We usually try to get out of town for Little Big Horn Days but this year we ended up being in the parade. While we were in Red Lodge signing up for the Father's Day Fun Run, the marketing director for the dealership asked us if we would ride in the parade in Hardin escorting a float with veterans. We didn't know anything about a veterans float.
The marketing director, Colette, said that she got a phone call from a woman in Hardin asking if the Harley group would ride in the parade as an escort. Colette was trying to get the word out to people she knew and that she only had 4 of her friends. Colette was wondering if Gary would get the word out to other veterans. Gary was upset at first because nobody in Hardin contacted him to do this. I had to remind him that not everyone in Hardin knows that he is a vet and active in veterans groups. Besides they probably got ahold of the VFW and those guys are not bikers.
In the end it all worked out, we had confirmation that the Butterfields and Davis's would ride in the parade. Gary also got ahold of the PGR to get the word out and we had one couple for sure confirm. With such short notice we didn't think we would get very many anyway.
I had called Colette on Thursday before the parade to get as much information on where we had to stage as I could. With the directions Colette gave me I asked her where are we to go when you get to the 4 way stop. Colette had nothing written about a 4 way stop. Colette asked if I would call the lady in Hardin and get all that information and then Colette put me in charge. It was decided that we would meet Colette and her group at the Town Pump in Hardin and we would lead them to where everyone needed to go. Gary told the others to just go to the Western Motel to group up and we would go from there. We had offered to store helmets and coats at our house for the riders since we live a block away. Only a couple took us up on this.
Saturday morning arrived, we met Colette and her group at Town Pump, they were the only ones who stored helmets and gear at the house. We had a bigger turnout with bikes than we thought. Ended up having 20 bikes and about 30 people ride in the parade. It also turned out that we were not escorting a float with veterans, we escorted the Jailhouse Gallery float. We were our own entry, so in a sense we escorted ourselves as many of us riders are veterans, the group had Gary lead us in the parade since we live here. It all worked out in the end, even though we were announced as the Harley Group when it wasn't a Harley thing.
Gary and I had made a reservation for 15 people at La Chalupa for lunch, no way would we get anything downtown and parking was a nightmare with the streets blocked. We were worried at first but not everyone was able to eat with us. After lunch our friends all headed home. They were going to take the old highway back to Billings, but I reminded them that they would get caught in the reenactment traffic.
Later that night we went to the street dance. This year the city blocked off the two blocks on Center but they also blocked the two blocks on 3rd street at the stop light. It was nice to wander around and not worry about traffic, however parking and getting around town was a nightmare, but it's only for a weekend.
This year the entertainment for the street dance was Gunnar & Matthew Nelson performing their concert Ricky Nelson Remembered. They played all of their fathers hit tunes and their own. It was all very interesting as we got the backstory on how some of the songs came to be. They also showed a slideshow about it too. It was alot of fun and good music. Rocky Hert and his band opened and closed the show. We didn't stay long enough for the closing.
I took some photos of the parade and street dance however the street dance ones are not that good. I struggle to get the right settings on my camera for night shots. Also I was bumped or someone would get in my way, so many are blurry. Need more practice on that. Here I am with a big camera and zoom lens getting ready for the shot and someone would get in my way. I did post the photos on picasa and some on facebook. The parade line up photos were taken with my old camera. That one is more manageable on the bike.
No comments:
Post a Comment