It almost rained on the International Falls parade.
Sounds of the national anthem, band music and bagpipes drowned out the continuous rolling thunder throughout the celebration, and the rain held out until minutes after the parade made its way down Third Street Wednesday afternoon.
“We had reports of bad weather starting to hit, but we had everything ready to go so we made the decision to start (the parade) early,” said parade chairman Kevin Adee. “We tried to hopefully avoid getting rained on during the parade.”
The decision allowed the annual parade to go smoothly, even with dark clouds across town.
“The parade means a lot of things to the community,” Adee said. “It celebrates our independence and at the same time, it’s a day for families to get together and have fun.”
Adee, who has been involved in the parade for the past 21 years, said parade organizers and volunteers cross their fingers every year for good weather on the Fourth of July. He added, “it’s too bad we had a rain shower” afterwards; it put a damper on park activities.
The children participating at the kids’ races at Smokey Bear Park filed in quickly to race against the storm. Lines at food vendors moved at a fast pace, and children could be seen protecting their cotton candy from the rain.
“People look forward to the celebration every year,” Adee said. “It’s a good time and always a good thing for the community.”
He’d like to see more businesses and organizations participate in the parade, he said. “The more organizations get involved in it, the more fun it gets,” Adee said.
The theme this year was The 100th Anniversary of the International Bridge: Celebrating 100 years of bridging two countries.
Backus Community Center won first place in the themed floats category, followed by Boise at second place and Never Ending Consignment at third place.
The non-themed float winners were Falls Kart Club in first place, Falls Fusion Fast pitch in second place, and Falls High School Class of 1962 in third place.
In contrast, sun shined on the park Tuesday evening as children played games and bands played music. The annual barrel rides were popular among the children, and the children’s karaoke event sent song and dance across the park.
Raedean and Jeff Hiebert stood along the fenced-in barrel rides and gave children high-fives. The couple brings their three children from Brainerd to the Falls for the Fourth of July every year. Raedean graduated from Falls High School in 1991 and enjoys returning to her hometown.
“The whole celebration is exciting; that’s why we’re here,” Raedean said with a smile. “And it’s nice to be reacquainted with my high school buddies.”
Tina and Rick Stuart, who both grew up in the Falls, feel the same way. Now living in Blackduck, the couple returns each year for the Independence Day celebration.
“It’s always nice meeting people you used to know,” Tina said.
Marilyn Phillips also agrees her favorite part of Fourth of July is getting together with people. Phillips celebrated her 50th class reunion from Falls High School; the members of class of 1962 rode a float in the parade.
“To me, all the people in the community and the ones that come from out of town are so much fun,” Phillips said.
Birchdale celebration
Across the county in Birchdale, local people also said they were lucky that the rain held off in time for their local parade to make its way, according to organizer Soren Oleson.
“Birchdale had another successful parade and celebration on July 4, 2012,” Oleson said.
The parade brought together community members, who gathered for a celebration which included the World’s Greatest Potluck, games and several guests of honor.
Guests of honor were Minnesota Logger of the Year Erickson Timber, represented by Dale Erickson, and National Teacher of the year Lois Lewis, who is the family and consumer sciences teacher at Indus School.
Birchdale’s winning floats were an exploding outhouse called “Birchdale Big Bang Theory, which took the first-place prize. Second place went to a musical celebrity float titled “Bieber Fever” featuring people dressed in costumes as Justin Bieber, Bill Clinton and George Bush.
A pirate float, the “SS Imes,” won third place. The fourth-place winner was a camouflaged pickup full of water, called the “Redneck Duck Hunt.” Fifth place went to the Birchdale Sunday School with a “Jesus is Shelter” float.
