"Fish on"... Parade??

There is something special about small town parades. Marching bands with mis-matched uniforms, big men in tiny cars wearing "Fez", parade queens celebrating roses, snails, or the 4th of July... what I like best are all the people that come from miles to set up their lawn chairs early so they can be entertained by a moving hometown feast of colorful sights and sounds and smells. This is a slice of Americana... and I'm rationalizing a little bit - I entered my Wooden Boat and Cruiser in the 102nd Annual Rhody Festival in Florence, OR and had a great time!!!
The qualifications to enter were "steep" for the 100 or so "floats"... "keep a 5 mph pace and have a Rhododendron somewhere on display."
I applied my boat building experience to the task... I hope you like it.

I took a solid 2 x 4 and bolted it to the front bumper of my FJ. Next, I took a piece of plywood (one of the few "scraps" in my garage NOT left over from my boat) and drew a "fish in flight".

I cut out the fish with my filet knife / jigsaw and mounted it to the 2 x 4. (I know, my garage is a mess but the waders are dry...)

With a little paint and an application of "fresh" Rhodies from the backyard, I had a vague replica of a native redside.

I rigged up my spey rod on a holder in the boat, let out some line, and attached the fly to the mouth of the fish... which I thought would be pretty "fun" - but I got a little tired of hearing "Fish On" all afternoon.

I even had some special guests to wave to the crowd and represent a new generation of Trout Unlimited fly fishers and boat builders... Matt & Katy Stansberry and little 3 month old Paul (who stole the show) rowed the rapids, and the speed bumps, and fought the fish for two hours...

We had the little men in Fez behind us and a bunch of ponies out front...

I would like to tell you that I did it for the "greater good" of spreading the gospel of the wooden boat, of fly fishing, of getting "out there" and creating an adventure... but honestly, I have the attention span of a 4 year old and the rivers have been high, the fishin's been slow, and I simply needed to entertain myself.
"Fish On..."
GH

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Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on May 18, 2009 at 5:51am
Nice work! Looks like a pretty decent parade with lots of people.

Small parades always remind me of my brother... he would be in the parade with the Amvets and walk with their float. It was funny to watch because he is like the "rocker" type with tattoos and piercings... just hangin' with the ol' boys from the Amvets. Too funny.

Thanks for the post and pics.
-jk-
Permalink Reply by Chet Croco on May 18, 2009 at 7:54pm
Outstanding effort Mr. Hatten! Thank you for being such an effective Ambassador of Goodwill on behalf of all our interests.

CC
Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on May 18, 2009 at 8:14pm
My pleasure brother Chet... I just added a picture of my "passengers" that a friend of mine took of the parade. Here's another picture that I should show... these are the future fishers of bamboo - I had Matt give all of them your email address

GH
Permalink Reply by Joe Palanuk on May 19, 2009 at 2:20pm
Greg, you are right on about doing something for the greater good. It makes me feel good knowing that we all had a small part in introducing you to the fly fisherman's world. Most of the time it isn't about fishing - I applaud your effort and look forward to our next adventure together.
Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on May 19, 2009 at 2:45pm
As always, I look forward to the next adventure with you... let's make it on the water instead of on the asphalt - as much fun as I had playing the role of "fly fishing ambassador", I prefer Wild Billy or the Upper Mac.
GH

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