We are back in the PARADE! Walter Caplan lobbied hard to get us into the Pride Parade again this year. We were contingent number 43 out of more than two hundred groups that participated. We had six cars in the parade, a respectable group for the San Francisco Model A Club. Our group included the Scott Nealey family, Bob Faber and Thelma in their coupe, Barry and Bob Farina in a coupe, Walter in the Red and White Fleet pickup, the Barrango family in their sporty roadster, and Steve Owsley driving Walter’s sedan.

All of our cars were duly decorated with flags and balloons. We wore necklaces made of colored paper. Each car sported a large club logo and sign on the door advertising us as the San Francisco Model A Ford Club.

When the parade started Walter led us onto Market Street behind Richard Webster’s red Cadillac with San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros, and Scott Williams driving Saturday Night Live star and comedienne Sarah Silverman in Scott’s modern rod.

The crowd lined the sidewalk from curb to storefront. As we proceeded up Market Street the crowd became more and more enthusiastic. The crowd greeted us with waves, wide smiles, cheers, catcalls and many compliments. We returned the enthusiasm with waves and smiles of our own. We traveled the parade route in about a half hour’s time and then turned south and headed for our picnic site at the UCSF campus in Mission Bay, just south of the AT&T ballpark off of Third and Sixteenth Streets.

Walter is the man! He brought sandwiches and a variety of salads and side dishes, sodas, beer, and wine to enjoy. We lunched shaded in trees on artfully crafted park benches and chairs. The afternoon winds were diverted by large attractive modern steel and glass buildings all just a short walk from restrooms.

We enjoyed our lunch, congratulated ourselves on a job well done, and spent the remaining afternoon in casual conversation. Thanks Walter for all the hard work.  Once again a good time was had by all.

Photos by Glenn Mullin, Tom Mullins, and Scott Williams