A Hometown 4th of July

What has your 4th of July been like? Well our Independence Day began early this morning when Molly woke up at 4:30 AM. Amanda, Tricia and my mom went into town and walked part of a 5k. They didn't quite finish it which was a pretty funny story.


Around 11:00 we all went into town for our traditional Alpena 4th of July parade. This parade is a great example of small town America. One of my favorite parts every year is when Hal Neiman leads the Neiman's Family Market (formerly Alpena IGA) employees in their shopping cart routines. Alpena IGA was my first job when I was 16. I never got to be in the parade. The video below is a short example. It doesn't capture them in their shopping cart glory though. Another highlight of this year's parade that I hadn't noticed before was the many beauty queens in the back of pickup trucks. A highlight for the boys was the Wildcat Jugglers. The best one was the above pictured unicycle fire juggler. He was awesome. See all of today's photos here.

Tomorrow's post will include highlights from tonight's fireworks. I hope you all are enjoying your Independence Day.