4th. of July Parades

Since we're getting close to summer and that means picnics, parades, fun stuff, etc., I thought I'd tell a bit about our "famous" Octavia 4th. of July parades.

These parades all kinda started as a flucky deal. We'd moved to Octavia in 1982, so the first July we were really here for in 1983, we were sitting around visiting with some neighbors, and just casually asked, "What do you do around here for the 4th. of July?"

The answer was, "Not much of anything." So Joan piped up and said, "Well, in Wisconsin, the 4th of July was a really big deal. We always had a big parade, our school band and neighboring school bands marched in it, lots of folks decorated floats and bicycles and got in it, and then there was a big picnic at the park in town, and a huge fireworks display at night."

Well, that got everyone thinking. "Why don't we put on a parade? That sounds like fun." So, the neighbor kids got on the phone to all their friends and told them we were having a parade on the 4th. of July so come and be in it. We were going to meet up at the old church parking lot in Octavia.

I got busy and made signs that read, "Parade - July 4th. - 2:00 PM in downtown Octavia." One of the old local fellers came by and said, "I've lived in these parts nigh on to 60 years. Where in the world is 'downtown' Octavia?" Little did he know that that would be immortalized on our T-shirts when we opened Babcock's Store.

So, by 1:00 PM on the 4th., folks started showing up in the church parking lot. There were three-wheelers decorated with red white and blue crepe paper, decorated bicycles, some folks on horseback, a dump truck with a couple ladies riding on the top of the hopper dressed up in fancy gowns. All along the parade route you'd here, "Dump 'em, dump 'em!" Of course, Shorty, the truck driver never did.

There was a float carrying a little girl all dressed up as Little Miss Octavia. Joan and I decorated up our tractor and pulled an old wagon we'd gotten from up at her Dad's farm in Wisconsin, and loaded it up with hay bales, and barrels, and misc. junk. She had her accordion, and a few other folks were on the float as well, and they were playing and singing along the route.

We started out from the church, went down the road toward Hwy. 144 past what used to be the old Octavia Store, then made a hard right onto 144, went up the hill, made another right back toward the church, and had so much fun that we did it again.

There were folks lining the parade route waving and smiling, and we even had a couple judges sitting in front of the old store to make it all official. Trophies were even given out for the best entries.

That evening, not wanting to call it quits with just a parade, my neighbor and I gathered up all the fireworks we could get a hold of from the little roadside stands that are all over the place this time of year, and we invited everyone over to our house to "watch the fireworks show" in our back yard. We made up iced tea and had some cookies and snacks on the shop porch, and some music going again, and at dark we shot off our fireworks. We were amazed at the number of people that came over. It was a lot of fun.


And so, the die was cast. For the next several years, the Octavia 4th. of July Parade was the place to be in Oklahoma.


By the following 4th. of July, we'd opened Babcock's Store, so the parade was staged over on the highway in the store parking lot. Of course, you know I never do anything halfway, and I was just itching to get back to promoting "something", and the parade was it.


I started inviting people to come and take part in the parade months before the 1984 parade time, and that morning folks started gathering to be in the parade, and we couldn't believe it. Nobody could believe it. The parking lot was full, across the road was full, back behind us was full.

And on top of it all, Joan and I were trying to keep the store open. It was mass chaos to the highest degree. I had to let people out of the store before more could come in the store. We finally just had to close the doors. We COULD NOT handle it.

We had a long flatbed trailer set up in front of the store for the musicians, and had real good music going all afternoon. Parade time was 4:00 PM. We went across the highway, down 144, looped around through Octavia, and back to the store. About 2 1/2 miles all together. Then we presented the trophies.

That night several of us set off fireworks across the highway in what is now the Octavia Baptist church yard. Back then it was a horse pasture. Fireworks was bigger and better, parade was definitely bigger and better. We were really rolling now.


Newspapers called it the biggest little parade in the country, and the media attention made it even bigger the next couple of years. I think the biggest parade had 497 participants on 100+ entries.

It was a lot of fun, but a LOT of work for a few of us. We finally had to call it quits. It got too big and there was too little help to handle everything.

But it was a great time while it lasted. More about the 4th. parade redo later.

wb