For such a tiny town, Clarence Center really knows how to put on a parade!! There are less than 4,000 people here, and it was quite impressive. This is a small community, but very tight knit, with a lot of community spirit. I see it everywhere I go, and this parade was no different. Labor Day weekend is one of the biggest celebrations of the year, and it's pretty much a party for three straight days.
Saturday we were in Palmyra, and of course we didn't go on Sunday, but we were there on Monday for all the festivities. I'm in love with the fact that the parade didn't start until 1pm--no getting up at the crack of dawn on a holiday to get ready! We took our time in the morning, and then headed out around 12:30pm.
Being our first year to attend, we drastically underestimated the size of the crowd, and the parade. We only made it about 1/2 mile down our road before we had to pull over and find a place to park, then walk the rest of the way. There were people everywhere, lining the streets and grass as far as you could see. We walked until we found a perfect place on a corner, where the parade would make a turn, making it really easy to see everything up close. The whole weekend is sponsored by the Fire Department, so the first part of the parade is all fire engines. We started counting after the parade started, and we still counted over thirty fire trucks! I thought my boys might die right there on the spot. Fire engines from all over the county and come to be a part of the parade--new, and old.
And the candy. Oh, the candy. We've been to plenty of parades where they've tossed out candy to the kids, but this was insane. We came home with about 10 pounds of candy! I think we'll save it to give out at Halloween. :) It was most definitely a successful parade.
We started walking towards the fire station grounds for the fair about twenty minutes before the parade was over, so we could beat the crowds and get lunch first. It was a smart move--we didn't have any lines, and were finished eating by the time more people started arriving. The food was fabulous, and very reasonably priced, considering what they could have charged. It was a pleasant surprise! We took the kids on a few rides, walked around to see the booths, and stopped to talk to friends that we happened to run into. The kids were pretty much in heaven, and didn't want to leave.
We didn't realize how far away we had actually parked, because the walked it in segments when we arrived, but it was over a mile to our car! The kids were tired after a full day, but they were troopers. We finished the day with a yummy BBQ and a movie. We still had one more day before school started, so we didn't have to worry about getting them to bed early.
It was a full day, and a great introduction to what's in store for us here!
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