He’s a veteran float builder in Biloxi. Here’s 5 big Mardi Gras changes he’s seen
The Gulf Coast Carnival Association has over the years tweaked the Mississippi Coast’s biggest Mardi Gras parade, making changes for the convenience of float riders and the crowd’s entertainment.
Doug and Jan Blom should know. The Biloxi couple has been designing, building and maintaining Mardi Gras floats for the Gulf Coast Carnival Association for 40 of the 57 years they’ve been married. They also own Blom’s Creative Signs Inc. in Biloxi, where Mardi Gras beads and decorations have spilled over from the GCCA’s East Biloxi float den off Howard Avenue.
GCCA stores 28 floats in the metal warehouse, where Doug Blom works most days from summer through Fat Tuesday. He’s 80 years old now, but still climbing ladders and painting with a steady hand.
“It keeps me young,” Blom said. Tinkering with floats for two or three hours at a time, he said, doesn’t even feel like work.
But the Bloms will be working from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 13, helping to make sure there are no glitches in the parade and, if there are, remedying any problems as quickly as they can. GCCA has 128 units rolling, including private floats and bands.
For now, Blom has his hands full readying GCCA floats for the big day. Jan Blom will soon begin design work for the viewing stand that sits in front of City Hall on Lameuse Street. She has 100 feet to decorate on front of the stand.
“She tells me what to do,” Doug Blom said, “and I do it.”
Mardi Gras changes for GCCA parade
Here are some of the big changes Blom has seen in the decades he’s built floats:
1. Floats have bathrooms. They’re rudimentary but serviceable. Blom doesn’t remember what year they were added but said it happened after a float rider jumped off a float and broke his arm while taking a bathroom break.
2. Bead trays were added to the GCCA floats. The bead trays look like window boxes and line the interior railings of the GCCA floats. Riders love piling the trays with beads and trinkets.
3. Characters have been eliminated from float decorations. Blom once built and designed characters like the ones on New Orleans floats, but GCCA wanted more room for riders.
4. Fat Tuesday in Biloxi is more family friendly. Three parades rolled on city streets before Hurricane Katrina in 2005. By nightfall, crowds were so inebriated that fights broke out. The city now has only the GCCA afternoon parade on Fat Tuesday. It rolls at 1 p..m.
5. Most, if not all, floats have music that keeps the crowds moving. Many floats used to roll without the big speakers and generators they’re now equipped with.
MS Coast parade schedule
Saturday, Jan. 27
1 p.m., Elks Club and Krewe of Unique Parade, Ocean Springs
1 p.m., Pass Christian Carnival Association Parade, Pass Christian
Saturday, Feb. 3
10 a.m., Children’s Walking Parade, Biloxi
6 p.m., Long Beach Carnival Association Parade, Long Beach
6 p.m., Krewe of Neptune Coronation Ball, Coast Coliseum, Biloxi
7 p.m., Gautier Men’s Club Parade, Gautier
Sunday, Feb. 4
12 p.m., Krewe of Nereids Parade, Waveland
Friday, Feb. 9
7 p.m., Ocean Springs Carnival Association Night Parade, Ocean Springs
Saturday, Feb. 10
12 p.m., Krewe of Diamondhead Parade, Diamondhead
12 p.m., Jackson County Carnival Association Parade, Pascagoula
2 p.m. Krewe of Gemini Day Parade, Gulfport
5:30 p.m., Krewe of Neptune Night Parade, Biloxi
Sunday, Feb. 11
12 p.m., St. Paul Carnival Association Parade, Pass Christian
1 p.m., Second Street Social Club Parade, Gulfport
1:30 p.m., North Bay Area Mardi Gras Association Parade, D’Iberville
Monday, Feb. 12
5 p.m., Mystic Krewe of the Seashore Parade, Bay St. Louis
Fat Tuesday, Feb. 13
1 p.m., Gulf Coast Carnival Association Parade, Biloxi
