What To Do With Throws

Some use colorful signs, others use big nets. People will try just about anything to get their hands on Mardi Gras beads. Timothy uses his height to his advantage in order to grab the ultimate reward.

“Oh I generally take them to Krispy Kreme donut and they usually give you so many donuts per pound and then after that I pass them out to the family,” says zealous parade watcher Timothy. While some barter their beads for baked goods others are a bit more charitable.

“What am I going to do with them,” asks Ruby Woodson. “I'm going to take them back to St. Louis Missouri and give them to all of my friends.” Ruby says her friends in the Show-Me-State always want her to show them the loot.

“They wish they were here in Mobile because I tell them we are the original and we're the one that party hearty better than New Orleans,” says Ruby.

Others along the parade route collect the beads so that they'll have a second life. Deborah McAdams says she give most of hers back to friends who ride in parades so they'll be thrown again next year.

“I keep a few that I really like from year to year and I decorate with 'em and I wear ‘em back to the parades but most of them I recycle,” says Deborah. She says some end up as decorations.