As Noah MacDonald pedaled down Bent Street in the Park County Fair parade with stuffed animals in tow, one thing was abundantly clear: this kid loves parades.

Macdonald, who is about to start fifth grade, has been participating in parades since he was in second grade. For two years, he was a fixture in the Christmas parade before deciding to try his hand at the Park County Fair parade for the first time this year.

MacDonald said he loves participating in the parades because he loves seeing people. Originally he wanted to throw candy, but his family reminded him he has to pay attention to where he’s going. Instead of focusing on candy-throwing, MacDonald became excited about decorating his floats and waving to all the people he would see during the parades.

His favorite float so far was last year’s Christmas float. He and his family constructed a gingerbread house complete with icicles and Christmas lights. 

All of MacDonald’s floats use his trademark red tricycle, which he has had for four years.

“I like riding it too, because it has a basket,” MacDonald said.

MacDonald’s favorite thing to do other than ride the tricycle in parades is cruise around the neighborhood with his bug net in the basket looking for interesting bugs. He joked about how he recently missed out on a large grasshopper because his basket was removed in preparation for the parade.

Next year though, MacDonald won’t have this problem when he and his family ride in the parade using a surrey bike. A surrey bike is a pedal powered carriage that can seat several people.

“We have this big bike. You gotta pedal fast, and there’s one brake. It’s hard,” he said.

The bike is white with red stripes — sort of like a candy cane, which will be fitting for its Christmas parade debut.