2004 PARADES
Sedona, AZ 2004 St Patrick's Day Parade
The first trial run of my new "Parade Trailer" was a winner! As a payload I had my Grand-Daughter Autumn and her 2 little girls, Tori (right) & Kylie (left), all wearing their St Pat's green wigs! This little rig proved to be a fresh item in this traditional parade. The spectator acceptance and applause was overwhelming to my grand daughter but to be expected from anyone who has driven a homebuilt carriage in a parade. People love them.
Sweetwater, Texas 2004 Rattlesnake Roundup Parade
A Parade can be held for any number of reasons. Normally we think of Christmas, Fourth of July, etc. But, Ron Rehba of Sweetwater, Texas, brought to my attention the Annual Rattlesnake Roundup, held in Sweetwater, Texas, the second week of March.
Ron, active in the Sweetwater Jaycees, fashioned his parade ride around Jimmy Woods' plans with a salvaged lawn mower for engine and transaxle.
Scottsville, Virginia 3rd of July, 2004 Parade
Pete Thorsen of Charlottesville, Virginia sends us this picture of him and his fine copy of the Jimmy Woods car (see Issue #8 of Engine and Wheels). Pete, also, had a flat tire. He simply removed the tire and tube and continued the parade on the rim. These bicycle size tires are really vulnerable to thorns, staples and small nails. Treating tires with a good sealant such as Slime is a wise investment.
Founder's Day Parade - Sept 11, 2004
Peidmont, Oklahoma
Jim Pratt, the proud grandfather/builder walks beside Haley as she drives her second
parade. Her fire hat and the ladders carry through the theme as her father,
in his FD uniform, walks behind. Jims car was featured in earlier E & W newsletters.
Charlottesville, VA Christmas Parade - Nov 27, 2004
— Children, Old Timers and Replica Antique Carriages —
The perfect formula for good times!
If you don't believe it, just ask Pete Thorsen!
Two Florida Parades In One Day - Dec 4th, 2004! Some People Have All The Luck!
Below, I let Pete Burger tell his own story of the two parades.
Today, Judy and I made two Christmas parades. The weather was kind of cold for Central Florida, but we found our jackets, loaded up our Olds and took off. The first parade was in Winter Garden, Florida. It started at 10:00 AM and we finished at 12:30 PM. It covered several miles of city streets and it was wall-to-wall people. It sure was great to drive our machine on the public streets without a care. After the Winter Garden parade we headed our machine east to Ocoee, Florida. This was about a 3 mile ride and very enjoyable. We arrived at the Ocoee staging area a little late, but I do not think that any parade gets going on time. While we were staging we had a little sprinkle of rain. It soon passed but it did rain long enough for me to make my mind up to start a fold down carriage top project that I think I saw in the 1901 Olds file on your web site. Finally, we got going and because of a lot of construction work on some of the Ocoee streets, we had another nice long ride. Here again, we had a large parade turn out and a lot of people. I saw a TV crew pointing their camera at us so I guess we will be on local TV in the next few days. We sure put on the miles and had a wonderful time but I was sure glad to pull up in front of my garage and shut the engine off. All the while we were traveling I kept saying that I'm sure glad that I took your advise on tire pressure and slime in the tires. We traveled a lot of rough streets and we sure hit a lot of potholes but my tires and wheels held up good with no problems.
Cottonwood, AZ 2004 Annual Christmas Parade - Dec 04, 04
The kids smiles were only exceeded by Ron Shutter of Boulder City, Nevada, who brought his 1901 replica Curved Dash Oldsmobile over for the parade.
If there's a common denominator with parades, it has to be smiles!
Even B.J., my grand son, smiled while constantly pumping up his thorn infested tiresWith all the worries of keeping every thing running, I didn't smile much. But, I made up for it the next day after learning that we had won First Place in the Antique/Classic car division of the parade, netting us a nice trophy and cash award!
If you think having one car in a parade is fun, try three.
To go to 2003 Parades ( Click here )
To go to 2005 Pardes ( Click here )
