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Once again this year, Lisa and I were invited to be judges for the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Independence Day parade.
This year’s theme was “American Heroes.”
Rather include all 213 photos I took of the 90 entrants, this post will just include some of my own favorites. Not all of the photo subjects were judged entries, but all of them added immensely to the audience’s enjoyment of the parade. The photos are not necessarily in the order the subjects appeared in the parade. Left mouse-click on any photo to enlarge it.
Coeur d'Alene Fire Department Color Guard
We can celebrate our independence without fear because of our military. Note the audience applauding and waving!
Let us and our descendants never forget the courage, pain, and sacrifices of those who fought and were captured so we might live freely.
There wasn't a military fly-over this year, but Kelly tried to improvise... No audience members or parade participants were harmed during his foray into dead-tree aviation!
Madison Leonard - Truly in a class by herself!
Cranbrook Girls Bugle Band from Cranbrook, BC. You have to really appreciate a group that would travel to Coeur d'Alene to perform in our Independence Day parade!
Lots of horses in the parade.
And where there are horses, there must be... These ladies should have been judged, because they were animated, entertaining, and engaging. Note the spatula flipping the meadow muffins!
Coeur d'Alene's own "Perfection Nots!" Musically spectacular -- sartorially ... well, diverse! Entertaining -- always!
Like I said ... sartorially diverse, but they play really well!
Deer Park's spectacular community float. The float was well designed, and the music and choreography were excellent. Smiles all around!
This caught my eye because of the size of the machine. The photo doesn't begin to depict how massive this beast is!
Almost as good as a fly-over! Holy mackerel!
Bye-bye! Thanks for coming! See you at next year's parade!
Great photos, Bill! The parade was lots of fun from up on the top of the huge mining truck that Ground Force Manufacturing provided. Their GM, John Chambers, was driving and the owner, Ron Nilson, was up front in the red shirt, waving a flag. There were lots of folks clapping and cheering as we went by, representing the Tea Party Patriots of North Idaho. My husband, Rick, and I were on the back of the truck–I’ve got my straw hat on. Blake, the owner of Memorable Events DJs, had his music equipment and was blasting out great patriotic tunes for everyone…it was high energy and the crowd was very appreciative. Thanks for documenting the parade, Bill!
Comment by mary — July 5, 2010 @ 3:30 pm
I generally dislike parades so was not there, but my wife and children were. She expressed mild concern with the mining truck because it seemed to have poor visibility and no walkers out front to steer away any errant kiddos. From the photos, I don’t disagree. Something to consider if anything similar is used again. I’m not denying the party line here that kids and parents need to be responsible for themselves (ours were certainly held in check when this thing lumbered past), but things happen.
Comment by eq72521 — July 6, 2010 @ 3:21 pm
Can’t you see some Hummer owner in the crowd looking at that big mining truck and thinking, “Me want”?
Comment by Dan — July 6, 2010 @ 4:42 pm
eq,
The truck had lead and trail flag vehicles to help control and forewarn errant pedestrians.
Also, Ron Nilson was on the RF corner, and his VP John Chambers was driving. I suspect Nilson was there as much for safety as for appearance.
Actually, pedestrians were at risk of greater harm from the horses than from the large, slow-moving vehicles being driven by skilled, safety-first drivers. One of the equestrian unit riders decided to show off his (lack of) horsemanship and have his horse back up on the north side of Sherman across from the judges. The horse was not well-controlled and came very close to backing into the peds seated on the curb.
Comment by Bill — July 6, 2010 @ 5:00 pm
Comment by Dan — July 6, 2010 @ 6:28 pm
Bill:
Ahh, got it. Well that’s cool then, Dan’s mad photohackery notwithstanding.
Comment by eq72521 — July 6, 2010 @ 8:07 pm
No problem. The parents put knee pads on the tyke.
Comment by Gary Ingram — July 7, 2010 @ 11:58 am