At lunch today I noted it's a bit easier to navigate the sidewalks in the core area than in previous years...no tripping over chained together resin chairs on their last stop before the landfill.

Yeah, and I miss the days when duct tape was Leonards biggest pet issue....

Watching tonight's news I was reminded why I don't go to watch the Grand Floral parade or take any small, younger family members with any hope of getting near the curb.

There never used to be tents, awnings, massive collections of chairs, etc. until the morning of the parade.

Parade-goers used to make room for the little kids to sit near the curb where they could see. It wasn't nearly as territorial as it has now become.

But, then again, all of the local high school marching bands used to march in the parade as well and it wasn't named after a large corporate sponsor.

I have a fair collection of old Rose Festival programs extending back to 1922 and snaps taken when I was a kid in the 1950s. Things have certainly changed.

I was also reminded that the Memorial Coliseum has long been a staging area and the starting point for the parade. Good thing its still there; if it weren't, where would everybody muster? The new Beavers baseball field?