Sugar Mound parade to feature communities from across county

Each year the Sugar Mound parade begins with the maple "leaves" walking down Main Street in Mound City, (Journal file photo)

MOUND CITY – “Something Old, Something New” is the theme of this year’s Sugar Mound Arts and Crafts parades set for this Saturday, Oct. 14, in Mound City. Line up for the parade begins at 9 a.m. near the courthouse between Third and Fourth streets on Main.

This year the parade will focus on both older members and younger members of communities across Linn County, according to Pam Schmitz, parade organizer.

“We try to get people from all of the communities involved in the parade,” she said.

She noted that several area businesses have been passed down from parent to children, and there will be parade entries that honor that tradition. She also said that there will be a nod to the changes in education in the county from the rural high schools to the unified school districts, and 4-Hers and their projects will also be a part of the parade.

Both bands from Jayhawk-Linn Junior/Senior High School and Prairie View High School will also be marching in the parade. Working on rebuilding its program this year, the Pleasanton High School band will not be performing.

Back this year will be the horse-drawn bandwagon. However, Schmitz said she didn’t know if it would be pulled in future parades because Steve Williams, a Redfield man whose teams have pulled the wagon in the past, plans to stop training horse teams and is selling the team he has.

Schmitz said vehicle entries will continue to be numerous this year, and tractors new and old will be well represented too. Matt Schuler, who worked with his late father Mark Schuler to preserve old tractors, is expected to have several of them in the parade. And Mound City Ag will also have newer tractors in the parade.