(AP) -- Former first lady Jenny Sanford is adding a new title - queen of the Mardi Gras ball.
Organizers of the Feb. 12 event benefiting the Childrens Hospital at the Medical University of South Carolina, hold a news conference Friday at the Charleston hospital to make the formal announcement.
A group called the Krewe of Charleston, which organized in 2009, held its first Mardi Gras ball last year. A Krewe is a group that helps organize parades, floats and costumes that make up a Mardi Gras celebration .
Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is a day of partying before Ash Wednesday ushers in the season of Lent. In New Orleans and many Roman Catholic countries, Fat Tuesday is preceded by parades and parties.
This year, Ash Wednesday falls on March 9.
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