Americana Ain't So Quaint

Last Monday, of course, was Memorial Day, and nothing brings out the red, white, and blue in a community like Memorial Day. I would even be so bold as to say that the day has become a more patriotic holiday than the Fourth of July. After all, on the Fourth of July, most people have a picnic, take in the big-budget blockbuster at the local megaplex, and watch the fireworks (or in the case of my old neighbors, set off your own). On Memorial Day, however, you do all the same things (minus the fireworks), but first you watch or march in a parade. Memorial Day parades are the stuff of Americana, the whole "motherhood, apple pie, baseball, and Chevys" thing that is romanticized and the thing that people everywhere else in the world are taught to equate with small-town America. However, for those of my age bracket, that being roughly 15-30 (too old to march in the parade, too young to have fought in a war), we downplay it all. Maybe it's our sense of rebellion, how we don't like stuff associated with the "old ways". A co-worker of mine referred to the notion of Memorial Day parades recently as "quaint". She didn't mean this in a positive way, either, it was more like, oh cute, but not something I'm into seeing.

For me, however, the Memorial Day parade in my hometown of Camillus, New York is something I never miss; in fact, I've only missed one that I can remember, two years ago because I had a summer job down at college. Also, it has always struck me interesting that I cannot remember a single year when it rained. This year happened to be cloudy and threatening at times, but not a touch of rainfall, unless of course you were standing under a tree and some of the rain from the previous day decided to fall on you. Not to rip on the town fathers (OK, maybe I am), but this is the one day that the village of Camillus makes itself look like a place you'd want to be in. They clean the place up, mow the lawns, paint the lines on the streets, put flags on every light pole. This is the village's big day, we easily have the biggest and best and most favored parade in the area every year and it gets bigger every year. This year, they even televised the thing.

In past years, it was about being noticed. When you were a kid, you wanted to be in the parade, even if it was to represent your Irish dancing class or to zoom around in your go-cart (nothing against either of those interests, mind you). I marched four times, first for youth soccer, then three times for little league baseball. The last couple years, they've come up with the rather inventive idea to stuff most of them in the payload of a dump truck, but when I was a kid, we all marched. In those days, P&C Markets and Byrne Dairy had a horse and buggy setup that they trotted down Main Street (a.k.a. Genesee Street, we're so screwed up we can't even settle on one name for the main drag). Without fail, we always wound up not directly behind, but pretty close behind the horses, so we had to sidestep horse droppings the whole way. If you were wondering why we didn't look up and smile and wave more, it was because we didn't want to be the poor soul who stepped in the stuff. Our agility should be much appreciated in retrospect, cuz you didn't have to deal with washing that stuff out thanks to us.

The big highlight of the parade is the West Genesee Marching Band, and normally they bring up the rear (after all, how can you top the 12-time defending state champs?) I had friends in the band over the years when I was in high school and just afterward, so it was cool to see them outside of school, and especially on "my turf", since I was from the village, and most of the time none of them would be caught dead down there. This year, however, they did top themselves, as they came up with an Alumni Band. Over 400 former "bandies" going 30 years back, but mostly those of my class and those immediately before and after. It looked like they extended all the way back to Elbridge when you saw them coming. Quite a sight to see, and when I heard the sordid events of their weekend of rehearsals, it was more of a remarkable sight. Long story short, many of the alums saw fit to bring coolers to rehearsal; you can guess what was in them. Conflicting accounts have it that they spent as much time drinking as playing and marching and by the time the afternoon had concluded, the horn section was visibly woozy. A side note: How is it that these stories of mine lately always seem to involve mass quantities of alcohol?

Anyway, back to my point, and you know there always is one to this column, however convoluted it may be (there's a $5 word): even if it is "quaint", Memorial Day is the day when we all stand together as Americans. We put away our political preferences; the Republicans don't boo the Camillus Democrats' entry, and the same goes for the reverse. Still, a couple guys behind me did yell "Pass the budget!!!" at Senator DeFrancisco when he rode by (nice try, but the fact that we may not have one period in this state is enough to make you cry). Still, we're all Americans, and I guess if you're going to say your piece, this is the country when you can do that, and thank god for that. There is still something to be said about this intangible thing known as "Americana". It reminds you of a warm summer day from the past, or for those of us who fought for this country, may unfortunately stir echoes of brutal and gruesome war scenes once experienced but forever etched in the memory. Old friends reunited, families together like they should be, waving your flag, even if it's just for the moron who is dressed up as a bag of Crazy Bread for Little Caesars. That's what America is about. Don't forget that, and reserve your piece of real estate for next year's parade, I certainly will.