Pioneer Days parade helps the city celebrate its 100th anniversary

Lifelong Clovis resident Misty Albright never misses a Pioneer Days parade.

With this year being the centennial celebration, her family was out in full force Saturday to cheer on her grandfather, Boyd Trull, and cousin, Bryce Clark, who were riding on a pioneer tractor in the procession that meandered down Main Street.

Albright attended the parade with her 72-year-old grandmother, Betty Lou Thompson Trull.

“We lived on a farm and moved to Clovis when I was 10 years old,” Trull said. “I graduated from Clovis High School in 1953.”

In keeping with the “Honoring Our Past” theme for the centennial parade, Fred Fahsholtz chose to do so by rolling out his 1959 geranium and black Ford Skyliner. It was one of many classic cars entered by the Eastern New Mexico Antique Car Club of Clovis and Portales.

“I’ve had this car since 1971. It has 67,000 miles on it and used to belong to someone in NASA,” he said, pointing to a NASA sticker on the windshield. Fahsholtz’s grandchildren and friends, all dressed in 1950s garb, rode in the back of the convertible.

Just as the parade began to proceed down Main Street, four Cannon Air Force Base F-16 jets zoomed overhead in a flyover.

No centennial celebration would be complete without a cake, and the Snap Dragon’s Red Hat Society did the honors by displaying a giant purple birthday cake float. The birthday cake float won first place in the parade’s club/organizations/churches float category.

The centennial parade also featured antique fire trucks, mounted patrols, an Elvis impersonator, miniature ponies, The Clovis Kitchen Band and several John Deere tractors.

The following awards were handed out to the winning entries:

• Sweepstakes Award — 16th & Pile Church of Christ

• Marching and Walking Units — 1. Shriners Patrol, 2. Cannon Air Force Base Color Guard, 3. Legion of Honor from the Shriner’s.

• Floats and Business/Commercial Category — 1. Ray Lee Equipment, 2. Joe’s Boot Shop, 3. Clovis News Journal.

• Mounted Units — 1. Cattle Capital CowBelles, 2. Curry County, 3. Curry Counted Mounted Patrol.

• Motorized Antique Vehicles —1. Shriners Dunebuggy, 2. Coca-Cola Cadillac, 3. Chamber Chicks.

• Floats/Clubs/Organizations/Churches — 1. Snap Dragon’s Red Hat Society, 2. Red Hat Floozies, 3. Lost in the Son, 21st Street Church of Christ.

• Other, miscellaneous category — 1. Wells Fargo Bank, 2. Memory of Christian K. Heller, 3. Clovis Kitchen Band.