Museum fundraiser turns warehouse into Mardi Gras

MALDEN, Mo. -- Mardi Gras is upon us and as the Cajun expression goes, "Laissez les bons temps rouler!"

The good times will roll at the annual Bootheel Youth Museum's Mardi Gras fundraiser at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9.

A warehouse behind the Museum will be transformed into a little slice of New Orleans, complete with jazz music, Cajun seafood, King Cake and lots of fun.

"Even when we are seeing it and working with it each day, on that last day, I always look at the warehouse and think, 'Wow, did we do this?'" volunteer Dottie Phelps said.

All proceeds from the event go to the Bootheel Youth Museum in the form of new exhibits, programs and anything else needed.

On average, 30,000 people visit the museum each year and 500,000 children had visited as of last year, representing nine different countries.

"We all volunteer because of the children," Liz Provance said.

Now in its 17th year, the volunteers have the Mardi Gras decoration process down to an art.

"Throughout the year, the warehouse is used mainly for storage," BYM Project Coordinator Jacob Heck said. "It's a crazy transformation and is unrecognizable. With all the lights, tables and decorations you can't tell it's a warehouse."

Many of the handmade pieces are used each year and stored in the warehouse for the next. Lights are strung from the tall ceilings and the walls are donned with sparkling jester masks.

Provance said the food and band are reserved by July and the event date is selected to ensure it doesn't conflict with other area activities.

"We start putting the decorations together the first of January," she said. "Now we are just putting the loose ends together."

Bayou Boogie, from Shreveport, Louisiana, specializes in zydeco, cajun and swamp pop/rock, which is sure to pull guests to the dance floor and make them feel as if they are in the center of the French Quarter.

BRS Seafood of Reserve, Louisiana, has been supplying the traditional feast the last several years and will once again return.

"They are bringing the food fresh and cooking it here," Provance said.

A silent and live auction will also take place with a variety of items available for purchase.

Items donated by area merchants include St. Louis Cardinals box tickets, Ducks Unlimited signed prints, a pedal tractor, diamonds, emeralds and other jewelry, international items, a four-day stay in New Orleans during Jazz Fest, tickets to the Fox Theater, restaurant gift cards, tools, bed and breakfast stays, a $500 bill and much more.

"The museum board brings in items for the auction and is a great group from all over the bootheel," Provance said. "This museum is not just for Malden, that's why it's called the Bootheel Youth Museum. People from all over help."

The museum's biggest fundraiser attracted 615 people and raised $86,000 last year. Guests from as far away as Minnesota and New Hampshire attended, as did many from the Bootheel.

"All the area towns support us," Provance said.

Bootheel Youth Museum director Patsy Reublin said the volunteers do a wonderful job bringing the Mardi Gras event to life.

"If it weren't for these guys this wouldn't be possible," she said. "I can't count the number of hours they have volunteered."

Tickets may be purchased by calling the Museum at (573) 276-3600.