March 28, 2024

The grand parade

The summer after I moved to the community, I learned that Newton is where it’s at for the Fourth of July.

We grabbed the Masons breakfast and then an ideal location along First Avenue, and I was ready to experience my first parade in Newton. The humongous parade took me by surprise, despite the heads up from Newton natives, but I loved it. The kids had a wonderful time collecting candy and waving at the participants while I got my first taste of local festivities.

The sheer number of people lining the streets and the copious amount of participants was a thrill to me, and I loved meeting many new faces.

We spent the next several years celebrating locally with our children and my late mother-in-law — friends, family, parade, barbecues, swimming and fireworks — and that’s simply become one of our favorite family traditions.

I love celebrating Independence Day in Newton so much I was nearly crushed last year when a family reunion took us out of town. So this year, we made up for it tenfold.

Everyone knows the saying, “it takes a village to raise a child.” Well, the same is true of a parade float.

I’m not sure how we ended up deciding to do a Newton Daily News parade entry, but once it was determined there were many of us that worked hard to make sure it was success. (It was — did you see us?)

However we needed a lot of help — from Jasper Construction for the trailer, Lauterbach for the decorating space, Newton Community Theatre for the props and outfits and a lot of hard work from Michelle Van Kooten, a staff member who is a true artist with a lot of talent.

Playing on the theme “When I was a Kid,” Michelle created a sketch and painting from the old school Newton Daily News — think reporter with a press hat and a paperboy yelling, “Extra, Extra — Read All About It!”

Then, we quite amazingly used real people — reporter Jason W. Brooks and my son — to demonstrate it. They killed it.

Jason tapped away on a seriously old and cool typewriter and my son belted out his “Extra, Extra, …” line to much applause.

There were many coworkers who donated time and energy to work on our entry and many others who brought their families and walked the route with us.
While my husband hauled the float, which was otherwise filled with newspaper staff and family, our girls helped pass out bottled water and candy. It was a blast.

Unfortunately, I remember seeing exactly none of you. Last week I spoke to several people who mentioned they yelled at me or tried to get my attention during the parade. Sorry guys — it’s a complete blur. There’s just no way to take in all of those people and effectively pass out water and candy.

Following the parade, we invited several friends and family members to our place for some of our other favorite traditions — barbecue, swimming, fireworks, etc.

The holiday concluded with a full house and full heart for this girl. Even a week later, I could still use a serious nap.

Contact Abigail Pelzer at
641-792-3121 ext. 6530
or apelzer@newtondailynews.com