Jail and Bail
Published 2:04 pm Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Pennies for Your Park II, Jail and Bail fund raiser, was held at the Train Depot Friday the 20th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Many community leaders and officials were on hand to turn themselves in for processing so that they could appear before Judge April “Bean” Parsons (otherwise known as “The Hangin’ Judge”). Parson’s was in rare form and lived up to her name as she raised the bail of many of those arrested and sent them back to the holding cell. “Mad Dog” Buddy McDonald and Bailiff “Ma” Eileen Parker Baker took charge of the faux felons. Baker made sure that they had cell phones to raise their bail and “Mad Dog” McDonald made sure that the skinny ones ate while in custody.
The Exchange Club and the Pearl River County Board of Realtors helped organize the event and worked as Trustees. The Boulevard Cruisers came out and worked as Deputies.
Micky Penton from the Boulevard Cruisers was the arresting “Deputy” that picked up Sheriff David Allison.
As he cuffed Allison and they posed for photo’s, Penton said, “I never thought that the day would come that I would get to arrest the Sheriff!”
Sheriff Allison was a good sport as he was driven to the Train Depot and processed. He clutched his bail money tightly, only to find after processing that “The Hangin’ Judge” had raised his bail. “Mad Dog” McDonald turned him over to Bailiff Baker and he went back to his cell to “cool his hills” and call some more money in.
At the Rotary Club, Tuesday, Gerald Cruthird, an “Arrestee” who got to appear before Judge April “Bean” Parsons, was happy to give a quote. Cruthird said, as he looked across the table at Alan Goff, “It was a lot of fun. It would have been nice if certain Honorary Arrestee’s would have gone through the process like the rest of us.”
Picayune Main Street’s, Ina Legg organized the event with Debbie Galiano and said, “We would very much like to make sure that we recognize the Boulevard Cruisers for their participation in the Jail and Bail. It really made the event fun and special to have the antique cars go out and make the pick ups. It was a pleasure to have them serve as our Deputies and make the arrests. Their names are Bob Barnes, Charlie Froehlich, Mickey Penton, John Garcia and Jim Kennedy. I would also like to Thank the Exchange Club and the Pearl River County Board of Realtors for partnering with Picayune Main Street to help make it a successful event. Most of all we would like to thank the Arrestee’s for being good sports and allowing us to arrest them and helping us to raise the money.”
The event was a big success and raised over $10,000 for Pennies For Your Park II, once all pledges have been collected, according to Legg.