Have You Ever Been In A Parade?

[arwalden]

Any parade at all... Easter Parade, Christmas Parade, Thanksgiving Parade, Homecoming Parade, Pride Parade.

As a child I rode on a float in a small-town Christmas parade. My high school German club had prize-winning floats in our homecoming parades.

I can't wait to see the parades tomorrow!

-- Allen

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

1. Yes I was in many . I was in marching band and ...

Even as a kid I rode on the top of the car of my stepdad's father ( he promoted his business that way ) . All I had to do was wave and throw candy . The longest parade I ever marched in was in Tampa , Florida for 2 hours - I don't remember if we did the whole route but we were happy to see the tour buses lol .

[Richardo]

3. 'nother band nerd here. Marched in 2 parades a year for 7 years.

...in Junior High and High School. One of the two was for the local Rodeo so the equestrian participation was high, with the expected results: obstacle course marching.

I don't like parades much anymore.

[wysimdnwyg]

10. Band geek

Gee, that was fun, too. Carrying a bass drum for three miles is a great way to start your day.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

15. I always felt sorry for you guys .

One of the bass drummers fell onto me by accident once . Back pain - incredible back pain .

[mac56]

17. Another band geek.

Sousaphone here. We swung them bad boys like there was no tomorrow.

[Lars39]

39. Eight years worth of parades with the band. Usually about 3-4 / year.

Have a hard time watching parades now.

[Capn Sunshine]

47. I was in band, too-we marched in the Rose parade

life is good when your band is hot.
Plus it was the 60's so we were held in high regard as musicians. Maybe the fact I played football as well made things different somehow.
Our band kicked ASS.

[supernova]

2. Yes, xmas parades and homecoming parades

Another marching band participant. LOL! I really enjoyed it. I've never sat on a float though. Always wanted to do that.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

7. I wanted to sit on a float too !

I would wait in parade line up and just daydream that one day I was going to find my way on one ! Has not happened so far ... there is still time .

[supernova]

9. Hey, did you find

a plane ticket?

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

11. yep :)

[supernova]

13. Good,

I was worried about you. :hug: Hope you get home safely soon.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

14. Thanks :)

I am going to be alright ... I have made it through a lot in my life . And I am coming home to a good family . I have nothing to worry about :)

[DemExpat]

34. I loved marching and dancing too...

For 3 years in highschool.....

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

DemEx

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

35. I " secretly " wanted to be a dancing girl

I learned all of their routines . But nah I was too good on the clarinet and the director needed me . Bastards ... I still twirl the baton though .

[Loonman]

4. Parade joke

In a desert country, on a small hill, there are three guys nailed up on crosses while thousands of Roman soldiers march by.

A spectator notices that the guy in the middle's lips are moving.

He starts to move up closer, but he still can't hear what the guy is saying. He hops through the line of Roman soldiers and stands underneath the guy on the cross. His lips are still moving, but the spectator can't hear what he's saying.

The spectator stops somebody walking by and asks for a ten finger boost so he can hear what the guy is saying. The spectator puts his ear next to the guy's ear and very, very faintly he hears: (singing)"I love a parade...."

[MariaS]

5. St. Patrick's day Parade

Chicago tradition and a fun memory

[madddog]

32. you REMEMBER yours hehehe?

I was in 2...the first one, we had a double decker bus, a keg, a case of Jameson's, and our own piper. I don't remember too much of it :D

The second one was much more subdued...but I remember more of it lol.

[ronnykmarshall]

6. Once

The SF Pride parade 1992. I was marching with the Barbara Boxer supporters.

[arwalden]

18. I Was Kind Of Hoping You'd Be On The Leatherman Float...

... sigh.

-- Allen

[ronnykmarshall]

52. I did have leather on ...

It wasn't visable, if you know what I mean.

[Robb]

8. Nope.

I live in a small enough town, that really if too many are in the parade, ain't nobody watchin'. :)

[Drifter]

12. Oz Parade

No, not Ozzy Osborne.

The Oz Parade (as in Wizard of Oz), is held during OZ Fest in Chittenango, NY (sp?) which is near Syracuse NY. This is the birthplace of Frank L. Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz.

I Juggle (3/4 clubs, 5 balls) during the bulk of the parade, and this past year I juggled fire in front of the judges stand. I am entered (and introduced) as the Blues Juggler. The first year I entered, I needed a name, and I had a Blues Traveler song in my head at the time.

I have met a number of the actual munkins who were in the movie (they are treated like royalty in this small town).

Any DUers ever hear of this or (god forbid) ever actually see the parade or (gulp) me ?

Cheers
Drifter

This parade is usually in the summer.

[greendog]

16. I used to build parade floats

I built floats for these parades and other smaller ones:
Atlanta Christmas Parade
Football Hall Of Fame Parade
Martin Luther King Parade
Indy 500 Parade
:)

[Superfly]

19. When I was a Boy Scout...

we used to march in the 4 of July parade.

Everybody has to have their own parade sometime!

Brian

[Kolesar]

20. Me too

We did not so much "march" as walk. We did not practice marching, we tied knots and camped and started fires and got dirty.

[Superfly]

21. You're right....we ambled and when the parade backed up

we sort of milled about.

[thom1102]

22. Another former boy scout here...

Memorial day and 4th of July parades were staples of my summer.

[Loonman]

23. What was really fun

Was getting ostracized by your friends the next day.

That is until I impressed them by being able to get a roaring fire going in any weather conditions.

[Superfly]

24. And, where were these fires set?

At school or in the controlled environment of the great outdoors?

(Ha! "Controlled" a bunch of adults drinking coffee and not paying attention to the 20 kids with matches.)

[Loonman]

26. In the woods!

For the massive beer-busts!

