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It’s Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Paczki Day – whatever you want to call it, it’s the last day of feasting before  40 days of fasting.

Many historians believe that the first American Mardi Gras took place in 1699, when French explorers landed near what’s known today as New Orleans. French settlements began marking the holiday with street parties and masquerade balls. When the Spanish took control of New Orleans, they abolished the festivities, and the ban on publicly celebrating Mardi Gras remained until Louisiana became a U.S. state in 1812.

In 1857, a secret society organized a Mardi Gras parade with marching bands and floats, laying the foundation for festivities that continue to thrive today.

While Detroit is not quite New Orleans, we decided to throw our doubloons to the wind and treat our fellow team members to some fun and spice up their work day – Cajun-style.

The Zing Team encouraged everyone to wear the colors synonymous with Mardi Gras – gold, purple and green.  We visited the party store, loaded our cart with decorations and transformed our area into a festive setting.  We contacted a local favorite, Louisiana Creole Gumbo near Detroit’s Eastern Market for some authentic food.  No pizza on Mardi Gras! They were able to work with our budget to provide everyone a variety of entrees that even King Bacchus would be proud of – Shrimp Creole, Chicken Gumbo, Jambalaya, red beans and rice, cornbread, salad and more!

We turned on some Bourbon St. tunes and hosted a mask decorating contest, where plain black and white masks were transformed into works of art by our creative team members.  Prizes were given to first, second and third-place finishers determined by peer votes.

You could say our celebration was a little less elaborate than a parade down St. Charles Avenue, but everyone had a great time with good food, good friends and good fun!

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