Make your plans now to watch the Joan of Arc parade thru the French Quarter on Saturday Jan 6. Members of the Club have volunteered to walk as monks in the parade. New props in the Joan of Arc parade include medieval manuscripts, ringing bells, and a rolling Orléans France cathedral. These hand-made props will help tell the story of the parade’s Restoration Battalion, which depicts the period after Joan of Arc’s death when Pope Callixtus III ordered a retrial, Inquisitor of France Jean Brehal collected the evidence that exonerates Joan, and the Pope formally declared Joan innocent of heresy and restored her honor.
Joan of Arc’s life aptly demonstrates “Service Above Self,” the motto of Rotary International. In this spirit of service, members of the New Orleans Rotary Club, dressed as monks in the Restoration Battalion, will carry nine signs illustrated beautifully as medieval manuscripts by Krewe member Judy Sheon, also a member of the New London, New Hampshire Rotary Club. Judy also created the artwork that superimposes the image of Joan of Arc on a picture of France’s Orléans Cathedral. Enlarged and mounted on a rolling nine-feet high frame, the prop aims to mimic the light show projected on the actual Orléans Cathedral during the Joan of Arc celebrations in Orléans every May. In the story of the restoration of Joan’s honor, the new prop also represents the actual celebration that took place in the city of Orléans after the Pope declared Joan’s innocence in 1456.
Today, the Krewe continues the celebration of Joan of Arc, and the New Orleans Rotary Club and the Orléans, France Rotary have joined to also honor Joan and the special bond between the two cities. From the Rotary-sponsored exchange of the young women portraying Joan of Arc in the two cities comes Orléans’ Joan of Arc and her pages to the January 6 New Orleans parade. This visiting French delegation will walk in the Restoration Battalion in front of the Orléans cathedral prop and behind the new ringing bells. Meant to proclaim the joy of 15th-century France upon hearing of the formal declaration of Joan’s innocence, the ringing bells also celebrate the beginning of a new Mardi Gras season and the enduring relationship between the cities of New Orleans and Orléans in their shared French heritage.
Joan of Arc’s life aptly demonstrates “Service Above Self,” the motto of Rotary International. In this spirit of service, members of the New Orleans Rotary Club, dressed as monks in the Restoration Battalion, will carry nine signs illustrated beautifully as medieval manuscripts by Krewe member Judy Sheon, also a member of the New London, New Hampshire Rotary Club. Judy also created the artwork that superimposes the image of Joan of Arc on a picture of France’s Orléans Cathedral. Enlarged and mounted on a rolling nine-feet high frame, the prop aims to mimic the light show projected on the actual Orléans Cathedral during the Joan of Arc celebrations in Orléans every May. In the story of the restoration of Joan’s honor, the new prop also represents the actual celebration that took place in the city of Orléans after the Pope declared Joan’s innocence in 1456.
Today, the Krewe continues the celebration of Joan of Arc, and the New Orleans Rotary Club and the Orléans, France Rotary have joined to also honor Joan and the special bond between the two cities. From the Rotary-sponsored exchange of the young women portraying Joan of Arc in the two cities comes Orléans’ Joan of Arc and her pages to the January 6 New Orleans parade. This visiting French delegation will walk in the Restoration Battalion in front of the Orléans cathedral prop and behind the new ringing bells. Meant to proclaim the joy of 15th-century France upon hearing of the formal declaration of Joan’s innocence, the ringing bells also celebrate the beginning of a new Mardi Gras season and the enduring relationship between the cities of New Orleans and Orléans in their shared French heritage.