The Fourth of July parade

When I call this post The Fourth of July parade, I really mean The Fourth of July parade. While it's not the biggest or the best parade, the Eau Claire Fourth of July parade is the one Gretchen and I grew up watching. I even walked in it once or twice as a kid. So yesterday, Augie, Mom and I went with Grandma Steinke to eat some tasty food at Grace and watch the parade come down Main Street. It was a bit sunny yesterday, and there aren't many shady place to sit along Main Street, so everyone was a little sticky and a lot hot.

Thankfully, Augie remembered his hat. However, he didn't wear it much. While it helped shade his eyes from the sun, it made his head too hot. This was the beginning of the parade and you can already see his cheeks were warm.

The Cherry Festival Committee tried to make this year's parade extra memorable because it is the village's 150th anniversary this year. Even though the parade started a little late, and at times hardly moved, it was obvious they tried to get as many parade entries as they could. Having covered a parade or two in my day, it's easy to tell the makeup of a community by the entries in the parade. Yesterday, it was obvious by the dozens of tractors that the area is heavily rooted in farming.

One of the parade entries was a trolley full of people who have lived in the Eau Claire area for a long time. Two of those people happened to be Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Blighton. Thankfully they were sitting on the side of the street we were on, because I was in charge of getting a picture of them.

Augie's friend Hope and her dad, RJ, were also in the parade, but I don't know why. (Maybe Hope's mom can help fill us in). RJ still looks a little tired from his party the night before, but Hope looks like she's having a good time.

I didn't get any pictures of fireworks this weekend like I did last year. I had to work last night, and didn't have my camera with me for Baroda's fireworks on the 3rd. Oh well, there's always next year.