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I love watching the sun rise while sitting
in a lawn chair on the parade route, wrapped in a blanket and shaking off the damp morning
chill with a hot paper cup of coffee in my hands. I
love it, the sounds, the sights, the smells, and the grand spectacle of it all. Recently I tried, in vain, to explain my
love of parades to someone who “just didn’t get it”. Indeed they thought that I was just a bit crazy. “Why in the world would you want to spend the
night in a parking lot, and then sit through a cold drizzly morning just to watch a parade
that you can see on television?” Television? Oh my goodness no!
Parades were never meant to be seen on television. Parades were meant to be
experienced. 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, work together, and get to know each other, share their talents, laugh together,
enjoy each other and create something wonderful. If
you have never “experienced” a parade, you have truly missed out on something
spectacular. I belong to a wonderfully crazy group of parade lovers who have, for the past 25 years, been getting together to watch the Portland Grand Floral Parade and support a local children’s charity. Each year we rent a large parking lot on the parade route. We set up bleachers, tents, and a complete kitchen capable of serving hundreds. |
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