Havre Festival Days Parade draws a crowd

Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson

A cowboy lets a group of children pet his horse during the annual Havre Festival Days Parade along 5th Avenue Saturday morning. See Friday's Community page for more photographs of Havre Festival Days.

Another successful Havre Festival Days Parade brought hundreds of people to sit, stand and jump up and down along the parade's route, up 5th Avenue from Havre High School and into downtown Havre.

This year's parade, with the "Old Fashion Western" theme, contained floats from dozens of local organizations, with a variety of interpretations.

The judging of the best floats in the commercial and non-commercial categories, along with the Mayor's Choice award, was done Saturday morning and the results are in.

This year's Best Commercial float award was declared to be from Gary and Leo's Fresh Foods, which hauled a trailer full of their own shopping carts topped with old-west-style covered wagon tops accompanied by a gang of cowboys.

The Best Non-Commercial float was the Cub Scout Pack 4426 float, with their cattle drive campsite-looking trailer, with western accessories and scouts around a mock fire.

The 2011 Mayor's Choice for best float was the Bullhook Blossom Garden Club's float.

This morning, while recovering from the busy weekend, Havre Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Debbie Vandeberg looked back on 2011's Festival Days.

"It was a great weekend," Vandeberg said. "We thank everyone for their participation and we look forward to next year."