Chappell Hill

We drove to the teeny tiny town of Chappell Hill this morning, for their annual 4th of July parade-- this year held on the 3rd because on any given Sunday, I would imagine everyone who lives in that town is singing hymns in church.

Chappell Hill is even more Mayberryesque than our own small town, and I don't mean that critically. Actually, my husband and I have wondered why our town doesn't host a July 4th parade, but maybe they don't want to compete with the goings-on in Chappell Hill.

The parade started promptly at ten o'clock this morning, with one lone gunshot going off to let the first "float" know that it should start moving down Main St. (The actual name of the one main street in Chappell Hill isn't really Main St., but it should be.) That gunshot not only startled all the on-lookers, but there was one huge collar-less German Shepard sitting near a vintage fire truck that was so scared that he took off running down the middle of the street with his tail between his legs and his ears laid back flat on his head. My husband, always quick with a comedy-routine-worthy remark, quietly called out "Run, Forrest, run....."

And then came the parade..... new and vintage fire trucks, the town ambulance, the town sheriff and deputies, a boy's club, new tractors and old cars, a brand-new spiffy truck-cab with all the bells and whistles available-- so high off the ground it must have had an attached ladder to get up into the driver's seat. This year's parade had more horses and riders than last year's, and after the horses passed, everyone in the parade quit tossing out candy and beads to the children. (Every child there left with a stash of candy worthy of Halloween.)

The highlight of the parade for me was the same as last year--- "The World Famous Kazoo Band," which consists of about thirty kids of all ages wearing matching tee-shirts and holding plastic kazoos between their lips, belting out every imaginable melody you can think of as they went marching down the middle of the street while trying not to bump into the kid in front of them. The magical musical noise coming from all those kazoos just makes you smile, and if you can't smile at that, then you may as well just pack up your lips and send them "on a slow boat to China," as my dad would say.

The Bank of Chappell Hill (established in 1878, according to the date engraved above the brick facade of the building) gave out fresh lemonade for drinking, American flags for waving, and red, white and blue beaded necklaces for blinging yourself out for the 4th. The only thing missing from the parade was the same thing as last year-- a high school marching band. But they may not have a high school, and if they do, there may not be enough musically inclined kids to form a band.

The town of Chappell Hill truly has just the one street where everything seems to take place when there's not a parade marching through. There is one cafe, a couple of antique and resale shops, a little store that could be a barber, a church big enough to hold everyone in the town, and that's about it. There is definitely a quaint factor in that town, because anyone driving up into the Hill Country is going to have Chappell Hill on their must-see list of towns to visit.

I would guess that everyone living in Chappell Hill was at the parade today, along with some of us who live close enough to drive there and take part in the Mayberryness of the morning. Our neighbors were there.... as we carried our lawn chairs and walked down the street, it was easy to find them, just like we did last year. There wasn't a spot for our lawn chairs where they were sitting, but as soon as the people next to our neighbors saw that we were looking to set our chairs down, the rest of the people there just stood up moved their chairs down enough for my husband to fit our two chairs into the line.

And that just about sums up the character of Chappell Hill and the people who live in that teeny tiny place. Which is why it really should be on your must-see list of Hill Country towns. It is pure Mayberry, and there ain't nothing wrong with that, Barney, is there?