Hundreds of members of the Pagosa Springs community, and their invited and uninvited guests, were gathering along the new parade route when the twelve planes of the San Juan Squadron flew in formation, above Hot Springs Boulevard, to mark the start of the 2024 Fourth of July Parade.
The flyover was videotaped by — I’m guessing — a thousand smartphones.
The flyover was right on time. 10am.
Then the squadron flew over again.
And then again.
And then, two more times.
Maybe someone had contacted them, to let them know the parade was going to have a late start?
The reason for the delay wasn’t clear to those of us in the waiting crowd. The floats were assembled in the gravel parking lot above the Post Office, ready and waiting. The honor guard and the Boy Scouts had their uniforms on, and their flags ready. The veterans were seated on the first float; the fire engine was full of lucky children.
Grand Marshall Lisa Scott was standing near her Rotary Club vehicle.
The St. Patrick’s bagpipers were warming up their pipes.
The horses waited in the grass…
Still… we waited.
And waited.
For many years, the Fourth of July parade had been organized by the Pagosa Springs Rotary Club, and the parade route had started at South 8th Street… progressed along Highway 160… turned onto South 2nd Street… and ended along Hermosa Street.
A few years back, the Rotary Club announced they no longer had the means to sponsor the parade, and the Town government took the reins.
Then, when the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) announced last year that the reconstruction of Highway 160 would commence this summer — and the traditional parade route would likely be torn up — the Town Council and staff began making plans for an alternate route, possibly down Hot Springs Boulevard.
Probably a good idea, anyway, what with the greatly increased vehicle traffic on Highway 160 ever since the COVID crisis.
Then, CDOT failed to get suitable bids for the reconstruction project, and announced its delay until 2025. But the wheels of change were already in motion, and the Town Council voted for a new parade route, nevertheless… down Hot Springs Boulevard, across the Apache Street bridge and concluding along South 5th Street to the southern end of Yamaguchi Park.
Eventually, the parade started, to the delight of the gathered crowd.
But the flow was inconsistent.
Whether the new, unfamiliar route was somehow causing delays, or whether something else was going on, I can’t say. I just know that a parade, that should have lasted maybe 30 minutes, lasted well over an hour. The route sat empty for long periods of time, at several points in the route.
“When will the next float be arriving?”
The delays may have benefited the handful of street vendors selling food and merchandise along the route.
While walking along the route, I came across a paper sign on the Apache Street bridge indicating that I could use my phone to vote on my favorite float.
I believe this was a new feature for 2024.
Unfortunately I didn’t bring my phone along. Silly me.
If I had voted, I would have picked the Catholic Community/Knights of Columbus float as my favorite. The float was full of enthusiastic people cheering on the crowd, while a sound system played popular (and appropriate) tunes like Ray Charles’ rocking version of ‘America’ and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’.
I would also have voted for the Pagosa Springs Dance Academy, an energetic group of youngsters that happened to include my granddaughter, Simone.
But I would have voted for them anyway, even if Simone weren’t part of the group!
The crowd, in its colorful summer clothing, was nearly an entertaining as the parade floats.
In fact, for long stretches of time, they were the only entertainment.
The parade concluded with a string of Tribal Princesses…
…waving to the crowd…
… followed by the Town’s cleanup crew.
My hat is off to the dozens of Town staff, who handled the parade duties on what would normally be their day off.
I’m confident the ‘bugs’ will get worked out for the 2025 parade.
