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I do love a parade. I love the excitement, the
sights, the sounds, the smells and the grand spectacle of it all. Parades, be they big or
small, fancy or simple, grand or funky, are an important part of the community. A parade
offers an opportunity for people to gather together, get to know each other, share their
talents, laugh together, enjoy each other and create something wonderful. |
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| This was the weekend of the Portland, Oregon Grand Floral Parade,
the second largest all-floral parade in America. Each year thousands of Oregonians stake
out a prime viewing spot along the parade route, camping overnight to secure their seats.
This is easier if you make it a cooperative effort with a family or neighborhood group. I
belong to a group of wonderful long time parade lovers who support a local children’s
charity. I donate rose arrangements, corsages and boutonnières for an elegant black tie
fund-raising event held in a parking lot adjoining the parade route. |
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We dance and party till the early hours of the
morning, sleep for a couple of hours, then awaken at dawn to await the parade and share
our love of the parade with children. I have been doing this every year now for 22 years.
I do love a parade.
Many of my friends think that I am crazy.
“Why would you want to spend the night in a parking lot, then sit through a cold
drizzly morning just to watch a parade that you can see on TV”. They don’t
understand. Parades were never made for television. Parades were meant to be experienced.
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