More-the-Merrier Mardi Gras

They do it in Mamous, Eunice and Church Point. They do it in Elton, Soileau and LeJeune Cove. And don't forget Basile, Mermentau and Tee-Mamou.
Hurricane Katrina couldn't kill it, and neither could Rita, not in Port Arthur, Galveston, Lake Charles and New Orleans. Wind, rain, death and destruction only strengthened the party resolve.
When the going gets tough, the tough drink hurricanes, the pink kind whose sweet taste belies the alcoholic wallop.
Mardi Gras is celebrated both big and small in cities, towns and map flyspecks throughout the region, and now a private group wants to launch one in Beaumont. The first Mardi Gras on the Neches, put on by Parades Unlimited will include a carnival and parade in downtown Beaumont.
It will go up against Port Arthur's Mardi Gras, much to the chagrin of the organizers of that relatively large, 15-year-old event every February.
Floyd Marceaux, president of Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas, a consortium of civic groups that organizes Port Arthur's event, said Thursday that Beaumont will find itself in the Mardi Gras ring with a seasoned heavyweight, one that draws almost a quarter-million people annually.
However, it seems to me that the only competition that belongs in Mardi Gras is for beads and other float-tossed trinkets.
Americans love to party. They do it on St. Patrick's Day. They do it on Super Bowl Sunday. Cinco de Mayo used to be a celebration of when Mexican soldiers whipped the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, in May 5, 1862. Now, for many Americans, it's an opportunity to stuff themselves with Mexican food and gulp down Corona beer and margaritas.
And, like Cinco de Mayo, Mardi Gras just gets bigger every year. It has transcended cultural and geographic lines.
Don't believe me?
They do it in Arkansas:
http://www.mardigrasdigest.com/News/arkansasmg.htm
They do it in New York City:
http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0506,zappia3,60792,15.html
They do it in North Dakota:
http://www.ndtourism.com/events/viewEvent.asp?ID=1569
And, by golly, they do it in Iraq:
http://www.armychic256bde.com/id42.html
So why not Beaumont? This where Texas and Cajun cultures overlap into a what I've coined as "Tejun."
Today, Mardi Gras is about as far off the mark of its original intent as today's Cinco de Mayo celebrations are to its beginnings.
In private company, as one does in Port Arthur, will orchestrate the proceedings - and try to make a profit.
Some might say the Beaumont Mardi Gras, centered in the region's largest city, will suck the life out of its counterparts' parties in places such as Port Arthur. But when it comes to this annual event, I see no reason for a the-less-the-merrier attitude.
Excess is what Mardi Gras is all about.