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Night takes on shades of green
By JAY CRIDLIN TAMPA -- Most of the coffee in Ybor City is Cuban. But Saturday night, it tasted a little Irish. Green was the shade of the evening along Seventh Avenue in Ybor for the Rough Riders' annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Gasparilla may attract bigger crowds, but for many St. Patrick's Day fanatics, this was one event not to miss. "I would say it's up there with Christmas," said Mia Sadler of St. Petersburg. Billed as the most family-friendly of Tampa's annual parades, the parade drew wearers of the green of all ages, despite starting at 8 p.m. The Rough Riders' goal of keeping alcohol consumption confined to licensed establishments was a draw, too. "I don't (want to) see a bunch of drunks on the street and all around," said Mike Killory of Spring Hill, his granddaughter by his side and an Irish flag on the scarf around his neck. "I don't like that, and it wouldn't be good for the kids." Still, bars were open and beer was flowing at some stops along the parade route. Adolescents wore "Take me drunk, I'm home" T-shirts and hobnobbed with the bead-seeking partygoers who line the streets for each and every Ybor fiesta. Rough Rider Dev Stone said it just isn't possible to stop the traditional tapping o' the keg. "Normally, I think this is a family-friendly event, but it's a night parade, and it's down through the heart of Ybor, which is the party district of Tampa," he said. Everyone was wearing green, from the girls with shamrock-shaped sunglasses to the bald men with green hair painted on their heads. Sadler trotted out her 12-year-old St. Patrick's Day stockings -- white, with green shamrocks embroidered up and down. Her green cap and sequined, pointy-toed shoes completed the ensemble. "Somebody called me an elf, and I said to my husband, 'Don't they know I'm a leprechaun?' " she said. "Maybe it's not obvious enough." During the parade, a Teddy Roosevelt impersonator tossed beads to a life-size George W. Bush cutout, and 17 dancers from Atelier of Dance in Tampa danced Riverdance-style. From nearly every float came waves of green beads, which were, as always, in high demand. As he chomped on a cigar from his float behind Roosevelt's, Rough Riders president Bob Alorda declared the parade one of the finest ever. His krewe has been associated with the parade for seven years. "It was a big success," he said. "It's been better every year."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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