I was and am quite thankful. Thankful that we had the chance to travel to New York; thankful that our kids got to be part of a iconic national event; thankful for the many unique experiences that wed had through the entire year; but mostly, I was thankful that we had traveled back home on Saturday. That gave me at least one day to convalesce before having to go straight back to work. And thats a good thing because I wasnt even worth shooting the next morning.
First off I was dealing with fairly nasty cold that had started to manifest itself on the long ride home (that wasnt much fun). But mostly I was just beat from the extreme and rambling schedule that the trip had required. Most everyone in our house spent the better part of Sunday in our own familiar, comfortable beds (something else you tend to miss while traveling).
But even still
Monday was upon us before we knew it and it was back to the regular grind.
Well
not exactly.
There was one more minor event on the calendar that demanded the attention of our little high school band.
A parade
What!?!?!? Another Parade!?!?!?
Isnt that where we came into to this D-Grade excuse for a TR in the first place!
NOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo
.
Oh yes Virginia, and it gets worse.
Its a small town parade.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
No Place Like Home
I want to welcome yall to our hometown.
I actually moved around a good bit in my early youth, but Ive been in this particular county since the bicentennial and this little town is the only home my son has ever known. Since you took time to drop in, let me show yall around a bit.
Heres the memorial park (every southern town has some variation on this theme)
And another ubiquitous small town feature: the rail line running smack through (but no longer making stops within) downtown
Followed immediately by the pièce de résistance
Main Street!
All two blocks of it.
Yep
I said two blocks.
You see that ugly, multicolored, flowery looking thingy at the top of the hill on the far left of that last image? That questionable bit of public art marks the northeast end of the street and the railhead at the bottom of the hill is the southwestern terminus of our glorious rendition of Broadway.
Thats it, there aint no more.
Now, we do have a few major monuments just like the big cities. Theres our veterans memorial (a fairly new feature here that the local boosters, myself included, are quite proud of)
And the big ol waving Saint Nick standing on the hill top overlooking Main Street and the Mill Stone Plaza.
Yah
were hicks
were quite aware of that fact.
So why am I bothering you with all these pointless details?
So that youll have a little bit of context surrounding the major event that all these folks were gathering to see
With myself being among them
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Lets get this party started
We staked ourselves out a spot just after the turn off of Main Street. As it turns out this was good for getting a clear view of the various units, but it had a slight downside that would crop up later on. Thats a minor detail though
lets get on with the show.
Up in the big city, they started the parade off with folks on roller-blades, a police escort and a big ol balloon. Down here we kicked it off with an ROTC unit. That just seems like the thing to do. The two schools down here maintain Marine ROTC posts and they will take turns leading off the town parades.
After a couple of council rep and local officials, the next bit of actual entertainment was the synchronized go-carts maintained by one of the area Shrine clubs. A little like the Energizer Bunny, these guys would head up a little ways and then turn and come back variously breaking into figure eights or crisscross maneuvers before turning again to move farther down the way.
And finally
a celebrity I know. Well
Sorta.
Meet Fat Elvis
The bottom image was before the parade started. I figured youd like a clearer look just to see for yourself that Elvis is indeed still alive (He may have just gone back home, but still saw fit to return just long enough to appear in our humble procession.
We are truly blessed
Next up
a choir
Little else speaks to the hearts of a small town like an elementary school choir. I dont remember specifically which carols they serenaded us with, but does it really matter.
Children were singing.
Christmas had arrived.
Now the next two entries are prime examples of the difference between a big city parade and a small town parade. Up in New York the city sent out a brigade of boom-lift trucks to move all the street lamps and traffic signals. Down here we have a different use for a cherry-picker truck during such festive occasions. As parade floats
As for that second picture
Ive got no clue how to even explain that one. What they intended to represent or even what connection the papier-mâché dragons head that had been built onto an office chare had to do with the Christmas season escapes me at the moment (Chinese New Year maybe
still not sure). But again, does it really matter? A group of proud parents and small children got to march in a parade.
What could possibly be more festive or speak more to the heart of the season?
Next
a bit of music.
Introducing
our rivals; the very fine young musicians that make up the Fort Mill HS Band. With decades of experience and better than twenty state marching championships, they deserve respect (and I do respect that program, but I also rather enjoyed seeing our kids taking the championship over them that year).
Speaking of respect
The Grinch was in the process of acquiring a little bit of that commodity. It seems that the County Sheriffs officers had picked him up and were offering the ol boy a bit of time to consider his actions (a concept close akin to the old colonial concept of a public pillory).
Right behind the mobile Whoville Penitentiary was something a bit more serine; one of the local hand-bell choirs. Quite the jarring bit of juxtaposition wouldnt you say? They were a might hard to hear over the general outdoor noise, but it was still a nice and unexpected touch for a holiday parade.
Now its time to get back to a little bit of Americana. Does that mean Dancing Girls? Not just yet, well get to that later on. Right now though we encountered something else very American, are more typical of small towns
Boy Scouts.
This is a group from a very well run troop/pack from the next town out. One of their signature annual events is a great push-go-cart race and they decided to bring out some of the better entries built by the kids and their parents that season.
Pop Quiz! When you dont have a lot of floats handy to glide down the thoroughfares at your local parade what do you use as a substitute?
Random trucks of course
Ok
not completely random. We encountered the Elks Clubs pick-up promoting drug awareness. The Servepro truck however, actually was rather a bit random (if you ask me), but it appears that the Grinch had escaped from the county sheriffs and was hitching a ride. Gratuitous advertising aside, no parade is truly complete until you see an old fire engine and that last image right there was one mighty fine example of the breed.
