It was a long weekend here in the States, a holiday weekend. Memorial Day was today, which is the day we celebrate the men and women who served our country and gave their life in that service. To honor that sacrifice, our town holds a Memorial Day festival every year. And for a tiny town of about four thousand people, it’s a helluva festival.

The day goes something like this:
9:00 AM – Katie’s Memorial 5k Race
11:00 AM – Memorial Day parade
11:30-ish – General merriment and festivities on the Common

It’s always fun, always impressive, always crowded. It starts with the race, and this year the whole family ran the race, with my younger daughter finishing second in her age group (a total surprise to all–including her). We all got the memorial shirts, and my daughter even got a glass and a custom-made cookie as the second place prize.  Then the parade got under way, which starts down by the town cemetery, and eventually makes its way up the hill to the main street, and then down the main street which is always lined with spectators. And you always know when the parade is getting close to the main street because you can hear the pipe and drum core as they lead the way with the colors. It really is a fantastic parade for a tiny little town.

Here’s some photos from the day (and, yes, the sign on the back of the tractor in the last picture does indeed say “Tractors and Tiaras”):