Sunday, July 6, 2014

I love a parade!

Friday was the 4th of July, America's independence day. My small town celebrates every year with a parade down Main Street. I think it says a lot about who we are as a community. The parade starts with a color guard, where veterans and boy scouts present flags:
 Our mayor, Farmer John, drives a tractor pulling a hay wagon (our version of a "float"):
We have representatives of the local Marine Reserve, the local library (the librarians even do a choreographed routine with book return carts) and low-rider cars:
We are an agricultural town, with ranches and cowboys, so we have lots of horses in the parade:
We also have a large Mexican-American community, which was well-represented:
And, I was thrilled to run into Smokey the Bear, the mascot for fire safety in California, as it meant I was able to cross both parade and mascot off the 2014 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt list.
After the parade, we watched the World Cup match with friends and then shot off some fireworks to complete our independence day celebrations.
Sorry for the photo heavy post, but I hope that all the photos give you a better insight into the place where I call home. Do you think they do?

19 comments:

helena said...

so, so different from the annual parade here - wonderful way to showcase your town - and love your spirited librarians

Ladkyis said...

Beautiful! I have some pictures of our day out on Saturday but the laptop is so slow it forgets what it is doing and stops.
I love the horses in your pictures, I love horses anywhere

Sian said...

So, so different from the summer parades round here!

I got a real sense of actually being there as I scrolled down waiting to see who and what was going to appear next

BJ said...

I guess all in the US would have been able to see a parade of some sort on 4th. Cool BJ.

alexa said...

Aren't your librarians wonderful? So enjoyed reading out your diverse community and the spirit of comradeship really shines through. Neat capture of the mascot at the same time!

BJ said...

Just pondering what parades we usually have here. Well there is

St Greorge's Day in April
May Day in May and
Remembrance Day in November

So none in the time of the Hunt, good job I went for the Trooping the Colour one off the TV. BJ

Karen said...

Love your parade! I was hoping to find one here, but the paper didn't list them. The only one I could find started too late for me to attend. Later I discovered I missed one in the morning in Fairport. Wonder if that was my one chance to find a parade for the scavenger hunt!

Abi said...

I love what you have captured here Rinda. Your parade is so colourful, it seems to be a real reflection of where you live. I don't think I have ever seen a parade like that here. We have parades at big military occasions but that is about it!

Beverly said...

I have a similair post this week :) No horses or Mexican heritage on the NC coast though. I love photos in post so was thrilled with it. My sister decided on Sunday she is joining us in the hunt then realized she had probably missed out on getting parade shots for this summer. The Chosen One injured his back right before we headed to the parade so couldn't go...and :::gasp::: he asked if The Pirate could take pics for him....he was in major pain but I wasted no time nipping that idea in the bud!

Beverly said...

oh he wanted the pics for his scavenger hunt checklist

Melissa said...

What a wonderful look at your hometown parade! The librarians & their routine with book carts is my favorite!

~*~Patty S said...

No post is too photo heavy in my opinion...pictures do tell a thousand words and I always enjoy visual treats like your photos.
We were clicking photos at the 4th of July parade in Wash DC ever mindful of the scavenger hunt and got to tick some off the list...
now to get myself organized and share some...
I am finding the garden very distracting this year as I am finally feeling well enough to spend a little more time out there.
Happy July and thank you for sharing your fun hometown parade with us Rinda!
oxo

Missus Wookie said...

What a great collection of photos - definitely a glimpse into the place you live.

Not even learned all the items off the list yet - a parade might be difficult here. Hmm Changing of the Guard or similar me thinks.

Maggie said...

Great pictures of your parade. Makes me wish I had managed to get to one when in America last week but could not fit everything in!

Jimjams said...

What a fab collection of photos - they give a real flavour of the event. Helped of course by the gloriously sunny weather and those blue skies! I have memories of watching carnival processions here in the pouring rain!
This is the item that is going to trouble me I think as they are pretty rare here these days ... plenty of time yet though :-)

*jean* said...

you have certainly captured the spirit of the parade. that little girl in the pink dress would make a beautiful painting!!

Alison said...

What a great post ...one of the things I love about blogging is being able to see how other countries/towns do things...love the parade pics...I always say that our American cousins really DO know how to put on a parade,!
Alison xx

Julia said...

Loved seeing your photos and how you celebrate 4th July. Looked like a great day. Thank you too for my post card which arrived today!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on getting 2 more crossed off the list. Those are some really good parade pictures. I totally forgot about parade pictures on our Canada Day what with what was going on in Alberta with my BIL's cousin's grandson. It sort of pushed things out of my head.