Maybe it was the bloodstained mosquitoes painted on the beanbags. Maybe it was Laurel’s mother, beaming and presiding over a float-sized baseball stadium, the sign around her neck making everything clear: “Old Bat”. Maybe it was all the other “bats”, with their silken wings and mouse-like ears and terrible fangs, heartbreakingly vulnerable to White Nose Bat Syndrome. Whatever it was, and in spite of the fact that thematically the 2014 MIWP Fourth of July Parade Float “Bats and White Nose Syndrome” was as unfocussed as anything I have ever seen (baseball stadium????), the judges loved us. Loved us enough to award us the First Prize (Adult Float division). Our gratitude is boundless.

The Concept announced in Spring of 2014:

BATS AND WHITE NOSE SYNDROME

As for 2014, the concept is far from Grand-Prize-ready, but the creative juices are bubbling. The 2014 topic is bats and White Nose Syndrome, another endangered species, and the float will almost certainly involve dangerous bad jokes about baseball, maybe.

Even though they are ugly little guys and they sometimes have rabies, bats are on the side of good (see MIWP-sponsored talk 8/16/14: Bats’ Bad Rap) and we want to do good by them. Please join us—everyone of all ages and species is welcome. Costumes don’t get much easier; just wear brown and we will take care of the rest.

Meet at the marina one half hour before parade time (the parade usually starts at 10:30, but check with the Chamber of Commerce) under the MIWP banner.