Small Town Fourth of July Parade

Call it at least one person every four feet, one mile X two sides of the road.  Minimum crowd of 2500 people.

This is how it starts.

My friend Tom is on the back of this float.

The Eaton County Mounted Patrol and the Blue Bucket Auxiliary.  It reminds me of the opening to Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Pets were in the parade and so were custom vehicles.

The Shriners were out in force.

Politicians showed up.  Isn't it odd how they look the same where every you go?

And countless cars, trucks and tractors.

This young lady displayed such elegance and class sitting on the fender of this John Deere that I had to attempt to capture it in an image.

This gal is very proud of HER tractor.

The Olivers were out in force today.

Another gal-and-guy photo.  She looks pretty happy to be watching the parade from the center of the street.

Ear Candy

The sounds of a Fourth of July Parade in a small town is something primal.  You don't have a pulse if you do not experience visceral reactions to at least some of these sounds.

Danny is a Ford guy in a Chevy/Oldsmobile town.  He could not resist talking to the driver of this entry.  The parade waited.  We were in no hurry to go anyplace.

Olds 442s were the coolest car for those of us who were on Safety Patrol at the corner of Saginaw and Jenison "back in the day".  Listen to that lumpy cam and rumbling exhaust.

Sound is not all about speed.  Listen to these diesel "Johnny Pops".

And just when it was getting hot, the Fire Department cools everything off.  If you look closely you can see that they were spraying each other as well as the crowd.

And that is how we do things in a small town.