The Shadow Barons

The Shadow Barons was founded in the summer of 1999 after the idea was put in motion "in the dugout of a men's softball game," according to the group's web site.

The first Shadow Barons parade was held in Daphne in 2002, and since then, the group worked hard to move from float-renting status to an organization that parades with its own floats.

In 2009, The Shadow Barons completed construction of its own 12,000-sqare-foot float barn, and float production went from one in 2010 to three in 2011 to seven in 2012 to a full complement of 10 in 2013.

The group got its name from Louis Guillaume Laland Marie Hiacinthe Arnould, also known as Baron de Feriet. A career officer in Napolean's military in the New World, the baron retired to a large estate in what is now Montrose, in Baldwin County. The group has taken great delight in composing a fictional tale of the ghost of the baron.

This year, The Shadow Barons will parade on March 1 at 6:45 p.m. The parade will include 10 floats, designed by Patty Keenan and built the organization. Costumes are by Bienville Costumes.