Today was the Pride in Portage Independence Day Parade, and honestly, it was one of the nicest parades I have ever been to, anywhere. Not just this summer, but any I have ever gone to ever.
Not because of the size of the groups that were participating, or how elaborate the entries were in the parade, or whether they had a 50 foot tall Mickey Mouse that was floating down the street. It was just a cool parade, with tons of nice people in it, and loads of fun people watching it, and everybody there looked to me like they were having a great time.
There were firetrucks, police cars, baseball players, bands, political leaders, churches, businesses, dancers, and all the other kinds of things you would expect to see in any good parade. And the people sat along the route on the curb, or in their chairs, or stood and cheered when someone they knew came by, sort of like happens at all good parades. The weather was about perfect so that probably helped.
But this was different.
Portage is a big enough city that it is a pretty big parade start to finish. It is a also a small enough city that it still feels like a hometown parade somehow. This is my first year attending, so maybe it has always been like this and I just didn’t know. Maybe these people are just generally pretty happy. All I can say is I had an incredibly good time – not sure how else to say it.
A huge part of what we do, and why I personally like to do it, is we get to connect with people, whether it is online via the site, email, or facebook, or walking down the street like saying hi to people at a parade and asking them what do they love about their town. Some would say that running around sweaty and out of shape on a hot day, so I can shout to a bunch of people I may not even know yet, asking them to say "We Love Portage", is nutty, and it probably is.
But when you say hi to a family, group of people, or folks young and old along the street and ask them what they love about Portage and darn near every single one of is willing to talk to you and give you an answer, it is about the most fun I know how to have while possibly making a living at this. The kids on the teams, the parents with the organizations, the huge number of volunteers it takes to pull the whole thing off, the judges panel, the freeze pop sticks, and the absolutely incredible impression left by the human statue that came to life right towards the end honoring our military, were just a blast to be a part of.
So parades are cool no matter what. They bring out what is best in a community, and when it is an independence day parade, that throws national pride on top of civic pride for a whole nother pride fest mix of things happens. Even so, this one was different.
It was funner as one kid said compared to other parades that he has gone to. Maybe that is why they call it the Pride in Portage Independence Day Parade. This was my first one, and I am a bit like a kid already looking forward to the next one.
All I know is that I was the kid who said this one was funner.
If you happen to think that a cool parade in Portage, and other Good News type stuff like this would be enjoyed by some of your family, friends, kids, and neighbors, please forward this article on to them. Especially some of the funner ones. :)
If you want to check out the photos from the parade, we put them up into two galleries since there are many:
Clubs, Organizations, and Other (inlcudes Recreation and Athletics)
and
Businesses, Politicians, and City Services
If you want to check out photos from the celebration Saturday night at Trumble Field and the fireworks, here they are:
Independence Day Trumble Field Activities and Fireworks
If you want to see a video of the parade, here it is: