The Fourth of July festivities in our little town have always been fun, and this year were enjoyed with a dose of sentimentality.
At the "Brat Tent" there is typically a full schedule of fun activities for the little ones - a special lunch, craft areas, a trackless train, bounce houses and slides, and a magician. But the height of the weekend for our little in-bed-by-dark children is the July 4th parade.
Yes, there is enough candy thrown to strike fear (or joy at the prospects of all those future patients) in the hearts of the local dentists. Sure, there are big kids diving like they are headed into home plate, trying to get at that candy. But everything else is pure Main Street, USA - floats, marching bands, politicians shaking hands, and a lot of Abraham Lincolns - which, to be honest, seems a bit off the time-line, but there were enough of them this year that we think it was a theme they forgot to communicate to the crowds.
This year also saw the return of the Marching Mitres, the, er, makeshift drill squad our church puts together solely for the 4th of July parade. They march in formation, doing complicated, um, formation-move-thingies. I'd worry I was insulting their performance, but honestly, there is no rehearsal. (I think the call for marchers said "even a monkey could do it". No offense to any monkeys out there.) Wearing a paper bishop's mitre and carrying homemade staffs, some of my favorite fellow St. Michaelans proudly marched chanting "Jesus loves me this I know. For the Bible tells me so. One two...(one two)..three four (three four)" in the same cadence as a troop at boot camp.
Elmo was riding in a convertable with Santa, and because Quaker is here in town, Chester Cheetah, Cap'n Crunch and the Quaker Oats guy were all present too. (At which point, Boo asked of Cap'n Crunch "who's that?" and I was lambasted by my neighbor, Paul - a Quaker employee - for depriving my kids of some of childhood's best cereals. He scoffed at the General Mills' brands they eat. Pahh.)
The area library, on the other hand, didn't do much to dispel the notion that librarians are a pretty staid lot. I'd never seen a group of people marching in a parade less happy to be there, and it was obvious why some people throw candy - its simply to dispel boredom!
In the end, whatever the reason, my kids find true delight in the parade. We walked home together, content, happy - a good memory of this town we love so much.
At the "Brat Tent" there is typically a full schedule of fun activities for the little ones - a special lunch, craft areas, a trackless train, bounce houses and slides, and a magician. But the height of the weekend for our little in-bed-by-dark children is the July 4th parade.
Yes, there is enough candy thrown to strike fear (or joy at the prospects of all those future patients) in the hearts of the local dentists. Sure, there are big kids diving like they are headed into home plate, trying to get at that candy. But everything else is pure Main Street, USA - floats, marching bands, politicians shaking hands, and a lot of Abraham Lincolns - which, to be honest, seems a bit off the time-line, but there were enough of them this year that we think it was a theme they forgot to communicate to the crowds.
This year also saw the return of the Marching Mitres, the, er, makeshift drill squad our church puts together solely for the 4th of July parade. They march in formation, doing complicated, um, formation-move-thingies. I'd worry I was insulting their performance, but honestly, there is no rehearsal. (I think the call for marchers said "even a monkey could do it". No offense to any monkeys out there.) Wearing a paper bishop's mitre and carrying homemade staffs, some of my favorite fellow St. Michaelans proudly marched chanting "Jesus loves me this I know. For the Bible tells me so. One two...(one two)..three four (three four)" in the same cadence as a troop at boot camp.
Elmo was riding in a convertable with Santa, and because Quaker is here in town, Chester Cheetah, Cap'n Crunch and the Quaker Oats guy were all present too. (At which point, Boo asked of Cap'n Crunch "who's that?" and I was lambasted by my neighbor, Paul - a Quaker employee - for depriving my kids of some of childhood's best cereals. He scoffed at the General Mills' brands they eat. Pahh.)
The area library, on the other hand, didn't do much to dispel the notion that librarians are a pretty staid lot. I'd never seen a group of people marching in a parade less happy to be there, and it was obvious why some people throw candy - its simply to dispel boredom!
In the end, whatever the reason, my kids find true delight in the parade. We walked home together, content, happy - a good memory of this town we love so much.
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