Parade celebrates 60 years of fanfare

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  • A “Peanuts”-themed float pases through downtown Sulphur Springs.
    A “Peanuts”-themed float pases through downtown Sulphur Springs.
  • Gena Watson’s 1985 Sweepstakes-winning Cabbage Patch Doll parade float.
    Gena Watson’s 1985 Sweepstakes-winning Cabbage Patch Doll parade float.
  • Julie Hager (now Ashmore), Marguerite Elliott, Lena Mae Rogers and Kim Baxter.
    Julie Hager (now Ashmore), Marguerite Elliott, Lena Mae Rogers and Kim Baxter.
  • A Li’l Abner-themed Dairy Festival Queen contestant’s float
    A Li’l Abner-themed Dairy Festival Queen contestant’s float
  • Dairy Festival Parade float sponsored by the Bakery Club.
    Dairy Festival Parade float sponsored by the Bakery Club.
  • Alice in Dairyland — A fairy-tale-themed parade float.
    Alice in Dairyland — A fairy-tale-themed parade float.
  • A 1920s-themed Dairy Festival Queen contestant’s float.
    A 1920s-themed Dairy Festival Queen contestant’s float.
  • 1964 Dairy Festival queen candidate Judy Kay Rawson with Tony Hager, Mike McCool, David Watson, Jeff Johnson and Kent Johnson.
    1964 Dairy Festival queen candidate Judy Kay Rawson with Tony Hager, Mike McCool, David Watson, Jeff Johnson and Kent Johnson.
  • Volunteers work to replace cotton blown off a cloud parade float when a helicopter landed nearby moments before the parade begins.
    Volunteers work to replace cotton blown off a cloud parade float when a helicopter landed nearby moments before the parade begins.
  • A Dairy Festival Parade float from the 10960s featuring a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier
    A Dairy Festival Parade float from the 10960s featuring a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier
  • Julie Hager Ashmore’s Gone With the Wind Dairy Festival parade float.
    Julie Hager Ashmore’s Gone With the Wind Dairy Festival parade float.
  • Dairy Festival Board members Larry Gee, Kent King, Margaret Elliott, Mrs. Larry Gamblin, Morna Cate, Kay McCool, Betty Brice Champman, Jill Helm, Rosemary Tucker Bailey, Jeanette Watson, Lynda Hager, Leo St. Clair, Carl Brice, (seated) Lulu Helm, Billy Sam Elliott, Judy Palmer and Lena May Rogers.
    Dairy Festival Board members Larry Gee, Kent King, Margaret Elliott, Mrs. Larry Gamblin, Morna Cate, Kay McCool, Betty Brice Champman, Jill Helm, Rosemary Tucker Bailey, Jeanette Watson, Lynda Hager, Leo St. Clair, Carl Brice, (seated) Lulu Helm, Billy Sam Elliott, Judy Palmer and Lena May Rogers.
  • Lana Koon on her Dairy Festival Parade float representing the state of California and the Gold Rush
    Lana Koon on her Dairy Festival Parade float representing the state of California and the Gold Rush
  • A built-to-scale model of the Wright Brothers’plane flown at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
    A built-to-scale model of the Wright Brothers’plane flown at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
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This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Hopkins County Dairy Festival and its individual events, including the annual parade. Lynda Hager, 2019 Grand Marshal, has been keeping up with every year. Hager allowed the News-Telegram to reproduce these photographs of moments through Dairy Festival parade history. Descriptions are provided where information is available.