Preparation for today’s parade for Vicksburg native and Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler took on various forms Friday night.

Volunteers toiled through the evening at the school bus barn behind Beechwood Elementary to put finishing touches on the float on which the New England Patriots defensive back will ride.

“Vicksburg High did the 7-foot football that will go on the float, and Home Depot donated materials,” parade organizer Angela Jenkins said.

Besides the oversized pigskin, made of spray-painted paper and held together by bamboo and chicken wire, art classes at Butler’s alma mater and their cross-county rival collaborated on a framed poster of him.

“I reached out to Mr. Creel at Warren Central,” VHS principal Deowarski McDonald said after delivering the art. “Mr. Claude Lee put this together at the very last minute and did a great job. “We’re very appreciative of it.”

“I revel in the fact we can celebrate our students,” McDonald said. “It’s an opportunity to celebrate our student on a grander scale. I think it’s wonderful, a great experience for our students at Vicksburg High, a wonderful experience for the community.”

The float was donated to the parade effort by DiamondJacks Casino. Local florist Ivy Place donated balloons to go with the mylar paper and shred curtain that adorns the dual-level float organizers said cleared the entrance of the bus barn by about six inches.

McDonald said the rookie free agent who stepped in front of a Russell Wilson pass at the Pats’ goal line with 20 seconds left Feb. 1 in Glendale, Ariz. is special for more than just the play he snuffed out.

“I think the interest in Malcolm is solely because of his personality,” he said. “If he were a different person — not humble, not well-mannered, not respectful — if we were totally arrogant and self-centered, people would turn their TV off. I think it’s because he’s the kind of young man that he is and the kind of man that he’s become.”

National media attention figures to pump up attendance today, though Main Street’s Kim Hopkins predicted the typical 4,000 to 5,000 usually estimated for other downtown parades. Rain chances for the parade’s start time were about 40 percent.

Organizers said the parade starts at Belmont and Washington streets, turns west at China Street, then south at Levee Street before disbanding at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Parking figures to be tight along side streets east of Washington Street, though parking is available at the garage on Walnut Street and the lone access points closed will be the north and south ends of the parade route, Hopkins said.

Cheerleaders, high school bands, community groups and others are among the 127 entities that requested a place in today’s parade, which kicks off at 2:30 p.m. After the parade, Butler will sign autographs for an hour at Vicksburg Convention Center, starting at 5 p.m. Also, Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. will present him with a key to the city.

Contractual obligations with memorabilia companies have limited what Butler can sign to whatever organizers have available at the convention center, the grounds of which figure to be lined with autograph seekers. Jenkins said they’ll be let in 20 at a time, and all who enter the center will go through a security screening conducted by the Vicksburg Police Department.

Downtown Friday evening, parking spaces along Washington Street were about three-quarters full and sidewalks relatively empty as the sun went down and businesses closed for the night.

“It’s going to be big for Vicksburg,” said Don Marcus, standing outside Marcus Furniture Friday evening. “It’s a great thing.”

The Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite band from Alcorn State University and The Sonic Boom of the South, from Jackson State University, will march in the procession. Former Mississippi NFL players Glen Collins, Jimmie Smith, Chris Burkett Tyrone Keys and Fred Smoot will be in and around the parade and at the convention center, Jenkins said.