Memorial Daze, Pt. II: Party, Parade, and Pool

Collierpalooza. Erik texted me this around 6pm, before we arrived.

Welcome back, readers, to Memorial Day Weekend 2023's thrilling conclusion. . .

We got back into Midland around 6pm, having left Eight Point Lake shortly before dinner.  After dropping off Alivia and Lexi to their respective houses, we stopped off at our own house to drop off and feed the dogs, change into evening clothes, load up a cooler and high-tail it over to the Collier residence for their annual Memorial Day party.

Brett Mitchell. Local guy who knows how to play guitar. 

This year, Ryan went all out.  He once again rented a gigantic bounce house, he set up scores of tables for all the food they had on hand, but he took it a step further by hiring local musician Brett Mitchell for a two-hour acoustic set. Mitchell performs regularly at functions across Midland, and pops up at bars and community events all the time (I've seen him in the background multiple times while out and about the city.) Erik, Mitch, and I may have talked Ryan into hiring him after six or seven beers back when we saw the Loons on opening night.  

But anyway.

Sadly, I didn't get to kick ass in the bounce house this year. 

We finally arrived at Collierpalooza around 7pm, and immediately set to work catching up with the rest of our tribe.  After getting some food for the girls, we dropped both of them back off at the house - after two days of being out on the lake in the hot sun, they weren't necessarily down for socializing with the usuals. Kris and I hung out a lot longer than we had originally anticipated - not a shocker, there - but left around 11:30pm so that I could get some much-needed sleep before waking up at the ass-crack of dawn for the city's Memorial Day Parade (I was once again marching with the Freemasons - I'll touch on that later.)

So here we go, America - the second installment of the Houghs' 2023 Memorial Day extravaganza.

Behold. . . 

Good ol' Brett was on stage performing covers of 60s/70s classics when we rolled in - by this point in time the party had been going for about three hours.

Dads were - not surprisingly - in the middle of a game of cornhole.

Mees, Mitch, Omkar, and Tom

Myles throws back another one.

The moms take a turn on the boards.

Meanwhile, this dude keeps churning out fodder for drunken suburbanites.

Collier got a fire going as the evening wore on, and the dads laid claim to the seating around the fire pit.

Mitch, Tom, Erik, Collier, and Omkar.

About what you'd expect. . .

(I don't know who that guy is.)

Erik steals dessert off some little asshole's plate.

Dusk falls on the party

The fellas swoop in for seconds (or thirds.)  I know I've said it before, but this group isn't afraid of eating.

Putting out fires at home.  The girls have no qualms about calling us at a party if they're pissed at one another for some stupid reason.

As stated before, Kris and I stuck around until 11/11:30pm or so then said our goodbyes - Yours Truly had to get up super early the next morning in order to march in the city's annual Memorial Day Parade.

So the reporting time for parade participants was 9am, but Erik and I both had several things to take care of beforehand.  At 7:45am, Erik and Tom - who was helping us Masons out this morning - showed up at my house to whip up some Bloody Marys and pick up our Lodge signs from last year.  Once we were all prepped at my house, they headed down to Midland Ford in order to pick up a truck that Morgan was letting us borrow while Yours Truly headed down to Lodge in order to pick up some Masonic aprons (it's a thing) and our Lodge banner.

With the Lodge gear in hand, I met up with Tom and Erik in a parking lot behind the Midland Community Center, a short walk from where the parade route ended, in order to drop off my vehicle.  Last year we had to squeeze a dozen Freemasons into a pickup - both in the cab and the bed of the truck - because we didn't plan ahead like real-life grown-ups.  We weren't about to make that mistake again.

Not sure if this was the same truck model we got last time, but it was pretty nice.

There's a water tower next to the Community Center.  I don't understand the purpose of water towers.

On our way to the parade staging area, which - like last year - was located off Main Street, downtown.

I taped the shit out of these signs this year.  Just sayin'.

