The Ole Biloxi Marching Club: 50 Years Strong!

It’s Carnival and as the parades set in and the costumes come on, one group that has outlived so many sets their sights on an achievement very few Mardi Gras krewes can claim. It is the 50th anniversary of the founding of The Ole Biloxi Marching Club, a krewe with a history almost as storied as Biloxi itself. The celebration for the 50th anniversary was an event of much pomp and excitement, held at the Frank G. Gruick Community Center with rock and roll entertainment provided by The Chee-Weez.

            “We started in 1975 with 18 people, and it’s evolved up to 70 people. We do 9 parades a year, they’re all exciting! We give the flowers out, flowers still work.” Says President and founding member Rusty David, laughing heartily. “Someone’s going to figure out something better than a flower and then we’re all going to have to pack it up and go home!”

            The giving of flowers is a tradition as storied as the Ole Biloxi Marching Club itself, with thousands upon thousands of people receiving flowers from the club in parades over the years. Typically given out to fashionable and pretty young women in exchange for a kiss on the cheek, the group is also happy to go out in to the crowd and give a flower to any who would be made happy by them, including children and people with limited mobility who may not be able to make it to the front of the parade line.

Total
0
Shares