Sparkle of night parade, beads dazzles kids

By LINDA GIBSON and DAVID PEDREIRA

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 20, 2000

TAMPA -- THe Krewe of Sant'Yago thought they would be doing parents a favor by offering spectators to their Night Parade a family section along Channelside Drive.

[Times photo: Toni L. Sandys] Jainese Cruz, 7, of Tampa beams as she grabs some beads from one of the many floats.

That way, the thinking went, impressionable youngsters wouldn't be subjected to the spectacle of drunken revelry typical of crowds along Ybor City's Seventh Avenue.

But thousands of spectators defied that expectation, showing up all along Seventh Avenue with strollers and lifting their children onto their shoulders for a better view of the fanciful floats and a greater chance of catching beads.

No official crowd estimate was available. Unofficially, it was humongous.

Because the parade started at 7 p.m., drunken revelry was scarce. Families were as numerous as young singles out to party. Everyone had a common goal: Score beads.

Two-year-old April and her cousin Jasmine, 1, were bead magnets. Dressed in pink jackets and perched on top of a barricade by their grandmothers, they attracted marchers who cooed at them and piled bead necklaces around their necks.

"After a while, we won't be able to see them for the beads," said Brenda Culver, one of the grandmothers.

By 10 p.m., Tampa police still had not reported any arrests, although there were several reports of fights and a few injuries, such as a broken leg and a man bleeding.

Peggy McKenzie and her 10-year-old son, Bobby, were among a group of 19 people who came to Channelside Drive from Crystal River to watch the pirates saunter by. McKenzie took her son a few years ago to Seventh Avenue for the parade, but vowed never again.

"My kid ended up smelling like liquor," McKenzie said. "When you're doing this with the kids, you want to be at a place where people aren't shoving you around."

Although police barricaded several roads leading into Ybor and the Channel District, most people shrugged off the traffic problems they encountered.

"We just got off the Crosstown and found parking pretty easy," said Bob Leahy, a Pinellas Park resident who had his 2-year-old son, Bob Jr., perched on his shoulders. "So far, everything has been all right."

Parents spread blankets on the asphalt and lined the barricades along Channelside Drive to watch police motorcycles whiz by, as the children played with plastic swords and glow sticks, which were being hawked by vendors for $3 apiece.

Kelly Mathers had inside information that Channelside Drive was the place to be if you had a child. Her husband is a Tampa police officer.

"We're just waiting for daddy to come," said Mathers' 4-year-old daughter, Bailey, as she chomped on a corn dog.

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