Mom and Dad were willing participants in coming to the Flag Day Parade with me. I wasn't sure what to expect. I was concerned about not getting a good seat for the parade by getting to Waubeka until around 12 for a 1:30 parade considering Waubeka is the size of a postage stamp. I remember dad putting out our chairs for Fish Day Parade on his way to work every year. I had nothing to worry about. When we got there around 12, there was plenty of front row seats available on Main Street. It really didn't start filling in until about 1, when the program was over.
Main Street before the parade
Despite the small size of the town, the parade actually was longer than most of the parades I marched in during High School. It was no 10-foot parade. It last over an hour and had over an 100 units..sure there were supposed to be about 20 different fire trucks from various department but there were several no shows. The parade included military units, marching bands, and scout troops. The Flag Day Parade honored the Marines this year and almost every float depicted the raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima.
There was even candy being tossed from the floats which apparently is a no-no in the Appleton Parade. Not only did I manage to snag a few Tootsie Rolls, I ended up with String Cheese and a bouncy balls. I had 2 bouncy balls (dad got 1) but I gave one to a kid that desperately wanted one. What was I going to do with 2 bouncy balls with dinosaurs in them. Even the firefighters were handing out Freeze Pops.
As mom said, "it was a nice parade for Waubeka. I think we'd go back". Me, I want to go back in 6 years for the 75th anniversary. I also want to see the Appleton Flag Day Parade some year. It is difficult with tournaments this time of year.
Had trouble leaving comment. Hopefully, it won't show up twice. You do a very nice job with your blog. I hope you can print all the posts so you can read them 50 years from now and have good memories of how busy you were.
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