DeSoto society postpones two events because of COVID-19. Grand Parade still on — for now

The Hernando DeSoto Historical Society is postponing two of its signature events each spring, the Bottle Boat Regatta and the Children’s Parade, because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, it is has not decided the fate of the Grand Parade scheduled for April 25.

A decision on the parade, one of the larger public events in Bradenton each year, could come Monday, said Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston, who has been briefed by the DeSoto society’s board.

The decisions about the bottleboat regatta, which had been scheduled for Saturday, and Children’s Parade on April 10, were announced in a letter from the society’s president, Pat Bustle.

Bustle said their,“priority is to provide our community with the best events possible while protecting the health and safety of our attendees. That is why we feel it is necessary to share with you the precautions we are taking during this challenging time in our community.”

Rescheduling of the two events will depend on the outcome of COVID-19 pandemic, the letter states.

“We have not determined a new date for these events but will determine the best possible date for our community as soon as there is decent news of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the letter states.

Bustle wrote the society is hopeful the pandemic will recede by late April, allowing for the parade to be held.

We are exploring options and deciding a course of action for those events should this pandemic continue to progress,” Bustle wrote.

Council member proposes canceling parade

At the March 25 Bradenton City Council meeting, Ward 4 Councilman Bill Sanders made a motion to cancel the parade, but it died for a lack of a second.

“All of us said let’s let the board have an opportunity to do the right thing,” said Ward 2 Councilman Gene Brown. “In my opinion, the board will do the right thing when the time is right, but it’s not appropriate to put false information out there.”

Brown was referring to a Facebook post from Sanders saying, “Mayor says Bradenton parade still on. What do you think?”

Many of his followers began to criticize the idea, but Brown said that’s not what happened.

“No one said it’s on,” Brown said. “We just said at this point, it’s not our responsibility to tell them what to do and it wasn’t appropriate to bring that up at this time. I’m confident everyone will do the right thing when the time comes, and that includes the city. I have every confidence the board will make the right decision, but if it comes down to it, then we’ll make the right decision.”

Poston said he believes Sanders made the motion based on past history with the DeSoto Historical Society.

At last year’s Seafood Festival, Sanders grabbed a DeSoto board member who was asking him to leave after several volunteers claimed Sanders was letting people into a VIP area who were not credentialed.

An ensuing police report described Sanders as being “drunk and starting problems.”

Sanders later disputed the police account and claimed the incident between him and the board member was the board’s member fault.

The DeSoto Historical Society then banned Sanders from participating in DeSoto events and his car was pulled from the lineup at last year’s Grand Parade.

“The guy can lie and not even blink,” Poston said. “He did something he shouldn’t have done at the festival. His motion had more to do with him still being mad at the DeSoto folks more than his concern for public safety. The DeSoto people are people who grew up in this community. They love this community and I’m confident they will do the right thing when the time is right.

“There’s no sense in the government bullying them into a decision since we are so far away from that,” Poston said. “We’ll wait and see. I’ve talked to a couple of board of directors members and right now they are leaning toward canceling and try to figure out how to make other things work. That’s a process, which is why it’s taking this long. They don’t need to be told by us to do the right thing. They’ll do that on their own.”

The DeSoto Historical Society board member Robert Riccardo confirmed Friday morning that a vote would take place Monday evening.

“It will be a board decision,” Riccardo said.

This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 10:32 AM.