This weekend is the Annual Mardi Gras Weekend in downtown Orange with parades Friday and Saturday and enough beads to blanket the downtown area.
This year’s King and Queen are Jeff and Sherri Fruge from the Creole Krewe. It’s a big thrill for the Orange couple because New Orleans is almost a second home for them. The King and Queen get to pick their theme and it was only fitting to select “NOLA 300.”
“We both love New Orleans and travel there frequently,” Sherri said. “When we discovered that 2018 was the NOLA tricentennial we knew we must use this as our theme. Jeff has a grandfather in his Wagner lineage that came into the U.S. as a stowaway in a pickle barrel at the age of 14. Jeff also spent time in his high school years at LaPlace, Louisiana, a suburb of NOLA. The roots to that area are deep and strong.”
The Fruge’s started dating while they were at Orangefield High School. They both went to McNeese on scholarships and have been married for 39 years. Jeff works for DuPont and Sherry is the Chief Financial Officer for Cloeren, Inc. They have a daughter, Lauren Peet and her husband Daniel who have three teenage children – Hayley, Sydney & Carson and a son, Joel Fruge’ and his wife, Bonnie, who have two toddler girls, Josephine and Genevieve.
Being the King and Queen for Mardi Gras in Orange is a big honor and commitment. Since being told they were nominated, they have worked for almost a year on everything from the royal costumes, custom made in New Orleans, to custom beads, floats, appearances and overall planning around work and family.
“We worked with an artist and costume design company, D & D Creation, and their artist to create the costumes. Both of our costumes are made from heavy, decorative material that would have been used 300 years ago and are embellished with rhinestones. We requested that the artist create something unique in honor our of NOLA theme on the headpieces (collars) and we were very pleased,” the Queen said. “Jeff’s costume is Louis XIV, the King of France immediately prior to the founding of New Orleans – known as the Sun King. My costume was created to invoke the spirit of NOLA in coordination with the Sun King, as his Queen.”
You can see this years Royal Court at the parades, and on Friday at the First United Methodist Church beginning at 5:30 where they will have a meet and greet, jazz music and refreshments. It’s open to the public. The Royal Court and Captain will also be visiting several schools Friday morning to help promote this weekend’s activities.
The Jeep parade will start at 6pm on Friday with live music and kids activities at the downtown pavilion afterwards. On Saturday the Munchkin Parade for kids will start at 3:30 and the Krewe Parade will begin at 5:30. Parade routes can be found on KOGT.com and KOGT’s Facebook page.
Fruge added, “Mardi Gras is a great event for Orange. Jeff and I love the fellowship with friends that we have made as part of the Creole Krewe. My parents, Rodney & Eunice Barrett have been involved with Mardi Gras for over 20 years and we knew how much they enjoyed it. When our children graduated from high school, we knew this was something we wanted to participate in. The friendships and cammaraderie are what keeps us involved.”
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Royal Court
King and Queen-Jeff and Sherri Fruge
Duke and Duchess of Justice-Amy and Kyle Stephens
Duke and Duchess of Grease Lightning- Jimmy and Suzy Wimberley
Duke and Duke of Siegfried and Roy – Paul and Raul Burch
Duke and Duchess Villeneuve- Ray and Ruth Hancock
Captain – Gary Stelly
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Krewes
Creole Krewe
Krewe du Bayou
Krewe L’Orange
Krewe da Bon Amis
Krewe Fais Do Do
Krewe des Amis de la Rue
Krewe C’est La Vie
Krewe de Onyx
Krewe C’est Bon
Krewe Joie de Vivre
Krewe la Roulotte
Krewe de Ville Pont
Krewe du Marais
-photo by Ralf Mims-
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