Holiday parade leads off Fun
Football team serves as parade marshal
Homestead High School's varsity football team and coach Dave Keel will ride on a flatbed truck, enjoying their collective role as parade marshal for the Mequon-Thiensville annual Family Fun Before the Fourth Parade that steps off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on Main Street.
Family Fun Executive Director Anne Bolles said the team and coach were a logical choice for selection, a local team winning statewide recognition. The festival is 23 years old, but a marshal has led the parade only for the last four years.
"The players are the ones who earned it," said Keel. "The selection kind of caught us out of the blue, but it is an opportunity for them to be recognized for their tremendous accomplishments last fall."
About 25 players will be on hand for the parade, he said.
The daylong Family Fun event is unique because it takes place a week before the other Fourth of July festivities in the area, but Bolles said it also has another special element.
"We really try to showcase the river with the Venetian Boats and the Badgerland Water Ski Show," she said. "That makes us different from most festivals. The water ski show always takes my breath away with people standing two and three high on skiers' shoulders."
A local group of professionals known as the Mission River Band will play through the supper hour.
"They do this as a fun hobby," Bolles said.
The Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the University of Wisconsin marching band, including a Fifth Quarter performance in the park after the parade.
At a glance
Afternoon and evening - Food, Entertainment, Prizes and Fireworks in Thiensville Park, across from Village Hall, 250 Elm Street, Saturday
12:30 to 1 p.m. - University of Wisconsin marching band Fifth Quarter
12:30 to 3:30 p.m. - kids games and rock climbing wall
1 to 3 p.m. - Taste of Mequon-Thiensville Talent Show - demonstrations by North Shore Dance Studio, Rince Nia Academy of Irish Dance, KnowledgePoints and Lake Shore Dance
3 to 5 p.m. - Badgerland Ski Show on the river
5 to 7:30 p.m. - Mission River Band
7:30 p.m. to dusk - Hot Sauce
8:30 to 9 p.m. - Venetian Boat parade
At dusk - fireworks*
10:30 to 11:30 p.m. - Hot Sauce
*Safety, weather and common sense may determine an earlier or later start time, or delay of fireworks.
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