Privateers AMI parade rolls end-to-end, bypassing storm warnings
The Anna Maria Island Privateers throw candy and beads to paradegoers Dec. 14 from their ship, the Skullywag, during their annual Christmas parade. The parade — all vehicles, no marching — rolled up Gulf Drive from Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach to the City Pier Park in Anna Maria. Islander Photos: Ryan Paice
Santa Claus, right, and Jennifer “Mermaid” Price from the Anna Maria Island Privateers wave to paradegoers Dec. 14, delighting kids and adults as the caboose of the Privateer Christmas Parade. The pair later visited City Pier Park in Anna Maria for photos with children and to hear their Christmas wishes.
Santa Claus waves to attendees of the Christmas parade Dec. 14 from a float made of a giant hammerhead shark that resides year-round at a Cortez restaurant.
City officials from Holmes Beach, including Mayor Judy Titsworth, Commissioners Kim Rash and Pat Morton, wave and throw beads to paradegoers Dec. 14 from the Holmes Beach Police Department’s boat — as it rolls through the Privateer Christmas Parade.
People along the roadside during the Privateer Christmas Parade Dec. 14 watch horses and riders from the Real BeachHorses tour business of Bradenton march up Marina Drive.
The CrossPointe Fellowship band plays Dec. 14 from the church float in the Privateer Christmas Parade.
Passengers toss candy and beads to paradegoers Dec. 14.
People attending the Dec. 14 party following the Anna Maria Island Privateers’ Christmas Parade gather under the sail shades to eat lunch and visit with Santa Claus.
Anna Maria Island Privateers member Roger “Hoodat the Magnificent” Murphree hands out giftbags to kids attending the post-parade party Dec. 14 at Anna Maria City Pier Park after the Christmas parade.
Visiting from Toronto, Canada, Lindsay Amson, left, sits together with husband Matthew Blanche, and their children, Kieran, 4, and Liam, 1, under the sail shades of City Pier Park in Anna Maria Dec. 14 for the party following the Privateer Christmas Parade.
Members of the Anna Maria Island Privateers serve hot dogs and beverages, and talk over the day’s events Dec. 14 with a deputy from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office-Anna Maria substation.