Ready, set, fun! De Soto Grand Parade lines the streets of Bradenton during a pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a long year of uncertainty in Manatee County. That uncertainty hit a peak in the spring of 2020, when the De Soto Grand Parade organizers decided to cancel one of Bradenton’s biggest events.

So when the Hernando De Soto Historical Society requested a permit to launch the 2021 parade, many in the county shared a collective moment of excitement and optimism. The same energy carried into Saturday evening when thousands of people — most of them maskless — lined Manatee Avenue for the highly-anticipated spectacle.

“I’m really excited and our community is really excited,” Mayor Gene Brown previously told the Bradenton Herald after organizers laid out their plans for the parade and COVID safety measures, including a recommendation that people wear masks and practice social distancing.

And if they were going to have a parade, the decision was made to not only honor veterans, but also the health care workers who have been on the front lines of the pandemic for more than 12 months.

Brown was not the only one to share his excitement — albeit cautiously, since the parade was the largest public event since the pandemic shut down businesses and canceled a multitude of other events.

Rita Curry and her daughter Annie found a viewing spot along Manatee Avenue West at around 3:30 p.m. Annie was busy on her phone while her mom was knitting, whiling away the afternoon before the parade started some two and half hours later.

The mother-daughter duo were also health care workers. Rita Curry is an ER nurse who has battled the coronavirus from the start. She, too, was carefully optimistic.

“I’m excited as long as people don’t hover,” she said. “If they do, I have my mask right here.”

It was the first big event for Rita Curry during the last year, while her daughter ventured to the Manatee County Fair in January in hopes of feeling some normalcy. Annie Curry, who recently graduated from nursing school, said her entire experience as a health care worker was during the pandemic.

Keeping their experiences in mind, both said they would be vigilant during the festivities. Rita Curry feared that some people were growing complacent, and as someone who still sees ER patients with COVID-19 and the related symptoms, she said that “people still need to be safe.”

Her message aligned with current recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Everyone, regardless of whether they’ve been vaccinated, should continue to use safety precautions when in public spaces, preventing the spread of COVID-19 among unvaccinated people, the agency reported.

“All people, regardless of vaccination status, should adhere to current guidance to avoid medium- or large-sized in-person gatherings and to follow any applicable local guidance restricting the size of gatherings,” the CDC website states. “If they choose to participate, fully vaccinated people should continue to adhere to prevention measures that reduce spread, including wearing a well-fitted mask, maintaining physical distance from others, and washing hands frequently.”

Equipped with thousands of masks and sanitizer packets from the historical society, Manatee High School’s wrestling coach, Andrew Gugliemini, led a “sanitizing crew” down Manatee Avenue before the parade started, offering the free supplies to spectators.

Masks and social distancing were encouraged — not required — at Saturday’s parade, though most people decided to not heed those recommendations.

Earlier in the day, just outside the Manatee High School staging area, Nadine Amerson grew excited to watch floats and marching bands from the safety of her own yard.

Preparing for the celebration, she joined friends in cooking nearly 30 pounds of smoked brisket, hamburgers and hot dogs. Chairs lined the nearby sidewalk on Ninth Avenue West.

“As soon as you see that, you know it’s parade time,” Amerson said.

Ever since she moved to Manatee County in 1987, Amerson has looked forward to the parade and the sense of community it evoked, making last year’s cancellation especially disappointing.

But with more people being vaccinated against COVID-19 each day, she was confident that Saturday’s outdoor event would be both fun and safe. More than 163,000 Manatee residents — about 40 percent of the population — have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

To commemorate this year’s parade, Amerson also painted the side of her dual home and art studio, The Painted Turtle, with a message for the floats that would soon pass her house: “2021 De Soto Grand Parade. ‘Hey Mister, throw me some beads!’”

“You can’t help but catch the excitement,” she said. “Yesterday I went to the store and the two ladies in front of me were talking about it.”

People showed up in droves as 7 p.m. neared. With the sun setting behind them, kids tossed footballs and rode bicycles in the middle of Manatee Avenue while their families waited for a glimpse of the first float. Vendors gripped their carts of cotton candy and toys as the wind picked up.

Aside from the occasional mask in a crowd of smiling faces, it was reminiscent of the pre-pandemic festivities of years’ past.

Then, the moment arrived. Lights and sirens whirled in the distance, spectators cheered and party music echoed down the street. Members of the Hernando De Soto Historical Society were the first to finish the route at 8:40 p.m., crossing the intersection of Manatee Avenue West and Ninth Street West, near the U.S. Post Office.

Southeast High School’s marching band followed, as did the Krewe of Sir Francis Drake. The organization helps people with disabilities go from being spectators to parade members on a float that has an ADA-compliant wheelchair lift and bathroom.

Onlookers grew ever-more excited as the largest floats began to appear. Six-year-old Brandon Murray looked up in awe as the wooden ships towered just below the traffic lights.

With about half a dozen beads around his neck, Murray was quick to share the highlight of his evening: “My favorite was the pirates,” he said with a smile.

This story was originally published April 24, 2021 at 5:35 PM.