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Ybor City Funeral Procession Is Cockeyed Memorial

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 12, 2007

Updated: 11/11/2007 11:44 pm

TAMPA - A revered rooster that few knew and was lunchmeat for a hungry canine 10 years ago was memorialized with a New Orleans-style mock funeral procession down Ybor City on Sunday afternoon.

Any reason will do for a party.

There were bird's nests sprouting from heads, poultry-themed parasols, and about 500 mourners festooned in their Sunday finest fowl fashion.

The Doodle Do Parade - where hundreds honor the late animal - returned after a two-year hiatus.

James E. Rooster was given to Tommy Stephens by friends in Plant City. The Ybor City civic leader named his fowl friend after its former owner.

When the rooster perished on the railroad tracks in October 1997, Stephens added the middle initial "E," for eternity, and the chicken has been revered ever since.

The death sparked the idea for a New Orleans-style funeral march. Stephens, who was with the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce at the time, said members had talked about wanting the area to be like New Orleans some day.

"I thought I'd have it for one or two years, and it'll die out," Stephens said.

The parade, in its 10th year, was suspended the past two years because of personal reasons and with respect to the devastation by Hurricane Katrina.

Sunday's 30-minute procession was led by a funeral director dressed in a black tuxedo, followed closely by a three-piece jazz band and two pallbearers who carried a makeshift headstone memorializing James E. Rooster with a small casket on a wooden plank.

While the dress was heavy on fishnet stockings, corsets, and feather boas, Stephens doesn't allow anything offensive in the parade.

Despite the pomp and circumstance, the march had few spectators. Most of the afternoon parade-watchers weren't sure what was going on.

Beverly Bianco of Central Florida said she and her friend were visiting Tampa for the day and decided to stroll around Ybor City.

"It's something we stumbled on by accident," she said. "It's nice to see the traditions, whatever they are, kept up with people."

Mercy DiMaio, a friend of rooster owner Stephens, enjoyed the spectacle from a bench on Seventh Avenue.

"I think it's fabulous. It's a fun thing. People need a little levity in life," she said.

Dick Smith was dressed in a black robe as a member of the church choir. He wore a pink glittery bejeweled hat with a parrot and margarita glass perched on top. Smith has been coming to the annual parade since the beginning.

"When you come here to party, you establish your identity. And tomorrow we all turn back into normal people," he said.

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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