John Burchell Photography

Yesterday, Sunday October 14th, Oklahoma City saw what was supposedly the largest parade in Oklahoma in Oklahoma’s history, and I was on hand to witness and photograph the historical event. There were literally thousands of

people lining the streets of downtown Oklahoma City for the event that got underway at 2:00 in the afternoon. The temperature was very pleasant, but there was a lot of wind that kept the balloon handlers busy and I was able to get a lot of good photos. Some of the balloons that had been prepared for the gala had to be left out because of the strong winds and others might have had to leave the parade early. One of the official parade volunteers told me there was a very nice looking cowboy balloon that couldn’t make it. I viewed the parade from a 3rd story parking garage and was a great vantage point to see and photograph everything that came down the street. I was equipped with my 70-300mm telephoto lense and was able to get great shutter speeds.

Leading the parade was a stealth plane that flew over all the waiting throngs of people. I had already set my camera up and jumped at the opportunity to capture the unique wing span in a couple so photographs as it flew overhead. It flew west over approximately 6th street, turned south out of my view, and came around for a fly north directly above Robinson. It was so quiet and reminded me of watching a sting ray as it swims silently and effortlessly underwater. Shortly after the fly-over, Several of Oklahoma’s Finest were the first to make their way up Robinson Street, on their motorcycles.

Several businesses and local organizations sponsored various floats. Some of the more impressive floats naturally got the approval of the crowd as they cheered and clapped. The Oklahoma Sooners Marching band was in fine form and was extremely well received by the crowd. Not to be outdone, the Oklahoma State Cowboys marching band received great approval as well.

Several celebreties were also cheered on, including Miss Black Oklahoma and Miss Oklahoma. It was rumored that all 5 women who were native Oklahomans that had gone on to win the title “Miss America” were to be on hand, but I didn’t get to see them. Television and Movie personality James Garner was on hand, along with other Oklahoma native celebrities, astronauts, performers and athletes, all of which made great photo opportunities.

An impressive float with all the names of the indian tribes was also met with great approval with lots of cheering from the crowd. It played out native american songs from loud speakers.

Happy Birthday Oklahoma!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 12:10 pm and is filed under My World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.