Location: Westbank
Date: February 6, 2010
Time: 10:15 a.m. **Time changed due to Super Bowl (moved due to Alla Day Change)
Floats: 20
Membership Size: 300
Year Founded: 1935 Chief Choctaw 2010: Guy Francis Laigast
Princess Choctaw 2010: Celeste Margaret Laigast Float Designer: Phillip Fricano, Jr
Krewe Website: www.kreweofchoctaw.com
Things To Look For
Heat shaped spears - Heart shaped cloisonne doubloon (collecters) - Several other Valentines oriented throws NEW FOR 2009 - Choctaw logo Spears - Footballs - Roses - dangle beads - Cups
the Krewe of Choctaw History
Chief Choctaw was just a papoose back in July, 1935, when he first saw the light of day. His dues were 50 cents per month.
Originally formed as a social organization, Choctaw did not parade until 1939 when ten old U.S. Government mail wagons were purchased from a salvage company for $50.00 each. The old stripped-down mail wagons formed the chassis for the first Choctaw carnival parade floats.
KREWE OF CHOCTAW
KREWE OF CHOCTAW
Choctaw's organizing group were Leonard Santos, L. "Whitey" Knollman, Albert Leddy, Louis Zinc, A.P. Gary, W.N. Burmaster, Henry Klink and John Beninate. Meetings were held in the rear of the Santos Cafe, located at Slidell and Brooklyn Ave., Algiers.
While Choctaw fought for survival, he rebuilt his ten mail trucks into floats and used the New Orleans Sanitation garage, and a U.S. Naval Station warehouse as dens, before moving into his own permanment lair at 219 Newton St., Algiers.
Santos and Wendell N. Burmaster labored long and hard to keep the organization thriving. Burmaster was President from 1935 to 1946, when he retired because of ill health.
While clouds of World War II formed, Chief Choctaw and his Krewe found time to offer entertainment for their loyal subjects. The initial Choctaw street parade took place in 1939, with Santos as the first Chief.
William Dubret ruled as the second Chief in 1940. Then came A.P. Gary, along with the first Choctaw Princess, Miss June Barnet in 1941. As the war struck closer to home, Chief Choctaw discontinued his activities until 1946. It was at this time that Chief Choctaw revived the annual river parade. John Beninate was the 1946 Chief Choctaw.
In 1939, dances and parties were held at various locations which eventually led to a ball and tableau at the Martin Behrman Memorial Gym, until 1949. In 1950, Chief Choctaw moved to the J.P. Skelly Memorial Gym. 1965, Chief Choctaw needed more room for his people and moved to the Municipal Auditorium. In 1980, Chief Choctaw held his first Pow Wow at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans.
1998 - Robert Heindel was elected as Captain
2003 - Choctaw moved it's parade to the Historic City of Gretna and paraded on Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday March 4, 2003
2005 - Choctaw's signature Chief's float was revaled as Chief Henry Landry rode through the streets of Gretna.
Float builder Mr. Phillip Fricano, Jr.
2007 - Choctaw's signature Captain's float was revealed to the public, built by Mr. Phillip Fricano, Jr.
2008 - The mighty Chief Choctaw returned to his traditional place on the Mardi Gras calendar, parading the first Saturday of Mardi Gras, January 26, 2008
2009 - Chief Choctaw will return to Terrytown and Gretna for the Mardi Gras of Love, February 14, 2009.
"Promote good fellowship, contribute to civic good,
encourage charity and keep alive the great spirit of Mardi Gras"
Annual River Parade aboard the Steamboat Natchez February 7, 2009 - open to the public.
Tickets available through Choctaw for a $15.00 donation - www.kreweofchoctaw.com
About the DVD The first Mardi Gras in America was celebrated in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. In 2007, it is still racially segregated. Filmmaker Margaret Brown (Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt), herself a daughter of Mobile, escorts us into the parallel hearts of the city s two carnivals. With unprecedented access, she traces the exotic world of secret mystic societies and centuries-old traditions and pageantry; diamond-encrusted crowns, voluminous, hand-sewn gowns, surreal masks and enormous paper mache floats. Against this opulent backdrop, she uncovers a tangled web of historical violence and power dynamics, elusive forces that keep this hallowed tradition organized along enduring color lines.
