Participating in the Miss Mississippi Pageant parade has become a tradition for Biloxi resident, Tom Bocek, and Monday night marked the fifth year he and his wife Juli have been driving contestants in their classic automobiles.

“We do it for the fun,” Tom said.

Tom said he got started driving contestants when Miss Riverland’s Jennifer Seymor asked him to drive her in the 2011 parade and now the couple is hooked.

This year they brought up three cars from their collection for the parade along with friends to help drive.

“It’s just awesome to see the beautiful cars and beautiful girls. They go together well, Tom said.

Monday’s parade got off to a slow start, beginning 30 minutes behind it’s scheduled time, but the delay nor the 90-degree temperatures discouraged the more than 500 well-wishers who came out to cheer on their favorite contestant.

Sandra Killen, who was from Meridian, brought her grandchildren from Florida to watch the parade.

“Arrielle Dale [Miss New South] is a close friend, and my daughter is driving her car,” Killen said.

Jason and Melody Tillman made the parade a family outing and brought both their children Katie and Haley.

“We came last year to watch a friend in the parade and decided to come back again this year,” Jason said.

Many of the contestants had their Magnolia Prince and Princesses ride along side them in their convertibles, but there were some cars just filled with the younger royalty.

Sally Clark had driven in from Madison to see her granddaughter in the parade.

“My granddaughter is one of the princesses,” she said.

Gathered in front of Sassafras was a group who most of which said they were new to Vicksburg and had heard the Miss Mississippi parade was a go-to-event.

“We’ve come before, and its just fun,” Shane Sanders said.

Those participating in this year’s parade included last year’s winner, the 30 contestants, the 93 prince and princesses, performers for the show, the Warren Central High School cheerleaders, the Hinds Community College High-Steppers and children who are patients at the Blair E. Batson Hospital.

Caroline Lowery, one of the patients, who participated in the parade, suffers from a rare condition called dermatomyositis, said her mother Vicki Lowery.

Caroline was diagnosed in July, but now with medication her condition has began to improve.

“I couldn’t brush my hair or my teeth,” Caroline said, when the effects of the illness set in.

The Blair E. Batson Hospital is one of 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals across the country, which partners with the Miss America Organization.

Following the parade, the contestants were taken to the Outlets at Vicksburg where they signed autographs.

Miss Delta Blues Meredith Thomas was hurriedly writing a note to her dad before the crowd was allowed through the doors.

“A lot of the girls give an autographed photo to their drivers. My dad was my driver and since today is his birthday, and I didn’t get to see him much on Father’s Day, I wanted to write him a birthday note,” she said.

Once the public was allowed to enter, those seeking autographs swarmed the contestants.

Addie Salter said she had a goal of getting all thirty contestants autographs.

The 10-year-old is also the princess for Miss Metro Jackson, and she said she had been having fun being part of the Miss Mississippi Pageant.

“This is fun and it is a great experience to be here,” she said.

The Miss Mississippi Pageant festivities will continue with the preliminary competitions set to begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday and will continue through Friday with the final night of competition and the crowning set for Saturday at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

Autograph parties will also be held on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tickets are $30 for Wednesday’s and Thursday’s preliminaries, $40 for Friday, $50 for Saturday or $125 for all four nights.

To purchase tickets or for more information, visit missmississippipageant.com.