Somehow the Longmont, Colorado city elders managed to finagle the Boulder County Fair to be located--and harder still, to keep it--in Longmont. Some county fairs only last a weekend, but Longmont is still surrounded by cornfields and cattle and a lively corps of 4-H clubs, e.g., Goats and Galore, a rural emphasis which merits more than a week of activities.
Jesse and I had my daughter Abi with us and her foster son Boy Child. (Names and image withheld due to Social Services regulations.) The fair parade featured four 4-H clubs, the Red Hat Ladies, the Fair Queen and Lady-in-Waiting. My daughter shouted out, "My queen!" as if we were in a fantasy novel set in Longmont. She and I cheered for everyone who marched or danced by, except the Republicans and the Republican Women, who we greeted, as most everyone did, with stony silence. No hissing, booing or throwing eggs--this was a family event. Even so, only one church float.
I think parades generally start off with the color guard and the VFW and American Legion and the B oy Scouts because those are the folks who have the most training in marching. I especially liked the swirl of 50 flags. We had two local high school marching bands and corps of dancers: Jumba, Mexican, and Irish. It's nice to be in a multi-cultural town.The dancers did tend to hold up the parade with their performances, as did the troop of flouncy baton twirlers, but they were the best part of the parade in my opinion.The prancing horses and goats were trailed by their pooper scoopers.
Jesse and Boy Child were most interested in the antique cars and trucks and the fleet of Corvettes that seemed to swagger down 4th Avenue.As usual, the parade ended with an ambulance siren blaring and a walk of several blocks back to the car. The county fair parade: one of life's small pleasures.