Watch The Parade
By Mr.e

We had a community event in this neighborhood a few weeks back.

It was a big deal. The shopping strip basically turned into a parade venue. The shops were still open for business. What with the thousands of spectators drawn to this public display like so many moths to the light or Magpies to shinny things, the math wasn’t difficult.

By 9:30am the sky was already littered with balloons that had escaped the sweaty clutches of little kids buzzing on cotton candy and the scent or stench of oh so many BBQ’s and hot dog stands clawed itself into thousands of nostrils and wallets.

Mixed with the noise level (sitting on the curb) intake of motorcycle exhaust, thanks to more than one police motorcycle drill team, it proved irresistible to many.

In no time cooks were slapping, flipping, turning and loading burgers, pigs, home made sausages, hot dogs, whole and half-chickens, salmon and sundry other fryables before long. A meat lovers delight, if you had a huge appetite, deep pockets and the stamina to trek the length of the parade/merchant route.

And that was before the parade got itself sorted out and started. Well, this was the kind of parade that didn’t have floats.

Hmmm, I think they should think about that for next year judging by this years reaction by the public. Sure, it is a community event and a chance to highlight each and every kind of business from small to major corporate entity in this part of town, but come on. Who wants to see each and every store march its employees down some long-winded route? Every one it seemed.

And these guys were positively not throwing candy. A real bummer for the little sugar junkies lining the pavement.

Things took on a party mood after a while when it became apparent that the parade was over. WRONG. It wasn’t over. A huge lag had developed in the organizing list and the bicycle cops blew themselves silly trying to clear thousands of pedestrians who had the run of this main strip for the duration of the day.

What followed (parade wise) would have done better and garnered more attention had they been diverted down some side street for all the curiosity they elicited from the already bored and hungry crowds that had suffered through a few hours of mouthwatering clouds of fire-pit smoke.

After the parade winds down (sooner or later) every year, the parade onlookers have the main strip to themselves for the better part of the day to sample the various food offerings and such before the police open the strip for traffic again. It’s a great way to check out restaurants you’ve not tried before and meet the proprietors who made an effort to put out. It’s a real togetherness experience for this community and one that tends to knit things together.

It says much about the community spirit if a lame parade can bring out close to 20,000 spectators to cheer and support their merchants. It’s great.

The only big parade look alike was the giant Zeddy (Zellers) inflatable that had to be brought to it’s knees at every intersection. And I imagine the formal dress Mounties had pretty sore feet after stumbling along this long-winded parade route in stiff looking dress boots.

Oh yeah, I had to get some shopping done that day and it proved a challenge. I finally resorted to the back alleys that offered easy access to all of the stores I needed to get to.

Grocery shopping along a parade route lined with parade crazy enthusiasts is just something one should avoid at all costs.