Chugging towards the 2026 parade!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s TIME to start the craziest, craftiest, fundraisiest half of the year – starting with a parade of epic proportions!

The 2026 Fourth of July parade!!

Each year we have participated in our city’s parade we have been able to pass out about 1,000 flyers telling our local community our story: about Damian, our ambition to treat his disease and save his life, and ask for help!

Every year I have spent anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month paper mache-ing, duct taping, PVC piping, wood building, foam carving and more to create a one-of-a-kind float to grab the attention of our audience.

In 2022, we decided to tell the story of the Itsy Bitsy Spider (who never gives up! Just like us!) chasing after a waterspout!

In 2023, I recreated another one of Damian’s favorite stories: the Very Hungry Caterpillar, complete with oversized fruits to chase! Just like our gargantuan caterpillar, we were very hungry too – hungry for treatment!

In 2024, I built our largest float yet, a life-sized mama elephant with moving legs, leading her baby elephant along the parade route as they marched for treatment!

And finally, for our latest 2025 entry, I made a big blue steam engine and a caboose to illustrate our family Chugging toward Treatment! This patriotic train was definitely a crowd pleaser; in fact, we had a few families follow us to the end of the parade route just so they could get pictures with it!

Unlike all our previous parade floats, which were made for the parade alone, I built the train engine with the intent to last, and after some fiberglassing and a fresh coat of paint, it became a new popular photo op at our latest editions of Damian’s Not-So-Haunted House and Damian’s Christmas Village!

Our 2026 parade float

This year, we are doing something we’ve never done before for the Independence Day parade: we are repeating a float! But… that doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same…

Our train was intended to LAST, yes, but I didn’t actually finish the full train last year. One of the most frequently asked questions I’ve had at each of our fundraising events (including the parade!) last year was from kids: Can I get in the train???

No, we aren’t going to be collecting kids along the parade route, haha! BUT, my goal this year is to complete this train! And I mean:

·      Spruce up the engine

·      Finish creating and fiberglassing the caboose

·      ADD a passenger car!

We have exactly 3 weeks to do the absurd, and I may just be absurd enough to get it done!

Okay, gotta run outside and get to work! The clock starts NOW!!!

<3 Brittany (Damian’s Mom)