Parade in a Small Town
I put together a small gif slideshow of 5 pics from a homecoming parade in a sleepy Charleston, W.Va. that my father participated in sometime at the later end of the 40's. It's a 'snapshot' in time, a window into a not-so-distant past. I think the mix of races in the crowd is fascinating.
My father's in one of the closer pics grinning at the camera. He retired from the Army when he got back from New Guinea after WW2 ended. He told me that on the way home after being shipped back to the base out West, he had to change train cars on the rest of the way back home to Pennsylvania from the integrated train to the 'colored' rail line when they reached the segregated towns.
This parade and the obviously interested crowd is also notable for the young folks who witnessed this fascinating and pretty unique (for the time) unit of black soldiers. I've always named the one photo with the single soldier strutting out in front 'Proud Soldier' for the one fellow's sense of pride and the apparent appreciation shown by the mix of residents of the town looking on . . .
We have a Fourth of July parade down our circular street every year. It's a bit of hometown magic - not large by any standard, but probably the nicest thing about this town.
Most of the adults start drinking first thing in the morning and there's a softball game later on in the afternoon with the two adjoining streets competing against each other.
Here's two short vids on facebook of the parade from a couple years back (I swear it looked just the same today, except for the clouds and impending rain) :
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=542262975895848
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=542267199228759
Happy July 4th, everyone!
= new reply since forum marked as read
...happy 4th!
