"Someday, I'll Write About the Bicentennial"
That time the Cottrells were in two parades, won trophies, and were even on TV!
In 1976, when I was in second grade, my family was living in a rented farmhouse in an unincorporated area of La Grange, Illinois called Pleasantdale. I know that sounds made up, but it’s not. My mom joined the PTA, which, if you know my family, also sounds made-up, but it’s not. And somehow she got volunteered to be in charge of the school’s float for the Bicentennial Pet Parade. The Pet Parade is held annually in June, and it’s a big deal in LaGrange, but it was extra special in 1976. A month later, on July 4th, we were in the Bicentennial Parade. We won 1st Prize for Best Float in both the Pet Parade and the Bicentennial Parade, so my mom’s hard work paid off.
She got all of the materials donated, and we spent hours hand cutting blue stars out of felt to intersperse with the red and white “stripes” that lined the entire float’s bottom edge. It looked like a patriotic bed skirt. My mom still remembers figuring out that we needed one star for every six inches, and how her friend Janie would come over and they’d drink beer and cut felt. I still remember my hands hurting from the scissors and having to take little breaks.
I remember a bunch of my parents’ friends coming over, and in what seemed like an all-night party, building the log cabin that was the centerpiece of the float. It was meant to represent the district’s first schoolhouse. My mom later told me that the night I remember is when everyone got drunk and they built it wrong. They had to start over the next day, but finally got it done.
During the parades, my very tall friend Susie, played the part of a schoolteacher, her hair sprayed a silver color and pulled back into a bun. She even wore wire-rimmed glasses as she stood in front of the schoolhouse, occasionally ringing the bell mounted on top. My little sister and I, along with Susie’s brothers, played the students. My mom, for some reason, was dressed as Mary, and had a live lamb borrowed from the petting area at Brookfield Zoo. There had to be a pet tie-in, but I’m not sure what it was. We must have been learning “Mary had a little lamb.” For the Bicentennial Parade, no lamb, and my sister and I wore our “cowgirl outfits,” leftover from a previous Halloween.
What I remember most is that we were so excited to be on television, because our local station, WGN channel nine, was broadcasting it. When our float came into view, Barbara Walters said, “Oh, and what is this?,” and never said the name of our school district or identified us. It was like she lost her notes in that moment. And with that, our hopes of fame were dashed! The only other thing I remember is hoarding bicentennial quarters for a while, but not long. Since I was only eight, it didn’t take much to convince me to part with them. I think I may have kept some of them for up to a year, before spending them on homemade peanut brittle that someone was selling in the neighborhood. I don’t regret it and still remember how good that peanut brittle was!
I later did my first story slam telling this story, because the prompt at the 2016 Woodstock Bookfest was “we can be heroes, just for one day,” honoring David Bowie. So I thought of this one day where my family did seem like heroes, stars of our little unincorporated area, trophy winners. The following summer, we were evicted from that farmhouse, then lived in the garage for three weeks before moving to another town.
Read more about that here:
When I did the story slam, I didn’t realize that I was allowed to have it written down, so I told it from memory. The only problem was that I forgot to say the Bowie line. I remembered my story, but I forgot the damn line from the theme. What was impressive was that I came in so close to the three minute mark, You can see the gong raising in the corner of the screen just as I wrap it up.
Read more about that and access the YouTube link here:
For this year’s 250th, I’m simply celebrating that we’re still here, and still have a chance at making this great experiment work. Time to get some Taco Bell!
Have a happy and safe holiday!
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