Gerald Everett, an officer of the Krewe of Neptune, decided to throw his girlfriend something more than Mardi Gras beads during the krewe’s parade Saturday night in downtown Biloxi.
A costumed Everett, standing on the reviewing stand at City Hall, tossed a small black box to his girlfriend, Farris Kay, as her Krewe of Sirens float made an unscheduled stop at the reviewing stand. Kay accepted the box, opened it and immediately covered her face with her hands in surprise.
It was a proposal, right in the midst of the merriment of Mardi Gras. She said yes. They kissed and the parade carried on.
“It was pretty simple,” said Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich, who witnessed the exchange. “He came up to me, asked to borrow the microphone. He looked at her and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ and she said, ‘Yes.'”
“We knew he was going to do it,” said Ward 6 Councilman Kenny Glavan, who was on the officers float as it was ordered to stop at City Hall so Everett could step off and await his future bride.
“We waited five minutes, then resumed rolling without him,” Glavan said.
The Biloxi Police Department said between 25,000 to 35,000 paradegoers attended the parade. Said Glavan, the longtime Neptune member, in a comment on the city’s Facebook page: “I think they better check those numbers, more like 60,000 to 70,000.”
See the moment
Gallery: See dozens of photos from Neptune
Video: Rockin’ it at Neptune
Video bonus: ‘FoFo’ Gilich busts a move
