The krewe of Endymion is honoring the man who started the super krewe with a statue in the new Endymion Garden.
Officials unveiled the Endymion Garden Saturday morning.
A statue of the Krewe's founder and longest reigning Captain in the history of New Orleans Mardi Gras, Ed Muniz, is located in the Garden. The Garden is on the Delgado Community College Campus along Orleans Avenue directly in front of the Seymour Weiss Building, near the route of the super-krewe that Muniz has led for years.
Endymion President Dan Kelly says Kern Studios created the 7-foot-tall statue, and it is protected with heavy coats of weatherproof paint that should last for about 20 years.
Ed Muniz is a native of Gentilly. He started his brodcasting career in 1959 and served on the Jefferson Parish Council from 1987 through 2003. He later served as mayor of Kenner in July 2006.
Muniz started Endymion in 1967. It grew to become the largest krewe in all of Mardi Gras for many years. Endymion has brought many new trends to the Mardi Gras and been an innovator of float technology.
The annual ball that follows the parade on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday is also traditionally the largest of all of the Mardi Gras balls.
The Endymion website says the krewe has upwards of 3,000 riders.
"It is by far the largest parade with the largest crowds in Mardi Gras! Endymion features 37 floats. Many are tandem units with up to nine sections, meaning Endymion rolls on over 80 chassis! The motto of the Krewe is 'Throw Until it Hurts,' and we toss over 15 million throws along the parade route!"
