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The God Bless America Motorcycle Color Guard, all bearing flags and revving engines, had just passed.
As the engine sounds died away, there was the faint sound of applause.
Then cheers.
Then those crowded where Baltimore, Carlisle, Frederick streets meet with Broadway began to clap.
They stood up and began waving small American flags handed out by the Hanover Exchange Club before the parade started.
They shouted "U.S.A.!" and "Thank you!" and "Welcome home!"
The members of the Pennsylvania National Guard's Alpha Battery, First Battalion of the 108th Field Artillery of the 56th Stryker Brigade, stationed in Hanover, walked north, kicking off the start of the 69th annual Hanover Halloween Parade.
"With the entire town clapping, it was a great feeling," said Pvt. Chris Markle, of Hanover. "It makes you feel good about what we just did."
The group, along with Bravo Battery from Gettysburg, was part of the more than 4,000 Pennsylvania Guard members deployed to Iraq for about nine months. They were stationed at Camp Taji, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
When they returned to the area Labor Day weekend, they greeted by flags and well-wishers.
But the parade, organized by the Hanover Area Jaycees, was chosen as the best way for the Hanover area community to publicly thank the Guard members for their service.
The Exchange Club and Jaycees, as well as the Allied Veterans Council, American
Bill Fissel, a Hanover resident and Vietnam veteran who chaired the committee that installed a Vietnam veterans memorial in York, said the parade was a great way to welcome the troops back.
"Hanover cannot be a better area for veterans," he said.
The parade wasn't just about the Guard members. There were bands and floats. Politicians and local dignitaries waved from slick-looking cars.
Folks were dressed in kooky costumes, some tossing candy and treats.
Thousands were lined along the parade route, some also dressed in costume. Many others crowded porch steps and windows overlooking the street. All were laughing, smiling and having a good time in the mild weather.
Just down from Middle Street, Shannon Lanier sat in an old chair, covered with a blanket. He strummed a ukulele and lounged as his son, Nathan, 4 sat next to him.
The chair was special, he said. It came with the house behind him when he moved in about six years earlier. It's normally kept in the garage, except for one time a year.
"It's my parade chair," he joked.
But both he and Nathan had two of the small American flags handed out by the Exchange Club.
They were ready to wave to the Guard members as they passed.
"It's a good thing," Lanier said. "This is the biggest event in Hanover to do it. I think it's fitting."
PARADE WINNERS
Winners of the annual Hanover Halloween Parade, organized by the Hanover Area Jaycees, were unavailable by press time. For a complete list of winners, see Saturday's Evening Sun.
Also of interest
· Hanover's old State Theater: 'Don't lose hope, it's not dead'· How Hanover's Eichelberger school morphed into 'The Eich.'
· Why is Hanover Country Club in Abbottstown?
