The town of Truckee bestowed a tremendous honor on the Far West Nordic Junior Olympic on July 4th by selecting them as the Grand Marshals of their annual Independence Day Parade.
Thousands of people were on hand to view the parade, and leading the way were our local nordic racers, along with a large contingent of “development team†skiers roller skiing ahead of the float. Mixed in with the annual array of floats and teams, including the Bernese Mountain Dog Club, barbershop quartet, drill teams, and car clubs, the JO 2005 team waved to the crowds (in between squirting them with water pistols) throughout the 2 mile parade route.
Previous to the parade, many of the athletes and coaches competed in the annual Firecracker Mile race along the route, and then doubled-back to jump on the float or strap on their roller skis.
Attached are some photos from the day. I especially like the one of Auburn Ski Club Head Coach Ben Grasseschi avoiding some of the land mines along the parade route.
