|
 Candy
was thrown by most all the floats, as well as the other types of
vehicles that were a part. Kids ran up and down the street
collecting as much candy as they could. Some came with their own
bags, but many were given bags by the people hosting the parade.
The central theme of the parade focused on two children in the Mt.
Pulaski community, Mikah Martin and Tinley Rubenacker. Both children
are fighting disease, but the community came together to lift them
up. They were the grand marshals of the parade, and a superhero
theme was chosen to help honor them. The fall festival staff handed
out masks and capes to the kids along the parade route just before
it began. Many of the floats had a superhero theme as well, with one
near the end even playing the Superman theme song. Several people
dressed as Marvel superheroes took part in the parade. Iron Man went
around taking selfies with people while Captain America pulled a
wagon with a tiny Hulk inside.
The truly amazing part of this parade was the vast number of people
that took part in it. Many of the floats were made by people from
Mt. Pulaski. This included Martin Trucking, the Historic Mt. Pulaski
Community Association, the Mt. Pulaski Fire Department, and many
others.
Several floats were from within the larger Logan County area,
including Latham Fire and Rescue, the Logan County Fair Royalty,
Railsplitter Antique Auto Club of Lincoln, and others. Several of
the vehicles and floats in attendance were not even from Logan
County.
[to top of second column] |
These included the Ansar Temple of Springfield and
the Jacksonville Drumline Institute, among others. The willingness
of the members of the local, county, and state-wide communities to
come together and lift these young people up shows the kindness of
the human heart and its willingness to care about those around it.
The parade was not the only area where the themes of superheroes
were used to support the grand marshals. An entire fence on the
square was decorated with well wishes and celebrations of the two
boys, many using the weekend theme phrase “mighty and tuff,” for
Mikah and Tinley. People all around the festival were wearing
superhero shirts, and two young ladies were even fully dressed as
Supergirl and Batgirl.
After the parade, a dinner was held on the square. The meal included
a ribeye sandwich, baked beans, chips, a drink, and a cookie
courtesy of Mt. Pulaski’s own Market on a Hill. The line for this
meal quickly grew from a few feet long to stretching down the
street. All the proceeds went to Mikah's family.
[Matt Boutcher] |
