1997-"Heaven's Gate"

Our theme for 1997 was "Midvale Drive Opens Heaven's Gate". Heaven's Gate was one of the biggest stories of the year which made it a natural as a theme. Handled by a lesser skilled group it could have been a model of poor taste. But when done by the Midvale experts...well. Only a FEW spectators got upset during the parade!

We wore purple smocks, black shorts and running shoes and the men wore 2 nuts on a string over their necks to symbolize the uh, "transformation" done by some of the Heaven's Gate men. We all wore a $5 bill for admission to "heaven" (which also doubled as money to buy the keg after the parade). During the parade we would chant "Hale Bopp! Hale Bopp! The highlight of the event was the space capsule we built. Out of every window peered their fearless leader and it was topped with a "good luck" flamingo from the 1987 float. After the parade the capsule was "launched" and hung from a tree over a neighbor's house (until he got home from vacation.) And we made the front page (again).