For the first time at Homestead, a Mardi Gras celebration, also known as Fat Tuesday, was held at Homestead on Feb. 5, 2008, during lunch. Decorations were put up in the L-Building, and during lunch, games were played in the quad.

Co-president and senior Drew Haven said, “We decided the club hadn’t done all that much in previous years, so we decided to do Mardi Gras, because it’s a really big French festival, and it’s a good way to spread French culture at Homestead.”

“We spent around five to 10 hours planning the celebration and meeting, another 10 to 15 hours for decorations, and we will spend more hours setting up the rest of the celebration,” said Haven. “So, it’ll probably come out to about 30 hours.” For at least a month, FNHS made posters and decorations to spice up the celebration.

Mardi Gras came to fruition after many hours of preparation, stemming from an idea from junior and co-president Max Babicz. FNHS filed an application for approval through the ASB, and they received approval from the administration in November. Although the real work did not begin until after FNHS received approval, Babicz began the framework for the celebration during the summer.

Food was a big part of the Mardi Gras, as bonbons were given away as prizes and 120 crepes were made for the Mardi Gras. Members of FNHS and Culinary Club worked together at members’ houses to make crepes with Nutella filling during crepe-making sessions held on Feb. 4.

Among the events at the Mardi Gras was a crepe chow-down, a competition between two contestants to see who could eat a crepe the fastest with their hands behind their backs. Students also participated in bottle toss games and a speed mask-making contest.

According to junior Katie Swanson, there is a strong likelihood that Mardi Gras will be an annual celebration at Homestead.

“We might look into different kinds of games and more elaborate decorations,” said Babicz. “We haven’t really started planning for next year.”