A middle schooler decides she'd rather throw Guavaween beads than catch them. So she persuades some friends to build a float for the Mama Guava Stumble parade.
By TERRI D. REEVES
Published October 23, 2003
[Times photo: Kinfay Moroti]
"Peace Pirate Posse" skipper Ellen Nadeau, 12, left, and one of her "krewe," Nicole Carnevali, 12, hoist the tie-dye sail on their Mama Guava Stumble float.
CLEARWATER - For the past couple of years, Ellen Nadeau has caught her fair share of shiny beaded necklaces thrown by the costumed paraders at Ybor City's zany Guavaween party. Last year, she hauled home about 150 strands.
Pretty good work for a 12-year-old.
But deep inside, Ellen was guava green with envy.
"Everyone looked like they were having so much fun up there on the floats throwing the beads," she said.
So she planted an idea in the minds of those around her: This year she and her friends would build their own float and be a part of the show.
The idea took seed. Saturday, she and eight friends from Kennedy Middle School will launch their pirate ship as part of an armada of about 50 floats during the 20th annual Mama Guava Stumble parade at 6:30 p.m. The theme of the parade this year: "Mama will let her babies grow up to be pirates."
Organizers say it is the first time that youngsters have built a float for the parade, which has established an image of raunchiness in recent years.
Teri Cox Hickey, president of CC Event Productions, the company that manages Guavaween, said efforts are being made to give the event more of a family orientation - at least during the day and early evening.
"It is a great event for all ages until about 10 p.m.," Hickey said, "and then it becomes an adult street party. That's when parents need to get the children home."
Hickey welcomed the participation of the middle schoolers. "We have no age restrictions and are delighted to see youth get involved," she said. "I hope they win."
Ellen Nadeau had no trouble selling her idea to her friends.
"I've always wondered what it would be like to do something like this," said Sophia Mavres, 12.
The nine seventh- and eighth-graders have gathered every few days since the beginning of October to choose a name for their group (Peace Pirates Posse), to work on costumes (tie-dyed T-shirts, bandanas and booty bags), and to design and paint their pirate ship.
Last weekend, they got together to test the cannon made from PVC pipe. It didn't boom but did produce some sinister-looking smoke.
"Wow!"
"Awesome!"
"Cool!" they cheered after hooking up the fog machine to the generator.
"It even smells good," said Darrington Miller, 12.
The ship was built on a 16-foot flatbed trailer and has wooden sides painted black and brown. The sail and flag are tie-dyed. A generator is mounted on the front to supply power for the fog machine and lights.
"My dad surprised us with it (the generator) and we were happy about that," said Don Ondrejcak, whose father is in the construction business.
The children did most of the work, with the parents standing in the wings ready to help with financial and technical assistance. Each chipped in $30 to cover materials, costumes and beads.
"This has been a great experience for them. They had an agenda, a plan, and they really followed through," said Lisa Hannukainen, whose daughter Kristen researched the cost of beads on the Internet.
Ellen looked over the fruits of their labor and said she was pleased.
"It takes a lot of teamwork but we all worked well together," she said.
Her mother, Pam Nadeau, described the group of adolescents as straight-A students who work hard, are self-disciplined, and have good values.
"I think this is going so well, we'll need to find another project for them when this is over," she said. "Next time, it will be a service project, though. This was for them, and now they need to do something for others."
If you go
The Mama Guava Stumble parade begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Seventh Avenue and 20th Street in Ybor City and moves west on Seventh Avenue to 14th Street where it heads north on 14th Street to Ninth Avenue and turns east on Ninth Avenue to 18th Street.
Beginning at 3 p.m. the admission is $12. Advance discount tickets are $9 and are available at Features Costumes, 3015 W Barcelona St., Tampa. For more information, call CC Event Productions at 248-0721.
