John / Billybob
having been in parades ranging from the size of the larger parades in florida, new york, chicago, and detroit, to small parades where a single band can almost fill the parade route, i’ll take the small ones anytime. they’re just plain more fun, and you get a much better sense of community.
I represent almost 20 small mountain towns. The largest three have parades. (Populations 800, 600 and 500 respectively, but two are surrounded by ranches and farms.) The Christmas parade is given by the largest two together. It’s true that you can march and then come back and be part of the audience. Our floats sometimes include harvesters and logging trucks. We even have a gentle old bull and the black powder mountain men who march.
One miracle is a dental van. Our dentists won’t take California MediCal as the pay is so low. Since 65% of our kids live in poverty, that means a large number of them seldom if ever have seen a dentist. (We had kids in 6th grade that had never seen a dentist.) The van has allowed us to give exams and identify needed treatment. We then look for scholarships to send the kids to a nearby county for extensive treatments that may be needed.
Our next outreach is a medical van with an examination room. We also have an “arts bus” to bring art outreach to our mountain communities. Quality of life in regards to health, employment and enrichment can be challenging in the mountains, but we are thankfull for creative hard working people and close communities to give us a good start.
Very nice reading. Good luck in your campaign.