Raymond, Kansas

There's a new tradition in Raymond to hold an annual Labor Day parade. Rumor has it someone just decided to have a parade one year and gathered up as many vehicles as they could find to drive down Main street.

The 2006 parade brought in an estimated 400 people, including a stunt motorcyle club from Tulsa, Okla. The parade ended with a meal in the Raymond gym as a fundraiser to help the city maintain the gym.

View photos of the 2006 parade.

Both my parents grew up in Raymond, Kansas. My dad grew up in town in the house that my grandpa, Lester Hendricks, lived in for nearly 50 years. My mom grew up southeast of town in a farmhouse where my grandparents lived until they moved to Ellinwood (and then my uncle and his family moved into the farmhouse).

While I grew up in Michigan, every summer my parents would send my brother and I to Kansas for several weeks to spend time with our grandparents and extended family.

So I have quite a connection to that town. I have many fond memories of my grandpa buying us M&Ms and Pepsi at the Fish Station, of driving "into town" (less than two blocks) with my grandpa to get the mail, of playing down at the river (the Arkansas River, pronounced "Are-kansas"), of learning to drive somewhere south of town, of blowing up many a G.I. Joe guy on the 4th of July.

Even as I've gotten older I've continued to be fascinated with Raymond. Hence this lens.