Fourth of July Parades wind through Hatton, North Dakota

(KNOX) – The population of Hatton, North Dakota, doubles if not triples during the Fourth of July… if only for a few hours.
Visitors come from the Red River Valley and from out of state to watch the traditional Fourth of July Parades, Kiddie Tractor Pull and Demolition Derby, all sponsored by the Hatton Men’s Club.
Yes, parades is plural. Youngsters take center stage first in the Kiddie Parade, riding on bicycles or remote-control cars up Seventh Street and down Wheat Avenue- about a half-hour before a two-mile-long procession will travel in the opposite direction. First, down Wheat Avenue to Seventh Street and then west on Railroad Avenue.
Hundreds of visitors and residents along Wheat Avenue set up lawn chairs while kids wait on the curbs, armed with grocery bags, ice cream buckets and pails to collect candy thrown by parade entrants.
Everyone young and old stands as the colors march past, heading a parade that begins with first responders from Hatton Fire and Rescue, Portland Fire and Rescue, Buxton and Reynolds fire departments. Spectators will be sprayed either by the fire hoses or the cannons manned by players from Hatton Little League. Some cannons fire water, some decorate the air with confetti.
On this Fourth of July, some kids offer a challenge to the candy throwers: to hit a candy-collecting wagon on the fly. Two points if they hit it, three points if the candy lands inside the wagon.
The Hatton Men’s Club sails by in their traditional float. Horses, horseback riders and wagons from the Rockin’ R Ranch bring up the rear.
A local grocer has donated patties, potato salad and seedless watermelon to feed spectators before they gather to see determined faces, ages 4 to 12, pedal and pull weights a distance of 30 feet. The afternoon continues beneath cloudy skies with the Demolition Derby, which in the past needed the fire trucks to cool down spectators in 90-to-100 degree heat.
Not so hot today. Those ice cream buckets of candy are full to the brim.