It’s all green: Parading and Grillin’ are this weekend

The city’s downtown area will be decidedly green on Saturday — with the Hibernia Marching Society’s annual St. Patrick’s parade, and Main Street Biloxi’s annual Grillin’ on the Green.

Dozens of units are expected to be in Hibernia’s parade, which begins at 2 p.m. The parade begins at the Biloxi Yacht Club, travels west on Beach Boulevard, turning north on Lameuse Street and travels around MLK Boulevard before ending near the south end of Reynoir Street, a blarney stone’s toss from Mary Mahoney’s.

Meantime, on the Town Green, more than 20 backyard grilling enthusiasts will be competing for bragging rights and prizes Saturday for Grillin’ on the Green.

The Town Green event, which is free and runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., will feature live music throughout day, barbecue dishes and arts and crafts vendors. There is a $5 admission fee for a children’s playing area.

To print a flyer about Grillin’ on the Green,
click here.

City seeks nominations for volunteer awards

The City of Biloxi is seeking nominees for its upcoming Volunteer Recognition Ceremony, which takes place May 3 at the Dr. Frank Gruich Sr. Community Center in east Biloxi.

The city will recognize individuals who volunteer in the areas of community, youth, health, arts and history, sports and education. Also recognized will be businesses, adult and youth groups, and a Distinguished Volunteer of the Year.

The deadline for nominations to be returned is Monday, April 18. Forms can be picked up at the Bond-Grant House on Howard Avenue, or on the city’s web site. To fill out a form electronically, click here.

This year’s ceremony will mark the 28th year that the city has hosted this free ceremony to recognize volunteers for their community service.

City’s Bmail service named an industry All-Star

Constant Contact, an industry leader in email marketing, has presented the city’s Bmail service an All-Star Award for best practices in the use of email marketing.

It’s the second year that the Bmail service was named an All-Star Award winner.

Bmail uses Constant Contact to help transmit news updates to an audience of more than 5,000 subscribers. The city sends several Bmails a week, providing the latest news, photos or video about city projects, programs and special events. Anyone can sign up for the free service on the city’s web site. In some cases, Biloxi natives who now reside elswhere use the free service to keep up with homestown events.

Constant Contact applauded the city for its frequency of emails, rate of emails being opened, reducing the number of bounced emails and having an impressive click-through rate on emails being sent.

News and notes

Blue Angels background: As you can hear the Blue Angels booming overhead in Biloxi today in preparation for this weekend’s performance, you can read up on the storied past of the squadron by
click here.

Angels over the Bay: Keesler reports that boating will be restricted in the Back Bay during Blue Angels rehearsals today and Friday, and during the actual shows on Saturday and Sunday. To see the restricted area in a map from Keesler, click here. To see your overall guide to the airshow and open house, click here.

Museum meeting: Mayor A.J. Holloway has called a meeting of the City Council for Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. to discuss issues regarding the proposed site of the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum. The meeting will be at City Hall and will be open to the public.