MY MAD HATTER

The best thing about the Mad Hatter Parade is I know everybody in it.  I used to think Macy’s million dollar extravaganza, which I watched at home in front of the TV, was pretty good, but I’ve forsaken all that for the joys & pleasures of a small town event, put on by my far-out friends & neighbors in the far-fetched city of Vallejo, known as The Mad Hatter Parade.  

The magic of the madness is the work of maestro Frank Malifrando who brings together Vallejo’s most colorful and insane local characters who come out the cracks once a year to strut their stuff down Georgia Street and kick off the holiday season with one big wacky tacky phantasmagorical tea party.    

First off, I smile at the mayor who strides down the street at the head of the parade, waving at his constituents, and he smiles back.  Here comes Adolpho, mistress of audacious grace in his sequined gown and fabulous furs, blowing kisses to the crowd that hoots & hollers as he floats by.  I shout and jump for joy when I see Shannon & Kathy O’Hare, King and Queen of all things fantastic in Vallejo, who swoop in on their fabulous racket-making airborne contraption, with springs & wings & strange moving parts that sing & swing & propel them onward, upward, and away they go.  

I’m impressed with fire breathing dragons & martial arts demonstrations; salsa dancing couples warm my heart, as do the classy old cars like my father used to drive, and laughing firemen and policemen who look like real people when you get close.  I salute the suits from the chamber of commerce.

I love all the fabulous floats with their crazy costumed characters who animate the tea party, but most of all, the thing I love best about the Mad Hatter Parade, I love the high school marching bands.  I search the young earnest faces of boys and girls of every race color & stripe, growing up, taking on the troubles of the world, their lives still in front of them, fervently pursuing their hopes & dreams, banging on drums and tooting trumpets with all their hearts and souls to proclaim good things are coming, oh man, yes they are, yes they are.  The leader tosses his baton high into the sky – and my heart soars with it. 

One year I brought my grandchildren and they loved the Mad Hatter Parade too, especially a mechanical alligator and the lights on the Soma sculpture.   The following year I brought my sisters and brothers-in-law from Florida, who understood what I loved about this parade and got into the spirit of it with me.  What’s not to love about magnificent prancing white Lipizzaner horses with decorated tails & manes?   And the flotilla of lighted boats when night fell, which I enjoyed in my warm home, watching through the window.

But the absolute best part of the Mad Hatter Parade is the crowd, the people, the families who show up, young & old, all colors & kinds, friends & neighbors who pour into Georgia Street, unfold their folding chairs, push up the visors of their baseball caps, slip on their sunglasses & sit back to enjoy the show. Three years in a row, ever since I moved to this town, I’ve come out for the Mad Hatter’s Parade, and I’ve gotta say without any doubt, as great as the parade is, in Vallejo the audience is as good as the show.