During Mardi Gras season, many Nicholls students join the crowded streets of Thibodaux, Houma, New Orleans and other area parade routes. Some students, however, participate in parades as members of local carnival krewes. For many student riders, interest in riding in local parades started as a family tradition.

Eric Haydel, sophomore from Ville Platte, will be riding with the Krewe of Ambrosia in Thibodaux.

“I’ve ridden with my dad before, but this is the first year that it’s totally me,” Haydel said.

The theme of this year’s parade is “Ambrosia goes to Disney World.”

“It’s total excitement to see all these people yelling for you,” Haydel said.

The cost of membership varies in each Mardi Gras krewe. The Krewe of Ambrosia requires annual dues of $150, which include a rider’s spot on the float and insurance fees. These dues do not incorporate the cost of a rider’s beads and other throws.

“Beads can cost anywhere from zero to thousands of dollars. I’ve actually only spent a couple of hundred because of going to other parades and catching stuff,” Haydel said.

Haydel’s favorite items to throw when riding are “the big fancy long beads that all the girls want.”

Megan Landry, freshman from Houma, will serve as a goddess for the Krewe of Hercules this Mardi Gras season.

Every year, each of the krewe’s dukes is assigned a goddess, better known in other carnival krewes as a maid.

“I’m goddess for my grandfather’s float. There are about 11 goddesses,” Landry said. “It’s a year long event.”

The dukes and their goddesses are introduced during the krewe’s annual Tableau Ball at the Houma Terrebonne Civic Center.

The goddesses also represent the krewe in a community event sponsored by Terrebonne Parish Council on Aging.

“For Thanksgiving and Christmas, we went to East Houma Bingo Hall and served lunch to the senior citizens. There was a band playing and we danced with them,” Landry said.

On parade day, after lunch at Copeland’s and a limo ride around Houma, the goddesses take their places beside the parade’s king.

“During the parade we wear suits and hats and stand at the reviewing stand,” Landry said.

Thus, the goddesses will be present during the krewe’s annual toasting ceremony.

Of course, being a goddess isn’t free. “It costs about $200, but covers everything,” Landry said.

Helena Allemand, freshman from Lockport, has been a member of the Krewe of Apollo in Lockport for two years.

It’s exciting.” Allemand said. “Around every corner you turn you know everybody down the street. You just see crowds of people.”

The entire krewe pitches in to make parade day a success. “You have to decorate your own float and buy your own material for your costume,” Allemand said.

Allemand rides with her aunt, uncle and cousins.

Joseph Mayet, freshman from Lockport, is also a member of the Krewe of Apollo. Mayet has ridden with his mother and father since 1989, beginning as a page on the King and Queen’s float at the age of 2.

“It’s really fun to get to witness Mardi Gras from a different stand- point,” Mayet said. “You feel like you’re a character in the parade.