We ended up skipping the rodeo due to our tight budget this summer (we already have our winter’s wood pellets on layaway), but the parade was free, and just a couple of blocks up.
It was emphasized in the local paper that the Saturday Ski-Hi Stampede parade would be bigger than the Friday one, which makes sense considering most people can’t get Friday morning off from work to watch a parade. I’m impressed they close off US 160 two days in a row in the first place.
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| I shot this as I arrived on the corner, shortly after the cannon went off announcing the beginning of the parade. Attendance is surprisingly robust for a workday... |
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| ...although not as high as on Saturday. I’ll note here that one can easily tell the difference between my Friday and Saturday shots, not just because of the crowd, but because it was sunnier on Friday. |
Naturally, my wife and I enjoyed the Friday parade more because, although well-attended, it wasn’t nearly as crowded. It turns out most of the extra floats seen on Saturday belonged to businesses advertising themselves with flashy automobiles. The one really neat thing on Saturday not seen Friday was the Shriners with their funky little cars.
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| Lemonade stand on the corner of the bowling alley parking lot on the way up Jefferson Street to US 160. |
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| The Shriners really know how to do a parade float. |
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| These gentlemen in this trailer played a smart medley of the official songs of the U.S. armed forces. |
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| The Shriners always have the best go-carts, but that tiny 18-wheeler was the first time I’d seen anything like that. I especially appreciated the tribute on the side panel to comedian Red Skelton, depicted in his trademark hobo-clown getup. What can I tell you; he was before your time, kids. |
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| These guys were a parade within the parade, requiring the entire first block of Jefferson Street to stage their march. As far as I’m concerned they made all the difference between Friday and Saturday. |
Both parades kicked off with the Martinez/Diaz families of Martinez Farms leading the way in their role as parade marshalls. That’s some sweet saddle tack in the back of that truck.
The little boy who loved his Hot Wheels and Sizzlers cars was grinning through my 55-year-old teeth as the hardware rolled through. These photos represent the best of the cars I saw in between various floats and marchers.
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| Even the treads.... |
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| Especially that one up front. |
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| What red-blooded American boy doesn’t thrill to see one of those big-wheeled tractors? |
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| Someone thought it was okay to attach that sign with tape. |
I love that the mascot for Sargent High School is a big, bold, grinning farmer.
I’m proud to live among the people who raise the steak, grow the fries, and even the barley for beer. These are people busy doing real work, with actual life-sustaining purpose. Looking at these photographs, I’m reminded the only thing that matters is makin’ that hay while the sun shines. No, literally. Really literally. (They raise horses out here, too.)
The Monte Vista High School Pirates (yes, gen-yew-wine Rocky Mountain pirates) are justifiably proud of their band. Either they marched really fast along the back way on Second Avenue, or they caught a ride, but somehow they managed two appearances in Saturday’s parade.
At this point, I realize I’m going to have to break this thing up. Stay tuned for Part 2, though I might not get to it right away.
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