Small-Town 4th of July Recap — Part I
I was giddy for a week, just waiting for the smorgasboard of photo opps that I knew would be waiting for me at my annual hometown 4th of July celebration. And while the rain threatened to deprive me of my fix, my camera and I, in the end, prevailed.
If this is your first visit to my hometown on Independence Day, you can catch up here and here.
Part I — Don’t Rain on My Parade
Well, it did.
But the dedicated parade-goers showed up with umbrellas, and in some cases, rain bonnets.
It had all the elements of a traditional small-town parade. There were cute clowns . . .
And freaky clowns holding a creepy monkey puppet and driving a Cub Cadet . . .
This boy was smart. He wore a satchel in order to keep both hands free for maximum candy grabbage.
Our sons and nephew, on the other hand, had to share the bag to a fold-up chair because their parents neglected to remember a plastic sack.
There were floats that were boats.
This one won the award for originality. Yeeeah, it’s a boat . . . with some balloons . . . and a sign . . . (I’m not sure what that says about the creativity of the judging committee.)
There were floats carrying children with guns.
I’m glad I didn’t have to be the one to tell this guy they didn’t win the originality award!
There were fancy cars . . .
and walking cans of Spam . . .
Mmmm . . . turkey Spam, my favorite!
And of course, it’s not officially a parade until the obligatory “girl-walking-while-carrying-a-goat-on-a-leash” entry.
Whew!
How embarrassing! We showed up in the same outfit!
Her hat, however, was nothing compared to this hat.
Never seen a shower cap over a cowboy hat before? Yeah, it was a first for me too. But I’m thinking it just may catch on.
People were positioned throughout the parade route, giving away water like it was, well . . . water . . .
Yet despite the persistence of the volunteers, there were surprisingly few takers. Hmm . . . it may have something to do with the fact that it was raining. And the majority of us were thoroughly drenched. For some reason, water didn’t sound especially appealing.
This little guy won my award for cutest Hispanic cowboy.
And of course, our parade would not be complete without tractors, lots o’ tractors.
Red tractors . . .
Green tractors . . .
Orange tractors . . .
Even blue tractors! (Who knew?)
Abe Lincoln made an appearance
As did Lady Liberty . . .
But the papparazi were really waiting for . . .
the group that always has the fans screaming. That’s right . . .
The vintage lawn and garden tractor club.
As the parade came to an end, we all sloshed to grandma’s house while visions of next year’s parade danced in our heads.
There’s nothing like a small-town parade!
Stay tuned for Part II of my recap: The Carnival
I am pretty sure the lady half hidden by the umbrella and handing out water is my aunt…
I love small town parades. We went to Slater. No goats there; no lawn tractor clubs, either. But lots of antique tractors with strapping young farm boys driving them and their super cute girlfriends riding along dressed in short denim shorts, tiny tops and cowboy boots.
Jody´s last blog post ..Wireless Connection Practically Anywhere with Verizon Mifi
SMALL WORLD! Next year, you must come with us. Although, it may be too far to bike to. 🙂
Hello stranger! Sounds like you had a great holiday weekend. Love the parade commentary! We were in Slater, too, (like Jody who commented already) and saw much of the same thing! (But no blue tractors!)
My favorite Slater parade memory was the year I was a queen candidate as a high school kid. After I was finished riding in the procession, I needed to change out of my dress, so I went to the home of a distant relative (per my dad’s directions.) I changed, checked out the kitchen for any potential snacks and then walked to my family who was gathered a block or so away. “Where did you change?” my dad asked.
That’s when I figured out I had been in the wrong house…oops!
@Heather Lilienthal,
Oh, Heather, that’s hilarious!! Did you ever figure out whose house you were in? I’m so glad to be “reunited” via social media! 🙂
Hey, no knocking the Vintage Garden & Lawn Tractor club! My step-great-grandfather-in-law (whew! That was a mouthful!) is a proud member. And you’ve never seen the VG< club shine like when they are a processional…in a wedding. They had them suckers all shined up and they were PROUD! (Seriously, I’m not making fun; but when I heard there were going to be “tractors” at the wedding I just expected something, well…bigger.)