Vance AFB celebrates Mardi Gras, not quite 'LA' style

  • Published
  • By Katy Drost
  • 71st Logistics Readiness Squadron
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  When 2d Lt Matthew Franchetti, 71st Flying Training Wing legal office, suggested the Company Grade Officers Council hire a clown to make balloons at the Mardi Gras party Saturday, he wasn't volunteering himself.
But Saturday night found Lieutenant Franchetti in face paint, making balloon figures for three hours straight.
"I told (party organizers) it would be cool if we had someone to do balloon animals," he said. "And then they asked me to do it, and I said sure."
Lieutenant Franchetti's balloon art was just one of several events offered for children at the Mardi Gras party Saturday at the Vance Club and sponsored by the CGOC, Top 3, First Six and Air Force Sergeants Association.
Mardi Gras festivities continued during the week with the 71st FTW Chapel's Shrove Tuesday children's event at the Community Chapel Activity Center and a celebration at the youth center Thursday.
Brought to New Orleans from Europe by the French in the 1700s, Mardi Gras is celebrated as the day before Ash Wednesday, which begins the Catholic religious penitential season of Lent. Over time, Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday," began to include parades and parties.
Although Mardi Gras in New Orleans is often a raucous and lewd display of partying, the Vance Club hosted a much more tame and family-friendly event Saturday.
Organizers originally intended two separate parties for children and adults, but the estimated 250 guests mainly attended the children's portion of the night.
Activities for youth started with games and a coloring competition. A squadron float parade highlighted the night, as little red wagons were wheeled through the ballrooms, bearing everything from planes to children throwing candy. The 71st FTW Mission Support Group won first place with its wagon sporting flashing red lights on its wheels and a toddler throwing candy to eager children.
But 10-year-old Haley Shepard disagreed with the judge's decision. Her favorite float was made by the 8th Flying Training Squadron, which depicted a plane.
"I could see that a lot of work went into it, and it showed what the squadron was like," Haley said. And although she enjoyed the float parade, she said the best part of the night started when the band Ray Davis and a Pocket Full of Blues took to the stage.
Dressed in a mask, make-up and a bright red shirt, Haley and her friend Katie Shepherd had spent the day creating their outfits. Haley raided her mother's closet looking for a shirt that would match the mask she had made with glitter and feathers.
While the party offered varied activities catering to both children and adults, the Cajun buffet allowed everyone a taste of New Orleans' cuisine.
The menu, which included crawfish flown in from Louisiana, dirty rice, sausage gumbo and shrimp fettuccini, was given the stamp of approval from at least one Southern native.
"I'm from New Orleans," said Shonetel Billy, "and so far, so good."
She said the crawfish wasn't the best she'd ever tasted, but "I'm not at home (in Louisiana), and I'm still enjoying it."
"Overall, I think the party went really well," said event organizer and CGOC member 1st Lt Scott Bartz, 71st Mission Support Group. "It was pretty fun for everybody."
He said the CGOC, Top 3, First Six and AFSA sponsored the party "to unite Team Vance for a good time of fellowship and camaraderie." And he attributed the party's success to the club staff and private organizations that put much effort into hosting it.
"Our hopes for next year is that the club will be able to support an even better Mardi Gras event," he said.
The Shrove Tuesday celebration at the CCAC was also well attended by Team Vance families.
"This is a joyful event that brings the family together," said Chaplain (Lt Col) Raul Sanchez, wing chaplain. "It's a great time of fellowship and a morale booster. I enjoy it most because it's a day before the time of sacrifice, so all are joyful, and I love seeing the children having fun and being happy, because when the children are happy, the parents are happy."
The festival included a pancake breakfast with various toppings, potatoes, sausage and juice. The children's activities also included clowns, face painting, ring tossing, can toppling, bean bag tossing and more.
"This is so much fun," said 7-year-old Matthew Reed. "I like everything and it's great because my friends are here having fun too."