4th of July Parade

For nearly 25 years we have attended parades in Vermont; sometimes the Memorial Day Parade in Essex Junction and sometimes the 4th of July Parade in Williston (and sometimes both).  Montana parades have a completely different flare.  Lots of local businesses decorate vehicles and strut their stuff.  Local politicians make an appearance - of course - including the Governor Greg Gianforte as the Parade Marshal.  There were even two pipe (bag pipe) bands!  Community services (from garbage trucks to septic tank pumpers to police and fire) decorated their trucks and tooted their horns.  And most of them brought candy, some brought other treats, one brought apples, and a few brought bottles of water.  The kids clearly understood how this was going to work because they came armed with empty bags for their candy and lined the edge of the street to be in the best catching position while parents sat comfortably in chairs behind them.  In Vermont, almost none of the parade participants brought candy, treats, gifts, or handouts.

Unique to a Montana (or western) parade are the horses!  LOTS of horses.  Miss Rodeo on a horse.  Children on miniature horses.  A Crow Tribe group rode on horseback.  There were horses pulling wagons and stagecoaches.  And there were rodeo organizations that rode in large groups atop beautiful horses.  There was even a mule train.  My personal favorite was the train of "bucking" broncos being pulled by a tractor; each little barrel-shaped horse was on wheels with the axle not running through the center of the wheel so each time the wheel went around it made the horse look like it was trying to buck.  Atop those bucking broncs was kid - usually a cute one.

Smokey the Bear rode through on a truck spraying water on the audience.  And, of course, there were several tractors from the fancy mower type to the giant farming type.  There were floats for everything from the Republican Party to the local resale shop.  The Shriners appeared on little motorcycles and in their zippy little red cars.  There was a Whoopee Wagon and Skunkmobile.  And the giant rubber duckies from Rubber Ducky River Rentals (rafts to float the Yellowstone River) rolled through on a big bed of rafts.

Aside from the horses, the one thing I saw in this parade that I probably would not have seen in Vermont was a BIG Republican trailer/float with signs clearly in support of Donald Trump.  The audience showed their enthusiasm with cheering and applause.

When the parade was over, it was very obvious because the last vehicle in the parade was the street sweeper.  He rolled through scooping up horse poop and candy wrappers. 🤣🤣