Peony Parade

Yesterday was the Peony Parade. The Peony festival and parade are a big deal in Van Wert. People come from all around to enjoy the festivities. The peony is a type of flower that blooms all over town and the county. I will try to remember to take a pic of our peony bushes and post it for you to see. The parade coincides with the blooming of all of the peony plants. Here is me and Nan at the parade.The parade was led by none other than our snazzy new D.A.R.E. car. The rest of the law followed blared their sirens and horns.
Here is an old fashioned fire engine being pulled by a pair of beautiful horses.
No parade in the midwest in complete without several floats pulled by shiny green and yellow tractors.
A bowling ball and pin were an interesting addition to the parade. Those outfits had to be terribly hot inside. It was about 80degrees and HUMID.
Some queen or another being pulled in a beautiful carriage by two gorgeous white horses.
More horses and a make shift float made of hay bales.
Here is the Peony Queen, "Queen Jubilee", and her court. The last girl is the queen and and the second to last girl is the runner up and the representative to Vantage Career Center (the school I used to teach at). The peony queen contest is a pretty big deal and a long standing tradition with the first queen having been crowned in 1932. Each school in the area chooses a representative to participate in the pageant. The girls are awarded scholarships for doing well in various areas of the competition including talent, essay, interview, most congenial, etc.
What's a home town parade without lots of horse drawn buggies?
Another queen with her massive crown and sporty car.
In addition to the sleek new cars, there were lots of classics.
Here is Vantage Career Centers float. I really miss teaching there. I have seen several of my old students since I've been back and it's so good to see them.
A banjo and fiddle player. YEEYA!
Mom's boyfriend pulled one of the floats with his big rig and Avery got to sit in the front and throw candy. He looked like he was having a great time.
The hamburgalur passing out candy to the kiddies.
How bout some big machinery? Yep, there was some of that too.
This parade is a perfect example of life in a farming community in Ohio. It's been years since I've attended the parade and I did enjoy it. Below are a couple of videos that I took. The first is of a group that played bagpipes. The second is of some other wacky clowning type band that played. My grandmother really enjoyed them. It was good to sit out with her spending some time enjoying life.


As a testament to the current state of the economy, a huge group of locked out workers of a local plant walked in the parade. There were probably about 150 of them. They gave out the yellow balloons and carried a banner which thanked the community for its support.