I'm not a huge fan of the parade, except the hot rod cars and the firetrucks. Otherwise you're just sitting around waiting and waiting for the non-fluid movement of sponsors and high school bands as they scamper by playing out-of-tune music. But we support our schools and their extra-curricular activities.
This parade was no different. We got there an hour early and camped out a spot right on the curb for a great view. It was a nice day, so the wait wasn't too bad. Here's our view down Bel Air Avenue in beautiful downtown Aberdeen.
Finally the parade started and the other dignitaries arrived by convertibles provided by the local car dealers, such as Adams Chevrolet. Here's Vi Ripken, the mother of Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripken. The Ripken family is from Aberdeen.
The parade was as expected.......until a local family decided that the best we to get a better look was to stand IN FRONT OF ME. At first it wasn't TOO bad. I could see between their fat asses.
Then more family members joined them, and they scooted more toward me.
And finally, they said, "Ah, F**K it, stand if front of him."
I finally politely asked if they could step back to the curb so that my family could see the parade. They turned around, looked at me, gave me the stare of death, then backed up. The matriarch of the gang then began to mumble quite coherently, "Who does that mutha-f**ker think he is? Everybody else is standing in the damn street. He just want to take his damn pictures." More profanity continued and she went from one person to another looking for a sympathetic ear. My wife feared for her life and for the lives of her children. With plenty of military personel and police around, I wasn't bothered. What are they going to do, jack me up in front of the base commander of Aberdeen Proving Ground?
My children realized that there is a huge difference between Eldersburg, the origin of civility, and Aberdeen, the origin of fear and villainy. I'm not sure if they will ever go back.
Fortunately, there were the firetrucks. I always love the older fire trucks. Especially a 1946 Ford Howe.
The 1989 Grumman 102' Aerial Ladder seemed to be the big boss of the firetrucks on Sunday.
Believe it or not, this KME Kovatch is 16 years old.
This very similar pumper is a 1999 Saulsbury Spartan .
This other pumper is a 2009 Pierce Arrow XT.
No fire department near a highway is complete without a heavy rescue unit. This one is a 1993 Saulsbury Spartan. Gotta save the lives of those people from New York and New Jersey when they flip their cars on I-95 going 100 mph swerving in and out of traffic while running cocaine up and down the eastern seaboard.
And this one wins the award for the most interesting fire truck. It's an Oshkish Striker 1500 ARFF from Aberdeen Proving Ground. It has a center driver and was loud as cuss.
In Aberdeen, not only are the people ghetto, so are the police cars.
Despite my wife's fears and my polite demands we were able to leave without getting mugged, shot, harassed, or intimidated by the locals. That's always a plus when you're in Aberdeen, Maryland!
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