Today we celebrated the Labor Day holiday in a small town about 24 miles away. It was a pretty typical small town celebration in our area.
There were plenty of food booths; with many of them being fund raisers for various church groups, Kiwanis groups, and The Lion’s Club. Local restaurants shifted their base of operation to the park in the center of town for the day to be where the action was. I really wanted to get a bag of kettle corn (which is delicious!) but the line was so incredibly long that you could have probably grown some popcorn by the time you would get to buy some.
Another section of the park plays host to local vendors who are selling everything from Tupperware to crafts made from repurposed items to booths selling spices and home-baked goods.
Off to the side is the children’s section……lots of carnival games (think the fish pond) and the ever popular inflatable things they can jump around in.
Most small town celebrations in our area include a parade. This one was no exception. The color guard started it out with veterans from the local legion group leading the way. In small towns around here everyone stands, hats off and pays their respects to these veterans and the flag.
The vets are followed by the parade marshal who seems to always be the oldest living person in the town. Sometimes they are long time business people who have just retired but old seems to be the main criteria. As I do not live in a town and have not yet reached that age I think that I will never be a parade marshal, which is okay because it would be kind of awkward with everyone looking at you. A person would have to practice the parade wave…..elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist type of wave……stressful.
A big part of our small town parades involve firetrucks, ambulances and the EMTs and firemen and their families tossing candy at any small child along the route. Once in awhile they take pity on those of us who come without children and we get tossed a tootsie roll. Life is good!
Also featured are various businesses and lots of farm tractors of all ages, makes and sizes.
Always a crowd pleaser at the parades are the shriners. Sometimes we get to see motorcycles and sometimes it is the go carts/dune buggy things. My husband thought it looked like a lot of fun! I laughed when I overheard one parade watcher ponder on how many tires they must go through in a parade season.
One of my favorite entries in these parades has to be the bands. This time there was the elementary band and high school band of the local school system. They also had a business that featured a percussion type of band on a trailer. Their instruments consisted of wooden bar stools and trash cans.
After the parade we ventured over to the high school where they were hosting a car/truck show. Every year they seem to get more entries. It is kind of fun to wander through the rows of gleaming cars that are shiny enough to use as a mirror. It is also a journey through memory lane as a lot of those “classic” cars were cars that kids in my day routinely drove to high school. I am never sure if that make me a classic? Or just old?? I think I prefer classic.
A bonus to the day is running into people you have not seen in a long time. It is a great time to catch up on what they are doing and what is going on in their families. This might be one of the biggest draws to this type of holiday celebration in a small town…….relationships. Sometimes these are people you only see a couple of times a year; but you just pick up the friendship like you had just seen them the day before.
I have a feeling that my husband and I will always be small town type of people. The place where a holiday consists of flags flying in the breeze, firetrucks parading through the street with sirens blaring and candy being tossed to the delight of children (and some of the older crowd who will remain nameless….). The place where a friend of a friend becomes your friend just because you know the same people and share in the same small town experience.
The nice part about living in a small town
is that when you don’t know what you’re doing,
someone else does.
Immanuel Kant quotes
love it-and just 15 minutes ago I told someone I will always be a small town person! This is sweet! I declare we ought to be neighbors!
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Yes!! we should be neighbors or at least neighbors who live a lot closer than we do!
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I love this so much. You describe just about every parade I’ve ever been to. I especially love what you said at the end, about becoming friends with a friend of a friend. Isn’t that just such a unique gift?
Part of small town-ness for sure. 🙂
Thanks for “taking” me to the parade. 🙂
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Maybe we all end up friends because when you dig back far enough everyone knows some of the same people and it becomes a connecting point.
I think the parades are also fun because you always know someone participating.
Thanks for coming to the parade!
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Thank YOU! What a treat! 🙂 There are no Labor Day parades here!
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Ohhh, I feel like I was there with you. You talked about what you saw and experienced so well that it drew me in and I became part of it. A truly wonderful piece of writing with fabulous photographs which helped me to see as well as feel.
Love this blog post, Chicken. But then … I love your writing full stop. You have a talent for transporting a reader into your world.
Oh .. and I too know I’m small town.
Love and squidges ~ Cobs. x
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I just wish I had been quick enough to get a photo of the color guard. I was too busy watching the flags flutter and people watching.
Aren’t small towns just the best? The place where you can give someone a smile and a squidge without getting into trouble :).
I love to have people join me in my world!! Sometimes my world is saner than other times…….
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[nodding in agreement]
There is a ‘oneness’ about living in a small town or village. Everyone knows each other and help is on hand if ever you should need it. ~ C. x
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What a wonderful day! Great pictures too! Thank you for the visit your small town Holiday! It must be a hidden gem 🙂
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We have lots of small towns around here that are “hidden gems”. Each one has a day that they make a celebration from the 4th of July to one called Summerfest! Maybe it is the rural influence?
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The local parades are such as a piece of our culture. Your blog got me there.
My dad was a Shriner and we so enjoyed watching his units march and play music. Once again, you brought the past back in such a celebrating way. Thanks and Brodie sends golden kisses.
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I should have done a blog on our home town Summerfest parade that was held in August. They advertise it as the biggest candy parade. I think they might be right. Most kids leave with a plastic grocery bag full of candy! I always wonder if the parents just let them suck it down for one huge sugar high or stretch it out.
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Halloween!?🎃
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Now that is a great idea!!! LOL
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Lol Love the end quote.
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Me too! It made me laugh because it was so true!
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You guys sure know how to party! It sounds like great fun!
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It is fun! I love meeting up with people I have not seen in awhile. And the candy is not bad either!
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Mmnn…free sweeties…:-)
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For some reason, I missed this post! I absolutely love it and can certainly relate! My hometown was not big, but growing. We had parades and festivals and the county fair, etc! Such fun! When we would go to one of the stores “downtown”, we could barely talk because of all of the visiting! I miss that! I am so silly to be worried about moving to the farm!!!
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You will love it on the farm! And the road always does lead back to some town or other :).
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Reading about your life on a farm has honestly given me a very positive attitude about moving! It is a blessing getting to know you. Thank you!
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I feel the same about getting to know you! After living on the farm for this many years I would find it difficult to move back to even a small town :). You get kind of used to the quiet and the freedom of not having people around all the time.
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