Parade during COVID; Mobile officials preach ‘personal responsibility’ ahead of Mardi Gras event
Updated 10:23 AM;
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Makayla Pitts is a recent high school graduate who isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 but is young enough where she probably would not suffer serious health consequences if she contracted the virus.
The 18-year-old who is graduating from B.C. Rain High School isn’t taking any chances, however. She’s not going to Friday’s Mardi Gras-style parade in downtown Mobile because she remains unvaccinated and because she anticipates most people there will not be wearing face coverings.
“COVID is still out there,” said Pitts, who says she needs to get vaccinated this summer before attending college in Atlanta this fall. “I am not vaccinated so I know to still wear my mask. But people are not wearing masks when they are supposed to.”
‘It’s a sad, sad day’: Joe Cain Day traditions continue in Mobile during pandemic
Updated Feb 15, 2021;
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Mayim Bloom walked over with a bouquet of dead roses in her hand and dropped them on a grave marker festooned with Mardi Gras beads and coins Sunday morning.
She might not be one of Cain’s “Merry Widows,” but the 4-year-old did her part to keep the spirit of Joe Cain alive during the traditional day that honors the late Confederate solider. Cain, more than 150 years ago, is credited with reviving Mardi Gras in Mobile following the Civil War and he has been celebrated on the Sunday before Fat Tuesday since the late 1960s.