Last Parade in MO for Me

Saturday morning, the eleventh of September, I participated in my last parade in Missouri. In a week, I'll be driving down to Florida where a whole new set of politicians await. While I was driving the daughter of our State Representative (Katie had graduated from the stroller, but decided walking with mom and dad was easily trumped by riding in the Corvette), I snapped several pictures of the crowd and the "luminaries". Katie stood up on the passenger side and waved to her grade school friends. She was not impressed with the car, only the fact she was a star.

Turning the corner of one street, I almost ran over our Congressman from the 2nd District. Another shot took in another Congressman, Roy Blunt, who is running for Senate this year. That's Roy at the top of the blog, and Todd Akin (to the right of the dog) with his back turned on me. Come to think of it, Todd is to the right of many in Congress as well.

A somewhat larger picture is of my friend Tim, who is our local State Representative. Tim was caught preparing the troops for the event, dispensing supplies from the rear of his SUV. The volunteers would then dismount from the trailer and pass out candy, t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. A friends truck (not shown) would pull the trailer.....you didn't think I'd do that to a Corvette, did you? Call me crazy, but don't call me to haul a trailer down Main Street.

The town, from the top of the hill, is Eureka, Missouri - a neighbor to my City of Wildwood, where I lived and served (as Councilman and Mayor) from 1986 to 2010. It is quintessentially Main Street America. A place where people turn out to watch parades, to wave to the marching units, to listen to the bands, to endure the politicians, and to cap it off with a carnival in the town park. My town in Florida doesn't compete with these Midwestern values, but hopefully I can import a few with my furniture when I move. My Missouri friends will always have a place to visit when they come see me at the beach on Longboat Key.