Celebrating Mardi Gras at the Motherhouse

“Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”

St. Louise de Marillac

By Sebastian Isaacs, Communications intern

Perhaps the most authentic part of S. Shirley Le Blanc’s annual Mardi Gras celebration is the abundance of beads tossed from her parade each year!

For 20 years, S. Shirley Le Blanc has brought Mardi Gras to life at the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse. The tradition began in 2005 when she returned to campus after ministering in New Orleans, Louisiana, and realized, “I didn’t know what I was going to do come Mardi Gras time, because my whole life, I went to Mardi Gras!”

With the help of her Sisters, S. Shirley brought Mardi Gras to Cincinnati, though her roots remain planted in Southern Louisiana, where she was born in Port Sulphur. The town was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, yet S. Shirley remembers the sweltering heat that swallowed the town each summer, and the smell of her mother’s fried chicken wafting through the house after church on Sunday.

Born the third of seven children, S. Shirley describes herself and her siblings “kind of like Huckleberry Finn kids. We’d go swimming in the river, and play on the sandbar around the other side of the levee.”

“We did all kinds of things that parents now would faint and fall about,” she continues.

Even the five-mile trek to morning Mass on Sunday through clouds of mosquitos was worthwhile, knowing that she and her siblings would eat fried chicken upon their return, along with the three pies that their mother baked every weekend.

Though her years of dedicated ministry, including the foundation of St. Elizabeth Home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, eventually led her to retiring at the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse, S. Shirley still looks back on her early life in Southern Louisiana fondly. The swarms of insects and bayou humidity may be impossible to replicate in Cincinnati, she laughs, but authentic Louisiana cuisine has been hard to come by as well.

She has missed the fresh oysters, shrimp, crabs, and gumbo that were a staple in her diet as a child. Since the beginning of the Motherhouse Mardi Gras celebration, however, she’s partnered with CURA to bring real Louisiana Creole cuisine to the Motherhouse.

Every year, the campus food service staff work closely with S. Shirley to plan the perfect, authentic menu for the celebration. S. Shirley is excited to share “jumbo boiled shrimp and guacamole, hot potato salad and chips, and specialty drinks” as hors d’oeuvres. For supper, she says, “we’ll bring in chicken wings and sliders with Portobello cheese and potatoes, and we ordered 200 deviled eggs!”

As much as she loves the food, what S. Shirley treasures most are the relationships with her fellow Sisters. Around campus, she’s known for the joyful events she plans — and the Community always comes together to make them happen.

Decked out in elaborate feather boas, masks, beads, and parasols, the “Dixie Chicks” always capture the audience’s attention.

Some of her fondest Mardi Gras memories include decorating the dining room from morning until supper, spray-painting shopping carts gold for the parade, sitting in the attic storage room while laughing and cleaning beads together, and planning the most important part of the celebration—the parade.

S. Shirley’s “Mardi Gras Krewe” begin to RSVP in January to guarantee their places in the parade. She determines each participant’s role, and this year the event’s emcee will be S. Barbara Hagedorn. She will announce the parade’s procession, led by S. Franette Hyc.

“Franette is the captain,” S. Shirley explains. “She’ll enter on a scooter and set the pace for the rest of the parade.” Following her are the flambeaux, dancers who traditionally carry flaming torches. “They start the rhythm and the atmosphere for the parade,” S. Shirley says. While there are no real flames inside the Motherhouse Dining Room, the dancers’ enthusiasm more than makes up for it.

Behind them comes a banner and bead-throwers, including campus HVAC supervisor Sean Carlock, who, according to S. Shirley, “can boogie down the aisle and cut up. When he gets in the parade, he is out of the box!”

The parade continues with the “Duchessess of Delhi” and 15 “Dixie Chicks,” twirling parasols and feather boas in coordinated colors. S. Pat Dittmeier appears as the “Lady Chariot,” followed by the second banner and the “Half-Fast Walking Club” – five male employees escorting the gold-painted shopping cart while tossing beads into the crowd.

Eight rodeo cowgirls in pink, yellow, and blue hats add to the fun before the two final “floats” roll through. One is a decorated Rumpke trash bin – complete with a basketball hoop – allowing anyone dissatisfied with their beads to toss them back. The second Rumpke bin overflows with plush prizes and soft toys.

The parade makes two joyful laps around the dining hall before everyone rises, waving white napkins to the tune of “They All Ask for You in the Zoo.” S. Shirley smiles as she describes “everyone standing with their white handkerchiefs, moving to the music” as the celebration draws to a cheerful close.

S. Franette Hyc serves in the most important role of the parade as “captain,” setting the pace and leading the procession forward.

After the event ends, S. Shirley immediately begins planning for next year in true New Orleans fashion. “In my mind, I keep track of all the people that are in the parade, recap the food, the setup, the health, all of that. I just pull it up every year when it’s time and revise the list, then it all falls in order.”

Unique features to this year’s Mardi Gras will include a musical trio during hors d’oeuvres. S. Terry Thorman will play piano while S. Mary Bookser and Associate Felicia Bola Olakanmi play drums for half an hour before supper begins. S. Shirley also mentions having resourced beanie bags to toss during the parade, which she’s excited to implement alongside the plush toys and beads that are thrown every year.

Complete with an elaborate parade, authentic Southern dishes, fun costumes, and hundreds of gold, green, and purple beads, this year’s celebration will once again transform into a taste of Louisiana as Sisters, Associates, and employees celebrate together.

mardi gras4

Pictured with S. Shirley Le Blanc are her “Duchesses of Delhi,” employees Erin Reder (right) and Michelle Bley (left).

kathy with lori owen

HR Coordinator Kathy Kenkel and Mother Margaret Hall Charge Nurse Lori Owen marched in last year’s parade as spirited cowgirls.

shirley tambourine

As S. Mary Bookser (who will return to play the drums at this year’s celebration) kept the rhythm, S. Shirley added to the festive spirit by playing the tambourine during hors d’oeuvres.

pat and nancy bick clark

S. Pat Dittmeier (right), alongside “Dixie Chick” Associate Nancy Bick Clark, served as “Lady Chariot” during last year’s Mardi Gras celebration.

the rumpke

Accompanying “The Rumpke” is Environmental Services Floor Technician and Associate Peggy Kleiner.

white handkerchiefs

(From left) Sisters Kathryn Ann Connelly, Monica Ann Lucas, and Dorothy William Englert wave their white handkerchiefs during “They All Ask for You in the Zoo” after collecting a bounty of beads and plush animals from the parade.

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