The Snake River Stampede Parade

The year? 2010. The Snake River Community Festival (a ten day deal) had begun. I started the day off right with the Festival Breakfast in the morning, (it truly was the best meal of the day!) and a quick trip to the Nampa Farmer's Market, which was just around the corner from the Breakfast. I can't resist the Market...I love it there. And, lets be honest; I had a goal involving pepper jelly that I meant to complete by the end of the summer. I was going to get a sample of the hot stuff if it killed me. (And it almost did.)

After meandering around the Market, I got myself up to the homestead to collect children, dog, two bonus grandchildren, husband...and a partridge in a pear tree. We herded ourselves to the corner near Stone Lumber to watch my very first all-horse parade. It was very, very hot outside. Intelligent people brought colorful, large umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. We were not among them. Our granddaughter said, "Hey, why don't we sit over there under that sign, where there's that square of shade?" She is only five and we are....well, older than five. Great plan. We huddled within the square's boundaries.

The first thing to go by were the flags. The American flag, the State flag, and one or two others. I'm guessing one of them was the county flag. Our five year old guest asked me why I was putting my hand on my heart. I explained to her that it was a symbol of reverence for our flag. She did the same, and we stood side by side in that pose as they passed. It took me a moment or two to realize that the man on the horse in the hat, carrying the Idaho Flag was Governor Otter. But the respectful term 'Governor Otter' somehow did not escape my lips. Instead I called out, without even thinking, "Hi, Butch!" He smiled broadly and waved at us.

I had just called the Governor of Idaho by his first name. Something I would sorely reprimand my own children over. Later in the day, while mentioning this to a friend who knew him better than I did, that friend had said, "He's the kind of guy that probably didn't mind that at all." Lets hope so.

Later on we saw the Snake River Stagecoach approaching. I had an unapologetic fetish for this piece of history, and just had to get a picture. The stagecoach had none other than the Parade Marshal, Lloyd Halblinger, riding up front. Everyone seemed to know and like Lloyd. He was the owner of the former Lloyd's Country Store. I had heard that this had been 'the' place to go for all things country.

We saw my friends the Stampeders; Kathleen Mautz rode by on her horse and gave a friendly wave. I knew they'd be having a big day, with the parade and the equestrian drill team competition at the Idaho Center later on. Yet they still smiled, waved, and had perfect hair. I would just like to know what brand of hairspray those girls are using. I can assure you that it holds, even in 100 degree weather.

I noticed quickly that this was more of a 'quiet' parade...no car's motors or horns blasting, no radios blaring. Just the clip-clopping of the horses' hooves. I liked that.

Our five-year-old parade-goer was very taken with the rodeo queens. Lots of hair, huge smiles, satin, flowers, and braided mains on the horses were involved. They waved with so much dignity, and their smiles never changed or wilted, even when their horses were making a 'deposit'.

A horse went by with the famous BSU Broncos colors; orange and blue. This was a favorite of ours; we are the proud owners of a BSU barbeque cover...that's taken being a fan to a whole new level.

There was a Stampede for the Cure float, being pulled by beautiful horses. They threw out t-shirts to the crowd. Now I have something to wear for Stampede for the Cure night on Wednesday. I was thrilled. This is a big deal in our community; the proceeds go towards getting under-insured women their mammograms. Who knows how many lives this is saving. Pink is the color of devotion....at least in this case. Those that are helping are devoted to their cause, and the community backs them one hundred per cent. There was a lot of cheering going on for that float.

Six more riders holding American flags went by later in the parade, and our five year old smarty tugged at my arm and told me to put my hand over my heart, like we did before. Once again, we both revered the flag-- or flags-- together. It was a heartwarming sight to see them waving in the wind, atop horses, the blue sky making them pop.

Horse drill teams, bareback riders, lasso-throwing horsemen, and last but not least....the imperative street sweeping machines. Even they performed, doing spins and such. We clapped for them, too.

The best deal was that since the parade route went around the block we were on, if we hurried down the sidewalk over to the next block, we could see the whole thing again. Which we did.

I went to find a Katie, a new friend of mine that was judging the parade, after it was all over. She was standing with a group of people. Katie's daughter, and a girl that wore fabulous sunglasses, and one other couple, with the man wearing a nice cowboy hat and boots. The girl with the sunglasses turned out to be Courtney Crowe, former rodeo Queen (1993), and the man with the hat was Lloyd Halblinger, accompanied by his wife.

Lloyd immediately stuck out his hand. In the course of the brief conversation, he told me all about his store. He is now retired and living in Crouch, and the store is closed, but people around us were adding bits and pieces in such as, "My parents used to bribe me to go to Lloyd's. I'd do chores just to get to go there," and "Lloyd's was the D and B before there was a D and B Supply!" One lady said that she loved it that there were tables for all of the farmers to sit and drink coffee at. Lloyd said to me, "I'd even give ya a little whisky from behind the counter, if you were old enough back then!" And then he winked. I just laughed. What a funny guy.

Lloyd said that they really enjoyed Crouch; they frequently attended the Starlight Theater up there. "Those kids can really act," he said. He invited our family to 'come up to visit' sometime, shook my hand once again and accompanied his smiling wife, to go and greet more friends. No wonder. Courtney Crowe told me that if Lloyd invited you over, he truly meant it. He was just that kind of guy.

After taking smiling pictures of Katie and I, we realized one crucial thing...that we were all melting. We took dog, children, grandchildren and husband back to the car. But no partridge in a pear tree; he got away during the parade and flew off to follow those waving flags. Can't say I blamed him.