KFDM COOP Posted January 25, 2008 Report Posted January 25, 2008 Lamar State College-PA 'Krewe of Gates' prepares for Mardi Gras of SETX Lamar State College-Port Arthur once again will be highly involved in the annual Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas, which runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, with parades, live music and lots of family-oriented activities in downtown Port Arthur. The first Mardi Gras of SETX took place in 1993. The college joined the celebration a year later and built a float that made its first appearances in the 1995 Mardi Gras parades. "In 2000, Lamar State gave its participating group the name Krewe of Gates to honor the late Port Arthur millionaire and philanthropist John Gates, who founded Port Arthur College, the forerunner of Lamar State College-Port Arthur in 1909," said Tom Neal, who along with Roxanne Gray co-captains of the Krewe of Gates' new float, which made its debut in the 2005 Mardi Gras parade. The new float, which is about 10 feet longer than the old one, features the Lamar State school colors - navy blue and Columbia Blue - and the school mascot, the Seahawk. Lamar State College-Port Arthur also provides the parade marshal for Saturday night's Majestic Krewe of Aurora Parade. Previous parade marshals include sports figures Little Joe Washington and Wade Phillips, actresses Evelyn Keyes and Mary Kay Place, actors Tab Hunter and G.W. Bailey, U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson and Congressional Medal of Honor winner SSgt. Lucian Adams. This year's parade marshals, who will ride the Lamar State-PA float with Krewe of Gates captain Dr. Sam Monroe and other krewe members, are Port Arthur brothers and professional football players Jonathan Babineaux, a defensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons, and Jordan Babineaux, a defensive back for the Seattle Seahawks. Jonathan, 26, and Jordan, 25, are the fourth and fifth children of Barbara Babineaux and the late Jeffery Babineaux of Port Arthur. The brothers graduated from Lincoln High School. Jonathan received a football scholarship to the University of Iowa, while Jordan received a scholarship to play at Southern Arkansas University. Jonathan, a four-year letterman at Iowa, was the team Most Valuable Player, an All-American and a first team All-Big 10 selection in 2004 after leading the conference with 11 sacks and 55 tackles (41 solo). He also received the Big 10 Conference Sportsmanship Award. Jonathan earned a bachelor's degree in African American Studies and was a second-round draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons in 2005. Jordan was a Division II All-American cornerback as a senior at Southern Arkansas after playing safety during his first three seasons. He also was the Division II Special Teams Performer of the Year in his senior season, which included a pair of kick-return touchdowns of 100 and 96 yards against Delta State that tied an NCAA record. Jordan earned a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and was signed as a free agent by the Seattle Seahawks after the 2004 d
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