BONDUEL — The annual Bonduel Fourth of July parade brought thousands of people to town on Monday morning.
The parade stepped off at the Bonduel school district going down Green Bay street and Washington street before ending at Village Park.
Rhonda Uelmen is a volunteer for Celebrate Bonduel. She says this year's crowd was larger than recent years.
"The last couple years has been down because of Covid and this is probably the largest group we've had in three years," said Uelmen.
She estimates the crowd was between 4,000-6,000 people lining the streets and park.
In a town of just over 1,500 people, that means the population triples on parade day. It's a testament to how far reaching the event has become in the region.
Uelmen said people come from all different communities in Shawano and other neighboring counties.
The parade contained floats from non-profits, local businesses, political organizations, the school band, and more.
One of the floats promoted the upcoming Shawano county fair at the end of August. The float included Harmony Reimer who recently won "Fairest of the Fair" for Shawano county.
Reimer acts as an ambassador for the community at events like this. She has been coming to the parade for eight years now with her drill team, but she enjoyed attending as Fairest of the Fair.
"I loved seeing a whole bunch of people and throwing candy to kids. They were so excited and just the smiles on their faces were amazing," said Reimer.
The day continued with live music, food trucks, games, and a bike raffle at Village Park.
