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Anyone roadside at the 41st Annual Labor Day Parade in Kensington Monday is sure to see the traditional dancers and horses, theater groups and marching bands, and even be handed the odd piece of free candy, but one parade staple will be in short supply: the float.
Parade coordinator Linda O'Reilly said the number of floats in the parade has fallen steadily over the years.
"There's not enough people these days that make floats anymore," O'Reilly said. "What happened to floats? Every year we really push that, and we only have two or three people follow through. For some reason the float thing just doesn't seem to really work for people anymore."
The shift has been so great that this year the prize for "Best Float" has been nixed in favor of "Best Performance." The decline in floats does not correspond with a decline in festivities, however. Over 80 units are registered for the parade, O'Reilly said.
"We have some different groups this year. It's just tons of fun. Several step groups, several marching bands. I love the fact that over the last few years we've gotten more theater groups involved," O'Reilly said, which includes a first-time group from Einstein High School's Visual and Performing Arts Academy.
O'Reilly knows of only one group making a traditional float-on-a-flatbed this year, St. Paul's United Methodist Church. Organizer Sallie Chatfield blames the sheer work involved for the decline.
"I'm not surprised at all. I'm lucky that I'm not working because it's taking a lot of time," she said.
Even Chatfield and her team are making a float with less frosting than is tradition and having congregants hand out Tootsie Pops alongside.
Meanwhile, several other groups are preparing to take to the streets to perform.
Karen Rawlins, of The Finest! Marching Wildcats!, dancers and drummers, said her group gets "invited to both the Gaithersburg parade and the Kensington parade, and every year the parents and kids opt for the Kensington."
The Tom Mix Rangers will also appear, trekking from Virginia to ride horses and possibly do cowboy stunts.
The parade will start at 10 a.m. Monday at the corner of Plyers Mill Road and St. Paul Street. After the parade, the Labor Day Festival will run until 3 p.m. with vendors, food and activities.
