The first thing you notice about the Crewe of Columbus is the spelling of the name. It’s the only group on the Gulf Coast that uses “Crewe” instead of “Krewe.”
When the group was founded in 1921 (1922, the year of its first parade, is often used as its beginning date), it was the Krewe of Columbus, and it was open only to members of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men’s organization. After several years, however, membership was opened to others, and in 1937, the Krewe was reorganized and re-emerged as the Crewe. The main reason for the spelling change was so the initials of the Mardi Gras organization would not be confused with those of the Knights of Columbus.
In recent years, the COC parade underwent another big change. It was a longstanding tradition that members of the Crewe built the floats themselves. But in 2010, COC hit the downtown streets with professionally built floats, including their mainstays, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Perhaps the best-known of their permanent floats is Isabella or “Izzie,” a three-headed sea serpent.
This year, the Crewe rolled on February 28 at 6:30 p.m. Their theme was The Myth, the Legend, and the Lore. There were 19 floats by Ben Kaiser’s Mirth Artists, plus two floats rented from the Conde Cavaliers. Costumes were by Bienville Costumes.
