Even if “I Love a Parade” isn’t your theme song, the sunny and 79-degree weather during Monday’s 34th annual Septemberfest Labor Day parade might have converted you.
Several thousand people gathered along the north downtown parade route as giant Macy’s-style helium balloons passed by like clouds.
Cool wind gusts, eddying breezes and shade from young trees and tall buildings provided respite from the hot sun.
And the only things raining down on the streets were bubble gum, suckers, beads, Tootsie Rolls and other treats thrown by the folks involved in more than 100 parade entries.
From shaded benches near 14th Street and Capitol Avenue, the people-watching was prime:
A white-whiskered retiree sat in a camp chair working a word-find puzzle on a clipboard. A toddler did a seated sideways crawl across the sidewalk — like a crab crossed with a monkey — instead of walking. A group of friends helped their kids stake out prime candy-catching territory near the curb.
The waving and saluting commenced after parade organizer and Omaha labor leader Terry Moore passed, flanked by Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle and Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.
A woman made balloon animals while on stilts. A man fished out his cell phone and Googled the answer to a pressing question: “What exactly does a steamfitter do?” Rowdy members of a local iron workers union hooted, hollered and clanged their wrenches as they marched by.
A 5-year-old whined: “Pick me uuuup!”
Village Inn employees in “got pie?” shirts handed out slices of peach and apple pie — and raised expectations for other entries. The disappointment was clear when the Runza crew came by with a Runza Rex mascot — but nothing resembling lunch.
“Aww. If Village Inn can give pie, why can’t they give sandwiches?” parade-watcher Sally Zipursky joked as she and her husband, Jim, squinted down the street.
The Omaha couple were trying to determine whether the bobbing feathers spotted a half-block away were the feathered caps worn by their sophomore twins — Omaha Burke High School marching band alto saxophonist Aaron and clarinetist Naomi — their reasons for attending the parade for the second year in a row.
“The weather’s a lot better this year,” Sally said. “It was cool and rainy last time. This is nice.”
Well-waxed cars, miniature trains, motorcycles and horse-drawn buggies zig-zagged across the streets. The sweet smell of candied popcorn wafted. Marching bands tooted and drummed.
A fleet of large vehicles added a choir of honks: the baritone “huh-huuuuuuh” of a rig hauling a crane. The brassy double-trumpet blasts of an International Union of Operating Engineers Local 571 truck.he high falling sigh of an Omaha fire engine.
Thirty- and 40-foot balloons limbo-danced beneath traffic lights and twirled in the street, prompting claps and exclamations, even when some folks weren’t quite sure what they were: Curious George, Odie (the floppy dog from the Garfield comic strip), Uncle Sam, Sparky (the firefighter dog mascot), Garfield, a NASA astronaut and a green-robed white-bearded fellow who was either St. Patrick or a magical wizard, depending on which parade-goer you asked.
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