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 Slated
to begin at 3 p.m., by a little past 2 p.m. the community was
gathering along the streets where the parade would pass by. It was
fun to watch families meeting with their lawn chairs visiting and
watching the kids play around the yards where permitted.
At three o’clock the sirens could be heard throughout the
neighborhood as the parade began at Olympia South Elementary School
and headed toward town, then made a turn around the block and came
back toward the Atlanta City Park.
This year the Grand Marshal for the parade was a lifelong resident
of the community, Randy Brooks. Brooks grew up in the community,
attended Atlanta High School graduating in 1966. He attended
Illinois State University and is also a veteran honorably discharged
from the United State Army in 1970.
Brooks has been a long-time participant in many community events and
joined a good number of local volunteer services. He is a 55-year
member of the Atlanta American legion Post 341, and also a member of
the Atlanta Volunteer Fire Department.
Brooks has throughout his life continued to be
involved in organizations and activities that promote his community
and improve the quality of life for its people. He is a
long-standing helper at the Atlanta Fall Festival and has always
been a big part of running the annual Bingo games at the festival as
well as helping in other ways.
The Fall Festival committee recognizes the contributions that Brooks
has made for the good of Atlanta and wished to express their
appreciation by naming him as the 2024 Grand Marshal.
On Sunday afternoon, Brooks rode in a vehicle right
behind the color guard, waving and calling out greetings to those he
knew along the parade route, as well as tossing out some sweet
treats as he rode along.
The parade included some other notable citizens
including this years Atlanta royalty. This year there were no
contestants entered in the Little Prince competition, so the pageant
committee did a pivot and decided to name two young ladies as
Atlanta royalty, one being Queen Emmylou McCree and the other,
Princess Taya Wilcoxson.
Logan County royalty was also in the parade. Miss
Logan County Fair Queen Abbie Arnold, Junior Miss Sophia Goodman,
and Little Miss Olivia Harmson were chauffeured around the parade
route in a white convertible waving to their ‘subjects’ and tossing
out candy along the way.
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Other notable participants included Illinois State
Senator Sally Turner, The Illinois National Guard Lincoln’s
Challenge Academy drumline, and the cut little jalopies of the
Mohammed Shriners Tin Lizzie Patrol along with the Bloomington
Shrine Calliope Unit.
After the parade, everyone gathered at the bandstand in the park to
hear who the parade float winners were.
In the business float category the first-place winner
was Hickory Lane Campground.
Second place in the business category was the Atlanta
National Bank.
In the non-profit category the winner was the Atlanta
Flower Buds, the volunteer group known for its hard work at keeping
the city of Atlanta colorful and beautiful with their downtown
planters and gardens.
If there had been a prize for the largest entry in
the parade, it would have had to have gone to Central Illinois Ag in
Atlanta. The business brought to the parade an absolutely monstrous
tractor and grain wagon, both running on rubber tracks. To put it
into perspective, the exhaust stack on a tractor is typically one of
the smallest parts of the machine. On this tractor the exhaust stack
was larger than the person driving the tractor. And to top it off,
the wagon made the tractor look small!
All in all, it was a great parade with many interesting and fun
entries, and very well received by those who lined the streets to
watch.
[Nila Smith]
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