That one Time I Helped Make a Float

Happy Pioneer Day!

A couple of months ago I got a phone call asking if I would volunteer to work on the float for the children's parade. 

My first thought? Has no one told you I like neither children- nor parades?

Haha.. just kidding. I like parades. ;)

Oh fine... I like children too. 

It was actually kind of a fun adventure. I've never worked on a float before.  It was a group who mostly had no idea what they were doing- luckily the couple in charge (Ron and Amy) had the know-how and the access to supplies.

This was the teeny mock up Ron made. It was going to be quite a feat turning this little model into a larger than life size spectacle. 

The theme was "Pioneer stories- foundation for the future". The concept of our little float was to be stacks of books and then on top would be open pop-up books depicting the First Vision, Pioneers crossing the plains and the newly rededicated Jordan River Temple.

Luckily we had a few people who know what they heck they were doing. For the first couple of weeks I just stood back and watched them work. I'd lend a hand by holding things down or smearing glue... My opinion was always readily available but for the actual construction part I was pretty useless.

Over the next week or so the pieces started to slowly come together. There was a lot of styrofoam floating around. Oh- all of this was done in a huge garage loaned by a lady in the stake. Seriously- the nicest garage I've ever been in. It even had a second floor!

At this juncture I started to be a little more helpful.  I helped sand down the edges of the foam so they'd look like books. The white foam was scored so that it would look like pages. It was so amazing how it actually looked like a stack of giant books!

I missed the day they primed and started painting- but I made sure to be there for the most important day- glitter day!

When we were planning everything out, Ron and Amy were really good about taking everyone's opinions into consideration. Of course me being me- I wanted GLITTER! I thought the thing should sparkle from stem to stern! They agreed!

I felt like a pixie spreading my magical dust all over! We would paint a section and then I would literally blow a handful of glitter over the wet paint. I had glitter all over my face, arms and hands. It was a dream come true!

We worked over the course of a couple of months. I didn't make it to every work session- but I made it to as many as I could.

And eventually we went from this:

To this!

By the time I got to the prep area on parade day they'd pretty much finished everything- just a few last minute adjustments here and there.

This is most of our crew who worked on it- our fearless leader, Ron had to be out of town- but don't let that fool you into thinking he didn't work his buns off on this project!

I was really proud of our little float. It was by no means the most spectacular. Wow there are some people who really put a lot into this parade.  My sister Kim was visiting this weekend so she went and staked out a place to watch the parade while we got it ready to go.

Come parade time we got to see everything.

Some of the entries had the kids walking along with them. Most of them had shirts or capes or props that coincided with their float. This one was super cute- they all had giant crayons.

My pictures don't do them justice- but this one was incredible!

But this one might have been my favorite. Elder Sea and Elder Gull... haha! and they are teaching crickets! bahaha!

I was so excited for our float to come down the street that I almost forgot to take a picture of it.

Here is one of my other favorites. The beehive-cement mixer actually turned- and it was super cute that it was pulled by a tractor!

This one was Kim's favorite. And the judges. It won and was featured in the big Days of 47 parade that took place today.

The ingenuity of some of these floats is just incredible. I'm glad I got a chance to work on it- but I'm glad I didn't have to be in charge of it because I could never be this creative.

This one was fun with the "stained glass" windows and "rain"

These animals had a very origami-ish look about them. so pretty!

Ah hahaha. I love her unicorn box! :D

It was the first time I've ever been to the youth parade. And sadly- the last. They announced that this year is the last year they are doing it. They just don't draw the crowds. The big parade on Pioneer Day- well, people camp out over night to go to that one- but there were not a ton of people there. Granted- we were sitting right at the beginning of the route so maybe there were more that I didn't see. Anyway, I'm sad it's going away. My mom was telling me that as a little girl, she walked in this parade. She dressed as an alien and had a basket on her head with something poking out to be her antennae. It has been a staple for decades and I'm sure it's going to be sorely missed. 

I'm glad I had a hand in this historic parade.