The biggest event of the year in Buhl is the Fourth of July. The two-day celebration is appropriately called Sagebrush Days, one of the few plants in existence before irrigation water converted the sagebrush to crops. I can’t find out how long Sagebrush Days has been in existence but a Buhl Herald article on Buhl’s Golden Anniversary in 1956 describes a two-day celebration. There was a parade with 30 entries! Nowadays, there are over a hundred entries with thousands of spectators.

Parades have been a nationwide staple of Independence Day since the beginning. So we’re in good company. Let me share with you a typical July 4th parade for my family when I was growing up. I would start parade day by mowing the lawn and washing the car. If that seems odd to do on the Fourth of July, I had plenty of time on my hands. With the parade starting at 10:00, my dad’s pickup pulled into the driveway at 9:55, the trailer hitched up and carrying a Shetland pony and colt. The rest of the family said in unison, “oh no!” After we loaded up in the vehicles and drove the 7 miles to town, my dad parked the pickup and trailer at the end of the parade staging area, put my youngest sister on the Shetland pony, and told her to catch up with the other entries now in the distance. The survivors headed for the end of the parade route where 700 other latecomers were jostling for space like walruses on a beach. It was difficult to see anything except horses’ legs and wheels on motorized vehicles. In later years I had the presence of mind to bring money to purchase ice cream cones at the nearby Arctic Circle, still my favorite place for soft ice cream.

Meanwhile, back at the parade, we hoped that my sister would eventually make her way to us. As soon as she spotted us, she hopped off the pony, tossed the reins to my dad, and said, “that’s it.” She reported that the colt ate flowers in everyone’s yard on the parade route, but he was so cute I’m sure all was forgiven. Forgiving my dad took a bit longer. He would just laugh about all of it and start planning the next blood-curdling event.

Speaking of which, I have had a few of my own. I’m in the parade this year on the Buhl Family Network float. It seemed like a good idea to revive the kazoo band that Rotary did in the past. The only sound more arresting than 10 kazoos being played is a bagpipe. But it’s all in fun and it’s all patriotic and it only lasts a few seconds. Cheer as we go by.

Happy Independence Day, Happy 250th Birthday America, and Happy 120th Birthday Buhl!

-Priscilla Martens