Happy 4th of July

We joined in the fun this year at our neighborhood's annual Johnsonville parade.  Some of you folks who grew up here can probably tell me more about the details of the parade's origination, but we think it started with a family about 20 years ago, who just decided to start their own 4th of July parade in the neighborhood.

Everyone was invited and there were no rules to join.

Little has changed.

The parade lasts for about 30 minutes as everyone walks around the neighborhood together.  This year there were at least 150 people - a couple of buses even brought in kids from a summer camp up in the mountains!  Everyone was decked out with homemade decorations for strollers, bikes, wagons.  There were a few convertibles, someone dressed as the Statue of Liberty, a handful of patriotic dogs, and lots and lots of kids.

The Johnsonville queen was crowned, everyone sang "God Bless America," and then the parade was officially underway!

We smiled, laughed, sweated, and waved through our 30 minutes of fame.  The whole experience was a hearty slice of small town Americana pie and we were so glad to share this delicious memory with our boys.