GREENFIELD — Fittingly, children from Noah’s Ark Daycare walked two by two — hand in hand — in the Riley Festival’s Parade of Flowers on Friday afternoon.
The boys and girls were among the 100 or so children who giggled and grinned as they made their way down State Street, then Main Street, to place flowers at the foot of the James Whitcomb Riley statue at the front of the Hancock County Courthouse.
As the children approached they handed their tiny bouquets of flowers to the four members of this year’s Riley Festival queen’s court, who greeted the kids warmly in their sashes and crowns.
Festival organizers and volunteers then tucked the blooms into a wire cage wrapped around the base of the statue.
Fewer children than usual participated in the flower parade. Typically, hundreds of students in Greenfield-Central elementary schools make their way to the Courthouse Square to pay tribute to the Hoosier Poet on the second day of the festival. This year, however, the festival coincided with the school system’s fall break, so festival organizers opened the flower parade up to all children and past participants of all ages.
Some little ones rode along in wagons, some in strollers, as the crowd made their way between the festival booths on their way to the courthouse at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8.
Ruth Morgan was thrilled to bring her grandson, 2-year-old Barrett Kersey, out for his first flower parade. She has fond memories of watching her own children — Emma Kersey, 28, and Ross Morgan, 26 — participate as kids.
Morgan was encouraged to participate by this year’s Riley Festival queen, Lauren Silcox, a family friend whose sister, mother and grandmother all walked in the parade this year.
“I think the flower parade is such a great tradition to be part of,” said the teen queen’s mother, Kelli Silcox, who had a blast participating as a kid.
“It would always be so much fun to walk down the street and feel like you were a part of something bigger, something important,” she said.
It’s traditions like that that make the Riley Festival such a special time of year to those who have grown up here, she said.
Jodie Fuller was thrilled to share the flower parade with three dozen kids from Noah’s Ark Daycare. “We were excited about the opportunity, since it’s normally only open to local school kids,” said the day-care director, who has used the opportunity to teach the children about Riley’s poetry and the role he played in Greenfield.
“We wanted to teach them a little bit about what the festival is all about,” she said, as a long line of kids in bright green t-shirts followed behind her.
A large group from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hancock County also attended.
Greenfield native Emilie McMillan was excited to bring her four young children to the flower parade this year, sharing an experience she had growing up here.
“As a kid, it was so much fun to walk down here from (the former) Lincoln Park Elementary and walk in the parade. I just wanted my kids to be able to experience what it’s like,” she said.
McMillan walked in the parade with her baby, 8-month-old Ivy, in a carrier strapped to her chest, with 4-year-old Violet, 7-year-old Judah and 9-year-old Grace trailing beside her. They had stopped by a grocery on the way there to buy tiny wrapped bouquets of flowers.
Four-year-old Maclynn Eberhardt wasted no time in handing her flowers off to the festival queen and princess before making a beeline to her great-grandmother, Darla Hoffman, who was snapping pictures in the crowd.
“She lives in Indianapolis, so she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to participate otherwise,” said Hoffman, a lifelong Greenfield resident.
Hoffman cherishes the photos she has of her daughter, Hancock County Clerk Lisa Lofgreen, and her granddaughter, Chelsea Eberhardt, each walking in the parade as kids.
Parade coordinator Terry Beagle was happy to see so many people turn out for this year’s flower parade, since Greenfield-Central schoolchildren are on fall break this week.
“James Whitcomb Riley’s birthday is Oct. 7 and the festival is always as close to that date as possible, so that’s just the way it turned out this year,” she said.
Her father-in-law, Dale Beagle, started the parade in the 1960s, before the Riley Festival was incorporated in the 1970s.
“Back then it was just a little street festival, but the children would still come and put flowers at the foot of the Riley statue,” said Terry Beagle, who can’t wait for the tradition to continue next year.
