In which the local Independence Day celebrations make us proud
Although I do not love fireworks, there are parts of the local 4th of July celebrations that I do enjoy:
The strawberries are ripe at last!
The child in the photo (above) is no relation, but she did what all the adults wanted to do: eat strawberries, wear strawberries, bathe in strawberries.
Jim and I picked more than 20 pounds--mostly for the freezer, but he also made a batch of fabulous strawberry-agave icecream. Oh, wow!
There's also:
The Duck Dash.
The local Rotary Club sponsors this event as a fundraiser for important local services like the Food Bank and the Boys & Girls Club. When you buy a ticket, the number on your ticket matches the barcode on the butt of a rubber duck.
On July 4th, the local gravel yard fills the bucket of their biggest loader with barcoded duckies and dumps the little quackers into the Stilliguamish River.
(not my photo)
About half a mile downriver, the duckies are collected in a boom, and the first few duckies through the boom gate win big buckies for the holders of the matching tickets. Fun, huh?
Follow the link HERE for more photos--we stayed home for the actual Dumping of the Ducks so I didn't get any pictures. We also didn't win any money...but hey, it's all about the silliness and supporting the community, really.
We did, however, attend the local 4th of July Parade in downtown Arlington. Sorry for the low-quality photos--we only had our phone-cameras on hand, but wanted to share a few images:
The Kiddies' Parade comes first.
The Grand Parade features a lot of local favorites, including the historic firetrucks
(we saw these Great Danes before the parade at the coffee stand...we assumed that they were ordering lattes, double-tall)
and of course, there were tractors:
Happy Independence Day, everyone!
Mmmmm... strawberries.
ReplyDeletegood grief you guys have your own cologne karneval right there in arlington! i didn't see a lot of schnapps going around though.
ReplyDeleteWow. Your duck race is much more dramatic then my towns. Ours get dumped off a dock and only have to race to the beach. Much more dramatic getting dumped of a bridge. My towns also doesn't happen till the end of july.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of the little gurl and the strawberrys.
That looks like so much fun! Reminds me of the small town parades when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteSome of the things I love about Arlington! Sure missed being in the parade with the "Fireworks Pony"! Hopefully next year we'll have a Granddaughter to ride!
ReplyDeleteI love a parade that's down home and doesn't take itself too seriously. So fun. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete(And I'm with you on the fireworks)