DeSoto parade barricades risky issue

Beads! Beads! Beads!

The familiar cry heard along the DeSoto Heritage Parade route every April.

Beads are tossed by people on the float toward the crowd, some fall short, and kids scramble into the street to scoop up the artificial booty.

It’s a scene that repeats itself throughout the evening’s pageantry.

That’s despite the efforts of law enforcement, on bikes and on foot, to keep the crowd back. Ditto for walkers flanking their organization’s float rolling down Manatee Avenue.

I’ve seen it happen as a parade participant and parade onlooker for 12 years.

I’m amazed no one’s been seriously injured or worse.

Yet.


Read more Sunday in Mannix On Manatee.