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Families Love Brandon's Parade

TBO.com staff photo

The popular July 4 parade in Brandon offers a family-friendly atmosphere.

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 4, 2008

BRANDON - Spiderman struck a pose. Elvis crooned. Clowns mugged for the thousands on the streets.

The 50th annual Brandon Fourth of July parade on Friday featured flags, beads, candy and streams of water from water guns.

Families decked themselves in variations of red, white and blue. Girls tucked flags into their pigtails and painted their faces. Frank Schmidgall of Orlando donned a multicolored wig. Dennis Labrie shared crowns with stars and streamers with four women and realized he had an extra and put it on his head.

Tyler Moore, 4, and his brother, 8-year-old Caleb, wore matching sparkly Uncle Sam hats and temporary tattoos of fireworks and eagles. The boys look forward to the treats at the parade – shaved ice and chocolate and of course the beads – but their father appreciated the family-friendly atmosphere.

"You get a true taste of what the community is about," Josh Moore said. "Kids love it. It's good, safe fun."

The parade, which started at 10 a.m. at Lumsden Road and Parsons Avenue, showcased 101 units. The Bloomingdale and Brandon summer marching band performed, swapping their traditional uniforms for shorts and T-shirts. Churches filled floats, the Shriners entertained the crowd and the Suntwisters gymnasts flipped and cartwheeled along the route.

The Gillespie family rigged up a target for catching beads and candy. They cut a hole in their tent for parade participants to toss goodies, which would fall into a wagon below. Ryan, 7, and Megan, 5, waited in their lawn chairs to see what happened.

"We come to the parade every year," said mother Nicole Gillespie. "We just thought it would be something fun to do."

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503 or cpastor@tampatrib.com.

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