CARIBOU, Maine — Dozens of floats drove through Caribou on Aug. 1 as hundreds in the community stood by and watched the Caribou Cares About Kids parade.
The city’s annual “Caribou Cares About Kids” parade has been an ongoing event for decades, however it was recently expanded into a three-day event incorporating Thursdays on Sweden, activities at the recreation center such as T-shirt tie-dying, and this year the city also hosted three performances of the Zerbini Family Circus.
Caribou Marketing and Events Coordinator Christina Kane-Gibson said about 40 groups and organizations took part in the parade, and that while it’s tough to estimate the total turnout of guests, there were easily hundreds in attendance.
“The biggest pockets were Burger King to Walgreens, the front of the rec center, near the library and city hall, and also on Sweden Street,” she said.
The event was sponsored by Machias Savings Bank, who gave out trophies and judged floats. This year Hannaford Supermarkets won the “Best Business” float, Daisy Troop 992 won the award for best non-profit float, and Loring Job Corps Center won the best community float award.
The event wouldn’t be possible were it not for the work of parks and rec volunteers, officials with the Caribou Public Works Department, and the Caribou Police Department, who helped guide traffic and participants during the parade.
Kane-Gibson concluded that she loved all the floats and appreciated the time members of the community spent preparing for the big parade.
“We had some great ones,” she said. “You could tell that our participants put a lot of time and effort into their presentations.”
