Clan Hamilton: Loyalty Day

Loyalty Day is observed on May 1st in the United States. It is a day set aside for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom. It was first in acted in 1921, celebrated especially during WWII, and became an official holiday in 1958. Most Americans are not aware of it anymore- which to me is sad.

Long Beach, Washington has one of the only celebrations on the west coast the first weekend of every May. They rotate the branches of our military to honor them and this year it was the turn of the US Air Force. We were lucky enough to attend the Loyalty Day dinner and hear the speakers (Thanks Sid and Bette). One of which was Abraham Lincoln (real name Jim Getty). My mother in law told me that while it's not a big thing to have first person re-en actors on the west coast. The east coast is a different story. They have them at almost every historical sight. This particular "Mr. Lincoln" actually works at Gettysburg and he was wonderful. Not as tall as the real deal but his presentation was amazing. He even told about the use of hot air balloons in the Civil War to determine enemy troop positions so they could fire on them. The ironic thing was that the South actually had the gentleman who helped the Union with this project in their possession and traded him to the Union. http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/Civil_War_balloons/LTA5.htm ) What a great tie in to the Air Force of today! He takes questions from the crowd as well and answers them as though it's Lincoln himself. What a lot of studying he's done because he knew his stuff.

Parade Day is Sunday at Long Beach and for years we've been lucky enough to be a part of it. First when Bill and I were dating as part of the Ocean Spray float. Let me just tell you it's still talked about to this day because we girls ran our rears off giving out Ocean Spray Cranberry products the whole length of the parade! Since we've been married and had children however- there seems to be a green obsession in the family. John Deere Green that is. ( Bill's father owns 3 antique John Deere Tractors and He and his wife have an AC tractor as well. The Allis Chalmers has been lovingly named Allison Charmers by our daughter and she prefers Orange a little bit more then green and yellow. She gets that from Grandma Karen.) Usually the tractors are in full force for the parade and we've even included a few Gators over the years to haul all of us. The kids love it and the little kids do too- haha. Bob's tractor club comes over and joins in the fun. There's really nothing more American to me then our military, our flag, our families, and a great American tractor. Thanks Long Beach for another great Loyalty Day. Hope you'll come on up and check it out someday, the parade is especially great. If you want to find us, just look for the Green and Yellow. http://funbeach.com/events/loyaltydays/index.html