Who could argue with this?
The 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Gasparilla Parade of Pirates has altered course when it comes to selecting a grand marshal. It has named a genuine American hero for the Jan. 30 event. The selection committee went with patriotic inspiration over traditional celebrity.
Actually, it’s a refinement over last year’s parade when the duties were split between TV host (Saved by the Bell and Extra) Mario Lopez and MacDill Air Force Base’s U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Chris Faris.
Over the years, Gasparilla grand marshaling has been a pop-culture and sports-celeb gig. Past GMs have eclectically ranged from Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans to Joel and Bryan Glazer. Honest. Other notables: comedian Jim Belushi, All Star pitcher David Price and, uh, Woody Woodpecker. It doesn’t get much more eclectic than that.
But now it will be Romulo Camargo, an Army vet from New Tampa, who’s a quadriplegic. He took a bullet in the neck during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2008. He will ride in a customized motorcycle sidecar.
Who could argue with a home-grown hero as grand marshal for the Jan. 30 parade? Well, actually, I could.
Here’s why. The Crystal River High grad, who had risen to the rank of chief warrant officer 3, deserves better. While Gasparilla has been reined in and is much better policed these past few years, it still remains an homage to drinking and titillation. That’s far from the ideal forum for a “hero.” It’s a matter of respect.
Let Jameis Winston play the part, or invite Joe Maddon, who lives along the Bayshore Boulevard parade route and has time before the Cubs begin spring training.
What would actually have made more sense would have been to name Camargo the grand marshal of the G-rated Children’s Parade this Saturday.
As we know, the Children’s Parade is no longer some cute, undercard spin-off. No longer a token sop to the sober and some young families. No longer a nominal, little parade.
Crowds now swell to more than 200,000 along Bayshore. It attracts more than 100 floats and 50 participating krewes. Plus marching bands, dance squads and various school and community groups. It’s that big.
No wonder it also merits its own air show and a culminating “Piratechnic” extravaganza. In short, all the trappings of an impressively big parade–sans drunks and punks.
The Children’s Parade is now an all-call, must-see for Family Tampa–black and white and brown. Parents and their kids. It’s about having a good time. Feeling safe. Enjoying where we live. Celebrating who we are.
What a venue–and forum–for an American hero.