Parade in Small Town USA

WWII

One of the very nice things about Small town Parades, is that they put their heart into it! May not have a fancy corvette to squire around the honorees, but by GOD we got Pickup trucks and classic cars. This is one truck that has a little bit of everything on it, But the main honoree was an RCAF Vet from WWII. Flying his Maple Leaf as proud as can be.


CHS

This year the Coupeville High School Band has UNIFORMS!! I can remember not too long ago when there were only about 20 kids total, counting the grade school, and they wore white T=shirts, as that was all they could afford. It was a very small school and a very small town! Money has moved in, and we have become a bedroom for larger towns, and with that comes more kids and bigger bands.


Biller

Our District Fire Cheif has his own classic firetruck that he polishes up every year. He loves to pile the kids in and bring up the tail of the parade.


bus

Since this is a small town, we have to show off our new buses. This one is a kneeler. It goes down on one knee when the door opens, making it easily accessible for handicapped and elderly people. SO the CItizen Advisory Board rides it in all the Parades, gets out every so often and bows to the bus, and it bows back, then they wave jump back in the bus and take off again. (Hokey huh?)


horse

And this is what the mode of transportation will be like in the future, when Gas is over 20.00 a gallon and no one can afford a car anymore. Pony carts. THe horses are small, so every backyard can have one, and they pull easily, and the carts have tail lights, so they are street safe. I wonder how many miles to a bale of hay?

The parade usually goes all the way down main street to the waterfront, turns and goes along front street and then goes to the field and stops. This year they are re-doing the sewers on North Main, which is the old Victorian part of town, so they only went 1 block, from the high school to the highway. But in that one long block we had the street lined with people, waiting and watching for the classic cars, each with a Veteran. The Pony carts, the Fire trucks, and the John Deere and Farmall tractors. Each with Red White and Blue ribbons and a Veteran or a Veterans Family.

Unfortunately this is one of the few Real Memorial Day Parades left in the state. There are still ceremonies and services, but no proud parades full of old creaky men with tight torn uniforms, and gray hair and canes. No flags waving from the curbs in appreciation, and no one to keep the Real reason for the Memorial Day parade alive. We have turned all of our holidays into 3 day weekends, and with that we have lost the meaning of each of them. BBQ's and camping trips are what we celebrate now, and if we do not get back to home town values, and Family life, and remembering our Heroes and what they stood for, then soon our country will cease to be. We have to keep reminding ourselves that Men died on FOriegn soil and with Foriegn men, in order to keep freedom alive in the world. Let's do better for the 4th of July, and get out there and wave that flag. All you foriegners out there, do the same on your Special Holidays. Let's be sure to keep Freedom Free.