City float debuts in State Fair Parade

The rain continued to come down in steady sheets, but the Copperas Cove Five Hills royalty were not deterred. The City of Copperas Cove invested in a professional float to promote the community through tourism efforts and the Texas State Fair Opening Day Parade was where it made its debut. 
Although the state fair which runs for 24 days with a parade on the grounds 23 of those days and the grand parade through the streets of downtown Dallas for thousands of spectators on opening day, 2017 marked the City of Copperas Cove’s first appearance at the fair which drew an estimated 83,000 on attendance on the first day and will draw an estimated 2.5 million people by the end of the fair. 
Despite the wet weather on opening day, spectators still lined the streets of downtown Dallas and faces could be seen crowding around the office windows of the skyscrapers lining the parade route. 
John and Dawn Hale picked up the float from the manufacturer and pulled the new float in the parade for the very first time.
“It was a great day and a true honor to represent our great city,” Dawn Hale said. “These ladies (the queens) were wonderful and their smiles showed the pride they had.”
Elizabeth Chase is a lifelong resident of Copperas Cove whose heart swelled with pride upon seeing Copperas Cove in the state fair parade. 
“I was so excited to see that float with all the beautiful ladies coming down Main Street,” Chase said. “They represented our city well.”
The float’s next appearance is in the Moody Cotton Festival Parade on Oct. 21 followed by the Copperas Cove Veterans Day Parade on November 11. The holiday parade season throughout the month of December includes more than half a dozen parades on the royalty’s schedule with the new float. 
Copperas Cove resident Marc Payne who designed the new float said the visibility the float provides to the City of Copperas Cove is invaluable.
“Parade floats are what make a parade, a parade. They add grand pageantry and everyone wants to see floats,” Payne said. “In order to increase the number of exciting floats in your parade, you have to participate in other cities’ parades, 18 to 24 parades year.”
In other appearances, the royalty were also in charge of raffle ticket sales for the Pink Warrior Angels 5K Dash and also helped cheer runners and walkers off at the start line and across the finish line. They also helped work several of the children’s games at the Holy Family Catholic Church, worked three different booths at National Night Out and supported a chamber ribbon cutting and monthly chamber mixer.
In royal sightings this week, look for the titleholders to add some sparkle to the First Friday After Dark at Frames and Things and participate with their pets at Barktober Fest in Killeen and Howl at the Moon in Harker Heights.