Needham is one town that still does it however, so we (an extended "we" this time--me, Natalia, the two kids, Natalia's parents, and my mom) packed up and picked a shady spot along Highland Ave for the town's annual July 4th parade (held on July 5th this year, but no matter).
This was the first real parade for both Celia and Andres. Grandparents bought flags for both of them, and they ended up in all sorts of places the Founders of Our Country never really intended the Stars and Stripes to go--namely in your mouth, on the street, etc. Eventually Andres figured out that it was best to wave the flag back and forth instead of up and down (this was after much trial and error though). He was a pro by the time we left.
The parade itself was typical Americana. It began with a series of firetrucks, sirens blaring, horns honking, rolling by at 5 miles per hour. What I learned from this is that if you have a house in Needham, and it catches on fire, you might want to call ahead to allow the massive resources of the Needham FD to get there in time.
After the emergency vehicles had rumbled by we were treated to all sorts of other sights and sounds, including some good marching bands (Andres enjoyed dancing to those), lots of antique cars (one of them so antique that it died just before it reached us), and parade floats. We also saw a clown with a hot dog on a leash and a car toting Cookie Monster and Elmo. Other random participants included one of the Water Department's giant sewer-cleaning trucks and a marching band from Quebec that walked right by us without playing anything.
A number of military personnel walked by too, though it was an interesting assortment of people in uniform. WWII, Vietnam and Korean War Veterans occupied a place of honor on one of the floats, and they were followed by a group dressed up as Revolutionary-era soldiers, active muskets and all. We also saw a troop of Junior Marines (kids between the ages of 10-18 marching in fatigues). I had never seen this before, and I found it a bit off-putting...and then I felt bad and un-American for finding it off-putting. That group passed pretty quickly though so I could go back to admiring vintage cars and marching bands.
And people on horseback dressed as Native Americans.
Ok, there was only one person dressed this way, and apparently it has caused a lot of controversy for the past few years. "Why do they just prevent him from marching if it is so offensive?" I asked. Turns out he owns a major car dealership in Needham, so people are willing to let him have his fun for a day. (And I have no doubt that he views his own actions as celebrating Native Americans, not as being discriminatory.) So there you have it...an old white guy is allowed to paint his skin red, don a headdress and ride around on horseback (shouting "how!") in an Independence Day parade, even though this is largely viewed as offensive, because he has a lot of money and presumably employs a number of the people watching the parade.
Moving on.
As Andres was busy marching in place and watching the trucks roll by, Celia was sitting up in the wagon having a good time too. She entertained herself very well for such a hot day especially given the number of loud noises around.
She also managed to wave a flag for a bit.
And then, after the final firetruck and construction vehicle rolled by, it was over. Andres looked a bit sad that it was done (Celia didn't seem to mind). They both had a few flags to remember the day by though...and they were both conked out in the back seat of the car five minutes after we left.
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