I love a parade. I really do. Homecoming parade, tractor drive, Fourth of July or Thanksgiving parade, it doesn’t matter. As long as it is a parade, I will watch and cheer as the parade goes by.
I’ve been in one or two as a kid. It was the local homecoming parade and I got to ride in it with an older gentleman that had a shed just down the street from my childhood home. I was pretty young at the time, so I don’t remember much about him.
I think his name was Mr. Snyder and he used his garage to store his Model T Ford. It wasn’t a homecoming parade without seeing him driving his car in it. Even though I’ve lost track of him and his car, I still feel like the luckiest gal in the world to ride in the parade with him. I regret not having a picture of me an him in that car.
I got to feel a similar joy just a few years ago when attending the Red Power Roundup in Sedalia, MO. I was lucky enough to ride in an International Harvester Highwheeler truck in the truck parade. The highwheeler was built back in the early 20th century and the owner was kind enough to take a picture of me in it when the parade was over with.
As a kid, it was how much candy you could get that mattered the most. Heck, most of the candy that I got, I didn’t bother to eat. I was kinda picky on what kind I ate. Go figure! But looking back, I loved the excitement and joy that I got from those parades.
These days, I like what some of the tractor shows do. They line up their tractors and parade them around the town square for all to see. Sometimes that parade will go around to the local nursing home too. What a great sight for the residents who otherwise may not be able to go the show to see the exhibits.
It’s been awhile since I’ve paraded one of my tractors. I hope that someday, if I’m lucky to be able to buy an antique truck that I’ve always wanted, I will be able to follow in Mr. Snyder’s footsteps. I hope to be in that homecoming parade giving a kid a ride in that parade and a wonderful memory that will last forever.
2018 Mark Twain Old Thresher’s Parade, Paris, MO.
Photo property of Mel Boone.