a day ago
Skies clear for annual dairy parade in downtown Watertown
Jun. 7—WATERTOWN — Washington Street was a sea of people on Friday night as raindrops made way to sunshine just in time for the annual Dairy Parade.
Among the spectators was Allan Begg, who lives in Watertown, who said he wanted to go to the dairy parade as a way of supporting the community.
"It's a nice evening, (it's a) Friday night something to do," he said.
Begg was at last year's dairy parade, he said, so he said he knows it's one of the larger parades in the area.
"We're looking forward to (something) similar again this year," he said before the event.
Sixty-four entries were expected in the parade with 6,000 to 7,000 people expected to be in attendance.
Watertown Mayor Sarah V.C. Pierce renamed Washington Street to "Magic Avenue" for the duration of the parade.
The parade's theme this year was the "Magic of Moo" — with a slogan of "Embrace the Moo."
Kenneth Fossett, from Pulaski, said he made the roughly half hour drive to see his son march in the parade with the Pulaski Central School District marching band.
"We're just here to support my son," he said.
Earlier in the week, Jay Matteson, Jefferson County Agriculture coordinator, said that agriculture is a $1.7 billion industry for the north country.
Leah Edwards, from Evans Mills, said she, too, was watching her son in the Indian River marching band.
Besides seeing her son, Edwards said she was excited to see some of the older vehicles during the parade.
"I do like looking at those," she said.
Friday was Edwards' first time at the parade, she said.
The parade began at 7 p.m. at Watertown High School, with the Watertown Police leading the way. The event was also broadcast on NBC Watertown and livestreamed on their YouTube channel.
