The tradition of Mardi Gras is in the DNA of the McEnroth family of New Orleans. Actively participating in several carnival celebrations and balls, the whole family got in on the action.
This includes Buddy McEnroth, the 10-year-old son of Kelly and DI McEnroth.
This year, Buddy, whose name is Donald Irwin McEnroth III, served as a page at five Mardi Gras balls: Osiris, Athenians, Harlequins and Nereus, plus one more to come. He will even ride on a royal ship in a parade.
“My husband and his people just love this stuff,” said mother Kelly, a lawyer in the case. “A lot of it is tradition, so being in multiple bands isn’t a big deal in this family. We first included Buddy’s older sisters Amy Elizabeth (13) and Mary Margaret (12) when they were younger. Now, this year, it’s Buddy’s turn.”
Buddy, a fifth grader with a freckled face and strawberry blonde hair, attends Christian Brothers School in New Orleans. He has an average GPA and is active in baseball, football, soccer, cross country and track and field. On the weekends, he enjoys duck and deer hunting with his father and their dog, Sammy.
Now that he’s an active participant in prom, his older sisters like to tease him, making fun of his white tights, wig, ballet slippers, and make-up. But Buddy looks on the bright side.
“I get to ride in the limo and make friends with the other pages,” Buddy said. But he admits: “The night can be really long with not much to do other than fixing the dresses of the kings and queens as they move. Sometimes I’m there for five hours.”
A long tradition
Buddy’s classmates at Christian Brothers don’t seem to know about his responsibilities as a page, and there’s no point in Buddy telling them. He says a friend of his who played with him in the past moved to Fairhope, Ala., so he had to make new friends this year.
One Page’s term is short and ends at about 10 years, so this is Buddy’s last season. However, the family tradition goes way back. Buddy’s great-great-grandfather was once king of the Athenians. And his father is a first cousin of actor and businessman Brian Batt, who himself was a pageboy back in the day.
Bath has humorous memories of being a page at the Hermes ball decades ago.
“They had pulled my suspenders up so hard I had the worst leggings so it was quite an uncomfortable evening,” said Batt. “But I have fond memories of Mardi Gras as a kid. You know for most of these kids… it’s presented to them as something they’re honored to be a part of, but it’s certainly not necessarily their favorite activity.
“I was a bit different as I was a really theatrical kid and loved being in the limelight. But hats off to Buddy, because I’ve never known a kid to play with six different teams in one season.”
Most recently, Batt was a monarch at Orpheus, which he said was a blast, but these days, he says, his brother Jay is much more into the Mardi Gras scene than he is.
Brian Batt believes that being a pageboy introduces New Orleans kids to the traditions of the city they live in while also teaching them the etiquette that comes with attending a ball.
Maybe Buddy would rather play video games. But someday he’ll have great photos and memories to look back on.
In a family where tradition matters, this will mean a lot.
Email Leslie Carde at [email protected].
