Mardi Gras North opens Friday

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Feb. 4, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

Mardi Gras North. It's not the enormous Mardi Gras celebration complete with costumed jesters and party-goers from around the world that is associated with New Orleans, but rather a celebration of Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday" in Bemidji.

It's Mardi Gras with a twist -- a cold, wintery, northern twist that celebrates the season before the beginning Lent.

Bemidji hosts its 12th annual Mardi Gras North festival Friday through Tuesday with a smaller-than-average calendar of events, local organizer Anne Sliney said, but with the same vigor as it did the first set of events in 1986.

Sliney said due to a set of unusual circumstances the number of people involved in organizing Mardi Gras North was slim this year, so scheduled events were organized by the community only. This year's events number five, much more scaled down than the first Mardi Gras held here, which included a parade and other events scheduled by the founding group.

The theme is once again "Bemidji to New Orleans ... Let's Make It a Clean Connection," which Sliney said was the same theme 12 years ago and binds together the celebration from year to year.

Sliney, a Mardi Gras North founder, said keeping the Mississippi River clean has been an important tenet of the event since the beginning because it was started by offshoot members of the Mississippi River Revival, an organization that works to clean up the river's environment.

In 1985, a few members of the local group decided, in addition to the annual summer festival held to honor the Mississippi River, there should be a winter festival also held in honor of the river and to celebrate keeping it clean.

The Mardi Gras North event was established as an extension of one of the Mississippi River Revivalist's annual Mardi Gras party, Sliney said. "We just opened it up to the community."

Since that time, a relationship and communication has been established with the city of New Orleans, which has resulted in the sisterhood of the two towns lined by the Mississippi River, Sliney said. However, the two Mardi Gras are entirely different events, celebrated for some of the same and some different reason.

"We wanted to make sure this is our own festival and not an imitation of what happens in New Orleans," she said.

Here's what's on the calendar this weekend:

• On Friday a buffalo dinner will be held 4:30-7 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church. the menu will include roast buffalo, potatoes and gravy, red beans, rice, two vegetables and dessert. The cost for adults and children over 12 is $8; for children 6-11, $5; and children under 5 are free. Advance tickets are $1 off. Proceeds will go to community charity. For more information, call 751-5034.

• Music and poetry is Friday evening at the Northwoods Folk Collective Coffeehouse, held at Griffy's Restaurant. Dinner is served 6:30-8 p.m. Poets and musicians are welcome to perform during open mike time from 8-11:30 p.m. There's $1 cover charge. For more information, call 243-2955.

• A Family Carnival will be held at Headwaters Science Center 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Science demonstrations by self-styled science advocate and entertainer Glen Schmeig of Madison, Wis., a raptor presentation with live birds, booths with carnival activities and food will be available. Tickets are 25 cents each, three for $1 or 30 for $5. For more information, call 751-1110. Proceeds will go to the Science Center.

• Candelight Ski Tour at Lake Bemidji State Park 6-9:30 p.m. Saturday. There is no charge for the event but park permit and ski pass are required. For more information, call 755-3983.

• The Family Carnival continues 1-4 p.m. Sunday at the Science Center.

• In celebration of Fat Tuesday, Fasching specialties food will be available at Black Forest Bakery. Fasching is the German equivalent of Mardi Gras. Pastries will be served from 7 a.m. and pea soup from 11 a.m. Tuesday. For more information, call 751-5521.