Donna Doty Michalka for Mardi Gras Queen

Donna received her Bachelors degree in Business Management from the University of Redlands.  Her background includes healthcare practice management with an emphasis on marketing.  Donna was Vice President of Marketing at Altura Credit Union, and worked as part of the team that developed new branding and identity for Altura, formerly Riverside County’s Credit Union.  While there, she was a finalist for the National Marketing Executive of the Year, as recognized by the Credit Union Times. Currently, she serves as president of her own consulting company, Vibrant Business Solutions, and is the Program Manager of the non-profit Inland Empire Palliative Care Coalition.

Donna is a native of Riverside, and has been a member of numerous non-profit agency boards and committees, including the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center, Riverside Educational Enrichment Foundation, Riverside Sport Hall of Fame, Evergreen Memorial Historic Cemetery, YCWA Women of Achievement, and the American Cancer Society fundraisers.  She has served as president of the board for Community Connect, Keep Riverside Clean and Beautiful (KRCB), and currently, the Riverside Public Library Foundation.  She is also a past division president of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, a member of the Raincross Group, and a graduate of Leadership Riverside.   She received the Lady Bird Johnson Award from KRCB, and the Good Morning Riverside Award from the Riverside Chambers of Commerce.  Donna lives in Riverside with her husband, Bob, who is a teacher and coach at JW North High School.

Ellie Bennett for Mardi Gras Queen

Ellie Bennett has served as Chief Operating Officer of Riverside County Regional Medical Center, Moreno Valley, California, since 2001 with responsibility for preparation of the overall hospital budget and allocation of funds.  Ms. Bennett oversees the day-to-day operations of a state-of-the-art Level II Trauma hospital for adults and pediatrics, including a separate psychiatric facility. She is also responsible for other areas in the hospital that has over 2,400 employees which includes ambulatory, clinical support services and all service lines and program expansion. 

Ellie is an active member of both Riverside and Moreno Valley communities.  As well as being a Board member of Community Connect, Ellie is also a Board member of the United Way of the Inland Valleys and the Family Services Association.  She is a member of the California Association of Public Hospitals, Safety Net Institute; the American College of Healthcare Executives; Riverside Community College Task Force, Moreno Valley Community Forum, and the Riverside Community Health Foundation.

Judy Carpenter for Mardi Gras Queen 2012

Judy is the President and Chief Operating Officer for Riverside Medical Clinic, Inc.  RMC is the largest physician owned multi-specialty medical group in the Inland Empire.  RMC has been providing medical services for nearly 75 years to the greater Riverside community with its original offices in the rotunda of the Mission Inn. Today RMC is comprised of 130 physicians, 750 employees with four clinics and an outpatient surgery center.

Judy has over 30 years of Inland Empire healthcare experience, which was initiated when she became the Senior Manager in Healthcare at Ernst & Whinney. After 10 years with E &W, she became the Chief Financial Officer for Riverside Medical Clinic and guided its financial growth until Pacific Physician Services (PPS) acquired RMC in 1993.  Shortly after the acquisition, she became the Vice President and Corporate Controller for PPS, and later became the Vice President of Financial Operations.  When Med Partners acquired PPS, she was promoted to the Regional Vice President of Operations for the Inland Empire.

In August 1999, RMC acquired the practice back from MedPartners at which time Judy became the President and COO for RMC.

She attended Cal Poly Pomona and graduated with a BA in Business Administration with a Major in Accounting.  Judy is a Certified Public Accountant.

Active in the community, Judy is a graduate of Leadership Riverside 2006 and is a Member of the “Monday Morning Group” and the Raincross Group. In addition, she is Treasurer for the Executive Committee of the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce. Judy is a member of the Board for the Janet Goeske Senior Center and Foundation.  She is Past-President of the Riverside County Regional Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors. She is Chair of the Board of Directors for Riverside Community College District Foundation and serves on the Chancellors Circle.  She also chairs the Riverside Community College Allied Health Science Advisory Committee. She serves as Vice Chair on the Riverside Community Hospital Foundation Board of Directors, Trust Uses Committee and its Inland Empire Coalition for Health, which addresses healthcare issues in the community. She is on the Board for the Riverside County Philharmonic Foundation.

