Parade honors public servants, alumni

HURLEY - Hundreds lined Silver Street in downtown Hurley for the annual Iron County Heritage Parade on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Beginning with the "Star Spangled Banner," sung by Hurley High School class of 2016 member Reggie Kelly; floats, vehicles and people made their way up and down Silver Street to celebrate Iron County.

The parade marshals were recently retired Hurley police chief Dan Erspamer, his father and retired Ironwood police chief Ted Erspamer, the new Hurley police chief Chris Colassaco and his father and former Hurley police chief Kenny Colassaco.

A fleet of fire trucks and law enforcement vehicles flashed their lights and sounded their sirens to entertain the folks lining the street.

Many local organizations and business entered floats for the parade, as did a number of high school class reunions. The theme of the parade was "People, places and events."

Many of those in the parade tossed candy to children along the route.

Watching from the judge's stand, Hurley Mayor Joe Pinardi said he was impressed by the creativity of the entrants and the size of the crowd.

"They put a lot of effort into the floats. Everything was super, as usual," he said. "Good crowd, good weather."

Four awards were given. The Best Overall entrant was the Hurley Alumni Band. The Best Reunion entrant was the Hurley High Class of 1966. The winner of the Best Theme entrant was Highline, and the winner of the Best Youth category was the Hurley High School cheerleaders.

The Heritage Day Parade is part of the Iron County Heritage Festival. Pinardi said "this is a real good time of the year."

"It's good to see people come back who we only see once a year," he said.