2014 Guadalupe County Fair Parade Begins

As 10:00 approaches, the folks lining the northern side of Austin Street, the side which gets the morning shade, patiently wait. The mid-term elections are a matter of weeks away, so Republicans were out canvassing for votes as they passed out hand held fans. This gent with his Buffalo Bill mustache wore an NRA shirt and sported a Greg Abbott campaign button. 

Since the whole purpose of the fair and the parade are to celebrate agriculture in Guadalupe County, it is fitting that young people from Guadalupe County 4-H and FFA (Future Farmers of America) lead off the parade.

Looking at the State Bank and Trust Clock, one of the icons of Seguin, it is easy to see that the parade is now a whole 15 minutes old. Hard to believe that there are only going to be another fifteen minutes before the entire parade has passed. That's not too bad, though for a farming county in rural Texas.

Parade Marshalls this year are past presidents of the Guadalupe County Agricultural Fair going back to the 1950's. Here are several of them riding in a place of honor.

Texas parades always have beautiful young women dressed in fancy western wear. Many Texas pageant queens don't wear a traditional tiara crown. Instead, thier tiara sits atop thier Stetson hat.

I wonder if there is a class on giving proper royal waves to the fair royalty? Princesses, Duchesses, Runner-Ups and Queens all same wave as they travel the parade route.

1953 Chevy Pick Up Shined Up For the Parade

 Here's a little car eye-candy for those of you who love vintage automobiles. This is a 1953 Chevy Pick Up, a gorgeous shiny red dream of a pick up, one that must catch the eyes of anyone who spots it as it if the owner ever drives it around town. Wouldn't you love to cruise up to the local hamburger joint in this beauty?

I spotted it parked along College Street before the annual Guadalupe County Fair Parade, a couple of weeks ago.

I took a few pictures, including some where I bent over and held the camera at ground level. Wow, the front bumper is shiny enough to qualify as a mirror….

The interiors of cars made a generation ago are works of art. This one is a fine example of design and functionality merging and forming something classy.

2013 Guadalupe County Fair Parade People

One of the nice things about living in a small, rural community is the feeling of kinship and frienliness felt during annual local events. In Guadalupe county, where I reside, one can feel the spirit of community pride during the county fair events.  The main event for me is the Friday parade, which kicks off the week end of fair events.

One of my goals as a photographer is to kind of emulate the style of Norman Rockwell through my camera lens. Of course, No one will ever be as good as Mr. Rockwell as he depicted Americana during some of it's most iconic times of the mid-twentieth century. However, I do strive to capture some of the same kind of universal moments for small town America. 

Here are a few of the people who caught my eye as I walked the staging area for the parade participants.

First of all, there is the Mighty Matador Band trombone section warming up behind  the old Mary B. Erskine school.

Oh my goodness. These young fellas look like they are going to wreak havoc as they get older, don't they? 

Here are some of the children wearing pink to honor breast cancer awareness. The boy in the middle is the grandson of a good friend of mine. He is very reserved and shy, so he didn't break I smile for me, but I took his picture anyway. 

Of course, local politicians have to have some representation in the parade. These people are promoting the Guadalupe County Republicans.

There is a mural on the building of the Seguin Auto Chopped and Diced Repair shop. It seems like the guy in the hot rod is checking out the lady standing next to her kids. I asked if I could take her picture and told her not to move. She was very obliging.

Now, these teens look like they have the "attitude" down pat.

These folks are from the First United Methodist Church, the same church which has the Pumpkin Patch that was featured in an earlier blog.

Volunteer Fire Departments show off their people and equipment in the parade.

And Texas parades should always have cowgirls.

Here's another Texas touch...beauty queens with their tiaras and cowboy boots.

These two fellas are from one of the local health gyms, and they came dressed as very healty zombies. The numbers that are supposed to be dripping in red blood are 78155, the zip code for Seguin.

I adore these little Minnie Mouse cowgirls with their polka dot tutus and girly boots.

This lady was not really this sad. I visited with her earlier and she was very perky and friendly. However, there is a long wait for the parade to get underway while the participants sit ready on their float, and I suspect she was just zoned out in moment of quiet reflection when I snapped her picture.

Now, this photo is a fine example of the serendipitious things that can get included in a frame, unbeknownst to the photographer. My main thought, here, was to photograph the three people sitting in the lawn chairs. It wasn't until I got home and looked at this frame on my big screen that I noticed the little girl in the pink dress at the end of the sidewalk. I love how the eye is drawn up the line of the sidewalk to the edge of the frame where she stands, ready to turn the corner, I think.

The were several people dressed up as Dr. Seuss characters. This young lady is supposed to be "Thing One" from The Cat in the Hat.

Here is another of the characters.

And a cutie sporting a cammo baseball hat covered with a pink bandana.

This man caught my eye as he chewed on the end of a stalk of straw. I asked him if I could take his picture and he started to pose. No....go back to leaning on the fence with the straw in your mouth. He did.

Finally, here's another friend of mine. She was part of the healthy zombie group. Even with white paint all over her face, she is beautiful. Love ya, Lana!