Coast Guard Cutter Plays Vital Role In Mardi Gras Tradition
When most people around the world think of Carnival season in New Orleans, no doubt parades, beads and Bourbon Street are the first things that come to mind. But an annual, albeit less seen, Carnival tradition is the meeting of Rex, the king of Carnival, “Monarch of Merriment” and figurehead of the Rex Organization, and the royalty of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club at Spanish Plaza in the French Quarter on the day before Mardi Gras (known locally as “Lundi Gras”).
According to Carnival lore, Rex and his entourage travel to New Orleans on Lundi Gras to make the city his “Winter Capital.” While parades start up a couple of weeks before Mardi Gras, which fell this year on March 4, the Lundi Gras meeting of Rex and Zulu kings officially kicks off Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” in New Orleans.
Of course, a king needs a royal yacht, and since 1987, the U.S. Coast Guard has supplied a vessel to transport representatives of the Rex and Zulu organizations for their Lundi Gras gathering. This year, the Coast Guard Cutter Pamlico, an inland construction tender, served as the royal yacht for Rex and Zulu.
In keeping with tradition, the crew of the Pamlico delivered the Zulu group first. Mardi Gras revelers already had gathered at Spanish Plaza for live music and food. The Pamlico then returned to the Port of New Orleans’ administration building near the Crescent City Connection bridge to pick up Rex and his entourage.
After the Pamlico docked a second time at Spanish Plaza, a team of trumpeters disembarked and performed a fanfare, after which Rex descended to greet his royal subjects. The Rex and Zulu kings then met and addressed the crowd, before departing to various festivities. The Lundi Gras party concluded with a fireworks display, with pyrotechnics launched from a barge midstream in the Mississippi River.
Representing the U.S. Coast Guard this year aboard the Pamlico was Capt. Gregory Callaghan, commander of Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. Callaghan has served in that role since last July. Serving as Rex this year was Edward Howell Crosby, a general partner in the law firm of Chaffe McCall, president of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. The king of Zulu this year was Rodney P. Mason Jr., and his wife, Kristen Bonds Mason, served as queen. A graduate of St. Augustin High School, where he was a member of the school’s Marching 100 band, Mason now works for the City of New Orleans Capital Projects Administration.
Featured image caption: Capt. Gregory Callaghan, commander of Coast Guard Sector New Orleans, poses with Edward Howell Crosby aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Pamlico in New Orleans March 3. Crosby, a lawyer, served this year as Rex, the King of Carnival. The Pamlico delivered the Rex and Zulu organizations to the French Quarter as part of the city’s Mardi Gras festivities. (Photo courtesy of the Eighth Coast Guard District)
