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Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Bridgewaters display large family tree in parade
It’s Eldon’s fault
BLAIRSTOWN — Eldon Bridgewater didn’t want to ride in the Sauerkraut Days parade in Blairstown Saturday, but his children, in-laws grandchildren and great-grandchildren wanted him to.
And there are 91 of them.
“We just do what they tell us to do,” said Mary Bridgewater as she waited for the Sauerkraut Days parade to begin. “The kids run the show.”
Eldon and Mary Bridgewater live in rural Blairstown. They’ve been married 67 years, have 10 children, 25 “outlaws,” 23 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren.
It’s Eldon’s fault, the signs on the float say.
Eldon is from Missouri, said his wife of 67 years. She’s from Blairstown.
When Blairstown was putting up new electric lines, Eldon, a traveling lineman, came to Blairstown to help at the request of someone he’d worked with before.
Eldon had a new 1955 Ford Crown Victoria, said Mary. She was sitting on her porch when she saw him drive by and wondered who that guy was.
It wasn’t hard to meet him. It’s a small town, and everyone knows everyone, Mary said.
Eldon’s oldest son, Jeff Bridgewater, pulled the float with Eldon’s first tractor, a 1947 International Harvester. His newest tractor, a 2022 Case, followed.
Several more children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren rode with Eldon and Mary in the parade.
Meanwhile, behind the Bridgewater clan, about a dozen people sat in the shadow of Bigfoot on the Cub Scout float. “We do the parade every year, said Den Leader Josslyn Cook. “We were talking about how to change our camping scene.”
The scouts came up with the idea of standing Bigfoot over the campfire where they roasted marshmallows. The elusive creature wasn’t hard to find: the driver of the truck pulling the float, Gwen Luton, runs Bigfoot Auto in Hiawatha. Her son is a scout.
The float took only a half hour to put together after the scouts gathered all the parts, Cook said.
Saturday morning’s parade wound through town for about an hour. Visitors lined up for free sauerkraut and wieners following the parade, and children enjoyed inflatables in the city park.
A car show, tractor shine, softball tournament and kids dance were among attractions during the annual festival in Blairstown.
