Rubonia Mardi Gras to make its return in 2017

Signs leading into Rubonia call it the “Home of the Mardi Gras” and after a two-year hiatus, the historical event will make its return in 2017.

“It is your Mardi Gras,” Rubonia native Derrick Randall said Wednesday. “It’s not mine. I’m just facilitating it. It is our community. It is an asset, financially and economically, for the community.”

About 30 Rubonia residents gathered in the Rubonia Community Center to hear from Randall’s nonprofit, The D.L. Randall Foundation Inc., which is organizing the parade planned for Feb. 26. The event, which had been put on annually for more than 35 years, was canceled the last couple years because of financial and other reasons.

“We all have to do it together,” Randall said.

Rubonia resident Luann Topp, an original organizer of the Rubonia Mardi Gras, told residents putting on the event “ain’t cheap.”

“Before we talk about where money goes, you have to come up with the money to put it on in the first place,” she said. “It is a very costly operation.”

Terra Ceia resident Bill Burger, who organized the event for three years, said at the time it cost $20,000.

“Every year it gets more expensive,” he said. “It is a huge task. You need a corporate sponsor. You need some major corporation help to just pay the bills to pull it off. It does not generate that much money.”

The meeting was a chance for residents to ask questions about the event’s return. Randall quickly assured them the foundation has a Mardi Gras Committee working on bringing the event back.

“We do have corporate sponsors in place,” he said. “It has been thought through. ... I’m going to need you. Everything we do out here, we need need each other and that’s just fact.”

Any possible funds generated from the event could be used to keep the Rubonia Community Center open, Rubonia resident Charles Miller Sr. said.

“I would like to see revenue come back to this center and all us working together.”

For Donald Mitchell Sr., the Rubonia Mardi Gras needs to continue.

“This event is historical,” he said. “This event needs to continue to go on. It helps put Rubonia on the map. This event needs to continue on with no interruptions.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Rubonia Mardi Gras to make its return in 2017."