Calling all nuts to enter the Nutter Butter Parade
Published 2:00 am Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Sometimes you feel like a nut and, when you do, that’s a good indication that it’s Peanut Butter Festival time in Brundidge.
The Peanut Butter Festival comes around every year on the last Saturday in October. That’s always around the time the peanuts are being dug and shook and stacked in the fields. And, for some reason, that’s around the same time that folks are feeling a little nutty, too.
So, the Brundidge Historical Society hosts the Nutter Butter Parade, which brings out all kinds of nuts and parade them around town. And, at the same time, the parade pays tribute to peanut butter, the popular foodstuff that sustained the Brundidge community during the Great Depression, and to the little nut that still plays an important role in the area’s economy.
The Nutter Butter Parade is held, traditionally, at 1 p.m. on the last Saturday in October, right slap-dab in the middle of the Peanut Butter Festival. The parade takes a Main Street route and every nut and those not so nutty are invited to participate.
Lawrence Bowden, president of the sponsoring BHS, said the Nutter Butter Parade is open to any and all who like to have a good time and, at the same time, provide fun and excitement for others.
“The Nutter Butter Parade is a rather informal parade and it’s an anything goes parade,” Bowden said. “We’ve never had any professional floats in the parade but we would welcome them if they came. The Nutter Butter Parade is anything you want it to be and the nuttier the better.”
Bowden said some entries have no rhyme or reason to them. Others honor Pike County’s heritage and many pay tribute to agriculture and the role it has played and continues to play in the local economy.
“We have queens that honor our agricultural products,” he said. “We have such queens as Miss Collard Greens, Miss Goober Cocktail, Miss Sweet Tater and Miss Josie Moonshine. We have tractors and old cars. We have boats and simple floats and kids rolling tires and pushing lawn mowers.”
Bowden said the Nutter Butter Parade is also an opportunity for businesses to advertise their products and services in a fun way and for service organizations to let people know more about what they do with a simple and fun entry in the parade.
“We invite everyone to be a part of the Nutter Butter Parade at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31 in downtown Brundidge,” he said. “Of course, everyone is invited to come early and stay late and enjoy all of the fun of the annual Peanut Butter Festival, a harvest and heritage celebration.”
To enter the Nutter Butter Parade, call the First National Bank in Brundidge at 735-2351 or 670-6302.
Lineup will begin at noon on Veterans Blvd. above the Piggly Wiggly. Hopes are to pre-register the entries but, if not, don’t let that stop you. Just come on, line up and act like the nut that you are.