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Thousands flock to fun, food, floats of parade
By LISA GREENE © St. Petersburg Times, published April 8, 2001
Or that Mayor Rick Baker is about to run the parade route shaking hands instead of just riding in his convertible. Or that Bill Miller and 9-year-old son Billy will walk the route together in clown costumes. Here is what Cody, age 4, wants to see: "My Grandma march." Grandma is St. Petersburg resident Terre Shelton, and she's carrying the letter "O" in the Second Time Arounders Band. Thousands gathered Saturday along the St. Petersburg waterfront to see the band and the 80-year-old parade, to eat funnel cakes and sweet potato fries, and to "sit in the sun and see all the people you haven't seen in a while," as Atensia Williams, 17, said. Organizers estimated the crowd at more than 50,000, which would be a significant jump from last year. That crowd includes Cody's mom, Cindy Shook, and little sister Casey, age 2, who have come to see Grandma, too. Cody and Casey run in circles, they're so excited. A parade official has to shoo them out of the street. They hear sirens, whistles, then drums and finally the blaring of horns in the parade's first band. It's Northeast High School, not Grandma. But there are clowns waving, and then Tradewinds Resorts' fluffy blue float with fish, sea horses and a trail of bubbles. Casey waves. Another float. They're throwing beads. Casey gets blue. Cody gets silver. A pirate ship. The YMCA float, its carousel and mini-ferris wheel spinning. Casey waves at them all. "Where is she?" Cody asks. "I don't know, buddy," Shook tells him. "Just keep watching." Now come clowns, tossing candy. Casey waves to the dog on the fire engine, to the Skyview, Wash., High School Band, to the Sungoddess Court girls in white dresses with blue shiny sashes. Cody sits down, hot and sweaty. "I see another band," his mom tells him. "Maybe this is your Grandma." Cody pops up. His mother is right. Cody stretches tall as the band walks by. Casey waves. They can see Grandma's letter at the very back. "Here she comes! There's Grandma!" Cody sees her. Then he sees Grandpa there too, carrying a "D." He waves. Grandma waves ... And walks on by. Cody begins to wail. He cries through the Busch Gardens float, with a hippo opening and closing its mouth, and through the Sea World float, with its rotating polar bear. More clowns with more candy dry his tears, but Cody doesn't have what he wants. Until someone appears from nowhere to grab him and plant a kiss on his forehead. "Did you want to march with me?" Grandma asks. "Isn't it a wonderful parade?"
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