EXCLUSIVE OF BLACK ORGANIZATIONS IN NEW ORLEANS. SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF THE BUNCH. CLUB UNKNOWN TO SOME, BUT THEIR PHILANTHROPY AND CONTRIBUTION TO MARDI GRAS IS HISTORIC IN SO MANY WAYS. WDSU ANCHOR DARRYL FORGES TAKES US INSIDE THIS ILLUSTRIOUS GROUP. MEN WHO HAVE SOMETHING TO OFFER THE BUNCH CLUB. SOME KNOW THIS ORGANIZATION WELL. FOR OTHERS, IT’S A HIDDEN SECRET AND THE CLUB EXISTS TO PERPETUATE THE CARNIVAL TRADITION IN THE CITY AND FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF ITS MEMBERS. THIS ORGANIZATION BUILT BY PULLMAN PORTERS, TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS, IS 107 YEARS OLD. EACH YEAR THE CLUB HAS 50 MEMBERS. WE ARE THE FOURTH OLDEST, UH, HISTORICALLY AFRICAN AMERICAN CARNIVAL ORGANIZATION. THE ORGANIZATION IS FILLED WITH INFLUENTIAL BLACK MEN IN THE CRESCENT CITY FROM BANKERS, DOCTORS, LAWYERS, AND EVEN JUDGES. SOME OF THE MOST NOTABLE MEMBERS ARE RETIRED XAVIER PRESIDENT NORMAN C FRANCIS, DUTCH MORIAL, THE FIRST BLACK MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. AND YOU’VE SEEN THIS FACE BEFORE, FORMER WDSU ANCHOR NORMAN ROBINSON, WHO’S ALSO THE INCOMING PRESIDENT OF THE CLUB. IT IS A MEMBERSHIP OF LIKE MINDED INDIVIDUALS WHO TRY TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE, AND MOST OF OUR MEMBERS ARE CIVICALLY ENGAGED, ENGAGED IN COMMUNITY SERVICE, AND DURING A BUSY CARNIVAL SEASON WITH A CHAMPAGNE SIT BEFORE 12TH NIGHT AND A CARNIVAL DANCE, AS YOU SEE HERE WITH MEMBERS AT THE EVENT DOING THEIR LONGEST TRADITION, THE GRAND MARCH WITH MEMBERS WEARING THEIR SIGNATURE ATTIRE RED HATS WITH WHITE PLUMES. THE MEMBERS AND THEIR SPECIAL GUESTS ENTER THE BALLROOM. UH, A PROMENADE AROUND AND PARTAKE IN THE BUNCH. CLUB WALTZ. BUT THIS WALTZ DIDN’T HAPPEN EVERY YEAR BACK IN THE LATE 1950S, AND 60S, THE CLUB BOYCOTTED CARNIVAL SEASON DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, THE CLUB WANTED TO SEND A MESSAGE. TO THE CITY AND OTHERS IN THE STATE. THEY REFUSE TO DANCE, WHILE --, AS THE TIME WENT, WERE BEING BEATEN IN THE STREETS. I THINK THAT IT AWAKENED THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE MEMBERS AND OF THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE. AS TO THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE BATTLES THAT WERE BEING WAGED IN THE STREETS AS A PART OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, THE BEACH CLUB CONTINUES TO LIVE BY THREE IMPORTANT WORDS COUNTRY FELLOWSHIP AND FAMILY. THE CLUB CONTINUES TO HELP THE COMMUNITY AND IMPACTING THE SHAPE AND IMAGE OF BLACK MEN. IN NEW ORLEANS. WE’RE NOT MONO MYTHIC. WE WE ARE DIVERSIFIED. WE. THERE ARE MULTI LEVELS OF OF WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE REPRESENT. AND EXCELLENCE IS CERTAINLY A PART OF OF THAT REPRESENTA