| 134th Veil Prophet Parade 2011 (Slide Show below) On Saturday, July 2nd, at 10:00 a.m., the 134th Veiled Prophet Parade stepped off from the corner of Fourth and Washington in downtown St. Louis. Recognized by USA Today as one of the top ten events in the nation to attend on the 4th of July Weekend, the VP Parade has been a St. Louis Family Tradition for over 130 years. The 134th Annual Veiled Prophet Parade featured 130 units including 17 custom floats, dozens of marching bands and eight giant helium filled balloons T-Buckets & Hot Rods started off with a total of 8 cars. Joe Piskulic & his granddaughter Alexis , John & Faye Marnatti, Carl O'Connel, Joey & Deanna Piskulic, Quinton Clark & Michelle Brewer, Larry, Karen, & Terri Reifsteck, Kim & Susan Chishko, and Mackenzie & PaPa John Skinker braved the heat for this years parade. Some met at the Cracker Barrel at 6:30 am for breakfast. As "Murphy's Law" would have it, one of the cars lost power but with the help from some unknown spectator, this car made it through the parade. It was a beautiful day for a parade except for the extreme heat. Estimated well over 100,000 people in attendance. After the parade, our group headed for the Hacienda Restaurant for some refreshing drinks and a great lunch. To give you a little history about this parade, the first Veiled Prophet Parade took place on October 8th, 1878, and was sponsored by the Veiled Prophet Organization, a group of businessmen who wanted to promote St. Louis. The first parade was modeled on New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration. In the early years, floats from New Orleans were shipped to St. Louis by steamboat. Today’s imaginative and colorful floats are conceived and created by artists and craftsmen employed by the Veiled Prophet Organization, one of the world’s most elaborate float–building operations. In addition to continuing one of the oldest parades in the nation, the Veiled Prophet Organization has also provided funding for the new Grand Staircase, connecting the Gateway Arch with the riverfront. And, Veiled Prophet members and their families provide community service through a number local agencies including Habitat for Humanity, the St. Louis Public Schools and the City of St. Louis. Now for some fun facts of the Veiled Prophet Parade.. The first Parade was on October 8, 1878. The original Parade was the highlight of the early October Fair which brought out-state visitors to St. Louis. The first floats were purchased by a group of prominent St. Louis businessmen lead by Charles Slayback for $8,000 from the New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. The floats were brought to St. Louis by steam ship for free. Krewe members of the Veiled Prophet comprise the characters who ride the floats, and are the oldest and largest Veiled Prophet committee. 145 members were asked to ride in the Parade, but there was room on the floats for only 113 members. During the first year, attendance was estimated at between 50,000 and 100,000. By 1930, this number had grown to 375,000, and, in 1967 to 500,000. Floats were horse-drawn in the early years. Originally, the floats were illuminated by 1,000 torch lights in addition to hundreds of lanterns. Starting in 1903, the floats were illuminated by electric power from the Street Rail System. There was a War Chest (bond sale) Parade in 1942. Starting in 1954, the float illumination was provided by portable generators. Starting in 1946, the floats were pulled by truck tractors driven by professional drivers. In 1955, truck tractors were switched to farm tractors to pull the floats. One year, there was a national plowing contest on the day of the Parade. Members of the Veiled Prophet were recruited to drive the tractors, a practice that continues today. Later Chevy Blazers were decorated to match the float they were pulling. Small lawn tractors were used and decorated as well. Subsequently, some of the floats were self-propelled, and the practice of adding one or two of these each year, continues today. The 1969 Parade changed from night to day. Nationally known artists have designed floats: Oscar Being house from 1929 to 1941; Frank Nuderscher from 1945 to 1954; Fred Conway from 1955 to 1963 and Charles Morganthuler from 1964 to 1966. For a number of years, students from St. Louis’ schools would compete to design some of the floats. High school bands have played a major role in numerous Parades, and today high school bands from the Midwest compete for more than $10,000 in prizes. The tie between the Parade and the Veiled Prophet Ball goes back to the first year 1878 - when the Parade and the Ball occurred on the same night. In the early years, the entire Krewe appeared in costume at the Ball, later dancing with the Maids and Ladies of Honor To my knowledge, this parade has NEVER been rained out.. |
July 2rd, 2011