Goose
Well-known Member
Another year passed.
My home town, Seward, Nebraska is advertised as “Nebraska’s 4th of July City”. It goes berserk on July 4th.
With a normal population of some 7,000, a local TV station estimated there were between 40,000 and 50,000 visitors in town yesterday. The food court alone covers three full blocks in the downtown area. An antique auto show covers at least four full blocks. The entire courthouse square is covered with craft vendors. There is a steady stream of events in the band shell a block from the courthouse, even belly dancers on main street. There is an antique tractor show, but it only covers about a quarter of a block. For some reason, its never really caught on. Also a carnival.
The local National Guard armory was recently remodeled into a Nebraska National Guard museum with a dedication ceremony yesterday. Everyone from two star Generals on down got into the act on that.
The grand parade usually runs an hour and a half with politicians from the Governor of Nebraska on down walking the route, plus all of the other floats, antique cars, tractors, convertibles carrying beauty queens, etc. Yesterday there were floats carrying five different high school classes that were having reunions, including our daughter’s 20th. She’s also on the parade committee and for the day wears a chartreuse shirt with “Parade Official” on the back. She started in that capacity when she was in high school. My wife has a friend that owns a house on the parade route, so my wife stakes out our territory on the lawn for watching the parade a couple of days in advance.
With I-80 cutting through the center of the county, it’s become a tradition that every year a couple of Sheriff’s Deputies prowl the Interstate, pull over a random out of state car, and offer to make the occupants guests of honor throughout the event on the 4th, if they can interrupt their travels. Sometimes it takes several tries. The “Tourist Family”, as it is known, is wined, dined, and given motel accommodations. Also driven through the parade as guests of the county. (You have to wonder what goes through their minds when a Deputy first pulls them over!). The family yesterday was from California.
Yesterday they had a ceremony honoring surviving WWII veterans, with the vets driven through the parade. I didn’t attend the ceremony, you can only go to so many events in one day. There are fireworks at 10pm, but we skipped them. Just too much of a mob to cope with.
As usual, it was a fun day and I’m still dragging today.
My home town, Seward, Nebraska is advertised as “Nebraska’s 4th of July City”. It goes berserk on July 4th.
With a normal population of some 7,000, a local TV station estimated there were between 40,000 and 50,000 visitors in town yesterday. The food court alone covers three full blocks in the downtown area. An antique auto show covers at least four full blocks. The entire courthouse square is covered with craft vendors. There is a steady stream of events in the band shell a block from the courthouse, even belly dancers on main street. There is an antique tractor show, but it only covers about a quarter of a block. For some reason, its never really caught on. Also a carnival.
The local National Guard armory was recently remodeled into a Nebraska National Guard museum with a dedication ceremony yesterday. Everyone from two star Generals on down got into the act on that.
The grand parade usually runs an hour and a half with politicians from the Governor of Nebraska on down walking the route, plus all of the other floats, antique cars, tractors, convertibles carrying beauty queens, etc. Yesterday there were floats carrying five different high school classes that were having reunions, including our daughter’s 20th. She’s also on the parade committee and for the day wears a chartreuse shirt with “Parade Official” on the back. She started in that capacity when she was in high school. My wife has a friend that owns a house on the parade route, so my wife stakes out our territory on the lawn for watching the parade a couple of days in advance.
With I-80 cutting through the center of the county, it’s become a tradition that every year a couple of Sheriff’s Deputies prowl the Interstate, pull over a random out of state car, and offer to make the occupants guests of honor throughout the event on the 4th, if they can interrupt their travels. Sometimes it takes several tries. The “Tourist Family”, as it is known, is wined, dined, and given motel accommodations. Also driven through the parade as guests of the county. (You have to wonder what goes through their minds when a Deputy first pulls them over!). The family yesterday was from California.
Yesterday they had a ceremony honoring surviving WWII veterans, with the vets driven through the parade. I didn’t attend the ceremony, you can only go to so many events in one day. There are fireworks at 10pm, but we skipped them. Just too much of a mob to cope with.
As usual, it was a fun day and I’m still dragging today.
