Many year ago, Fr. Walter Hancock instructed all of his parishioners to go home after Mass, clean up their tractors and horses and trailers and bring them back to town that afternoon because Fancy Farm was going to have a 4th of July parade. Fr. Hancock was known for calling people out during his sermon or before the closing prayer. And people would do exactly what he wanted them to do. So, the whole town went home, cleaned up their tractors and trucks and horses and trailers, built floats and pulled them with whatever they had and came back to town to celebrate the birth of our country.
I think that’s the coolest thing that has ever happened in this generation for this town.
And it’s still going on.
It’s always held on Sunday before the 4th of July. It was held right after dinner originally but nowadays it’s held later in the day since it is so very hot. There are some who would like to see it held even later because that part of July, in this part of Kentucky, is very hot, and humid.
The theme for the parade changes every year but it always centered around our country, and sometimes around our faith. For instance, this year, the parade’s theme was God Bless the USA.
The first time I came to appreciate Jimmy Elder was my first summer in western Kentucky. He called me and asked if I would be interested in helping line up the parade. I did not know what that entailed but I thought it might be fun. And it was something to do on a hot summer day. So I went. There were people everywhere. There were home-made floats, horses, tractors, muscle cars, horses, antique tractors, fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, horses, business floats, and did I mention, horses. Honestly, the entire picnic grounds was covered up with people all about the parade.
Let me tell you this, Jimmy lined all of these people up on foot. That means he didn’t have a walkie-talkie and he didn’t have an ATV. There were about 5 people helping him and everyone knew their job. That didn’t keep him from coming around to make sure that your job was done. So, he was at the back of the parade and the next thing you know he was at the start of the parade. He wasn’t bossy, but he did get the job done. I’m sure there were issues but you would have never known it from where I stood. I just watched in total amazement. How in the world did he get all of those people to do what he wanted them to do, when he wanted them to do it?
Others have taken on the role of organizing the parade, and my hat is off to them. It’s a lot of work and it is very hot.
But a couple of years ago Jimmy took the parade back. Someone suckered him into it. He loves the parade and has been all about it. At the time, we were raising haflinger draft horses and Jimmy worked it so that his horses ended the parade. He felt he had plenty of time once the parade started to get up on his wagon and drive those horses. And he did. But this year he decided not to put the horses in the parade. I agreed with him since that meant I would have to help with them. They don’t like me. But they are so pretty to look at and I love to watch them run, out in the fields.
Last year we had a kiddie parade. Little kids all have battery powered vehicles and pedal vehicles. We thought they would love to be able to decorate their vehicles and parade them around the picnic grounds. And they did. They were so cute. We had it again this year but didn’t have as many kids.There is no cost to enter the parade.
There is no cost to attend the parade. There’s always a fundraising group that is selling hamburgers and cold drinks for people that come out. We have the parade at 5, the kiddie parade at 6:30, and then the fire department takes over and shoots off fireworks at dark. There is no cost for that. The community of Fancy Farm puts this thing together. The church facilitates it but they don’t spend any money on it. The whole thing is done with volunteers and donations. There are prizes for the top 3 floats too. Every year Dr. Hunt brings his Fancy Farm Mules in from Michigan to lead the parade.
There are those who always have suggestions on how the parade can be better. And let me tell you, the day could be better. But what we have is absolutely wonderful. Nothing screams small town patriotism than to drive around our town in the parade, see front yards full of families catching candy thrown from the parade floats and tractors and horses, with everyone flying the colors of this country that we love. If you’ve never experienced it before, this is one you need to put on your bucket list. This town makes you feel good about the country we live in, and love.
