ST. MARTINVILLE — The Newcomers Club may not be parading in St. Martinville this year, but that didn’t stop the club from throwing a Mardi Gras street party Sunday afternoon.

The group, which will celebrate its 60th anniversary on April 6, held a “Mardi Gras-in on da Bayou” celebration. Vendors cooked hot links and shrimp etouffée bowls. A deejay dropped beats, occasionally driving a member of the crowd to start dancing as conversations and laughter flowed.

“It’s a reason to bring the community together,” said Clara Tyler Jean-Batiste, president of the Newcomers Club. “There is too much division out there. We need to become together, all of us, and be one community.”

The division in St. Martinville burst into public view in 2016, when the Newcomers parade in St. Martinville did not run after federal judge Rebecca Doherty ruled that the city’s ordinances were unconstitutional, thus meaning that the permits the Newcomers received for the parade were revoked.

That ruling came after then-Police Chief Calder Hebert asked for a recommendation on security requirements from ULL Campus police Chief Joey Sturm. Sturm’s analysis included additional officers and barricades that would have driven the cost of holding the parade up to around $40,000.

Jean-Batiste said she hopes that the issues which halted the parade can eventually be overcome, allowing the group to once again launch its parade in the city.

“We want to bring it back,” she said. “I think that in time we will see the parade return.”

Although the parade, which ran for 55 years, and now the Mardi Gras party are the most visible of the club’s efforts, it is primarily a service organization. In its early days, Newcomers organized pokeno clubs, block dances and bingo games to raise money for medical expenses of people in the community. Lately, the club has made donations for city park equipment and benches at private schools, as well as scholarships for students. Its members have also been involved in hosting bingo at nursing homes and supporting the annual police night out.

The group also makes donations to victims of fire in the community.

One of the honorees at this year’s event was Dorothy “Dot” Ledet, the last remaining founding member of the club. She will also be honored during a presentation Thursday evening at city hall, where she will be presented with a key to the city for her efforts over the last six decades.