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Crowds love biggest ever Festival Days parade

John Kelleher Havre Daily News [email protected]

It was blistering hot outside on Saturday, but no one seemed to mind. Crowds lined the streets for what would be the longest and by most accounts the best Festival Days parade. The parade had already started. But hundreds of people were still in line at Havre High School, ready to get their floats, tractors or antique cars into the parade. Many remembered days when there was a 15-minute wait, but the parade has grown bigger every year, and this year some waited more than an hour to step out. Groups ranging from the Shriners to the Class of 2001, pro-lifers to Bresnan Communications, Northern Montana Hospital to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers were ready to take part in the area's biggest parade. The Havre Area Chamber of Commerce float proudly advertised that it was celebrating its 100th anniversary. Each person had a story to tell. The folks on the antique fire truck from Havre's sister city of Medicine Hat may have won the award for traveling the farthest. They spent more than three hours on the road. Ron Dowling beamed as he told the story of how his group purchased the ramshackle fire truck in 1992. They restored the 1913 model and began showing it off and taking it to parades. This was a special event for the members, he said, because of Havre's special relationship to Medicine Hat.

 

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