Parade Day Wrap-up

“We Wuz Robbed!”- manager Joe Jacobs (1896-1940), who uttered it on June 21, 1932, after his client, Max Schmeling, had clearly out-boxed Jack Sharkey, only to have the heavy-weight title awarded to Sharkey..

“We Wuz Robbed!”-Sally Morbeck (1959-?), who uttered it while licking her family’s wounds after a disappointing third place finish in the annual Rutledge Independence Day Parade.

Various Notes gathered in and around Parade Day 2002:

•     There’s been some talk of sticking a “For Sale” sign into our postage stamp size front yard but wiser heads have prevailed. If we were to move, how would we be able to judge a new community’s receptiveness to Parade Decorating Genius, anyhow? One would almost have to go to all the trouble to relocate there to find out. We’ll stick with the Known rather than the UnKnown.

"Upper" Rutledge

"Lower" Rutledge

•     Why did we lose? I’ve mentioned the deadly combination of cute babies and topical jingoism. Could we be missing some point somewhere or something? Naaaaaah! As always, we prefer to blame a somewhat unlikely “Conspiracy Theory” instead. Michelle Senior (who certainly has a vested interest in the whole subject, being the keeper of Oreo’s Castle) believes that there is an incredibly fierce rivalry between WE of “Upper” Rutledge and the swine following vermin who inhabit “Lower Rutledge”. They’re VERY jealous of our well kept houses and yards down below the 39.90th parallel; living in the same borough as a Perfect Example of Cat Perfection such as Oreo only rubs salt in their wounds of inadequacy. Whoo. That preceding paragraph was a little CRAAZY, wasn’t it? I should get out more.

•     It was interesting having the Sullivans and the Wallaces mingling among the crowd lining the parade route this year. Several telling comments were made by onlookers which would never have reached our ears without our “spies” circulating among the heathen.

                                                Bystander #1: “What’s THAT float all about?”

                                                Bystander #2: “I have NO idea!”

                More understandable than I care to admit.

• Bystander #3: “OREO! Nicest cat in Rutledge? That cat who lives up on the corner? That cat is MEAAAN!"

   Which brings us to our next big sticking point. Apparently we have inherited many of Oreo’s erstwhile enemies, namely DOGS and DOG OWNERS. The business of keeping Rutledge’s streets safe for Cat Democracy has fallen on such paragons of Cat Virtue as Oreo. He’s never shirked his responsibilities in that manner, always willing to give trespassing canines a healthy swipe of his clawed right paw. If those dogs can’t accept being second class citizens they should move somewhere else. Regardless, some of these dark forces would tend to resent ANY Celebration of “Rutledge’s Policeman (cat)”

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             Our Hero

•     The sign we tacked onto front of “our” Oreo’s chest:

I tried to write "STATESCAT" but it wasn't immediately obvious as to what it would mean.

•     Ours wasn’t the only float overlooked on this steamy July 4th. Chelsey and Becca Sokoloff teamed up with Kara Mistichelli to highlight little brother Max with a delightful “Ode to Fairyland” motif. The kids did it all themselves which gives me hope that I might soon be handing down my parade construction responsibilities to the next generation as well. They finished fourth (Honorable Mention). I do wonder, however, if I should take young Max Sokoloff out Huntin’ with me and kill a few things. He’s getting a little too comfortable appearing in effeminate outfits at these town wide events (a victim of having older sisters, no doubt). Maybe I’ll just get him a subscription to the N.R.A. trade magazine when he learns to read.

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