The Krewe of the Hernando County Freebooters was formed from a group of friends in January 2003. Our first parade was the Rough Rider's St. Patrick's Parade of that year.

The goal of our Krewe is to acquaint the citizens of Florida with the Nature Coast and Hernando County, and to promote Hernando County as a great place to live, work and play.

Our Krewe joined the Inter Krewe Council in 2006 and participates in sponsored events throughout the year. Our Krewe members have attended and participated in events with other Tampa Bay area Krewe's fundraising and charity events.

Freebooter
In the 16th century, when piracy on the high seas was rife in many parts of the world, one of the terms that arose to denote a pirate was the Dutch word vrijbuiter. It comes from vrijbuit ("plunder") and -er ("-er," a suffix indicating one engaged in the action). Therefore, a vrijbuiter was a "plunderer."

Vrijbuit itself consists of two parts: vrij ("free") and buit ("booty"), the booty being free, of course, because it was taken by force. The core of the word lies in buit, which is based on the verb buiten ("to plunder").

English speakers, hearing the Dutch word vrijbuiter, soon reshaped it by folk etymology into constituent parts more familiar to them. Vrij became "free," buit became "boot"(conceived either as footwear or as short for booty), and -er needed no change. Result: Freebooter - A pirate or piratical adventurer, literally a free booty'er..