Small town America can be awesome in its on small scale way. Last night at 6:00 pm the county fair parade started rolling. This year’s theme was “Unsung Heroes”. The very first participants of the parade were local veterans presenting our flag. The entire crowd stood as Old Glory went by. More veterans followed and these older gentlemen were sharp and crisp. You can tell true pride never fades.
Kids of all shapes and sizes are on both sides of the street holding empty plastic shopping bags from an array of stores. The grown ups are in lawn chairs, on blankets and holding the littlest ones so they can see. The fire trucks start rolling and they are spotless, shiny and downright pretty.
Some firefighters are in and on the trucks and others are walking beside the trucks as they roll. The throwing of candy begins! Firefighters seem to have as much fun throwing the candy as the kids do rushing around catching and diving for those that landed unclaimed. Each small town in the county is represented with some type of fire and rescue truck.
The first marching bank is an elementary school and honestly they were good. People walk along the sides with water and ice, as it is hot. Those of us on the sidelines in the shade are not too uncomfortable. There is a nice breeze and we got our favorite shady spot between two old downtown buildings. But those kids in the band had to have been steaming.
A steady stream of businesses, clubs, organizations, and churches all roll by with their own floats. Beautiful antique tractors pull most floats. Now not only is candy getting thrown, but party beads are being caught by eager hands of all ages. Some of the parade folks handed out flavored ice pops, lemonade and sodas. Businesses have people handing out brochures and other goodies promoting local businesses.
One of the best high school bands in our county makes its way to us and the sound gets me ready for football! Candy is still flying! Even more veterans are coming around with flags and special hats covered in medals. A local pool company has kids in a large fiberglass pool holding water guns and shooting the kids as they go by.
Cub Scouts, and sports teams throw more candy. These floats are not fancy or very expensive, but you can tell those riding are feeling special and having fun. Proud parents of those who are in bands and on floats are taking pictures and cheering for their special someone as they go by.
Lets not forget the Homecoming Queens, Prom Queens and, the County Fair Queen. All of these ladies are dressed in beautiful prom dresses, hair all up and crowns in place. Of course they come by in the best cars around from Mustangs to an Audi. More candy.
People are laughing, talking; keeping up with kids and everyone seems not to take notice of the July heat. You know the parade is done when the horses come by. Beautiful horses from local farms seem to know they are getting special attention. Some horses have very small riders wearing big cowboy hats. These little ones clearly know their way around horses. Some are so small they have a bigger friend riding as well, but the little ones are in control.
My husband and I, who are now empty nesters, got a kick watching the parade and the kids on the sidelines were entertaining as well. By the time the horses made their way to us, those plastic bags are stuffed with candy and beads. It looks like the kids have been trick-or-treating. The county fair is now officially off and running. This is the most traffic our small town will until December when the Christmas parade rolls by.
I am glad I had self-control and didn’t knock any kids aside and dive for some of my own candy. The Tootsie Rolls and Smarties were rather tempting.
The crowd gathers up folding chairs, blankets, strollers and children already showing symptoms of a sugar overdose. We thought about hitting Dairy Queen on the way home, but the long line discouraged us. Which really is probably a good thing considering our cholesterol levels…….
Since moving here from a much larger city, I have come to love small town life. I never knew how pretty cornfields could be all dark green and tall, or how you can look forward to something as simple as funnel cake and lemonade at the county fair.
Take care and stay safe,
KJ
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