Garnavillo, Iowa's Grand Fourth of July

2009 Holiday

For over twenty years the town of Garnavillo, Iowa has been celebrating the Fourth of July in a Grand Fashion. Here you see the Color Guard at the start of the Parade. This is accomplished in a town of 700 citizens in Clayton County, Iowa. For those who may not know, Clayton is the only county of Iowa's 99 that does not have a traffic light.

Of course for a parade in Iowa you expect to see a lot of old iron. Here you can also see the wet pavement which was caused by a steady mist during the parade. The weather did not hamper the activities and by the end of the parade the sun came out. This is a Case Tractor.

In as much as the Annual Fourth of July Parade is the highlight of the year and almost everyone who ever graduated from the Garnavillo Community High School comes home for the Fourth most classes have their Reunions. The reunions are not held every year but on the five year anniversaries. Here you see the Class of 1959 in an appropriate Farm Wagon. This is Iowa

Of course the Beef producers have an appropriate entry in the parade. This Herford has been around for a few years.

After the parade everyone gathers in the City Park which is adorned with 108 flags to represent the Heroes who have been memorialized by family members with the purchase of a flag. Each Flag represents a Garnavillo Area citizen who has served our Country. These Flags are put in place by the American Legion and are also put on display on Memorial Day and Veterans Day each year.

Only in Small Town America will you see such a community event such as this. In fact for the fire works show for 2010 there were volunteers along the parade collecting money donations for the fire works. The grand fireworks show for 2009 was paid for by donations collected in 2008. Trust me, it was a grand and gala show.