Local Faces
2015 Shrimpapalooza and Homosassa Heritage Day
My favorite parade of the entire year! The weather was great. The turnout was fantastic. And how many golf carts does Homosassa actually have?
Since this is a “local” parade and a lot of the participants are from right here in Old Homosassa, I’m putting up a lot of pictures!
First Terry and I stopped at the Old Homosassa Heritage Council’s booth at the festival to make a donation and pick up our freshly printed t-shirts!
This is the first year that we actually went to the staging area for the parade. That place was crazy cakes!
We usually stand in front of the Starting Gate cafe to watch the parade but this time we stayed in the shade right at the beginning of the parade under the beautiful oaks on Yulee Drive.
Someone forgot to stop the traffic and it was a little entertaining to watch vehicles pull up, drivers curse and then turn around and attempt to find a different way out of Homosassa. Really, this is the FOURTH annual Shrimpapalooza and it’s very well advertised. There are people standing along the parade route plus Mason Creek Road is blocked off. How any one that was back in Old Homosassa on Saturday morning not know that there might be a traffic issue?
And then the parade started!
We not only have a bunch of golf carts and shrimp in this parade, we have dogs.
It’s a PUPALOOZA!
After the parade we headed over to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park to check out Homosassa Heritage Day. DeeDee Pierce Wilcox, a co-chair of the Old Homosassa Heritage Council, was promoting the new organization and had a bunch of her own personal treasures from the early days of Homosassa.
Saturday was a fun day in Homosassa!
Upcoming Important Events
We have serious stuff to talk about today….
This evening at 5:30, Old Homosassa Historical Preservation Society holds their monthly meeting at the Gator Den at MacRae’s Motel, If you are interested in preserving Old Homosassa’s heritage for current and future generations, you should attend this meeting. Our current project is to buy, repair, and maintain the Old Homosassa Water Tower.
Thursday evening at 6 – 7:30 there will be a town hall meeting with County Commissioner Ron Kitchen Jr. at the Homosassa Library. According to the Citrus Chronicle, Kitchen said “I want the public to know that I am continuing to listen, I want to hear about any issues our citizens are currently facing.” If you are concerned with events occurring in our community, you should attend this meeting. Two hot issues right now are the sidewalk plans on Yulee Drive and the 110-unit motel being planned on Halls River Road.
Following the town hall, The River Alliance will be meeting at 7:45 at the Civic Club.
We have two big events on Saturday.
First, Homosassa Heritage Day will be held at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Here’s an opportunity to learn about Homosassa’s history. The event is held inside the park’s Visitor Center at the main entrance on U.S. 19 so you do not have to pay admission to the park.
Second is the 3rd annual Shrimpapalooza. The parade starts at 10:30 am and will feature about 10,000 golf carts and a gazillion beads. That might be a slight (huge) exaggeration but you should just come and see for yourself. The festival following the parade is held in the park behind the Homosassa Civic Club. Sponsored by the Homosassa Rotary club, the proceeds go to numerous charities, many of them local.
