The phrase most commonly associated with Mardi Gras is “let the good times roll.” When it comes to a Mardi Gras parade, however, the most common phrase should be “out of the way, every person for themselves.”

What most forget about a Mardi Gras parade — or any parade where throws are involved — is not necessarily the rush of everyone to a particular set of beads or Moon Pie, but the cleanup.

There’s always the cleanup.

Saturday, downtown Vicksburg hosted what many have called one of the best, if not the best, Mardi Gras parade thus far. In just nine short years, the parade has become a highlight of downtown Vicksburg’s annual events calendar and draws thousands of visitors to the core of our town.

The parade was tremendously well attended and featured a line of participants that stretched from one end of Washington Street to the other. It was organized and was blessed with amazing weather.

The parade also had an opening act this year with the Krewe of Barkus pet parade leading off the festivities.

But after the parades had ended and the paradegoers had returned home, what was left behind was a mess; a happy mess if you’re one of the parade organizers who had pulled off another great event. Beads, cups and other items leftover from the parade filled downtown streets.

But by Sunday afternoon there was no sign of what had happened. The streets had been cleared of broken beads, crushed candy and cups that had failed to reach their destination and fell victim to a truck tire.

That clean-up, that attention to detail is a credit to Downtown Vicksburg Main Street and the city’s Public Works department.

Downtown Vicksburg provides an amazing thoroughfare for a number of parades each year; parades that draw huge crowds to downtown restaurants and businesses, but it is the city crews who attend to downtown that make it a site to see each and every day.

We truly appreciate all the work organizers put in planning the parade, those who helped pull it off without a problem and the crews who cleaned up afterward.