[StBernard] Krewe of Gladiators won't roll in St. Bernard Parish this year

[Westley Annis]

Krewe of Gladiators won't roll in St. Bernard Parish this year
By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
January 22, 2010, 10:28AM

The krewe announced Friday it would not roll this year.There won't be a
parade in St. Bernard Parish on Mardi Gras this year after all.

The Krewe of Gladiators, which was trying to restore its parade, as well as
the tradition of a Carnival Day parade in the parish, said it won't roll.

It was too difficult to attact enough riders and krewe officials didn't want
to cause anyone problems by having to possibly cancel the ride closer to
Mardi Gras, which is Feb. 16.

"I thought we had an excellent shot. But I was not going to put on a parade
if we couldn't do something at least halfway decent,'' Krewe Captain Bill
Egan said Friday.

Egan in recent months had been pushing for new members to join the
Gladiators organization so that it could parade on Fat Tuesday. A route had
been chosen and cleared with the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office. Egan
had said the parade would start early, so that people could still make
parades in other areas later in the day.

Gladiators was forced to cancel last year's ride, as well, due to financial
problems and a lack of riders. Egan said the krewe this year wanted to
restore the old St. Bernard Parish tradition of having a parade on Fat
Tuesday. The parish hasn't had a Carnival Day parade in nearly 20 years.

But in the end, Egan said there wasn't time to get enough riders to make it
worth while. 

"Everybody's watching their nickels right now - I understand that,'' he
said. "It's just a sign of the times."