We’ve been coming to this celebration for quite a few years,” Pat said. “It’s a great excuse to get together with friends.”
