Vincent “Woosie” Bonelli, 89, is all smiles as he catches a necklace during the parade.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[2/22/04]Watch out, Sweet Potato Queens up to 30 Port Gibson women are out to be bigger, better and bolder, and they chose Vicksburg’s third annual Mardi Gras parade Saturday to make their social debut.

The women call themselves B.I.C., but won’t tell what the initials stand for.

“We’re going to reveal it next year on our float,” said member Joan Beesley.

Although floatless this year, the women filled the sidewalks, sauntering up and down Washington Street with their trademark hats and hoping to establish a following much like the “Sweet Potato Queens” of Jackson have over a decade of St. Patrick’s Day parades in the Capitol city.

“We had a girls’ party this morning, and I came up with the idea of making these hats,” said Beesley.

The hats, made out of spray-painted Piggly Wiggly grocery sacks, were decorated with colorful feather boa pieces, beads and glitter.

“There are about 30 of us, but only about half or so could come to the parade. We’re about to catch a lot of beads,” said member Amelia Carpenter.

The B.I.C. women were among a Vicksburg Police-estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people at the parade that rolled 11 blocks along Washington Street between Belmont and Jackson.

Participants decked in purple, green and gold the traditional Mardi Gras colors rode on 40 floats, some blaring Zydeco, and threw out about 500,000 strands of beads to the crowd.

“The most fun is the anticipation,” said Jamie Howington, a member of the Krewe of Galla-ators, a group made up mostly of St. Aloysius High School parents. It was the group’s third time in the parade and their second year on a second-hand trailer that Saturday carried 54 people.

“We’ve probably spent about 70 or 80 hours decorating during the past two weeks,” said krewe member Greg Hayes. “We have 22,000 beads.”

Last year, Howington said, the Krewe paraded on decorated four-wheelers and trucks.

“We all have fun with it. The parents might have even more fun than the kids,” Hayes said.

Arkeen and Anthony Gibson were front-and-center for the parade complete with green spray-painted hair.

“It comes out,” said Arkeen, 10.

“We think,” said Anthony, 9.

The boys’ sister was riding in the parade aboard the Vicksburg High School French Club float.

“It was her idea. She has it in her hair, too,” said Arkeen.

Even parade princess Tykayla Wells had a blast, waving her pageant wave and smiling to the crowd.

And sure enough, her prediction of tears came true. The 8-year-old leukemia patient had big tears in her eyes, overshadowed by a big smile that her dream of riding in a parade became a reality thanks to the Vicksburg Main Street Program.

Program director Rosalie Theobald said the parade was a complete success.

“We couldn’t have asked for anything better,” she said. “The weather, the people, all the effort and enjoyment. It’s amazing. We had a lot of people from out of town interested, too.”

Theobald said this year’s parade had the most people of any previous Vicksburg parades.

“Christmas is our biggest parade, and although there were more floats in that parade, the turnout today was twice as many as Christmas,” said Theobald.

Float winners were:

Best Overall Rainbow Casino.

Best Commercial/Business Float Ameristar Casino.

Best School/Civic Float Boy Scout Troop 638.

Most Original/Enthusiastic Float The World Brew Krewe.

Each winner received a trophy.

Vicksburg Mardi Gras festivities continued into Saturday night with the second annual masked ball where guests ate, drank and danced the night away to music of the Tip Tops.

Marion Roberson, one of the organizers, said about 300 people attended and proceeds benefited the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation.