Today was the day of the Wyandotte Independence Day parade, and I went there for the second straight year to watch my aunt march for a group of hers.
I had planned a whole day with her and my Aunt Pat, one who I don't see too often. Unfortunately, the fireworks fizzled in the form of communication lapses, and I was never able to get with them. About the only benefit of the day was the fact that my car made the 20-mile round trip flawlessly, which bodes well for future long travels.
This year, my aunt was more in the center of the parade versus being the third-from-the-last group, which meant I was in & out of there in an hour. I didn't get a chance to see the Windsor Optimist musical group, who always sound great, and I almost missed the chance to see the Roosevelt High School marching band in action as well. I only caught them because I made two trips to the drop-off area to search for my aunts.
They were playing their own patriotic rendition of "Battle Hymm", and I can only say this: having marched for four years with the old Wyandotte-based Royal Lancers Drum Corps., they did it better, pure and simple. It's hard to describe from a musical standpoint. While Roosevelt's version was more preppy and sophisticated, the Lancers' version was more from the soul. Roosevelt looked like it was just reading sheet music. The Lancers, bless them, knew the music by heart through constant practices, and they were a fan favorite in all the years of marching the parade.
My time spent marching (three years in the honor squad) passed too quickly before the organization was disbanded. But the parade in Wyandotte always brings back great memories of my marching days, where you listened and cared about the music like it was a part of you.
Too bad my aunts weren't part of my day this year. Maybe next year.
And oh yes... you may have noticed: no complaints in the blog this year about illegal fireworks or their blatant mis-use and over-use. There's no point in beating a dead horse.
My stance on them hasn't changed, but no one is going to make these people stop chancing injuring themselves foolishly. This year in the neighborhood was even worse, as both Steve & I swore we heard a couple of M-100s exploded right by us. There was no observance of these activities by authorities, simply because they had no overtime budget for the officers. Another result of the flaggling Michigan economy, whose vicious circle only rotates faster and deeper.
