Little Cousin Jasper Parade

A large crowd greeted the 2013 Little Cousin Jasper parade on Saturday. The parade began with the fire department's antique truck and one other truck. The start was not as noisy as many parade starts are. Near the front were this year's king and queen of the festival (I guess that is what they are.) For the kids along the street, the parade is all about candy. The lad on the edge of the picture practiced darting out to grab candy before the parade began. His preparation showed during the parade--he did an excellent job of getting to the candy, and there was a lot of it tossed out.

 One of the entries that got a warm reception from the kids along the route was the McDonald van with a Ronald McDonald clown.

 You might notice that I had a kid's eye view of the parade. That is because I was accompanied by three little ones. The boy was quite fascinated with the long line of tractors from the Retired Iron guys. There were at least ten or twelve of them. My other two charges were not so excited because the tractors segment was candy free.

 The Rensselaer marching band was bigger than I expected. There was only one other band in the parade, a very small one that I think was from South Newton. The SJC band, which has often taken part in the parade, had a home football game on their schedule. (SJC narrowly defeated Valpo.)

 There were some pets on parade. I am not sure why the pony had the square fabric box over it.

 The strangest animal was a tortoise. By the time I realized what it was, it was past me.

A small dragster was an unusual entry. It was being pulled.

Hoof-n-Harness provides carriage rides for various occasions. They fit into any parade well.

The grand marshals of this years parade were Roger and Vicky Steffen. They have been active in several community causes. Vicky Steffen helped resurrect the Festival a few years ago when it lapsed. Roger remains active in the 5K running circuit and has run some of the local 5Ks.

The festival seemed to have bigger crowds this year than in recent years. The organizers did an excellent job.

Several notes from downtown: The business I called the Store with No Name is closing. I am not sure when its final days are. The old Murray's Department Store, more recently Hometown Bargains, has active renovation going on inside. It will be, according to several reliable sources, the future home of 24 Fitness that is currently in the College Mall. The building that is next to the Lafayette Bank and Trust, and was used by the bank during its renovation, has a big "For Sale" sign on it. And Maggies Jazzy Cuts has moved from Vine Street (I think) to the small space across from R&M and next to the tattoo parlor.

Update: Lots more pictures on the Little Cousin Jasper Festival Facebook page.