Hundreds of spectators and participants flocked to the Twin Cities this weekend for two parades that had their tails wagging.
At noon Saturday, Feb. 14, Taytro’s second Twin City Mardi Gras parade kicked off without a hitch despite the chilly and wet weather conditions.
More than 50 parade units traveled down Crystal City Bailey Road-Festus Main Street decorated to celebrate the “Pirates, Love & Mardi Gras” theme.
While attendance was lower than last year, many people still braved the weather to celebrate.
Barb Lowry, the Festus recreation and tourism director, walked in the Mardi Gras parade this year with her grandson, Chip Ellermann, 3, of High Ridge.
“I thought it was a good crowd for the weather that we had. It was less than the previous year, but the previous year was a sunshiny day and was in the 40s or 50s. It was completely different weather. I’m 100 percent certain that that was the difference. Had it not been raining, there probably would have been a lot more people,” Lowry said.
Doug Carver, of Festus, a bartender at Taytro’s, said he was excited to represent the business by walking with their float.
“I love this,” Carver said. “I’ve been going to Mardi Gras since before I worked at Taytro’s. Everybody’s festive. It’s amazing the town of Festus is having a parade. The whole town’s coming together, all the businesses, all the people. I love all the colors.
“We want everyone to have fun, for everybody to enjoy themselves. Let loose, be colorful. We all look like idiots, and we all love it.”
Shelly Kozma of Herculaneum and Kim Scott of De Soto participated in the Mardi Gras parade just to enjoy having a good time together. The two friends walked the parade route while their husbands and mothers rode inside a side-by-side.
“I just love to have fun. Anytime we can do a parade or have a party, I’m in,” Scott said. “We came last year as spectators and decided because we love to ride side-by-sides, we have to do it next year with a side-by-side.”
Kozma said she loves to support local events and being part of the community. They both said they love the difference in atmosphere from other Mardi Gras events.
“Last year when we were here, there were so many kids and stuff they got to enjoy. In St. Louis, I don’t feel like they get to do that. I like that it’s something kids can enjoy, too. Festus is very family friendly,” Scott said.
Bobby Underwood, 38, of De Soto, came to watch the parade with her three daughters.
Underwood said this was her second year at the event, with her attendance last year being accidental. She had stumbled upon the event while she was driving.
“We came last year when we had just moved here, and it was a surprise. We had a doctor’s appointment, and then suddenly there’s all this chaos downtown, and we’re like, what is happening?”
Underwood said she had previously lived in Louisiana and was excited to see the Mardi Gras tradition in her new home, especially with family-friendly events.
“We didn’t know the St Louis area was another fun Mardi Gras celebratory place. We were super hyped. We’ve got a king cake in our cooler,” said Underwood.
Underwood said the rain did not keep her family from wanting to attend.
“No way. We’re always down for a party,” Underwood said.
Jeffrey, Olivia and Lillian Hart, of Herculaneum found a creative way to be festive and watch the parade while staying warm and dry — by eating lunch in a window seat at Main and Mill.
Jeffrey, 30, said the family was excited to come out for the event and spend time together with friends. He said the family would have liked to come for the event last year, but Lillian, 1, was a newborn at the time, so it was not feasible for them.
He said he was excited to see that the Festus event was more family oriented than other Mardi Gras events he has been to in the past.
Pet Parade
On Sunday, more than 100 pets paraded down the same route, for the first ever Mardi Gras Pet Parade hosted by the city of Festus. The crowd was filled with excited families, many who brought their own pets.
Lynn Adkins, 46, of Festus, came to watch the Mardi Gras Pet Parade with her 5-year-old dog Beau. Beau is a 150-lb Great Pyrenees.
Adkins said she came to the parade because of her love for dogs.
“I love dogs and the community,” Adkins said.
Lynn said Beau was excited to see all the other dogs. She said she plans for herself and Beau to participate if the event takes place again next year.
Nancy and Scott Blaha, both 49, of rural Festus, walked in the parade with their dog Waffles, a 3-year-old, 22-pound Beagle Pitbull mix.
The Blahas rescued Waffles from a shelter in Lincoln County. Nancy said rescuing animals is a passion for the couple.
“There are so many of them that don’t have homes, and I just couldn’t see spending money on a designer dog whenever I could give one an opportunity to have a good life,” she said. “We have a big wreath on our wall in our house that says, ‘Live, Love, Adopt.’ All of our critters have always been adopted shelter critters.”
Micaela Brauch, 33, of Hillsboro came with her dog Elsie, a 110-pound, 16-month-old Great Dane.
Brauch, a teacher at the Hillsboro R-3 School District, wanted to get Elsie out and about for some training at the parade. Elsie has been taking therapy classes so that she can help spread extra love to those who need it.
“I want to be able to take her in the classroom and then to do hospital and nursing home visits,” Brauch said.
She said having Elsie in the classroom could actually help the children to learn.
“I teach reading and that will be a big thing for the kids to motivate them. Some of them don’t like to read out loud, and reading to Elsie will be very helpful for them,” she said.
Although nearly all of the pet parade participants were dogs, at least one cat joined in on the fun.
Evan Rogers, 37, of Crystal City came to the Mardi Gras Pet Parade with his 3-year-old, six-pound cat, Mavis.
“She’s actually my shop cat. I own the Vac Shack, and she lives in my shop,” Rogers said. “I’m used to bringing her in public. When they had StreetFest here last October, I brought her out. I brought her out for Twin City Days. She’s a people cat.”
Rogers said his best customers at the Vac Shack are fellow pet owners.
“The thing about our business is most of our best customers, the ones that need us the most, are the ones that have pets. They really need us,” said Rogers.
See more photos from the festivities here:
