The City of Roy hosts a small Fourth of July parade followed by a city picnic in the park. It is a wonderfully laid back affair, with no preliminary sign ups, no fees, no hidden costs or agendas. If you want to be in the parade, you show up before noon, preferably 30 minutes. You get a piece of paper to fill out. The top half will have your number, the order you will be in the parade. On the bottom half, you put that number with anything you wish the announcer to say as you cruise past city hall. Viola! You are in the parade! You even get a small bag of candy to share with the big and little kids on the street along the way.

The day was filled with little surprises. There was a farm that had 17 miniature horses dressed up in red, white and blue. The owner announced that she was getting to old to care for them and is looking for new homes.There was a young man with an adorable creature, a relative of the opossum family called a sugar glider. Don’t get too close to this adorable furball, it’ll jump right over to you. Bink! It was totally affectionate, but be careful it doesn’t crawl down your collar.

One of the floats was a wedding cake built over a golf cart. The family of Janet York and Dave McLoughlin told their parents they would be in the parade, but didn’t tell them in what manner. The giant wedding cake announced the seasoned couple, is getting married July 6. Some of the family came all the way from Boston, modeling their Boston Strong T-Shirts.

The Triple Nickel, also known as the 555th Engineer Brigade has been very involved with the City of Roy. They have assisted with many projects where the city needed a few extra able bodied volunteers. Their commander rode as the parade’s Grand Marshall.

There were lots of classic cars, tricked out trucks, decorative dune buggies and motorbikes. Kids came with bags for the candy that was tossed out to them. It was a great parade and fun for everyone.