 Wilmer Ledet has picked up a
passenger!
| Among those shown approaching one of homeowners is Wilmer Ledet
on horseback, and, standing from right to left, McKinley Ceasar Jr. in the light green
costume with his brother, Dennis Ceasar, beside him, and, next to them, Avery Victorian.
The girl in costume looking at the Mardi Gras is named Vivian. |
| Wilmer Ledet and Francis Haymark are dancing in the foreground,
and behind them are Lisa Dureau Rosen (from California) and Anthony Thomas. The shot was
taken at the home of Morris Cezar, who can be seen at the far left with his cousin Lucy
St. Marie, a resident of Lake Charles. |
|
 
Rayfield Lavergne helped to keep the courir moving by blowing his
horn to let everyone know it was time to head on to the next stop.
These pictures were all taken in the morning during the first
part of the Soileau 2000 Courir.
Just about every year somewhere in Louisiana during Mardi Gras
parades and courirs, at least one accident occurs involving a trailer. Tragically, during
the afternoon toward the end of the 2000 Soileau run, McKinley Ceasar Jr., a member of a
prominent Creole family, was the fatal victim of a trailer accident, the result of a
collision with another vehicle. Reading about the accident in the newspaper Ash
Wednesday morning was both shocking and very sad.
Despite this loss, the community remains committed to preserving the
Creole Mardi Gras. The Soileau Courir continued in 2001 and will be held again in 2002,
carrying on a tradition that celebrates the joy of life today but that is also a prelude
to Christian observances that commemorate the reality of death and the promise of eternal
life.
Special thanks to Trish Ransom, who, along with Oliver Frank and
Steve Willis, identified the Soileau Mardi Gras participants shown in these pictures |
