According to Mayor Clifford "Red" Wenneker, Auxvasse parades have had a reputation for coming with rain.
But thankfully, the sun was shining and Main Street was packed on Saturday for the town’s annual Independence Day parade and inaugural Barbeque Fundraiser.
“We always have it the Saturday before because everybody is busy on the Fourth,” Wenneker
said.
Auxvasse has been hosting its parade for many years but Wenneker said not so much in the past. That was until the city of Auxvasse Park Board took it over.
“We’ve been doing it now, I think, six years,” he said. “We’ve had a great turn out every year now.”
A new addition to the celebration this year was the inaugural Barbecue Fundraiser to benefit the Auxvasse Fire Department that was held after the parade.
Fire Chief Scott Sullivan had been manning the grill with the help of Aaron Roberts and Gerald Perrigo cooking up hamburgers, hot dogs and pork steaks.
“It was a pretty good sized parade,” Sullivan said. “We had North Callaway (Fire Protection), Mexico Public Safety brought a truck, we had a truck and there’s quite a few so I think it was a pretty good turnout.”
Sullivan served the Mexico Public Safety Department for 20 years and is now in his first year as chief of the Auxvasse Fire Department.
“We’re getting better, getting more people and trying to get to where we can cover the community,” he said.
This is the city’s first year attempting a fundraiser, but immediately after the parade, there was a line out the door and the tables inside the fire station were filling up fast.
Wenneker said there may not have been as many people at the parade as there could have been, probably because of the heat, but he was excited to see more motorcycles in the lineup.
“We had more bikes and that’s what I was pushing for,” he said.
