The weather is always hit or miss for the parade.

The Grand Floral Parade for the Blossomtime Festival was held yesterday. I both appreciate and hate Blossomtime. The fact that it is an event that brings together the local communities is what I appreciate most. The pageantry and the politics that go into it, is what I hate. The Parade is perhaps the most visible and is where the various schools come together and show off in front of the public. Mostly that means bands, floats, and ladies freezing in the cold—a nasty trade off for a crown.

The pictures are going to make this a rather long post so I’ll keep the commentary to a minimum.

Here we have the Court. The way the pageant crap works is that each community holds a contest for Miss [insert community name] and her court. Then all those winners go on to compete for Miss Blossomtime.

Dowagiac’s float had an Olympic theme. My sister suggested that I go out and take the torch screaming, “Free Tibet!”

This float is for The Apple Festival which Niles holds in the fall. I think it’s a pretty cool float but the flags are wrong in my opinion. Three of the four flags for the City of Four Flags are supposed to be these:

The historical flags that flew over Fort Saint Joseph. There is a local debate as to whether the historical flag of the United States should be flown or the current one.

Niles did not represent well. The band’s music was almost unrecognizable and the float was utterly plain.

This two level float in the form of an old river paddle boat was impressive.

I did not know that there was a gay float in the parade until I saw this one. Sad thing is that most probably didn’t realize it when it did go by.



We didn’t stay around for all of it. A front came through and while it didn’t rain on us, it got mighty chilly. I think I am set to sit out the next five years.

South Bend Tribune article.