This year's parade wasn't nearly as organized as those in previous years. Some new guy was orchestrating things, and, seeing how he was brand-spanking new to the job, he clearly had no idea what he was doing.  We were supposed to be placed directly behind the Shriners - like last we were last year - and consequently he had instructed me to set up on a particular side street.

We waited on this side street for, like, 40 minutes, and the Shriners never showed up.  The Bullock Creek Marching Band was trickling in ahead of us (inexplicably), with some local Democrat's supporters showing up behind us.  At this point, Erik began walking around the block to check where other parade participants were setting up - and to see if he couldn't hunt down the missing Shriners - and Yours Truly tried in vain to contact the parade organizer.

Erik eventually stumbled upon the Shriners. . . a block over.  Despite being directly next to one another in the parade line-up, we were told two different locations to set up.  We quickly packed up and drove over to their location instead.  Gotta love an early morning clusterf***. . .

Our Masonic brothers in the Shriners, setting up their little race cars (not sure if there's a legit name for those or not.)

Admittedly, they do look like they'd be a hell of a lot of fun to drive.

The Shriners also had a giant inflatable Uncle Sam suit that some Shiner's poor nephew had to wear.  Don't envy that poor kid.

About to set off.  Like last year, a few guys from Joppa Lodge in Bay City came out to give us a hand (seeing how Masonic Lodges are kinda like churches these days - with dwindling numbers and an aging demographic - it's hard for us to get a bunch of younger, spry members to volunteer to walk a couple miles in 80-plus degree weather for something like this.)

Starting off down Main Street.  Kris came out and positioned herself in front of her old church, First United Methodist (across from the Courthouse) to snap a few pics of our Lodge as we marched past.

We dropped a ton on candy this year - we were really hoping to make it farther than we did last year.

To that end, we did, but we still ran out about 2/3 of the way through the parade.  We're definitely going to need to stock up for next year.

Senior Warden Chuck drove the truck (and simultaneously threw candy.)

We ended the parade close by where we dropped off my car earlier int he morning, and managed to get a pic with our boys and the boys from Joppa Lodge before shuttling everyone back to their cars.

After dropping everyone else off and grabbing our original vehicles, Tom, Erik and I met up at Big E's for some lunch and a couple congratulatory beers.

A couple hours later, the Houghs loaded up a cooler and headed over to the Bos residence, where they were having the Grand Opening of their new pool (finally.)

Another reason the Bos fam chose to invite everyone over - besides the pool and incredible weather - was that the Colliers were sitting on piles and piles of leftover food from their party the night before, and this gave them an excuse to bring it over before it went to waste.  Any excuse for a party with this group. . .

Mitch did whip up some of his famous, homemade sushi. . . which Alayna is a huge fan of (as you can clearly tell.)

Several different varieties - I always eat the hell out of these sushi spreads of his.

This was her second plate. I always have to watch her carefully to make sure she lets other people get some before she just inhales it all.

Omkar, Ryan, Mitch, Elise (Ryan's daughter), and Kelli.

Abby, a hotdog, and yet another charcuterie board.

Omkar and Mitch

These guys hung out under Mitch's recently-constructed pavilion most of hte afternoon/evening.

Me? I'm a big fan of bronzing (as you all know by now.)

Alayna spent most of her time studying for her Spanish finals. . .

Mitch got in the pool and instantly started chaos. . .

This video does a pretty good job of capturing the spirit of this group.

Abby and Ella with Audrey.

Susan and Ryan.

The Cannonball (still studying.)

Going to work first thing tomorrow morning is really, really gonna suck.

Mees, Susan and Kelli

Nothing about this pool looks relaxing in the slightest.

Myles and Ryan

Joining the other dads after getting some more color (after awhile you get overheated and need to take a break.)

Behold.  The Glory.

So there you have it, folks - the Hough's 2023 Memorial Day Weekend.  Two days of roller coasters down at Cedar Point, two days up at Eight Point Lake boating and sandbar'ing, Collierpalooza, marching with the Freemasons in a parade, and then a pool party to wrap it all up.  I'm f***ing exhausted, but holy hell - that was a frickin' blast.  See ya next time, folks.

- Brian