Millcreek Township Fourth of July Parade

Today, Jim and I decided to celebrate the Fourth of July by attending the Millcreek parade, something we haven’t done since our three children were little–so the last time must have been in the nineties. Back then, it was quite a production to get three kids out of the house early enough to stake out a spot along West 12^th Street and with enough sun screen, snacks, and water to keep everyone comfy for the hours-long event. Today, we managed to score a spot right next to the grand stand, so we could hear the various marchers being announced and be in the thick of all the action.

Way back when, our kids loved going to the parade–mainly for the candy that the firemen, politicians, and business people would throw into the crowd. We were glad to see that hasn’t changed, even in this ever-increasing litigious world of ours (a kid could get run over by a clown car, you know). The candy was abundant this morning. There was even enough that Jim and I could sneak a couple of pieces to boost our waning blood sugar levels about two hours into the event. A new addition to the freebies happens to be Mardi Gras beads! Let’s hope that the New Orleans tradition of baring one’s chest doesn’t follow in the future.

This year, a bicycle and foot race preceded the parade. I thought we’d be overcome by a sea of bikes and runners, but there were so few that we weren’t sure the races had really started or ended. Let’s hope the idea takes off and we see more participants next year, because the races are a nice addition.

Another site and sound that wasn’t present when we attended in the past were rock groups on floats jamming away with impressive sound systems. They livened things up when things started getting quiet.

New to us, too, was the group of colonial re-enactors, complete with men in powdered wigs and females in period dress. I have no idea what their group was called, but their float had lots of patriotic quotes on it. The enthusiastic Thomas Jefferson or John Adams, or whatever he was, orated on patriotism and gave a senior-citizen veteran near us a heartfelt hug. He then led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, which we had already covered when the parade started. But that’s okay, twice in one day was nice.

So, although we truly enjoyed attending the parade with our kids in the past, taking it all in as empty nesters was fun, too, and I got a lot of great pictures. Tonight, I tried my hand at making a slide show in Windows Movie Maker and posted it to You Tube. I put music to it, but it’s not very loud. I’ll have to figure out in future slide shows, how to fix that. But I must say, for a first try, it’s not bad. Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOGh1KOR-_E