A shined-up, renovated Route 66 is a reason for a parade in Edgewood, N.M.
"We're celebrating Route 66 heritage," Edgewood Chamber of Commerce director Myra Oden said. "We're celebrating our new highway, harvest festival - we're just looking for any reason to have a party. It's a pretty big party."
Friday kicks off the weekend-long annual Route 66 Run, Rally & Rock and Harvest Festival with a sock hop at Wildlife West to celebrate the road's heritage.
"A sock hop is a dance that was actually pretty customary in the 1950s and 1960s," Oden said. "And it was typical rock 'n' roll music, and mostly partner dancing, and lots of fun - poodle skirts, bobby sox, oxford shoes."
There will also be a hula-hoop and Elvis impersonation contest Friday night. The best hula-hooper wins cash.
Saturday morning, along Highway 344, there will be a parade that takes 2 1/2 hours to get to Wildlife West. Just show up somewhere along the road and park to partake.
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"We have a large horseback club that will be in it," parade organizer Pauline Freeman said. "Two bands - one from Moriarty High and one from Albuquerque High. And we have a Bigfoot float. We have old tractors that go all the way back to the beginning of time. There's a karate group in it; there's the Harley group; antique cars. We do the party every year, but this is our first parade."
Former governor of New Mexico Bruce King and his wife will be in the parade as well.
"And we have a great juggler," Freeman said.
After the parade, there are tractor games, a farmers market, regional business showcase, juried art show, wine tasting, carnival games, horseshoe-pitching tournament and a blacksmith demonstration.
The farmers market, along with a silent auction, will be held in the historic Bean Barn.
"Eighty-nine years ago or more, they had a lot of pinto bean farming, and this building was originally built on old 66 in Edgewood," Wildlife West founder Roger Alink said. "And then in the '50s, the drought basically put the bean farmers out of business, so this barn sat empty for over 50 years. It was donated to the park, so we dissembled it and put it together."
There's also a small zoo for native rescued wildlife.
"There's a golden eagle and a black bear," he said. "There's Mexican wolves. There's mountain lions - they've been getting in the news lately. There's been lots of sightings out here. I guess one ate somebody's pig or something."
On Sunday morning there will be a 5K run through the park followed by a pancake breakfast.
