2023 Stampede Parade the "best one ever"

The 2023 Strathmore Stampede Parade hosted by the Strathmore Wheatland Chamber of Commerce (SWCC) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Strathmore and District Agricultural Society, and many people are saying it was the best parade ever.

"The parade was amazing, we heard from so many people that it was the best parade that we've ever had, we're still just buzzing from how amazing it was and the support that we got from the community and all the smiling faces out on the street," SWCC Chair of the Board Whitnee Sidloski said.

Celebrating 50 years already gave this parade an extra special feel, but Sidloski added they had the largest amount of floats ever, and community attendance was fantastic too. Combined with special guest appearances from people like Premier Danielle Smith, Sidloski said all these factors resulted in a fantastic parade. She added it took a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make it all come together.

"I just really want to thank all of the volunteers that helped make this happen and the SWCC board, we put a lot of work into making this really successful and we heard from tons of local businesses and local people and visitors in town how amazing the parade was, best one ever."

Beyond the volunteers and the SWCC's contributions, the floats themselves are the highlight of the parade and Sidoloski was happy to see how much effort went into the floats and how the local businesses involved went all in to provide an unforgettable parade.

"The businesses really come together to work really hard on their parade floats and we see how excited everybody is to share all the work that they've done on their floats."

Every year several judges choose three winners among the floats, and this year the winners were:

1. Eagle Lake Nurseries Ltd. 

2. Square Dancers

3. Expressions the Dance Gallery

The Eagle Lake Nurseries Ltd. float perfectly celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Ag Society 

For the first time ever, this year also saw three additional winners who won free registration for next year's parade. While they didn't land in the top 3 best floats, Sidloski said they wanted to celebrate and recognize other memorable and exciting floats. Those winners are:

1. Quality Supply Strathmore - NAPA Auto Parts

2. Drivers Collision 2014 Inc.

3. Bubble Tea Brewers Strathmore

"If you saw any of those floats they had really, really cool floats. A lot of work went into them and I was behind Napa Auto parts in the parade and their staff was just buzzing, so excited to be there. They put a lot of work into the parade."

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