The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
MARDI GRAS KICKS OFF WITH PARADE
Village’s annual summertime event honors first responders
Fairport Harbor Village’s foremost festival — Mardi Gras — has been a widely anticipated summertime kickoff for more than three-quarters of a century, marking its 77th year in 2018.
Tens of thousands of folks visit the one-square-mile village of roughly 3,000 residents each year for the event, which draws people from all over Northeast Ohio, neighboring states and as far away as Georgia and Texas, according to longtime Mardi Gras volunteer and Fairport resident and the village’s citizen of the year, Jim Cardina.
But even traditions experience changes and Mardi Gras is no different, as it’s seeing several of its own in 2018.
Cardina, who is Mardi Gras’ latest president and has been a volunteer over the last 50 years, during which he’s worn many hats, is hanging them up after this year’s five-day festival, he and daughter Jodi Trombley confirmed July 4 as they watched the parade go by Mulqueeny Spear Funeral Home, 312
Eagle St. after Cardina finished fulfilling his obligations as the parade’s grand marshal.
Cardina, a retired Lake County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant and longtime Fairport Harbor resident, passes presidential the torch to Trombley, who has been a Mardi Gras volunteer about the last 12 years, she said.
“I really enjoyed Mardi Gras,” Cardina said. “I really enjoyed the people and I met a lot of good friends through Mardi Gras.”
Cardina, who was named Fairport Harbor’s citizen of the year, said he’s happy his daughter will follow in his footsteps and hold the next two-year term as the event’s president.
“I like it,” he said with a grin.
Trombley explained the Mardi Gras Committee’s bylaws state a president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms, so they’ve each been president multiple times.
She said she’s proud to follow in Cardina’s footsteps relative to Mardi Gras, which has taught her quite a few lessons over the years.
“I’ve learned patience, that’s for sure. I’ve learned to be an event planner and to handle all kinds of things that pop up throughout it,” she said. “I mean, it’s a fiveday event. On fireworks night alone we have anywhere from 50,000 - 100,000 people here in Fairport. So there’s a lot to manage.”
She added that she’s also proud of her dad in general. “He’s my hero,” she said. But it’s not just his family who look up to Cardina. Numerous area officials spoke fondly of the man and expressed gratitude for all he’s done throughout the village and Lake County in general.
“This year’s Mardi Gras is bittersweet, with Jim Cardina stepping aside after 50 years. He leaves very large shows to fill!” Fairport Harbor Mayor Tim Manross typed in a text-message exchange following the parade. “It’s hard to wrap one’s mind around such service.”
Painesville Township Trustee Gabe Cicconetti said he’s learned quite a bit from Cardina over the years, especially having volunteered for nine years helping to organize Painesville’s Party in the Par, himself.
“Jim’s been around for 50 years,” Cicconetti said shortly before the Mardi Gras parade stepped off July 4. “He helped make the Mardi Gras and kept it going strong. He’s been great for the event and great for us as a county. I don’t think it would have gone so far and become such a big event if it weren’t for him. Plus, I learned a lot from him when I was volunteering with Party in the Park. He was certainly an influence and a big help.”
Another Cicconetti, who has been the voice of Mardi Gras over the last 16 years, also confirmed a big change coming Mardi Gras’ way: Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti said July 4 would be his last appearance as the parade’s emcee.
He said he’d planned to drop the mic last year. But the parade’s first-ever cancellation due to severe weather bought organizers a rain check, literally.
“Yeah, I was going to make last year my last year. But I gave them a rain check because of the parade being canceled,” he said. “So this is really going to be my last year.”
Some things Mardi Gras will probably never change, however, including the traditions so many within the Fairport Harbor community, and even far from it, have built around the festival.
Take Vine Street resident Donna Mason, for example, whose home is right around the corner from where the parade Steps off onto Third Street.
Mason said shoe only throws one party a year and it’s the gathering of family and friends who congregate in her front yard to watch the parade.
“I have this party every year and it’s popular,” she said. “It just keeps getting bigger every year.”
She said its position at the beginning of the parade route and the fact that there are some large trees in her front yard that provide plenty of shade might help the soiree’s attraction, not to mention it’s a family tradition to watch the parade.
“I grew up here. I graduated from Fairport High School and so did my kids,” she said. “I love it. I love the parade. I love watching the kids having so much fun. We all have fun.”
One attendee of Mason’s party agreed.
“It’s a part of Americana - a small town, a small-town parade. It reminds us of better days in America. We’re honoring our veterans. The kids are out having fun and it’s a safe environment,” said Fairport Harbor resident Hans Parks. “And I come to the parade every year - absolutely.”
One thing that changes every year at Mardi Gras and for its parade, is the theme organizers pick. This year’s theme seeks to honor first responders.
For the last five years, another changing tradition has taken shape in the form of the patriotic presentation a group makes by way of painting some variation of the American Flag on the hillside behind Fairport’s iconic Marine Museum and Lighthouse, located at 129 Second St.
Perry Township resident and auto body professional Adam Welk, who works at Jeff’s Garage, 1199 East St. in Fairport, came up with the idea to paint a patriotic picture about five years ago after seeing a picture of someone’s yard with a flag painted on the grass.
“I said: ‘Jeff — let’s do this at the shop. I mean, we’re American. This is what we’re all about. Plus, it might be good for business, too,” Welk said July 4 following the Mardi Gras parade.
Jeff, who just so happens to be Fairport Village Council member Jeff McKinney, said he might have a better idea that would give the painting more exposure, Welk said.
“So Jeff, being on council, said he’d talk it over with them and they wound up saying it would be OK to do it on the hill,” Welk said, adding that first year they did the original, Betsy Ross flag during a year Mardi Gras recognized veterans. “After that, we did three years of the (current) American Flag and this year is our first-responder flag.”
Along with a color scheme largely favoring blue, the work also has a companion piece depicting a mourning badge with a black band across the face of the shield.
He said he’s been pleasantly surprised — and honored — the flags he and his crew have painted these last five years have become such a focal point of Mardi Gras.
“I’m overwhelmed. I mean, I definitely didn’t expect it to be so popular and for so many people to look forward to it like they do,” Welk said. “It’s an honor.”
Mardi Gras runs through Sun. July 8, on which a fireworks display will light up at dusk.
For more information and a daily schedule of events and attractions, visit the Fairport Mardi Gras website.