RAIN CAN'T DAMPEN SENIORS' MARDI GRAS.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

A day of steady rain failed to wash out Castle Hill Retirement Village's Mardi Gras or dampen enthusiasm for the annual event.

After all, New Orleans has never let the wet stuff stop its annual pre-Lenten street bash, and the Castle Hills Mardi Gras theme - "Waterworld" - complemented the wet weather.

"It didn't worsen us any," Mardi Gras queen Patricia Vitaris, 83, said about the rain. "We enjoyed every minute of it."

As in prior years, the event was kicked off by a parade of employee-made floats that did a circuit around a portion of the village, making its way to the main building where a party replete with Cajun music, food and drink helped revelers forget the gray, wet weather outside.

The floats, each featuring a water theme, included a pirate ship, a fountain, a "deep blue sea" float, and giant aquarium.

Dressed as turtles, sharks, mermaids and pirates, costumed employees, a few children and even a dog accompanied the floats along the parade route to music by the Los Angeles band "Benny & the Swamp Gators."

The parade grand marshal was Paul Rusnak, owner of two car dealerships - including one in Westlake Village - and of PMR Corp., which owns Castle Hill.

The parade ended with a "Fait Do Do," or "Dancing in the Streets," where "everyone does their thing to show off their stuff," said Donna Pierson, vice president of care groups for PMR who helped organize the event.

The floats were made by teams of employees from several departments, Pierson said.

Floats were judged by Rusnak, with the winning team members receiving genuine New Orleans Mardi Gras T-shirts.

This year's winner was a float done up like a giant aquarium, a plastic-covered affair complete with a seascape and youngsters in mermaid costumes inside. Given the weather, the aquarium was wetter on the outside than the inside.

The floats became their own source of merriment, with the competition for those authentic prize T-shirts becoming quite fierce, Pierson said.

Mardi Gras King Martin Pruner, 81, said the rain didn't bother him in the least and didn't put a damper on the festivities.

"I think it's fine because everyone wants to see it," Pruner said. "Everyone was having a good time."

Thousand Oaks resident Toni Kawashima said she was on her way home from the nearby YMCA and just had to stop by to see the Mardi Gras. "When you're doing something beautiful and something good, you think a little rain can't stop it," she said.

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo (1--Color only in Conejo edition) Costumed residents of Castle Hill Retirement Village take in the parade floats from the balcony Tuesday. Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News (2) A reveler participates in the home's "Waterworld"-themed parade. Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News