Butter and Egg Days Parade

Mouths watering, taste buds buzzing with delight, and stomachs brimming over our jeans to the point of unbuttoning. What sinful combination always hits these marks? Butter and Eggs. The quaint town of Petaluma, California understands the capability of butter and eggs and relishes in it every year as strollers and straw hats cluttered Petaluma Boulevard for their Butter and Egg Days Parade.

Situated in the winery bliss of Sonoma County, Petaluma, has been celebrating their agricultural heritage and close-knit community with the Butter and Egg Days Parade for the past 26 years. This year on a sticky 80 something Saturday, the theme of the parade was “Super Town, Super Heroes,” with the fire department, who is celebrating their 150th anniversary, as the grand marshal. Other parade floats and participants included Boy Scout troops, Churches, Banks, High School cheerleading squads, Vietnam vets, and a group of mothers who were representing their soldier sons that are serving in Iraq.

But before the two hour parade got under way there was cow chip throwing contests, a multitude of arts and crafts for the kids, and the Cutest Chick Contest, where parents were given the guilt free pleasure of dressing their toddlers up in fluffy feathered frocks. Despite the cuteness of these kids the highlight of the parade was celebrating the Petaluma Fire Department, which is the third oldest Fire Department in California. Because of this landmark year for the Fire Department, 20 firefighting vehicles which ranged from modern to historic, paraded throughout town as firemen traded their hoses for squirt guns to relieve the fiery heat. And as the sun began to set behind the Petaluma hills, hotspots like McNears changed the atmosphere from parade to party as Petalumans spilled out onto the streets with red cups in hand.

Awwwing at the ‘cutest chick,’ sucking down some cold brewskys, and leisurely viewing float after float makes for the community warmth only found in small towns and at the Butter and Egg Days Parade in Petaluma.