Mardi Gras Night 2010 - Your Invitation!...

Tell all your friends. If you have no friends, tell anyone else you know. The 6th annual Southington Rotary Mardi Gras Night will be held on Fat Tuesday, February 16th at Anthony Jack's Wood-fired Grill. In addition to fine food and interesting people (only if YOU come, of course), you will be thoroughly entertained by Dr. Ya Ya's Gumbo Party. To quote New Orleans' own Dr. John - "SUCH A NIGHT!" Just imagine, all this and support for this year's designated beneficiary, the Southington Education Foundation, and other Southington Rotary Club community programs, too! Just the facts, Ma'am: Date/time: Fat Tuesday, February 16, 2010 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm Where: Anthony Jack's Wood-fired Grill, 30 Center Street, Southington, CT 06489 - directions Cost: $65/person, includes food stations, beer, wine, entertainment Reservations: Co-chair John Kennedy @860.276.8025, Co-chair Trish Walden @860.378.1226, Anthony Jack's @860.426.1487

Dr YaYa's Gumbo Party Who's Dr. Ya Ya? The original Dr. Ya Ya was a voodoo root doctor in 19th century New Orleans, a successor to Marie Laveau and Doctor John. How'd a band from the Nutmeg State come to be named after him? Dr. Ya Ya's Louisiana specialty was a jimson weed elixir, not the fake nutmegs carved from wood and sold by Connecticut peddlers of old. One hundred & fifty years or so later, drummer Tom Smith got tired of missing Mardi Gras every year because of gigs in New England and asked friends to join together in a party band to celebrate Fat Tuesday. At their 1992 debut, this masked ensemble of popular Connecticut musicians had so much fun that they continued performing sporadically as Dr. Ya Ya's Dirty Rice Revue. The current Dr. Ya Ya's Gumbo Party grew from this mysterious krewe. What's a gumbo party? When a group of friends get together for a gumbo party, everyone brings a different ingredient to toss into the cooking pot. For example . . Bassist Andy "Uncle Chickenbone" Karlok got his start with Greasy Fred & The New Haven Stompers, alongside Dr. Ya Ya singer Rob Jockel. Over the years, Andy has toured America with blues guitarist Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, backed the incomparable New Orleans singer Johnny Adams and blues legend Hubert Sumlin, could once be found playing bass and theremin with acclaimed Boston lounge lizards The Electric Logs, and is often heard with River City Slim & The Zydeco Hogs. Drummer Tom Smith did his New Orleans rock'n'roll studies loafing on a Coca Cola cooler in the back of Tipitina's - digging Professor Longhair, The Meters, Earl King, Irma Thomas, The Neville Brothers & other greats - and playing a few gigs on Bourbon Street. Now back his native CT, Tom juggles gigs with a ridiculously long list of bands, including The Hickups, Mercy Meadows, The Bandidos, The Alex Butter Field, Eugene Chrysler & the Hillbilly Shakespeares,and whoever else will feed him. Guitarist James Montez met singer Rob Jockel and drummer Tom Smith in New England bar band Dance Committee in the 1980s. James and Tom continue to play and record together in a variety of roots rock acts, including bluesy twang trio The Bandidos, hardcore honky tonkers The Hickups, and rockabillies Eugene Chrysler & the Hillbilly Shakespeares. Keyboardist extraordinaire Scott "Scooter" Van Dyke toured the U.S. with New Orleans-based jam band Brides of Jesus, whose history includes a six-month stint as Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli's backup group. After heading north, Scooter played with New England faves Gus Factor, the Michael Cleary Band, and Hot Skillet Papas. These days he keeps the funk alive with Lava and Catfish Jam. Vocalist Rob Jockel was one of the founders of Eight To the Bar, helping instigate its 1970s incarnation as a rocking Texas swing band devoted to Bob Wills and Asleep At the Wheel. When 8ttB's sound headed for Motown and jitterbugging, Rob departed in his own direction, singing with Dance Committee and later joining Scooter and Tom in blues quintet Hot Skillet Papas. He also currently fronts the seven-piece Memphis Soul Spectacular, which includes a few Dr YY members. When in New Orleans, he is partial to Uglesiche's etouffée (r.i.p.) and Liuzza's onion rings. Booking: Cutting Edge Entertainment (203) 693-9116 Mardi Gras "Mardi Gras" (French for Fat Tuesday) is the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is the final day of Carnival, the three-day period preceding the beginning of Lent, the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday immediately before Ash Wednesday (some traditions count Carnival as the entire period of time between Epiphany or Twelfth Night and Ash Wednesday).[1] The entire three-day period has come to be known in many areas as Mardi Gras.[2] Perhaps the cities most famous for their Mardi Gras celebrations include Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Per IRS regulations, $35 of the ticket price qualifies as a donation to the Southington Rotary Trust, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.