Meet Red Willy

Posted Jan 27, 2007 by Mike Samuels

Updated Jan 27, 2007 at 11:55 AM

10:45 a.m.
We just got off the bus that took us to the krewe staging area. Krewe members are putting their beads in lockers and pouring beers and trading beads.
During the bus ride over, krewe members downed Jell-o shots and krewe president Beth White dropped a couple bombshells on me.
First, the krewe’s float has two bathrooms on it. Each Gasparilla I work, I’m more and more impressed at how cool those floats are.
Next, the krewe has corporate sponsorship this year from Bennigans. The restaurant is providing a keg of beer and a bartender to serve the krewe.
And last, the krewe is premiering a new drink at this year’s parade: Red Willy.
Named after Will Hills, the namesake for the krewe, the ingredients are a secret, White said.
She did reveal that the krewe held a taste test of three different drinks and Red Willy won because it was only made out of two ingredients, was easy to make and tasted good.
The krewe will be giving out stickers proclaiming, “I just got silly with the Krewe of Red Willy” to anyone, including members of other krewes, who have a drink.
“I like it because you can’t taste the alcohol,” White said. “It’ll bite you in the butt if you have enough.”