ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — The city of Orange Beach is proud to announce that Steve Baker, principal of Orange Beach Elementary School, will be the Grand Marshal of the Orange Beach Mardi Gras Parade.

The parade will be held Feb. 24 at 1:30 p.m. along Perdido Beach Boulevard.

Baker will be accompanied on the Grand Marshal float by his wife Susan and his son Rocky, who is in second grade at Orange Beach Elementary.

The Bakers also have a daughter Whitney who will soon be starting graduate school at Auburn University.

Baker has been the principal at Orange Beach for eight years and was the vice principal of Gulf Shores Middle School before that.

“It is such an honor to be chosen to be Grand Marshal,” Baker said. “My son Rocky is almost as excited as I am to be leading the parade.”

The Mardi Gras weekend continues with the Mystics of Pleasure Parade tonight at 6:30 p.m.

This parade will start near Live Bait and will roll east past Highway 161 to the Perdido Pass Bridge at Alabama Point.

This new route of over three miles will take the colorful floats past Zeke’s, San Roc and all other locations along the beachside.

The Orange Beach Mardi Gras parade is the culmination of Fat Tuesday parades on Pleasure Island.

The parade will begin at 1:30 p.m. at Ruby Tuesday and end at the intersection of Perdido Beach Boulevard and Highway 161.

If you are tailgating and watching from Bruno’s, Winn Dixie or Publix parking lots, the front of the parade should arrive about 2:15 p.m. but the highway will be closed just before the parade begins to ensure safety of the public and all spectators.

Musical entertainment includes local artists led by Brent Burns himself riding on the city’s Marlin float followed by the Gulf Shores High School Dolphin Band and more.