4th of July In A Small Town

Our small town, Oxford, has an excellent parade every 4th of July. Everyone turns out to watch or be IN the parade.
Always start with the color guard- I love to see everyone stand and honor the colors.

Then an assortment of Fire & Rescue service vehicles-we're proud to have such dedicated volunteer fire departments in a lot of the nearby small towns and they all shine up for the parade.

It wouldn't be a parade with out the various antique farm tractors and implements.

And the local businesses all have a...float/car/ENTRY!

 Love the shriners! 

  And the herds of kids & teens with their 4 wheelers, go carts, ATV's & motor scooters. Makes you check out who's going to get a drivers license soon........

Love the Percheron horses. The folks from First Trust Bank always hitch up for the parade.

  And always a zillion kids and support for the American way. Notice these two cute girls on the truck? I remember when it was soooo cool to have matching clothes with your best friend, I'm thinking it's still cool to have blue plaid shorts that match your best friends.

The politicians come out in force with stickers and flyers to hand out. 

And CANDY for the kids. I've heard that some towns have stopped the throwing of candy from parades, but I just think it's one of the best things about parades. Every kid comes prepared with a bag or bucket. 

And the classic cars,,,,mmmm hmmm there is always a good turn out of classic car owners for the annual 4th of July cruise from Parade to parade. 

In fact that's what makes our parade pretty cool is that folks start in Coralville for the BIG parade then over to Oxford, then over to Hills, then around to Lone Tree or other small towns. It's a great way to get folks out in all the small towns.
Fireworks tonight if it doesn't rain!!

Santana in Sioux City

So we made it across the state to Saturday in the Park in Sioux City IA.

What a HUGE crowd, and all such wonderful people. Especially the volunteers and security folks.  See this cute young man in the bright orange shirt? He actually pushed Hubs in his wheel chair all the way up the hill to the beer garden. Phew!! It was not exactly a small hill! I am sooo grateful!!

Here we are with our new Saturday in the Park friends......Cal, Megan, & Zach. They were the best concert neighbors anybody could ask for!! And Zach pushed Hubs all the way down the hill to get loaded into the truck at the end of the evening. What a super guy!! I can only say THANK YOU again!!!!

Look at the size of the crowd! It was such a nice day, and an excellent park too-unless you're in a wheelchair!  But truly, the stage at the bottom of the hill and the way you could arrange seating was so cool. They had a ton of food vendors... Lookie at this pig smoker! I swear they stole a back mix tank from my workplace!!!