Once again my wife and I along with several of our neighbors decided to brave the scorching summer sun and join in the annual Great Northwest Independence Day Parade. The parade which starts at Zachry Middle School and follows Timber Path to the Lodge of the Great Northwest is a fun way to get out and celebrate the 4th.
This year, the Grand Marshal was District 6 Councilman Ray Lopez, seen here riding in the Corvette of Robert Rodkey. In addition to Robert's 'vette, there were 8 or 9 other Corvette's from the local owners club.
Members of the San Antonio Fire Department were quite a hit with youngsters along the parade route. And of course, members of the San Antonio Police Department were out in force to direct traffic and make sure the parade travelled smoothly down the road.
The parade had numerous groups from the local Northwest Vikings youth football team to the Boy Scouts.
And then of course, there was out motley crew of characters. With Ol' Betsy pulling a trailer, and several of us manning electric scooters, our theme was Timber Five-O. Okay, I know some explanation is in order. 
Bear with me on this. Our zip code is 78250 (or The Five Oh for short). Next, you think back to the old Hawaii Five-O TV show, and the fact that most of the streets in our neighborhood start with the word "Timber", and the next thing you know, we are in Hawaiian shirts, palm trees and we are Timber Five-O. I know, it really is a stretch, but we had fun anyway.
And in spite of the record 103 degree temperature, many people found enough shade needed to keep cool and lined the parade route and enjoyed the spectacle of it all.
And for those who couldn't witness it in person... video taken by my son who is home for the weekend. Enjoy!
Let's face it, everybody loves a parade, right? And why not get out and enjoy the short spectacle as The Great Northwest holds our annual 4th of July Parade, Saturday beginning at 11AM.
You can line the street along Timber Path with probably the best view being the parking lot in front of the soccer fields at Silver Creek. The parade route will start at Zachry Middle School, then follow Timber Path through Emerald Valley, The Commons and Stage Coach Run, Ridge Creek and across Tezel Road into Silver Creek, and finally turn onto Timberwilde to finish up at the Lodge.
Don't wanna just watch? Why not join in? I'm sure nobody would notice a few extra walkers, bikes, mopeds or scooters joining the parade. My wife and I along with assorted neighbors and friends will join in. Hope to see you there!
Trust me, I don't expect you to know what a Bauer Burger is, but if you have ever watched the longest running Soap Opera, Guiding Light, around this time of year you know that the Bauer family has a cook-out, and they always make Bauer Burgers.
I don't watch GL (anymore), but if I did, I'd be curious to know just what the heck a Bauer Burger is. For all we know, it could be a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Well now, thanks to the official source of all knowledge, the Google, you can obtain a recipe for an actual Bauer Burger.
Or, I can save you time and give you step by step instructions with pictures.
First, you will need to burn some mushrooms. I used a little olive oil to saute them, then placed them in a bowl to cool them down.
Same thing with some diced onions. Although, I don't think the Bauer's grill the onions first, I think they use them raw. Who knows for sure? They are a fictitious family.
Now then, get some hamburger meat, mix in some garlic (I used fresh), pepper, salt (I used sea salt) and 3 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce. As you are mixing this together, say Worcestershire three times fast.
Now here is the tricky part. You have to make an even number of really thin patties. What we did was get some wax paper, throw on evenly distributed globs of the hamburger meat, then use a roller to flatten the meat. This actually worked pretty well.
Next, we took some kitchen scissors (as opposed to the ones I trim my nostril hairs with) and commenced to cut the thin burger meat into square, Wendy's like old fashioned hamburger patties.
Remember the mushrooms and onions I had in the refrigerator? Get ready to make a Bauer Burger. We took the first slab of hamburger meat, tossed on a layer of onion.
Next, we grabbed some pre-sliced cheese and put it on top of the onions.
Then we loaded it up with mushrooms...
and finally added a second thin slab of meat. From there, I used a fork to press the patties together.
Do this over and over again until you have lots of burgers.
Oh, and mix it up by using two different types of cheese - Swiss and Colby Jack.
Now, commence to cook. And I would suggest you follow these instructions: Barbecue the patties over a low flame until done. 
Let me repeat: Barbecue the patties over a low flame until done.
