Babylon pulls plug

After nine years of parading through Larose and Cut Off, the Krewe of Babylon will not roll. Babylon pulls plug

One year short of a decade’s existence, the Mardi Gras club that boasted 280 members and 13 floats at its peak will yield to its Saturday night compatriot, Le Krewe Du Bon Temps.

Ashley Barrios, president of the board of directors, said the workload to keep the club running smoothly was too time-consuming to coordinate in addition to working regular jobs.

“When it came down to it, it was too much work, there was too much liability involved and nobody else wanted to take over,” said Barrios, who also owns a State Farm Insurance agency in Lockport. “As president, I made the executive decision to shut it down.”

Barrios took control of the board of directors in 2007, after she learned of financial problems a couple of days before she was set to ride as the krewe’s queen. It’s a point she and the club’s original founder, Jade Galliano dispute.

According to Galliano, Babylon never had money issues.

However, Barrios said she discovered the club had outstanding debt with businesses throughout the community, and the 2007 parade was in jeopardy.

Barrios said when the new board of directors took control in 2008, the club was in “financial disarray,” with debt totaling more than $12,000 to businesses throughout the community. There were unpaid bills, some members rode without paying club dues and there was no business plan, she said.

“There was money owed to everybody under the sun,” Barrios said. “We went to the bank, took them off of all the bank accounts and formed an official board of directors with official duties. For two years, we worked our butts off and paid off all the outstanding debts the Krewe of Babylon had to everyone in our community.”

After paying off the debt, members of the Krewe of Babylon’s managing board became fed up with the work needed to keep the parade rolling. They had jobs they needed to devote time toward, and they stopped taking pleasure in what was supposed to be a festive party, said Rachel Adams, the club’s secretary.

“The year that we were in it, we had to try to mend and repair the things that were wrong before we were in it, and it was just too much work,” said Adams, who later added the club didn’t have royalty in 2010. “We tried different ways to bring it back, and it was just too hard. It wasn’t fun. It was not fun. I’m so happy that I’m out of it.”

Babylon paraded on La. Highway 1 from the Intracoastal Bridge to an Exxon station that sits on the junction intersecting with La. Highway 3235. Some of its former members – Barrios estimated 20 – will join Bon Temps, which traditionally followed Babylon.

Berthelot confirmed that Bon Temps is accepting former Babylon members, and said the club is in good health, despite a decrease in floats, which she attributed to the economy and oil spill, and a lack of 2011 royalty to put a greater emphasis on the clubs’ riders.

Galliano said that he hopes to reboot the club to roll again in 2012.