This year's Grand Marshall was Vicente Escobedo. He was a boxer for the U.S. in the Olympic Games in Athens.

From his profile at 15rounds.com: "Born in Woodland, California, 1981, Vicente Escobedo still calls the modest city, home. His desire is to be like his hero, Oscar De La Hoya, and capture a gold medal. He is currently trained by his older brother, Jose, who introduced him to the sport at 13 years of age. Ten years have since passed, and Vicente has steadily improved with each day. "

Okay- read that again.....'Modest city'? MODEST?!? I sure hope they mean in the sense of 'free from ostentation or pretension' which is one definition of modest. NOT ' low or inferior in station or quality'. Woodland rocks.

Riding in the next car was 'Big John'- a beautiful, and huge German Shepherd. Unlike Vicente calling Woodland 'modest', Big John had the following to say about his hometown in a recent issue of "Big Dogs Who Hate Cats."

"I was the fifth puppy in a litter of 9. I grew up in a cardboard box over behind Raleys, where I always got plenty to eat. I think Woodland is the greatest town in the world, it made me what I am today. I'm currently paper-training a pup of my own, and I've been using a map of Davis for him to do his 'nastiest bits'."

Now that is a good dog. We also ran across one of Big John's old buddies- here is what Barney had to say:

"I remember Big John from back in the day. We came up together on the streets, and we still hang sometimes. But it just isn't the same since John got 'fixed', he just doesn't seem like himself anymore. Never wants to go out, just wants to lay around all day.

And there was this one time I remember that we met a couple of fine lookin' Schnauzers who had just gotten out of the pound. I mean, I was all over that stuff, but John didn't even want to sniff! Sometimes I wonder if he might be going the wrong way down a one way street, if you know what I mean."

Parades are great, because you get to see a lot of different people out there doin' their thing, whatever that may be. Personally, I own neither a Mexican flag, a serape, pants with a horse-shoe pattern, nor cowboy boots. But I enjoy seeing all of this stuff at a parade.

We move from the Mexican flag, to a California flag. This is ironic, in that California was part of Mexico for quite a long time. Have you ever wondered why we have a bear on the California state flag? Well, it wasn't by accident- here is the story:

The Bear Flag Revolt

The California state flag commemorates an event that occurred in the little town of Sonoma on Sunday morning, June 14, 1846.

A band of some thirty American settlers seized Colonel Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and informed him that he was a prisoner of war. The Americans proudly proclaimed that theirs was a war for the independence of California. In front of Vallejo's casa grande, the rebels hoisted a flag emblazoned with a crude drawing of a bear, a lone star, and the words "CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC." (At this time of course, California was part of Mexico...hmmm..)

The original bear flag was made by William Todd, nephew of Abraham Lincoln. Todd used a three-by-five piece of white cotton cloth. Along the bottom he sewed several strips of red flannel taken from either a man's shirt or a woman's petticoat. He then painted a five-pointed red star in the upper left-hand corner and drew a picture of a California grizzly bear. But William Todd clearly was no artist. His grizzly looked more like a pig than a bear.

Shortly after the arrival of United States naval forces along the California coast, the Stars and Stripes replaced the Bear Flag over Sonoma. The life of the "California Republic" thus ended on July 9, less than a month after it had begun.

The band in the back of this truck was awesome. They had a clarinet, a tuba, a trumpet and a drum. They absolutely rocked. They guy on the tuba was must have some huge lungs, because he was keepin the beat like a monster. This was the best use I have ever seen for these instruments. (Sorry Mr. Holck, but these guys are even better than Douglass band- and they didn't even have to wear tuxedos)

The horse on the left was dancing. The one on the right just looked good.

There are a lot of historical type groups out there. These were the Caledonians from Sacramento.

They brought a rolling castle with them. It's like an early motorhome.

Abe Lincoln was at the parade.

And this guy with these little miniature horses. They were cute, but the one in front was slipping on the wet asphalt.

The Sierra Outlaws were at the parade again. Last year they had a cool little cart with a skeleton hanging from it. I was impressed that they had a skeleton at a christmas parade. Instead of the skeleton, this year they highlighted:

Once again, it was a spectacular show.

The old-fashioned trash truck, and brand new fire truck were at the parade. There were men in the trucks, with their kids. Just imagine how exciting it would be if your dad was a fireman, and you got to ride on the truck with him. Other kids would be talking about it at school for months. When I was growing up, my dad was an accountant. He wasn't in parades, and didn't ride on a big truck. But I remember visiting his office one time, and seeing a Playboy calendar on the wall in his office. I was about 7, and I thought that was exciting and scary. Unfortunately for all of those accountant's kids out there now...Political Correctness has pretty much taken Playboy out of the office setting.

Next time you hear that the Air Force dropped a stray bomb onto a residential area full of innocent civilians,
just think of this guy- you'll feel a whole lot better.

Not to be outdone by the Air Force, and their kinder-gentler bombs, Grocery Outlet had this very cool bag costume.
One kid next to me said to his brother "look- it's a puppet!" His brother said to him "No stupid, it's a cartoon."

Pioneer High School Cheerleaders were in the parade- they did a dance, and put on a show in front of the judges. I felt really bad for the girl on the left- she had to hold her Pee for the entire parade.

Dude...I go to that school! I wonder how I could get on the float next year.

Combined Woodland School Band. Mr. Holck from Douglass Jr. High walking along with the band.

A parade without clowns, is like a Big Mac without a hair in it.

Yes, that is a donkey.

The guy in the cowboy hat was pissed.
He thought his friend said "dude, do you want to go to the parade and pick up some chicks?"
Unfortunately, he really said "pick up some shit".
That's the last time he'll make plans on a cell-phone.

Man I love dogs...

I don't know why they said that dogs and their owners start to look alike.
Or, at least dress alike...

Try the brown one, I hear they taste just like chicken!

The End...

	From:  c/MSgt Troy Sumaya - Date: 12-Dec-04
	Still no pictures of Highlands AFJROTC?
	From:  eRiK sHeRmAn - Date: 12-Dec-04
	I really liked the parade it was my first Woodland Parade ever. It was awesome. I hope next years is as good as this ones.
	From:   - Date: 15-Dec-04
	where is the pioneer float pic
	From:  melisa arnett - Date: 21-Dec-04
	good. what about pictures of thw winter band? we did win best of parade...
	From:  Krazy Tony - Date: 07-Jan-05
	Yoh, Dude. You could make a funneral procession exciting! Keep up the fantastic woirk!!!
	From:  marble slab rocks - Date: 11-Dec-05
	WHERE IS THE MARBLE SLAB LADY!?
	From:  Becky Carr - Date: 19-Mar-06
	Boy, I sure do miss the Christmas parade - standing out in the rain/cold/wind and watching, walking Main St and seeing friends. I remember when I was [much] younger, I told my friends that when gas hit $1 a gallon, I would ride a horse down Main Street ! and I did :) That winter I rode my sister's horse in the Christmas Parade. I remember the horse go nervous and danced sideways past the judges stand and it got me a ribbon :) [I had no idea what I was doing LOL] Becky
	From:  karla - Date: 30-Apr-06
	hey when are there going to be the 2005 christmas parade pictures? if you find out let me know. on here. just right a comment after mine.thank you.
	From:  ijaz hussain - Date: 31-Jul-06
	i like thise picture next year i look the prade
	From:  griff - Date: 07-Nov-07
	i liked this parade , but not even as good as 2003 . why ? because that one was the best .
	From:  Susie - Date: 27-Jun-08
	Like the parade? I was in the parade! I'm not in the pictures though. I live here in Woodland.
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