The 4th of July came while I was in Texas visiting grandkids. We went to the parade in Wimberly. Here are some small-town-parade scenes.
And here is who I was with while I was watching:
The give-aways from parade participants included flags,
beads,
popsicles,
and as much candy as at Halloween.
Meridian Jacobs' Blog 
Small town parades are the best! It’s so great to see the floats and decorations your neighbors cook up, or to make them yourself. A now 95-year old congregant of our church as been participating in our local St Patrick’s Day parade for decades he had
(Ugh dropped phone; ignore last couple of words). Anyway, she plays the accordion and her musical group is called The Crab-etts”. So you can imagine their G-rated costumes.
You’re right. My daughter and SIL knew a lot of the people there. It is fun to see what everyone thinks up.