Final Fling

Wed., Feb. 17, 1999

Merrymakers danced in the streets, bartered for beads and cheered the gaudy parades as angels, cowboys and clowns marched from dawn to dusk Tuesday in New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration. The bash is the final fling before Lent, which many Christians observe from Ash Wednesday today to Easter by fasting or giving up something such as meat or sweets. More than a dozen parades rolled from early morning until dark, with Louis McDaniel Freeman reigning as Rex, King of Carnival, and toasting his loyal subjects along the parade routes. Thanks to sunshine and temperatures in the 70s, a record crowd of 2 million was expected. Arrests were up slightly in the French Quarter, but the crimes all were misdemeanors nudity, urinating in public, trespassing. “No problems at all, really,” one police spokesman said.

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Final Fling

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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