Julie Barrett is a freelance writer and photographer based in Plano, TX.

Weekend Assignment: A Parade in Town

Fresh when it gets here from Julie Barrett
Monday, May 25, 2009


(Karen, I'm not running that far behind this week, but for some reason I didn't see your entry in my RSS reader. Oops.)

In some communities, Memorial Day is celebrated in part by a local parade. Have you ever appeared in a parade, or at least attended one? Details, please! Note that I'm asking about any parade, not just a Memorial Day one.

I grew up in the Girl Scouts, so we marched in several Fourth of July parades when I was a kid. As an adult, I was in a couple of parades. Back in the late 1980s The Texas Broadcast Museum got to bring up the rear of the Cotton Bowl Parade. We had a 1948-vintage television remote truck, which was really a bus that had been gutted and made over for the purpose. The truck had a large platform on top. Paul drove the truck, and a couple of us climbed up on the platform. One had a camera, and I had a microphone. It was a lot of fun, but we froze various bits of our anatomy off. It had actually snowed a bit overnight, and it was darned cold.

The second parade was with the same organization, but it had relocated and renamed itself as The National Museum of Communications. We'd done various things at the State Fair of Texas over the years from a booth with a re-creation of a 1930s radio studio to live recreations of vintage radio shows. This particular year, we rode in the evening parade. I remember someone had gotten hold of a big, pedal-operated surrey. I didn't have to pedal, but I sat in the back with Chris, who was less than a year old at the time. We had him in a car seat and had attached a microphone so he could babble into it. The microphone wasn't working, but he loved the attention! Babies and parades just kind of go together. Somewhere I have a picture, and if I find it, I'll post it.

Extra Credit: Have you ever studies to play a band instrument? Nope. Not at all. I play a little guitar, and had some classical guitar lessons back in college, but these days I'm lucky to get out a few chords of "Smoke on the Water."

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Karen Funk Blocher said:
That's much cooler than marching as a Scout! Thanks!

Date: 5/30/2009 12:53:50 AM Date: 5/30/2009 12:53:50 AM

Gravatar
Karen Funk Blocher said:
That's much cooler than marching as a Scout! Thanks!

Date: 5/30/2009 12:53:50 AM Date: 5/30/2009 12:53:50 AM





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