One Mom remarked on Oxford’s Fourth of July parade day, “It looks like Wal-Mart exploded all over this float, but we all had a lot of fun decorating!”
It is likely that same sentiment (of doing something fun for the kids and not taking it too seriously) helped the “Freedom Fanatics Flagship” float win first place in the Oxford July 4th Children’s Parade float competition.
The seven Oxford families who pulled it together are all good friends, and they saw this as a chance to have a fun project to make memories with their kids.
“Once we all decided to do it, we invited the families over for a decorating party on Sunday,” said Fowler Staines, one of the moms of the group. “We had a trailer and a vehicle, and everyone brought decorations.”
The next step was to get everyone dressed up in their red, white and blue on the morning of July 4. The fact the Ole Miss’ colors are red and blue helped the young families with some of the wardrobe selections.
The “Freedom Fanatics Flagship Float” Families
CARTERS: Keith and Jill Carter and their children Drew, Callie and Hayes
HARDINS: Brent and Ramey Hardin and their children Hampton, Anne Lowry and Hollins
HOLLIS: Denson and Lauren Hollis and their children Eloise and Marian
LAFFERTYS: Carl and Lauren Lafferty and their son Will
MOSSBERGS: Matt and Cheryl Mossberg and their children Jack, Pete and Roy
STAINES: Billy and Fowler Staines and their children Graham and Miles
WEATHERALLS: Heath and Elizabeth Weatherall and their children Annie and Betsy
The staging area for the floats was just off the Square, and the kids were pretty excited to get going!
Allison Buchanan is CEO of New Media Lab LLC, parent company of hottytoddy.com. She can be reached at allison.buchanan@hottytoddy.com.
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