Small Town 4th of July Parade

OK, we don't live in a small town.  We live in a large city.

But our neighborhood feels like a small town.  And we throw a rockin 4th of July celebration.

Our neighborhood event has the only 4th of July Parade in the city, so LOTS of people come to watch.  Afterward, tons of people gather in the park for picnics, pony rides, and old timey band music.


I worried that today's parade would be smaller and poorly attended because it's freaking 104 degrees outside and humid!

But, the parade was as great as ever!

The only change I could see was they put the seniors from the local nursing home earlier in the parade instead of toward the end.  That way they could return to air conditioning sooner.


Here's some parade highlights.


The Marine Corp Junior ROTC students from our local high school led the parade with the American flag.

Junior ROTC students leading the parade.

They were followed by a neighborhood WWII veteran, seniors from the nursing home, and little kids from a local preschool.

Next came boy scouts and girl scouts.

Senior Girl Scouts (Juliana's former troop)

There were several dignitaries including our State Representative (mother-in-law of Juliana's 4th grade teacher), our Congresswoman, representatives from the School Board, Police Chief, and the Principals from the neighborhood elementary, middle and high school.  All of them rode in convertibles and waved as they went by.

Juliana's future High School Principal

The parade also included:

- The Anaphylactic Shock and Food Allergy group
- The Bugle, our local newspaper
- Kids hoola-hooping
- The neighborhood gas station
- A firetruck
- The neighborhood foundation
- The local adoption agency with flags from the childrens' birth countries
- Guys on unicycles
- The local salon
- Bagpipes
- Boy Scouts leading a giant tower they built

- And at the very end of the parade, neighborhood kids riding decorated bikes or being pulled in wagons.


After the parade was over, it was time to head down to the park for a little picnic.


Because of the heat, we decided to only stay a little while.

Here's a collage of
- Paul and Juliana trying to stay cool,
- the Patriotic Essay Winners who later read their essays from the park bandstand,
- and Paul in the shade.

Paul and Juliana, Patriotic Essay Winners, Paul in the shade.

This evening there will be another band and dancing in the park.

I don't think we'll be heading back down.  It's too darn hot outside.

But, once again, I'm reminded of how fortunate we are to live in a community that comes together to celebrate our country's Independence Day together.


Happy 4th of July!