Good morning! I hope the world is being good to you and you’re being good to it.

Grab your coffee or beverage of choice and share a thought with me.

I’ve not been to a parade for the better part of a decade, and for the last one I attended I was, uh, several beers in. In my defense, a friend and me had won a cornhole tournament where one of the performance-based rewards was free beer. If you’re not familiar with cornhole, please follow the included link to confirm it is not a nefarious activity. Because of that situation, my memory of the parade is spotty. Fortunately, I recently had opportunity to refresh my parade experience, sans any beverages.

Floats, politicians, bands, and candy – these make up most parades, at least for smaller local events. Floats allow local businesses and organizations to advertise and connect with their target audience, same for the politicians. Bands give young talents the opportunity to perform and show off the fruits of their hard work. And candy, well, that’s ultimately why kids are there (and, ergo, many of the adults). Without the bands and candy, I likely would still be living with hazy parade reminisces.

One kid played in the band, and the other kids sought the delicious sugary delights. Naturally, I implement an attendance and supervisory tax, so some of that candy will be coming my way, especially the Nerds Gummi Clusters and DOTS. There will be a slight deduction to the tax, however, because I was able to get video of the band kid doing their thing for the first time and, therefore, benefitted from being in attendance. The band’s performance was delightfully chaotic, which was expected after only a week of practice.

Overall, the parade was a fun experience. In addition to it moving steadily and not dragging on too long, it was fun to see the kids chasing candy. There’s no small amount of comedy in watching float riders chucking handfuls of treats into the throngs of kids. The candy sometimes falls short so the kids can hunt it down, and other times it comes like a missile to clock them in the face. This time, there were even a few surprises in t-shirts and hard-bodied travel mugs finding their way into the crowd.

I also have to give a shout of respect to the folks crafting floats and adding that extra element of light-heartedness to the event. From wagons adorned with ribbons and tassels to a covered wagon being pulled by a train of riding lawn mowers, you could tell who took being in the parade as a privilege and wanted to have a good time with it. Creative and visually unique floats are probably an undervalued component of a good parade given all the other pomp taking place.

Have you been to a parade recently (not counting the ones you can catch on TV)? If so, how was your experience similar or unique? This was a good time to be sure, for multiple reasons. While I won’t be seeking out parades to fill every weekend, they can be a fun way to break up the norm. I also highly recommend implementing a candy tax – it’s too much for the kids anyway!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!