Port St. Joe Mardi Gras parade rolls along
[ Leisa Gruenewald | Contributed ]
[ Debbie Hooper | JoeBay.com ]
[ Debbie Hooper | JoeBay.com ]
[ Debbie Hooper | JoeBay.com ]
Nine years after it first began with a small parade a year after some fanciers at the Haughty Heron whipped up some red beans and rice, Port St. Joe’s annual Mardi Gras parade has swelled in size like a belly after a breakfast of beignets.
The size has varied from year to year, but the enthusiasm has not, last week’s Fat Tuesday was marked by a colorful celebration in downtown Port. St. Joe.
Dr. Patrick Conrad, the Weems Memorial Hospital physician who helped found the Forgotten Krewe was on hand, as well as previous King Brian Bowen, this year’s King author Kirk Jockell, the newly inaugurated King Baby Phil Cox, and Leisa Gruenewald, who helped put it all together.
Jim McKnight’s Port St. Joseph Privateers, decked out in black like a good pirate ought to be, had three vehicles in the parade.
Gogo “The Gator” Affolter was on hand, dressed for the occasion, as well as a host of other floats, all bestowing beads and coins and candy on the onlookers.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.