By Adam Hammer, staff writer

EMMONS &8212; Small town parades in Minnesota have something that parades in some other countries don&8217;t have &8212; fire engines and John Deeres.

&8220;We don&8217;t have many of those in the Dominican Republic,&8221; Beth Clouse, originally of Mankato, said.

Clouse was in Emmons Friday for the Borderfest Parade with her husband, Mark, and their two children, Tyler, 4, and Jackson, 1. The boys&8217; grandmother, Eunice Clouse, was also in attendance.

Although Tyler said he &8220;didn&8217;t like nothing&8221; at the parade with a playful tone to his voice, it was obvious by the sucker in his hand and the smile on his face that he had a good time.

Beth said the boys seemed to most enjoy the fire engines as they passed by and sounded their sirens, and they were partial to any float with candy.

&8220;There was definitely generous amounts of candy,&8221; she said.

The parade was short but sweet, Beth said. It started at 6:30 p.m. and finished by 7 p.m. Clouse said the family was going to hit a few more small town parades before heading back to the Dominican Republic to show their kids what the culture back home in southern Minnesota is like.

The Borderfest Parade made its route from Emmons Lutheran Church, east on Third Avenue, right on High Street, right on Lake Street, right on Main Street, across Highway 69, left on Ridge Street, right on Knoll Road, right on Oak Street and ending on Todd Avenue. At its crossing at Highway 69, police officers stopped traffic to allow the parade to run through, causing some traffic to get backed up.

Renate Lamb, an Emmons resident for the past 11 years, said Borderfest has a lot to do with bringing people together from all around southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. She has been in Emmons for all of the Borderfest celebrations, which started with the centennial celebration in 1999.

&8220;There is a lot of camaraderie that goes on here,&8221; Lamb said from the Family Tree Restaurant stand on Main Street where they were serving Maid-Rite burgers. &8220;A lot of families come together here.&8221;

Lamb said the most popular events at Borderfest generally seem to be the annual ATV mud bogs and the weekend concerts.

This year&8217;s Borderfest featured The Circuit Breakers on Friday and the Johnny Holm Band on Saturday. Other highlights to Borderfest were new additions to the annual celebration such as kids activities and a pork supper.