I said earlier that our spot along the route had a disadvantage. This issue was that we were just beyond where the local television cameras had set up. Generally not an issue, but since the three bands performing that day would make a point to play at that spot, they likely would be walking by us in a cadence. That being the case, I figured I needed to walk over to the corner to get a better picture of the next group in the procession. These kids right here
If you were to click on that little image, youll notice that what they were playing was distinctly not very Christmassy. Well
theyd only had a week to prepare and decided that rather than play a medley of carols, theyd play the same stuff that had worked so well up in NYC. Not to mention the hometown folks (and local cable television folks) hadnt gotten to hear it live prior to now anyway.
I was headed back to my chair as they made their turn off of main and on to the home stretch when the majors caught me off guard and kicked off the next tune without rolling through the cadence. As such I missed the first few measures of the next tune
Thats my favorite of their various pep-band tunes, simply because it represents the Carolinas so nicely. That vid also allowed the girls from the schools Dance Team who were uncharacteristically traveling along with the band that morning to get a little bit of camera time. Hay, its the holidays
we can share the limelight.
Right behind our kids was a couple more fire trucks
(of the more modern variety).
The kids riding along in the basket out in front of that last truck looked to be having the time of their lives.
Next on the agenda was this hillbilly-esk contraption
(Please dont ask me to explain it
I dont think its possible).
But as you can see, we did try to atone for our appalling lack of judgment by immediately following it up with more cub scouts (pictures of young kids are second only to pictures of babies when it comes to quickly changing the subject).
Now, I dont want to miss lead you into thinking that our little rendition of a parade was completely devoid of festive holiday floats. Such is not the case. There is a group of folks down here that own about a half dozen or so generic parade floats. This same hand full of glittery trailers will show up at each local parade in turn. You just slap a sign or two for the local sponsor on the side, load up a few of said sponsors employees or principals along with some kids and at least one person in a costume of some type, and you get visions like these
Now I cant speak directly to the character of the individuals working the suits, nor for the choice of image that said suites are intended to represent, but I can say with all certainty, that there actually were floats in the parade that day.
Next up
the third band of the day.
These kids are from the next town over (and if you dot speak Southrn
that would be to the east), and yes the name of the town actually is Indian Land. Thats not a slur or a slight; its the name of the town. And you can tell by the size of their corps of ambassadors that its a very small town as well (making ours look like a veritable metropolis). Being small however doesnt mean that you cant be good at something and these kids are quite competitive in their class (and entertaining to listen to).
By now its fairly apparent that about the only thing we saw in the Macys parade that wed not yet seen in the hometown variant, was dancing girls. Not to worry, weve got that one covered too
Youve got to know that the local dance schools live for stuff like this. There were elves, snowflakes, reindeer and various Mrs. Clauses all just a clickin their heels and succeeding in being down right adorable to boot.
As things were starting to wind down, we were next treated to a number of fine example of classic automotive locomotion in the form of one of the local car clubs
And as you can see that was immediately followed by a triumphant appearance of our Mayor.
Wait a minute
thats not the mayor!
At least I dont think it is
is that him?
Nooooo
thats not him Im sure of it.
I think?
Oh wait!
Look!
A Tae Kwon Do demonstration!!!
Followed none too soon by another ROTC unit.
Its about time yall showed up I was starting to worry about the overly serious themes that this parade was turning to. Bless the Army ROTC for returning us to something more honorable.
Oh
and you did think to go back up there and click on that last compilation of images didnt you?
Well did ya'?
OK, now that the fine young ladies and gentleman of the junior officer corps have reinstated a bit of sanity
there really is only one other possible unit that could be coming up next in this shindig.
The big man
The head honcho
The connection!
Riding what else? A fire engine of course.
(What? You were expecting reindeer?)
And as with any great holiday event
the appearance of the Jolly Ol Elf signaled the official end of another traditional pageant.
Huzzah!!!
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
So what was the point?
By the way
This here TR is actually complete now, so yall are under no obligation to read any farther.
Really!
So why did I decide to close this distinctly Non-Disney Trip Report by comparing our grand adventure to New York City back to a humble small town Christmas parade? Well
on the surface, there really was no reason for it at all. The Christmas Parade was simply the next event on our kids schedule and the official end of the 2011 marching season. So it just seemed to be the next logical entry in my chronology of events.
But then again
these two event were just days apart in my realm of experience. The famous national event was still quite fresh in my mind as I was enjoying the more simple innocence of our home event. It seemed to put everything wed experienced into perspective. The trip to New York was a rare opportunity for the kids and parents alike. We saw and experienced things that for many of us will never be available again. We expanded our worlds a bit and got some firsthand experience with people and places that most of us really knew only from books, films and pop culture.
I think that the real point of all this nonsense is to say that when a chance to travel presents itself, no matter how it is disguised, make sure that you hop on that bus
Baby steps
get on a bus
This is true no matter how far the bus is traveling. The entire world may be just over the horizon, but the entire world is also all around you if you take time to experience it. And more importantly, take time to realize that you are a part of that world, and not just existing within it. Proverbs proclaim that every journey begins with a single step. But theyre never specific as to when a journey ends. The easy answer is that it ends when you stop taking steps. The real answer is that is ends when you either dont remember or no longer care about the steps you take. Myself Im looking forward to taking more steps away from where I currently am.
If youd care to follow along, Id be grateful for the company