WOZ! Here's a bit of information for our newest members, to help you get a little better understanding of your Krewe of Warriors, who we are and how we roll.
The Krewe of Warriors was first established in 1986 by a relatively small group of individuals who wanted to get together to have fun and to participate in Pensacola's annual Mardi Gras festivities. KOW may have had small beginnings, but it has grown to around 100 members in the past 31 years. This year, due to a large number of interested applicants, the Board of Governors (BOG) approved a variance to increase our membership cap to 110 members for 2018. It's going to be an exciting year with all of these new faces, personalities, and talents. I look forward to meeting each of you as we start getting more involved in the various Krewe activities that will lead up to our Mardi Gras Ball and then the big 3 day Mardi Gras parade weekend. Stay tuned for lots of information to come from our various Krewe Committee chair's, who will be advising you about their upcoming meetings, special events, and other Krewe activities. Get involved, get to know your Krewe, and have FUN! BOARD OF GOVERNORS: The Board of Governors is a body of founding and longstanding members who oversee all KOW official business and duties, in keeping with wriiten By Law's and amendments as approved by the Board. Each board member acts as liaison to one of the Krewe Committee chairs in order to lend guidance and to facilitate committee business and activities. LISA COMBS ~ 1993 Arabian Queen (lcombs1010@aol.com) CEIL REESE ~ 1994 Egyptian Queen (breezyreeses@bellsouth.net) VICKI LAWLEY ~ 1997 Roaring 20's Queen (missvic96@aol.com) GRANT HOFBERGER ~ 1997 Roaring 20's King (granthofberger@att.net) WILL ERRINGTON ~ 2012 Big Top King (will@aenewjr.com) BRIAN ANDREWS ~ 2013 Storybook Prince (brian_andrews@us.aflac.com) BOARD OF DIRECTORS: The Board of Directors act at the pleasure of the BOG. They attend Board meetings and have a voice in some of the issues which come before the Board. Your President and Vice President act as your voice, as well. Don't hesitate to ask questions of us, or to raise issues which you think would be of benefit to the Krewe. We will do our best to represent you. PRESIDENT: ERNIE LEWIS ~ 2016 Road Warrior King (elewis1006@yahoo.com & cell: 850-712-8962) VICE PRESIDNT: MARGIE HOBBS ~ 2010 M*A*S*H*E*D Princess (margiehobbsrn@yahoo.com) TREASURER: DIANE CORLEY ~ 2009 Stray Cat Princess COMMITTEE CHAIRS: The Committee Chairs exercise leadership roles in the planning and execution of the many chores associated with each committee. These individuals MAKE IT HAPPEN, they bring our new theme to life each year, whether it's managing the many membership issues, planning the ball, building the floats, leading the new Court, herding the Kids Court, or Robin doing things to make Sam look good, they all have very significant duties that they carry out for the Krewe. *You would not believe the amount of hard work that goes on behind the scenes, and that work is already underway! So, don't miss out on all the fun. This is what being a Warrior is all about, get involved, be active, join your fellow Krewe members, make some new friends, and have a blast! MEMBERSHIP: JESSIE DROSSOS ~ 2013 Storybook Princess. (djvkdro@att.net) Co-Chair: KELLEY HARRIS ~ 2016 Road Warrior Queen (kleharris@gmail.com) FLOATS: JJ JOHNSON ~ 2017 Despicable Prince (oda0713@gmail.com) BALL: JENNY ANDREWS ~ 2008 Plutonian Princess (andrews.jenny@rocketmail.com) COURT: JACKIE HILLES ~ 2015 Arctic Tribal Queen (jth418@aol.com) KIDS COURT: KELLY KELLY ~ 2017 Despicable Queen (jkelly124@att.net ) and MICHELLE POLLOCK ~ 2011 Alice in Warriorland Queen (shelly2day@gmail.com) PR: SAM GOCHENOUR ~ 2015 Arctic Tribal Prince. (samual.gochenour@gmail.com) Co-Chair: ROBIN GOCHENOUR ~ 2016 Road Warrior Princess (robin.legacy@gmail.com) *** The SOCIAL Chair position is vacant at this time. The Social Chair, in years past, has arranged Krewe socials on more or less a monthly basis. They get the word out and coordinate Krewe get-together's on Gallery Night's downtown, or during special Mardi Gras events like 12th Night. They have arranged big group tube floats down local rivers, Good Times Tour busses to casino's in Biloxi, group dinners in the party rooms at Beef O'Brady's on 9 mile Rd., etc. Anything fun is up for consideration. If any of you old, or new, members might be interested in stepping up to this rather informal, but fun Chair position, please submit your name to myself, your Prez, or Margie, your VP. We will forward your name to the BOG, and all interested individuals will be considered before a selection is made. Thank you. This has just been some very basic information about our Krewe, and about some of the Warriors who are intimately involved in making things run smoothly. I encourage every new member to talk to your sponsors and ask questions about the Krewe. I ask every sponsor to make it a point to make sure that your newbie is kept up to speed on the latest Krewe information. Things that you take for granted about how and what we do may be completely new to our new members. Please keep them informed and involved. KOW is unique among so many of the other Krewe's in Pensacola. We are one of the few Krewe's who change our theme, our float designs, our costumes, our beads and pins, etc, every single year. We put a lot of work into everything that we do in order to reinvent ourselves every year while also keeping our Warrior traditions alive. That's a big part of what binds us together and what makes us a close knit group. We have many longstanding members in KOW. This is a seasoned group that I like to call a family of friends. We work hard together and we play hard together, but we always strive to keep it between the lines. This Krewe has been around a long time. Long enough to build a solid reputation for integrity and reliability among the other Krewe's. We are known and respected not only for our amazing Krewe energy, but for the outstanding character of our members and our leadership. We are one of the premier Mardi Gras Krewe's in Pensacola and we intend to stay that way. We have longstanding relationships with many local businesses, restaurants, hotels, and venues, etc. We socialize and we party and we have a big time out in public, but we do not behave in any manner that brings dishonor, or disrespect to this Krewe, or to anyone else There are other Krewe's out there who may turn a blind eye to drunk and disorderly conduct, but this isn't that Krewe. We can not not allow the actions of any member to jeopardize the integrity and good standing of the Krewe of Warriors. So, for goodness sake ... behave yourselves! One final word on a more uplifting note. I'm quite certain that I am a bit biased on this subject, but I think that most people would agree with me. I'd like to give a big shout out to my beautiful bride, Michelle Lewis ...our "KOW 411". Michelle has spent many hours working on our Krewe of Warrior hotel reservations at both Sole, downtown, for Ball night, and at the Travel Lodge on Pensacola Beach for Mardi Gras parade weekend. She has been back and forth on the phone, and via email and text, with both hotel's and with dozens of KOW members, trying to insure that as many of us as possible are getting our room reservations straight. It's a big deal, and she's done a great job. Thanks, Michelle! Hope to see you all soon, Ernie XXX