Sunshine prevails for 34th annual Cherry Blossom Festival parade

Sunshine held back rain clouds on Saturday afternoon long enough for the thousands gathered on the sidewalks of Cherry and Mulberry streets to watch the 34th annual Cherry Blossom Festival parade.

Two young girls wearing bright pink shirts handed a Tootsie Roll to a 3-year-old boy who sat on his father's knee near Cherry and Cotton streets.

"Say, 'Thank you,' '' Josh Subich told his son, Conner. Subich, who lives in Warner Robins, said it's his family's first Cherry Blossom Festival and so far, "we love it."

"We just moved here from Texas," Subich said. "We work for Geico. We had some friends that always come and they told us to check it out."

The parade began at Terminal Station, extended down Cherry Street and turned onto New Street toward Mulberry then back.

Middle Georgia marching bands, Bibb County Sheriff's Office, Macon-Bibb County Fire Department, YKK, Robins Air Force Base and the Ocmulgee National Monument were among the 94 groups that participated in the parade. Ten groups didn't show up due to the threat of rain, said Main Street Macon Manager Steven Fullbright, who helped organize the parade.

"I was refreshing my Weatherbug app every few minutes," Fullbright said. "The weather was perfect."

This year is the first time the parade has taken place on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, a change that's due to the celebrations of Easter and Palm Sundays, Fullbright said.

"We didn't know what to expect for a crowd," Fullbright said. "It was huge. There was just hordes of people on both sides of the streets."

Down between Second and Third streets, Kenya Fuller, 24, watched the parade with her 7-year-old daughter, Vuluxious Howard.

When asked what her favorite part of the parade was, Vuluxious said, "The cheerleaders."

Fuller, who plans to take her daughter to festival events next weekend, said her family hasn't missed the parade a single year of her life.

"I've been coming here since I was a little girl," Fuller said. "It's exciting and it's fun to see it. It gives (Vuluxious) a chance to know what she wants to do in life. ... She always wanted to be a cheerleader, so I told her one day maybe she'll be out there cheering with them."

RACING RUBBER DUCKS

Hundreds of fans cheered on a flock of about 2,000 colorful rubber ducks that raced down the Ocmulgee River on Saturday morning at Amerson River Park.

Aloah Jones, 4, watched in hopes one of the 10 ducks her family sponsored for $5 each would be the first to cross the finish line, which was made of floating noodle-like pool toys. When the race began, most of the brightly colored ducks veered to one side of the river, apparently caught in a current pushing them to the edge.

The lucky ducky to cross the line first belonged to Courtney Fitzpatrick, who won the grand prize of $1,000. Numbers were drawn for second and third places as it was unclear where the ducks placed.

"We didn't win this time," Aloah's father, 34-year-old Matthew Jones, said after the race. "We were going to put our money on a Disney trip if we won."

The festival's first Ocmulgee Duck Dash raised about $10,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Crisis Line & Safe House and Furever After Rescue, said Dianna Glymph, chief executive officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters, the lead charity for the event.

"It had a good turnout," Glymph said of the event she hopes will become annual. "The idea really came about because we've been trying to work for several years with Cherry Blossom (Festival) to have an event that would add to, and be different than what's going on with" the festival.

Glymph said the duck race was also a way to bring people out to the recently revamped park, which re-opened last year.

Jones said he had not been to the park in about three years.

"I've been invited out here so many times but I just haven't come out yet," Jones said. "I had no clue it was built up like this."

The sun was shining and temperatures lingered in the low 70s as many ducks continued to float downstream after the race. Glymph said volunteer kayakers were waiting with nets along the river to catch ducks that continued on past the finish line.

"We were very pleased with the response this first year (and) blessed with beautiful weather," Glymph said. "I think next year we'll order more ducks."

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 and follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Sunshine prevails for 34th annual Cherry Blossom Festival parade ."