Last night, Eli Hubbard, 6, witnessed his first Mardi Gras parade.
As he stood on the sidewalk in front of the Davis Street Fish Market, 501 Davis St., Hubbard stared with wide eyes at the shiny brass instruments and performers dressed in jester hats and masks who tossed multitudes of beaded necklaces onto the street.
A crowd of about 30 people, including several small children, followed Evanston’s Mardi Gras parade as it wound through downtown Thursday evening.
Evanston Mayor Lorraine Morton was at the front of the parade in a white Audi convertible with the top down. The Evanston Township High School marching band followed behind her, playing energetically.
“Last year it was very cold,” Mayor Morton said. “This year was a big success.”
The ETHS marching band spent three weeks preparing for the parade, but it was only a warm-up for their trip next week to Orlando, Fla., where they will march in a parade at Walt Disney World.
The marching band electrified the streets with an energetic rendition of the jazz song “Aztec Fire.”
“We’re going to go back and forth doing drum cadences and riffs,” said Dave Fodor, the school’s director of bands. “The kids really like it — it has an exciting Latin rhythm.”
Irenka Carney, 17, a junior at ETHS, said marching in Evanston is much different from performing in New Orleans, but there was still a spirited feeling among those who came out to see the parade.
“Two years ago we went down to New Orleans to march,” Carney said. “We didn’t need coats then.”
Families marched alongside the band as it made its way down Davis Street, up Sherman Avenue to Lake Street and back to the restaurant by way of Hinman Avenue.
Members of the marching band tossed beads at the onlookers who stood watching on the sidewalk. Some local business workers even came outside to catch the beads and cheer for the students.
Gail Robinson, owner of Marly Chocolates, 527 Davis St., said she thought the parade was wonderful for the Evanston community and a boost for people’s spirits in the wintertime.
“It’s fun! It brings people out,” Robinson said. “We should find things that kids and adults can participate in.”
When the parade finished, Charlie Raygoza, the executive chef of Davis Street Fish Market, greeted the mayor. Dressed in a festive purple and gold outfit and wearing loops of shiny red beads around his neck, Raygoza escorted Mayor Morton into the restaurant to witness the planned festivities, including a crawfish eating contest.
Several Chicago residents turned out to compete in the contest. The winner, Linus Lee of Chicago, downed more than 70 crustaceans in five minutes
“We tried to emulate the feeling over there so people in Chicago would feel like they were in New Orleans,” Raygoza said. “It’s a tradition for us.”
The restaurant began its Mardi Gras celebration Feb. 10 when it started serving dishes from a menu of authentic New Orleans specialties. It will stop serving the specialty dishes Feb. 24.
Raygoza, who has been head chef at the Davis Street Fish Market for 18 years, traveled to New Orleans with previous restaurant owner Steve Prescott to bring authentic Cajun and Creole recipes to Chicago. Ever since the trip, he’s taken a speciality from one of several well-known restaurants in New Orleans and served it during this two-week celebration.
“He’s the reason we do Mardi Gras,” said General Manager Gail Huttenlocher. “It’s all about the food!”
