16 July 2021 — 1016 mdt
Independence Day parades should celebrate
our common values and accomplishments
David Moore Williams had a helluva good time in Kalispell’s 4th of July parade. Driving his Clydesdale powered, Trump flag flying, brewery wagon at a brisk trot, he took pleasure in the discomfort his rapid approaches to their heels caused the group in front of him.
We know he took pleasure in the discomfort of that group, the Flathead Democrats, because he wrote about it on his Facebook page:
Williams’ Facebook entry no longer appears on his page, but his page contains plenty of other posts suggesting he holds former president Donald Trump in high regard and Democrats in low contempt.
Yesterday, Kyle Waterman’s eyewitness report on the parade corroborated Williams’ account of his parade conduct:
So, as the Democrats passed by and the House member carrying their banner looked like he should have worn a hat and was ready for a drink of water, we cheered as well. But our cheer was interrupted by the thunderous galloping of a hot, black Clydesdale horse pulling an antique stagecoach, rushing forward toward the Democrats. The crowd gasped. Democrats in the parade and children on the sidewalk jumped back as the driver of the wagon cackled. The driver halted, and then snidely said “Merry Christmas,” as if the politics of taking pleasure in making your opponents suffer is now the American way.
The brewery connection — and disconnection
Williams’ wagon bore the banner of the Sacred Waters Brewery, a Kalispell craft beer producer whose taproom he frequents. According to the brewery’s co-owner, Jordan Van Eimeren, writing on the brewery’s Facebook page, Williams offered to display the brewery’s banner during the parade, but said nothing about displaying it under Trump’s flag:
We apologize for mixing beer and politics. That simply is not how we do business and we failed to specify that fact when we were asked by a loyal patron of the brewery to display our banner on a horse-drawn wagon in the July 4 parade. While we were unaware that politics (flying a Trump flag) was in the cards for the day, it’s still our responsibility to have the conversation and we did not. We assure you that Sacred Waters is still a place where we unite and connect about craft beer, outdoor adventures, and fishing; not alienate anyone due to politics. [Excerpt of 540-word statement.]
Until I found Williams’ Facebook page, I was inclined to think his driving was reckless, but not malicious. Some horsemen become so comfortable with their horses, so confident in their riding and buggy driving abilities, that they simply cannot understand why others are wary of the big animals that can do great damage if spooked. I thought he probably just didn’t realize how much his lay back and trot to catch up tactic concerned the people in front of him.
Now, based on that Facebook entry he took down, I’m convinced he was knowingly harassing the Democrats.
That tarnishes his reputation, and does not polish the reputations of the parade’s organizers, who obviously failed to instill in all the parade’s participants the understanding that on our nation’s most important patriotic holiday, citizens of all political persuasions set aside their partisan differences to come together in a positive celebration of our democracy’s accomplishments, and our shared values and hopes.
When I was younger, still fast enough on my feet to get out of the way of slow moving fire trucks, handsome horses carrying politicians and rodeo queens, and dancing troupes, I thoroughly photographed Kalispell’s major parades. Standing in the street, I photographed every entry from many angles, usually exposing a thousand or so frames. I did not see the kind of behavior to which Williams’ confessed and Waterman bore witness. Some riders took their horses too close to the people watching the parade, but that was the exception, not the rule. This was more typical:
There’s no chance Williams will drive his wagon right behind the Flathead Democratic Party’s marchers in next month’s county fair parade, if indeed he drives in the parade, which, like the Independence Day parade, was organized by Kruise Kalispell, a newcomer best described as a promoter of smoke your wheels down mainstreet on a high school Friday night events. Whether the Democrats will again be booed is another matter. Heckling is legal, but the equivalent of a Christmas Truce should be, and has been, the spirit of the holiday. Let’s do better next year.