TEAAM-Gulf Coast Meeting Information:

TEAAM-Gulf Coast meets the second Friday of each month at the Ocean Springs Library.  The Ocean Springs Library is located at 525 Dewey Avenue in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  Meetings begin at 6:30 pm.  Following are the scheduled meeting dates:

January                               13^th

February                              10^th

March                                   9^th

April                                       13^th

May                                       11^th

June                                      8^th

July                                        13^th

August                                  10^th

September                         14^th

October                               12^th

November                          9^th

December                           14^th

 

 

 Mardi Gras Parades

Anyone interested in riding in either the Ocean Springs Elks Parade or the North Bay Mardi Gras Carnival Association Parades, please contact Cindy to be placed on the sign up sheet. Below are the guidelines for riding with us in the parades. 

It’s that time of year again and we are gearing up for Mardi Gras.  We are participating in the Ocean Springs Elks Mardi Gras Parade on February 4, 2012 and the North Bay Mardi Gras Carnival Assoc. Parade on February 19, 2012.

If you are interested in riding in one or both parades, please read the following rules. It’s unfortunate that we had to make rules and start charging to ride, but the fee is minimal compared to the regular Krewe’s and other private floats.  The fees are for the drivers who will be pulling the float to pay for gas for their vehicles.

1. Fees to ride are $10 for ages 18 and up $5 for ages 17 and younger.  This fee will be paid the day of the parade to one of the Chapter Leaders upon arrival to the meeting site. You will also be required to sign a waiver to ride the float. We need a waiver for each person riding on the float.
2. Children, teens or adults with Autism, or any other disability or their siblings (ages 13 and under), MUST be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult (21 years of age or older). 
3. NO PETS ALLOWED on the float.  This is for safety concerns of the passengers as well as the parade spectators.  We understand how much everyone loves their pets, but please let’s be considerate of others. This is a safety issue for float riders as well as parade spectators as well as a rule of the parade sponsors.
4. Everyone riding on the float is responsible for their own beverages (non-alcoholic   only will be permitted), snacks, and throws. Throws can be of your choosing-beads, candy, small stuffed animals. Beads and stuffed animals can be found at America’s Thrift Store in Ocean Springs, MS., while their supply lasts. We recommend at least 1-2 cases of beads/candy per parade, per family. TEAAM Gulf Coast will supply food, ice and ice chests.
   
5. For the Ocean Springs Parade we will meet at Ocean Springs High School between 8am and 9:30am. The parade ends at OSHS and you will be able to get to your vehicles once the float has been parked.  Anyone who is not at the OSHS parking lot when we pull out to go to line up for the parade will not be permitted to ride due to parking issues and road closures at Ocean Springs Beach. The driver of the float nor TEAAM Gulf Coast cannot be responsible for getting latecomers back to their vehicles after the parade. We have a responsibility to return the float within two hours after the parade has ended. Therefore, the decorations have to come down, and we have to clean and hose down the float upon returning it and this takes a lot of time.
6. For the NBMGA parade, we will meet at the Park and Ride on Hwy 609 (N. Washington Ave.) at Exit 50 from I 10, next to Denny’s. We will meet at the same time, and again, this is a parking lot and easy access after the parade for everyone to get their vehicles.  Rule #5 applies here as well and access to reach the float once we are lined up at the parade site will be impossible.
7. Everyone is required to sign up for the parades. If you are interested in riding in both, chose which parade is your first choice and we will add you to the waiting list for the other parade.  We want everyone to be able to participate so it’s only fair to give everyone a chance to ride in at least one parade. If there is space available, you will be notified in time for you to get your throws.  Please sign up for the Ocean Springs parade no later than January 20, 2012, and for the NBMGCA parade, no later than February 5, 2012 and give us the number in your party.  Sign up by emailing Cindy at TEAAMgulfcoast@aol.com. 
8. Sign and return this letter the day of the parade with your fees.  We want everyone to be aware that as much fun as participating in the parades can be, it only take one person/incident to cause us to not to participate in future parades.

We want everyone to have fun and enjoy participating in Mardi Gras. We have to have these rules for the protection and safety of everyone involved. There will be no compromising of these rules. If you have any questions, please call Cindy at 228-447-3567 or Beverly at 228-233-4755. We are looking forward to seeing all of you soon