Parties Start Here owner Nelson Maddox has never seen the Spanish Town parade.
That’s because he is always riding in it.
“In all my years, I’ve never seen the Babycakes dance or the lawn mower [krewe],” Maddox says. “But when people see me, they say, ‘Hey, it’s the bead man!’ They’ll all pull out their money clips and throw money to me.”
Maddox was born and raised in Baton Rouge and has ridden in the parade since its earliest days, back when he says they threw crawfish off the floats. He was grand marshal several years ago. The parade has been such a big part of his life that when he broke his arm, he asked his doctor for a pink cast. “Baton Rouge is the only place in the world where pink is a Mardi Gras color,” he says.
While Maddox’s store sells party supplies year-round, nothing compares to the volume during Carnival season. He designed Parties Start Here’s wide aisles and tough concrete floors so he could drive a forklift through the store, loading and unloading giant pallets of beads. The clientele during Mardi Gras is different than the rest of the year, too, he says.
“These people are giving. They’re throwing to strangers,” he says. “We probably have less shoplifting during Mardi Gras than at any other time of the year.”
And in a city still reeling from the August 2016 flood, that giving spirit is especially important this year.
“People I know who flooded—every one of them is riding, even though five or six of them are not even back in their houses yet,” he says. “After Katrina, if people still wanted to ride, the krewes would work out financial help for them. It didn’t affect Mardi Gras the first year. Everybody wanted to do it as a release.”
Part of that fun for the krewes is shopping for those coveted throws, walking through local stores like Parties Start Here or Party Paradise looking for items that will light up the faces of the crowd.
Maddox tries to stock new, different throws each year, and this year he’s excited to start selling hula hoops. He makes a list every season of frequently requested items so he can update his inventory for next time. Ultimately, he says, it’s about listening to what people want—that’s how he can help create the best parade experience possible for riders and paradegoers alike.
“It’s a good time to be had by all,” he says. “Once you get on a float … it’s like you’re king of the world for a day.”
Check out some unique throws you’ll find at Parties Start Here, or go back to our Mardi Gras headquarters.
This article was originally published in the February 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.
