You know you're still in a "small town" when the parade features a guy on a tractor, candy for the kids and an elementary school teacher on horseback armed with a water gun.
For more than 50 years, the Keller Lions Club has conducted its annual fair and launched the event with a community parade. What sets the parade apart is that anyone who wants to participate just needs to show up an hour before it starts, sign up, get a number and join the processional. Afterward, there's a weeklong carnival and pageants – making the whole affair a throwback in a town that has grown exponentially and doesn't have the time it used to for such things.
That was apparent for a few reasons this year. First, there were fewer spectators than I've ever seen at the parade. Second, the participation in the parade was relatively low as well. When I first started working in Keller five years ago, as editor of the newspaper, the parade was a huge deal. The high school marching band even participated (a logistical nightmare but something that made it special). The parade also used to go onto FM 1709, a former two-lane dirt road that is now six busy lanes of a LOT of people in a hurry. I'm no longer with the paper (I know do contract work for the city), but it was cool to see and be recognized by people I used to work with.
There used to be a lot more guys on tractors, including a championship lawnmower racer. Used to be a lot more excitement, people building more elaborate floats, more people watching the action pass by. I wonder if the parade is on its way out. I sure hope not! Keller's grown up, but I hope it still has room for the things that make it feel small.
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