Short parade: Big celebration
<p>Mary Myhre-Alward (from left), Margaret Myhre and Rheva Myhre play their bagpipes during Spirit Lake's Labor Day parade.</p>
<p>Just clowning around, Courtney Eaton, 12, shows her community spirit during the Labor Day parade in Spirit Lake.</p>
<p>Seven-year-old Steele Hammond (left) and Ethan Hull, 8, participate in a wheelbarrow race during Labor Day on the Grass in Spirit Lake.</p>
SPIRIT LAKE - No, it's not the shortest parade in the world - that honor belongs to some piddling procession in California, Alaska or Washington, depending on who you ask.
But Spirit Lake's annual Labor Day parade - all two blocks and 10 minutes of it - is actually the world's second shortest parade, or so the locals proudly claim. It's a distinction that has remained, not surprisingly, undisputed.
And yet, despite its brevity, the Spirit Lake parade was a spirited affair. As clumps of spectators watched from the Maine Street sidewalks, parade organizers squeezed just about everything into those two blocks and 10 minutes, including: VFW and American Legion members, bagpipers, 4-H equestrians, ATV riders, kids on dirt bikes, clowns, a mounted sheriff's posse, a guy with a wheelbarrow, festive signs, colorful streamers, sports cars and police cruisers (among other things).
"The whole point of it is to have fun," said Joy Porter, who coordinated and organized the parade. "No pre-registration, no cost of entry. We must've had close to 80 (participants) with all the horses. I know I had 61 entrant tags ... we ran out."
For as long as anyone can remember, the Labor Day parade has been sponsored by Spirit Lake VFW Post No. 1473, Porter said. Every year the veterans pass out free corn on the cob - salted, buttered and delicious - at the Big Park after the parade.
"They've sponsored it since time immemorial," Porter said, "but when their auxiliary disbanded, I took over and it's been over 30 years that I've done the parade."
Monday's event was part of Labor Day on the Grass, a three-day celebration at the Big Park in Spirit Lake. On Saturday and Sunday, the local chamber of commerce organizes the activities; on Monday, Spirit Lake Visions, Inc., runs the show. With food vendors, artists and craftspeople, live music, games and a talent show, Labor Day on the Grass is always a fun-filled weekend.
Spirit Lake Visions handed out awards for parade participants Monday. A family of bagpipers that marched near the front of the procession - Margaret and Rheva Myhre, Luanne Alward and Mary Myhre-Alward - won the adult category. They're all experienced pipers, having played with the Angus Scott Pipe Band in Spokane.
"I played in this same parade in 1964," Luanne said. "When I was 10 years old I played here."
A branch of the Alward family has resided in Spirit Lake since 1926. Several Alwards rode in a red sports car during the parade, celebrating their longtime connection to the Spirit Lake community.
Not far behind, three 4-H horses clopped along the pavement, decorated in full parade regalia. Riding tall in the saddles were Rhyan Mitchell, Natalie Birdsell and Hannah Gustafson.
"This is the second year we've done it," said Gustafson, 13, sitting atop her horse, Gracie. "It's just fun to ride in it."
Thirteen year-old Birdsell said she enjoyed riding her horse, Razzle-B-Dazzle, in the Labor Day parade.
"It's just an amazing experience to be able to work with an animal," she said.
After the parade, Labor Day on the Grass was in full swing at the Big Park. A banjo musician played on stage, vendors sold their goods, and out on the ballpark lawn, VFW members put together a few games for the kids - relay races, wheelbarrow runs, and the always-popular water balloon toss.
Summer may have been ending, but the Spirit Lake celebration was just warming up.