The nice kind of strings, fortunately…the melodic kind.

July 4, as always, was brought to me by the kindly folks of Contoocook, NH, who annually stage a very nice children’s parade and a longer adult one, always on July 4, whenever that day falls.

And it was also brought to me once again by my brother Rick, wife Ginni and various family and friends, who provide the lodging and the food.

July 4 in Contoocook has become a bit of a tradition for us as you can see by searching for July 4 on this website.  Each year the granddaughters are bigger and more independent in their participation in the kids’ parade.

I was glad I staged a photo of them before the event this year, because I could hardly keep track of them once they were off and running with all the other decorated youngsters.

The adult parade has remained comfortably much the same through the years.  The VFW at the front, followed by the band on a trailer (with the addition of a blue tarp roof this year to provide some badly needed shade on a very hot day), a bunch of old cars and a long line of noisy fire engines.

The strings this year were special, brought to the gathering by granddaughters Margeaux (violin) and Simone (cello), son-in-law Ryan (violin), grand-niece Evelyn (violin), and Georgia (violin), guest of nephew Jon.

As I said, it’s comfortable.  If you want, take a look at last year’s festivities.

The Ford family with cousin Evelyn, pre-parade.  Below are various photos of the kids’ parade.  Click on one to bring up the slide show.  (Photos by Ron Haines)

Photos of the strings are below.  Click on one to bring up the slide show. A couple shots of the adult parade are below that.