Butlerville Parade and Car Show

Here is a riddle. What do 7, 38, & 98 have in common? The answer is: There were seven BMCU cars in the parade and car show. The BMCU was the 38th entry in the parade, and the temperature at parade time was 98 F.

The Second Annual Butlerville Days Celebration was held the afternoon of July 24th. Even though our cars had their cooling systems severely tested, no one had to drop out or be towed before we finished the parade and gathered in Butler Park for the Show portion of the event. All of us were VERY happy to see the top of the hill so that we could coast, motors off, the final ¼ mile to the finish, a la the Park City Miners Day Parade.

We had the most attractive cars in the parade and many of the "dignitaries" walked by our staging position and "selected" the car in which they wanted to ride! Even though we had not planned on this, John Hermance, Mike Scoggins and Gary Lindstrom came through and were gracious to give parade rides to these people/bee. (See accompanying photo)

The parade route was lined with parents and lots of kids who cheered with yells of "cool car, neat car, haven't seen one of those in a while, and sweet ride." We also had candy given to us by the organizers to toss to the spectators.

Once we had assembled on the show grounds and got the club banner erected, we took advantage of the air conditioning, food, and drinks that were provided to us for our participation. We also enjoyed the Black Hawk Helicopter display and flight demo, the low fly over of a KC-135 tanker, the "waterfall" that the fire department made from the top of their aerial ladder, and the live entertainment. The Car Show was a success as we had MG's, Triumph's, Sunbeam and even a Metropolitan on display for a year spread from 1948 - 1979. Throughout the Car Show we had a steady stream of people enjoying and asking questions about the wide diversity that BMCU has. The awesome fireworks at the end of the day were the perfect ending for the celebration.

Participants in this year's parade were Robert Rawlings & family, John Hermance, Roger & Jill Davis, Michael Scoggins, Terry Rees, Mitch & Diane Johnson, and Gary "the Bee Keeper" Lindstrom (Margaux wisely stayed home). Put next year's parade & car show on your calendar because this event is growing and you'll want to be a part of it!

-- Roger Davis

Click on any photo to see a larger version.