FRANKLIN — The Annual Krewe of Head Start’s Recruitment Parade rolled through downtown Franklin Saturday afternoon, with hundreds turning out in excitement for the area’s first parade of the Mardi Gras season.

Like the Head Start program in St. Mary Parish, the parade is geared especially toward the kids. Students from the various Head Start schools in St. Mary Parish turned out in festive attire for the event, throwing beads and other items to excited spectators.

“It’s a good family parade,” Juanita Johnson said at Franklin Senior High where the floats were stationed before the event. “The parents love it almost more than the kids.”

The parade has served as a major recruitment tool for Head Start’s preschool children aged 3 to 5, according to event organizers. The parade also allows the agency to market other services available to Head Start families and individuals.

The theme for the event was “Looking Back Into Head Start … We Are Family.” Many participating in the parade donned groovy, hippie-themed attire that coincided with that theme.

Lineup for the parade began at 10 a.m. at Franklin Senior High, and continued down Main Street and into downtown Franklin.

Serving as Grand Marshal for the parade was Franklin Mayor Eugene Foulcard, who led the procession and talked to local residents while the parade progressed.

“I feel very blessed to be recognized by my people and held in such high esteem,” Foulcard said in a prepared statement. “I hope, through sacrifice and service, we learn to teach one another how to be team players for the common good of our families, our city, St. Mary Parish and surrounding areas.”

Junior ROTC members from St. Mary Parish schools as well as a local marching band participated in the event.

The several floats in the parade were organized by members of St. Mary’s various Head Start schools, with several floats have two students serve as king and queen for the parade.

Head Start schools in St. Mary Parish include A Child’s Place Learning Center; Barney and Baby Bop #2; Chitimacha Tribal School; Glencoe Charter School; Pam’s Personal Touch Child Carel St. Mary CAA Head Start;  Verdunville Outreach Daycare and Yaamahana Child Development Center.

“Everyone’s having a good time. The kids are so cute,” Franklin resident Wanda Hypolite said while watching the parade.

As with any Mardi Gras parade, children watching fought tooth and nail for the throws that were given out during the procession. Beads, stuffed animals and toy trumpets were some of the items tossed during the event while jazz and zydeco music boomed in the background across downtown Franklin.

For Franklin, the next Mardi Gras parade is the Franklin Mardi Gras Parade which is scheduled to be held 1 p.m. Fat Tuesday with the same parade route.