Archive
07/04/09 - (2)
The Best Parade Ever
Where Lake Nebagamon's two main streets meet And radiate for four blocks north/south, three east/west — The heart of the heart of downtown, Which hosts the majority of the village's merchants — The townspeople and most weekend visitors (Possibly a thousand or five hundred more) Have congregated, en masse, to watch the annual parade.
To say it'll be a lollapalooza, a bang-up extravaganza, Would hardly start to do justice To the giddy, patriotic fervor every spectator feels As the wheeled and pedestrian participants prepare to pass by. There'll be something for everyone: A sense of place, name recognition, hurled candy, The pure, unbridled excitement of just being here, on the Fourth.
At 4:00 p.m. sharp, The fire trucks, rescue vans, and water tankers Open the event, with a resounding consequence (Much like the trunk-to-tail Pachyderm Parade I remember marching off the Ringling Bros. train, in my youth) — Lemon-yellow, lime-green, carmine, with gold-leaf lettering, Full light arrays flashing, electronic sirens screeching, wailing.
Though not comparable to equipment used in big-city districts, These vehicles are palpable reminders That this lake village and the small towns surrounding it Are served by volunteer units of civic-minded residents, Which consider themselves second to none, even the best — Lake Nebagamon, Highland, Lakeside, Poplar, Brule. The clapping doesn't stop until they're out of earshot and view.
Next, in quick succession, the procession surges, Merging a disparate miscellany of incongruous elements: Four elderly Knights of Columbus, in full-dress regalia; Floats advertising the Waterfront Bar & Grill, Rose's Bakery, Young Plumbing & Heating, Dairy Queen/Ole's Country Market, Chippewa Valley Bank, Kids in Nebagamon; A cohort of Camp Nebagamon boys wearing craft-project costumes.
Then come machines far larger than the fire trucks — Three bright-blue garbage loaders, provided by GT Sanitation (A homegrown enterprise, source of immense local pride) — Followed by a late '60s Corvette, a '70s Cadillac, and a '57 T-Bird, Followed by two new cars, plastered with political posters Heralding Assemblyman So-and-So, State Senator Such-and-Such, Followed by Hanco Utilities' three gleaming modified pickups,
Followed by a brace of ragged dray horses pulling a farm wagon, Followed by the two grandest entries in the parade: A Walt Moss Trucking Kenworth tractor and stainless-steel trailer And the Polaris Racing Team's behemoth rolling garage. And just when the half-hour humdinger seems spent, The screeching, flashing, elephantine fire/rescue armada reappears, Heading up an encore, to unanimous communal applause.
07/04/09 - (2)
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