Volunteers are still needed to assist Saturday—that’s tomorrow—at Long Beach’s annual celebration of Mardi Gras—which is French for, “Fat Tuesday,” and which in Long Beach apparently means, “A Tuesday so fat that we celebrate it on Saturday.”

“We still need a significant number of volunteers to help out,” wrote Mike Kamer, the Volunteer Coordinator for the Mardi Gras—and also a candidate for the 2nd district seat on the Long Beach City Council—in a Thursday evening e-mail. “Especially along the parade line—we’re short about 15 volunteers for that.”

letthegoodtimesroll Anyone interested in volunteering—there’s a free t-shirt involved—should send an e-mail to LBMG2012@gmail.com.

We hope this announcement helps, because a volunteer squeeze so close to the Mardi Gras has got to be nerve-wracking.

But the fact is that organizers only have themselves to blame—they’re the ones forever encouraging people to “Laissez les bons temps rouler.” It’s a fun little phrase, we’ll grant you that, but it generates the incorrect impression that “les bons temps” are capable of “rouler” completely on their own, that the only requirement is to give them permission—to “let ‘em roll,” according to the preferred vernacular.

If we at GreaterLongBeach.com can humbly make a suggestion going forward, it would be to follow the traditional “Laissez les bons temps rouler.” with this addendum: “Mais la bonne temps ne pas rouler sans aides.”