Mike

Mike, originally uploaded by ujima.

He's my favorite of the nieces and nephews, Quiet, funny, very
bright,sports lover.
He's getting his degree in Computer Information Services.
We went to Baltimore for the open house my sister
had, a real Thanksgiving dinner.

The graduation was the next day. He graduated Cum Laude. Good on ya,
Mike!

@ a picnic @Aunt Nettie's. Parkesburg, PA 1969

The Invitation

The Invitation, originally uploaded by ujima.

Ready for Action

Ready for Action, originally uploaded by ujima.

The Men

The men, originally uploaded by ujima.

That's Cousin Gary on the right.

Here they come!!

Here they come!!, originally uploaded by ujima.

MIKE

MIKE, originally uploaded by ujima.

Now they're grads!

Now they're grads!, originally uploaded by ujima.

The Family

The Family, originally uploaded by ujima.

Dad, Mom and the kids :)

Proud chat

Proud chat, originally uploaded by ujima.

Three Generations

Three Generations, originally uploaded by ujima.

Waiting@Alonsos

Waiting@Alonsos, originally uploaded by ujima.

We celebrated by having Maryland's famous crab cakes and Mexican food at Loco Hombre.

Mummers Parade 2007

Mummers Parade 2007, originally uploaded by ujima.

The Philadelphia Mummers Parade began in 1901. It is a uniquely
Philadelphia neighborhood thing. You can read about them @
mummers.com

When I was a kid, my parents would not take us to this parade because
the men in the comic division paraded in blackface and did offensive
skits. Blackface was not outlawed until *1964*! I used to picket against
the parade in the late 50s/early 60s because of the blackface and that
no women were allowed in the parade.

My sis is a *huge* fan of the parade, so I went with she and her friends
yesterday to experience the string bands who march after the comics
and fancy divisions had finished. To the string bands, costumes are
not as important and the emphasis is on the music.

This orange guy is one of the final fancies. He was fighting a very
difficult battle against the wind.

It was 70º and sunny. We had a good spot. There were plenty of $5
t-shirts on sale. We were near Starbucks where there was not too long
a wait for the restroom. Priceless!!

America

America, originally uploaded by ujima.

There is always a red, white and blue theme.

The crowd

The crowd, originally uploaded by ujima.

We watched the parade at Broad and Pine because it is one of the sites
where the bands stop to perform. (The building across the street is part of the
University of the Arts , which was the Museum School of Art when my
BIL got his degree there in 1959.)

When watching in a crowd, you just get friendly with the people
standing around you. One young couple was from Germany and
they were just overwhelmed by the costumes and the bands.

Budman

Budman, originally uploaded by ujima.

It seemed that 70% 0f the crowd were wearing Eagles gear. And then there
were people like this guy with Bud cans (that he had emptied?)
hanging from his green wig.

Kimmel Center Deck

Kimmel Center Deck, originally uploaded by ujima.

If you had $125 to spare, you could watch the parade from the deck of
the restaurant in the Kimmel Center. A fine meal was included.

I walked up to the Kimmel to use their beautiful, clean restroom. The bar
was open on the ground floor and people were sitting around drinking
Cosmos and waiting for the next club to come up the street.

Firefighters

Firefighters, originally uploaded by ujima.

I liked this group because they had a lot of women marchers and
band members, not just women as rump shakers.

Firefighters 2

Firefighters 2, originally uploaded by ujima.

Fish Fancy

Fish Fancy, originally uploaded by ujima.

The fancy divisions have many individuals with pretty costumes.

Hippies

Hippies, originally uploaded by ujima.

This was my favorite performance because we could sing our fave 60s
songs along with the band. Ahhhh the Age of Aquarius!

Ghost

ghost, originally uploaded by ujima.

Being photographed

Being photographed, originally uploaded by ujima.

White & Orange

White & Orange, originally uploaded by ujima.