The Fourth of July in this really small town (pop. 900) drew tons of people to the parade - we were "on duty" at the Ford House all morning then at about noon we locked the door and went outside to help with the hot dog sale (we sold 400 - quite the feat given the resources) until the parade started at 1:00.

People had been parking their pickups and flat beds and putting out their folding chairs on Main Street all night and in the morning brought kegs of beer and other party paraphernalia along with with grand parents, kids, cousins and friends to take their places.  We had been told that in past years there were times when the parade went around twice, but this year it only happened with one float - the nastiest one in the parade - covered in sea weed with dancing girls wearing bikinis that they had tucked sea weed into - came by smelling worse the second time than the first.

The band was terrific, wearing all sorts of hats and other garb....the party went on all afternoon on the Kelly House lawn (another period building) and we went back to greeting people and telling them where to go and what to do and all about the history of the Ford House and the start of the lumber industry - we do tell them about the remorse that was felt by some of the men who found and cut down the thousand year old redwoods - but those guys were few and far between.  We are lucky that some state and national parks were created to protect some of these great-grandfather trees - they are so very amazing!

A few pictures of the parade follow.  Note that there are causes (like the salmon) here that you don't find everywhere.  Also note the water tower in the background across the street from the Ford House - the water table was high, the wind was heavy enough to make the windmills turn - they pulled water up into the tanks on top of the towers and gravity supplied running water to the houses - there were many, many of them in Mendo in the late 1800s!! today they are used for all sorts of things - like guest houses, galleries, etc.