SPRINGDALE : Rodeo parade still a grand procession
Posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/230271/
SPRINGDALE — A dense, excited crowd lined Emma Avenue on Tuesday in anticipation of the annual Rodeo of the Ozarks parade.
Those who came were rewarded with blue skies, warm weather and a grand procession of horses, wagons and cow folks in glittering regalia.
Adults and children stood as the color guard, wearing fatigues, marched by with American and Arkansas flags flapping in the breeze. Then came bumps of bass as the tuba line from the Springdale High School marching band kept time with the trumpet section.
A crowd of teenagers cheered the Sky High Angels, a female horse troop sparkling with sequins and rhinestones. For the 64 th time, the parade made its way through the heart of the city.
“It looks good,” said H. M. Shipp of Farmington, who was at the parade with his family, including great-grandsons Kasen, Kanon and Hayden Phillips.
The three Phillips boys sat on the curb in miniature fold-out chairs and waved as the parade passed by. If the brothers liked a particular group, they said “hi” in unison, and smiled when they caught a parade participant’s attention.
“We’ll keep on bringing them down generation after generation,” Shipp said.
The lingering scent of horse manure added a touch of parade authenticity, as did the wagon train that came 90 miles from Harrison.
“I think it would be fun to be in one of the wagons,” Shipp said.
The event also gave a handful of Springdale mayoral candidates a chance to present themselves to voters. Ray Dotson drove his Butterfield stagecoach, while Doug Sprouse waived to the crowd from the back seat of a jeep. Alderman Kathy Jaycox, flanked by her grandchildren, sat in the back of a convertible as did Nancy Deason Jenkins.
A fleet of chrome-lined classic cars garnered plenty of attention. While most seemed to favor the maroon 1947 Plymouth with the beige ragtop, Bob Knight of Fayetteville was partial to the red-and-white 1950 s-era Chevy Bel Air.
Children scrambled for candy while their adult chaperones sipped on bottled water and fanned themselves. People clapped in time when the Bill Williams Open Air Gospel float rolled by. And, of course, the youngsters clamored for a smile and a nod from Ronald McDonald, who rode in a car with the Hamburglar.
Those who came to the parade arrived two hours early so they could stake out a good seat along the route. Once the last group of riders came through, people quickly gathered their kin, collected their chairs and headed for their cars.
Not everyone was in a rush to leave, however.
Joyce Perry and her daughter Gail stayed in their chairs as Emma Avenue cleared out.
Perry, 82, has come to the parade every year since 1948. Having married a Springdale native, Perry always has had a strong interest in the parade.
“We’ve always loved it, and we used to know everyone who came through,” she said. “But they all died off. I don’t know anyone anymore.”
Perry said she has seen better parades in the past, but conceded that she might have liked the old ones more because she knew more people. Regardless, she was glad to be on Emma Avenue.
“We love Springdale,” she said. “It was a good parade.”