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�Corny but fun� photo by Steve Johnson Butte Falls throws old-fashioned Fourth of July parade By David Preszler Wilma Dyer and Ella Pingle BUTTE FALLS � Wilma Dyer can�t tell you how many Fourth of July parades have circled this tiny mountain town, but she�s never missed one. Tuesday was no exception. Dyer and Ella Pingle, who�s missed one parade, tossed candy from the back of a pickup towing the Lionesses Club�s float � a replica of the nearby falls that give the town its name. The pair have been Butte Falls residents for a combined 127 years and are part of what makes the parade special to the 440 or so folks who live here. "It�s the togetherness," said Dyer, 86. "People love doing it." Parades elsewhere may have snazzy jet flybys and marching bands, but for pure old-fashioned Americana, it�d be hard to top Butte Falls. "Ours is corny," said Pingle, 85. "Corny but fun." The town�s so small the parade goes around the park and the high school twice � and still lasts less than an hour. "We get to go around twice and not many parades get to do that," said local resident Jana Goodman. The Cub Scout troop posted the colors, and a half-dozen children on bikes covered in red, white and blue crepe paper rode proudly among the floats. "I�ve been in the parade since I was 3," said young Michael McLauchlan, now a 7-year veteran who rode his bike along with his 5-year-old brother, Andrew. A trio of retired loggers � Arlen Ragsdale, Dale Thompson and Alvin Thompson � joined current timber worker Jared Munsell and his 3-year-old son, Tyler, on a float paying tribute to the town�s timber heritage. The float featured two-man crosscut saws and old chainsaws in addition to the grizzled men who spent plenty of time using them and said they were "hornswoggled" into the parade. "If you count authenticity, this is excellent," said Alvin Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA