The Ladies of Essence organization is bringing Mardi Gras to Atmore this weekend.
Their parade rolls this Saturday, February 25, at 1 p.m.
The grand marshal is Karean Reynolds, Escambia County Children’s Policy Council Coordinator. Reynolds was instrumental in getting grants to redo the basketball courts and lighting at Westside Park on Wilson Avenue in Atmore.
The royalty of the 2017 Mardi Gras parade are King Brendon Jackson and Queen Anisha Etheridge.
Anisha is the daughter of Michael Wilson Jr. and Eugenia Etheridge. She graduated from Escambia County High School in 2014 and is attending Alabama State University, majoring in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Social Work. She has a 3.7 grade point average.
Anisha will graduate from ASU Spring 2018 and plans to attend graduate school at Georgia Tech or the University of Georgia. After getting her PhD, Anisha plans to go into private practice in Atlanta.
Brendon, 21, is the is the son of Natalie Thompson and James Dennis. Brendon is a 2013 homeschool high school graduate. He was homeschooled due to Lupus which was discovered in his eighth-grade year. He was active in the Kappa League and in sports, but all that came to a halt when he was diagnosed. However, he credits the setback with Lupus to pushing him into other areas – such as starting his own clothing line and writing a book.
Brendon plans to attend Coastal Alabama Community College for business and to be a doctor.
The parade route is as follows: begin at city hall, go Presley to Church, right on Church, right on Main, right on Ashley, left on Martin Luther King to Houston Avery Park.