40th Annual Fourth of July

Parade

Garnavillo, Iowa U. S. A.

I have often heard that if you desire to celebrate the Fourth of July in the proper manner that you need to visit a small town in America.  Garnavillo, Iowa has been celebrating for forty years.  I was able to observe this parade which lasted for one hour in Garnavillo down U. S. Highway 52.  The population of this small town is 700 citizens.  Of course the parade has entries from across Clayton County.  Each town has fire trucks in the parade as well as business organizations.  Most of the pictures do not need an explanation.  Enjoy this opportunity to see what makes America Great.

 This earth mover is manufactured in the town of Elkader, Iowa which is also the county seat of Clayton County.  For your information Clayton County is the one county in Iowa that does not have a traffic light.  The other 98 counties have them.

 Of course no parade in Iowa is complete without a few tractors.  This John Deere was the newest tractor in the parade.  For your information, the modern farm tractor was first developed in the nearby town of Frolich, Iowa.  It was demonstrated in 1892.  The inventor was bought out by a firm known as "The Waterloo Boy" which was later bought out by John Deere.

 Two local 4-H Clubs had interesting floats in the parade.  These round bales were decorated for this parade.

 The oldest tractor in the parade.  It was a Farmall and the signature color in later years was bright red.

 It is interesting to note that the town of Garnavillo has seven fire fighting machines/rescue units.  This volunteer department, like others in most of Iowa are proud of their accomplishments and their ability to save lives and eliminate fires.

 After the parade the local youth participated in a "fire fighting competition."  There were many teams that participated in this event.

As I departed the parade route I turned around to capture this shot.  This accurately displays what life in the United States of America is all about. 

The city park was filled with food vendors and a family of four could enjoy a wonderful locally prepared meal from various civic organizations for less than fifteen dollors.  I enjoyed a hamburger sandwich with all the trimings as well as a lemonade at the Knights of Columbus food stand.