I was back up in tiny Contoocook again this year to carry on our traditional July 4 parade pattern.

Kids’  Parade at 11:30 and Regular Parade at Noon, rain or shine, and smack on July 4, whenever the day falls.

We had lots of rain and no shine this year, but thankfully it didn’t really pour down until AFTER the parades were over.  We even thought we were going to miss the rain entirely. Even a half hour beforehand there were no umbrellas being used as kids gathered to register for the parade.

All the photos from this year are below.  And if you want to browse through former Fourths, start here.

Sister-in-law Ginni Houston, a mover and shaker in her community, represented well this year with a recycling tent on the town square.

The kids’ parade included the newest addition to the Rick and Ginni Haines family, grandson Everett, seen in the stroller below with his mom.  Offspring of Jon and Georgia Haines, he has a big name to fill as it has history on both the Haines and Houston sides of the family.

Representing the Ford limb of the family tree were Margeaux and Simone (in red shirt) and the newest addition to their clan, a black lab named Nina.

All of the other kids’ parade photos are here:

The adult parade included the regulars of course–the color guard, town band on a trailer, an eclectic assortment of old vehicles and a loud bevy of fire engines.  But special for us this year was a celebration of the Houston family’s nearly 100 years of farming (Pine Lane Farm) and one of its restored tractors and a modern one.

Below are the rest of the regular parade photos.