Clawson 4th of July Parade

I concluded A drum corps 4th of July from the Troopers by mentioning what I'd be doing for the holiday.

Happy Fourth of July!  Enjoy your Independence Day celebration while I march in a parade.


I'll be sure to report on it later this month.  Stay tuned!

I'll start with something that happened that I didn't see, but WXYZ did: Firefighter proposes to girlfriend during Clawson 4th of July parade

One local couple was creating their own fireworks at the Clawson 4th of July parade Monday morning.

That's a cool story and I'm glad to have caught it online.  I was about an hour behind with Cyndi Peltonen and her family and volunteers, the same people I marched with two years ago.  The experience was just as fun, but a lot less dramatic than two years ago, when I joined them at the last minute, after the following photo was taken.


This year, I decorated her car and a trailer with signs, then marched carrying an American flag.  In my 41 years of marching, I'd never done that in a parade before.  That was the good news.  The bad news was that I didn't pass out any candy this year.  That's one of my favorite parts of the parade.  On the other hand, a Navy veteran saluted the flag as it passed.  I saw him, realized I should have military bearing, then marched at attention, eyes front, as he saluted.  That was an uncanny experience.

I also met Crystal Proxmire, whose videos and news reports I'd been including here since 2013.  She was there covering the parade.  We had a great conversation as we walked down the parade route for several blocks.  Great meeting you, Crystal!   Looking forward to talking to you again!

We got to the end of the parade, where the fair was already set up.  WXYZ showed the attractions in WXYZ: Firework show in Clawson brings out big crowds.

The Fourth of July holiday came with a big display in Clawson. The firework show brought huge crowds to the city.

On the bus ride back to the start of the parade, I ran into advocates for the Regional rapid transit plan for Metro Detroit.  The taxes to support the plan will likely be on the November ballot.  Look for me to cover that issue at least once this fall.

All in all, it was another fun parade.  I'm looking forward to doing it again in 2018.