Celebrating liberty on Liberty Street

7/2/2022

Franklin's Fourth of July week-long celebration continued with the annual parade down Liberty Street. The theme was Red, White and You . Everyone was encouraged to dress in the finest displays of Americana to show their love of county. The usual mix of veterans and groups made up the parade.

New to this year's festivities was a youth essay contest. The winners were Mallory Schiffhouer in the high school division with her poem "A Commentary on Community," in response to the question "How can I be the U in commUnity?"

The winner of the middle school division was Mazy Shingledecker who told a story about a little girl and her brother who find joy in helping others. Her essay was also chosen as the top submission and we're printing it here with more photos from the parade.

Shingledecker's essay

One day a little girl, about five years old, went to a restaurant with her older brother. Her older brother helped an elderly woman to her car. The little girl was inspired by her brother doing things for others.

A few years later, the little girl was walking through town during May-Mart. The park was packed full of people passing by. The little girl thought it was the perfect opportunity to help her community.

She helped anyone and everyone that she could by carrying the flowers to their cars for them.

Although she didn’t want to take any tips, people insisted on giving her tips anyway.

She decided to use all of the tips that she made, and donate them to the town.

She did this every year, and became recognized as a local do-gooder.

The girl didn’t do it for the fame, she did it for the heartwarming feeling.

End of essay.

Shingledecker's essay shows how thinking about community can take on many forms, sometimes it's just a simple gesture of kindness. For some it is organizing a parade, an essay contest or a years worth of local activities.