YMKN lead by our King Gordon Krueger and his Queen Preya Persaud our krewe sailed into a phenomenal parade season with the Gasparilla parades. First ushering the start of the of festivities with a Children’s parade. Our Royalty helped spread joy to our children guests on our float and the thousands of children from the Tampa Bay area that came out to watch the parade. Parade Chairman Tom Callahan did a great job coordinating a pizza party at the cove and arranged a party bus to our float. He thought of everything from face painters to specialty tailored music selections to bring joy to the kids. Everyone one of the kids left the event with a Smile. Our XO, Tony shams kicked off the Gasparilla weekend at the Embassy Suites with a boot kicking Diamond and Denim Cowboy theme party. Over 120 members and their guest danced and partied into the night, assuring a sparkling hoedown of fun. Bobbi and sponsored a ‘frosting” event that left the woman sparkling even more than they normally do. It was a night of many sparkling smiles. Our Invasion chair Vic Krauze again sailed our early risers into a memorable invasion. Broken rudders or disable ships could not stop our krewe from partying all the way into the port of Tampa to invade the city with smiles. The Gasparilla parade event was the centerpiece to the day with, as Brother Todd Moss is fond of saying, millions and millions of beads being thrown to the adoring crowds. The ducks punctuated the throws again this year with the crowds shouting their approval of all the booty being thrown. Hip Hip Hip Hooray !!! for our Chairs Tom and Vic and our Gasparilla chairman and XO Tony Shams. Our krewe is in debt to their service and the service of the many members that served on their committees. It was a proud moment for our Krewe, the IKC and the Tampa Bay area.