1999 Big Hitch Wagon Days Parade
By KEVIN WISER
Express Staff Writer
The sun came out Saturday and the Wagon Days Big
Hitch Parade shined.
Parade organizer Wendy Jaquet admitted she was a little worried about
the rain the night before, but that she had faith.
"It never rains on our parade,"Jaquet said. "It turned
out to be a beautiful day."
Jaquet said this year’s parade was definitely a big success and
that she was pleased with all the new entries.
Members of the Richfield American Legion, dressed in Union Army
uniforms, sounded the start of the parade by firing two thundering volleys from a civil
war cannon.
And then things got rolling as the largest horse-powered parade in the
Northwest pranced and rolled its way down Sun Valley Road and onto Ketchum’s Main
Street in a traditional event that drew spectators from all over the country.
Organizers estimated that 15,000 parade goers lined the streets. Some
watched from windows, others from rooftops.
This year’s spectacle had 107 entries, which included horses,
horses and more horses. Percherons, Belgians, Morgans, Andalysians, Peruvians, Friesians,
painted ponies and quarter horses pulled wagons, buckboards, carriages and buggies and
carried riders, to the delight of spectators.
Rodeo queens waved to spectators, never losing their smiles. The
traditional high school marching bands carried tunes with clashing symbols and tooting
horns the length of the parade route. Clowns kept the crowd entertained during gaps and
lulls in the procession.
But perhaps the most thrilling spectacle of all was the great and
mighty Percherons and Belgians, gentle giant horses weighing in at nearly a ton. Powerful
and proud, necks arched, the magnificent animals high stepped down the parade route,
pounding the pavement with huge, steel-clad hoofs. Some were spotted gray and adorned with
black leather and sparkling silver tack. Others were black with braided manes and red
tassels shining in the sun.
The spectacle consummated as Moj Broadie and his grand team of 12 black
Percherons, pulling six giant rumbling ore wagons, powered its way down Sun Valley Road
and made the turn onto the Main Street of Ketchum.
Behind the last entry of the parade the crowds left their places along
the sidewalks and followed the ghostly wagons, remnants from the past, hoping to get one
last glimpse of history and the 1999 Big Hitch Wagon Days Parade.
