Woollybear Sunday

A local television weatherman, Dick Goddard, created a festival highlighting the woolybear caterpillar. Its coloration is an orange stripe between dark brown segments. The thickness of the center stripe is thought to forecast the winter. It is believed to be cold with snow.

This was the 39th festival. It began in the nearby village, Birmingham, Ohio, and after a few years to the small town of Vermilion. Several activities are enacted throughout the morning, and early afternoon, culminating in an overly long parade.

People enjoy the marching bands, antique and vintage vehicles, and the dogs that go by. Politicians march to get noticed as do others. Dennis Kucinich, and his wife, marched in what will be part of his new congressional district, other very local politicians marched, or rode too. Union members marched against state ballot issue 2. Firemen were very much represented. Police, sheriff, and marines had units. Practically, every local festival, and beauty pageant had vehicles, and marchers; as well as businesses too numerous, and uninteresting to mention.

Before the parade starts, the Vermilion Sailors Majorettes stand together meeting with parade watchers.
Homing pigeons were released after the singing of the national anthem. Here they fly back, beginning to make a formation.
Near the beginning there followed, after every fire vehicle Vermilion had available, a piece of steel wreckage from New York City on that disastrous day when the buildings fell.
Many channel WJW-8 newscasters rode in vehicles, this wagon was drawn by draft horses; the others were mobilised by gasoline engines.
High school marching bands from local counties marched, and played, accompanied by majorettes, bannermen, baton units, and others.
There were several contingents of hounds; two of retired racing greyhounds, one of Irish wolfhounds, some homeless and mixed ancestry dogs, and others in seasonal costumes.
Ohio's leading Generals in the War for the Union, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Ulysses Simpson Grant rode in the parade too. Here afterwards they are stopped for a photograph. It has been reported that the War for Union was successful, and the War for Secession was not; depends what you read. Books for a southern audience were written differently.