Sweet Sister Mary Salmonella! Barbecue the patties over a low flame until done.
Aside from that, these burgers were exceptionally tasty and in fact, I could see them being a regular at our cookouts.
And as a final note, my wife reports that for some reason as part of the plot on the Guiding Light, the Bauers didn't even serve Bauer Burgers at their 4th of July cook out this year. Their loss.
In what can only be described as a perfect day for a parade, it would appear that the big Weatherman in the sky gave the residents of The Great Northwest Community Improvement Association (GNWCIA) a pass, just long enough to hold a spectacular parade.
You might recall last year, the annual 4th of July Parade had to be canceled at the last minute due to approaching thunderstorms. This year, we simply could not have asked for a better breeze to keep everyone cool and sunny skies to remind us that it is in fact, July!
This year, my wife and I joined several neighbors to ride our scooters in the parade. As The T-Post Posse, we earned suntans and sore butts putting along the parade route that started at Zachry Middle School, along Timber Path and up to the Lodge of the Great Northwest on Timberwilde.
This year, the Grand Marshall was none other than Miss Olivia Theriot. You may recall that not only is she a well known retired veteran of the Air Force, Miss Olivia is also the very first homeowner in Silver Creek. Robert Rodkey is seen telling Miss Olivia about some of the finer points of his Corvette, the lead car in the parade she rode in as Grand Marshall, driven by Chairman of the Board of Directors, Richard Garcia.
We had numerous participants including this incredible float saluting military members, and thanking them for their service!
There was a float with players and coaches from the NW Vikings youth football team...
Both Boy and Girl Scouts,
members of the GNW Sounds musical group,
and even the GNW Garden Club.
In addition to these organizations, the parade included several sharp looking older vehicles like Ole Betsy, a 1970 Chevy Truck driven by the Garza family and a few hitchhikers along the route...
and Chairman Garcia's '69 Mustang driven by Director Ida Rodkey and husband Robert.
The parade included numerous bike riders, walkers, people with baby strollers, and other vehicles including the several of the GNW Staff, like Fred Murphy, Director of Maintenance on his pristine condition motorcycle.
Recreation Director Stephanie Larrabie was in the parade,
while DRACO, Jose Morlette drove ahead to take pictures of the spectacle.
Chief of Security, Roger Burton showed off the new Patrol truck.
Speaking of security, we had officers from Precinct 2 Constables office out as well as friends from SAPD making sure the parade which lasted about 45 minutes from start to finish could safely make it down the 1 1/2 mile stretch of Timber Path and across Tezel Road to Timberwilde.
As a group, our little Scooter Patrol were really surprised at the number of people who lined the street along Timber Path. We were certainly pleased with the number of parade participants, but having never been in the parade before, we simply didn't realize that along the way, so many wonderful residents would be out in lawn chairs, under the shade of umbrellas and canopy. It was really nice to toot our horns and greet the crowds along the way.
I only wish that I could have taken pictures along the way - but being on a scooter is not conducive to busting out the camera every few seconds. But my son did get a few shots (featured in this report) from his position at the end of the parade. Either way, it was really nice to see so many people waving and cheering for us. We will definitely do it again next year - I hope you join us for the fun.
This year, the Grand Marshal was District 6 Councilman Ray Lopez, seen here riding in the Corvette of Robert Rodkey. In addition to Robert's 'vette, there were 8 or 9 other Corvette's from the local owners club.
Members of the San Antonio Fire Department were quite a hit with youngsters along the parade route. And of course, members of the San Antonio Police Department were out in force to direct traffic and make sure the parade travelled smoothly down the road.
The parade had numerous groups from the local Northwest Vikings youth football team to the Boy Scouts.
Bear with me on this. Our zip code is 78250 (or The Five Oh for short). Next, you think back to the old Hawaii Five-O TV show, and the fact that most of the streets in our neighborhood start with the word "Timber", and the next thing you know, we are in Hawaiian shirts, palm trees and we are Timber Five-O. I know, it really is a stretch, but we had fun anyway.
And in spite of the record 103 degree temperature, many people found enough shade needed to keep cool and lined the parade route and enjoyed the spectacle of it all.
