Hardy crowd braves cold for Mardi Gras in Moscow

MOSCOW — The floats weren’t the only thing smaller at this year’s Moscow Mardi Gras parade.

Icy temperatures and a three-day weekend bit into the size of the crowd and the number of parade participants here Saturday morning. Still, thousands of people lined Main Street, sipped steaming coffee and stamped their feet to stay warm, and watched an hour of fun march by.

“The weather definitely kept some people away, and because of the snow and the three-day weekend, a lot of people decided to do their skiing instead,’’ said Steve Elgar of Moscow, one of the parade organizers. He estimated the crowd at 5,000 people, approximately the same size or a little smaller than last year.

Elgar also blamed the weather and the holiday for the size of the parade itself. The number of entries was down considerably over last year.

Mardi Gras parade regulars, such as the bare-legged, suit-coated, briefcase-carrying University of Idaho Law School Precision Drill Team, showed, however. “Suing folks can be more fun when you’ve got a hired gun,’’ the want-to-be attorneys chanted as they marched down the street. They won the Crowd Pleaser Trophy and the Best Drill Team Trophy for their work.

And the Mardi Gras Parade wouldn’t be complete without the white paper creations of the UI design students. However, this year, because of space limitations at the ASUI-Kibbie Dome and other reasons, the floats were smaller, carried by one person in a thematic cluster of six or more.

What the floats lacked in size, they made up for in detail. Intricately folded, punched, curled and sculpted paper depicted animals, flowers, cowboys, knights in armor, sphinxes and elephants. A delicate grouping of feathered friends called “Fantasy Birds’’ won trophies for being the Prettiest Float and for the Luck of the Draw. The Best Overall Float award went to a creation called Fictional/Functional Ichthyology.

Besides the standard elements, this year’s parade also had some new features. Congressional candidates both Democrat and Republican worked crowds on both sides of the street. Democrat Larry LaRocco, who is seeking the First Congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Larry Craig, won a trophy for the Tackiest Entry. The candidate carried and repeatedly kissed two forlorn-looking baby dolls.

Another ghoulish-looking group used the white cardboard donated by Potlatch Corp. for the floats to chide the corporation for using dioxins in the paper. “Potlatch Thanks for the paper, no thanks for the dioxin’’ read signs carried by group members.

Judges for the annual parade became part of the spectacle themselves. Because it was the first year Lewiston Tribune editorial page editor Bill Hall was a judge and Hall sports a graying beard, the other six judges donned long, white beards, dark black robes and white hard hats. Besides Hall, the judges included: Margaret Kreidler, a newscaster on KWSU radio; Mary Jo Knowles, “mother’’ of the Moscow Food Co-op; June Lipe of Triticum Press at Pullman; Carl Melina, a Moscow physician; Pat Smith, wife of Washington State University President Sam Smith; and Stuart Scott, owner of the Camas Winery at Moscow.

Other trophies were awarded for: Cared Enough to Come to Moscow, Grangeville High School Marching Band; Most Sincere Entry, Living Spots which featured a woman and her dog, both wearing black and white spots; Best Musical Group, the World’s Least Dangerous Mardi Gras Band; Best Youth Group, Moscow Day School; Best Theme Float, Foreign Fusion; Most Creative Float, Chinese Festival; Most Energetic Group, UI Juggling Club; Most Outrageous Entry, the Killer Sperm Tornado; Best UI group, UI chemistry students; Best WSU group, Live at 8 Comedy Drill Team; Social Concern Message, Catch the Wave by Moscow and Pullman high school students; Most Obscure Entry, Getting It Straight.

This story was published in the Feb. 18, 1990, edition of the Lewiston Tribune.