Montpelier Vermont on the Fourth

Stars and stripes on parade route

This year we decided to leave Vacationland for our summer vacation and headed to Lake George, NY for our Fourth of July getaway.  I guess there's some irony there, but we get to enjoy Maine most of the year, so a change of scenery can be refreshing.

En route to Lake George, we stopped to visit my father in Vermont and take in the Montpelier Independence Day Celebration, which typically occurs on July 3rd.  The celebration begins with lots of activities on and around the State Capitol lawn and transitions to a parade around 6 p.m.  Then around 9:30 p.m. the skies light up with brilliant flashes of colored light and loud booms for a 20 minute fireworks show.

The Stick Dancers.  I don't know what else to call them...

It's always interesting to return to Montpelier, where I spent the better part of 35 years growing up. Even after having lived in Maine for nearly 20 years, I can still go back there and recognize a few people.  For instance I saw two former High School teachers:  A former English teacher who I see every Fourth placing lawn chairs in the back of his pickup alongside the parade route, and my former physics teacher who is running for State Senate again this year. My 35th high school reunion takes place in August 2016 and honestly, these two teachers look like they did in high school

Being that this is the capital city of Vermont, the parade always includes a plethora of politicians and political candidates at all levels of government, jogging along behind their armada of political signs, shaking hands with whomever is willing to stick their hand out along the parade route.

The Scott campaign for governor had a convoy of vehicles

This year, in addition to my physics teacher, who was hunched over carrying his sign and honestly looked like he was going to keel over in the middle of Main Street; you had at least half a dozen gubernatorial candidates, state senators, representatives, city councilors and the like.  But the crowd-pleaser who drew big cheers this year was Bernie Sanders surrounded by clean cut looking guys with ear pieces and noticeable bulges along the belt line beneath their sport coats, as well as not one, but two, jet black Chevy Suburbans, being driven by more clean cut guys with ear pieces, following closely behind.  I have to admit, it's not that often you get to be that close to a presidential candidate, so it was kind of neat.

Yes, the parade was fun, but it's interesting how things evolve throughout the years.  This year, some over-cautious city councilor decided that they couldn't have fire trucks in the parade because of liability issues or some such nonsense.  To me, a July 4th parade without fire trucks is like Christmas without candy canes, but apparently city administrators disagreed.  This did not sit well with a little 3 or 4 year old boy who was crying his eyes out because there were no firetrucks in the parade.

Frankly I don't see the issue with putting firetruck in the parade.  In small towns with few fire rescue calls, it gets the trucks of the the station for a change.  And if the Shriners can zip around on their go-carts driving up and down ramps over a moving vehicle. I'm not sure why you can't have a fire engine driving 5 mph down the road with an occasional siren blast.

Also, the people marching in the parade can no longer throw candy to the kids on the side of the road.  Apparently that got too messy to clean up.  Instead, people would run over to you with one or two pieces of candy or some other insignificant gift, so you no longer get the sugar haul you once got.  I will say that this  year, my son and I were the recipients of a healthier treat option - organic carrots.   Okay, it's Montpelier, a "back to the earth" kind of community, but until this year I can honestly say I never associated Fourth of July with organic carrots.

Organic carrots.  A new 4th of July staple?

From the parade it was back to my dad's house until the fireworks began.  He lives about two miles from downtown and way up on a hill.  If you walk across the street, you have an unobstructed view of the fireworks which are shot off from the hills on the other side of town.  It's probably the best view of the fireworks in the city and you don't have to worry about crowds.  A few minutes before the fireworks, my father's neighbor invited us over to his backyard to watch the show.  He probably has the second best view in town, so we kindly accepted the invitation and it was nice.

There's something very gratifying about being in your hometown on the Fourth of July.  It's kind of difficult to put into words, Perhaps it's some combination of pride and nostalgia.  Whatever it is, it's very likely this won't be the last time my family watches the parade in the country's smallest capital city.  Maybe you CAN go home again?

Three generation of Lyons's