Covering the Business & Fun of the  Carnival Industry

Sunday, October 18, 2009 ........The Men of Class Social Aide and Pleasure Club commenced their 5th season, last Sunday afternoon with one of the most unique parading themes you can think of, and if by chance you were one of those individuals that just couldn't keep up, then when you gave up, you missed out! All parades held on the streets of New Orleans in the Main line Culture, has stops built in to help the club and the brass bands take a small break from the action. The club, band, and the second liners themselves take bathroom breaks, get a small drink of water, (not alcohol) and maybe a small bite on a quarter of a sandwich, but the main reason is to sit down and rest from all the dancing and walking that you do.

The clubs pretty much hold to this rule and don't really play around with it for two reasons, 1) the air conditioning and the water breaks prevent you from overheating in the summer and freezing on a cool day because the sweating combined with airflow can help you develop a great case of pneumonia. 2) Planning those stops enable the clubs to pay back the shops and bars for sponsoring the parades, and gives them a chance to deride some economic reward for their effort. Some bars will make in excess of $900 dollars off the one stop, but will make $3000 off the extra traffic that will be generated for at least 2 weeks off the clubs fans revisiting the bar.

It seems that the Men of Class in this 5th year of parading decided to change the nature of its stops into  steps that the club used to slowly put the club total show together very slowly. With each stop, the club placed another piece of the puzzle into the mix slowly revealing the total picture and them for the fans and the parade.

So as we go through the route, and the stops we'll put the theme together for you, as well. The start was at the bar 1.) Silky's Lounge, Magnolia & General Taylor.  Here the men of class strated their trek, with only the light brown suits and brown felt hats and geat looking natural brown loafers. The parade continued up magnolia to General Pershing and made a right turn to South Claiborne Ave. and continued down Claiborne.  Next STOP was at 

2.) Jazzy Daiquiri located a South Claiborne and Louisiana Ave. Here the Men of Class picked up their Queen, Mrs. Trinette Cockerham-Gallaud, and her Band of Angels. They are Ms. Theresa Ellioe, Ranada Brumfield, Shavon Banister, Keisha Combs and Michelle Conerly. Mrs. Gallaud and her angels second lined to the float snd the parade continued. 

 After a rest the club made a right turn on Louisiana Ave and continued down Louisiana Ave to S. Saratoga.  At S. Saratoga the club made a left turn  to continue to Washington Ave. The club's next STOP was at the 

3.) Purple Rain Lounge on Washington Ave. Here the club joined with the womens division , now containing only three ladies. We do not have their names and apologize for the oversight. They also were joined bytheir dukes and also dressed into their sashes, fans and feathers, and to complete the entourage they added the final element of two soft top sedans. The stage was now complete. The club continued up Washington Ave to Dryades where they made a left turn on Dryades to Second St.

 The next STOP was at the 

4.) Sportsman's Corner where the entire club came together to toast the Queen and the Court.  After the toasting the club, took photos and had a brief sandwich. They then continued up Dryades to St. Phillip St. where they made a left turn then a sharp right on to O.C. Haley Blvd. As they continued up O.C. Haley Blvd. to Jackson Ave. they made a left turn on Jackson Ave.  The continued up Jackson Ave to Simon Bolívar and made a right turn onto Simon Bolivar.  They continued on Simon Bolivar to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd where the club made a left on to Martin Luther King Blvd. 

The club made a STOP at the 

5.) Women of Class and here the club acknowed their new women's divison  and continued up Martin Luther King Blvd. to S. Claiborne.  A right turn was made on South Claiborne onside of the bridge to Earhart.  A left turn was made on Earhart where the club continued to S. Galvez and from there to Broad St on the ramp.  The club continued over the bridge to Gravier St. and on Gravier St. heading back over  the Broad St. overpass to Washington Ave.  A right turn was made on Washington Ave as the club continued  up Washington Ave to disband at the 6.) Stanley U's Lounge.

The club at this point, moved to the after party about 6:30 p.m at the Sportman's Corner! The parade was the salute to pulling together the things for peace and in the process a memorial to Jody Breeze.

It was one of the most unique parades this season, and the brown and green mix was pulled off well! Well done Men of Class! Next Up The Original 4!

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