52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Week #1 – New Year’s Memories

Clip art courtesy of clker.com

New Year's Day was always parade day in our home. In particular the Rose Parade. My senior year in high school was very special as we attended the Rose Parade before going to the Rose Bowl to watch my parents' beloved University of Washington Huskies beat Michigan.

After moving to Arizona and starting our family, we would often attend the Fiesta Bowl Parade in Phoenix. One particularly warm year as the marching band from one of the schools was passing our position, a flute player passed our right in front of Husband. So there he was in the middle of the parade helping to shade the poor girl until help arrived.

The funnest New Year's Eve tradition was something we started when our kids were small. We would head for downtown Tempe in the middle of the afternoon on New Year's Eve for the Tempe Block Party. We all have fond memories of having an early dinner at The Spagetti Company (this was in the years before they moved from downtown Tempe).  Often, if we arrived early enough, we would even be seated in the coveted Trolley Car. Then we would wander the streets watching jugglers, musicians, dancers, and other street performers until two little children were worn out. Then we would head home. Sometimes Husband and I would watch the New Year ring in around the world on TV and other times we would fall asleep well before midnight.

We talked about attending this year's Tempe Block Party, however, the temperatures were near freezing and the wind was blowing. That idea died a silent death...maybe next year.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts in 2011to encourage you to record memories and insights about your life.
© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum