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The Oct. 25 parade that took place in
conjunction with the Cedar City Livestock and Heritage
Festival was a tribute to all who were involved. |
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The past three weeks have been more than slightly stressful for everyone in this country. In our case, they were made even worse when my bookkeeper and stock broker died within days of one another.
So rather than sit around the house in Las Vegas and find ourselves overwhelmed by political ads, we decided to head for Duck Creek, where the environment is awesome, the people are warm and friendly and the beer is cold.
And on Saturday, we headed down Highway 14 for Cedar City, where true-blue Americana was exemplified by the annual Cedar City Livestock and Heritage Festival, which culminated with a parade that would make any city in America proud.
In a nutshell, I am a 43-year resident of the desert who moved from northern California to southern Nevada at the age of 15 in 1966. After growing up in the country with fishing, hunting, water and field after field of agriculture, I found myself smack dab in the desert, full of opportunity and short of greenery and a real county fair.
So when we stood on Main Street, seeing thousands of people lined up and down each side, it reminded me of northern California, complete with real enthusiasm and real people.
There were old John Deere tractors, along with various tractor trailer rigs and even a real-life bagpipe group. And, to culminate the day, there were hundreds of sheep paraded through the middle of Cedar City in a scene so picturesque it would undoubtedly make an excellent scene for “CBS Sunday Morning.”
I found myself thinking about the small-town parades in northern California, along with the ones we have seen in Wisconsin, where American flags fly and people respond by applauding and cheering.
It was at that point that I suddenly realized that the parade in Cedar City was not only fun to watch, but it was also good for the soul. It was colorful, entertaining and illustrated that families who work together stay together.
Considering that I have been involved in various special events in the past 25 years, I tend to look
deeper into an event itself.
So as I stood watching the parade in Cedar City, I wondered who was responsible for everything from the early brainstorming sessions to taking the entries and finally scheduling the parade itself.
You see, somewhere behind the scenes are people who not only logged countless hours to present the parade, but created a masterpiece at the same time. They undoubtedly started months ago to create the 2008 event knowing full-well that a long list of variables ranging
from personnel to the weather can many times be unpredictable elements in something as massive as a parade.
And those same people did not give up, even though they had countless responsibilities in their lives. They trudged on to present a good old-fashioned and healthy parade that brought smiles to the faces of many people during some very troubling times.
They made people living in other places thankful for the trip to Cedar City. From the throng that packed the street to those who participated in the parade, the Cedar City Livestock Parade was a homerun.
With that, all of those involved should take a bow and pat one another on the back for a job well done. It was awesome.
Mike Henle is a Las Vegas based freelance writer and the author of “Through the Darkness: One Man’s Fight to Overcome Epilepsy.” He can be contacted via e-mail at mhenle@aol.com or through his Web site www.mikehenle.com.
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