You Can’t Rain on Our Parade

For a gal that is completely consumed by everything literacy, I sure do have a tendency to write about significant numbers:  60 Miles & Reading by the Numbers.  This past weekend provided an opportunity to celebrate everything numbers.  It marked the 70th anniversary of the West Point Sweet Corn Festival, an event marked by the power of community if there ever was one.  It also marked my parents 55th wedding anniversary and 40 years in business.

Thanks to some major creativity, time, and effort by my nieces, we celebrated these significant numbers (and more!) by tossing a float into the Sweet Corn Festival parade.  Topping the float were the guests of honor, flanked by their kids, grandkids, and some faithful patrons.  What a celebration!  What a fortunate crew.  THANK YOU Pat Harvey for the idea and Rachel & Taylor for heading up the festivities!

Rumor has it that the Corn Festival parade has never been rained on.  If that rumor is true, it became obsolete yesterday as the Corn Festival parade was most certainly rained on.  But that sure didn’t matter to the parade committee, parade-goers, or those of us who were in the procession.  Upon seeing that the forecast came to fruition, our construction-minded crew quickly erected a tent to keep the guests of honor free from rain.

As it turns out, you can’t rain on our parade.  We had a grand time celebrating our parents, their business, their children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren, and the community of West Point.  The only thing that dampened our celebration was the absence of six family members.  Danny, Nathan, Erin, CJ, Quincy, and Calvin – you were sorely missed.  We’ll catch you on the next one.

My dad, known to have a gift with words, gave a nod to the above in an on-the-spot (how does he do that?!) beautiful one-minute speech shared after the parade in the Corner Tap, their place of business and fine fellowship for 40 years: