I Love A Parade

DD#3 lives in a small town on the coast with her husband and six children. This quaint little coastal town is home to one of the most fun 4th of July parades I have ever seen. And every year for the past 3 or 4, we have made our way to my daughter's house, and in turn, to view this parade. Yesterday was no exception.

To cut to the chase and leave out all the in-between stuff, like barbecued hamburgers and the trimmings, holding the new baby, visiting, playing with the kids, etc., it was soon time for the parade. Now DD#3 lives right on the main street of town (aptly named "Main Street"--go figure, and the parade passes right by their house every year (handy, isn't it?). So about an hour or so before the parade starts, the chairs are dragged (drug?) out to the sidewalk to stake our claim-er-place to sit. Paper bags are set aside for the kids, since the people on floats, in their cars, and walking--throw candy to the kids. Everyone (almost) was dressed in patriotic colors, including the new baby--who had a new outfit of red, white & blue stars & stripes. When it hit 3 o'clock (when the parade was due to start), we all trundled out to the sidewalk and took our places on our chairs. Neighbors were there as well, and all up and down the street you could see people in their folding chairs, ready and waiting.

To signal the start of the parade, a Coast Guard helicopter flies over the parade route making sure everything is ready. Following the helicopter, a biplane also flew over, breaking all rules of aviation as he wasn't very far above the power lines, and would dip his wings to the parade viewers. Then we waited. And waited. DD#3 is at the tail end of the parade route, so it would be a few minutes before it would arrive. The whole parade route is probably all of 8-10 blocks long, if that, so it wouldn't be that long of a wait. And it wasn't. We could hear the sirens of the fire trucks long before we could see them. A couple of groups carrying our nation's flag, a Scout Color Guard, the audience rises. Then the fire trucks with sirens screaming. The whole parade probably lasts half an hour to 45 minutes, and consists of the fire trucks, Coast Guard and National Guard vehicles (like hum-vee's, trucks etc.), vintage cars (like the black 1957 Chevy), new cars carrying government officials, candidates for office, etc. Cub Scout boys marching and on floats, girls from the local dance studio, a float filled with residents of one of the homes for disabled adults that son-in-law's company works with, home-made floats being pulled by cars or pickups, kids on bikes or wagons walking along, clowns, men & women walking and waving, and at the very end, pretty girls on horses.

It has such a great feel to it. It isn't the Portland Rose Festival parade, SeaFair (Seattle) or the Pasadena Rose Parade. It isn't even the Ridgefield 4th of July parade, but it belongs to this little town on the Oregon coast, and they are proud of it. And we are happy to go see it every year, too, and remember our country's beginnings, the sacrifices made by our founding fathers as well as sacrifices made by the soldiers through the years to keep our country free. And a reminder that we live in the very best country in the whole wide world, and how blessed we are to be here.

Happy Independance Day--America!