The members of Bogalusa’s newest Mardi Gras “krewe” hope that their group will be able to bring smiles to the community throughout the year, not just during the annual MCCA parade.

For the first time this year, three of Bogalusa’s social krewes — the Krewe of Friends, the Krewe of Love and the Krewe of Scottsville — joined together to form the “Krewe of Unity.” The Krewe of Unity held its first ball prior to the MCCA parade, and special guests included representatives from the world famous Krewe of Zulu in New Orleans.

Dana Walker, a member of the Krewe of Unity, said that the organization wants to make a difference throughout the year rather than just around Mardi Gras. The group’s first sponsored event is this Sunday, as the Krewe of Unity hosts an “Easter Fun Day” at Cassidy Park.

The Easter Fun Day will be from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m., and will include face painting, games, an egg hunt, giveaways, food, a live DJ, and photos with the Easter bunny. It is open to all kids and their families.

“We want to be focused on more than just the parade, we also want to do community service,” Walker said. “That’s our focus, is to build our community.”

Walker said that the Krewe of Unity was first organized back in October of last year, and some of the key people behind its formation included Michelle Randolph, Rosa Lee Burrell, Damian Moss, Lashunta Scott and Shemeka Smith, among others.

“We had representatives from all of the social krewes,” she said. “We wanted to come together to have one big ball, because there’s always power in numbers. We contacted Zulu and they were so excited to come down, because they thought it was great to have three krewes to come together as one.”

Walker said that the Krewe of Unity had a goal of 200 people attending their ball, and the attendance was actually upward of 600. Among those in attendance were the king and queen of both the Krewe of MCCA and Krewe of Pepe, as well as the MCCA dukes and representatives from both the parish and city governments.

“It was a wonderful time when everyone came together for the ball,” Walker said. “We were all together as one. It wasn’t a race thing, or an age thing — we had a large range of people who were in the building and it was just an awesome time together. The mayor was there, the chief of police was there … that’s what we need in our community at this time.”