[Vision2020] Mardi-Gras

[Steven Basoa]

If I remember correctly, Cope Gale Jr came up with the original idea  
for a Moscow Mardi Gras celebration.  I think it started as a  
celebration at his store in the heart of downtown (Ward Paint and  
Hardware).  It was intended to help bring customers to his shop and  
to shake off the winter blahs (remember when februarys in Moscow were  
frigid times?).  It started small and escalated quickly to a town- 
wide festival.  And the rest, as they say, is history...

SB

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On Mar 1, 2007, at 10:38 AM, Ellen Roskovich wrote:

You would think that if any one group wanted Moscow's Mardi Gras to  
thrive, it would be the Moscow Arts Commission.  The whole reason  
behind our Mardi Gras was to further and benefit art here on the  
Palouse.

If I was to name any one person at the UI, I would say David Giese.    
Dr. Nick already mentioned the huge undertaking of the beautiful milk  
carton floats.  You have to understand, they were huge. . sometimes  
bigger than a bus. . . and they almost looked like ivory.  They were  
a similar color.  Amazing works of very temporary art. . . but still  
art in my book.

On the business end, I would have to say Charlotte Buchanan, owner of  
a wonderful little eclectic shop called "One More Time", was the  
driving force for the downtown merchants.  I think she was also the  
"glue" that helped bind the UI and the downtown.  Mardi Gras started  
to unravel the year after she left town.  You can see it in the old  
posters. . . it was like they "forgot" to make a poster and that  
first year without Charlotte the poster is a thrown together collage  
of black and white pictures of past Mardi Gras celebrations.

What would it take to revive Moscow Mardi Gras?  Very hard work.   
Communication between ALL businesses. . . not just bars.   Business  
needs to understand that we NEED the UI to flourish and there has to  
be cooperation and communication between the two.

Ellen Roskovich