I Love a Parade

TOPS #1 Riverton, WY
July 2013
I have always loved watching the County Fair Parade, but this year I was actually in the parade. The Fair is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and coincidently, the Riverton Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) group is celebrating its 50th. The woman in the white shirt started the first TOPS group in Wyoming, right here in Riverton, and she is still an active member of my club.


It was fun to see the parade from a different perspective. 

To prevent the parade entries from bunching up, the organizers had traffic control at the top of High School Hill.


They enjoyed joking with the drivers and those on the floats. This woman wanted the large umbrella we had on the truck.

Even though it was overcast, the sun bouncing off of the pavement was hot.


Flags and spectators lined the parade route. 


It was fun to see the anticipation the the children's faces. Many of the entries threw candy that the children eagerly scooped up. Being a weight-loss group, we did not offer candy, but several members walked behind the truck, distributing water to thirsty spectators.

These girls were sure cute in matching dresses.
When we reached the end of Main Street, the parade was over. Most entries took side streets to return their passengers to cars parked at the beginning of the route. My neighbor and I rode on the pickup's tailgate. Neither of us could remember the last time we had ridden on a tailgate, as it is now illegal. It felt good to "break the law" for a quick trip down memory lane.

Comments

  1. Riding on the tailgate!! What a great experience you had.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I remember riding on my daddy's tailgate to go get ice cream. LOL Funny that it's illegal now. I DO understand why, but seriously? I don't remember anyone ever falling OFF the tailgate.

    My dad also had a backhoe/front end loader. We used to pile into the buckets to go to the ice cream place too. THAT was a ton of fun.

    Your parade looked like fun. That's one of the greatest joys of small town living and one I hope to replicate when we retire.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love parades, too. Those girls look so sweet in their matching dresses.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like a lot of fun, and what a good turnout. Yes, what a beautiful day it turned out to be. I've ridden on the tailgate many times too...brings back good memories. How fun to be IN the parade this year...good for you!! Did you have your "parade wave" well rehearsed??? Ha.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What fun! A long-time friend of mine - a crocheter, who works at the yarn shop where I teach - is a TOPS instructor.

    And those girls in their matching dresses are adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nancy

    You do such fun things! How wonderful. Im proud of your TOPS success!!
    Parade participants GIVE of themselves...I know I used to hate being IN the parade....
    but it was way way back in my life>

    ReplyDelete
  7. I haven't been to a parade since our children graduated from high school (about 7 years ago) and the last time I was actually in a parade was when I was in high school (we won't discuss how long ago that was).

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love comments!

If you are going to ask a question make sure you have your profile set to allow me to respond back by email or email me directly - my address is in upper right hand column.