Haxtun's 88th Corn Festtival
Saturday morning at 9am Roy and I were rushing around the house trying to get going. Where were we off to in such a hurry? We wanted to get a good spot for the Corn Festival Parade, of course!
We arrived a half-hour early and there was already a crowd on the little bleachers in front of the town hall - not surprising!
Up and down the street, vendors were all set-up and people were just waiting for the festivities to begin.
The Kiddie Parade precedes the big parade. Little kids are invited to ride their bikes up and down the street.
This year's festival was also celebrating Haxtun's 100th b-day . . . hence this adorable little "float".
The parade officially began with the arrival of the color guard and the singing of the National Anthem. Have you ever noticed that very few things bring silence from a rowdy crowd like the National Anthem?
The Grand Marshall Lester Weers arrived in this slick ride. He's a true Haxtun native, a farmer, and a veteran. The Grand Marshall is the fellow in the white hat receiving a plaque, not the guy getting out of the car (I had bad timing in taking my picture).
Our mayor Tommy Thompson came next and spoke a few words. Then the parade really got going!
Now, I'm going to show you a lot of pictures of the parade. These pictures are just a sampling, mind you . . I can't imagine how much longer this post would be if I had pictures of everything . . .
Corn festival weekend is the official time for high school reunions. All the classes celebrating reunions also have floats or march in the parade. Here's class of '54 (by the way, Haxtun's colors are red and black).
Here's Little Miss and Mister Corn Fest riding in the back of the bug. Later in the day they interviewed more little kids for next year - the interviews are adorable, as you can imagine!
Haxtun's Jr. High cheerleaders! Now, you may have an idea in your head that small towns are highly dedicated to their high school football teams and the cheerleaders are always right there cheering them on . . . well, you got the football part right, but cheerleaders are a coin toss. Some small towns can't hold a cheerleader squad together because the girls are too busy playing ten other sports or maybe they don't have have a cheer coach. Either way, I think its very cool that we have cheerleaders - go team!
And what parade would be complete without the Shriners and their little cars? I actually didn't know who the Shriners were until I moved to small-town-USA (this is where Roy would say, "Where did you grow up? California?"). I'm sure the Shriners exist in big cities too, but I probably just never had a reason to notice them before. In case you don't know, they are a group within the Masons who raise money for children's hospitals and medical care (and they drive little cars in parades).
Some businesses have floats. This one made a lot of people giggle.
Every year, there's at least one float with a big ear of corn on it - very fitting, of course!
These clowns work for the Haxtun Hospital. One of them was passing candy out from a bedpan - yummy!
Lots of cool old cars in the parade. This one got 1st place, too!
I believe Roy told me that this is a Scottish Highlander. It's not full grown yet and neither are its horns.
A very cool miniature representation of Haxtun.
The young lady below with the blond ringlets is the Phillips County Fair Queen.
I loved this water tower replica made by one of the high school classes.
A demolition derby car ready for the evening's competition!
Shiny green tractors.
Bringing up the tail end of the parade were the fire trucks and a police car.
This is what my daughter thought of the parade.
Now, there is much more to the Corn Fest than the parade - MUCH more. But I think I'm already pushing my luck with this post, so we'll pause here.
But one more thing before I go! The woman on the right in the picture above is Melany, a new resident in Haxtun. Now I've mentioned before how difficult it can be to fit into a small town . . . well her and her husband have not had that problem! They jumped in feet first by going to a planning meeting for the festival. The good souls they are, they volunteered to help out with quite a few things. They were busy, busy during Corn Fest, but I bet they know half the town now! That's a great way to do it!
We arrived a half-hour early and there was already a crowd on the little bleachers in front of the town hall - not surprising!
Up and down the street, vendors were all set-up and people were just waiting for the festivities to begin.
The Kiddie Parade precedes the big parade. Little kids are invited to ride their bikes up and down the street.
This year's festival was also celebrating Haxtun's 100th b-day . . . hence this adorable little "float".
