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July 5, 2006 Farragut Tennessee Hometown: Hometown Americas Parade Holidays, prime time for people to relax, eat, play and enjoy the company of strangers. The company of strangers you say? Yes the company of strangers. All of who have gathered in the humidity and sun on this Fourth of July for the same reason. To watch our kids participate in a grand old tradition. The Fourth of July Parade. This is not your glitzy, balloon filled, fancy float big city type parade. This is the perfect wholesome and endearing example of what a parade is. In simplicity this is the hometown Parade, And what better place to view this tradition? Why in Farragut Tennessee of course. Farragut Tennesse is a Utopian town. Just research it on the net. If you are lucky enough to live within this community you will never leave. Even people from "Stepford" prefer it here. And you can't blame them, schools turn out educated kids, parents churn out well-behaved and intelligent children. And the community is just that a community founded and served by the community for the community. So here I am sitting on the grassy side of the major road that cuts through the town watching with amazement as parents vie for the end of the line ready to pick up their children. And what are we all talking about, everything. And it's certainly not like situations in many other places, people here are open and delightful. I met the most amazing two women while I was sitting on the sidelines. Though we didn’t know each other at all, their personalities, presence, poise, were as if I had known them all of my life and this made me feel very welcome. Our conversations, multiple throughout the long morning, though short was absolutely delightful. My conversations with one young man were based on how he hated clowns. And I couldn’t agree more, clowns are scary. As the parade began we watched as marching bands performed, politicians paraded. They were often left running for their cars, the municipal services even paraded with a sense of humor and a smile, not to mention tons of candy or trinkets thrown to the eager often piranha like crowd of children. One sideline parent said it right; " it was a feeding frenzy". We all watched as one by one the floats and groups appeared and disappeared into the parking lot. We waited sometimes in the street waiting to see where our children, husbands or companies were. Once again my companions were inviting and talkative I learned that no gloves were given to the cheerleaders, so as they did their gymnastic tumbles and flips on the hot tarmac so did their hands suffer. One poor girl was busy cooling the blood blisters in her palms. "Maybe next year the coach will give out gloves" was a wishful comment. But dedication and stick-to-it-iveness was an amazing grace of these young girls. The Sheriffs department with their flybys was a heart-pounding site to behold. You had no choice but to look up. The two Mounted Patrols on their Horses and the new guys on bike patrol is something you just don’t see allot of but it was awesome to see them. Kind of reminds you of Teddy Roosevelt a little bit. Military and our boys overseas was present and for a moment made us all watching wish they were home safe. Ever present were mans best friend, or girls best friend. Sadie a rescued dog was one of my side-line companions chair ornament. Having to be watched for but a few moments was something to be witness to. The canine's mommy had to be gone for a moment and was being watched. But she had other plans nearly pulled over the lady who was attempting to watch her and keep her drink in its' container was feutile effort. And more than one Canine was present, Boxers, mutts, labs, retrievers, old ones new babies were all over and proudly wearing bandannas and barking. Participation is part of the fun of enjoying a good hometown parade. There were by and far so many participants it was hard to tell them all, But we did see Barney and the crew from Mayberry parade down the centerline keeping the peace as always. Cars as usual made a large appearance and the two muscle cars Mustangs and Corvettes were there in shiny condition. The same young man that hated clowns was surprising very knowledgeable about Corvettes. He picked out and got excited over a Corvette Spyder. To which his mom insisted it was just a corvette, but this kid knew his stuff, Down to details. One by one as the parade came close to our spot, parents gathered their hot and sweaty overheated children, husbands, family pets and attempted to whisk them to the pool or nearest air conditioning. A just reward for doing something so special. Hometown parades are slowly loosing their place, But it was nice to see that this hometown remained just that; a hometown with hometown values and continues with traditions that are an integral vital part of what makes a place we call home so special. Farragut Tennessee may just be a small spot on the world, but they remain and will continue to remain a true part of Americana. That is a real hometown far and beyond what we could ever imagine. ------------ About the author: Currently Julia is working on creating new books of Folk Crafts from History and getting entries ready for competitions and state fairs. LULU.com is her pereferred publisher and will have all of her volumes available for print this summer. She is still at DePaul University plugging away at her BA in ethnography and stays at home in the East Tenneseee area with her hubby, daughter, nine babies and acre's of wild fruit. Email: jimmysdevoted2@bellsouth.net Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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