Greenwich, Conn., preppies stretched their imaginations for a New Orleans-style party Saturday night at the Bruce Museum of Arts & Sciences. The Mardi Gras bash offered jambalaya, dancing, and strong drinks – though the affair was still much tamer than anything on Bourbon Street.

Women cast off their pearls in favor of colored plastic beads, while men donned feathered masks, or in the case of one of the event’s chairmen, Stuart Kaplan, a crown. One man wowed the crowd with his Jacqueline Onassis costume. Tim and Susan Schieffelin added masks and beads to outfits right out of a Ralph Lauren ad – she had on a turquoise dress, and he sported a kelly green blazer.

Down in New Orleans, folks give little thought to the future. But in Geenwich, Mardi Gras was all about predictions, offered by a tarot card reader, a graphologist, and a psychic. And what will the future hold for the residents of one of Connecticut’s richest towns? Children, real-estate investments, and visits to exotic lands, according to several guests who had their fortunes told.

Such news was welcome for newlyweds Peter and Elizabeth Courtney, who have only lived in Old Greenwich for a few months and are involved in local activities. They were event chairmen for the younger set. Meanwhile, Ulli and Ken Delmar reminiscied over their first meeting – at a Mardi Gras party in Bamburg, Germany, in 1967.

The Bruce’s big fund-raising event is the Renaissance Ball, held during the first week in June. It is a formal affair attended by more than 500 guests, and brings out the creme de la creme of Greenwich.

The winter party, in its third year, has a community spirit. For example, guests played an icebreaker game to help people meet one another: They were given necklaces with a photograph of a celebrity and asked to locate the celebrity’s partner at the party. The director of the museum, Peter Sutton, was Marge Simpson. He found Homer, though preferred to dance with his wife, Bug. Not everyone had matching success. Michael Kovner, assigned Spencer Tracy, never found Katharine Hepburn.

The event was a last chance to see the exhibit “Drawn By the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens,” which closed Sunday. Paintings by David Hockney, Max Beckmann, and other 20th-century artists go on view February 12 in an exhibit of work from a local private collection.