MARRERO, La.– A family on the Westbank has transformed their entire yard into a Mardi Gras parade.
“This is the Combel’s Custom Cruisers Yardi Gras. John and I ride in ten of the twelve parades a year with our cruisers. We love to see smiles on people’s faces. All of us in the car club are devastated that we can’t ride in parades this year. We get paid to be in the parades and we donate the money to charitable causes like Ronald McDonald House in New Orleans. We donate the money to have a family stay there for a year,” Rhonda Combel said.
They wanted their yard to feel like a real parade. So their yard has Popeyes boxes, beer cans, and other items you’d see along the parade route.
“The trash was Rhonda’s idea. We tie the trash with hangers in the ground to keep the trash from blowing in our neighbor’s yards,” John Combel said.
They even added a fog machine inside a BBQ grill.
“The smoke is a fog machine and everyone wants to know what we are cooking. I tell everyone that I’m cooking a brisket,” he said.
John and Rhonda Combel are hoping that their festive front yard makes people feel the Mardi Gras spirit a bit.
“Everyone’s missing some happiness right now with the pandemic going on, so when they see this they get excited and thank us for what we are doing,” he said.
Their “Yardi Gras” is located at 2512 Cypress Lawn in Marrero. John and Rhonda say that their yard has become such an attraction and the traffic gets heavy. Sometimes they even have a hard time getting into their own driveway when they leave their house.