When most people think of Mardi Gras, they imagine Bourbon Street: Copious amounts of alcohol, wild music and all the debauchery that results from such a volatile mixture. This past Tuesday, WMPG hosted its 10th annual Fat Tuesday (the English translation of Mardi Gras) celebration in the Woodbury Campus Center. Their own celebration featured Cajun cooking, Zydeco music and the trademark gaudy beads. Because of the number of people pressed into the campus center and the equipment used to keep the food warm, it even felt hot and muggy, just like New Orleans. WMPG D.J. Larry Burkett said, “It seems like there’s a few more people here every year.”
WMPG does a lot of different fundraising events throughout the year, but according to Tom Flynn, development director for the station, “Our focus for this one isn’t about raising money, it’s about good times and giving back to USM.” While the station was taking donations at the door, the event was free for students.
This year’s Cajun cooking event featured two categories: the pros and the amateurs. Contestants in the pro category included Hannaford, Bintliff’s, Wild Oats, Bleachers, Bayou Kitchen, Joe’s Boathouse, Dogfish Caf?, Uncle Billy’s and Sebago Brewing Company. This reporter’s favorite was the Bayou Kitchen’s beef chili, but I confess to a conflict of interest since I eat there regularly. Other good dishes were Joe’s Boathouse and their seafood gumbo, which tasted great, and the Dogfish Caf?’s jambalaya, consisting of a list of ingredients too long to remember (I recall mussels, chicken and salsa). The amateur group consisted of Jim Rand and his “Land of the Lost” jambalaya, Mother Maybelle, Carla Cutting and Burt Wartell’s “Gumbo Mambo.” Of these, the “Gumbo Mambo” was the only one that was left, or identifiable when I got there and thus the only one I got to try. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t dig it. Crawfish just isn’t my thing (and no they aren’t just like shrimp). The winners of the competition were the Dogfish caf? for the pros and Rand’s “Land of the Lost” jambalaya for the amateurs.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Fat Tuesday without the proper music. The station played Zydeco and Carnival music from around the world all day, honoring their strong international focus. The music playing at the campus center was broadcast live over the radio so that listeners could experience some of the Mardi Gras spirit, if not the food and humidity. After the food festivities, JimmyJo and the Jumble’ayuhs-a band from Phippsburg, Maine-was slated to play from 7 until 9:30 p.m., ensuring that we’d all gotten the most out of our Fat Tuesday by dancing into the night.
In addition to food and music, there were also plenty of Mardi Gras beads, but for those of you who have only seen the “Girls Gone Wild” movies, I regret to inform you that this wasn’t that kind of party. When I asked Joe Frechette, a student employee of WMPG, why he had so many beads but hadn’t taken his shirt off, he said “I’m trying to, but they won’t let me.”