A Little Parade Etiquette, Please

Saratoga, we really should hand it to ourselves. We know how to do Independence Day right. Why else would we be seeing more and more people coming to our small corner of Wyoming?

The Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department pancake breakfast had a line snaking out of the firehall and down Spring Avenue. The 3rd Annual Independence Day 5K Run/Walk had nearly 150 participants this year, with many people signing up the day of the event. Finally, the Independence Day Parade was one of the largest I’ve seen, not just in terms of entries—it is, afterall, an election year—but in terms of attendees.

There were crowds of people along 1st Street and Bridge Avenue this year. Unfortunately, with those crowds there also seemed to be a major lack of parade etiquette.

As floats came through, children flooded the streets and, in many cases, swarmed the floats to ensure they were the first ones to get whatever candy or goodies were being tossed out. More than once, Parade Emcee Loren “Teense” Willford had to interrupt his own commentary on the parade to remind people not to crowd the streets so the parade could move along in a timely manner. It wasn’t just Teense Willford who noticed this, either.

Since the parade, I’ve heard of other instances which denoted a serious lack of etiquette. One parade entry told me children were running so close to their horses they likely could have been trampled. I also heard about one parent having to hold back children that weren’t theirs from crowding the floats. Additionally, the only time anyone removed cover and saluted the flag was when the American Legion Post 54 came through at the beginning of the parade. Later, when the Encampment VFW came through, very few people stopped and removed cover despite bearing the very same flags.

On a more personal note, my family ended up leaving the parade early. As the Encampment VFW float came through, my mother—a member of the VFW—clearly called out my son’s name and tossed him a piece of candy. Despite that, another child ran in front of my son and took the piece of candy. In fact, my son—who admittedly is a very gentle soul—ended up with a grand total of 10 pieces of candy from this large parade.

As an adult, I know that Independence Day isn’t all about parades and candy. My son, who turned 10 this year, has typically enjoyed going to parades in his hometown, though. But this isn’t the first time he has walked away from this parade upset because there were others around him who couldn’t respect his space.

Between now and next year, I think it’s important there should be some discussion about parade etiquette. For our own son, my wife and I tell him he has a very particular zone in which he can grab candy. He is to respect the space of other children, he’s not to run into the street and crowd the float, and if it comes down to him and a much younger child going for candy he should let them have it.

I’m not trying to be negative about our wonderful parade—which I heard one person say they drove 90 minutes to attend—or our summer holiday weekend here in Saratoga. Nor am I trying to tell anyone how to parent. I’m simply asking that we all be courteous of not only each other, but of those in the parade to make it a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone. The way it should be.