Above all, parades are for kids

One small sidelight to the parade shouldn't be overlooked. As the first of a number of military contingents came up Main Street, Doug Wick -- owner of Common Scents, Pack 'n Ship, and Wick's Photo Studio on the corner of Third -- sprang into action.

He would have been hard to miss, dressed as he was in a red bandleader's jacket (admiral's? maitre d'?), with gaudy gold epaulets, a flag bowtie, red-white-and-blue dickey and blue slacks covered with large white stars. But then he pulled out 22 large American flags -- one for each year he's been in business on Main Street -- on 8-ft. tall flagpoles. And, with his portable microphone he directed an ad hoc color guard to stand on either side of the street with the flags to welcome the marching soldiers.

The soldiers saluted as they walked by, while the crowd rose and cheered them all.

But, of course, a Fourth of July parade, while stressing patriotic themes, really is no different from other parades to its key audience: kids. They react to the noise, the movement, the almost constant assault -- I mean that in a good way -- on the senses. And so it was with FourthFest.The biggest reaction I saw from a group of kids came for ... Tigger, who was riding atop a Realtor's float, if memory serves. There wasn't even any candy involved. So let's wrap up with a few more pictures -- of kids enjoying themselves during the parade.

Silly String, doncha know!