Last year Luke and a few of his friends staked claim to a small chunk of sidewalk in Northeast Portland for the Rose Festival’s Junior Parade. They clapped along to Louis Louis and waved to junior princesses in glittery crowns. It was a delightful afternoon, minus one major problem: NO CANDY! Not a single Jolly Rancher was launched from passing floats or clowns in crowded cars. My girlfriend, who originates from Minnesota, talked the kids up about her memories of dragging home a sack full of candy after summer parades near the lake. I too remembered running into the street to collect piles of candy tossed along the route.
Why no candy? For the last year we’ve dissected this issue at length. A skilled therapist might suggest too much energy has been invested, but we’ve formulated a variety of practical theories. For instance could it be that in today’s society parade organizers are concerned about being sued? Imagine the publicity if a Reece Peanut Butter Cup landed in the hands of a child allergic to peanut butter! In classrooms across the country peanuts have been elevated to levels much like those of controlled substances. But, the simple solution would be to follow suit and ban any peanut bearing candy from the parade. Maybe it’s that parade organizers are worried that launching a Blow Pop from a passing float will take out an eye. Unlikely, but it could happen and the news crews would air that footage for weeks on end. I’ll stop here with my candy conspiracy theories, but feel free to email if you’re craving more.
This past weekend we unfolded lawn chairs and liberally applied sunscreen along Highway 99 in anticipation of the Hazel Dell parade. I warned Luke not to expect candy. The parade was slow to start, consisting of homemade floats, middle school marching bands, and local school board candidates. Luke skittered into the street when a Chevy full of little league-rs began pitching (wait a minute while I rub my eyes) candy to the crowd. It didn’t stop with baseball teams, but literally rained down on us from every passing politician and float for the next two hours. Candy flew so fast Luke could barely scoop up a pile before he was pelted with more. By the end he’d amassed more candy than last Halloween. I’m not sure if somehow Vancouver is immune to parade code of this new century or maybe just behind the times, but either way I’m happy to see that some traditions live on.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Community, Made Me Laugh, Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
