Estimated 200,000 enjoy annual parade

By BETH BURGER

bburger@bradenton.com

BRADENTON --

Sirens blared and horns honked as children and adults outstretched their arms in the air in hopes of catching beads.

Floats rolled by with people waving in the De Soto Heritage Festival Grand Parade.

As many as 200,000 people participated and attended Saturday afternoon. There were as many as 155 entered floats sponsored by various organizations.

Syreeta Banks, 27, of Bradenton danced to music with her arms raised, looking for shiny beads to fall her way. It was her first time attending the event.

"I always like trying to get the beads just to see how many I can get," she said, standing across from the courthouse. "I'm having a good time."

New to the parade this year were metal silver barricades between Ninth Street and 15th Street on Manatee Avenue, added by Bradenton Police Department.

The barricades helped keep children back in highly congested areas in the downtown area.

About 120 Bradenton Police Department officers - essentially the entire force - were assisting with security and crowd control at the parade.

"That's still not enough. During this event, we utilize all of our police resources and then some, which includes other agencies," said Bradenton Police Department Maj. Jeff Lewis.

Outside agencies including Manatee County Sheriff's Office assisted.

Police had to watch for unruly pedestrians and try to keep small children from running out near floats to catch beads. The downtown area - normally a trouble spot for authorities - was the best contained, Lewis said.

Several fights broke out and one teenager was found with a pellet gun. By the end of the parade, a total of five arrests were made.

Larry Habeck, head of TBA Concessions, set up in front of the courthouse bringing food to entice parade goers.

He was initially concerned the barricades would hurt his business, but he understood the safety concerns.

"As the parade has gotten so big - it doesn't surprise us. It's a huge crowd," Habeck said.

He brought about 200 bottles of water, 140 lemons for lemonade and 100 corndogs among the food items he sold.

Habeck said at other events sales have been down between 10 to 30 percent every where due to the down turn of the economy.

He cited rising gas prices, food costs and higher rate of foreclosures as factors for less business.

"These are patrons. These are people," he said. "Our industry is a barometer of the economy."

Nadia Seward, 28, of Palmetto, came to the parade with her three children, sister and nephew.

She sat downtown behind the barricades.

"We've been to a few parades this year and they always want lots of beads," Seward said.

Her children normally run out to pick up the beads, so she was glad the barricades made it safer.

Krista Hunsicker, 15, of Lakewood Ranch, rode on the Kiwanis Key Club float dressed in historical costume. She threw boxes upon boxes of beads.

She said the crowd was responsive throughout the parade.

"I like it when you tell people to scream and they actually do it," she said.

5K winners

Overall female: Kristin Zarrella, 12, Bradenton, 19:04

Overall male: Evander Jones, 21, Tampa, 15:21 (course record)

Masters female: Julie Clark, 46, Tallahassee, 20:51

Masters male: Sergey Khomurov, 40, Moscow, 17:44

Grand masters female: Maggie Miller, 54, Bradenton, 22:30

Grand masters male: Steve Wall, 53, Sarasota, 20:03

Senior grand masters female: Bonnie Miller, 63, Ohio, 40:48

Senior grand masters male: Silky Sullivan, 64, Tampa, 21:55

Veteran grand masters male: Sam Starrett, 70, Bradenton, 26:56

• There were 193 finishers this year.