52 Photo Challege, 2012

Coming from NYC as I do, where parades are huge nearly professional productions, I love our samll town Memorial Day parade. There's the bands from the high school and middle school; a contingent of politicians and veterans (Including Mr. Linn, who was in the Pacific in WW II and who still proudly wears is original Navy uniform!); various civic groups; the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, Little League, Berlin Youth Soccer, the high school robotics team, the local dance school, the nursery school; and at the end, the volunteer fire department with the fire engines. Nearly every kid of elementary school age and half the kids in the high school and middle school are in the parade. The street is lined with their doting parents, grandparents and younger siblings. The latter come with bags in which to collect the candy thrown by the marchers. It's almost as good as Halloween. My husband and I are always in the parade as "kid sweepers," walking in front of the SUV that pulls the float for UpBeat (a leadership training/social service/drug and alcohol prevention program at our high school) to keep eager little kids from being run over if they dart out after candy.

This is the high school marching band as it makes its way down the town's main street. It's almost reached the firehouse, where a huge American flag is suspended between the ladders of two of the engines. A combination of Dry Brush and Accented Edges softens the details so that the important elements--the band, the on-lookers, the flag, and the iffy sky--stand out better.