In 2010, she chaired the American Diabetes Association Walk corporate campaign.   She chaired the American Cancer Society’s Inaugural “Sizzlin Summer Gala” in August of 2009.  In 2007 she was responsible for raising over $100k for the “Go Red for Women” campaign for the American Heart Association and chaired the Main Event for AHA in 2008. She also chaired the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s 2008 Inland Empire’s “Light the Night” Walk. In 2004 Inland Empire Magazine Readers Poll named Judy among the “Women Who Make a Difference” and “951” Magazine named Judy one the “51 People to Watch”. In 2007 she was honored as Woman of Achievement by the Riverside County YWCA, the Athena of the Inland Valleys Award and the Corporate Spirit of the Entrepreneur.

May Davis for Mardi Gras Queen

[coming soon]

Chris Manning for King

Chris has been with the Riverside Police Department since 1979.  He is currently the North Area Commander which encompasses the Hunter Park, Northside, Downtown, Wood Streets, Grand and Magnolia Center neighborhoods.  He is responsible for police services to approximately 22 square miles of the city and 88,000 residents.  Chris has either resided or worked in the city since 1968.  During his off duty hours, he is heavily involved in our community.  He serves on the board of the Riverside Downtown Partnership, the Downtown Area Neighborhood Alliance (DANA), the Mission Inn Foundation, the Magnolia Center Exchange Club, the California Inland Empire Council, Boy Scouts of America (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) and the Western Region, Boy Scouts of America.  He is a past board member of the Arlington Kiwanis, Riverside Sport Hall of Fame, Knights of Columbus and Riverside Police Officers Association (Past President). 

Chris has assisted with fundraising efforts for the following organizations, California Baptist University, UCR, MFI, Keep Riverside Clean and Beautiful, California Riverside Ballet, Rape Crisis and Operation Safehouse.

Chris is a graduate of Notre Dame High School (’74), Riverside Community College (’76) and Cal State Fullerton (’00). 

He is a recipient of the Riverside Police Department’s Medal of Valor for his actions during the City Hall shooting in 1998.  He is a three time nominee for Riverside County Officer of the Year.  He was selected as one of the Officers of the Year for Riverside County in 1999.

He and his wife, Jaybee, have four (4) adult children and reside in Riverside.  His hobbies include local history and travelling with Jaybee.        

David St Pierre for Mardi Gras King

David St Pierre was born on an Air force Base in Salina, Kansas, as his father was in the Air force through the sixties. His father finished his eight year tour at March Air Force Base. Living in Southern California until 15, David’s family moved north to Lake Isabella. A graduate of Kern Valley High in 1981. David then attended Cal State Bakersfield. Majoring in theater with a minor in communications. David returned to Southern California in 1985 and worked in the manufacturing industry for 15 years. David purchased the Menagerie in 1999, a bar in downtown Riverside. He purchased another retail business in 2004, called Delights & Invites. David currently sits on the Riverside Downtown Partnership as the Treasurer, the Mission Inn Foundation as the Vice President, is a Docent at the Mission Inn, Riverside Chief of Police advisory board, the Charter Review Committee, and is the chair of the Riverside Arts Council. David lives in downtown Riverside in his historic Victorian home built in 1890.

Matt Friedlander for King

Matt Friedlander is a Financial Advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC in Riverside.  Prior to joining Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, Friedlander spent 19 years with Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, most recently in the role of Business Development Manager.  Prior to Enterprise, he spent seven years with the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services working in various capacities. 

