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Saturday, May 6, 2000

City prepares for Buc Days parade, party

Procession expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators

By Aimée Courtice
Caller-Times

These are just a few of the 260 guns collected Friday in the gun buy-back program. The program is part of a $15 million federal initiative that could take as many as 300,000 guns off the streets and out of homes nationwide. Just east of the Interstate 37 underpass at Leopard Street sit two of the city's most avid parade-goers.
   And they have the six-man tent to prove it.
   "People drive by and look at us like we're crazy," said Reba Pippin. "But we enjoy it."
   Her friend Pam Doyle roped off their area late Friday morning and Pippin joined her early in the afternoon to save their seats for the Buc Days Southwestern Bell Illuminated Night Parade.
   "By noon Saturday, all these spots will be gone," Doyle said.
   The parade starts at 8 p.m. today, and is expected to draw more than 100,000 spectators, said Vicky Lewis, marketing director for the Buc Commission.
   Patricia Martinez, along with her husband and son, staked their spot early Friday afternoon at Leopard and Artesian streets and planned to camp Friday night.
   "This is the earliest we've come out before," she said. "It seems like it is filling up a lot earlier this year."
   Despite the humidity and warm weather, which reached 86 Friday and is expected to hit near 90 today, Martinez said she thinks it's worth sweating it out.
   "It's always been a tradition for Corpus," she said.
   Corpus Christi Police Department Capt. Wayne Tisdale said the parade route will be closed to all traffic by 6:30 p.m. today. There will be 40 uniformed police officers and an additional 13 Department of Public Safety troopers to handle crowds and direct traffic, he said.
   "We're asking everyone to behave and not drink too much," he said.
   He also said any cars parked in any prohibited areas will be towed immediately. Spectators can park on side streets along the parade route.
   The parade starts at Buccaneer Stadium at Miller High School, heads down Leopard Street to Lawrence Street and then the southbound lanes of Shoreline Boulevard.
   Lewis said the parade, which debuted in 1938, represents an era when pirates roamed the Texas Gulf coast.
   "It's one of the few illuminated night parades still around," she said. "I think that is what makes it so special. We expect a lot of color and splash."
   More than 68 illuminated floats, some of which will feature the Las Doñas duchesses, will be joined by 18 bands, including high school bands from Corpus Christi, West Oso, Tuloso-Midway and Robstown school districts.
   Honorary commodores in the parade are Deputy Secretary of the Navy William Cassidy Jr. and Ambassador Richard W. Fisher, deputy U.S. trade representative. Cassidy and Fisher have been in Corpus Christi since Friday, touring the city, port area and the naval bases.
   "We're trying to bring in representatives from Washington, D.C., to show them our community," Lewis said. "And we wanted to bring in people who are important to our city."
   Miss Buc Days will be crowned at the pre-parade celebration at 7 p.m. at Buc Stadium. Other pre-parade events include the Blade Run, an in-line skating race along the parade route. It begins at 5 p.m. at Buc Stadium. The cost is $15. Participants need to register at the Memorial Coliseum box office by 4 p.m. Saturday.
   To try to cut down on the post-parade litter, members of the Beautify Corpus Christi Association, with the help of youth volunteers and city staff will hand out 8,000 trash bags to spectators before the parade begins.
   "Most of our community-sponsored activities like festivals and parades are big trash generators," said Yvonne Haag, community relations coordinator for the city. "We want to see if we can get spectators to take more responsibility for their trash."
  

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Staff writer Aimée Courtice can be reached at 886-3622 or by e-mail at courticea@caller.com

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