I Love A Parade

I love a parade. The marching bands, the floats, the horses, the kids... a good parade is a stirring, exciting event. I always cry at parades. I love a parade! In the summer when I was little, there were even parades that kids could be in. Bikes or wagons or doll carriages would be decorated; sometimes elaborately, sometimes with just crepe paper woven through the wheels and streaming from the chassis. We would line up on a sunny day and ride or walk or be pulled along through the parade route to the delight of the onlookers on the sidewalks.

And being in one was an entirely different experience than watching one though. You know. You prepare, you practice, you line up early. You wave. You blush.

My mother was a creative soul, and so her ideas always translated into a clever "float." When I was just 10 months old, I was dressed as the littlest bride, and with a 4 year old neighbor boy dressed as my groom, took our first cruise as "newlyweds" through Elgin on his festooned little metal car. 

Awwwwwwwwww....

That was my debut into the wonderful and wacky world of paradedom, and I was rewarded with 25 dollars! Big money in that day, though I may have had to split it with my bridegroom if that was a community property state back then.

So this became a passion for my mother, and I was coerced into this every year as a little girl. And even though I'm sure I wished my Mom would get another hobby, there were those silver linings. As I remember, my favorite was the year I was 5 years old and was "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary." Do you know that nursery rhyme,"How does your garden grow?" Anyway, I was floating along on my garden float/wagon and somehow won the BEST prize! Thank you judges! 

Elgin Courier News circa 1951

My prize was a full bred collie puppy, just like Lassie, a famous dog with her own TV show then! Something my parents definitely didn't want. Hmmm, I named her Sugar Baby, and loved her to the max! However, she was a handful for my Mom and we eventually gave her to some people with a farm so she could have a freer lifestyle. Or we could. But I was sooooo happy while she was mine.

Another highlight of getting Sugar Baby was that winning entailed an appearance on TV with her. We went to Chicago with the other winner and introduced our dogs to the viewing world. It was such a thrill because we were interviewed by the host clown during the breaks from my very favorite Show, "Flash Gordon"... he was a superhero and my very first crush. It couldn't have been a bigger deal to me. So wearing the costumes I was coerced into had a huge payoff.

The One, The Only FLASH GORDON!

Sometimes our moms can get us to do really goofy things, you know. And sometimes, it can just be very, very worth it. FYI.