I must hand it to Geneva for putting on one of the best parades I've seen in a LONG time. Kudos to all the people who put in the hard work.

One observation though:
If you were there, you might have noticed there were quite a few groups (flag squads, drum-lines, color guards, etc...) who were from out of town. Ok, let me be frank, some where from the south side of Chicago. I cannot commend these young men and women enough for what they brought to the people of Geneva during that parade. (Patch photographers seems to leave these group out...interesting, huh?) They walked tall, performed with spirit, kept the beat, jumped high, spun their flags; all the while they were wearing stuffy uniforms, large hats, or wool pants. Never did I see one of them walk out of line or have anyone pour water into their mouths (even though they deserved it with all their hard work.)

On the other hand, there were the "pampered princesses" (cheer squads, dance teams, pom-poms) who barely performed and staggered through their parade routes. They definitely "phoned-in" their performances and were, rightfully, upstaged by these hard working inner city schools who obviously took great pride in their appearance and performed outstandingly.

I would be really interested if anyone noticed that angle of the parade? Don't get me wrong, it was AWESOME, but I couldn't get over the "entourage" these princesses had following them (mostly helicopter moms and overzealous coaches) during the parade.

To Geneva Patch staff: Thanks for your coverage of Swedish Days. You gave us a daily view of the fun and showed how businesses and residents come together to showcase Geneva and welcome visitors. In addition to the 150 volunteers who assist the Chamber staff , the City (police, fire, public works) deserve credit for the role they play in the success. This morning one would hardly know what occurred last week since it is all clean and neat. We had three days of rain but when the sun came out - WOW. Jean Gaines, Geneva Chamber of Commerce