If you keep up with my little blog, you know that I recently spent a week in Iowa. Today’s prompt, “Military Monday,” seemed to work well enough for another set of photos – the ones I took of the 53rd Annual Hedrick Barbeque Days Parade on June 23rd. This year’s theme was “Honoring Our Veterans.”

I remember attending some of the BBQ Days events when I was back for a visit as a teenager, but I confess – I remember the Friday night street dance but not the Saturday morning parade…..

I didn’t take a picture of every float or vehicle in the parade. There were quite a few vintage cars, trucks, and tractors. The churches in town were responsible for most of the floats and I thought they did a great job with the theme. Dad(Jerry)’s church alone contributed four floats. Dad and I helped/supervised/distracted/encouraged the float builders one afternoon.  Amazingly, one of the float builders was my age and remembered me from our teenaged years when I would come and stay for a month in the summer. (Click to enlarge photos.)

Dad leading the Christian Church Floats

The pictures on the floats are of veterans and current military personnel submitted by the community. Dad made sure to honor a Civil War ancestor of ours on one of the floats. 

John Sylvester Strange, 49th Regiment Indiana Volunteers, Company K – my great-great-grandfather.

When I spent time in Hedrick 40-some years ago, there were still banks and businesses downtown. Now the banks are gone, the schools are closed, and there isn’t much open on Main Street. It is still a lovely community. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and the surprise of seeing several people that I knew all those years ago.

A short bit from the local Ottumwa TV station: