51 Saturday and the Patriots’ Day Parade!

This Saturday was the annual Patriots’ Day Parade in McLouth.  It was a cool but beautifully sunny day.  The parade honors those who have served in the military.  It is apparently the only such parade in Kansas.  It was the 13th annual parade and Marcus’ third year in McLouth as the Chief of Police. 

The parade is announced by current active duty military officers.  It is opened by Marcus singing the National Anthem.  Pretty awesome. 

There was a pretty good crowd.  They have a children’s parade and games earlier in the day and a pancake feed at the Fire Station.   George Washington and Paul Revere led the parade.   I love the big work horses, this is a Belgian.  Then the Calvary from Fort Leavenworth went past.  I really like horses and there were so many good looking ones in this parade.  I even like the mule!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the human flag complete with flag pole!  It includes the ladies from the bank. 

This is my favorite picture from the parade!  Marcus decided to ride a horse this year.  He was able to borrow Zip from some friends.  They offered to bring a horse for Marek too so he rode Foolin’!  Marcus has been on a horse maybe 6 times in his life.  He looked like a natural!  They were followed by PJ in the patrol car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not bad for a greenhorn from the big city of Chicago!!  Law Enforcement is followed by the Volunteer Fire Department.  This is certainly a great example of mid-west Americana tradition.  Bringing the town and surrounding communities together to honor service people with a parade and city wide festivities is a tradition that is hard to maintain. 

I love portions of old cars.  It’s too hard to get a good shot of a whole car rolling bay, at least while still sitting down!

There were, of course Shriners but I couldn’t get any good pictures of the little clown cars, the blue racer go-carts and the Harley’s!  This is my friend Ali who is part of the Lucky Spurs Saddle Club.  She is riding her horse Pumpkin.  She just got her own horse last summer and is super excited about all things horse.  They will be barrel racing soon!

This is cute little Elle.  She is adorable. 

 

 

This black horse was my favorite from the parade. I can’t remember what kind it is but it is gorgeous and there was a pair! The second one was led riderless in honor of those soldiers who gave their lives.

The main attraction in the parade was the MaHaffie stagecoach. It is an actual stage coach from back in the day. They role played a stage hold up and fired multiple shots into the air.  It was pretty cool.  Last year they had WWII reenactors which was exciting also. 

Overall, it was a good parade and a good day.  I was proud of Marcus and Marek for their role in the day.  It was a treat for the townspeople to see him on horseback, many people came up and commented to him about it.  Plus, I love to see Marcus and Marek do neat things together.  Ohh, yeah, I also had some homemade ice cream while I watched this parade!  It was delicious!  A slice of American patriotism right here in my wilderness, it was a good day!  Hope yours was as well!

~ Denise