Today was the annual Children's Gasparilla parade in Tampa. It brought back memories of me being in one.
In 1957, while I was attending 3rd grade at Christ the King Catholic School, my sister and I were chosen to be in it. We were both thrilled and got to wear colorful pirate girl costumes. I wish I had a picture to share with me in the costume. I know my dad took pictures that day, but they may have been lost in all our military moving. However, I do have this picture of me with my school uniform on during that same year.
My memories of that day are sparse but I do have one parade moment I think of often. When I was walking the parade route, we had to cross over what us kids called a singing/humming bridge ... due to the noise it made when you drove over it. It's a section of a drawbridge that's grated and you can see the water through the grating. I remember looking down and seeing the water. I looked up wide-eyed and told my dad (who was walking along with us - off to the side), "Daddy!! I see water!!" He was concerned that I was afraid and told me to just look up and keep walking. I wasn't afraid and promptly looked back down again, but kept walking too. That's why I wanted to include a picture of me. I wasn't a tiny child to be afraid. At least, in my mind I wasn't. In fact, I felt very big that day. :-)
Anyway, I found some information on the history about it and thought I'd share it; along with my little memory. I felt so important that day. I'm so glad they're still doing it for the children. Back then, the Tampa State Fair was already opened and that's where we headed after the parade. That was such a big deal too. The fair was by the University of Tampa then, so the parade route was different than today. I believe the drawbridge we walked across is the street that was later changed to Kennedy Blvd.
http://archive.wtsp.com/news/article/233584/0/Many-of-you-spent-the-day-at-the-Childrens-Parade-but-do-you-know-how-the-celebrations-began
Thank you for walking down memory lane with me.
It seems the link I posted in my original post is gone. But I found this information to share. Enjoy. 😊
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tampabayparenting.com/the-history-of-gasparilla-one-of-tampas-most-treasured-traditons/