Officially, according to parade director Leo Dignam, Sunday's parade ran six hours, 47 minutes, 12 seconds, "But who's counting?" he asked. (He was.) The parade is timed from the arrival of the first comic group at the judging stand to the departure of the last string band.
Here's the equation: Shorter parade + good weather + three-day weekend - galling gaps in the parade = success!
Another positive factor: More bands playing music as they marched from the bowels of South Philly into the heart of Center City, to cheers, applause and dancing of their fans behind the barricades (where there were barricades).
I interrupt the commentary to announce that the sun must have risen in the west Sunday morning because after 87 years of missing the gold ring, the Woodland String Band finished first. (This means I still have a shot at a Pulitzer.)
Returning to commentary, marching along some sparsely populated blocks in South Philly, the Aqua String Band played as they marched.
"This is a parade," captain Ron Iannacone told me. "We are here to entertain the people, not just the judges."
It's like I have a twin. I've made that point over the years I have been covering the parade. There's nothing colder for a Mummers fan than watching a band walk by in stone-faced silence.
But it is a dilemma, Iannacone admitted. Aqua wants to play, but what's the point of playing to vacant curbs? But if they do play, he philosophized, maybe the crowds will appear. So Aqua does play, with crossed fingers.
In his fourth year as captain, Iannacone spends a lot of time working the spectators, getting up close and personal, shaking hands, posing for pictures, especially with the children who are the potential fans of the future.
Aqua finished 11th last year. I asked if he is shooting for No. 1. A realist, Iannacone said he'd be happy with 10th place. (Aqua took eighth.)
