October 3

[We began the day by taking Brad to his first breakfast at Travelers Inn in over 50 years . . . like most of us, it’s amazing how much he looks like his dad now.]

[Another beautiful crisp early fall day in Vacationland USA as we sauntered onto the fairgrounds to find our position in the Homecoming Parade.  Our first encounter was with the football team.]

[Next up was the Hockey Association – they’ll be lacing up the skates pretty soon now.  We have high expectations for both the girls and boys teams this year.]

[And here we are . . . after all those years soloing in the parade, it was nice to have company!  😉   ]

Once we got Brad situated on the back of a float, he felt obligated to present the following two photos from his perspective:

[Of the latter, “she who will not be named” proclaimed this individual would pass as a homeless person in D.C.  😉   ]

[Lorlee is . . . well, Lorlee!]

[I mean, c’mon, seriously, they can’t be old enough to be in my class?  For those of you keeping score at home, the maiden names are l-r:  Cathy Bakke, Dianne McCarthy, Kathy Schultz, Betty Pederson, and Lynne Spellman.  Now how would I remember that?]

[Tom Toenjes photographs his charges before he starts towing them through town with his 1941 Farmall tractor . . . I believe it was for liability purposes.]

[The Class of ’48 is always there . . . with the irrepressible Virg!]

[Let’s roll!]

[Serie, are you sure you know the route?  This car doesn’t have GPS!  OK, trying again from memory:  Cathy Bakke, Mid-Winter queen; Kathy Sherry, Homecoming queen; Judy Seppanen, salutatorian; Lynne Spellman, co-pilot; Dave Serie, chauffeur.]

[St. Mary’s, as I recall.]

[Cheer-oh-cheer for Alex . . . ]

[Hall of Fame grand marshals (yup, one “l”) and Homecoming king and queen.]

[I’m glad I got Joan here since I missed her at the luncheon!]

[More royalty . . . ]

[Do you know “Louie, Louie”?]

[Cardinal spirit . . . ]

[Damn kids!]

[More kids, but at least Al brings his mom along – she’s class of ’38, which I believe was the record holder at the event.]

[Cross-country?  Basketball?  Crocheting?]

[Hockey . . . with hockey moms!]

[The Falls Flyer]

[And the Class of ’65 is on the move!]

[Ladies and gentlemen, the parade has left the fairgrounds and is heading down Fairgrounds Road toward downtown Alexandria!]

[And there’s our other “float” and the rest of the parade leaving the fairgrounds.]

[The walkers are looking good . . . we’re all on Medicare, you know!]

[And then we hit Broadway, where classmates realize I wasn’t pulling their collective legs when I said this is always the biggest parade of the year.]

[Our fans pour out onto the street!]

[’65 is still alive!!]

[A quick body count . . . we haven’t lost anyone off the “floats” yet.]

[Truly big time, we’re being covered by Geraldo Rivera!]

Ooops, that’s really Joe Korkowski from the Voice of Alexandria and here’s Joe’s video of the parade – the Class of ’65 makes our appearance at about the 4:00 minute mark:

[Sometimes when you turn the camera on while looking through the eye piece, you accidentally change the setting – here to the “blue light special” mode?]

The Super was stationed at 8th and Broadway with the parties below and contributed the following from a fan’s perspective:

[Merill Kiehne, Linda Johnson, and Pam Mathison]

[The Grand Marshals]

[Let’s play football!]

[The Seriemobile from our class almost snuck by her!]

[Woo-woo for our class as Professor Doctor Colonel Kiehne hastens over for a shot of the sideline fans.]

[Then Little Mayo Johnson sauntered over for an exchange of shots.]

[Kathryn LeBrasseur, deservedly outstanding senior citizen]

[Their home invite is this Saturday beginning at 9:00 at AAHS; the cross-country team hosts the big Lions’ meet at Arrowwood Saturday morning as well.  High school sports at their finest!]

[And that wraps up the Super’s contributions.  She allegedly tried to get one of her knight in shining armor, who almost toppled over onto the hard pavement posing, and the shot allegedly didn’t come out?]

[Now we’re gonna stretch it out a bit with the big lens – love that depth of field.  And to let you know marching at 49 degrees is still too hot!  🙂  ]

[The dip between 7th and 8th provides a nice perspective . . . except during a heavy rain when it floods!]

[By now my cub reporter duties had caused me to fall a block behind my group, but I was still a block ahead of the next group.  I was a parade unto myself?]

[We’ve taken on the turn on 15th heading toward where the old high school was . . . following the girls’ tennis team.]

[And we’re done . . . showing a fortitude beyond our years, Tom, Greg, and I then walked back to town to meet up for the football tailgate party at AAHS!  🙂  ]

Wives are people who feel they don’t dance enough.  ~  Groucho Marx

Up next:  Continued . . .