July 4, 2012
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Independent bookseller Parnassus Books made for a nice place to hang out while waiting for the parade to start. Purchased the beautiful photo book Misty Fjords, by Chip Porter, and enjoyed a delicious slice of the store owner’s homemade apple pie, one of four flavors to choose from.
Hundreds of people lined Water, Front, Mill and Stedman Streets as a helicopter flying a gigantic American Flag flew overhead to kick off the parade. While 40 floats participated in the parade, the best display was right at the beginning, an on-the-go Native American dance performed by the local tribe complete with colorful garb and beating drums.
Next, the local Rotary club served up free root beer floats and ran their 22th annual rubber duck race. The race raised about $34,000 for local projects, including buying dictionaries for all the 3rd graders and installing new park benches. 3400 rubber ducks floated down Ketchikan Creek, our number 2243 amongst them. Owner of the first duck through the finish shoot won $2500 (which was not our duck).
