CATLETTSBURG — A steady rain soaked paradegoers in Catlettsburg on Monday but it did little to dampen spirits.
Children and parents splashed through puddles in pursuit of candy being hurdled into the wet streets from umbrella- and rain-coat-laden floats.
Some, like Shalayna Hazlett, 8, of Ashland, and her brother, Josh, 7, counted the rain among the best parts of the parade.
“I think it’s really cool,” Shalayna said.
“I wasn’t prepared for it but I just like rain,” she added, with raindrops dripping from the end of her freckled nose.
“The baton people, the bands and the belly dancers” were Shalayna’s other favorite parts of the parade. Although candy wasn’t too far behind.
“Tootsie rolls or anything chocolate” were her preferred finds.
Their mother, Angie Hazlett, 28, of Ashland, was soggy herself but kept a grin on throughout the morning even as the Hillbilly caravan passed by squirting even more water on her.
“We’ve been doing this since I was a little kid,” she said, “So I want them to be able to experience it also. The rain is worth it. It doesn’t seem to bother them.”
“It’s great, it’s like tradition. Everyone loves doing things that they did when they were little with their kids,” she added, saying no amount of bad weather was likely to keep them away. “Maybe umbrella’s next year.”
Ashland Junior Football League Cheerleader Coach Kristen Stewart, 22, also kept a bright smile while she marched with the children.
“It’s pretty crappy but we’re keeping it all pepped up with all our spirit and everything,” she said.
“They are loving it, playing in the rain,” she said of the girls who followed behind her.
“I’m having a ball,” said Taran Smith, 5, blinking at rain drops that landed on her dark lashes.
Catlettsburg resident Kristina Smith, 26, huddled under an umbrella in front of her father’s Oakland Avenue home while her daughter Cassidy, 3, stomped in the water with other children gathering just below the curb.
“It’s for candy,” Cassidy proclaimed when asked what she thought about the parade, promptly displaying a couple of rain-softened Now and Later’s.
Smith, who said she lives a couple of blocks away, never considered skipping the parade either.
“It’s just dependable even in the rain. Every year it’s like the end of summer — just a big celebration. We love to go down in town and our church sets up a chuck wagon. It’s just a family thing,” Smith said.
Another parade participant, Larry Maynard, 39, with the Carpenter Local 472 and Millwright Local 1031, wasn’t going to let the showers wash away his chance to support unions on Labor Day. “It’s fun. We just really enjoy it,” he said.
“We just take a lot of pride in our local unions. Rain or shine, it doesn’t matter to us,” Maynard said. “Labor Day means alot to us, especially being in the union trade. It represents labor, the workforce and we’re pretty proud to be union. It’s just a good day,” he said.
By the time the last fire truck found its way through Catlettsburg’s soppy streets, the sun was beginning to peak through the clouds.
CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.
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