Back in da Delta: Delta Band Festival Day (Greenwood)

Friday, November 30, 2012

Delta Band Festival Day (Greenwood)

One of the fondest memories that I have growing up in a small town in the Mississippi Delta was the annual Roy Martin Delta Band Festival and Christmas Parade. In the the 60's and 70's, I remember how big a deal it was to get a day off from school to watch the parades. There used to be a morning parade and an evening parade followed by holiday themed floats. The City of Greenwood would host marching bands from all over the state and beyond. The sights of pretty majorettes, the sounds of trumpets, drums, and other musical instruments, feeling the warmth of the diesel tractors pulling massive holiday floats, the smell of Pronto Pup corn dogs, the sweetness and stickiness of cotton candy, and the nip of cold winter air; all announce that Winter was coming and Christmastime was near! I remember one year, I worked a concession stand for my HS Art's club in front of the old Post Office (now Central Office for the Public School system). As a kid, I always looked for the carnival vendors who sell those tiny little film cameras (which never worked and there were no place to process the film) but the fun I had taking those priceless imaginary photos were priceless (which probably fueled my love of photography for when I actually got a real working camera). Band Festival Day would always end with Santa Claus and his reindeers closing the parade as he waved to the crowds as his helpers would toss candies out into the crowds of holiday-goers; and there was the big firework show at the Yazoo River.

Fast forward some 30 years later, the parade has downsized considerably, the crowds are smaller, the bands and float are fewer but the charm remains. They say that one can never go home but watching with adult eyes, I've certainly appreciate the precious gift of growing up in a small town.