“Hitches” in a small town parade!
There were a couple of hitches when taking part in the Cannon Falls Parade on the Fourth of July.
Hitch #1
One is that by being IN the parade - you can’t WATCH the parade. That’s a bummer.
This means you not only can’t see all the home-made decorations (that some hoped would stay intact for the parade route) or the people in the parade.
Well, you can possibly see everyone lined up before the start of the parade... but it’s not the same.
The spark isn’t there.
It’s like when you go to a play or movie... it’s when the curtain finally goes up that the magic begins!
Hitch #2
And then there’s the weather.
It’s the Fourth of July... so you want it sunny and warm.
Do you know how hot it feels on the pavement? I stored a water bottle on the Beacon float to squirt on my arms and neck and also drink.
Hitch #3
But the thing I hadn’t expected was: all the hugging!
Here’s what happened.
I hadn’t been in the parade for many years.
At 76 years I had been in a few but decided that it was also enjoyable to find a friends’ house on the parade route and sit there talking and watching the parade.
This takes some planning because I saw some lawn chairs and markers were already lined up along the parade route 1 to 2 days ahead of time!
This year…
But this year I thought I’d join the Cannon Falls Beacon’s float - for two reasons:
1) I liked receiving their specially made up tablets that are given to the crowd and 2) they asked me.
I remembered the fun we had many years ago when the Beacon had a “drill team” with a choreographed pattern of marchers... and special “uniforms”! Actually just jean shorts but also T-Shirts with a flag logo, socks and neck scarf.
I found some of these in a drawer on the morning of the parade! This is not a good reason to hoard stuff - but it comes close!
And I headed off to the parade.
It’s “show time”!
After the finishing touches were put on the “float” (hay wagon) - we were given our assignment... we would walk along the parade route with bags of candy and the tablets in “newspaper boy type cloth bags” to be worn over our shoulders.
But I exclaimed... that would distort the effect of my “ensemble”!
Too bad!
So I only put it over one shoulder - vanity I suppose!
The big “hitch” occurs!
It was when we walked along the parade route handing out the treats that I met my main problem.
The hugging!
It came when old friends waved or stopped me to talk and I’d get “hugged”.
Keep in mind that I’m not a “hugger” and hate being forced to do it.
But this was different! And it was nice.
Then another friend came running up and stopped me to take a “selfie” of the two of us that I later saw on Facebook!
But the resulting problem?
But all this friendliness also delayed me from my duty. And I would consistently find myself getting lost from my float!
And I would have to jog to catch up! (Who knows how many hugs I might have missed?)
Ahhh... small town parades are tough!
May the world have more of them!
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