Disney Institute – 76 Trombones

Excitement is in the air. The street is lined with lawn chairs, blankets, strollers, eager children and everyone is straining to get the first glimpse of the approaching parade. The scene is the same whether in rural Indiana or Orlando Florida. Who doesn’t love a parade?

After attending the Disney Institute workshop, I re-evaluated the impact participating in a hometown parade could have on a local business. How often do you have a captive audience of thousands of onlookers, all waiting to see “you” ? There is no question that it requires a commitment of time and money but how can you put a price on creating memories?

In 1979 Valparaiso gave birth to the first Popcorn Festival and Parade inspired by Orville Redenbacher, a Valparaiso native who became a household name with his very own brand of popcorn?

Fast forward to 2009, the theme for the parade is “Celebrate Valparaiso”. It is our third time participating in the parade and we needed a float theme. While looking through our vacation photos we realized that the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade could be the blueprint. It was perfect.

With the creative brilliance of my daughter Erica, 7 gallons of colorful paint, carpet padding, carpet roll tubes, hula hoops, vinyl flooring, cardboard boxes, lamp shades, and of course popcorn, my favorite float, to date, was born.



We won the 2009 “Kernels Kup ” Award.

Stay tuned to find out if we can win an award for our wacky interpretation of this year’s theme “Popcorn in Paradise”.

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