There were enough pictures of the Alsatia Mummers Parade that I decided to split it off into its own blog entry. I was only able to stay for the first 10 minutes of the parade, but I took a bunch of pictures anyway. Unfortunately, I have had to manipulate the levels quite a bit because it was already pretty dark by the time the parade began and there wasn't much light where I was (at the start of the parade route). This is the banner at the start of the parade.
One of the first marchers in the parade is Little Heiskell, an icon of Hagerstown.
This was the first of many floats in the parade.
Here is Elmo and somebody who looks like Santa.
Santa had his own ride though. That would come later in the parade.
Here's a float for the Tri-State Farm Toy Collectors Club.
This float is loaded up with toddlers in some sort of cheerleading organization. There would be more small cheerleaders.
The scouts with another entry. The floats are judged, by the way.
Not all of the floats look like floats.
Some are pulled by antiques like this steam engine.
And some look like they should be pulled by something on four legs (although this one was hitched up to a pickup!).
And some floats carry things that should be on four legs, I guess.
An antique bus was also technically a float, maybe?
The Ali Ghan Shriners were there in force also. This is one of their cars warming up.
Some other cars they brought.
Well, this kind of looks like a hearse to me, but back in the day, they used hearses as ambulances, and that's what the first ambulances were modeled on, so I guess this is technically an old ambulance.
And the Shriners had a fire truck. They were prepared for any emergency involving their tiny cars, I guess!
There were lots of modern firetrucks, too.
Floats aren't the only thing in the parade. There are plenty of people marching along. Soldiers of different eras led the parade this year. There were some modern soldiers.
And there were some Civil War soldiers.
And even further back, to the Revolutionary War! Kind of like Little Heiskell!
There were color guards also.
The soldiers are not the only ones marching. A feature of this parade is the mummers. Basically, if you have a costume, and you want to march in the parade, you just sign up and do that. The local paper reports that there haven't been many mummers in recent years. The mummers are also judged and can win prizes. I think with a little more publicity they could get some more people to march in the parade as mummers!
This pair of mummers had a Christmas theme, even though the parade is held near Halloween.
Ah . . . did somebody say Halloween? This guy in the William Shatner mask was probably staying up past his bedtime to march in the parade!
More small persons marching in the parade, this time cheering their way along.
We have plenty of beauty pageants around here it seems. Here is Miss Outstanding Teen.
Nearby was Miss Washington County.
Another small cheerleader. Her eyes were not nearly so glowing in real life. Although that would have been cool.
And what does a flag squad march in front of?
That's right. A marching band. There are plenty of bands that march in the parade.
I didn't get to see a lot of the bands because I had to leave the parade early.
Last up, the banner for my old alma mater. One of them. I never did march in the band in high school. Too many classes, not enough time!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Category: Life
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