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Fountain's Half-Fast club kicked out of BR parade once
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BATON ROUGE - As South Louisiana remembers and celebrates the life of legendary musician Pete Fountain Saturday, it brings up an embarrassing moment from the first time Fountain's Half-Fast Walking Club appeared in Baton Rouge.
Club members were escorted out of a parade through downtown Baton Rouge in February 2010 for walking too slow. It was the first time in the club's history they were scheduled to appear in the Capital City. According to the original WBRZ report from February 8, 2010, the krewe was warned by police to walk faster. As the gap in the parade grew, officers asked the krewe to get out of the parade.
The 2010 TV report is attached to this story.
"We were having a great time and we were enjoying it," Gary Carroll, a member of the group, told the WBRZ reporter. "This isn't Olympic walking, it's a Mardi Gras parade."
Group members were frustrated, insinuating there is animosity between people from Baton Rouge and those from New Orleans.
"There's anti-New Orleans bias in this town," the said.
Parade organizers acknowledged it was embarrassing and apologized.
"It was disappointing. It was embarrassing to our krewe because we've been trying to get Pete Fountain's group here for about three years," a Krewe of Mystique organizer said.
Fountain's death was announced Saturday. Fountain was 86-years-old.
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