If it’s the Fourth of July weekend in Russellville, the Guions’ Kiddie Parade must be on the agenda. And, indeed, it is.
Youngsters are invited to decorate their bicycles, wagons, strollers, battery-powered vehicles and walking shoes and bring them to West Eighth Street, a short stretch between South Main Street and Winter Street. Parents are invited to walk with them. Participants are encouraged to dress in patriotic attire, especially on this 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States of America.
After the sponsoring Sons of the American Revolution leads the group in the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner, the Russellville City and Russellville Rural fire departments will loudly let the world know that some young patriots will be marching/riding in honor of their country. They will travel east on Eighth and then north on Main four blocks to the downtown square.
Russellville Police will have the streets blocked to traffic for the safety of the ‘kiddies’ and those with them.
After circling Carrico Park Square, paraders and their production team will return to West Eighth to enjoy refreshments provided by Post Oak Baptist Church, talk with SAR members about America’s history and visit with each other.
The late Bob and Joyce Guion, who grew up in Logan County themselves, were among Logan’s ‘leading couples” in the second half of the 20th century, even though they didn’t seek titles or awards. They would be surprised that this parade is still named for them.
Bob was an inventor, an entrepreneur, and a financial whiz. Joyce was a community-minded mother of four who could be found serving as a “room mother”, who would make their friends welcome in their home. Sometimes, her efforts led to long-standing traditions like this parade.
While their children were school age, the Guion family lived at the top of Main Street where it joins East Ninth Street. It’s an historic residence which is known as the O’Banion House. They began a parade in their neighborhood on the Fourth of July for their kids and their friends in 1958, and it has continued much of the two-thirds of a century which has follows.
Their first two children were girls who not only graduated from Russellville High School in the late 1960s, but hey both married fellow RHS alumni. Carol and husband Dick Switizer have spent most of their adult life in Franklin. As the offspring of the Guions and Tastee Treet owners Ron and Martha Clevinger Switzer, they have been business leaders in Simpson County for decades. Janice Guion married Mike Threlkeld, son of Lisle and Dr. Tom Threlkeld. They have been successful in their adopted home area in Knoxville.
The two younger children graduated from RHS in the early 70s. Julie (Steele) and Andy Guion moved with their spouses—Dr. Robert Steele and Pam Guion—to North Carolina. Andy rapidly moved up the ladder in healthcare businesses, and Julie was involved in good deeds in her new home.
After their children moved away from Russellville, Bob and Joyce moved to a smaller house on West Eight. The Kiddie Parade, which had been paused for a few years, was revived for children in their grandchildren’s age group, and it’s been going strong ever since. The original Russellville Kiwanis Club kept it going after the Guions were no longer able to do it, and the Colonel Benjamin Logan Chapter of the Sons of the American Legion has been robustly managing it since 2019.
Lineup begins at 9:30 with the parade taking wheels at 10. Everything is free.