We could not have improved much on the Fourth of July weekend on the North Fork. OK, it was a bit too warm but that did not dampen enthusiasm for the parade. I really have no idea how many people attended, but parking was crowded. Vehicles filled every space around the Merc and the saloon, spectators and vehicles lined the road on both sides of the road from the store out to the main road and on the main road vehicles were parked on both sides of the main road for several hundred yards north and south of the Polebridge Junction.

The store, Northern Lights, and the vendor booths all seemed to be doing a land office business with a long line at the bakery counter and afterward waiting for pulled pork behind the Northern Lights.

To me the parade seemed somewhat shorter than usual. I still miss the Glacier Park folks and the Seven Friendly Fellows and their fine music was absent too. Even so, there were some great things to see.

The Ray Brown organized reading of the Declaration of Independence was another success before the parade and was listened to by a large appreciative audience. Reading was done by North Fork veterans led off by Duke Hoiland, a U. S. Army veteran of the 10th Infantry Division who served in Germany. Other readers represented all of the other branches of the service including the Montana National Guard.

Winner of first prize in the parade was a good sized group representing the creeks of the North Fork. Of course, the biggest guy in the group represented Big Creek and he was perfectly set off by his 3 or 4 year old daughter representing Shorty Creek. Molly Shepherd had to wear a skeleton suit to represent Starvation Creek and you should have seen the devil representing Hell-Roaring Creek.

My pick for first place was the handsome pack mules led by Frank Vitale with Dale Duff riding drag. They have always been among my favorites and Frank always has neat signs on the pack loads. This year, the first mule had a sign stating they could pack anything including the kitchen sink. Sure enough, the second mule was carrying not one, but two, kitchen sinks. To top it off, the last mule had a toilet seat on each side of the pack. These mules are terrific around the crowd of people, but are not fond of firecrackers. I didn't see how they reacted when the World War II fighter trainer buzzed the crowd for the second year in a row.

Also there were lots of American flags, cute kids and even two Model A roadsters. John Frederick even had the old fire truck running this year and the crowd was hoping to be sprayed with water, but the vintage truck has to stop and valves outside the truck set to pump water. Only Lynn Ogle and Larry Wilson even know how to do that waterfighting with the Hoiland grandchildren.

To top it off, Saturday night we had a soaking rain to break the hot, dry spell. Several folks reported a quarter inch of rain. Like I said, a perfect North Fork Forth of July.