No. 2811

To many New Orleanians, Mardi Gras is a much-deserved gift that eases the pain of living in a high-crime city with political shenanigans, mega-potholes and piles of trash.

Zatarain's wants Mardi Gras for everyone.

Local company Zatarain's Inc. wants everyone in the country to have this gift, so the Gretna-based food producer has launched a petition to make Mardi Gras a national holiday. Zatarain's is hoping to get 100,000 signatures by Feb. 24 (2009's Fat Tuesday date) to make that a reality. "While we anticipate meeting our goal of 100,000 signatures before Fat Tuesday of this year, we plan on continuing to collect signatures for as long as we see strong interest in the campaign," said Zatarain's President Scott Bolonda in an e-mail. "The more signatures we collect, the more convincing our petition to Congress to declare Mardi Gras a national holiday!"