2010 July 4th Parade Pics

28HopUp · #1 07-05-2010, 08:45 AM

We've had a Mustang in the local July 4th Parade since 2001 (so this is our 10th parade). I had magnetic signs made up for the car to promote my Masonic Lodge, and we usually throw candy out to the kids (of all ages!). The year we changed things up a bit:

we threw red, sliver, blue necklaces
we had TWO Mustangs in the parade

Debbie and I were in our CHP Mustang, and the kids/cousins were in Debbie's 2005 convertible. The youngest in that car was Ray, who is the 13yo we are adopting from Foster Care. He LOVED being in his first parade! Here are the pics -

Standard parade practice - wait, wait, wait in the staging area (note that Ray is poised and ready to go!)

Here you can see the bags of necklaces we had for throwing -

28HopUp · #2 07-05-2010, 08:47 AM

This picture hasn't been enhanced or manipulated. To quote Van Halen "You could barely see the road from the heat coming off". Too bad the A/C isn't working in my SSP!

The antennae work well for mounting U.S. flags, doncha think?

Me and the Mrs. -

The kids having fun (note the crowd refused to stand in the open sun cuz of the heat!) -

With us throwing beaded necklaces, we did get quite a few people flash us their "goods", but it was only the guys who lifted their shirts. The SSP, with its lights on and flashing, received a good response form the crowd. The only downside was that once we turned off the parade route after idling for over an hour in 96* heat, my SSP had had enough and konked out as I was pulling over to remove the magnetic signs. When I popped the hood I could see that the coolant was at a rolling boil in the overflow tank. Having ice and water in the cooler, I was able to cool it off, refill the radiator (after waiting for a bit), and drive home.

If anyone else used their car in a parade yesterday, please feel free to post any pictures.

MOstang · #3 07-05-2010, 11:50 AM

That looked like fun Bill...thanks for sharing.

Andy · #4 07-05-2010, 12:05 PM

Looks like you all had fun.
we have a Parade here in the spring
(missed it this year) but next year were
gonna take the ssp!

ssp91ssp · #5 07-06-2010, 08:20 AM

Bill,

From the pics it looks like you guys had a great time !!!
Thanks for posting the pics, SSP looks great too.

I spent my wknd chasing down MY 84 DPS, It's all good now!

28HopUp · #6 07-06-2010, 10:04 AM

Thanks guys! The parade was ALOT of fun, despite the HEAT. Like I said, the kids had a great time. Really wish I had the A/C working in my car though (it's on the to-do list!). Had quite a few questions about the car in the staging area (mostly, "is it a real police car?")

I wanted to comment that I am quite happy with the logo'd magnets. I bought them from M Squad, who I had mount them on black magnetic material. I will be getting another set of lettering/logos from M Squad should I decide later to take the car back to black & white in-service colors. The logo magnets don't lay flush because of the side molding, but I knew that would happen. Regardless, I am thrilled with the results.

Roundhat · #7 07-06-2010, 11:40 AM

very cool... even in the heat!

28HopUp · #8 07-06-2010, 12:51 PM

Here's a trip down Memory Lane. Below is a picture from the 2001 parade, with my son Jack in the back seat, and his cousin Reid riding shotgun.

And here's the picture I posted earlier from this year, with Reid driving and Jack riding shotgun!

My how time flies!

MOstang · #9 07-06-2010, 02:25 PM

That has to be a pretty fun walk back in time for you.

FHP813 · #10 07-06-2010, 09:55 PM

Great pics Bill!