Some people think every small town is the same. Those people have clearly never experienced the bustling metropolis that is Montrose, Pennsylvania on our biggest day of the year: July 4th. From parade floats to food booths and everything in between, we pull out all the stops to make Independence Day the best day of the year. You haven't lived until you've experienced these 17 July 4th traditions that everyone in the Montrose area knows all too well:
1. The weeks of preparation.
If you aren't planning a 4-H float, perfecting the final bars of God Bless America at marching band practice, or prepping food for booths on The Green or a family picnic, is it really summertime? Not in Montrose, it isn't.
2. Running in the 5K (or, you know, not).
If you are crazy enough to get up at 6 am and dress up in fun, patriotic clothes just to run for fun on one of the hottest days of the year, I don't care what place you get, you deserve a medal.
3. Waking up early (or staying out late) to set your chairs up along the parade route.
And the look of frustrated acceptance when you see someone else sitting in the chairs you brought for the parade hours earlier:
4. Setting up on The Green.
Things get real when they have the vendor spaces marked and straw spread everywhere. Like it even makes a difference: The Green will be more like "The Brown" for weeks.
(^Real footage of family fun on The Green last year)
5. Walking all the way to Grow Avenue from the fire hall because traffic is a mess.
Sometimes it's not what you know, but who you know. Shoutout to the kind-hearted individuals who gave us a lift in their gators - trumpets, trombones, and all, like five years in a row.
6. Decorating some floats.
This is one of our favorite traditions! Because nothing says American pride like balloons and streamers and kids with face paint. And what kind of July 4th would it be if there isn't a float with a marriage proposal, a bunch of 4-Hers on horses, one million fire trucks and some Boy Scouts? A terrible parade, that's what.
7. Waiting an eternity for the parade to start after spending the entire morning getting ready.
This is especially fun for the adults who are responsible for the children throwing candy, shouting, and doing cartwheels in the road. As the saying goes, kids will be kids. And kids with a sugar high at 11 a.m. will be absolutely unmanageable, so don't bother.
*Freedom* *Loading*
8. Waving to everyone you know in the crowd. So, everyone.
Hey Grandma, hey other Grandma, oh hi there, second grade teacher! I'll probably see you in Price Chopper later this week, and oh wow, is that so-and-so from English class in fourth grade? Yeah, hey!
9. Chugging a few post-parade bottles of water.
Because everyone who has survived a July 4th in Montrose knows hydration is key. How else could you possible consume one of each delicious food item being sold?
Speaking of delicious food items...
10. Eating some Chicken BBQ.
YUM. Waiting in line for that Chicken BBQ? Not so yum. True July 4th professionals split up: one picks up spiedie sandwiches and drinks to be consumed while waiting to pick up your Chicken BBQ and the other holds the place in line.
11. Buying a bunch of stuff you don't need/will never use from vendors on the Green.
I can't be the only one who has made some bad financial decisions on this day. Rubber band guns? Scrunchies? Seriously. So many quarters wasted on scrunchies. Should've taken all of that money to the fudge stand. Because dang.
12. Spending the afternoon cleaning up with Key Club.
How can one small town create so much garbage? You see things you could never unsee on the otherwise wholesome streets of this historic town. But you usually end up laughing and having fun with the gross stuff you find.
13. And the pure joy that fills your heart when the stand you're working in sells out.
Ma'am, I'm sorry. I can give you an ice flavored snow cone or this bottle of ketchup. Please leave so I can take a shower.
14. Going home for a little R&R.
But first, a shower. And then a generous slathering of aloe, because not only have you inexplicably gotten burned after telling your mom you'd be "fine" without sunblock at 7 a.m. (eight hours ago), but you are now preparing for phase two of this amazing day...(see #15).
15. Family picnics.
Once the excitement in town has slowed down, it's time to clean yourself up and get ready for family barbecues (because the four full meals you probably already ate today don't count), four wheeling, and, let's be honest, shooting some stuff. One thing is for sure, lots of laughs will be had.
16. Watching the fireworks on the golf course or in the high school parking lot.
But if you're really well connected, you might even be on the practice football field rubbing elbows with Montrose's Finest: our volunteer fire and EMS crews and their families. Isn't it strange that the safest place in town is just a few hundred feet from dozens of explosives? #Murica. But really, they are also the best, most fun group of people around. We all just wish we were them.
17. Finally going to bed, exhausted and sunburnt, but still sad that the next 4th of July is 365 days away.
Montrose rocks. You may want to deny it, but days like this remind you of how much you love your town and the people in it.
Until next year, 'Trose.
Did I miss an important July 4th tradition? Tell me about it in the comments below!
