Students watch history, honor hometown hero

By Staff
January 14, 2004
By Terry R. Cassreino / assistant managing editor
JACKSON For about 100 children from Covenant Christian School in Yazoo City, Gov. Haley Barbour's inauguration Tuesday was a chance to witness history and honor a hometown hero.
Sharon Gilder, who teaches fourth-grade, said she even plans to use the event including the 1 1/2-hour inaugural parade to help teach her students about Mississippi history.
Gilder and several students stood along Amite Street to watch the parade led by Barbour and his wife, Marsha, in a horse-drawn carriage along with 20 high school, community college and university bands.
The parade was one of many events on a day that began at 7:45 a.m. with a prayer breakfast at First Baptist Church and ended with the Inaugural Ball at the Mississippi Trade Mart and Mississippi Coliseum.
Crowds lined Capitol Street three- and four-deep for the afternoon parade, trying to get a glimpse of the governor and other elected officials. One block over on Amite, the crowd was thinner.
It also offered a good spot for Wayne Roberts of Brandon to videotape the parade and his son, who was marching and performing with the University of Southern Mississippi band.
He said he was amazed by the events and attention associated with Barbour's inauguration. When it all boils down, he said, Barbour is "just another state employee like the rest of them albeit he's the top."
Gilder's students also had a better view of the parade than they would have on Capitol Street. Some dodged into the street between units, others sat on the curb and watched.