Mountain Town Christmas Parade

I love the Ozarks.  And one of the many reasons I do, is the uniqueness of its towns and peoples.  This originality was on full display at the annual Eminence Christmas Parade last night.  We have made an annual pilgrimage to this "Mecca" for many years now and are never disappointed at the production.  I know there are bigger parades with more "stuff" but the folks in this little mountain town put all they have into it and you know...sometimes "less is more".  Enjoy the pictures and narrative!

The Shannon County Court House was all decked out!

Fried Oreos and Funnel Cakes.   We also partook of grilled hamburgers and Tami cast her vote in the Chili Makin' Contest!

How many of you remember Sinclair Gasoline?  I didn't realize that they were still in business.  The little guy in the pedal car was just too cute for words!

 This is a parade entry for an oil company...with little kids riding in...oil drums!

I'll "Gar-On-Double-Dog-T-U" that you wouldn't see this in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade!  (Or even the West Plains Christmas Parade, for that matter...)  We were on the wrong side to see the full banner (the parade judges were on the courthouse side) but it was something about celebrating Christmas, "Shannon County Style!" and all the little boys...and girls on the float had their hunting rifles!  Now they were just BB guns and pellet guns but can you imagine what the Anti-Gun people would think of this?  I loved it!!

The "float" in the following picture is just too funny for words! A John Boat...cut in two...and attached to the front and back of a four-wheeler.  If that wasn't enough, there is a CAMEL riding on the bow and a SNOWMAN riding on the stern!! There are no words....

And since this is river country with floating being a large part of the economy...A Canoegocart!! 

There were more floats from churches and religious organizations than from the businesses and schools.  They take their faith seriously and the float below was just one example.

When I looked down the street toward the end of the parade, I could see that the street was filled up by a massive float...

As it got closer, I could see that it was a Ginormous front-end loader, on the order of a Caterpillar 950E

And in the bucket was...Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus! The sign on the front reads "If I be lifted up, I'll draw all men to Me" and the "float" was sponsored by the Church of God of Prophesy.  The rest of the machine was made to look like the Inn of Bethlehem, complete with an "Inn" sign, a "No Vacancy" sign and a chimney (covering the diesel exhaust pipe!!!)

When they got to the judging area, they "Lifted" the bucket and Christ was lifted up!!  It was impressive! 

This next picture gives you the perspective of how massive this machine is.

There was a heart on the back with a sign that read "Jesus is the Heartbeat of Christmas"

Now folks, if that ain't unique, I don't know what is!!