What do you get when you combine the unofficial end of summer, a passion for hunting, and a small town celebration? Hamilton’s Dove Festival of course! Every Labor Day weekend, roads get blocked, portable stages erected and all the local runners gather to kick off the day with the obligatory 5K run. The festivities then move to the town square where lawn chairs fill the sidewalk, vying for the best vantage point for the parade.

Meandering through downtown streets and even venturing on to State Highway 281, this little community of less than three thousand boasts a parade with nearly 100 entries. Always led by the Citizen of the Year honoree, the parade kicks off at 10 a.m. and doesn’t end until every man, woman, and child has pockets full of Double Bubble and hard candy suckers cracked from bouncing across the pavement. County Extension agent, Shirley Gerald, ten-year parade veteran, claims, "You never know what to expect in the parade!" One crowd favorite is the ladies from the tiny nearby community of Ireland who ride their longhorns. Ft. Hood supports its neighbor, providing a band and even the mounted cavalry of the First Cavalry Horse Detachment, sporting Civil War era uniforms and a mule-drawn covered wagon. "There was the year that First National Bank staged a shoot-em-up," quipped Gerald, referring to the bank hold-up re-enacted atop a float during the parade. Of course like every carefully coordinated event, the parade has had its share of mishaps. Once, the kid-pleaser Shriners in their little cars had a little too much crowd interaction, accidentally sideswiping one of the unsuspecting children in the bunch. And the old Dublin Dr Pepper truck broke down one year, never making it out of the parade line up. But the scariest moment was when 82-year-old Bill Miller was thrown from his horse and had to depart the parade by ambulance after the skittish filly got spooked by backfire from one of the old tractors. But all’s well that ends well and Mr. Mille ...

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