The annual Fall Festival Parade will kick off the Delta Fair on Monday. The parade is a rich part of the history of my family. In 1951 my father rode through the streets of Kennett in a wheelbarrow, pushed by a man wearing a skunk costume.
I can claim no such honor but on several occasions I co-anchored broadcasts of the parade. Gigantic, expensive farm implements. The Adelphian Club float. The Hayti Marching Band. The Poplar Bluff Shriners on their tiny motorcycles. It taxed my humble talents to even begin to describe the spectacle.
I broadcast many parades during my dozen years at KBOA. The Senath Christmas Parade. The Hornversville Watermelon Festival Parade. I was there for them all, droning on… mustering up more excitement than these sad little caravans deserved. You’d have thought I was in prime-time at the Rose Parade. My first Delta Fair Parade was in 1972 and I interviewed Jack McDaniel and Bill Walsh, the two Kennett businessmen responsible for organizing the event. I called my friend John last night and he said Jack and Bill are still in charge of the parade. Sweet Jesus, is there anything I care about that much?
Most of my in-car radio listening is XM these days. But at home I still tune in to a couple of the local stations. And it dawned on me this week that the little transistor radio I listen to is more than 20 years old. We brought it with us when we moved to Jefferson City in 1984. And it could have easily been 10 years old then. I love this little radio (made in Hong Kong for General Electric). On the front it proudly announces “Integrated Circuit” and, on the back, there’s a little plasic clip for attaching to your belt. I’m trying to think of other things in my life that have worked as well or as long as this little transistor (when did we drop that adjective?) radio. I so clearly remember when a small, portable radio like this was the ONLY way to listen to music or news away from your home, car or office.