I might as well try my hand at this posting our local Christmas Parade. Several Bloggers have done it. Hope we don't saturate the Parade racket.
I rode my scooter to the parade route in downtown Merced, CA, a fifteen minute trip. A charming "helper" was sighted (1). I parked my scooter next to the local radio dee-jay who was annoucing the entries (2). Kids lined the streets (3). Vietnam vets carried the flags. (4) High School band led the big parade (5) keeping well in step (6) Local clubs made floats from trucks and wagons (7). Car clubs like the Model A Fords were hits of the show.
The city council and the mayor rode on the fire truck, Sheriffs rode motor cycles, horses, and their bomb disposal truck while their Cessna circled overhead. Miss Merced and Junior Miss Merced rode in convertibles. Hundreds of kids walked and waved and threw candy to the crowd.
When the sun sank behind the stores on Main Street it grew colder. I scooted home after 33 of the 88, count 'em, 88, floats, trucks, and vintage cars had passed. Santa, bless his frigid heart, was on the last float. I never got to wave to him.
I was glad to have seen hometown American Christmas Parade. Last week, I had seen the ultimate Christmas Parade on TV. So Main Street Merced isn't Park Avenue New York. It warmed my heart, anyway. If it had warmed my hands and ears, I could have waited to see Santa.
5 comments:
Dad, since I missed the parade I really enjoyed your version of it...way to go getting the photos on the journal btw. I heard the parade going by as I was in the art gallery part of the afternoon, and saw several of those people who had lined the streets (who were in your pics) over at Marie Callendar's for dinner! Many said it was the BEST parade ever! Certainly it must have been, it was the longest one yet! What I find especially interesting is how very similar watching the hometown Christmas parade in Rye, England was, just LAST Saturday. The only big differences were that you would have surely seen Father Christmas because he comes FIRST in that parade...this year riding in a vintage red Lincoln Continental convertible...and one of the TWO floats was a fire breathing dragon, which, I think, tops the over sized Crime Dog in Merced.
ENJOYED the event vicariously...thanks for providing it!
Kate
Around here the only "parade" is when Santa goes tooling through all the neighborhoods riding on a fire truck and tossing candy canes to the kids who come outside to say hi. LOL
Thanks for sharing the pics. I love parades. 88 floats though? WOW!:)
Steph
Chuck, I am so glad you were able to post pictures of your adventure to your local parade! That must have been lots and lots of fun! Thanks for sharing this story with us!
Sorry you missed Santa, but don't get waiting up for him on Christmas Eve. When I was a kid (too many moons ago), I was always told that if I stayed awake he wouldn't come to my house.
Sylvia
http://journals.aol.co.uk/Sylviam4000/JottingsfromtheSticks/
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