(article excerpted from MardiGrasDigest.com)

Pictured: Krewe Captain, Diane Berillieaux, the first female captain of a mixed Krewe in the local history of Carnival.

A Rare Thing Indeed!

Jefferson's Newest Club, “The Krewe of Excalibur”

New Orleans, La. ........ They say a woman's place is in the kitchen. That she really can't be happy any place else. Either I have met the exception to the rule, or maybe it's just plain time to throw out the rule. The captain of Jefferson parish’s newest Carnival Club is the best qualified person for the position that I have met to date. I mean bar none.

Unfinished collars give a good hint to the sheer pageantry that lies in store from the new Jefferson Parish ball and parade.

Diane Barilleaux has been involved in Carnival for at least the last 20 or so years. She has helped other clubs in various facets of building their own organizations, and she brings fun to the position, the one thing that I don't see enough of as Mardi Gras Digest reaches out to the Krewes on both sides of the river. She's having fun, doing what she wants to do. Besides the experience, knowledge, natural charm, and determination, she also has something else, one heck of a spark to live life.

Barillieaux is the first female captain of a mixed Carnival Krewe for the New Orleans Metro area, and maybe in Carnival history worldwide! (I'm still researching that last point) Even armed with the knowledge of running her own business, D & D Creations, Inc., a sewing and costume shop that currently serves 42 clubs in a 6 state region, this captain still didn't come by her post that easily.

The club began uniquely as a conversation between Diane, her daughter, Melissa, now a board member (and KreweofExcalibur.com site webmaster) along with two other men. Jefferson Parish hadn't had a new krewe formed in over 6 years. Since they didn't want to simply pull members from other clubs, they placed a small ad in the local paper. Before long, they had inquiries from all over. More on this later. Ms. Berillieaux's began asking herself the one question that seemed to stick in other minds as well, "We need to get busy, quick! Mardi Gras short this year!"

"I was co-captain of the club, and our male captain then, ran another club as well", she says, with her two arms folded and leaning on the table. "The other club's membership went from 600 to 1200, more than doubling the roll." The other captain looking at the position, at that point wanted to fold the krewe before it even hit the streets. The officer then, said to her, "Look! There (are some things here) I don't want to deal with right now, so here's my resignation." Diane, however; would handle herself with grace under pressure and bring the club to it's now eminent position to roll on February 7th, 2002 on Jefferson's main route.

With a smile that could light up New York, Melissa, is one of the strong board members that back up her mom.

With a unique sense of style, the decided theme for this (2002) year is " A Knight at the Movies", a medieval theme of Excalibur, that will be a continuing underlay for the club as it continues through the years. For example, the King and Queen of the club will always be King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. The officer's of the club will be the Knights of the Round Table, the ladies of Avalon, and there will always be Merlin there as well. The captain will be the fabled, "Lady of the Lake". With this sort of tableau being played out, it will be a pleasure to see how it's carried out, as the Lady hands the sword from the lake to Merlin, who then gives it to Arthur.

To date the Krewe has 250 plus members on the roster. That ad we told you about, the one that started it all, garnered a lot of response from the Jefferson and Orleans parishes and brought out people who had been waiting in the wings to join a new, (and non-political) krewe in the suburbs of New Orleans. It appears that nearly all the club's members are people that have never been previously involved in a krewe or had stayed out of the Carnival arena for quite some time.

"With my business serving 42 krewes, I wanted to make sure that no one could say I was stealing their members", says the captain. Most people would call and ask what type of parade we were going to put on the street and how certain aspects of the club were to be handled! But most were very pleased to find out that we were definitely going to be a social club, active all year, and holding different events for us and the public."

When asked what was the one thing that made her club unique, she and Melissa answered at the same time, "We're a real social club! You know, when we started, our total membership was strangers, total strangers! In less than a year, we're all good friends!", says Melissa, while sitting nearby. "The social aspect of this club is what makes us the krewe we are. That and we're not a break off of some other organization. That really makes us unique!"

To be honest, it is one of the most rare clubs you can find because of most of its beginnings and the great way the club is now being managed.

The krewe has no formal den as of yet, but they have the D&D Creations shop, which they can call home for now. The shop could be a tourist’s attraction in its own right, with all the carnival costumes around and the wire collars set to be prepared by the coming Mardi Gras ball dates.

        (excerpted from MardiGrasDigest.com)