Published: July 04, 2008 09:06 pm            

American spirit lives strong in Sellersburg

SELLERSBURG — David Kinder sat on a flatbed trailer with a microphone in his hand, watching as floats passed him by. As they came in front of him, he would announce a bit about each entry for the crowd that had gathered on the sidewalks nearby.

The parade was one of the ways folks in Sellersburg celebrated America’s birthday on Friday, the Fourth of July.

“I think it’s been a very good parade,” he said after the final floats had passed.

Despite the dark clouds that hung low in the sky, he said the turnout at this year’s event was as good as ever.

“I think Sellersburg takes great pride in this parade,” he said.

Kinder, a well-known figure in Sellersburg, is the town’s clerk-treasurer. He was acting as emcee during Friday’s celebration.

“The spirit of America lives very strong here, even though it’s a recession or whatever,” he said.

He observed that as the American flag rolled through on the back of floats, everyone on the streets rose up out of their chairs.

And there were plenty of flags to be saluted.

It was being waved out of a bus representing Boy Scout Troop No. 7. It was hoisted onto the back of tractors. And it was waved by the children that watched the celebration go by.

The Clark County Democratic Party’s float had more than 4,000 miniature American flags, said David Abbott, who drove the truck that hauled it.

“It’s just paying tribute to the fallen veterans,” he said.

The flags represented casualties of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The parade was just the start of Fourth of July celebrations in Sellersburg. It ended at the American Legion Post, where many watchers gathered after the

parade came to an end.

Cheryl Koetter, one of the organizers of the day, said that live music, kids games and fireworks were planned. In years past, she said, as many as 500 have come out for the patriotic party.

        

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