What is it about parades that makes me run to watch what could be the lamest of events? The local politicians, the homemade floats, the twirlers, and the different local groups walking and waving to friends and non friends alike is a scene that makes me smile and smile (I’m even smiling now just thinking of this).
The Fourth of July is literally my favorite holiday for a number of reasons. My one claim to fame growing up was my experience as a majorette in high school. It was literally the highlight of my life at that junction. There is so much I want to forget about my life from age 0-17 that there is not enough paper to detail it but my one great memory is my experience as a majorette and my time in parades, especially the one on the fourth.
The shear exhilaration of the crowds laughing, waving, sharing a moment in unadulterated happiness is one that is captured in my mind’s eye and my heart forever. Even the time when my sister caught my eye on the sidelines taking my picture as I marched down the street and I dropped my baton doesn’t tarnish the memory.
There is something so Americana about the Fourth. I love the small townness, the simplicity, and the celebratory factor of it all. This is a day, especially during the parade, where everyone is smiling broadly and appreciating the small things in life.
At the parade, everyone is there is to see someone walk down the street with a uniform of some sort: girl scouts, boy scouts, military, veterans, local dance groups, athletes, police, fire, and more. At various parades during the years, I enjoyed some really creative groups like the “clowns from the gas company who were all dressed as clowns,” or the library precision drill team with the baskets of books moving in practiced formation. Of course I would be remiss if I did not mention the Kenas dressed in suits with fezzes on their heads who appeared in a myriad of formations not to be undone by any other group. My favorite Kena group was the one in the small race cars zipping around in circles and zigzagging all over the road.
Whatever the entertainment option, the parade delivers year after year with squeals of laughter and so many options for recognition of local friends. Parades teach us something important…celebrate the small things, appreciate those who serve our community, and dress up for special occasions, especially the birth of our country. Our country is the greatest one on earth…Happy Birthday America. Got to go, it’s time for the parade…
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