We are imagining the organizational meeting for Oneonta's bicentennial parade 100 years from now. The leader addresses his committee telepathically.
"We've got all of our hovering floats lined up, and there's a delegation from our sister city in the Mars colonies all set to ride with the mayor on the lead float, but I've got some bad news."
Intrigued, the other planners turn their mind-reading devices up louder.
"Well," says their leader, "even with all of our technology, there's just no way we're ever going to match what was done here for the Centennial Parade 100 years ago."
OK, so we may be exaggerating the success of Saturday's Centennial Parade down Main Street in Oneonta, but perhaps not all that much.
There were about 120 units _ including fire departments, businesses, police, schools, churches, school bands and nonprofit organizations _ with marchers, floats or both.
Thousands of people lined the street to look, applaud and cheer on a beautiful, brisk autumn day. It was small-town Americana at its best, and we feel sorry for anyone who missed it.
The Centennial Parade lasted for well longer than an hour. You could watch the parade for 45 minutes, step into a Main Street restaurant for a slice or two of pizza and emerge to find that there was still plenty to see.
It must have been a huge logistical challenge for the event organizers and committee. But they carried it off magnificently.
We don't know if people will still want to go to parades 100 years from now. We certainly hope that they do. But that bicentennial committee will have a very tough act to follow.
Yom Kippur a solemn day
The holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, began Wednesday night with the reciting of the hauntingly beautiful "Kol Nidre" service.
Yom Kippur is the culmination of the "High Holy Days" that began 10 days ago with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.
It is a time of solemn reflection, prayer and fasting. Observant Jews will neither eat nor drink for more than 24 hours and spend hours in the synagogue.
They will repent their sins of the last year and ask the deity to grant another year of life and happiness for themselves and their loved ones.
To our Oneonta congregation at Temple Beth El and to Jewish communities around the world, we wish "G'mar Chatima Tova" (may you be sealed in the Book of Life).
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