The annual Fall Festival Parade will kick off the Delta Fair on Monday. The parade is a rich part of the history of my family. In 1951 my father rode through the streets of Kennett in a wheelbarrow, pushed by a man wearing a skunk costume.

I can claim no such honor but on several occasions I co-anchored broadcasts of the parade. Gigantic, expensive farm implements. The Adelphian Club float. The Hayti Marching Band. The Poplar Bluff Shriners on their tiny motorcycles. It taxed my humble talents to even begin to describe the spectacle.

I broadcast many parades during my dozen years at KBOA. The Senath Christmas Parade. The Hornversville Watermelon Festival Parade. I was there for them all, droning on… mustering up more excitement than these sad little caravans deserved. You’d have thought I was in prime-time at the Rose Parade. My first Delta Fair Parade was in 1972 and I interviewed Jack McDaniel and Bill Walsh, the two Kennett businessmen responsible for organizing the event. I called my friend John last night and he said Jack and Bill are still in charge of the parade. Sweet Jesus, is there anything I care about that much?