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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 27, 2008

Roll, Roll, Roll Your Float

Steve Malla couldn't afford to rent a float for the parade, so he did the next best thing - he made his own.

Malla, 27, and a group of friends got busy Friday evening, using supplies from around his Seminole home and an abandoned grocery cart to build the "Krunk Krewe."

The krewe members have been friends since high school and have attended Gasparilla festivities together for years.

Their cardboard-covered float, complete with cannons, flags, sails and beer, took about five hours to make and 30 minutes to reassemble at the parade route.

They were walking it along Bayshore Boulevard, blaring music from a radio and drawing attention with a megaphone.

"I walked out of the house and said 'Are you kidding me?'" said Malla's girlfriend, Jessica Corbat, 26, of Seminole. "I couldn't believe they were making it and I didn't think it would roll. But here it is."

Sarah Hoye

It's Silly Season

Joe Crenna and Steve Gaffney of the Krewe of Fort Brooke stood on the krewe's float, a replica of the 19th-century Tampa fort. Morning is their favorite Gasparilla time.

"It's the pre-party," said Crenna, an aluminum salesman who has been a krewe member for 10 years. "It's our reason to get silly."

"We don't have to be mature today," said Gaffney, who's retired and has been coming to the parade since "I was knee-high to a grasshopper."

Janis D. Froelich

He's Jammin'

"Who's the man?" George LaCagnina yelled.

"Dreadlock Rasta," screamed the crowd of 50.

LaCagnina threw them beads and doubloons. He handed more beads to the children who ran up to him. The South Tampa man walked around before the parade began with a black bag filled with beads and coins; more beads were clipped to his pants.

LaCagnina, a 38-year-old chef and Bob Marley admirer, said he has been a Gasparilla regular since he was 5.

"I just remember getting the beads and coins and how much fun it was," he said.

Jose Patino Girona

Running The Plank

At 8:45 a.m., David DeLong had just hit mile 40.

Saturday was his 50th birthday, and he had decided to run 50 miles in honor of that milestone.

He ran 43 miles for birthday number 43.

DeLong called his run 50 for Fifty and was raising money for Hands of Hope. He heard about the nonprofit organization, which provides medical care to residents of rural Guatemala, during the adoption of his twin daughters from Guatemala.

DeLong started at 3 a.m. from his Davis Islands home with a dozen friends, ran down Bayshore Boulevard in the dark and on the turnaround, caught the sunrise. By 10:30 a.m., he was making his fourth trip down Channel Drive in the homestretch, hoping to finish at the ball fields before the Gasparilla Invasion started.

He was looking good and gave a thumbs-up as he passed the crowds, who glanced his way in the middle of catching beads from the passing boats.

Jamie Pilarczyk

Take My City, Please

At the Tampa Convention Center, pirates filed off the Jose Gasparilla, flinging beads demanded by the folks packing the dock area. They fired pistols and small cannons, shouted "Arrgh!" and slugged on cans of beer as they headed for the port-a-potties.

"This is like being a rock star for a day," said Clarke Hobby of Tampa.

Pirate Bill Long wore a gold earring the circumference of a silver dollar in his nostrils.

"How did I get this earring?" Long said. "You aren't going to believe this, but my wife was throwing it out and I said it was perfect for my costume."

Preston Farrior, captain of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, approached Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio on a dockside podium, saying, "Mayor, we've taken over the town and we are demanding the key!"

Iorio handed him a gold key with a purple ribbon.

"I regretfully agree to give the keys to the pirates," she said. "Have fun!"

Steve Kornacki

Bare Necessities

Stephen Garvin, 24, of Tallahassee, was making his first visit to Gasparilla.

The Florida State University student was walking toward Bayshore midmorning with his posse of buddies, trying to eye the ideal spot to set up for the parade start.

Suddenly, he stopped and announced loudly, "This is it. It's got garbage cans, port-a-potties and food. What more does a man need?"

Janis D. Froelich

Can Pirates Vote?

The parade route was sprinkled with politics - at street level and in the skies.

With Florida's presidential primary just three days away, the prospect of thousands of potential voters lined up along Bayshore proved alluring to candidates' supporters.

Buzzing over Hillsborough Bay, a plane trailed a banner reading, "Character Counts: Vote For Mike Huckabee."

On the ground, Rhonda Johns of Atlanta proudly wore her red, white and blue "Hillary for President" T-shirt and a smaller Hillary button.

"I've got some, 'Go Hillary,' and some boos," Johns said as she leaned on the Bayshore balustrade.

Johns, 48, said she posed for a picture with a man who wore a T-shirt with a photo of the Democratic presidential candidate inside a circle with a red slash through the center.

"I said, 'Why not? Let's have some fun,'" she said.

Mark Holan

Pole Position

Larry Symmonds arrived on Davis Islands about 9:45 a.m. and planned to hang out there until about 7 p.m. He had a good view from his Tampa Electric Co. truck, watching the boats pass through the channel.

A TECO troubleshooter for 35 years, Symmonds said he has watched Gasparilla this way about 10 times.

"They always put one of us on the island in case there's an emergency," said Symmonds, 53, of Town 'N Country.

Most of the time, the problems are minor.

"Usually, it's someone running into a pole that's the issue," he said.

Jamie Pilarczyk

View From Above ...

Jeanne Parton glanced up at the two stilted men standing more than 8 feet tall, wearing clothing resembling African tribal garb and juggling bowling pins.

"You never know what you'll see at Gasparilla," said Parton, 50, of Tampa.

"Tall" Paul McColgan and "Big" Ben DeWitt entertained the Gasparilla Invasion Brunch crowd at the convention center. The duo, who normally greet visitors to Busch Gardens, passed out beads with the logo for the theme park's upcoming attraction, Jungala.

"We're Busch Gardens higher-ups," McColgan said with a wink.

They danced and sang along to numbers played by the T. Scott Walker Band.

"These guys are multitalented," Valarie Thrasher, 55, of Tampa, said of the stilted men.

She has been to Gasparilla 40 to 50 times.

"I remember coming when I was 4 or 5 and seeing the pirate boat dock at Curtis Hixon Hall," Thrasher said. "The pirates shot blanks and I put my hands over my ears. Those were the days."

Steve Kornacki

... And From Below

With a wall of bead enthusiasts before her, Alice Bell felt at a disadvantage.

"Short people are back here," said the 5-foot-1 Bell.

But there's another way to get beads - kindness.

Bell found a discarded plastic sword and gave it to a young boy. In return, his grandmother gave Bell a few of her beads.

Kathy Steele

Save Our Souls

Describing himself as a Jewish believer in Jesus, Steve Kaplan of Atlanta handed out pamphlets asking, "Do You Know the Messiah?"

Kaplan, 45, an ordained Baptist minister, said he has passed out such tracts at past Gasparillas, as well as at Mardi Gras in New Orleans and several Olympic cities.

Most people walked by without taking the pamphlets from Kaplan, who wore a white T-shirt emblazoned with the Star of David and the words, "Jesus Loves You." Others accepted a pamphlet, gave it a quick look and let it flutter to the ground.

"The believers love that we are here," he said. "The nonbelievers say they hate Jesus, or Jesus doesn't love them."

Mark Holan

Floating To Victory

Krewe officials announced the following parade winners:

•General Commercial Float: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

•National Commercial Float: Southwest Airlines

•Cities Float: New Port Richey

•Krewe Float: Unsinkable Krewe of Molly Brown

•Environmentally Sensitive Float: Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales

•Association Float: Independent Showmen's Association

•Grand Prize: Rough Riders

•Special Award: Get A Life Marching Band

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