Waiting for Superman: An Ode to the Bigfork 4th of July Parade

Winter, in my estimation, is the most trying of all seasons. The days are short. The nights are long. And, at times, the nights even seem to consume the days.

Leaves long since fallen are buried beneath a blanket of snow that seems impermeable. Winter sports provide some diversion but, in the end, winter leaves me waiting-waiting for signs of longer days, warmer days, and the return of Superman.

To me, the Bigfork fourth of July Parade is the sign that summer has arrived and I made it through winter. The snow has long since melted and underneath its weight emerge forms of life that never cease to entice the senses.

But none of it seems real until the morning of the fourth and for several years running a young boy gracing the front of a golf cart decorated with banners announcing “Superman Returns.” A veritable crowd favorite who elicited the loudest of cheers, this boy, last seen in 2010, would wear a Superman costume complete with faux muscles. As loudspeakers strapped to that golf cart blasted the Superman theme song so common to us all, memories of winter disappeared.

I came to the parade in 2011, awaiting Superman’s return, but he never appeared. I came to the parade last week, awaiting his return, but again he did not appear. I can only guess (and hope) he has now grown too large to grace the front of that golf cart in the manner he once did.

Although I will never cease anticipating the return of Superman, part of what makes Bigfork unique are the other members of the community who step forward to take his place.

Last year, the good folks from Swan River Gardens and Nursery assembled a small army of shopping carts that were led through the village streets in a choreographed fashion that, although a crowd favorite, was not likely to threaten efforts at the Playhouse.

Just when I thought that small army could not be topped, this year their Begonia Bucket Brigade made what I hope was its inaugural appearance.

With talent not likely to usurp the place of even the most rudimentary stomp troup, the sight of the employees and friends of Swan River Gardens rhythmically beating on planting pots brought the crowd to its feet.

In a wider culture that spends so much time focusing on what it wants to be, the fourth of July parade celebrates what Bigfork is — a place where people come together in the present moment and honor what defines them. In many ways, that sense of definition is forged out of a commitment to country. In other ways, what defines this community is the ability to still be a place where values of friend and neighbor thrive.

For now, the summer sun is upon us along with all of the activities it affords.

Come early-January, with the anticipation of the Christmas season behind me, I will once again find myself waiting-waiting for the snow to thaw, the days to grow brighter, and for Superman to return in whatever form he might take come July fourth.

Todd C. Ream is a professor from Indiana who is fortunate enough to spend his summers with his family in Bigfork.