Loyal Order of the Fire Truck Mardi Gras Parade

Founded in 1996, the Loyal Order of the Fire Truck began almost by accident. A Daphne resident, who was a member of Mardi Gras groups in Mobile and Baldwin counties, bought a 1950 Mack fire truck from the Bon Secour Volunteer Fire Department.

"Of course I bought it. Who wouldn't want an old fire truck?" the group's founder asked. He drove the truck in a few Baldwin parades, then decided he would build a parade around it.

The group parades in Daphne on Joe Cain Day. Out of respect for the Joe Cain Procession, the LOFT begins its parade one minute earlier, at 2:29 p.m.

In the spirit of Joe Cain Day, LOFT is a true people's parade with homemade floats and decorated vehicles of all kinds. Membership has a few requirements: If you show up and parade, the founder said, you're in.