The City of Jackson is celebrating its bicentennial in 2014 and the city will be holding a 2-day celebration over the 4th of July weekend. As part of the celebration on Saturday, July 5, a Wagon Trail Parade will wind through Uptown Jackson.
Charlie Glueck is organizing the event and he says it all came about when planning began for the bicentennial. On July 4, the city will hold their traditional Independence Day activities including a 5K run, car show and fireworks but the Wagon Trail Parade is new this year.
The one stipulation with the parade is that no motors are allowed. Glueck said that the parade will feature old-time stage coaches, chuck wagons, surreys and a hearse.
Glueck said that when he began making calls, he didn't have anyone tell him that they couldn't participate. He said, "In a sense, this is kinda their car show. It's an opportunity because they'll spend hours shining their stuff and making their hitches look good and they take a lot of pride in what they do cause they're a lot of work."
As far as making this a yearly event, Glueck says he's not so sure. He said when the city holds a Christmas parade or a Veterans parade, you pick up the phone and call the same people. He said, "This particular thing was put together one buggy, one wagon at at time. So it's been a lot of phone calls."
The parade starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 5 and will take place outside Jackson City Park traveling east through Washington Street and past the Courthouse.There will be carriage rides through the park after the parade and awards will be given out for five different categories including "Best in Parade."
