FELLSMERE – “Happy Fellsmere Day!” shouted Grand Marshall Fran Adams while seated in her convertible chariot at the head of the Fellsmere Day Parade.
“You’re supposed to be at work!” shouted a man in the crowd lining Broadway Street. “I will – as soon as I get off this thing and get back,” Adams shouted back as the vehicle, driven by Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Beth Mitchell.
Parade-goers lined Country Road 512, Broadway and other city streets to watch as the floats passed by.
Much of the parade consisted of airboats – members of the Indian River County Boat Association – community groups, and even the Fellsmere City Council, where Mr. Fell himself stood, waving to the crowd and tossing beads alongside his descendents.
“It’s great,” said Ohio resident and Vero Beach snowbird Phyllis Kreiger said of the parade. “It’s one of the nicest ones I’ve seen.”
She and her husband, Jim, try to get to Fellsmere for the Frog Leg Festival and wanted to get back to help celebrate Fellsmere’s 100th birthday.
“We plan to stay the whole day,” Kreiger said.
Farther down the road, on Broadway, the Arce family found a patch of shade to sit back and take in the sights.
Two-and-a-half-year-old Brooke Arce’s favorite in the parade was the fire truck, her mom, Christina said. Both she and her husband, Bruce, are firefighters, so Brooke might have taken that as an interest.
“You never know,” Christina said, while tending to three-week-old Blake.
In about a half-hour the parade had passed by the crowd, wrapping up in about an hour’s time.
The parade kicks off the official start to Fellsmere Day, which continues throughout the day with numerous activities. The day will wrap up with a Laser Light Show, which begins at 9:30 p.m.