Christmas Parade 2007

We have lived here for almost 12 years, and we have never been to the hometown Christmas parade. Well, Diva Maggie was in it today with the chorus from her school, so off we went.

Here she is with her friend Haley.


Felt like I had 4 daughters today...and Haley has red hair like me!


What a hoot this parade was!!! The small-town, Southern roots of this town glowed radioactively today! The parade announcer set the tone almost immediately as he welcomed us in a thick, country accent. Then, he proceeded to give us WAY TOO MUCH information about the judges who each arrived in fancy cars and disembarked none too gracefully in front of the viewing stand. And THEN, instead of turning off the mic, the entire parade audience listened to this man go on & on about how SOMEBODY messed up his organized pile of information....then he would announce another parade participant...and then we would all listen to him grouse some more about how somebody REALLY messed up his papers! After awhile, I tuned him out.

So here follows my pictorial essay on our Christmas parade...I am amusing myself.

First, I must point out one of the spectators. She was across the street from me...

Look carefully at the dog in her arms...

Yes, those are sunglasses. This dog did not move the whole time. I began to wonder if it was stuffed.

Michael and I became confused on our way to the parade. The pick-up for Maggie was supposed to Peabody Street. We parked near Peabody Street even though I thought that was the dumbest pick-up point I had ever heard of as it was at least a mile away from the end of the parade route. We started walking...and walking...I warned Michael that the ol' hips were not going to make this trek back...he grumbled that he had already figured that one out. Here are 2 divas at the beginning of our trek:

...and then off in the distance as I walk too freaking slow...

As we were walking...interminably walking...we passed another Peabody Street...right off the parade route. What is it with Southern folks and their propensity for naming different streets, in different parts of town, on different vectors not even remotely near each other, THE SAME FREAKING NAME!!????!! This was not my experience growing up in California. Michael and I started giggling.

Finally we arrive at what is technically the end of the parade route:


Lovely day, but so freaking cold!


I love the fashion sense at the expense of warmth.

Good viewing spot for the short one.

I love the way they interact.

And the parade begins.

It did not take long to see Maggie's group, though we did not identify her until we saw the back of her head!




Other highlights were as follows...

We had dancers:




We had flags:




We had many fire engines...one with a grown-up sized mascot:


One antique:


We had marching bands:





A few floats...on flat beds and in the back of trucks:







We managed a couple of floaty things...for whatever reson:


...one had its own mascot!


There were horses galore..all followed by their own poop-pick-up!





And cars...and cars...and cars...all driven by old guys:






...I think you get it. Meave wanted to know why there were so many old cars with old guys driving them. I did not have an answer, so she mused that it must be so no one would ever forget them. Smart kid.

We saw over half of the parade. It was so cold that when we left, so had half the audience...I think Santa was greeted by a thin crowd!