Fun Fourth for the Family Reunion

Yesterday was a nice day. With the family in town for the family reunion, we headed off for the Fourth of July parade and festivities in Patagonia, AZ. I wasnt sure how the family would react to a local, small town parade and celebration, but a good time was had by all.

This was probably the biggest turnout of folks I have seen in Patagonia for the Fourth of July. There must have been thousands of folks wandering through the town. The parade went off very nicely. As usual, the local volunteer fire departments led the way. The Border Patrol, Park Services and some Hotshot wildifre teams were also present. As they have every year, the Sabbar Shriners again brought their motorcycle demo team, two mini-car driving teams and of course the clown corps. The Tombstone Vigilantes were also present in their authentic western garb and weapons making a bunch of noise. They come from Tombstone, AZ about 45 minutes away each year and also do a mock hanging of the parade honorary chairman. All of the local groups (such as 4H, Cub Scouts, etc) had floats or wagons in the parade too.

One of the local traditions in the parade is that the cars/floats/wagons in the parade throw candy to the kids lining the street. The kids have fun chasing the tossed candy. Also, the parade members also have water balloons and squirt guns that they use to try to douse folks. The fire departments and a few others, cheat and use their hoses to get folks wet. The kids on the street return the favor and try to hit the parade participants with water ballons and their own squirt guns. Savannha made a run at a clown once to get him wet, but he pulled out a big squirt gun and just drenched her. It was funny watching her making her suicide run to him. The water is useful on the hot Arizona summer days to keep cool, though yesterday was overcast and not too hot. The weather was very enjoyable.

After the parade, we ate some authentic local Mexican food – except for the Michigan crowd who opted for the Italian sausage and bell pepper sandwiches. The food was very good and it was nice to see more vendors back this year after a disappointing number last year.

In the early afternoon, Suzanne took the stage for her Great American Songbird show. She sang many old time favorite songs after starting the show with the Star Spangled Banner. She ended the show with some additional patriotic favorites. Her performance was well received by the crowd.

After Suzanne’s show, everyone was ready to go, so we headed back to Sonoita. A little bit of Texas Hold Em and Xbox 360 video games closed out the day. Mr Papa prepared some grilled chicken, hamburgers, potatoe salad, cole slaw and baked beans for dinner.

A fun day was had by all. Today, the family is going to play some more poker, some more Xbox and head off to Sierra Vista for some swimming at The Cove.