Laissez les bon temps roulez!

On Tuesday, March 4^th, the Bellaire French National Honor Society hosted their annual Mardi Gras luncheon. The luncheon featured a colorful selection of spicy seafood gumbo, salad, zucchini garden pasta, bread and the traditional sugar-coated king cake.

Volunteers from the FNHS set up tables and decorations and served food. Members from the orchestra played an arrangement of classical music as hungry students shuffled in, eager to get a taste of the gumbo and the traditional king cake. FNHS member, sophomore Claire Coon, recounted the experience.

“I served King cake and helped set up,” Coon said. “Everything was bought from Jason’s Deli and everyone from FNHS pitched in to help.”

The luncheon was planned carefully to ensure that it ran as smoothly as possible. “It took a while to organize,” Coon said, “maybe a few months. I would say it was very successful, but we did have some problems.” Adds Coon with a laugh, “We ran out of plates at the end.”

This was the first Mardi Gras luncheon produced by the FNHS club. The FNHS officers and Ms. Borsa, a French, Italian and Russian teacher, worked together to organize the event and ensure everything was in place. Tickets for the luncheon were bought ahead of time from FNHS members for $8 each. Many students who were unable to purchase tickets clamored outside the luncheon, hoping to get inside.

It was an overall success, helping the FNHS to raise money for their trip to the Symposium, a state-wide French competition, and their upcoming end of the year banquet. The club hopes to repeat their success next year with another Mardi Gras luncheon. Though there were a few mishaps, everyone left mostly happy. And there were plenty of reasons to celebrate.