The parade officially began with the arrival of the color guard and the singing of the National Anthem. Have you ever noticed that very few things bring silence from a rowdy crowd like the National Anthem?
The Grand Marshall Lester Weers arrived in this slick ride. He's a true Haxtun native, a farmer, and a veteran. The Grand Marshall is the fellow in the white hat receiving a plaque, not the guy getting out of the car (I had bad timing in taking my picture).
Our mayor Tommy Thompson came next and spoke a few words. Then the parade really got going!
Now, I'm going to show you a lot of pictures of the parade. These pictures are just a sampling, mind you . . I can't imagine how much longer this post would be if I had pictures of everything . . .
Corn festival weekend is the official time for high school reunions. All the classes celebrating reunions also have floats or march in the parade. Here's class of '54 (by the way, Haxtun's colors are red and black).
Here's Little Miss and Mister Corn Fest riding in the back of the bug. Later in the day they interviewed more little kids for next year - the interviews are adorable, as you can imagine!
Haxtun's Jr. High cheerleaders! Now, you may have an idea in your head that small towns are highly dedicated to their high school football teams and the cheerleaders are always right there cheering them on . . . well, you got the football part right, but cheerleaders are a coin toss. Some small towns can't hold a cheerleader squad together because the girls are too busy playing ten other sports or maybe they don't have have a cheer coach. Either way, I think its very cool that we have cheerleaders - go team!
And what parade would be complete without the Shriners and their little cars? I actually didn't know who the Shriners were until I moved to small-town-USA (this is where Roy would say, "Where did you grow up? California?"). I'm sure the Shriners exist in big cities too, but I probably just never had a reason to notice them before. In case you don't know, they are a group within the Masons who raise money for children's hospitals and medical care (and they drive little cars in parades).
Some businesses have floats. This one made a lot of people giggle.
Every year, there's at least one float with a big ear of corn on it - very fitting, of course!
These clowns work for the Haxtun Hospital. One of them was passing candy out from a bedpan - yummy!
Lots of cool old cars in the parade. This one got 1st place, too!
I believe Roy told me that this is a Scottish Highlander. It's not full grown yet and neither are its horns.
A very cool miniature representation of Haxtun.
The young lady below with the blond ringlets is the Phillips County Fair Queen.
I loved this water tower replica made by one of the high school classes.
A demolition derby car ready for the evening's competition!
Shiny green tractors.
Bringing up the tail end of the parade were the fire trucks and a police car.
This is what my daughter thought of the parade.
Now, there is much more to the Corn Fest than the parade - MUCH more. But I think I'm already pushing my luck with this post, so we'll pause here.
But one more thing before I go! The woman on the right in the picture above is Melany, a new resident in Haxtun. Now I've mentioned before how difficult it can be to fit into a small town . . . well her and her husband have not had that problem! They jumped in feet first by going to a planning meeting for the festival. The good souls they are, they volunteered to help out with quite a few things. They were busy, busy during Corn Fest, but I bet they know half the town now! That's a great way to do it!
Posted by Susan at September 29, 2009 
Categories: Local Activities, Rural Living
Tags: classic cars fair queen mister parade corn fire truck demolition derby mayor candy kiddie phillips county cheerleaders grand marshall water tower class reunion centennial festival color guard birthday main street haxtun shriners tractor town hall national anthem hospital Little miss clowns 100th fest engine scottish longhorn
Categories: Local Activities, Rural Living
Tags: classic cars fair queen mister parade corn fire truck demolition derby mayor candy kiddie phillips county cheerleaders grand marshall water tower class reunion centennial festival color guard birthday main street haxtun shriners tractor town hall national anthem hospital Little miss clowns 100th fest engine scottish longhorn
Hey.. I recognize a couple people! Hi Jim, Hi Cathy! No Grandma?
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Loved the parade photos! Especially the one of the water tower float with the water tower behind it. Very appopriate timing for that pic. My favorite though was of Melise having such a good time!
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