Vanessa Bolano WGNO News

March 4, 2011
FRENCH QUARTER—
The rowdiness started early this morning in the French Quarter. Despite the rain hundreds gathered to watch WGNO'S Good Morning New Orleans Reporter Chriss Knight grease the poles at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. WGNO'S Vanessa Bolano brings us the madness.

"Angelina, please bring out the grease to me now, I want to see the poles greased," sings one spectator. We aren't sure who he was singing to, but anything goes in the French Quarter, especially during carnival season!

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To kick off the big weekend hundreds gathered in front of the Royal Sonesta hotel on Bourbon this morning and watched the greasing of the poles.

Bill Menter came from Georgia. "We always come up with a theme for greasing the poles and this year it was aloha to the poles."

WGNO's own Chriss Knight got down and dirty! Who would have thought she was scared of heights?

"Climbing up the ladder was a huge challenge for me, so I thought, I'm going to go up three and see how that goes."

By the looks of it everything went well for Chriss.

"I didn't have a plan coming into this, I was just going to wing it, so I just got a big glob of it put it in my hands smashed them together and I just started greasing the poles."

That's how you do it folks! 41 years ago the Royal Sonesta started the tradition of greasing the poles to keep the crazies from climbing up on to the balcony.

General Manager Alfred Groos says, "We don't grease them at the bottom so people can rub against it, but if they start to go up that's when they get it."

So you've been warned, come down to the French Quarter and party hard, but don't try to climb on the poles cause you won't get far.