Mighty & Daisy

I couldn't resist posting just one more photo of this gorgeous team!

The Littlest Soldier

This little boy was so proud to march with his Uncle during the West Paris Memorial Day Parade...

West Paris Memorial Day Parade

The beautiful weather brought out a big crowd for our town parade this morning! This teamster was so happy to haul the Grand Marshals...although judging by the grins on their faces, I think the Grand Marshals were just as happy!

Lots more pix from this fun day to come...

Christmas Parade

This afternoon, West Paris held its annual Christmas Fair and Parade, followed by a tree lighting ceremony. The Cub Scouts were honored by leading the parade to the Christmas tree, which they planted a couple of years ago, down by the town hall. Here you can see them marching behind the firetruck that was lighting the way. Unfortunately, just like during the Veteran's Day Parade, you can't see their handsome uniforms because of their winter jackets and snowpants...

Patriotic Jacket

This little boy was excited to show off his new jacket at the parade!

Little Dog

This lucky little doggie got to participate in the Veterans' Day Parade. Her mom held her during the Memorial Service. She was taking it all in and seemed happy to be out with all the people!

Proud Mother

This woman marched in the parade, carrying a portrait of her son, who is overseas serving in the Army. During the service she read a message to the town from her son, thanking us for our support.

Memorial Park

We gathered in the West Paris Veterans' Memorial Park for prayers and tributes to our veterans, past & present. For such a small town, we have more than a dozen soldiers currently serving in the Middle East...

Patriotic Truck

This truck was all decked out for the parade! It was proudly driven by a local veteran and his family.

Final March

The lady pushing the walker has been leading and organizing the parades on Memorial Day & Veterans' Day for over 20 years. Sadly, she has decided to retire, so this was her last parade and she is passing the torch on to the next generation.

Here they come!

I ran ahead so that I could get pictures of the parade marching down Main Street...

Bundled up!

It was bitterly COLD! BRRRR! The wind blew little snowflakes around, but we persevered and marched!! This is my littlest, honored to be carrying the American Flag in the parade.

Veterans' Day Parade

Everyone gathered in front of the elementary school before the parade. We were early, so I had the boys pose in front of the sign...

Li'l Red Bug

This car caught the eye of another CDP blogger, so I thought I would showcase it today. It's an adorable Beetle, in my very favorite color! Being a mother, I particularly appreciate the license plate!! ;-) The car was part of the antique car line-up during the West Paris Old Home Days Parade a few weeks ago.

Whoa! That's one tall man!!

Stilt walkers are so fascinating! How do they do it? First of all, I would be way too afraid of falling - how would I get back up again? This guy seemed to be enjoying himself and as you can see, it wasn't just the children that he was entertaining...

BTW that bag that he is carrying is full of candy, which he was tossing out into the crowd.

The Dark Horse

Yes, it's entirely possible that I love this car for its name! ;-) My favorite antique cars are the muscle cars - rev that engine and I'm hooked. Stock car racing is okay, but too much time spent watching them go around in a circle. Drag racing is more my speed! The faster and louder, the better!!

Parading Down Main Street

These antique cars were part of the parade on Saturday. My husband is rather partial to that pretty blue Chevy. My favorite is the car second in line - I'll show it better tomorrow. Actually, my favorite antique car is wrapped around the third finger of my left hand. My husband (then boyfriend) owned a 1955 Mercury Monterey, which he sold in order to buy my diamond engagement ring...

Napolean

I know, I know, some of you are thinking "More horses?!" I'd apologize, but I'm not really sorry! ;-) I'll never tire of taking pictures of horses, but I will promise that this is the last one for a while. I just had to share this image from the parade...

Here's why: it reminded me of my very favorite childhood song! Does anyone else know this one?

"There once was a horse whose name was Napoleon,
all because of his bony parts.
He was owned by Joseph Murch,
and he'd only go by fits and starts.

He was so skinny you could see right through him,
and his hair was soft as silk.
I hitched him up to my milk wagon,
when I wanted to stop, I hollered "Milk!"

Well one day when I was a ridin',
along came a fella in a rig so neat.
Said he to me, "Come on you sinner,
we'll have a race right down the street."

Away we went a helter-skelter,
me with a smile all over my face.
Sure as I'm a sinner I'd a come out the winner,
but he hollered "MILK!" and I lost the race."

My mother and her sister taught us this song when we were children and we sang it all the time. Pretty much every car trip would find us singing to pass the time. Now, I sing it for my boys - they love to hear me sing the race part double-time and then really yell that final "Milk!"

A Google search for this song shows that many people sing it, but the words are changed based on the location, especially in regards to the name of the owner - generally the singer would choose someone local. There is also much dispute over who originally wrote it, as could be expected...

Belgians!!

West Paris kicked off their Old Home Days festivities last night with a spectacular fireworks display and a rockin' band. First thing this morning we enjoyed a parade down Main Street. This team is owned by friends of ours, so they are extra special to me. They pulled a big stagecoach filled with people in the parade, and also took groups on tours throughout town today. Of course, we enjoyed a ride as well!

Downtown, again...

I realized when I was browsing through my photos from the Memorial Day Parade that I had taken a shot that was almost identical to the one that I posted earlier in the year. So, here is another look downtown....