Posted on 03/02/2006 6:10:47 AM PST by slowhand520
Biloxi had a Mardi Gras parade, with floats and throws and everything.
Thanks for the ping.
That's great news! I'm glad for FR, because I sure wouldn't have heard about it any other way. How are they doing with rebuilding, displaced homeowners, etc?
Well, I tried to find some photos from the Biloxi MG parade, but there are only 3-4 in the Yahoo slideshow and it's a very long URL to try to link and "tinyURL" won't make me one, for some reason.
Gov. Haley Barbour and his wife, Marsha, were the honorary parade Marshals because they've helped out in Biloxi and all along the Coast there so much since Katrina. They threw beads--pic in the Yahoo news pix.
The theme was "Still Standing, Still Shining" and they were able to salvage 17 of their original 21 floats, all of which were destroyed or damaged in some way. They've had Mardi Gras in Biloxi since 1908.
I can't get a handle on how they're really doing, as everyone is so upbeat--cooking gumbo for Fat Tuesday, for example - then you find out the kitchen is the only room in their house that's usable. Overall, I don't think they're doing very well, but we'd probably never know.
Here's a link to the Biloxi paper's Mardi Gras story and you can browse to see some of the Katrina photos and Clean-Up progress.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/politics/13982624.htm
Also, this is supposed to link to the slideshow pix, but sometimes these long URLs don't work properly. If you get through to it, the Biloxi photos are #45 (Haley Barbour throwing beads) and #55-58 of the MG parade.
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/lf/021806mardigras/im:/060301/ids_photos_en/r3920298421.jpg;_ylt=AvTSHg3EDbnyU4GGMtFomwJsaMYA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5bGcyMWMzBHNlYwNzc25hdg--?sp=-1&lsp=6000
"I have a manufacturing plant and have found it difficult to fill the occasional opening. A gent who works with me explained that between Aid for Dependent Children, Welfare, and Food Stamps, I'd have to start off a new employee at $10/hr to compete."
Well said! You've hit the real problem right on the head!
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