July 1st: Wakefield and Sutton

This was a day of two small-town parades

July 1st: Wakefield 125th Anniversary Parade, Wakefield, NE:
We had to drive a long way to get to Wakefield, NE for this parade, and when we arrived, it was very hot and muggy, though mostly overcast. The town may have been small, but the route was very hilly. Seeing as though this was a celebration of the age of the town, there were tons of women and girls in bonnets and calico dresses. One young couple in period costume rode an old tandem bike. Very cute. On the walk back to the campaign truck, I found the old high school and auditorium.


On the drive between Wakefield and Sutton, we stopped in Columbus, NE, where David played Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball. Amazing.

July 1st: Dug Out Days Parade, Sutton, NE
I'm pretty sure this parade was only 7 blocks long, and all downhill. Before the parade, I visited the local tavern, where I drank a PBR. Upon seeing what I had ordered, the guys from the local band providing the evening's street dance entertainment (sponsored by the bar) said "If I'd known that's what you were ordering, I would've bought it for you!" They want me to come back. There was a group of Red Hat Society ladies on a pontoon boat, all wearing oversized shirts with bikini-clad bodies screenprinted on them, some 4-H goat kids, the ubiquitous requisite community band o f old guys on a flatbed, and best of all, a zebra-painted AMC with an amplifier strapped to the roof blasting "Sweet Home Alabama" filled with guys in mullet wigs throwing not candy but dog food out the windows.