By By Adrienne McKenzie
What began as a cool morning turned out to be a day of fun in the sun when the annual Ladies of Essence Mardi Gras Parade rolled through the streets of Atmore Saturday.
Beads, candy and moon pies were thrown from the many floats to the people lining the streets during the parade proving Atmore can have just as much fun as New Orleans when celebrating the festive occasion.
Brenda Watkins, president of Ladies of Essence, felt that the parade was a hit.
"I think it was a nice parade," Watkins said. "We don't actually get to see the parade, but it seemed like it was bigger than before and we all had a good time."
Watkins said when she woke up Saturday morning she was concerned about the cool brisk weather in Atmore.
"It was really cold Saturday morning, but it turned out to be a really nice day," she said.
The parade consisted of several different floats, including two decorated by the Ladies of Essence.
In past years the Ladies have borrowed a bus from Pensacola, Fla., but last year they decided to decorate their own float.
In this year's parade the Ladies of Essence decorated two floats, one for themselves and one for the parade's traveling disk jockey.
Watkins was pleased that there were no wrongdoings throughout the day and thanks the public for their safe participation.
"I want to thank everybody for coming out and having a safe day," she said. "We had no incidents that I'm aware of. I want to thank the city for allowing us to do this parade. Hopefully next year we can get the word out quicker and have more participation."