news-record.com

Once upon a Fourth of July, when Alice Fair of Eden (the daughter of Ann and Neil Fair) was about 5 years old, she and some friends decorated a wagon and marched around pretending to be in a parade. Watermelon was served that day.

Alice liked the idea of a parade so much that she asked her mother to help her get one started for the next Fourth of July. Her mother and great-grandfather, the late John Dyer (called Pappy by the family), caught Alice’s enthusiasm and helped her make it happen.

Where to have it? Easy. Start at the Fair Funeral Home parking lot and march around the neighborhood. Invite friends and family. Give prizes for anyone who dresses in costumes with red, white and blue. Serve watermelon.

The first year, in 1995 , Ann Fair says, the parade was organized in just a couple of weeks ahead of the Fourth. This July 4, the neighborhood parade that begins at 9:30 a.m. at Fair Funeral Home on Boone Road has grown to what many founding fathers hoped for — a Great Anniversary Festival. The parade has grown to include 300 to 400 people.

The crowd includes people of all ages watching in folding chairs along the route or spending hours getting a bicycle, wagon, stroller or float decorated  in red, white and blue.

The volunteers and judges wear yellow T-shirts with red letters to make it easier for Ann Fair to find them in the huge crowd of people. Judges have the task of choosing a winner from many entries in a category.

Any decorated house on the parade route is considered for a prize, and animals are judged for their costumes. Goats, llamas, dogs and one cat have appeared at the judging table. 

In the beginning, Pappy Dyer arranged for a horse and buggy to carry the grand marshal and lead the parade. Revered older community members such as the late Marguerite Walker and Lucille Fagge were proud to sit in the buggy.

Veterans and military personnel often are honored. Last year, Travis Sigmon, a  Morehead High School graduate who was injured in Iraq, led the parade.

Alice Fair, who announces the prizes at the end of the parade, can now reach the microphone. She is a tall, slim, beautiful 20-year-old junior at East Carolina University, majoring in business.

At college, she is a member of the dance team that participates with the marching band at ECU football, basketball and baseball games .

This year, her team won an award at the national college dance team championship. She is probably the only member of her team who can say that she started her own parade.

Happy birthday, America! See you on the Fourth.

Rachel Wright is a native of Eden and a part-time instructor in basic skills at Rockingham Community College.