Dear Y’all,

Yes’m, it IS Fondren’s Zippity Doo Dah® Time A-GAIN and THANK YOU Fondren Renaissance Foundation!

The dates are March 26-29-we want you to come early and stay late!

Here are your Instructions–READ THEM ALL BEFORE YOU EMAIL ME WITH QUESTIONS:

The Parade Theme is:

BRAVEHEARTS FOR BATSON™

in honor of our very own Kiltboy,

Randall Wallace, who wrote every guy’s favorite movie, BRAVEHEART.

Randy also gave us a ton of $$ in 2014 to help us reach our ZDD™ fundraising goal, which I’ll tell you more about in a minute.

2015 is the 20th Anniversary of BRAVEHEART and so Randy is the Grand Marshal of the BancorpSouth Zippity Doo Dah® Parade.We are expecting a lot of plaid, kilts, blue faces and people screaming, “FREEE-DOM!”

But feel free to totally ignore the theme and do what YOU wanna do-always keeping in mind, of course, that we are a family-friendly event!

• Weekend Passes are still just $74 for advance reservations–ORDER HERE and order NOW! REMEMBER, Weekend Passes ARE NOT and NEVER HAVE BEEN MAILED OUT. You pick ’em up at the Hilton when you get here.

• For HOST HOTEL RESERVATIONS at the Hilton-Jackson, call 601-957-2800 and speak ONLY to BILLIE BURNS. He will arrange for you to have (newly-decorated, just-for-us) Hilton rooms–for only $109 per night. He loves doing this because he loves His Queens sooo much.

Remember that the Crazy Hilton Staff sponsors the ANNUAL DOOR DECORATING CONTEST–and there is a Swell Prize awarded at the Bathrobe Brunch. So you not only need outfits for yourownQueenlyself but DAY-CORE for YOUR DOOR as well! Do NOT forget: NO TAPE!

 

 

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Starting Thursday, 3/26, at noon, the Hilton-Jackson hosts the COME-ON-IN PARTY in Fitzgerald’s–the lobby bar. Just breathe and anticipate The Most Fun E-ver this whole Weekend!

Friday, 27 March 2015

For the BIG HAT BRUNCH, call 601-368-1919 to make your BIG HAT BRUNCH reservations at Sal & Mookies for Friday, March 27. It’s still only $21 for advance reservations–thanks, Jeff Good! We won’t tell Dan!

• ATTENTION Parade Virgins: There is a PRIZE awarded by the Quintessential Big Hat Designer and Perennial Winner–Spud Stud Scott Caples.

• ATTENTION Parade Virgins: No need for cars–our buses take you everywhere you need to be. And back again! No drankin’ and drivin’ or worrying about parkin’ the Whole-Entire-Weekend!

• After the Brunch, stroll around the historic Fondren district to all the locally owned shops and galleries. A lot of you will have won gift certificates at Big Hat; so go spend ’em! Plus, the locals LOVE seeing our big-a** hats! Maps available at the Hilton thanks to Find It In Fondren™!

• From 6-9p is Daincin’ On Duling! with the The Bluz Boys — the South’s Premier Show Band!

• The actual Budweiser Clydesdales are back! They will be up close and personal.

• Buses run between the Hilton-Jackson and Fondren from 10:45a–9:30p; so, NO drinking and driving or parking issues!

Saturday, 28 March 2015

On Saturday, mid-morning (nothing too early!)-we will gather in the Great Ballroom of the Hilton-Jackson for several purposes: eating, of course; but also, in keeping with our Celtic theme, we will have our Queenly Version of HIGHLAND GAMES. We assume you come PREPARED to act silly and laugh a lot-those are the only “skills” required to participate.

• Added enticement to lure you downstairs Saturday mornin’, KILTBOY AKA Randall Wallace will be “installing” tattoos on Queenly parts! This goes with our motto of “ANYTHANG FOR THE CHIRREN” and tattoos will be $1, all of it going to Children’s Hospital.

