Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Our city is 175 years old



Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of our city: 175 years.
There is so much to see here that goes back in time and as an ongoing student of history, I am always interested in anything old.
Today I would like to show you some pictures from the parade:

This was the best parade I have seen in a long time(not counting the Macy's parade of course) but on the local level. Nothing to compare with those put on by large cities, but to us, quite good. Remember we are small town America. We are a designated Main Street City. We are proud of that distinction.


The Mayor and Grand Marshall rode in a buggy pulled by a horse and the other floats and vehicles were wonderful. We had the 1938 Fire truck hook and ladder which was unloaded from a flat car at the railroad in 1938 and has been here since then. It is started every day by the firemen but this was it's first appearance in many years.
There were 3 other elderly fire trucks in the parade as well. From the 40's and 50's. Pardon the people who walked into my photograph.
The classic cars were in force and the best was one which was not actually running but on a flatbed truck and this one was my favorite. It was from the gangster era and the 4 people on the float were all dressed in black gangster clothing carrying fake guns. They were so cute. The float was sponsored by Crimestoppers. How appropriate!!!
























To my thinking they were the very best.
There was also some other entries worth mentioning:


Carriage Inn entry Senior Retirement Living apartments


I won't bore you with all the pictures but this little truck belongs to the lady in the office upstairs with her husband driving. It is really the best preserved vehicle.
We were at the end of the viewing of the parade.
This girl riding in the wagon looked throughly disgusted by the time they reached our area on the route. Guess she had thought it would be fun to ride in the wagon in a parade in the hot sun at 5PM with the humidity we had yesterday.

























And above one of the most unusual entries: A car covered with about anything you can think of, bottles, pieces of junk, bottle caps, whatever he had on hand.
This is just a few of the entries.
The parade lasted well over an hour and to this small town that is long.
2 shots of the soldier who was VERY tall, about 8 feet and must have been so hot in that getup.
The kids all seemed to like him best of all.

Now, I did not show the dignitaries, the officers of the different positions in the city who wanted to be noticed. I showed you my view of this parade. There were no bands(since schools are out everywhere), only one drill team and the honor guard with flags and Boy Scouts marching. There were the usual horseback riders and motorcycle clubs, but I chose to ignore these.
Before the parade, there were free hot dogs, watermelon, snow cones, popcorn, and ice cream. Supper was taken care of.
There was a time capsule that we were allowed to place items in to be opened in 25 years on the 200th birthday celebration. Family members of the original founder of Huntsville were here to celebrate.
I like to report on things that are a part of small town America life. My posts are not staged. (as you can probably tell).
They are real. They do not impact anyone's life but those of us who live here, but I wanted to share with you. We had a nice time, hot though it was. If ever in the area, stop in and visit our small city. There is so much here to see and experience. Note: the header is the Gibbs Powell Museum House here. Regular tours begin on July 17. The hours are 11am to 4pm.
Have a good summer whatever brings you happiness.
Lois

1 comment:

Annie Mason said...

I always love your posts! And I'm gonna make it to Texas sometime soon. As I tell my husband, we should retire in Texas because there's a lot of good junking there! I'll seek out your shop.