LYMAN — The Bridger Valley Pioneer Days celebration last Saturday played to a large crowd for the parade, activities during the day and the final rodeo Saturday night.

The theme for this year’s celebration was “Families Together on the Trail” and several of the floats in the parade highlighted the heritage of some of the Valley’s residents as they entered the Valley and still have family living here today.

Saturday was kicked off with the triathlon and the 10 a.m. parade brought the crowd to Lyman’s Main Street through town. People arrived early to pick a spot to watch the parade. The sidelines were filled with parents, families and kids with sacks to pick up the mass amount of candy thrown from the floats.

Prior to the start of the parade, upbeat and patriotic music filled the air with songs such as “American Soldier” and “Freedom doesn’t come free.” One of the songs was that of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” which includes the lyrics, “`Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA.”

As the parade entered the main part of town, people placed their hands over their hearts for the singing of the ‘Star Spangled Banner.’

The day played out under a blue sky with white, fluffy clouds, which darkened for a short time before the parade was finished. This year’s parade, as all parades in an election year, had a bevy of political candidates riding in the parade. A different offshoot this year was the multitude of ATVs in the parade as they were in the Valley for a poker run.

Area ranchers Bob and Christine Stoddard were the 2022 parade grand marshals.

A pulled pork barbecue and games were held at the Heritage Barn during the afternoon after the parade.

As the day started to wind down, the Ranch Rodeo finals were held at the Lyman Rodeo Grounds. It, too, played to a big crowd, and was reported as a “standing room only” event.