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Gasparilla Parade To Lose Its Most Famous Face

Tribune file photo

Boyd Wynne often took his pirate show on the road to promote Tampa.

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JEFF PATTERSON

jpatterson@wfla.com

Published: February 5, 2009

TAMPA - Boyd Wynne may be the most photographed pirate in history.

For decades, Wynne has been the goodwill ambassador for Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, serving as the chairman of the special events committee. With his pirate makeup and ever-present parrot perched on his shoulder, Wynne shines in front of a camera. His photograph has appeared in national magazines, local newspapers and television stations and, undoubtedly, countless scrapbooks.

This Gasparilla parade, though, will be Wynne's last.

Wynne, 65, says after years of traveling across the nation promoting the city of Tampa and the Gasparilla invasion, it's time to move on, to allow younger people to take the reins.

"We need to have younger people involved in it, getting new ideas, having new opportunities," he said.

C. Logan Lane has been Wynne's friend for more than 40 years. "Boyd always works for the city of Tampa,'' Lane said. "He always promotes the city of Tampa whether you're in Las Vegas or you're in Toronto.''

As members of the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla special events committee, Wynne and Lane have traveled the country on Southwest Airlines to talk about the city and Gasparilla. "We would drop everything we were doing, costume up and go promote Tampa," says Lane.

Wynne, who is the sales manager for a company that sells food-processing equipment, first joined Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla when he returned to his native Tampa after flying combat missions in Vietnam, where he was awarded both the Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart.

When his service was over, many of his childhood friends had already joined Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla and they invited him in.

He was a natural, mugging for the camera, marching down Bayshore Boulevard.

"We have a standing rule in the special events committee,'' Lane said. "Do not get between Boyd and the camera."

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