Saturday, May 27, 2007, was the day of the 500 Festival Parade in Indianapolis. The parade is the culmination of the various celebrations which take place during the month of May prior to the Memorial Day 500 Mile Race. My wife decided that we hadn’t been to the parade since the 1970’s, so we were going to be there. My lack of enthusiasm was based on the fact that during the late 60’s and early 70’s I was deeply involved in the operation of the parade. The Commander of the Indiana National Guard at that time was a member and former President of the 500 Festival Committee and I’m that was why we were so involved. My job at first had top do with the parade security since at that time the parade was at night and the local protestors loved to roam the parade route trying to stir up trouble. Our solution to the problem of the protestors was to line the parade route with “Cherry-Pickers” armed with a Guardsman and a “Walky-Talky “radio which enabled us to quickly alert the police and a platoon of Guardsman for response. Later I manned the Command Post while other Guardsmen controlled the start of the parade and the marshalling and deployment of floats and other units. It was a big job and one I was glad to be rid of eventually. However, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed being an observer this year. I even enjoyed the city bus ride downtown and the return home by bus. I got to see quite a bit of the city more carefully, avoided the parking headaches and saved gas.

It was raining and misting all morning, and since one had to get there early to avoid the rush, we sat in the rain under our umbrellas for about an hour, but just as the parade started, the rain stopped and the sun came out. The parade has really gotten to be a national, and quite an exciting event. It started out with the Indianapolis Police Motorcycle Drill Team and have received national recognition and deserve it. They were followed by a Color Guard made up of all the services. The parade is basically divided into ten divisions, each made up of one 3-car row of the race car drivers riding on the back of 2007 Corvette convertibles, various celebrities riding on the back of antique convertibles ( I can’t imagine where they get all of those good-looking antique cars), followed by bands, giant parade balloons, floats, hose patrols, and clowns. It is a very professional and efficient operation. All 33 drivers were present. Of particular note was Governor Mitch Daniels on his motorcycle leading his motorcycle club. Also Peyton Manning was the Grand Marshall and he looked as if he was really enjoying his role. I was surprised regarding the floats in that they were quite nice, all of them were made of styrofoam and none of them were made of flowers. Although they’ve had them for several years, the giant balloons were new to me. It was a great experience and I have to admit that once again my wife knew what was best for me.