"hey, where's Loonman? we need a fire!"

[dbt]

25. Any radio station that wants to make points with its community

Will have a presence in the local Christmas (can I use that word anymore?) parades. My DJ staff and I once had the pleasure of riding in a 1931 Rolls-Royce limo (the kind where the driver sits "outside") plastered with station logos (non-marring magnetic ones).

We all hung out the windows, waving and talking to people along the way at a stately five miles an hour.

Of course, this was back in the days before CorpoRadio. Such activities are now seen as unncessary expenditures.

:evilgrin:
dbt

[soleft]

27. I was in the Greenwich Village Halloween parade this year

We were Jaws

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/185b94ed/bc/Halloween+2003/__sr_/Pict0032.jpg?bcAUMx_AsrZ9WDJ.

[bloom]

43. that sounds like fun n/t

[TlalocW]

28. Many - All in my small home town

There was only one parade in my town each year - the Braggin' Days Parade - at least that's what it used to be called. Basically just the town celebration.

There was always a section in the parade for kids to ride their bikes, which they decorated themselves. I did that one or two years.
One year, the third grade class I was in made a float. We were all plums in a giant Christmas pie, and our teacher was Little Jack Horner.
In 8th grade, I rode my unicycle and juggled in the parade.
From 9th to 12th grade, I marched in the band.

TlalocW

[Flightful]

29. Several

Battle of Britain, Battle of the Atlantic, Remembrance day.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

33. Welcome to the DU !

I'm CP . :hi: :smoke:

[Maine Mary]

30. More then I wish to count

As a State Rep I usually do about 3 or 4 a year.

[bif]

31. With my daughters' girl Scout Troops

In a small town parade. It was a riot. 1/2 the town was in the parade, the other 1/2 were watching it!

[mikehiggins]

36. NYC Labor Day Parades

I had the opportunity to work under Harry Van Arsdale, Jr on several of the NYC Labor Day Parades back in the 80's. He was one of the finest labor leaders this nation has ever produced and our committee put in 20 hour days for months to get the parades right.

I have marched in many such parades subsequently but since Harry died it really wasn't the same.

You really cannot discount the role of leadership, even in a mass movement like the American Labor Movement.

[xcentrik]

37. Coney Island Mermaid Parade

Google it. Much more adult fun than your average parade.

[maxanne]

38. I've been in lots of parades

Mostly because I live in a small town.

I have marched as part of the county Democratic Party a number of times, and I'm part of an Umbrella Drill Team that makes occasional appearances in parades.

I learned some years back to get in place ahead of the oxen. :eyes:

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

40. LMAO !

I know what you mean , we always requested to be placed in the parade line up ahead of the horses or any animals in that were in the parade .

[Mr. McD]

41. Yes, I am in a Pipe Band

We get hired to perform in various parades

[UrbScotty]

42. Quite a few Homecoming and Fourth of July parades

...in the marching band, Boy Scouts, and with my dad in the Knights of Columbus.

[bloom]

44. I was a clown in a local parade

and I marched with a band in the Indy 500 Parade (and around the track on Race Day), and I was in the Kentucky Derby Parade.

[thom1102]

45. My partner is going to be in the play Parade...

does that count?

[CO Liberal]

46. Yes - Several

When I was a Boy Scout, I used to march in the Memorial Day PArade each year in Morristown, NJ.

And in 1976, I rode in a pickup truck with a piano in it while my church's theater group walked behind us in Morristown's Santa Claus Parade. I had my son in the back of the truck with me - he was a toddler at the time. And my first wife, who was eight months pregnant with my daughter, was sitting in the cab. So my entire family was in the parade, and my daughter was in a parade before she was born.

[markus]

48. Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Homecoming (candidates march)

At Mardi Gras, I only rode a truck float once as a kid, but have friends who've ridden as masked krewe in major parades.

Used to talk with my daughter's dance school in the local St. Patrick's day parade.

And I've walked with candidates in the North Dakota State University Homecoming parade, where candidates are allowed and even encouraged.

[cosmicdot]

49. my Senior year in high school ... I donned the Tiger outfit ...

... and marched with the band and cheerleaders in Norfolk, VA's annual Oyster Bowl game which raises money for Children's Hospital ...

I was pooped because i frolicked with the band and cheerleaders, as well as, with the people lining the street

they even televised the parade that year

[GoddessOfGuinness]

50. I played the trombone in high school...

so I was in a number of parades.

Years later, my older boy and I were in a couple of parades with a bunch of National Zoo volunteers.

I love the Macy's parade; but only the final segment...when they highlight the kids who've worked so hard for the honor of marching in the parade, and the balloons.

I really don't care to hear Toby Keith sing "Gawd Bless Amurrica" so he can sell more albums; and somehow my thoughts of the true meaning of Thanksgiving don't conjure up images of the Rockettes.....

My brother was in the Macy's parade when he was in high school. The kids left for NYC at 3am, and slept on the bus as much as they could. When they arrived, the temperature was somewhere around 20F, and they had to wait several hours before they could even line up. But it was all worthwhile to them, because they were the band that was chosen to escort Santa.

[Elidor]

51. Kentucky Derby Parade, 1980 I think it was.

Marching band. Felt uniforms an inch thick in the incredible heat. Toting a sousaphone that weighed as much as I did. I think we covered four miles. Stupid shakos that must have been 2 feet high. It wasn't long after that someone asked me why I went to all the trouble that goes with being in a marching band. I couldn't think of an answer, and that was the beginning of the end for me. Could have gone to college on a tuba scholarship, but music majors have to endure a minimum of two years of marching band. To hell with that. I marched four hours a day, six days a week for three years. It's bullshit.