• AND, Because Randy LOVES the Queedom, his publisher has “promised” that Randy will have available FREE Advance Reader’s Copies of his NEW book, LIVING THE BRAVEHEART LIFE–which will not be released for sale for many months, like in September. YOU will be THE Very FIRST in the WORLD to have what will quickly become the “go-to” gift for every graduation, birthday, Father’s Day, etc. for decades to come. ONE per Queen and NO, you cannot get copies for your Mommer’nem. If Mommer’nem can’t be bothered to come Queen with us–to benefit sick and injured Chirren–they ain’t gettin’ no free book.

The ZDD™ Parade BEGINS at dusk. Be in the line-up area by 5:30p. The buses will deposit you in the right place. They will pick you up there after the Parade, too. No thinking, driving, or parking required!

GO HERE to buy Raffle Tickets for the

Patty Peck Honda Doo Dah Day™ Blue Car Giveaway!

There will be weekly drawings on MISS 103 for keys. The more you buy and the earlier you buy, the better your chances are to WIN! Only $10 each and 100% goes directly to Friends of Children’s Hospital as part of our fundraising efforts for the Batson Children’s Hospital!

Right before the Parade rolls, Key Winners will try their keys on the Treasure Box at 6p in the  BancorpSouth VIP Viewing Area. Televised on WLBT-NBC.

• If you want to have a mini-float, GO HERE for the rules, regulations, and application. If you do not own a golf cart that meets the guidelines, call Gulf States Golf Carts at 601-853-1510 or Ben Nelson Golf Carts at 601-664-7117 to have your rental cart delivered to the line-up area and awaiting your wildly creative decorative flourishes.

• NOTE: If you need help getting the required safety marchers to cover the 4 corners of your float, let us know IN ADVANCE and we will help with volunteers. E-mail me and Jim Wilkirson: at hrhjill@sweetpotatoqueens.com AND  jim@fondren.org Betwixt us, we should be able to manage this.

• Post-Parade Party in Fitzgerald’s at the Hilton–in Parade outfits so we can all see each other’s Fabulosity.

Sunday, 29 March 2015

 

Order your Sunday Bathrobe Brunch tickets by CLICKING HERE–still just $29 for advance reservations. As with the Weekend Passes, NOTHING IS MAILED OUT. Pick ’em up at the Hilton. Also Brunch cost more ($39) if you wait til you’re here; so, again, don’t.

• Parade Virgins: yes, everyone does actually wear a bathrobe. Everybody.

Our goal for ZDD™ 2014 was the purchase of a very-much-needed van for the Palliative Care Unit at Batson Children’s Hospital. There are 5 children who live there, full-time and they were getting one field trip off campus per month. The reason for the limitation was that the van they had to use could only move ONE of them, plus their attendants, at a time. Once all 5 were transported to the destination, it was time to start taking one of them back so we were determined to get them chirren a big a** van.

WE DID IT!

With y’all’s help, we raised the $$ needed for this brand new van–which is due to be delivered any day now.

Randall Wallace told us after the Parade last year that whatever we were “short” for the van purchase, he would write that check, he did and we looove him for it!

FOR THIS year, the Cardiac Unit at Batson Children’s has told us that they have an urgent need for 6 “giraffe” beds. Some of the babies in Cardiac care are so very fragile that even moving them from their bed to a gurney for surgery could put them in dire peril. The “giraffe” beds allow the physicians to perform any necessary procedures IN PLACE.

To buy all 6–and that’s our goal–we need to raise $100K again! So, PLEEZZE join BRAVEHEARTS FOR BATSON™ and help us buy these beds for the tiniest hearts in the Hospital!

          

Thank you again for all that you do to make the Fondren’s Zippity Doo Dah® Weekend a success for the sick and injured children of Mississippi through the Batson Children’s Hospital AND beyond, via membership in the  Children’s Miracle Network!

See y’all inna minit!!

Be particular–Jill Conner Browne, THE Sweet Potato Queen