On the day of the Fourth of July parade . . . which is scheduled to start at six p.m . . . . people start putting down their chairs at nine a.m . . . . staking out their claim along the parade route. The sidewalks on both sides of the street will eventually fill up with a sort of three-tier arrangement of people.
In the back there will be folks standing, those sitting in chairs will be in the middle, and up front . . . closest to the parade . . . will be little children sitting right on the curb. This way the tykes will be “good and ready” to hop up and run out into the street when the candy is thrown their way.
As the procession of floats and bands and fire trucks makes its slow movement down Liberty Street, our softball team can be seen sitting on a trailer. It is a fifteen-foot long rectangular structure that has a two-foot high wooden fence running along its four sides and a little gate opening in the back for coming and going. Coach Mom and Coach Dad are up in the bus, which is pulling the trailer behind it. All twelve girls . . . thirteen counting little Ashley . . . are dressed in their team t-shirts and caps, and they are sitting on two rows of benches. The sides of the trailer are decorated with red, white, and blue streamers, and sitting smack dab in the middle of the trailer . . . between the two rows of benches . . . is a large replica of the Statue of Liberty. It’s a paper-mache likeness of the famous statue and it even has a couple of those little flickering light bulbs up in the torch. A large sign sits on the roof of the bus and it says, “GIRLS SOFTBALL IT’S GREAT.”
After their “rig” makes its turn onto Liberty Street, Coach Mom, who is driving, brings the bus to a stop. Tiffany, Alexis, Madison, and Natalie hop off the trailer and all four girls are carrying plastic pails. Two of the pails are filled with candy and two are filled with . . . we don’t know what. Candy, at these parades, is generally “bowled” out to the kids, but here, if the girls see an adorable toddler or some child who appears to be losing out (in the scramble for candy) they will hand deliver the little treats. A few minutes go by and Madison and Natalie . . . who are carrying the pails that hold the mystery contents . . . start to ease their way over toward the other two girls.
They are swinging their pails and it appears that, whatever is in them, it is fairly heavy. And then the loud calls go out: “Hey Tiffany, do you wanna get wet?” And on the other side of the street, “Hey Alexis, do you wanna get wet?” Tiffany and Alexis both scream, “No! No! No!” and the contents of the pails are then launched in a skyward direction . . . over the heads of the sidewalk crowds. It is not water, of course, but confetti. And, as the “shower” of tiny paper squares floats down, the shrieking of the spectators is turned into laughter. Madison and Natalie then run over to the trailer and “reload” . . . so they can do it all again.
Up on the trailer, the other eight girls . . . nine counting Ashley . . . are waving to the crowds. From inside the bus they hear Coach Dad say,
“Shift.” and they in turn yell, “SHIFT !” The four girls on the street then come running over and hop onto the trailer and four other girls take their places.
The bus and the trailer eventually reach the end of the parade route.
All twelve girls had a turn either distributing candy or launching confetti.
Three shifts . . . four girls each shift . . . twelve girls. Even little Ashley was out there passing out candy . . . and taking one or two for herself. It was a fun parade. Afterward the whole gang heads to McDonald’s for milkshakes.
They use the drive-thru. After placing their order, Coach Mom pulls around to the service window, stops the bus, pays the bill . . . and two milkshakes are handed over. She then eases the bus forward about fifteen feet and stops again. Now the trailer is at the drive-thru window, and thirteen more milkshakes are handed over. The McDonald’s employee . . . a young man named Todd . . . who is working the drive-thru window, smiles at the girls, but then does a double take at the sight of the Statue of Liberty.