Keystone Heights celebrates Independence day with parade 'right out of the 1950s'
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS -?It was a parade repeated in small towns across the country Wednesday: Forest queens, Junior Misses and strawberry princesses sit in the back of convertibles waving. The Shriners ? big guys in tiny cars wearing funny hats ? did their figure eights.
The high school band marched playing ?This Is My Country.?
The small town of Keystone Heights gathered along Lawrence Boulevard to celebrate the country?s birth as it has for decades: with a good old-fashioned parade. They call it Our Country Day down here in the Southwest corner of Clay County.
Check out more pictures from the parade here.
?It?s the hokiest parade you?ll ever see,? said Keith Koehler as he emptied trash cans. That?s a volunteer job he secured courtesy of being married to the mayor. ?It?s right out of the 1950s, and that?s a good thing.
?I couldn?t believe it when we moved up here. I was used to the Orange Bowl Parade, and they?ve got tractors.?
They don?t just have tractors, they honor tractors. And this year, Dan Newman won the award for the best tractor in the whole darned parade.
And the people did gather in sun and shade to celebrate America?s birthday.
Celeste Brokas sat on the curb, waiting for the parade to start.
?Small towns are great,? she said. ?I?ve raised four kids here. But I?m a retired schoolteacher and so is my husband, so this is where we come to see everyone.
?When you?ve been here 35 years, you see children you taught and their children.?
Charles Etheridge walked along selling American flags, $1 and $2.
?They are made-in-America flags,? he said. ?Make sure you put that in. I wouldn?t buy Chinese.?
Frank Farrell came by handing out pamphlets for his re-election to the school board. And if you told him you didn?t live in Clay County, he had a stock answer: ?Well, you have until Aug. 14 to move here.?
Asked if he?d had much success with that line, he shook his head: ?Not really.?
Finally the parade started, with horses and tractors, old cars and even older cars, with Cub Scouts and grand marshals throwing candy, because it?s not really a parade until someone throws candy.
?My eyes well up every time I see it,? Mayor Mary Lou Hildreth said, her eyes welling up again. ?It?s just Americana, it?s just small town America.?
She admitted there were an awful lot of politicians in the parade.
?But only because it?s an election year,? she said. ?But it helps us pay for the fireworks. Everyone else is free, but the politicians have to pay $100.?
roger.bull@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4296
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