Roy Lunk chuckled when speaking of what being selected as Krewe of Des Allemands royalty meant to him.
“It’s good to be the King,” he quipped.
Roy and his wife Patsye were chosen as this year’s Krewe of Des Allemands King and Queen, and while this is a first for them, they’re no strangers to the parade itself.
“We’ve lived here in Des Allemands all our lives. We view the parade yearly,” he said. “We’ll have some grandchildren and great grandchildren riding with us, and we’re both really looking forward to that.”
They estimate as many as 60 family members will be there celebrating with them.
“Hopefully it’ll be a beautiful day and a nice crowd out there,” said Patsye. “I’m sure it will be a nice crowd if the weather is beautiful, it usually is. We started going in 1957, and it’s been a yearly event for us since.”
Roy retired 24 years ago from working with Texaco. Patsye, meanwhile, is retired after 40 years as a nurse.
“I miss it. I really enjoyed my work,” she said. “We’ve been working with our church since then, we help out there a lot.”
And at church was where the two learned they would reign over the festivities this year. Both said they were surprised at being named king and queen.
“We knew nothing about it,” Patsye said. “The entire experience has been really nice so far.”
Among their throws will be some of Roy’s homemade fishing lures, something he crafts regularly as a hobby. Those will actually serve as the name of their float, “Roy’s Lures,” though their children will be the ones riding in the float itself, with the king and queen traveling along the route by convertible.
Frankly, Roy knows his audience.
“Des Allemands is a fishing community,” Roy said. “We’ve been giving out (the lures) since we found out about everything.”
Sunday will mark something of a rare milestone for the two. Few have had the opportunity to ride as royalty at both the Krewe of Des Allemands and Krewe of Lul parades, but the Lunks have something of a claim to that: as Roy was a longtime member of the St. Charles Parish Council on Aging board, he and Patsye were selected to represent the council as its king and queen as they rode in the Krewe of Lul.
They say the celebration has already proven a good time, as anyone who attended the Krewe of Des Allemands Ball might attest.
“They had to turn away people,” Patsye said. “The fire marshals said there were going to be too many. We really had a nice time. And with so much family there, it makes it really nice.”
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