30 SECONDS: Roxanne Leachman

Roxanne Leachman – Spanish Town Mardi Gras queen

Saturday, three days before Mardi Gras, the spectacle of kitschy pink lawn ornaments that is the Spanish Town parade will roll down Spanish Town Road. But it will take a different turn, avoiding Third Street thanks to a rerouting by the Department of Public Works.

In a move as bold as the neighborhood’s pink-feathered mascot, the Metro Council proposed a parade ordinance that would include new fees and regulations. Queen of the 2007 flock, Roxanne Leachman, chats about flamingos, fundraising and the ordinance that wasn’t about to rain on their parade.

How would the ordinance (as originally proposed) have affected the Spanish Town parade?

The city wanted to charge exorbitant amounts of fees for having floats and more security, but this is a fundraiser. The charities we raise money for wouldn’t get their money. Once you start something, you can’t just say, ‘Nevermind.’ It’d be like not getting your Christmas bonus or your income tax returns. I can understand some of it, like the height regulations for floats. It just didn’t make sense because parades really boost downtown.

What’s with the flamingos in the LSU lakes?

We put big flamingos around town a few weeks before Mardi Gras, but no one knows when it’ll happen. It’s a big secret. Someone will call us and say, ‘Time to go.’ All the flamingos get kidnapped. Some people drill them to their houses.

Have you ever stolen one?

Ours is in our front yard with a chain around it. It’s from the 1996 ball. I had a friend on the board and said, ‘Do you mind if we take one of those flamingos?’ and he says, ‘I don’t know anything.’ So off it went in the back of our pick-up truck with the legs sticking out. My three daughters were carrying this 12-foot flamingo out of the Argosy. It looked like they had won a prize.