The Parade That Wasn't

If you're not in the parade, you watch the parade. That's life.

-Mike Ditka

But we won't be watching the parade, either.

With some excitement, the 1960 Willys pickup arrives today at the farm. George is staying there all week working on the place, and generously agreed to meet the driver and park the new toy in the pole barn.

George allayed my concerns about whether he'd know what to do with all those shifters on the floor, reminding me that he's an old fireman, and firetrucks had the same intimidating arrangement of knobs and levers back in his day. All good (pun intended, when talking about George Good, the builder of what I've written before we renamed "The Good Place" in his honor).

Then the news became less positive as our plans for debuting the new truck and wedding venue took a turn.

A couple weeks ago P texted me the flyer for the Perry Christmas Parade, to take place on 3 December. I have a mandatory appearance at the law firm Christmas party on the 2nd, and figured I'd wallow in holiday cheer with my work colleagues on Friday, then cruise over to Wyldswood on Saturday to drive in the parade. What a great way to kick off the season! If only P were here.

Judson, Dio, P, and I texted proposed designs for a sign they'll tape gently to the truck's doors, announcing Wyldswood Farms as an event venue. With the last text, Judson reminded me that we need to be lined up for the parade promptly at 5:30 on Friday.

Sitting in the parade queue for over 24 hours didn't seem correct to me, so I suggested he recheck the date. The parade is Saturday, right? No, he reiterated, this year it's on Friday. As in the same day as the office Christmas party.

But I have the flyer--just look at it! P's parade advert clearly said the parade is on the 3rd.

Then I looked for parade information on my phone this morning. The Perry Chamber of Commerce lists it and a number of other events for the year, but none of the listings includes the actual date for any of them. We need to join the chamber and help them a little with their game.

Finally I found the flyer P'd sent me. It was attached to a 2021 press release. At another website, the local paper listed the correct date for the 2022 parade, this coming Friday.

So no parade for the Donkster. Oh well.

Will you get the chance to see the cool truck and lovely business sign in the parade tomorrow? I reckon that depends on whether one of the boys knows how to handle that cluster of shifters. We'll see what happens.