Small Town Parades

My family moved out of the Colorado suburbs to a more rural area when I was 14 and I was thrilled about it. Although it was nice to walk to school in the suburbs and to live in a neighborhood with lots of kids my age and a rec center with swimming pools in cycling distance, my primary goal in life at that time was to get a horse, and in “the country” we could have one. 

Although I am no longer a horse fanatic (pasture management, hay stacking, vet bills, farrier costs, mucking out stalls?!) I load the kids up in the car the first Saturday of June every year for an early morning drive up Interstate 25 to the Boy Scouts Troop 6 Pancake Breakfast and the Berthoud Day parade.

If you’ve never been to a small town parade, the usual fare is riders on horseback, classic cars and trucks pulling trailers decorated to promote local businesses. Oh, and candy tossed to spectators by the fistful as the parade rolls by.

A few things have changed since I marched in the parade with the high school band: there’s a great coffee shop on the main street and a great new bakery in town. They had a hot doughnut tent set up for the morning of the parade. Genius! 

Forgive the glare in this photo of the bakery case. We bought a chocolate croissant and one a cinnamon popover which were divine. 

On the way out of town, I noticed a new ice cream shop and a candy store, too. I’m a fan of these developments!