He has been active in the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce for the past 10 years, and is a Past President of the Arlington Business Council.  In the past, he has also served as Chair of the Chamber’s Ambassador Committee.  He also currently serves on several Boards of Directors including The Orange County/Inland Empire Chapter of The Leukemia/Lymphoma Society and The Second Harvest Food Bank serving Riverside & San Bernardino Counties.  In the past, he has also served on the Boards of United Way of the Inland Valleys and YWCA of Riverside County. After graduating from Ramona High School, in Riverside, he went on to receive an Associate of Arts degree from Riverside City College and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from California State University, San Bernardino.

A resident of Riverside since the age of five, Friedlander lives in the Mission Grove area of the city. In his spare time, he enjoys working out, running, spending time with his daughter, Kari, attending concerts, Dodgers Baseball games and taking care of his two beagles.

Tom Hunt for Mardi Gras King

In considering Tom Hunt for the XXX King of Mardi Gras one must take into account that Tom is in fact a King-Candidate with actual Louisiana roots as both his parents, and most the relatives he ever met, all hail from the Bayou State where his family's heritage can be traced back to the 1700's .

"My mother is from Plaquemine which is just across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge whereas my Dad was born in Opelousas , which is as about French Louisiana as one can get short of webbed feet." said Hunt.

Both of Tom's parents were raised in a small Louisiana town called Bunkie, where his grandfathers were separately a railroad engineer and Hunt's paternal grandfather a plantation manager raising sugarcane, cotton, beans and corn on a plantation named "Oak Hall" which Tom remembers fondly from his youth. He once met the matriarch of owners of the multiple plantations in the Avoyelles Parish area and remembers the encounter,

"Mrs.. Hayes was in her mid-70's when my Papa' took me to the plantation home she lived at, which rivaled anything that Hollywood or Scarlett O'Hara had ever dreamed up. I was about 12 and she invited us in for some ice tea and conversation where upon she gave me a gift of a framed copy of Riverside's famed Mission Inn ,for my grandfather had told her I lived there ( Dad was in the USAF) and she explained that as a little girl her family would periodically come out to Southern California during the winter months which are dark, damp and cold in Louisiana, and stay at the Mission Inn where she recalled many happy memories there and around Riverside . What a small and delightful world it is. "

After graduating from UCLA in 1978 Tom went "home" to work in Baton Rouge for a Congressman who had made the decision to run for Governor of Louisiana. It all ended up being an historical election as David C. Treen became the first Republican elected to be Governor of that famed political state in some 102 years and since Reconstruction.

"It was heady times no doubt and a lot of fun for a 27 year old aide to the State's Governor."

 It was through those special times that Tom first got to see and be a part of Mardi Gras both in New Orleans and in Cajun country Lafayette.

"It was quite a treat to attend some of the same Balls that my mother had attended in her youth, and to later bring my California girlfriend and future wife, Geri Pepiot ( yes, French as well) , to Balls, Parades and MG festivities in coming years thereafter."

Mardi Gras is an official State holiday in Louisiana which speaks to the importance the good people of that State place upon this day of fun and frolic.

"Fat Tuesday" is not what Louisiana is all about says Hunt, '...there is more there than party as ibis really about friends, family, community and an attitude of life that is South Louisiana, or as my cousins say , " les bon temps rouler ", ( Let the good times roll) .

Tom is Chief Administive Officer for the law firm Gresham, Savage, Nolan and Tilden ( offices in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego) . He is also a Board Member ,and recently re-elected to the Riverside Unified School Board where last year he served as board president. Tom is finishing up his second term as President of the California Riverside Ballet. He is married ( still 29 years) to Geri and they have two wonderful daughters; Whitney ( 23) & Taylore ( 20) who both have a little bit of their dad's Cajun heritage , which of course gives Tom fits.

Tom first moved to Riverside on his 8th birthday when his father was transferred here as an USAF officer later retiring here in Riverside where Tom went to local schools in between spending many of his youthful summers in the heart of Louisiana on his grandparent's farm next to the Bayou Teche.