Some thoughts about items in the news in recent days:

• It’s good news that there’s an effort to see a Mardi Gras parade continue in New Iberia. The Krewe of Andalusia put on a great one for many years but announced last year it was no longer going to host this nice community event.

A group of interested locals recently announced they are going to try to stage a parade on Feb. 10. A story in Sunday’s paper told how they’ve got captains lined up to host eight or nine floats and have other floats reserved for which they are looking for captains. They say they’ve got security lined up with the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office and are looking for marching bands, dance studio groups, sponsors and others who would be interested in participating and keeping a Mardi Gras parade going in New Iberia.

They’ve set up a website at bayoumardigras.com where more information can be found.

It’s great to see this effort to keep a Mardi Gras parade rolling in the community. Hopefully enough supporters and participants can be lined up in time to make the Feb. 10 parade date a reality.

• The eighth annual “Sounds of the Seasons” concert by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra got many positive reviews from those in the large crowd that attended Sunday’s performance at St. Peter’s Catholic Church.

The concert was sponsored by the Iberia Cultural Resources Association. Its president, Cathy Indest, accurately pointed out this event has become the start of many locals’ Christmas season.

It was great this terrific community event saw a good turnout to appreciate this program and especially to see how many youngsters were in the audience, exposed to a live performance of the orchestra and a variety of music they wouldn’t otherwise have many chances to experience.

The Sounds of the Seasons annual Christmas concert is a real asset for New Iberia. It’s good to see it got such good support and response from so many locals.

• There just didn’t seem a lot of other options for the Cajun RVera. Following an 11-2 vote by Monday the Iberia Parish Council, it will start in January to be operated as part of the Iberia Parish Parks and Recreation Department.

For the next few weeks department personnel will evaluate the current employees at RVera to see who will continue as part of the department-run operation, and get ready to take over the operations full time using existing parish employees to hopefully save on operating costs.

Iberia Parish President Larry Richard told the council this transfer of operational control was simply a matter of the economic reality the parish faces. Parish government wants to reduce and then eliminate any subsidies from parish finances. “At the end of the day, it is an Iberia Parish asset. We need it to succeed … The goal is to make as smooth a transition as possible.”

Let’s hope the parish’s plan works. As Richard reminded the council, it’s taxpayers’ dollars that are on the line until RVera is able to pay its own way.

WILL CHAPMAN

PUBLISHER