Sew the Fourth

Seward, Nebraska has been celebrating the Fourth of July for 150 years, so this year was their sesquicentennial.  Last year, my sister and I went and I decided I liked it so I went alone this year.  Not for the fireworks, but they have a lot of things going on in the civic center and the Nebraska National Guard Museum.  That kind of thing is right up my alley.

Unfortunately, I woke up late and missed some cool things in the morning.  Like the post card I was going to send to my sister for her birthday and a presentation on quilts and a presentation on Czech history in Nebraska.  The first thing I did was park at the high school and take the trolley downtown.  Very wise decision that took us too long to make last year.  Then I wandered over to the band shell to catch some of a tribute to Sousa.  Didn't see anything that screamed to my somewhat empty stomach until after a few songs.  (The only seats were in the sun, so I didn't want to overstay my sun exposure.)  On the way down the other side of "food alley," there was a local group selling fruit cups for $5 as a fundraiser.  Brilliant!  They weren't the flimsy little sides of fruit cups you get at a diner, no, these were 22 oz. plastic cups with lids.  Filled to the brim with watermelon, canteloupe, grapes and a few strawberries, pulled fresh from a cooler.  Perfect choice for lunch!  Bonus, it supported something local.  (Don't ask me what.)

While eating the most delicious fruit cup, I wandered through the vendor fair on the square.  There were two things I was looking for: a brimmed hat for myself  (to wear the rest of the afternoon) and a wind chime for some friends getting married in the fall.  Found no hats that appealed to me and the closest things I found to wind chimes were some bells with antique silverware hanging.  I went around again later, looking closer and making sure I looked at the inside booths.  Found nothing but disappointment.

But I did manage to catch a presentation on the 100th anniversary of Willa Cather's novel, "My Antonia" in the civic center that was the opposite of disappointing.  Very enlightening and left me wanting to reread it.  Got to meet a shirttail relative of Cather's and received what I thought were some insightful interpretations of some things that happened in the novel.  Also sat in front of a lady who seemed too much like my mother in how she was always getting the short end of the stick and complaining about it.

After the presentation, I crossed the hallway to an American Girl Doll display, which is something my sister would have enjoyed.  Took some pictures for her.  (Still need to send her the ones that wouldn't fit in my Instagram post.)  Since the presentation ended at the same time as the trolleys were on break for the parade, I found myself kind of stranded downtown to watch the parade.  It would have been a few miles to walk to my vehicle, and it was 94 degrees.  Not worth the risk of passing out.  I found some sister missionaries and watched the first part of the parade with them.  When the shade moved, so did we.  They went over by one of the tents (that didn't offer enough shade to tempt me) and I walked down towards the trolley stop.

Not having any idea how long the parade was, I managed to find a nicely shaded stoop occupied by an older couple.  They let me join them, and I had a truly Nebraskan experience.  Apparently, the wife of the couple is the caretaker for the world's largest time capsule (to be opened in  2025 so mark your calendars) and spent a number of years broadcasting the parade from that same corner.  She seemed glad to have the opportunity to explain the floats and some of her connections to them as they passed by.

One of the things I learned from her was how important it was to have the horses towards the end of the parade instead of the beginning.  (I'll give you a second to think about why it might be important to not put horses in front of the marching bands.)  They both left our stoop after the horses and I didn't stay much longer.  My water had run out, and the trolley stop was across the street, so I went back to food alley and got a root beer float.  Sat down in an ivy covered gazebo to wait out the rest of the trucks.  Hardly had a chance to catch my breath before I saw the trolleys coming and  got myself towards what I thought was the end of the line.  Had people followed the unwritten rules of "form the line at the front of the trolley," I would have been smashed on the second trolley.  Waiting for the third trolley meant it was not nearly as full, so I win.  Stopped at the Runza in Wahoo for a Dr. Pepper and a $1 cone to complete my excursion.